"Big Brother Ryen is forbidden from uttering that word so carelessly!"
Yaoyao puffed her cheeks, fixing him with the stern, reprimanding glare of a little schoolteacher.
Ryen smiled warmly, leaning down to press his forehead gently against hers.
"It was merely a joke, though my affection is entirely genuine, Yaoyao."
"It invites terrible misfortune!"
Yaoyao crossed her arms with an indignant huff, her amber eyes refusing to blink.
"Very well, I shall never utter it again. Since Big Brother Ryen has shown such sincere repentance, does sweet Yaoyao have a reward for me?"
Ryen watched her with twinkling eyes. A brilliant blush rose to Yaoyao's cheeks as she threw her small arms around his neck, planting a resounding kiss upon his cheek.
"Big Brother Ryen is obedient, and Yaoyao loves him very much!"
Ryen's eyes narrowed into delighted crescents.
Having spent an entire night staring at hideous, rotting corpses outside the fortress walls, resting his eyes upon these four little angels felt like cleansing his soul in a mountain spring.
Lisa's earlier teasing held genuine truth.
Ryen was thoroughly attached to the little girls. When the final seven days arrived and the Blood Moon spawned its ultimate mutant horrors, he would have no choice but to send Klee and the children across the portal to safety.
During that phase, the battlements would see fighting day and night. How could he possibly slip away to visit them?
The thought brought a dull ache to his chest; enduring an entire week without holding his sweet daughters would be absolute torture.
Such worries belonged to the days ahead, however.
For now, he intended to shower them with affection until his spirit was fully revitalized.
To Ryen, the radiant smiles of his adopted daughters carried greater restorative magic than a stack of Totems of Undying.
"Klee wants to kiss Big Brother Ryen too!"
Seeing Yaoyao bestow her reward, Klee scrambled onto his knee, cupping his face between her tiny palms and stamping a flurry of messy kisses across his cheeks.
Qiqi had recovered remarkably well over the past weeks. While she remained naturally reserved, her memory was completely restored.
She resembled a quiet, porcelain doll. She was comfortable around everyone in the household, save for Hu Tao, toward whom she still harbored a cautious, defensive distance.
Hu Tao could only sigh with fond remorse; the trauma she had inflicted by chasing the poor girl with funeral shrouds was far too deep to erase in an afternoon.
Despite Hu Tao's endless apologies, Qiqi still sidestepped her whenever their paths crossed.
Ryen's counsel had been to let time mend the rift.
After all, very few possessed his uncanny talent for winning the hearts of little girls on sight.
"Look at you, exchanging kisses all morning like lovesick children!"
Yae Miko reached over, playfully prodding Ryen's ribs.
Ryen rolled his eyes, tossing her a dry smirk.
"As if you don't pounce on me for kisses the moment an opportunity presents itself."
"How could that possibly compare? What I kiss is your lips," the shrine maiden purred, lifting her chin with smug, fox-like satisfaction.
Nahida's emerald pupils flickered with quiet ambition. Leaning forward slightly, she tilted her face toward Ryen, attempting to steal a kiss of her own.
She had never forgotten her ultimate objective: shedding the title of precious daughter to claim an authentic seat among his partners.
Ryen, however, caught the movement instantly. With a casual tilt of his head, he smoothly dodged her trajectory.
Nahida let out a soft, resentful pout, settling back onto the sofa with a defeated sigh.
Ryen possessed unyielding boundaries.
In his heart of hearts, he cherished the four little girls strictly as his precious daughters, harboring zero improper inclinations toward them.
What the distant future held could wait for the passage of centuries.
He was hardly going to raise these sweet girls only to let some golden-haired traveler whisk them away; should such a nightmare ever loom, Ryen would not hesitate to draw the Sword of the Cosmos and cleave the heavens.
After indulging the girls for a while longer, Ryen set them gently upon the carpet.
"Run along and play, but remain within the courtyards of the City Lord Manor. Do not step beyond the gates; the soldiers and staff are occupied with municipal duties, so do not cause extra trouble."
"Keep close to the building. The wilderness beyond the walls is unsettled right now. Yaoyao, keep a watchful eye over your sisters."
Entrusting such oversight to the reliable little Yaoyao was always safe; she guarded Klee and the others with the diligence of an older sister.
"Understood! Big Brother Ryen!"
Yaoyao nodded brightly, trotting after Klee and the others as their cheerful giggles echoed down the corridor, filling the sunlit manor with vibrant warmth.
Ryen sank into the cushions, letting out a long, contented breath.
Resting an arm around Ganyu's waist while letting his other hand rest over Yae Miko's shoulder, he murmured softly, "My sweet daughters are so obedient."
Hu Tao rolled her eyes, leaning over the back of the sofa with a sharp smirk.
"If you adore having daughters so terribly, why don't you father one of your own?"
Ryen raised an eyebrow, looking back at her.
"What a strange question. Have I ever slacked in my nightly duties with you?"
"Yet if endless toil yields zero harvest, isn't it merely empty labor? You simply indulge in it for your own private pleasure!" Guizhong chided with a teasing pout.
Ryen spread his hands in total innocence.
"You cannot lay that fault at my door. I have faithfully delivered my grain taxes without holding back a single kernel; my physical constitution is beyond reproach."
"When all is said and done, the discrepancy lies in the disparity between our life tiers. You ladies must strive harder to ascend."
Before the final syllable cleared his lips, a barrage of silk throw pillows flew through the air, burying him beneath a mountain of cushions.
Laughter and playful scuffles rippled across the grand sofa until everyone was delightfully breathless.
Eventually, the playful tussle subsided. They leaned against one another in a warm, tangled heap, savoring the quiet stillness of the afternoon.
After a long pause, Yae Miko turned her head, whispering softly against his ear.
"Darling, show me those three Gnoses you forged earlier."
"You desire to inspect them?"
Ryen reached into his spatial storage, pulling out an entire handful of glittering objects.
"Beyond the three I synthesized on the ramparts, I forged several others earlier. I kept intending to bestow them upon you, but unexpected duties kept getting in the way."
Ryen opened his palm over the low coffee table.
A melodic, crystalline clatter echoed through the room as over a dozen glowing chess pieces tumbled across the polished timber, scattering like a handful of discarded screws.
The women froze, staring in collective disbelief.
They had anticipated that Ryen had manufactured several spare vessels, yet they had never imagined he was preparing an entire chess set.
At a single glance, at least a dozen Gnoses rested upon the cedar surface, pulsing with vibrant, otherworldly luminescence.
Ryen shifted his weight, sitting upright and gently pulling Guizhong and Lumine along with him.
Toying absent-mindedly with Guizhong's spatial orb with one hand, he used his other to sort through the scattered pieces.
"These three govern Arcane Magic, Sorcery, and Healing; their mechanics require no further explanation."
"This one governs spatial manipulation. This one rules molecular kinetic energy, and this one commands fluid dynamics."
"Then we have electromagnetism, gravitational distortion, and this violet one that governs consciousness."
"There are several others as well."
The women stared blankly. Every individual word was familiar, yet when woven together into titles, even Lisa found herself completely out of her depth.
Had an inhabitant from the Honkai universe witnessed this display, however, their jaw would have dropped to the floorboards.
These were the foundational authorities of the Herrschers.
To streamline his crafting process, Ryen had borrowed the conceptual templates of the Herrscher Cores to forge custom Gnoses.
Simply put, he was manufacturing artificial Herrschers out of thin air.
Commanding a portion of the foundational essence of the Imaginary Tree granted him absolute authority to execute such feats.
Furthermore, his life tier was aligned directly with the Imaginary Tree itself; if an attendant entity like the Will of the Honkai could bestow cores upon mortals, why should he fall short?
The sole distinction lay in raw output.
These Gnoses were slightly more modest than authentic Herrscher Cores, as Ryen's personal reserves of Imaginary energy remained quantitatively limited.
The Will of the Honkai, as the faithful steward of the Tree, commanded the inexhaustible backing of the cosmic leylines when fashioning its cores.
Yet the difference was merely one of volume, not fundamental purity.
Whoever bound one of these vessels would become a miniature Herrscher in their own right.
"Electromagnetism..."
Ei murmured, her violet eyes locking onto the corresponding chess piece. An inexplicable, instinctual resonance stirred deep within her lightning-clad soul.
"I had originally intended to distribute these earlier, but time slipped away," Ryen said, smiling with quiet pride.
"Choose whichever calls to you. Your man intends to elevate you into artificial Herrschers... or rather, sovereign Archons!"
Yae Miko stared at the glittering hoard for a few seconds before letting out a soft, bewildered sigh.
"That was not my inquiry. I meant to ask: since you command the craft to manufacture Gnoses so effortlessly, why did you refrain from forging vessels for the Seven Elements?"
Even as she asked, her slender fingers reached out, casually sweeping the Gnosis of Consciousness into her silken sleeve.
Whether she bound it immediately or not, the vessel was undeniably gorgeous, vastly outshining the dull designs manufactured by the Heavenly Principles.
As for deciphering its secrets, there was no rush with Ryen by her side.
The other women followed suit, selecting whichever pieces caught their fancy.
Until formally bound, the amplification these vessels provided was modest; their true awakening required stepping into the natural leylines of Teyvat to complete the resonance.
The three Gnoses designated as campaign rewards remained untouched in the center of the table. Sweeping the remaining pieces back into his inventory, Ryen leaned back against the cushions.
"Vessels governing the Seven Elements possess lower theoretical ceilings, falling far short of these fundamental physical laws."
"In the cosmos next door, these authorities belong to Herrschers, tethered directly to primordial entities anchored upon the Imaginary Tree."
Ryen offered a patient explanation before continuing.
"Furthermore, the Seven Elements are intimately bound to Teyvat's Light Realm leylines, which form the bedrock of that reality."
"Those authorities have already been shaped and anchored into Gnoses manufactured by the Heavenly Principles."
"Attempting to forge duplicate authorities risks triggering cosmic anomalies within the leylines."
"I could force the creation, certainly, but the underlying laws of the Seven Elements are tangled and volatile."
"It is wiser to leave them alone."
"Besides, if you truly desire Seven Element Gnoses, you need only ask Zhongli and Venti. Those old gods view their vessels as useless burdens and would gladly unload them upon you."
"Arrogant as Celestia may be, the Seven Elements share deep historical ties with those thrones; preserving caution is the prudent course."
Lisa nodded in deep, scholarly agreement.
"He speaks with sound reasoning. The Heavenly Principles, the celestial throne, the First Throne, and the primordial Dragon Sovereigns all trace their roots to the Light Realm."
"Who can say what ancient traps lie dormant within those leylines? We should avoid courting unnecessary complications."
Yae Miko had merely raised the inquiry in passing; compared to the recycled elements of Teyvat, she vastly preferred the relics crafted by Ryen's own hands.
Raw power aside, it was a personal gift from her partner, imbued with singular meaning.
"Speaking of unique authorities, why didn't you forge a Gnosis governing Time?" Guizhong inquired, resting her chin on his shoulder with lively curiosity.
Ryen reached up, gently pinching her nose with an amused scoff.
"Have you lost your wits, little spirit?"
"Istaroth still walks the cosmos. She is currently lurking within an ancient closed temporal loop in the past, brooding over secrets none of us can fathom."
Guizhong poked her tongue out playfully. Nearby, Paimon puffed her cheeks, casting a quiet, annoyed glare toward Ryen while the others looked away.
Though her memories remained fractured, what few impressions lingered in her consciousness reminded Paimon that Istaroth had always treated her with boundless care.
The title of the eldest sister of the shades was thoroughly deserved.
Ryen chuckled softly, ruffling Paimon's white hair without addressing her glare.
Turning back to Guizhong, he explained in a hushed, reverent tone.
"Temporal authority occupies an exceptionally high plane within the domain of the Imaginary Tree. One cannot manipulate it casually, as it is an absolute authority jealously guarded by the Tree itself."
"Istaroth commands time because she traces her origin to high-dimensional entities born directly from the Imaginary Tree."
"In essence, her supreme sovereign is the Imaginary Tree itself, which granted her legitimate authority to channel temporal laws."
"Anyone else attempting to usurp that authority would invite instantaneous eradication from the cosmic will."
One had only to recall the tragic end that befell Otto Apocalypse in the neighboring reality to grasp the severity of that boundary.
Ryen held zero fear of the Imaginary Tree, or he would never have synthesized Herrscher authorities so casually.
Time, however, was an untouchable sanctuary.
Breaching it would ignite total war against the cosmos.
Ryen had no fear of conflict, but Teyvat could never withstand the wrath of the Imaginary Tree.
Catching the underlying gravity, Ningguang recognized that this was a boundary Ryen had previously shared with her in private.
Steering the assembly away from dangerous ground, she spoke in a clear, authoritative tone.
"Let us table cosmic philosophy for the moment. Ryen, regarding the two custom modules granted by your system, have you finalized your selection?"
That singular inquiry caused every pair of eyes in the parlor to widen with electric, breathless anticipation.