Hearing the king's words, Aurelian froze for a moment and turned her head to look around.
The nobles around her did not seem surprised by this sudden proposal.
But… Aurelian could not quite understand.
Had he gone mad?
Here in the kingdom, the high-ranking noble class was basically made up entirely of warriors who had secured their positions through force.
Because they needed that strength to consolidate their rule over their territories.
So, the lord of a territory had to be the strongest person in that territory.
This was fundamentally different from the empire.
In the empire, most powerful individuals would follow the empire's orders and guard cities in various regions, and they would not interfere with the administration of those cities.
Because the strongest person in the empire was the emperor, and all power was concentrated in the emperor's hands.
In the empire, it was rare for there to be any so-called lords.
Even the Clavenna family was not truly a lord in the strict sense.
Although the Clavenna family had once been granted a large territory and allowed to name it after their family name.
That territory was called the Clavenna Territory.
But the largest city in that territory, Braeston, was not completely ruled by the Clavenna family.
Although everyone knew the Clavenna family was the dominant force in Braeston.
On the surface, however, the empire would still assign officials to manage the city together with the Clavenna family.
This was the biggest difference between the national conditions of the kingdom and the empire.
In the kingdom, as long as a territory remained relatively stable and showed no signs of unrest or rebellion, the lord would basically never be replaced casually.
In the empire, however, cities would constantly change their mayors for the sake of development.
A mayor's term might be five years, or ten years, before being replaced by someone else.
And the former mayor would naturally be promoted to a higher position after gaining enough experience.
But because of the kingdom's circumstances, the King of Cant had to ensure that the lords possessed powerful martial strength.
Otherwise, the people under their rule would not submit.
For commoners, the easiest way to rise in status was to become a warrior, crossing class boundaries through training their flesh and body.
This led to the warrior profession, which had the easiest path to advancement, becoming the mainstream of the kingdom.
It also resulted in the kingdom developing a unique noble title system, the star-ranked nobility.
A lord's management ability, the reputation of their territory, and their martial strength would all influence their star ranking.
Because of this, competition in the Kingdom of Cant was extremely fierce.
Fierce to a frightening degree.
Precisely because the warriors competed so intensely, they had nearly crushed all other professions in the kingdom.
Especially mages, who spent vast amounts of time and effort accumulating knowledge.
But in this brutal competition, they almost had no place to stand.
So the kingdom's mages simply abandoned the traditional path of being a mage and instead turned to obscure and niche methods in pursuit of their own power.
But unfortunately, in the end they all ended up ruining themselves on that path.
The territories were ruled by warriors, and they had to maintain this ecosystem in which all nobles were warriors.
But if the king strongly promoted mages, and even wanted to establish a magic academy, setting aside what kind of impact this would have on the kingdom's rule, for the lords, the impact would certainly be huge.
So Aurelian took the initiative to ask the king, "Your Majesty, do you know how difficult it is to cultivate a mage?"
King August nodded, leaning back slightly against the throne with a smile.
"Yes, I am very aware."
After all, their country already had a powerful mage, Grand Duke Feistan Barlow.
Aurelian's expression became somewhat serious as she continued asking, "Then I would like to know, if even more powerful mages appear, would you grant them noble titles?"
This point was almost a concern for the entire kingdom's system.
Although it was difficult for mages to produce powerful individuals, under academy-style education, there would still be quite a number of talented people.
They might not grow as quickly or possess the overwhelming strength of those warriors, but it was still possible for some second-tier or third-tier mages to appear.
At that point, should the kingdom grant them noble titles?
If not, then why would they even attend a magic academy?
Wasn't learning magic meant so that one could become a noble in the future and bring honor to their family?
King August's answer, however, was very clever.
"If their contributions reach the corresponding star rank, they will naturally receive the treatment they deserve."
In other words, the answer had been given from the beginning.
In the Kingdom of Cant, competition was extremely fierce.
Even mages, as long as they could meet the rank requirements of the star-nobility system, could become nobles.
This seemed very fair, because this was the kingdom, and it had the star-rank system.
As long as someone obtained a star rank, even a single star, they would rise from a commoner to become a baron.
At first glance, this did not seem like a problem.
But the issue was... in the early stages, the weakness of mages meant they were destined to be unable to compete with the powerful warriors.
After all, in the environment of the Kingdom of Cant, warriors were more numerous and much stronger than mages.
But there was one thing people must not forget.
That was the lifespan of mages.
A mage could live far longer than a warrior.
A single mage might live long enough to witness three generations of warriors come and go.
This longevity gave them enough time to establish their status within the kingdom's noble system.
By constantly using elemental magic, magic power flowed through the meridians within their bodies, and their bodies would be nourished by magic, maintaining youth and vitality.
A well-maintained mage living for one or two hundred years was not unusual.
By the time that group of old warriors died, the mages would still be alive.
After enduring that period, the entire noble system of the kingdom would likely end up firmly controlled by those old mages.
Although mages were extremely rare, and not everyone could become one, living long meant possessing seniority.
If there were a hundred old mages who had lived for more than a century, would there still be any room left for newly risen warriors to become noble lords?
Why was the Kingdom of Cant strong?
The reason was because it had many warriors, and their growth was rapid.
The warrior threshold was relatively low, which led even commoners to hold dreams and willingly become warriors.
Although commoners did not know how long they would have to struggle, as long as they became strong and obtained a star rank, wouldn't they instantly become nobles and bring honor to their ancestors?
As a result, throughout the entire kingdom, even commoners possessed considerable martial strength.
But once mage nobles began appearing in large numbers, those who came later would first have to face the enormous threshold of becoming a mage if they wished to advance.
Not everyone could become a mage.
And then there was the dull and tedious study.
Powerful mages needed time to accumulate knowledge, and only powerful mages could become nobles.
But the more powerful a mage became, the more unavoidable the passage of age would be.
So if someone wanted to become a lord?
Then they would first have to live long enough to reach a hundred years old.
Aurelian analyzed the situation of the kingdom and saw the potential problems very clearly.
As the ruler of a nation, could August possibly fail to notice this?
Yet he still insisted on saying he wanted to establish a magic academy?
Had the other lords really agreed to this?
This question troubled Aurelian deeply.
After thinking again and again, she concluded that this kind of matter should not be answered by her.
Because any answer would only make her fall into the trap set by this young king.
The more one spoke, the greater the chance of making a mistake.
So Aurelian smiled slightly and said politely, "I'm very sorry, Your Majesty. If you have looked into it, you should know that I have two teachers."
"Although I am a mage, the time I have spent learning swordsmanship is not any less than the time I spent learning magic."
Hearing this sentence, many noble lords could not help turning their gaze toward Aurelian.
From their faces, one could see extreme surprise.
This princess who even looked somewhat fragile, a mage princess... was she actually a close-combat mage who trained both magic and martial arts?
To practice both magic and martial skills required double the effort.
This made the nobles present reevaluate the princess and once again feel a strong sense of goodwill toward her.
After all, in this kingdom, lords usually valued only two things, strength, and whether the other person was a warrior.
Aurelian said calmly, "So regarding this matter, I'm sorry that I cannot give an answer, because I am not a mage in the traditional sense."
"However, Your Majesty, perhaps you could ask my teacher, Viktor, Councilor Clavenna."
The moment these words were spoken, the many nobles all fell silent.
A distinct presence began to rise throughout the entire hall.
That power was so strong that it seemed as if all the elements within this space had been stirred together.
Magic power began to stir restlessly, like rushing currents swirling around every noble present.
This oppressive magic made everyone present feel a trace of unease.
Many people could not help turning their eyes toward Viktor.
He was simply sitting there calmly, his hands in his pockets.
But those noble lords could clearly feel it.
This sense of pressure was clearly emanating from Councilor Clavenna.
Many people knew Viktor. After all, that ocean battle that had spread across the world had been far too shocking.
And they had also heard something else.
Viktor and his group, on their journey to visit the kingdom, had bombarded the Nangaburna Valley that lay between the empire and the kingdom.
That kind of feat, something almost impossible for human power to achieve, made these warriors feel even more shocked.
No matter how strong they were, they could never produce destruction on the scale of a natural disaster.
August raised his eyebrows with interest and continued speaking to Aurelian, "Oh? Councilor Clavenna understands this as well?"
Aurelian responded with a smile, "Of course. My teacher himself is the chief professor of our Empire's Royal Magic Academy."
As she spoke, a proud expression appeared on her face.
That small trace of pride was noticed by August.
He smiled lightly, "I see."
Then he turned his gaze toward Viktor, and deep respect could be seen in his eyes.
"Councilor Clavenna."
Viktor remained expressionless and only nodded coldly in response.
The king asked, "In truth, my desire to establish a magic academy is not a sudden impulse."
"In our kingdom, we already have an institution somewhat similar to the empire's magic academy."
"It's just that it focuses more on training powerful warriors."
At this point, August straightened his posture, and a deep emotion seemed to appear in his eyes.
"Stellar Academy."
"This name comes from our kingdom's noble ranking system."
"When I was young, I also studied there for many years."
He stood up, as if inviting them, and extended his hands toward Aurelian and Viktor with a smile.
"Councilor, and Princess Aurelian."
"Would the two of you be interested in visiting that great institution with us?"