[h3][color=#000000][u][b]Registration - Agernath[/b][/u][/color][/h3]

Agernath did not answer right away.

He studied the man across the table for a moment instead. There was no impatience in him, no sign that the delay mattered at all. Just a steady kind of attention, like the question had already been answered.

[color=#CFC58A]“Agernath.”[/color]

The scribe’s pen moved as soon as the name left his mouth.

“Accepted.”

No pause. No recognition. The name was already being written.

Agernath’s gaze dropped briefly to the ledger, following the motion of the pen. Names filled the page in clean lines, each given the same treatment, no matter who stood at the table.

[color=#CFC58A]“On what grounds?”[/color] he asked.

The question was even, more out of observation than challenge.

“All entrants are accepted.”

The answer came just as easily.

Agernath held there for a moment, as if weighing whether anything would change if he pressed further.

Nothing did.

Around him, the line continued to move. Another stepped forward. Another name. Another acceptance, just as quick.

A few nearby shifted, watching the exchange. Most didn’t seem to notice at all.

Agernath stepped aside, giving space for the next person in line.

His attention moved with the flow of the grounds instead of the table now.

The practice rings. The pavilions. The steady movement of people who had all come for the same reason.

Everything in its place.

Too much in its place.

He let his gaze settle on the crowd rather than any one person, as if waiting to see what broke from it.

Nothing did.

Not yet.

But he didn’t leave.