Chapter 99: Why don’t you just kill them all?

"So this is the power of the Tongue?" Austin murmured, a faint, intrigued smile curling the corners of his lips as he remained completely composed.

He leaned back into the velvet armchair, adjusting his cuffs.

"I understand the domain of Sword Experts quite well, but I must admit, I still cannot fully fathom how you Spirit Mages operate." He let out a deep, deliberate sigh, watching her closely.

Lady Alyse remained entirely unfazed by his scrutiny.

She gently caressed the delicate skin of her throat with her gloved fingers—a subtle, instinctive reaction to weaving a spell of such absolute spatial isolation.

Casting a wide-range spiritual barrier had temporarily drained the resonance from her vocal cords, but as her dense mana reserves surged beneath her skin, her vocal fatigue vanished almost instantly.

She maintained a serene, innocent smile as Austin pressed further, testing her boundaries.

"As far as my intelligence reports indicate, so long as a Spirit Magician remains below the Second Layer Mage class, you are strictly bound to casting your spells through spoken incantations—the power of your words," Austin noted, resting his chin against his knuckles.

"Perhaps... Her Grace would enlighten an uncultured merchant?"

Lady Alyse inhaled deeply, her violet eyes glinting with amused grace. "Sure," she replied, giving a light shrug.

"Why not? A good business relationship relies on mutual understanding, after all."

She smoothed down the dark crimson fabric of her dress and leaned forward slightly, her tone turning reflective as she began to unveil the hidden mechanics of her craft.

"The original Spirit Realm exists in a dimension far beyond mortal comprehension," Alyse explained, her voice carrying a naturally hypnotic rhythm.

"Just as that realm exists in the grand void, so too do the Tapestries of Fate, the River of Time, and the depths of the Underworld. All of them exist simultaneously, woven into the cosmic fabric, each governing a fundamental fragment of the universe."

Her gaze settled on the shimmering, invisible boundary pulsing at the edges of the room.

"However, out of all those primordial dimensions, it is only the Spirit Realm that we Spirit Magicians are granted the affinity to access, grasp, and command. We do not manipulate raw physical elements like mundane elementalists; we commune directly with true spirituality."

She raised her delicate hand, tapping her fingers lightly together. "The moment a practitioner awakens their core and steps into the Superhuman realm as a Spirit Mage, once infused with spirituality, our spoken words cease to be mere sound.

They become an active order—a binding decree—injected into the Spirit Realm. From there, we can forcibly implement temporary rules and absolute authorities over the physical world.

But of course, every decree is strictly tied to our internal mana reserves and spiritual capacity. As a mere First-Layer Mage, my domain is still quite limited in scope."

She exhaled a soft, lingering sigh, dropping her hand back to her lap.

Austin clapped his hands together twice, a dry, approving smirk playing on his face.

"A fascinating explanation. I thank you for the lesson, Lady Alyse—though you sell yourself far too short. A First-Layer Mage who can seal an entire third floor with a whisper is formidable enough."

Austin’s smile faded, replaced by a sharp, unyielding glint in his calculating eyes.

His expression hardened into business, his brow furrowing into a stern crease.

"Now then... let us cut through the pleasantries and get straight to the heart of the matter," Austin stated, his voice dropping an octave.

"What in the hell is actually going on?"

Lady Alyse laid back into the plush cushions of her seat, crossing her long legs with effortless elegance.

She took a slow, deep breath, her innocent expression dissolving into the cold, weary mask of a true political player.

"Behind the grand velvet curtains of the Veraxes Duchy, a vicious, hidden political war is raging," Alyse revealed smoothly, staring directly into Austin’s eyes.

"And the catalyst for this shadow conflict was none other than my formal appointment as the sole heiress to the ducal throne."

She let out a soft, bitter laugh. "The elder council, the high-ranking military lords, and the old traditionalists at the top... they adamantly refuse to bow their heads or take binding sovereign orders from a young woman.

They view my ascension as an insult to their long-established patriarchal order. My father, the Golden Duke, is doing everything within his power to mediate the tension and keep the Duchy from fracturing into open civil war, but the pressure is escalating daily."

Alyse turned her head slightly, her gaze drifting toward the closed, sealed window as if looking straight through the glass toward the heart of the capital.

"That is the absolute truth behind my delay, Master Austin," she admitted quietly. "I did not keep you waiting out of disrespect or arrogance. I had to move with extreme caution.

I needed to observe the Paureen Family’s genuine reactions to being stalled—to test your patience, your loyalty, and your composure under pressure.

More importantly, I had to ensure that my movement to this private castle would not grant my political opponents any incriminating evidence or leverage to use against me."

Listening to her confession, Austin shifted his posture, leaning back into his chair and crossing his legs to match hers.

He digested the information in silence, analyzing the political map of the Veraxes Duchy through the lens of a ruthless merchant.

The delays, the lack of an armed escort, the Butler’s vigilance, and the deployment of the Room of Silence—every single piece of the puzzle clicked cleanly into place.

Austin rested his elbow on the armrest, propping his chin against his hand as a cold, dark, and terribly pragmatic thought crossed his mind.

He locked eyes with the golden-haired heiress, his tone dangerously calm as he asked a simple, brutal question.

"If there are factions actively threatening your birthright and standing in the way of your ascension as the next Duchess of Vraxen..." Austin murmured, his golden eyes narrowing,

"...why don’t you just kill them all?"