It seems odd that an entire nation would belong to organized crime, and yet still be a hotbed of [i]regular[/i] petty crime. One of the biggest things about locations completely controlled by a single criminal family is that it is [i]astonishingly[/i] orderly, since the families exert total control over any potential criminal elements.

If the Marquis has enough money to form an army out of mercenaries and professionals and is the ally of [i]the strongest crime family in the kingdom[/i], it should be no surprise that he's able to send this army out without worry of them being annihilated. All it takes is an uplifting of the old noble class, armaments purchased from out-of-country, and a good amount of logistical power.

As a matter of fact, the real, historical Knights Hospitallier had to operate in a time relatively similar to what Ybella is going through. Petty feuds, widespread crime, and peasant revolts all ran rampant across Western Europe, and the Knights Hospitallier were formed to safeguard the resources the gentry needed most. It is this same principle that I've tried to apply to the Marquis's army: form an army to go out and keep the money flowing.

The Knights Hospitallier are designed largely around "cleaning" areas of crime and disease, so that they can funnel money into the state. Whether or not the state is run by thugs and crimelords is largely irrelevant, as they're still managing the country.