Chapter 606: A Place Kept

Hajin set the registry on the receiving-room table after breakfast and asked Sava and Vella to witness Nyra’s answer.

Breakfast concluded an hour earlier, and the other companions deliberately remained in the courtyard to grant the chamber absolute privacy.

Nyra chose Sava and Vella as witnesses that morning, asking the rest of the household to wait outside until she finished writing.

Hajin switched off the celestial feed before Nyra entered the receiving room so nobody on Earth could watch her write.

Only Sava, Vella, and Hajin sat within the room, arranged around the circular table where the official registry lay open.

Nyra walked into the chamber wearing a clean linen tunic, her posture tall and her expression steady as she took a seat.

"Nyra, we are here to confirm the choice you made yesterday," the summoner began, speaking in a calm, welcoming tone.

"Do you still wish to be registered as permanent bloodline kin of this household?"

"Yes," the young girl replied clearly, looking directly into his split-colored eyes without the slightest hesitation.

"I thought about it all night, and I want my name written in the province record."

Hajin reached into his spatial inventory, retrieving the ancient Crown Compact relic, a shimmering parchment scroll bound with solar threads.

He laid the compact across the table, unrolling the sacred text until the lineage covenant section lay exposed to the morning light.

Sava dipped his brush into dark soot ink and offered it to Nyra, leaving her free to choose the first stroke.

"Would you like me to hold the page or guide the brush?" Sava asked, keeping his hands beside the register.

"The page, please," Nyra said. "I practiced the letters yesterday, and I want to make them myself."

Sava secured the upper corner with two fingers while Nyra checked that the blank line gave her enough room for the wide curve of her R.

The small girl concentrated with fierce determination, slowly painting each character until the name Nyra stood proudly upon the page.

"That is how I wrote it on my bird drawing," she said, lifting the brush to inspect the final stroke.

Sava eased his fingers away, leaving her the space to decide whether the written name matched the one she spoke.

"It does," she told Hajin, turning the register toward him. "You can seal it now."

Hajin brought his sovereign signet ring down onto the wet wax seal beside her signature, pressing the golden crest firmly into place.

A gentle flash of golden warmth radiated through the room, connecting the parchment to the territorial ley lines running beneath the foundation.

Translucent interface text shimmered into view, confirming the legal and spiritual covenant without fanfare or unnecessary delay.

[ Crown Compact: Covenant verified ]

[ Status: Permanent bloodline kin established ]

[ Subject: Nyra ]

[ Authority: Non-military, autonomous kinship ]

Nyra leaned forward, her eyes scanning the floating letters with eager curiosity as she tugged gently on the summoner’s sleeve.

"What does the system say, Master Hajin?" she asked, her voice hushed with awe.

"It says your name is permanently recorded as family," he answered with a soft, affectionate smile.

"It confirms that you possess full autonomy, and that this territory guarantees your safety for all time."

"May I read it again?"

"Whenever you wish," Sava answered, keeping the registry open.

Vella stepped closer, keeping her healing light clear of Nyra’s shoulder until the girl nodded and offered her arm.

"I am checking how your internal mana pathways respond to the ward connection," Vella explained, touching her arm.

The spirit maiden closed her eyes, weaving a gentle diagnosis thread that resonated with the girl’s core for several seconds.

"The connection is completely stable," Vella reported, lowering her hand as the emerald glow dissipated into the air.

"Her internal channels are calm, though her old scars and daily fatigue remain exactly as they were before the ceremony."

"The covenant gives legal and spiritual protection against external assault, but it does not miraculously rewrite mortal biology."

"I am fine with my old scars," Nyra stated with a small, proud nod, smoothing the sleeves of her tunic.

"They remind me that I survived the dark cellar, and that I walked all the way to this sunny room!"

"The seal did not take those memories away," Vella said, letting her healing light fade before she reached for any further treatment.

"I did not ask it to," Nyra replied. "I only wanted to know the door would still open for me tomorrow."

"Can I go back to the workshop now?" she asked, sliding off her chair and looking toward the door.

"Sava left my unfinished flower plate on the shelf, and I want to add another curved petal beside it!"

"You may go wherever you please, Nyra," the young lord laughed, gesturing toward the open hallway.

"The whole estate is yours to explore, whenever you want!"

The young girl offered a bright, radiant smile, spinning around and skipping out into the corridor with light, joyful footsteps.

Out in the sunny hallway, Loccy intercepted the small girl with a wide grin, pressing a smooth river pebble into her palm.

"This is your official family welcome token!" the rabbit maiden proclaimed proudly, puffing out her chest.

"I found it in the mountain brook this morning, and it is almost as smooth as a fresh biscuit!"

"Thank you, Loccy!" Nyra giggled, clutching the polished pebble before skipping onward to Sava’s workshop.

Hajin restored the celestial feed after Nyra left the receiving room, announcing her chosen registration while keeping the written page private.

Earth viewers saw her cross the courtyard with Loccy’s pebble in one hand, waving toward the kitchen as she approached Sava’s workshop.

[ Seoul_Tactician: "Nyra is officially part of the family! Look at how proud she is of her name!" ]

[ StarlightScholar: "That contract gives Nyra a way to refuse him. I hope she knows she can use it!" ]

[ IronVanguard: "Drop maximum superchats for our new little sister, she deserves all the happiness in the world!" ]

A few minutes later, firm footsteps echoed along the corridor, and Ferra strode into the receiving room with grease on her brow.

The dragon-blood smith set a rolled parchment map and a scorched cylinder onto the table, her expression grim and focused.

"We have a situation brewing in the eastern valley, Hajin," the smith announced bluntly, crossing her muscular arms.

"Our scouts intercepted a strange mana relay pumping foul energy from the ruins of the old imperial foundry!"

"What kind of energy?" the summoner asked, his easy demeanor instantly hardening into sharp, tactical focus.

"Counterfeit choral resonance," she growled, tapping the scorched cylinder with her thumb.

"Someone took the masterwork network diagrams I forged for the province gates and butchered them into a twisted possession conduit!"

"The operator running that foundry is forcing trapped furnace heat through counterfeit circuits, poisoning the local ley lines."

"If we leave that relay burning, it will feed hostile corruption straight toward our northern defensive perimeter!"

Hajin leaned over the map, his eyes tracing the jagged river valleys and abandoned smelting facilities of the eastern district.

"Who is running the facility?" the young lord asked, feeling the discordant hum of hijacked mana vibrating against his skin.

"A rogue artisan named Keldan," the smith replied, clenching her calloused fists with simmering anger.

"He was an apprentice in the capital before the war, but he traded his hammer for choir corruption."

"He thinks he can imitate my masterwork without understanding how living metal actually breathes!"

"What is the physical layout of the facility?" Vella inquired, drifting closer to study the faded architectural lines on the map.

"The foundry sits inside a natural ravine flanked by towering shale bluffs," the smith explained, pointing with a calloused finger.

"The main smelting floor has two active cupola furnaces, five overhead crane rails, and a subterranean drainage flume."

"Keldan rigged the blast valves to vent superheated steam across the catwalks whenever intruders approach the central crucible."

"We cannot just smash the building from the outside," Hajin observed, nodding as he analyzed the choke points.

"If the main pressure jacket ruptures prematurely, the trapped choral poison will contaminate the entire river basin."

"Exactly," Ferra agreed with a fierce grimace.

"I need to get inside that forge room with my own tools and two apprentice smiths to manually isolate the fuel lines."

"While you work on the machinery, I will handle perimeter security and test their frequency stability," the summoner proposed.

"Hans and Sava will maintain the home defense perimeter here at the manor, ensuring Nyra and the household remain completely secure."

"That sounds like a solid plan," Ferra nodded, rolling up her map with resolute finality.

"Take the counterfeit smith alive if he knows where the couplings feed," Hajin said, tapping the foundry route on Ferra’s map.

"Pack your gear, summoner... let us go show this counterfeit smith what happens when real artisans bring down the hammer!"