I Died and Became a Noble's Heir-Chapter 381: History [Golden Ticket Bonus - ]

Jack made it perhaps thirty feet before a six-inch wind spirit materialized directly in front of his face.

"We need to talk," Sylph announced, her black-and-green eyes blazing with fury. "Right now."

Jack stopped, raising one eyebrow at the tiny spirit hovering at eye level. "Does Rhys know you’re here?"

"Rhys is terrified to leave his room," Sylph snapped. "He thinks you’re going to turn him into a mindless puppet the moment he disobeys an order. So yes, I’m here alone because someone needs to get answers."

"And you’ve decided that someone is you."

"Damn right." Sylph crossed her tiny arms, wind currents swirling around her form in agitated patterns. "I need to know what you’re planning to do with him. With us. Because right now, all we know is that you practice magic that was supposed to be extinct and that you’ve bound Rhys’s soul to some contract that could mean anything literally."

Jack glanced toward Chiron’s distant form, then back at the agitated spirit.

"Walk with me," Jack said, resuming his stride toward Chiron’s location.

Sylph flew alongside his head, maintaining perfect pace despite her obvious irritation. "That’s it? ’Walk with me?’ I’m demanding answers, and you’re treating this like a casual stroll?"

"You want answers," Jack replied without looking at her. "I’m willing to provide them. However, I’m not stopping my current task to stand in the middle of the garden and have this conversation. So yes, walk with me, and ask your questions."

Sylph’s tiny form trembled with rage. "Fine. First question, what are you planning to do with Rhys?"

"Make him King of Caeloria," Jack said as if discussing the weather. "Exactly as I promised. He works for me, provides access to Caeloria’s resources when he’s crowned, and becomes a useful ally in a kingdom I’d otherwise have limited influence over."

"That’s it?" Sylph’s voice carried skepticism. "No mind control? No forcing him to dance like a puppet? No erasing his personality and turning him into some mindless servant?"

"Why would I do that?" Jack’s tone suggested genuine confusion. "I need someone competent who can actually rule a kingdom. A mindless puppet would be useless for that purpose. Worse than useless. It would be obvious to everyone around him that something was wrong, which would undermine the entire point of making him king."

"But the contract..."

"Binds him to keep certain secrets and prevents betrayal," Jack confirmed. "He can’t tell people about my Soul Magic. He cannot disclose to anyone what he sees regarding my abilities or operations. And he can’t deliberately work against me or try to sabotage my interests."

He paused, his red eyes finding Sylph’s tiny face with directness that made her flinch. "But his thoughts are his own. His will is his own. His ability to make decisions, form opinions, and function as an independent person. All of that remains completely intact. The contract doesn’t control him. It just prevents specific actions that would directly harm me."

Sylph stared at him for several heartbeats. "That’s... not how Soul Magic is supposed to work."

"Based on what reference?" Jack asked with genuine curiosity. "The stories about Soul Mages from generations ago? The propaganda spread during the Purge of Shadows? Or actual firsthand experience with different practitioners who each used the discipline differently?"

"The Council killed them all," Sylph whispered. "Fifty years ago. The last Soul Mages were hunted down and executed because they were too dangerous to exist."

"So I’ve heard," Jack replied calmly.

"Then how are you not dead?" Sylph’s voice rose with genuine confusion. "The Council exists specifically to eliminate existential threats! Soul Magic is at the top of that list! If you’re using it, if you’ve been using it long enough to have multiple people under contract, why hasn’t The Council found you and killed you already?"

Jack’s stride didn’t falter, but something in his expression shifted. He was curious now. "Tell me about The Council. Everything you know."

Sylph hesitated, then seemed to decide that information exchange was her best option for getting answers. "They’re a secret organization. Seven members, each one catastrophically powerful. They exist for one purpose: eliminating threats to the world’s stability. Soul Magic was deemed the greatest threat in recorded history because of what it can do."

"Which is?"

"Control people!" Sylph’s tiny hands gestured emphatically. "A Soul Mage doesn’t need armies or siege weapons. They need proximity and time. Walk into a throne room, bind a king’s soul with a handshake, turn the most powerful man in a kingdom into a puppet. That’s what happened to Valtara sixty-three years ago. The king executed his entire family, then himself. Someone had bound him, made him kill everyone he loved, then end his own life to erase evidence."

Jack’s expression remained neutral, but his eyes narrowed fractionally. "And The Council formed in response."

"They already existed, but that’s when they learned of the last soul mages," Sylph confirmed. "Spent thirteen years tracking down every Soul Mage alive. Burned entire cities suspected of harboring practitioners. Destroyed bloodlines. When it ended, Soul Magic was supposed to be extinct."

"But here I am," Jack observed.

"Here you are," Sylph repeated with something between fear and fascination. "Using magic that should have gotten you killed years ago. Which brings me back to my question. How? How are you still alive?"

"Maybe they don’t know I exist," Jack suggested.

"That’s not possible," Sylph countered immediately. "The Council has resources everywhere. Informants, spies, detection methods. If you’ve been using Soul Magic openly enough to have multiple contracts active, they should have found you."

"Unless," Jack said slowly, "they have and decided I’m not a threat."

Sylph’s eyes widened. "That’s... you think they know about you and are just watching?"

"It’s possible." Jack’s mind worked through the implications. "Or perhaps their detection methods aren’t as comprehensive as you think. Or..." he paused, "...maybe they’re waiting to see what I do with the power before deciding whether I need to be eliminated."

"That’s insane," Sylph breathed. "The Council doesn’t wait. They don’t evaluate. They see a threat, and they eliminate it. That’s their entire purpose."

"Then perhaps I’m not the threat they’re looking for," Jack replied. "You said Soul Mages used the power to control kings, destroy kingdoms, and turn people into mindless puppets. I’m using it to make employment contracts with an elf prince and ensure loyalty from my household staff. Not quite the same scale of catastrophe."

Sylph flew in a small circle, processing this logic with visible effort. "But you could. That’s the point. You can do all those terrible things even if you’re choosing not to right now."

"Everyone has capabilities they choose not to use," Jack countered. "Chiron Stormblood could level this entire manor with lightning if he wanted to. Should The Council eliminate him because he has that power, even though he’s never actually done it?"

"That’s different..."

"Is it?" Jack gazed at her with an intensity that made her hover motionless. "Power is power, Sylph. What matters is how it’s used, not what it could theoretically be used for. If The Council eliminated everyone with dangerous capabilities, they’d need to kill half the powerful people alive."

"Including themselves," Sylph whispered.