The only thing that pop into my mind is arrange marriage. Think about it, with arrange marriage, Farness's brother can unite their house with another, thus gaining their father's favor. This also effectively takes Farness out of Guts' group. That's the price he'll need to get what she need...
Alexander and his mother is likely to have murdered his father Phillips II to speed up his ascension. He started his war against Persian Empire with the goal of completely anniliating it once and for all. And no, he didn't do this by himself, but rather with an unpresidented army pioneered by...
IMHO, a big reason reason he's got to wear the armor while traveling is the brand-concealing-sigil that Flora spend days carving and making is inside the armor itself (positioning right above Guts' brand). So unless Guts & Company wants to attract any more evil than one would normally find...
Re:Chapter 227
The sigil that Flora inscribed inside the armor is to shield him from the effect of his brand. With it on, he will no longer be a demon magnet.
I think that's Puck & Schrieke's job. The talisman just allow Guts to not have to deal with minor league demon on a nightly basis (so he can actually sleep).
No, Flora's talisman drawing is the more permanent version of Schrieke's talisman. It blocks out the effect of Guts' brand, so he won't be a demon magnent. And Flora is nice to draw it inside of the armor.
As reported by Anime on DVD, Berserk the manga has been licensed by Digital Manga and Dark Horse. Don't have too much detail beyond that at this point.