Mage Manual
Chapter 680 - 538 Coveting

Chapter 680: Chapter 538 Coveting

Kingdom of Stars, Sword Flower University.

"Ah? Doesn’t she especially like those dishes? I see her going back and forth in the canteen always picking those."

"Sonia always eats those because those dishes provide the best value for money—they are impeccable in taste, nutrition, price, and energy. Even we from the Sword Skill often choose these dishes. But you have more living expenses and usually eat less, so you might not have noticed the prices. However, Sonia must not be short of money recently, but she still eats these dishes, which shows that she doesn’t have a great desire for gastronomy."

"I see... Next question, the places Sonia frequently visits lately, besides the dormitory, training building, library, and Meditation Building, there’s nowhere else, right? Since she became a Mage, it seems she hasn’t attended those gatherings she used to."

When Lois returned to the dormitory, she saw Adelle and Ingrid discussing someone else’s private affairs very seriously and couldn’t help asking, "What are you doing?"

"Researching Sonia," Adelle said.

"I know you’re researching Sonia, but what’s there to research?" Lois put her backpack on the desk, looking confused. "If you want to know something, why not just ask her when she comes back?"

"That won’t do. I can’t let the head of the Claw Club know I’m researching her," Adelle said. "I’m up to no good."

"How could you be doing anything bad? You’re not that kind of person."

"Lois!" Adelle was very touched. "I didn’t expect you to trust my character so much!"

"I’m not trusting your character; I’m trusting your intelligence. Given that you even gave up cheating on the final exam because it was too troublesome, I really can’t imagine what sort of bad things you could do." Lois sat down and said, "I think the worst you might do is buy some cream puffs and suck the cream out with a straw before we get any?"

"Lois, you don’t understand me well enough," Adelle huffed. "If I were to buy cream puffs, why would I stop after sucking out the cream? I’d at least leave one for each of you!"

"Alright, alright, Ingrid, you tell us," Lois said.

"Adelle’s family wants her to gather information on Sonia, like her social connections, eating habits, frequent places," Ingrid calmly explained. "In short, they want to figure out Sonia’s secrets."

As Lois was opening her backpack, she stopped.

"...Ah?"

"I can’t help it," Adelle complained. "I went home, and my mother dragged me to her room to tell me how bad our family situation is, how my father’s career and his noble title still have a chance to go further—all those bothersome things. I barely escaped to hang out with Frey, and at first, Frey was fine. But when we were embracing and watching the stars, he even started talking about Sonia—mentioning another woman during a date, that’s a deduction!"

"The root of the problem isn’t your parents or fiancé." Lois said, "I remember your father is a Shield Knight, and your fiancé’s family holds the title of Spear Knight. Your family hasn’t produced a Holy Sanctuary Mage for a long time; it’s unlikely they would dare covet the secrets of a Holy Sanctuary Mage... Your family is just a medium; the real schemer must be one of the court nobles."

Court nobles are also known as guard nobles, due to there being two completely different systems of nobility: court nobles and guard nobles.

Court nobles are divided into dukes, marquises, earls, and barons, while guard nobles are divided into Shield, Spear, Bow, and Armor categories. Not only are their systems of rank different, but their scopes of duties diverge significantly: members of the Court Council, Legislative Council, and Noble House are only selected from court nobles, while most positions like government officials, law enforcement officers, and city governors are held by guard nobles.

In simple terms, guard nobles comprise the national civil service, carrying out the Empress’s commands; court nobles form the parliamentary cabinet, serving as the Empress’s strategists. Although not explicitly mentioned, court nobles cannot hold governmental positions, and vice versa.

If court nobles truly want to engage in administration, they must renounce their inheritance rights to a noble title and, like commoners, pass various exams to start as the lowest-ranked Sword Knight and enter the path of governmental office.

Moreover, while the nobility of court nobles is hereditary and immutable, it doesn’t mean they cannot be demoted. The Noble House has a complex set of calculation rules that demotes inefficient court nobles directly to guard nobles.

Overall, court nobles are considered higher in status than guard nobles, but for those with political ambitions and a desire to control power, guard nobles are the definitive answer.

The Shield Knight and Spear Knight titles mentioned by Lois are two ranks within the guard nobles. A significant difference between court and guard nobles is that while it is extremely difficult for court nobles to advance in rank, often maintaining the same title for generations, guard nobles operate differently; irrespective of the title held by the previous generation, the next generation always starts as Sword Knights.

Therefore, a guard title does not signify your family background, but rather your personal rank—within the judicial system, promotions often equate to advancement in noble rank. Even if your parents are commoners, as soon as you become a city governor, you are necessarily an Armor Knight; even if your parents are Armor Knights, but you are a mere operator, you can only be a Sword Knight. The main significance of a noble rank concerns the conveniences you can enjoy, the privileges you can unlock, and the benefits you get after retirement.

It is evident that the names of the five ranks of guard nobles originate from Cold Weapon warfare, where the shield has an advantage over the sword, the spear is stronger than the shield, the bow is advantageous, and the armor is key. Adelle’s family holds the title of Shield Knight, and her fiancé’s family holds the title of Spear Knight, which is quite an equal match.