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Lorenz, Claude enter the scene
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Lorenz
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Claude. Are you aware of the most recent conflict within the Alliance?
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Claude
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Hello to you too, Lorenz. And you'll have to be more specific. The Alliance is always bickering over one thing or another.
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Lorenz
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Margrave Edmund is raising objections over the assignment of his troops to the eastern defenses.
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Claude
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If you please one noble, another will only gripe. No matter what happens, there will always be conflict.
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Lorenz
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That is just the kind of lackadaisical attitude that causes more conflict among us than necessary! Now, listen to me carefully.
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Lorenz
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House Edmund may not hold much land, but the land they do control is quite rich. They also maintain a thriving port.
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Lorenz
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Their influence is poised to rival even the most powerful players in the Alliance. Yet they claim they cannot spare a fair share of troops?
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Lorenz
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Do you find it acceptable to let such an obviously unreasonable objection stand?
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Claude
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It's not as though the threat of Almyra to the east has proven all that threatening of late.
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Lorenz
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Such negligence! What makes you so certain the Almyrans will not attack us tomorrow?!
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Lorenz
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If certain dukes hold back their proper share of support, it will only serve to weaken House Goneril's hold of our eastern flank!
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Claude
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Calm yourself. I am well aware that the financial situation of House Edmund is quite exceptional.
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Claude
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However, what you fail to realize is that they are lacking in troops. They're not lying when they say they don't have that many to spare.
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Claude
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As it were, the Almyrans have been nothing but peaceful since we refortified Fódlan's Locket.
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Claude
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And are you aware that Margrave Edmund paid the majority of the costs for those repairs?
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Lorenz
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Is that so?
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Claude
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In fact, it's largely thanks to the skilled craftsmen he assembled that the fortress is now so impregnable.
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Claude
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I, for one, wouldn't want to attack a fortress as formidable as that.
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Lorenz
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I do see your point. If House Edmund has already made its fair contribution, then that is all we can ask. Very well, I withdraw my objection.
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Lorenz
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But even the sturdiest fortress needs soldiers to defend it. If we continue to squabble amongst ourselves, it will eventually fall.
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Lorenz leaves the scene
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Claude
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Well, well. And here I thought he only cared about status...
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Claude
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Still, if someone like him really came to lead the Alliance, it would not bode well for Almyra.