As envoys traveled back and forth between the various petty nobles' domains, the Red Tide Fief's expansion advanced at a pace that could no longer be ignored.
The reason was simple: most lords felt little attachment to the land beneath their feet. Given enough incentive, they were willing to let it go at any time-for instance, in exchange for a domain better suited to their ambitions.
These petty nobles also understood that, without the Red Tide Fief's support and trade, their small domains would long since have been consumed by war and famine.
Before the Red Tide Fief appeared, even without war, they had been forced to endure food shortages and survive on outside aid.
Now, however, the Red Tide Fief stood like a lighthouse, radiating a reassuring glow and shielding them from outside pressure and harassment.
For the Frontier Nobles who had arrived in the Northern Frontier less than two years earlier, in particular, their territories were more of a burden than anything else.
In fact, if the Northern Frontier Development Edict had not expressly forbidden Frontier Lords from leaving the Northern Frontier at will...
These men would rather have sold their territories outright and returned to the South to resume their lives as spoiled young nobles.
Why be some miserable lord in the Northern Frontier? As young masters down South, all we had to do was eat and drink. Nothing else.
Now Lord Louis of the Red Tide Fief had given them a new opportunity.
Supplies of food, money, and materials had lifted them out of their former poverty.
Trade in goods had also restored their dignity as nobles, allowing them to enjoy the aristocratic lives they had once lost.
Every cartload of wine delivered by the Red Tide Fief offered hope that their lavish lifestyles could continue.