Fortunately, the occupied lands of the East Sea Alliance were its cream, with population and resources in abundance. The few tracts seized by the War Grand Duchy were, at most, mere scraps by comparison.
Still, the incident itself had thrown grit into the eyes of the Raine–Vela Allied Army.
By early October, the fighting across the East Sea Alliance had died down completely. Some defeated resistance troops remained deep in the mountains and forests, but they no longer posed any real threat to the Allied Army's rule.
By adopting a conciliatory approach toward some of the surrendered East Sea Nobility, Duke Barick had secured the support of several dozen local noble families with strength, prestige, and deep roots.
He promised to let these nobles retain their titles and relocate their fiefs without reducing them, securing their support for the Raine Kingdom's occupation of the East Sea Alliance.
Moreover, the highest rank among these former East Sea nobles was only that of count. Not one of the great Marquis Families once renowned within the East Sea Alliance had survived. Even when they wanted to surrender, Duke Barick had refused them.
After all, the entire East Sea Alliance had only thirty-four counties, and the fiefs of those Marquis Families accounted for six of them. They were fertile lands, too, with populations and resources among the very best.
Such rich holdings would have been wasted even if their fiefs were reduced or relocated. Better to use them to reward the kingdom's nobles who had earned military merits in this war.
Although the new fiefs of these submitted East Sea nobles had yet to be decided, information disclosed by Duke Barick and Earl Stanley suggested that they would most likely be enfeoffed in the frontier region near the Chaos Lands.
After all, these nobles