Subject Runes - V1 Chapter 8

This morning was a lecture on Kingdom Society. The afternoon was practical magic.

The lecture on Kingdom Society was a general overview of the governing structure of the Kingdom of Argent.

———

Kingdom Society

Territory and Domains

The kingdom consisted of roughly three hundred domains of varying sizes, including the royal family’s direct lands, duchies, marquisates, counties, viscountcies, baronies, and the lands of baronets and knightly lords. Each was directly ruled and functioned independently under its own lord. The largest territory belonged to the royal family, but because those lands were scattered and divided among many royals, the largest single domain in practical terms was a duchy.

The Noble Hierarchy

The nobility was classified into upper nobles, from duke to count; middle nobles, consisting of viscounts and barons; and lower nobles, consisting of baronets and knightly lords. The size of each domain was generally proportional to that noble rank, so territories were also referred to as large, medium, or small domains depending on the noble class that governed them.

The Royal Family and Succession Rights

At the top of the royal family stood the King and Queen, followed by the Crown Prince, the princes, and the princesses. Dukes and marquises were blood relatives of the royal family, and some of them possessed succession rights. Among the direct bloodline of the current royal house, there were even those granted the rank of Grand Duke, which stood above duke. Margraves held status and special privileges equivalent to marquises, but they did not possess any right of succession.

The Feudal System

Nobles pledged fealty to royalty or to nobles above their own rank. In exchange for paying taxes upward, they were granted land and protection. Upper nobles served the royal family. Middle nobles served either the royal family or upper nobles. Lower nobles also served someone of at least middle-noble rank or above.

The Military

The kingdom did not maintain a national army. If war broke out with another nation, the knight order of the relevant territory was expected to handle it first. If the local lord judged the situation too difficult to resolve alone, they could request aid from the higher-ranked noble they served, and they could also call on the lower nobles under them in exchange for rewards. If that still was not enough, they had to seek reinforcements from other nobles through individual negotiations, which meant maintaining strong relationships through social connections was essential. There were knight orders directly under the royal family, but those were merely the royals’ private forces, not a national army.

“Finally, that shit’s over. Classroom lectures really wear me out. But next is practical training… wait, today’s magic practical, huh?”

Listening to Dan complain, I ate lunch with the usual group and then headed to the afternoon magic practical.

The students gathered at the magic training grounds, and since it was the first class, the practical instructor started by introducing himself and explaining what we’d be doing today.

“I’m Carl Schmidt. I’ll be handling your practical magic lessons.”

He looked to be in his early thirties, with short light-brown hair and fresh green eyes. A pretty sharp-looking teacher.

“We’ll begin with a mana measurement. When your name is called, come forward.”

Using the crystal-like magical tool from the baptism ceremony, Professor Schmidt began measuring each student’s mana, starting with Knight Class A.

This was to sort students into groups before practical lessons began, since the gap in mana between students who possessed mana and those who did not was massive.

For the record, when a student without mana held a hand over the crystal, the color of the attribute did not appear clearly. It only gave off a dim, murky glow.

“Cain Bartley. Attribute unknown. Mana: 7.”

Like Cain, those students were simply labeled as having an unknown attribute, and though there was some individual variation, their mana was usually only a single digit.

Once Class A finished, it was Class B’s turn.

“Nick Garton. Step forward.”

That was Nick, one of Hardin’s lackeys.

He hadn’t used magic at all back then, but could this asshole actually use it?

When Schmidt called him up and Nick placed a hand on the crystal, it lit up blue.

“Nick Garton. Water attribute. Mana: 40.”

Looks like Nick did have mana after all.

“Next. Dan Arc.”

When Dan placed his hand on the tool, a blue light like Nick’s appeared, though the glow was not especially strong.

“Water attribute. Mana: 30. Next, Marl Poisson.”

Dan came back scratching his head.

“Mana 30, huh? Better than having none, I guess. Figures I’m more suited for swordsmanship after all.”

Having mana generated magical resistance, which gave a huge defensive advantage over ordinary knights. That was a hell of a lot better than merely better than nothing, if you asked me.

When Marl placed his hand on the tool, it shone white.

“Marl Poisson. Light attribute. Mana: 60. Recovery magic is valuable.”

“Ehehe. But my mana’s still pretty average.”

The average mana for mana-bearing freshmen in the knight class was said to be under fifty, so Marl’s score was actually pretty damn good.

“Next, Azoth Ferrum. Step forward.”

I walked over to Schmidt and held my hand over the magical tool.

The moment I did, two colors appeared in the crystal—red and brown—and both flared brightly.

“Azoth Ferrum. Two attributes: fire and earth. Mana is…”

Professor Schmidt let out an impressed little “hoo.”

“Mana: 150.”

Voices rose around me, a mix of awe and shock.

“150? That has to be a mistake.”

“No fucking way. Why’s a guy like him…?”

The noise didn’t die down, but Schmidt kept the measurements going anyway.

“Next, Neon Ferrum.”

When Neon held a hand over the crystal, red and brown light shone just like mine had.

Professor Schmidt read off the result with a tired sort of disbelief.

“Neon also has fire and earth as dual attributes. Mana: 150.”

“You two are insane.”

“Azoth and Neon are amazing.”

Dan and Marl, along with several of our classmates, crowded around us in admiration, though not a few others glared our way with obvious frustration.

When the measurements for Class C were also complete, the top score belonged to Neon and me with 150.

Everyone else was at 80 or below, and the average mana among those with mana came out to 45.

Professor Schmidt walked over to us.

“What the hell is going on with the Ferrum family?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Last year it was Selene. This year it’s you two. The Ferrum family keeps taking the top spot in the knight class.”

“How did Selene do last year?”

“She shocked the hell out of me. She only had one attribute, but her mana was over 200. No offense, but that girl’s a monster. You two having 150 is still incredible, but with dual attributes it’s at least not impossible. Selene’s different. Her talent—or rather, her future growth—is hard to even imagine.”

“How amazing is 200 mana with just one attribute, exactly?”

“Let’s see. Last year’s top student in the upper class was Count’s daughter Fluorine Aureus—the vice president of the student council, in other words. She had four attributes, and when she enrolled as a first-year, her measurement was 250.”

“You mean that beautiful upperclassman from the student council who gave the speech at the entrance ceremony, right?”

“That’s her. I’m sure both of them have grown dramatically since then, and considering Selene’s potential, I think the two of them would put on one hell of a match. The second-years’ midterm magic practical test is coming up soon, so if they face each other directly, we might get to see something pretty damn interesting.”

“Can we watch it too?”

“Of course. Look forward to it.”

With that, Schmidt wrapped up the small talk and started today’s lesson.