The third rule of being a rogue on Blue Star: If you want to take the top dog's spot, you have to knock down the current rogue in charge first.
To put it more elegantly, for a nation's rise to be truly recognized by the world, its respect must be obtained by defeating the strongest opponent on the battlefield; the identity of one powerful entity is established on the defeated body of another.
For Alfheim, the existence of Charlemagne. In addition to taking all the blame and resigning under fire, his most significant role is akin to France during the Franco-Prussian War and Russia during the Russo-Japanese War. In short, if you want to ascend in the world, you need to choose the strongest, not the weakest, as your sparring partner. In the process of growing Alfheim, Charlemagne, who has been deliberately molded into a military power, is the perfect "training opponent." For Charlemagne, this is destined to be unpleasant.
