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I think sponsorship stays with him, even if his character pauses. It's only when the character leaves the realm that the army transfers to the ruler. And, if there is no ruler, it transfers to the general, and if there is no general, it transfers to the judge, and if there is no judge, it transfers to the banker.
As I have already stated quite clearly:The army presently has no sponsor.There is definitely a bug of some sort going on here.
.... if you wait long enough for the fix, i would guess the ruler will become the sponsor at some point.then you can flip everything back.