Of course, Day had nothing to back that up, and subsequently decided not to mention it to Caster, but it was still a fair thought to have. Under the omniscient eye of the Spell, nothing was ever supposed to come easy.
So Day was weary. At the very least, It seemed that there weren't half as many creatures in this dark city as one would have expected, which so far, seemed like an absolute .
Maybe one of his two theories about what lay outside of the walls were actually correct, and that was why they were unbothered for the most part. Either way, Day didn't really care. Safety was safety, maybe after all, it was best to not take it for granted or try to reason it out. That could result in his doom.
'I'll just accept it with open arms… Ugh, speaking of arms…'
Day's arm was still in pain.
Actually… the truth was, it didn't hurt that much, but his inner thoughts reminded him of it, so it hit him like a truck. For a while, he had pushed it to the back of his mind, for one big reason.
Caster hadn't asked about it, therefore, Day didn't think much about it, since he had better things to worry about.
It wasn't like he was resistant to it, he just didn't struggle to push past it.
Which actually made him rather uncomfortable.
'Wow, it really does seem like I'm already turning into one of those warriors the Spell is trying to create with its progression system…'
"..."
A few minutes later, the duo had made it a fair distance away from their stopping point, but not far. The journey was quite slow. With how conscientious they were about each and every turn, from the actual direction to just scouting it out, it was bound to take a while for them to make any substantial progress.
Caster was still in the lead, and was nearing another corner. He peeked around, looked both ways, pondered for a few moments– and then decided to go left.
When Day noticed this, he spoke out. Day didn't really agree with his choice. From what he understood about their pathing so far based on his view from above, it'd likely be quicker to go right. He didn't have a great view of each and every turn, but he had a feeling that they would end up back where they would go if they went right eventually anyway.
"Hold on, how about we go right? I was up on the wall, and from what I saw the fastest route to the castle walls is one where we consistently go right while only occasionally going left. I don't think the time is ripe just yet for us to change our pathing and go left."
After a moment, Caster looked back at him with his arms crossed and his brows furrowed.
"You were up on the wall and you didn't tell me?"
Day frowned, but quickly refuted.
"Now that I think about it, I guess that seems illogical, but I didn't see many things of importance– and I had a lot of other things on my mind."
For a moment, the Legacy boy was at a pause. His gaze held hints of scorn, but Day didn't fall under that look.
After a few seconds of staring into Day's unremitting, slightly intense gaze, Caster spoke:
"Right, right. If you didn't see much of importance; then what, "things," of importance DID you see?"
Upon hearing Caster's tone, Day clicked his tongue in annoyance. Caster was becoming increasingly more obvious at each passing moment with his subtle mockery. At this point, Day was actually starting to get sick of it.
'You know what, he'll have to deal if he finds me annoying. If he wants to be passive aggressive, I'll do it too. He's bringing this upon himself.'
Day cleared his throat and then began to speak. His tone, however, was tinged with a hint of disdain.
"Let me just give you a rundown of what I saw and let you decide what or what isn't important, prince-"
Caster raised an eyebrow, but didn't interrupt.
"Basically everything in sight is covered in a plethora of gloomy buildings and narrow roads. On the outside of the side of the wall I was on, there's just an endless expanse of ocean. I didn't see the entrance to the castle from where I was, but I didn't have a particularly good view of either of the sides of the walls surrounding the castle either; so I'm not entirely certain where the entrance is. Could be on the left, or the right, or on the other side entirely."
Caster nodded, but didn't look entirely convinced.
"Okay- Anything else?"
"Real meticulous, aren't you? Let me think… I did see this one building on the road we met. It was much, much more preserved compared to its many companions, but the creature was on that road, so I never checked it out. Really though, that's about it."
At this point, Caster seemed a little disappointed, but his disappointment didn't seem to be directed towards Day.
"One last question, do you know anything about that…"
Caster glanced up through the cracks of the buildings above and gazed at the crimson tower for a moment before looking back down with a grimace.
"That red tower?"
"Nope."
At this point, Caster seemed satiated. There was still disappointment woven into his intense face, but his thirst for knowledge seemed to be quenched momentarily
"That's good information, even if it isn't a lot. Thank you, Day. Considering you had a view of the entire city from the wall, I'm going to trust your pathing. How about you guide us along?"
Day shrugged.
"Can do."
Day passed Caster calmly and turned right. For the next half an hour, or so Day thought, he led himself and Caster along quite smoothly. His sense of time was becoming more obscure, mostly because his racing mind was full of questions about his flaw, and the nature of his Remnants of Kindness.
Unfortunately, as always, there was something peculiar he had to focus his attention on, this time– it had to do with neither of them.
Day couldn't tell what it was, but Caster felt off. Whenever he thought Day wasn't looking, he would glance in his direction. It was actually sort of creepy, but Day didn't feel like the gazes held ill-will, despite the two boys's obviously splayed aggression towards each other.
Rather, for the most part, they were curious. It seemed like Caster had a question; but to Day's dismay, the Legacy refused to ask it.
It was starting to get annoying, actually, just like almost everything else Caster had done thus far. Day was bewildered. Surely the legacy, who had shown himself to be sociable and outgoing many, many times during his four week stay at the Academy, wasn't actually hesitating to ask a question and satisfy his curiosity?
'Surely that isn't it, right…?'
After what felt like the millionth glance in Day's direction, Day suddenly stopped and turned around to look at Caster.
'I'll just see if I'm right… What's the harm?'
"Prince, I feel like you think I don't see your glances– I do. Do you have something on your mind?"
Caster's mouth gaped open for a second, but he didn't speak.
For a few moments, he just stared at Day, pondering, like he was in a trance. After those few seconds, however, Caster spoke, his voice showing not a hint of what was hidden beneath his eyes:
"That was unexpected… You are very blunt," Caster said, his tone sharp, "Actually, yes, there is. I have two questions for you, Day."
"First of all, tell me the truth, why did you help me? Do you want something more? I don't believe in your demeanor for even a second, Day. You came up to me, led me away from my original path, and then told me that you could have quite possibly saved my life, and look at you– being so nonchalant about it. Tell me– why did you do that?"
"Um-"
Caster interrupted his attempt to respond.
"My second question is a little different. I didn't wish to ask, but since you are so gracefully giving me the opportunity to do so yourself– I thought I may as well."
Caster glanced down at Day's dangling arm.
"What happened to your arm?"
After Caster finished speaking, Day was at a loss for words.
He wasn't disheartened about Caster being untrusting of him, even if it was a little different from what he was displaying before. Day was arguably the same, after what he had been through. Day couldn't even lie and say he wasn't weary at all… in fact, he was constantly keeping an eye on Caster because he was worried. That was how he was able to notice his glances.
The truth was, Day had something else on his mind entirely.
'Was he seriously struggling to ask me about my arm? Is he trying to be courteous or something?'
Day sighed.
"You are really weird."