Yenna let Maren's companions prop him against their table, and nobody argued.
"No further contact," she said, her stare cold enough to chill soup, "your license is suspended pending review, and I'm not hearing that fight twice."
He hunched over his cup, sulking, and found something fascinating at the bottom of it.
'Suspended, huh, I was hoping for something with more screaming in it.'
Another chip broke loose above them, and Yenna caught it in a breath of frost before it hit anyone.
She set it beside the ledger and pointed above the damage, "The central shaft's sound and the facing can wait, but that joint needs braces before somebody eats lunch under it and gets a skull full of ceiling."
"So I broke it, sure, but in a responsible way, structurally speaking?"
"You hit it twice."
"The second one was his face's fault, technically," he added, wilting under her stare.
A roster behind the desk named Frost Fang fifth among the capital's active champions.
'Five frost Shards, fifth in the whole capital, and I wrecked her pillar after a six-silver sale.'
"I broke it, so write the number where I can read it, and please be gentle." He clasped his hands under his chin like a begging puppy.
She took the appraiser's pen and wrote beneath the repair line before turning the ledger toward him.
"Fifty silver, seven days to pay, and next time you're tempted to test a pillar, use the practice yard." She tapped the due date once, the corner of her mouth twitching.
He squinted at the number a third time in case it shrank, voice going thin, "Fifty... okay, seven days, next time I'll throw people somewhere cheaper, I swear."
Hajin folded his stamped copy of the docket, careful not to crack the wax seal in his fist.
The registration notice behind her asked another fifty silver, separate from the fine.
[ CringeSlayer91: first guild visit and already a fifty silver bill ]
[ ShadowMage44: still cheaper than letting that guy walk off with her ]
"Thanks, very supportive, I'm really feeling the love from the cheap seats."
"Come tomorrow if you intend to register," Yenna said, brushing grit off the counter, "licensed bounties pay better than whatever the public exchange offers you."
'Bread and a bed, sure, but fifty for a badge on top of fifty for a rock?'
"I'll come back when I can actually pay the fee, and I'm not promising coins that don't exist yet."
Yenna called a worker over and chalked the first brace mark on the floor.
Juna's hand found his as they crossed the cleared benches, and her grip tightened when they passed Maren.
'Let her decide when to let go, the street doesn't need another man dragging her around.'
Carts rattled past a vendor yelling about bruised apples, and Juna released his fingers near the bakery street, nose twitching.
She caught his sleeve when he turned toward the bread stall, brows knitting hard, "Fifty silver, we sold the core for six, where are you finding the rest?"
"Farmers hire people, right? Somebody always needs a thing killed that keeps eating their goats."
"You fought for me, and now you owe them more than everything we carried into this city." Her ears drooped as she pressed the coat over the bruises she showed Yenna.
'Fifty silver is mine to find, nobody buys her obedience with that damn ledger.'
"He grabbed you, I broke the pillar, neither of those goes on your bill, and neither makes you something he gets to buy."
The bakery board beside two trays read three copper for a pair of honey loaves.
"Five silver for me, six for the core," she murmured, lip curling as she tugged her hood forward and sniffed at the nearest tray, "he sounded so pleased with his arithmetic."
Hajin snorted and thumbed one silver coin from his purse, keeping the rest covered, "His arithmetic bought him a bruised jaw, ours buys these, two loaves, please, three copper for the pair."
The baker counted copper change onto the board, and Hajin swept every piece back into his purse.
His thirty System credits stayed untouched, since bread needed nothing from the shop.
"Careful with the middle, those came out right as you rounded the corner." The baker chuckled, wrapping the crusts and nudging the parcel toward Juna.
She blew on the first loaf, bit in, tail wagging hard, then tore a piece free for him.
'First bite's hers, and she's still saving the good part for me.'
"Take it, the middle's better, I already checked that part for you," she said, then scowled when he stared, "what, idiot, eat it."
"Thorough work, I'll call you next time a dangerous loaf needs inspecting." He took it with a solemn bow, and honey stuck to his thumb through the warm crust.
Down a quieter passage, a list beside a bell offered a corner room for four copper.
The proprietor looked past her hood at the coins, not her ears, and Hajin paid from the bakery change.
A brass key followed, and the proprietor jabbed a finger at the stairs, "Second floor, last door on the left, key comes back when you leave."
The room held two straw pallets, a ledge, a water jug, a shuttered window, and a fresh bolt.
Juna shot the bolt home, drew it back, then traced the plate's edge with one claw.
'She tests that bolt like a weapon, so let it buy her one quiet night.'
He sank beside the pack with a wheeze, and his sore shoulder finally shut up once the strap slid off.
He unfolded the spare blanket and tossed it between the pallets with a grand flourish, "Either pallet's yours, and look, an actual door this time, very fancy, practically nobility."
She huffed, keeping the coat wrapped tight and eyeing the second pallet sideways.
"That makes more than three meals, I never said I was staying forever."
"Tomorrow's enough to decide about tomorrow, the blanket doesn't come with an oath, take it if you're cold."
"I'll hear anyone coming up, you sleep first, you look tired of carrying things that complain." She smirked, claiming the pallet nearer the door and spreading the blanket over her legs, ears turned toward the stairs.
"Rude, accurate, but rude," he complained, clutching his chest in mock agony, "we both rest, the latch can stand watch, and a decent bounty needs clear heads."
Hajin found the stream control without saying a word about where she sat or how she looked.
[ Stream: OFF | Soul Energy and Fragment Recovery paused ]
He set the repair docket beside his purse and leaned back against the folded pack.
---
Down in the hall, Yenna stopped a worker from dragging a bench back before the braces locked the joint.
'The money waits a week, but nobody beneath that beam should wait to watch it fall.'
At the exchange desk, she found the core sale beside Hajin's name, with no license entry after it.
His mana ran one continuous route instead of separate Shards, and the band at his wrist fit no category.
She recorded the shape and its witnessed output, then assigned him no ancestry she couldn't establish.
'Give the palace what I saw, not a family tree invented to make the shape fit.'
The appraiser arrived with stamped copies as she opened Maren's assault account beneath her palm.
"Keep both accounts together," she said, tapping the space beside the damage record, "and if Hajin returns to register, bring his docket to me, I don't want your memory improving once he's gone."
"Yes, Lady Yenna, both together," the appraiser squeaked, bobbing like a pecking hen.
A worker called from the column, asking whether they could pull the loose facing yet.
Yenna closed the registry with a quiet sigh and went to inspect the bracing before answering.