Chapter 51: Tumultuous Investigation (Part 2)

Kapel, who was suddenly asked a question by Jogrin, closed his eyes pensively.

"While you were away, the contingency committee held a meeting. The final verdict was to deploy a temporary reconnaissance team to three outside of the border."

After pondering for some moment, Kapel made up his mind and disclosed the contents of the meeting that was held just today.

"You sure you should be so readily divulge that kind of information? Or is that your way of seeking for my help?"

"As much as I would like to deny it, yes, it is. Despite having reached a consensus within the committee, we are struggling to pick out who shall be the ones to be included in the team."

It was understandable. The ones that would be chosen has to step foot into unknown territory after all. Moreover, they also had to explain what happened to the king. Even as higher-ups, they couldn't just order their subordinates around without giving a reason.

Jogrin gazed at Kapel, apparently awaiting his add-on. He wasn't exactly looking forward to what was about to come out of Kapel's mouth.

"That is why, I would like for you to be a part of the team."

The reason why Kapel wanted Jogrin to stay behind was because of a recruitment request, hence the reveal of all the supposedly classified information. From Jogrin's perspective, the fact that Kapel readily did so was out of his expectation, but at the same time, it wasn't an irrational thing to do. Recruiting someone uninitiated was uncommon, especially for something of such caliber.

"Well, that came out faster than I thought."

"You knew of my wish to recruit you beforehand?"

"I somewhat guessed it, but I thought you'd do it in a much more roundabout way... It's that bad, huh?" Jogrin surmised the reason behind Kapel's directness.

"The throne cannot be without its master for too long."

In other words, those who were in the know were starting to become impatient, and were anxious about the absence of their leader, despite his lack of competence. Kapel stressed the urgency of such matter. It seemed he was out of ideas and had to resort to Jogrin in the end.

The unknown territory beyond the walls which no one had ever stepped foot into. There was a need for reconnaissance before an actual exploration could be conducted. It was no wonder that anyone would vehemently refuse such a task. Those who agreed to take it up upon themselves would either be crazy or have a huge sense of responsibility.

"You think I'm crazy enough to agree to that?" Jogrin threw a rhetorical question at Kapel, whose fingers were tapping on the side of his thighs, and seemed to be deep in thought. "Well, I suppose I really am crazy enough."

To Kapel's surprise, Jogrin hastily agreed to his request. That was when he became skeptical about Jogrin's intentions.

"What? You're the one who's recruiting me, and now you're suspecting me?"

"It felt too easy. You may have quirky personality, but I never anticipated you to accept it so quickly. Pray tell, what are your conditions?"

"Although I can't say that you're being annoyingly irrational, really?... *Sigh*... Well, since you mentioned it, I ask that I go alone."

"What? Alone? This is not just "crazy" then... Unless, you have another ruse you do not wish to have others be aware of."

"To tell you the truth, the king, if he actually ended up outside of the walls, is likely dead."

"If you had said that in front of the other committee members, you would have undoubtedly be arrested on the spot."

"How outrageous, but I doubt they even dare to do that."

"We have some brave souls, especially in the First Order of the Royal Knights."

"Anyway, I'm guessing that request won't be approved."

"Indeed."

It was to be expected, but still worth a try. As for why Jogrin made such a request, it was to hide something from Kapel. But perhaps it was better to just explain it to Kapel.

"Kapel, let me tell you something. I've never told anyone else about this, so keep it to yourself. Can you promise me that?"

"It is even the same case for Proxer?"

"Yeah, you'll know why once you see it... or rather, feel it."

"On your behest, I shall comply... depending on what it is you are about to reveal to me."

Jogrin nodded once. "This is a good opportunity since no one else is near us."

The soldier closest soldier to the central tent was at least half a mile away, so Jogrin decided that this would be the perfect chance to show Kapel so that it couldn't be detected by anyone other than Kapel.

Jogrin looked to check Kapel one more time, making sure he was mentally prepared for it. Kapel, not knowing what this was about, braced himself. He didn't know why, but Jogrin sounded very conscious of it. Whatever it was, it surely couldn't be anything with good omen.

"Then, here goes..."

After acknowledging the readiness of the poised Kapel, Jogrin averted his gaze, and his the tip of his spine-like tail began to glow.

...

"*Cough cough*... Wh-what was that... Having the ability to perform that is one thing, but why did that cause my stomach..." Kapel exclaimed, completely aghast.

After witnessing what Jogrin did for just two seconds, Kapel had an abrupt nausea. He crouched down and took deep breaths repeatedly and prevent himself from actually vomiting.

What Jogrin did wasn't anything abhorrent, but it was an excessive use of Dark Matter that caused the action to be deleterious to others.

"I discovered that I was able to do this at a relatively young age... Well, at 135 years, 4 months, and 9 days, old. It was an accidental discovery, as I was falling down after a push by one of the 'Vaso types' bullying me. Right after I did that, they had the same reaction as you are having right now."

"I understand why you would be so reluctant to display this ability of yours to others..."

"I've even learnt to tone it down, and control the flow of the Dark Matter better. It has shown some significant results, but as you can see, it's inadequate."

"..."

"*Sigh* So you insist on not allowing me to go alone?"

Kapel was deep in thought once again and became silent, but even with that, Jogrin was able to guess what he was pondering about.

"We will pair up and form the reconnaissance team."

"What?"

Apparently, Jogrin didn't get the full picture of Kapel's intentions, and he was slightly taken aback by Kapel's suggestion. He might've guessed that Kapel still didn't want to let him go alone, but he frankly never expected Kapel to voluntarily pair up with him after knowing the reason behind Jogrin's previous request.

"No objections allowed."

"Hold on, the outside is treacherous-"

"I told you, no objections allowed."

"Young people these days sure are stubborn."

Annnoyed as he was, Jogrin could do nothing but gripe about Kapel's insistence.