Chapter 64: If You Want Out, Leave Today. Those Who Stay Name the Region.
The next morning, relocation notices were still appearing.
Ever since the directly adjacent southeast Region had been confirmed to have an absolute Black Banner numbers advantage, "we might run into them eventually" had become "once Warden Gates open, the two sides can connect directly."
Some Lords in the Regional Channel were selling Relocation Writs.
Others had already begun pulling workers back from external Resource Points.
Cassian did not stop them.
But he had no intention of leaving Outbound permanently open as a door anyone could use at any time either.
He opened Warden Authority.
[Outbound Domain Relocation: Permitted]
[Inbound Domain Relocation: Warden Approval Required]
Then he added a deadline beneath Outbound.
[Free-Choice Outbound Window: until 18:00 today]
[During window: legal Relocation does not require Warden Approval]
[Relocation Writ and all other normal relocation requirements remain unchanged]
[After 18:00: Outbound Domain Relocation → Warden Approval Required]
Cassian posted the rule directly in the Regional Channel.
[Cassian Vale: If you want to leave, leave before 18:00 today.]
[Cassian Vale: I’m not using Warden authority to force people who want out to stay.]
[Cassian Vale: After 18:00, outbound relocation requires approval. Anyone who stays will be organized on the assumption that we’re defending this border together.]
Tobias replied almost immediately.
[Tobias Reed: Translation—today is your last chance to choose for yourself. Don’t wait until we’re in the middle of a war tomorrow to announce you’re moving.]
[Rowan Ashford: Close enough.]
Elara sent one line.
[Elara Vayne: I’m not abandoning the Royal Hall mountain route.]
Cassian replied.
[Good.]
That mountain line did not belong only to Elara’s concerns.
Hill Kings would continue to come out of the Royal Hall, and the Recruit rights she had purchased were tied to the same route.
If Black Banner truly pushed its Faction Corridor northwest, the two sides would meet sooner or later.
So today, people could leave.
Once the deadline passed, patrols, supply lines, and defense plans would all be rebuilt around the Lords who had chosen to stay.
If some unavoidable emergency happened later, a Lord could still apply to relocate.
What they would no longer have was an escape button they could press casually once the war had already reached the door.
---
By afternoon, the relocation notices had slowed sharply.
At exactly 18:00, the final relocation record from the free-choice window disappeared.
Warden Authority refreshed.
[Current Registered Lords: 403]
[Free-Choice Outbound Window: Closed]
[Outbound Domain Relocation: Warden Approval Required]
[Inbound Domain Relocation: Warden Approval Required]
Compared to when the window first opened, more than four hundred names had disappeared from the Warden registry.
Four hundred and three Lords remained.
Cassian looked at the number for two seconds.
He did not try to pull it back up.
Everyone who wanted to leave had made their choice.
From this point forward, Officers, roads, and future defenses would all be planned around those 403 Lords.
The Regional Channel gradually returned from "who has a Writ?" to ordinary resource and intelligence traffic.
Cassian scrolled farther down Warden Authority.
Two functions had been sitting there unused since he won the seat.
[Regional Officers]
[Official Region Name]
The Region name submission had been open for a while.
The suggestions were all over the place.
[Eclipse Region]
[Vale Region]
[Firstwall]
[Blackgold Reach]
[Riftward]
Tobias had even submitted one of his own.
[Seraphine-Paid-For-This Region]
Cassian stared at it for two seconds, then messaged Tobias.
[Cassian Vale: Who submitted this?]
The reply came absurdly fast.
[Tobias Reed: Anonymous.]
[Cassian Vale: I can see the submission record.]
Silence from the other side for five seconds.
[Tobias Reed: Then why did you ask?]
Cassian closed the message.
Veyra was walking out of the Deep Layer with a revised training schedule under one arm.
"Picked a name?"
"A few are usable."
"Don’t call it Eclipse."
"Why?"
Veyra looked at him.
"My soldiers aren’t the only people living here."
"And if you actually call it that, the next time someone invades I’ll have to explain that this Region isn’t mine."
Cassian nodded.
"Then not Eclipse."
Veyra paused.
"You agreed that fast?"
"You’re right."
"..."
She tucked the training schedule more firmly beneath her arm.
"Fine."
Cassian’s gaze returned to one name.
Riftward.
Not because of Riftwind Canyon.
Not to commemorate a Boundary Defense they had already finished.
It was simpler than that.
They were the first Region to truly break through the Regional Boundary.
And southeast of them, another, far more practical border was already forming.
The name said at least one thing clearly.
This was not a place that waited for someone to arrive before deciding whether to defend itself.
Cassian confirmed.
[Name the current Newcomer Region: Riftward?]
"Yes."
Golden text swept across the Regional Channel.
[Regional Warden Cassian Vale has completed Region naming.]
[Current Official Region Name: Riftward]
The channel erupted immediately.
[Tobias Reed: You’re really not considering mine?]
[Rowan Ashford: Not considering it is the correct decision.]
[Elara Vayne: Riftward works.]
Seraphine sent one line.
[Seraphine Valcrest: Better than Vale Region.]
Cassian replied.
[I didn’t submit that one either.]
[Seraphine Valcrest: I know.]
---
That evening, Forgotten Shrine hosted several Lords from the Region at the same time for the first time.
Not a caravan.
Not a Visitor like Aveline, who had crossed Regions through special authority for one specific conversation.
Elara, Rowan, Tobias, and Seraphine had left their Domains around midday.
Blackfang met them on the final stretch and guided them in from the outer patrol line.
One after another, the four Lords crossed Forgotten Shrine’s boundary and reached Oath Hall.
No Troops.
No trade convoys.
This was simply the first time several Lords from the same Region had actually sat down at one table.
The first thing Tobias did after arriving was look up.
Then left.
Then right.
Finally at Cassian.
"This place of yours..."
"What?"
"Looks more ordinary than I expected."
Rowan was looking too.
Forge.
Oath Hall.
Beacon Watchtower.
There were plenty of Buildings visible outside.
But the Legendary Fountain was gone.
The Eclipse’s most complete training area was gone too.
So was the newly arrived Celia.
Aether Mist still existed, but not at a density that let an outsider immediately understand what an A-grade Environment had actually changed.
Seraphine looked the longest.
She did not ask.
She only said, "You spent money again yesterday."
Cassian looked at her.
"How can you tell?"
"Every time you get a large amount of money, this place looks a little less like what a normal newcomer’s Domain should look like."
Tobias turned to her.
"What kind of judgment method is that?"
Seraphine answered calmly.
"A lesson I paid dearly to learn."
Veyra laughed from the side.
"I like that one."
Elara was already walking toward the stone table.
"Officers first."
"I don’t want to hear you discuss how much more money he spent."
The five Lords sat down.
There was no banquet.
Bram had people bring roasted meat, bread, and a pot of hot wine.
Tobias picked up his cup.
"So."
"Does a Regional Officer get paid?"
Rowan closed his eyes for a moment.
"You’ve been asking that since the Warden seat settled."
"That means it’s important."
Cassian opened the Authority interface.
"No fixed salary."
Tobias set the cup down.
"Can I leave now?"
"Yes."
"What are the responsibilities?"
"There are some."
"Then I’m staying."
Veyra leaned against a stone pillar beside Oath Hall.
"He really does fit in here."
---
The Regional Officer interface did not suddenly grant combat buffs.
Warden Authority gave Cassian the right to formally delegate responsibilities.
The real question was who was responsible for what.
First.
[Regional Officer: Tobias Reed]
[Delegated Scope: Regional Patrol / Road Intelligence]
Tobias read it.
"Southern mine roads too?"
"You already watch them."
"Then fine."
Second.
[Regional Officer: Rowan Ashford]
[Delegated Scope: Emergency Supply / Regional Logistics Coordination]
Rowan did not accept immediately.
He asked first.
"Can I directly move other people’s warehouse stock?"
"No."
"Force requisitions?"
"No."
"Only Domains that voluntarily join Regional emergency coordination appear on your list."
Rowan nodded.
"Then I’ll take it."
Third.
[Regional Officer: Elara Vayne]
[Delegated Scope: Eastern Mountain Route / Dwarven Royal Hall Joint Defense Liaison]
Elara looked at the last line.
"You wrote Royal Hall that directly?"
"I own it."
"You have Recruit rights."
Cassian met her gaze.
"If Black Banner reaches that mountain line, neither of us gets to pretend it has nothing to do with us."
Elara confirmed without hesitation.
"Fine."
Last, Cassian looked at Seraphine.
There was still room on the Authority interface.
She spoke first.
"I don’t want one."
Tobias looked at her, then at Cassian.
"You haven’t even discussed it."
"No need."
Seraphine opened her own Hero Contract interface.
"Regional Warden gives Standard Hero Contract Capacity +1."
"And independent Region authority."
"If I want those things, I’m not taking an Officer slot from Cassian."
Cassian was not surprised.
"You want to go take a Warden seat in another Region?"
"Once the first legal cross-Region relocation conditions actually open."
Seraphine nodded.
"I’ll choose a Region that hasn’t locked in a Warden yet and is worth taking."
"Then I’ll take it myself."
Elara looked up.
"You’re actually leaving?"
"Not now."
"The external inventory Valcrest reserved for me still can’t enter."
"And the cross-Region relocation rules aren’t fully open yet."
Seraphine looked at Cassian.
"But this Region already has a Warden."
"If I stay here, I can’t get a second seat."
Cassian asked, "Bet on it this time?"
Seraphine paused.
Then she smiled.
"Let me find a Region first."
"And next time?"
"I am not betting Aether with you."
"Learned your lesson?"
"Expensive."
Veyra laughed out loud.
Seraphine looked at her.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing."
"I just like that answer better now."
Cassian did not interrupt.
Officer positions could be assigned.
A Region could be named.
But someone truly capable did not become a subordinate just because a title existed.
Seraphine had never changed in that regard.
Good.
If she really moved to another Region and took a Warden seat of her own, then when Riftward faced Black Banner, there would be another person nearby who could make her own decisions.
Not another person waiting for Cassian to issue orders.
---
Before the others left, Cassian did not show them the Deep Layer.
He did not bring the Fountain out for display either.
He only spread out the formal Region map.
Southeast.
The adjacent Region where Black Banner held an absolute numerical advantage still pressed directly against them.
The Dwarf mountain line between them had been marked separately.
Tobias asked, "So what are we now?"
"An alliance?"
Rowan said, "At least the Officers are system-registered."
Elara looked at Cassian.
"You tell us."
Cassian looked at the map once.
"Guard our own roads first."
"If someone reaches for the Royal Hall?"
"Then we fight together."
Tobias nodded.
"Simple enough."
At that exact moment, a new golden notice descended over the Shattered Marches.
Not Riftward.
[Shattered Marches Notice]
[The second Newcomer Region has completed Regional Boundary Defense.]
[Regional Warden: Gareth Halvern]
Cassian looked up.
Stoneward Keep.
The Lord who had deliberately held back the hundredth Rank III slot and prepared one hundred war Lords.
He had finally arrived.