"D-D-D-DARU!!"

"Y-You…you're…how are you…YOU'RE ALIVE?!"

The first one was the majority's intense reaction at suddenly having been dug out from the pits of despair and hurled within half a second to the brightest of tomorrows.

The second was Caleb's desperate attempt to form a coherent sentence despite his bewilderment.

There were so many questions in their minds, but more than that, they were sincerely glad and deeply relieved, to the point that some — like Aesyn — suddenly felt weak.

It wasn't only Caleb who was despairing, after all…

Daru felt a bit awkward being stared at with wide eyes and gaping mouths. Subconsciously scratching his chin, he answered:

"Well, yes. I am doing well, as you can see…how have you guys been… is the appropriate thing to ask, I guess?"

No one answered his questions, though, as the meeting shack erupted in a cacophony of incomprehensible words.

Everyone, even the unfamiliar Gris, suddenly surrounded him, asking dozens of questions simultaneously with others sharing their intense emotions of worry and despair…and a few -sahs and -gars from time to time.

Strangely, those were among the few he could comprehend.

Daru felt overwhelmed. Very overwhelmed, and his patience…his patience was thinning at an unprecedented rate.

Soon enough, loud clinks echoed in succession — seemingly the sound of a sword's handle hitting wretched foreheads.

"Calm. Down. And let. Me go! I cannot understand a thing you guys say like this, now could I? One at a time. Also, who's that snake?"

He admonished, chest heaving up and down after having his senses overwhelmed.

Daru wasn't too used to being around people, much less his personal space being invaded so fiercely, so his body reacted in a way that would relieve the pressure.

"Aihh…that hurts, why would you do that?!"

"That stings…sah!"

"You violent thing…I'm Gris! You dare accuse me of being a traitor? My ideas might be risky, but I don't have any intentions of betraying anyone!"

Daru's brows furrowed in puzzlement at the Serpentkin's response.

"Huh? I did not call you a traitor. I'm just asking who you are."

"Ahh…Gris, Daru is rather…literal…a majority of the time, so don't take his sharp words to heart."

The chaos continued for a while, until finally, a certain old man couldn't take it anymore:

"BAAAHH!! SHUT THE HELL UP YOU NOISY BRATS!! YOU! I'M TIRED OF YOUR DAMNED -SAHS AFTER EVERY SENTENCE, FIX HOW YOU TALK! YOU, STOP GARRING, TOO! AND YOU, YOUR VOICE IS TOO IRRITATING, DON'T SPEAK EVER AGAIN. YOU—ESPECIALLY YOU! DON'T THINK I'VE FORGOTTEN THE TIME YOU FARTED IN THE MIDDLE OF A SERIOUS MEETING AND TRIED TO BLAME ME FOR IT!!…ALSO, YOU…"

Nando had exploded, and no one dared explode louder.

Contending against the old man in a petty squabble was nothing short of courting lasting trouble, and everyone already knew this.

That was how order was restored to the meeting.

A minute later, everyone was seated properly, and although their chests were heaving up and down for different reasons, Daru was at least given some much-needed space to breathe and recollect himself.

Surprisingly, no one could find the words to get the meeting — or rather, the storytelling session — to begin.

They simply had too many questions that they didn't know where to start.

Fortunately, Caleb knew how to break the strange silence brought by the old man's outburst with a mere "Ahem!"

"So…uhh…Daru, sorry about that. Care to tell us what happened to you? To tell you the truth, we…thought you were dead already. From what we learned, you only brought sustenance good for two and a half weeks at most. How did you survive, and how did your mission go?"

A weird, faint smile appeared on Daru's face at the question.

On his journey back to Egress, he had summarized and practiced how he would recount his experiences over and over again, and he was quite proud of what he managed to do.

Daru spoke, his unusually high spirits recognized only by Caleb, Lesha, and Thrad:

"To answer your first question, I found a heretical temple under an ancient stone castle guarded by hundreds — no, maybe thousands? Of armored wraiths. There was an alphabet book there and a pill that removed my need for sustenance. Oh, and I've been cursed, but I think it's more appropriate to call it a blessing?"

There.

He believed he had worded his explanation quite nicely.

'Diligent practice truly pays off…' Daru nodded inwardly in satisfaction.

Everyone in the meeting shack blinked, mouths slightly agape again, but before they could speak, the pleased storyteller continued:

"Now, for your second question, my mission went well."

Caleb would've asked about his first response if not for his very detailed answer to the second one, slightly frustrating the older bladeborn of the same race.

But Caleb had come to know Daru in the months they've been together.

So, he had developed the required patience, fully knowing that the younger man was not good with words…and, clearly, still wasn't.

A corner of the cherry blossom-haired SS-ranker's mouth twitched.

Still, Caleb responded as politely as he could:

"Do elaborate on each of your experiences. Ah, wait, no…not each, just the notable ones. You know…the ones that progress our mission? Like, what important thing have you found, or discovered, mainly about The Five and the pages of the book."

His response was almost perfect…had he clarified which book.

"Ah, right." Daru began, "So, after crossing the river…"

He explained everything according to the facts he had organized in his head on the return journey: what he found at the Altar Mountain — the stone altar with the five cairns that had the sigils of The Five engraved in them, the page of The Ivy, his encounter with Saphoros, Harlowe, and Rocante at the other side of the Underworld River, and how he figured out the demonic jester's beloved.

Daru was especially proud of that one, though he had fallen into another argument with a furious and horrified Caleb, who was pleading that he shouldn't stand behind demonic horrors and peer from over their heads, even if they appeared apathetic.

To Daru's defense, it worked, so what he did wasn't wrong.

Dangerous, true. But not wrong.

Diligent practice does work, but it seemed like he needed a bit more when it came to explaining an overwhelming amount of information clearly.

The meeting proceeded chaotically, and it took way more time than it should've, partly because Caleb's lieutenants' attempts at helping weren't too effective...and because there was a confusing, unneeded portion about the Goetian Abecedarium's pages.

Eventually, though, they've managed to learn and clearly list the important points.

It was just that everyone's brains were pulsing, and their eyelids felt like lead by then.

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