1. True
2. Central Kingdom forgot peace by sacrifice of the 4 great noble families. From what I remember, Wester and Kingdom both have hit or miss magic on ordinary people (not all have) magic. Wester have variety level of needs for barrier some places needs while others don't since they are far from mountain or sea and the barrier stones from doors & windows suffice). Wester in overall don't need town-wide barrier since they can survive as is, it's just the royalty wants their citizen to enjoy nightlife freely like the Kingdom that's why they want to start the town-wide barrier and sacrifices themselves for it.
I agree that the magic research is lacking from all countries, the only magic research that have progress somehow comes from MC's family, starting from MC's father who starts business on magic tools.
The MCs family is right to hide their magic ability of reading magic since they won't know who have evil intentions to do harm against them (it's for self protection). Just look at Angeline who targets the MC just because she was from the 4 great families!!! What more if she finds out that hidden ability, her jealousy towards MC's father (or their whole family) will be through the roof!
3. I Agree.
If I may add, my rant would be that Wester CHOSE to set up the barrier themselves and even TIED ALISTAIR to that barrier INVOLUNTARILY just because he was from the 4 Great families of the Kingdom!! Although from outside it looks like the Wester royalties are protecting him and giving education but basically it's forced slavery? (force submission/ force obligation) to provide magic to the magic stone for barrier box that Wester royalty decided to setup by themselves without the citizen clamoring or asking for it!
I'm sure that not only Alistair, but including his family's decendants down the line as long as his descendants stays in Wester and I'm sure that the subsequent royal family will forget the decision of respect (Alistair have the right to go anywhere, etc.) and will claim Alister's bloodline for themselves and tied his descendants to Wester by not allowing them to return to Kingdom or have freedom to go anywhere (unless they have written contract signed or the the future royals have integrity like this generations' royal family)
1. Easter is too peaceful, they lack awareness. Easter is a land with the least hollow encounter. Probably zero, in fact. And because there's no hollow, the land is the most fertile for agriculture. And because of the peace, the people has almost no magic. I'm not sure the correlation, but from what I understand, basically, no magic, no hollow. And that's why they got greedy. In those peacefulness, they forgot that the central kingdom is literally holding the peace they have in check.
2. Same goes to the people in the central kingdom. They've been kept safe too much with the barrier that they hold their barrier keepers (aka the nobles with colourful eyes) prisoner in their own country. Honestly, there's not enough research that goes to magic in people. From what we can see with MC is Wester, almost everyone has magic, some more than other. In fact, it's rarer to find people with no magic, like that b**chy kid that wants to see the hollow. Why not let the common people help with barrier maintenance? The more you contribute, the higher your merit to the country? Seriously, they need more crazy, curious people (and people from MC's bloodline need that stick dislodged from their a**es, seriously, they CAN SEE THE MAGIC).
3. Which comes to my third rant, Angie Remington. Honestly, I get it. She was suffocated by her father's patriarchy values. She is suffocated by the imprisonment of the four house nobles in the kingdom. And so she retaliate. By becoming the same kind of person as her father was. By endangering the citizens of kingdom with her dangerous plots. She wants to free herself...at the cost of everyone else. She either lost empathy or never had them in the first place.