'This is frustrating…'

Daru felt unwelcome warmth spreading through his scalp.

Yesterday, he was forced to retreat through the castle gate that Rocante used, as he heard the castle being populated from the side where the drawbridge was.

He ran out of time.

Luckily, his worries didn't manifest, and the castle gate was both empty and open, allowing him to exit through the stone gates without any mishaps.

His infiltration could even be said to be smooth, had Daru been satisfied with his gains.

He was able to confirm the situation in the outer grounds, the timing of the drawbridge's opening, and the emptiness of the castle once the wraith ransackers left.

All of this was valuable information that would make Egress' assault smoother.

Only, humans were inherently greedy.

Not necessarily in the same way — in the form of material things, but at least in their own, unique ways, and Daru was actively struggling against his.

His mind was sharp, and he was aware that he was overreaching. That he should leave now and return to Egress first and restock.

That his plan of locating the castle's source of sustenance had already failed.

Yet, Daru was reluctant to give up.

The interior of the stone castle was massive — far more massive than he expected.

However, he had been bolder and more decisive today, leaving very little of the first floor unexplored.

Even though his sense of direction was rather dogwater, his strategy of marking the walls with his trusty X marks worked for him so far, and it helped him determine which parts of the castle he had not explored yet.

The problem was that those areas were on the other side of the castle.

He had to go all out, hope that he would find the much-needed sustenance there and either a safe hiding spot or an exit.

That or be stuck fighting for his life in a wraith-infested stone castle.

Daru had, at most, five more minutes to decide, but his legs were already moving in a certain direction…

Then, he sighed.

He was already close to the unexplored areas. It seemed that he had long made a decision and was simply reluctant to go with it.

Due to this, Daru felt a bit confused and frustrated.

He had always gone through whatever he felt without a second thought.

In fact, he was perplexed by individuals who seemed to care about other, insignificant things and hesitated to do what they wanted.

Now he felt that he was one such individual himself.

Daru desperately wanted the thrill of navigating a wraith-infested castle — to test his survival skills, wits, and prowess against whatever came at him.

To feel alive.

Yet, here he was, unsure whether to do just that, and the reason…was duty.

He had never had a duty to anyone before.

Daru felt constricted and caged by it, but at the same time, he liked the feeling of being depended on, or at least the feeling of achieving something real and noble through his sword.

It was a vexing contradiction he had never encountered in the past.

On one side, he wanted to do what his heart wished for, but on the other, he also wanted to save the Damnedlings of Egress…

'This is not good, I need to focus…'

It was then that an epiphany struck him, an insidious whisper brought about by a taint in his soul but not entirely unreasonable.

Right…

Why had he even concluded that his whims and duty were in direct conflict with each other?

If he wanted to explore and survive in a wraith-infested castle and save the Damnedlings of Egress, then all he needed to do was succeed, no?

Looking back, when had he not succeeded when it mattered?

He had never lost a tournament during high school.

He had won the spot of the class representative in a recent intra-class competition.

He had conquered everything the Myriad Sword Realm had thrown at him so far — the Catmelot Kingdom, the duel event, Cryzhar's labyrinth, finding himself in Veshara, a literal deal with a goat demon, slaying that goat demon, and now, he was progressing well in Limbo.

Sure, there were a few hiccups along the way.

There was a time he struggled against a wooden chest, but he was the victor in the end, no?

The Ivy's page was glorious proof of his victory.

He also lost a life against Kazuraga and failed to detect Harlowe, but overall, he was still alive, still surviving…so when had he actually failed?

Being alive and continuing to grow stronger despite his bold choices meant that he was succeeding, after all, especially in the god-forsaken realm he was in, where failure meant death, or something worse.

The fact that he was still struggling to make a decision right now was another solid proof.

With this realization, Daru's steps became more energetic…more firm as he searched the other side of the stone castle.

The matter with the demonic jester seemed to have shaken him deeper than he expected.

But now that he thought about it again, perhaps the reason why he failed to detect the horror was that Harlowe simply didn't care about him.

He wasn't gazed on, and there was no killing intent. The latter was a major component of detecting danger, after all.

What was there to detect if there was no danger?

Finding peace within this train of thought, Daru's lost confidence returned, now much harder to shake after a small ordeal.

He had never failed, so he could do what he wanted, because he would succeed again, anyway.

Such a mentality would be considered arrogance by many.

But then again, the line between arrogance and confidence was thin: success and failure.

One would be called confident if one succeeded and arrogant if one failed.

And Daru…

Daru had never failed. At least not yet.

Who else, aside from himself, was qualified to say that what he was doing was wrong?

It was risky, sure, but it also propelled them towards the success of their objective, and faster at that.

There was no need to hesitate.

He would pull through, just as he had always done.

As though the world and the will of the divine were agreeing with him, Daru soon heard it…the clanging of metallic pots.

He had found the kitchen.

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