Chapter 675: Things That Can Wait

Kael woke up before Sylphie.

That, by itself, wasn’t unusual. What felt strange was staying in bed after realizing he was awake.

The light filtering through the curtains was still faint, meaning the sun had only just risen. The room was quiet except for Sylphie’s breathing beside him and the occasional sound from the window whenever the wind brushed against the wood. Umbra was somewhere within the shadows, though Kael couldn’t tell whether she was awake.

Normally, at that hour, he’d already be thinking about what he needed to do first.

That morning, the list still existed.

It just didn’t feel urgent.

Valgrin was being handled by Irelia and Elion. Amelia was coordinating the audit of the First Archive’s external connections. Selvanor would receive a formal proposal. Vareth was removing old access points. Aeris had three years to reduce its dependence on climate control. Edras wanted to remain in the Garden until winter.

None of it required Kael before breakfast.

He spent a few more minutes staring at the ceiling before slowly getting up.

His shoulder answered with a slight stiffness, but without the deep pain of the previous days. He rolled his arm once, then again. His right ankle was better as well. When he shifted his weight onto it, he felt only mild resistance during the first movement.

The channels in his chest were still the main problem.

Kael took a deep breath and let a minimal amount of mana circulate through his torso. No acceleration. No Step. Just controlled flow, following muscles, ribs, and spine.

The energy completed the circuit without the sharp twinge that had kept appearing near his sternum.

"Better."

"You’re doing it again."

Kael turned his head.

Sylphie still had her eyes closed.

"You were asleep."

"I was."

"Then how..."

"You change your breathing whenever you start moving mana."

She opened her eyes.

Kael considered the answer.

"That’s annoyingly specific."

"I live with you."

Sylphie sat up, brushed her white hair away from her face, and held out a hand.

"Come here."

Kael stepped closer.

She placed her fingers against the center of his chest and closed her eyes. Natural mana flowed through the same pathways he had just tested, but more carefully, reaching areas Kael couldn’t evaluate on his own without forcing the flow.

After almost a minute, she withdrew her hand.

"Much better."

"Can I use the Step?"

"No."

"You answered fast."

"Because I knew that would be your first question."

"It was my second."

Sylphie looked at him.

Kael thought for a moment.

"Third, technically."

"Still no."

He accepted it without insisting.

That made Sylphie watch him for a few seconds.

"You’re not going to argue?"

"I can start if it’d make you more comfortable."

"No."

Kael began changing clothes.

"Then we’re in agreement."

Umbra spoke from the shadow behind the bed.

"That’s worrying too."

Kael looked toward the floor.

"You were listening?"

"Unfortunately."

"For how long?"

"Since ’better.’"

Sylphie stood.

"Let’s eat."

Kael finished buttoning his shirt.

"First I want to do one thing."

She immediately became suspicious.

"What?"

"Train."

"No."

"Without mana."

Sylphie stopped.

"No Step."

"Yes."

"No body reinforcement."

"Yes."

"And no deciding halfway through that technically some technique doesn’t count as mana."

Kael crossed his arms.

"That condition is offensively specific."

"It was necessary."

Umbra appeared by the door.

"I’ll be a witness."

Kael sighed.

"Wooden sword. Basic movements. Half an hour."

"Twenty minutes."

"Twenty-five."

"Twenty."

"That’s not a negotiation."

"It didn’t need to be."

Kael accepted.

The small training courtyard in the eastern wing was almost empty at that hour. Two soldiers were doing physical exercises near the wall, while a third organized practice weapons. All of them noticed Kael entering, but had the good sense not to interrupt what they were doing.

Kael chose a simple wooden sword.

The weight was different from his usual weapon, the balance sat closer to the guard, and the grip was slightly thicker than he preferred.

None of it mattered.

He started slowly.

Feet first.

Forward.

Back.

Shift.

Hip rotation.

Horizontal strike.

Return.

No mana.

No acceleration.

Kael realized his body complained more about the lack of speed than about the effort itself. For weeks, he had relied on energy to compensate for injuries, distance, disadvantages, and the need to react before everyone else.

Now each movement had to finish before the next one began.

It was almost uncomfortable.

After a few minutes, he found the rhythm.

The wooden blade began cutting through the air in short, controlled movements. He avoided overextending his left shoulder and reduced pressure on his ankle whenever he changed direction.

This wasn’t training to improve.

It was simply movement.

Sylphie watched from a low stone wall.

Umbra had disappeared.

Kael finished one sequence, returned to his starting position, and exhaled.

"How long?"

"Eleven minutes."

"That feels wrong."

"Want me to make it ten?"

"No."

He continued.

During the second half, he picked up a smaller wooden sword with his left hand and practiced coordination between both arms. His shoulder held up well until the third rotation, when stronger tension appeared beneath the scar.

Kael stopped immediately.

Sylphie stood.

"Did it hurt?"

"A little."

"You’re done."

He looked at the sword.

Then at her.

"Four minutes left."

"Your shoulder doesn’t know how to count."

Kael returned both weapons to the rack.

Sylphie kept watching him.

"You stopped."

"Yes."

"Without me having to rip the sword out of your hand."

"Don’t make it sound extraordinary."

"I’m deciding whether to record today’s date."

Kael walked past her.

"Let’s eat."

When they reached the dining room, Eleonor was already there.

She held a cup in one hand and three documents in the other.

Kael noticed the papers.

Eleonor noticed that he noticed.

"They’re not yours."

"I didn’t ask."

"I know."

Kael sat down.

Sylphie hid a smile as she served herself breakfast.

A few minutes later, Seraphine entered with the nameless man. He wore different clothes than the day before—simple, dark clothes—and still carried the dented cup. The list was still with him too, folded inside his shirt pocket.

Kael pointed at the clothes.

"You picked them?"

The man looked down at himself.

"Yes."

"Like them?"

"More than the others."

"Why?"

He thought.

"They don’t squeeze my neck."

Kael nodded.

"Good enough."

Seraphine sat beside him.

"We spent almost half an hour choosing."

"There were too many."

Eleonor lowered one of her documents.

"How many?"

"Seven shirts."

Eleonor looked at Seraphine.

"You showed him all seven at once?"

"It was a mistake."

The man picked up some bread.

"I thought I needed to figure out which one was the right one."

Kael understood the sentence immediately.

"There isn’t a right one."

"I know now."

He broke off a piece of bread.

"I picked this one because it was comfortable."

"Good rule."

"Does it work for names too?"

Kael stopped with his cup halfway to his mouth.

"Maybe."

The man seemed to think seriously about that.

Seraphine intervened before breakfast turned into another attempt to decide who he needed to become.

"He found three names he didn’t like."

Kael looked at him.

"That helps too."

"One sounded like an old man’s name."

Eleonor raised an eyebrow.

"Which one?"

Seraphine answered before he could.

"Edric."

Eleonor placed her document on the table.

"Correct."

Kael nearly choked on his drink.

The man started laughing.

Breakfast continued uninterrupted until Amelia arrived.

This time, she wasn’t carrying a folder.

Kael looked at her empty hands.

"That’s either good or very bad."

"Good."

She sat down.

"Valgrin accepted the audit."

"No problems?"

"With problems. Just not the kind that requires you."

Kael kept eating.

Amelia seemed to notice.

"You’re not going to ask?"

"You just said it doesn’t require me."

"I’m starting to find your resting behavior disturbing."

"It was your idea."

"We didn’t expect results this quickly."

Sylphie nodded.

"I’m suspicious too."

Kael ignored both of them.

Amelia poured herself tea before continuing.

"Irelia explained to the local council that a First Archive structure exists beneath the city. They weren’t thrilled that nobody informed them for the past several centuries, but after Elion demonstrated that the complex is stable and that the heat the city uses corresponds to less than two percent of the residual energy..."

"They want to keep using it."

"Yes. They want to formalize access, maintenance, and emergency shutdown procedures. They also want their own representatives present during inspections."

"Reasonable."

"That’s what Irelia said."

Kael nodded.

Amelia continued.

"The complex won’t become property of either the Empire or the city by historical presumption. The physical structure lies inside Valgrin’s territory, so the city has a present-day interest in access and safety. The First Archive retains responsibility for the informational contents. Resources and maintenance will be negotiated."

"Also reasonable."

"You really are going to keep eating while I explain all this?"

Kael looked at his plate.

"Is that criticism?"

"I’m not sure."

Eleonor took another sip of her drink.

"Leave him. It’s an improvement."

Amelia decided to accept that.

"There’s one more thing."

Kael looked up.

"I knew it."

"It’s not an emergency."

"Go on."

"The First Archive sent its first inquiry that it can’t resolve by itself under the new protocol."

Kael set down his fork.

Amelia noticed and raised a hand.

"It doesn’t require a portal."

He picked up his fork again.

"I’m listening."

"It’s a territorial succession record with four contradictory versions. Before, the Blind Index would have selected the most coherent chain and presented it as valid. Now it marked the case as indeterminate and forwarded it to the current authority for evaluation."

Kael chewed before answering.

"So it worked."

"Yes."

"What’s the dispute?"

"Who owns a strip of forest between two cities."

"That’s a problem for the people governing those cities."

"Exactly."

Kael looked at her.

Amelia smiled.

"I wanted to see your reaction."

"You came here to test whether I’d try solving a territorial dispute during breakfast?"

"Yes."

"That’s a questionable use of my recovery time."

"You passed."

Umbra appeared behind Kael’s chair.

"By much?"

Amelia thought.

"Comfortably."

Kael pointed his fork at everyone.

"You’re turning my recovery into a behavioral study."

"It’s entertaining," Umbra said.

After breakfast, Kael returned to the garden.

This time alone.

Sylphie stayed in the mansion to deal with matters related to Yggdrasil, and Umbra disappeared without explaining where she had gone. Kael walked to the pond and sat on the same bench as the day before.

Several stones lay on the ground.

He didn’t pick any up.

He stayed there for nearly half an hour.

At one point, a gardener passed carrying tools, nodded in greeting, and continued working.

Later, two birds landed near the water’s edge, drank, and flew away.

Nothing important happened.

Kael realized he was still expecting some interruption.

A crystal lighting up.

Running footsteps.

A surge of mana.

Nothing came.

After a while, he stopped expecting it.

When Sylphie appeared, she found him exactly where she’d left him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

She sat beside him.

"What are you doing?"

Kael looked at the pond.

"Nothing."

Sylphie waited for sarcasm.

It never came.

"Enjoying it?"

"I’m evaluating."

She laughed.

"Of course."

Kael watched the fish moving between the rocks.

"It’s less bad than I expected."

"That’s practically enthusiasm."

"Don’t exaggerate."

Sylphie leaned her shoulder gently against his, carefully avoiding the injured area.

They sat in silence.

After a few minutes, Kael asked,

"You really want a rematch?"

"Yes."

"No mana."

"You still haven’t proved anything."

"No mana."

Sylphie smiled.

"Fine."

Kael picked up three stones and handed her half of the better ones.

Not because he had to.

Not because there was some profound lesson hidden in the gesture.

Simply because he’d promised her a rematch the day before.

And that afternoon, keeping one small promise felt like enough work.