side stories fill a much needed role here; worldbuilding, humanizing the characters and creating context for events(maybe sloppy/lazy on author's part, but maybe not? I find them enjoyable but some may argue that more skillful to build into the main story vs flashbacks within flashbacks or side stories.)
NOW we have an idea:
Why Allen's mother is so awesome/intimidating
what some of the background events were (his grandmother saluting him as his ship departed etc.)
Why Allen is considered such an oddball/so extraordinary as a noble (how other nobles behave- and are educated)
how military culture is structured
etc.
if/when we 'meet' these characters again we will have insight as to aspects of their personalities and situations that don't need exposition/asides in the main plot - and we got a healthy dose of foreshadowing
hinted that Al's prosthetic arm will be essentially a self contained GOLEM (and a WAND) made from the monster wood that his wand is made from and the 'core' will be some type of mineral that Allen needs to rediscover in the mine