Chapter 32: Barrages of Queries

"I am certain that you are feeling bewildered when you heard that your team will partake in this operation, Maladin, but they volunteered themselves, even to my surprise." Kapel addressed Proxer's bewilderment as he saw the look on Proxer's face. "They provided the reason: they wish to aid your to overcome your past. In other words, they do not wish to leave you to your own device. In my opinion, their display of courage is praiseworthy. In any case, all soldiers and Royal Knights who are appointed in this operation have already met with Jogrin. They have dealt with him in recent occasions, which makes them superior choices, compared to other soldiers or Knights who have never made contact with him."

Kapel paused for a second to make sure everyone was following him.

"We will be stationed at the vicinity of Maladin's house, namely the grass field behind the backyard. We will observe Jogrin's behavior until further notice. If we find anything suspicious about him, we will immediately apprehend him, and will not be released unless he and anyone involved can prove his innocence. As for any further information... I am deeply sorry that it is classified." Kapel paused once again, and resumed. "Are there any concerns anyone would like to address?"

"What is defined as suspicious behavior?" The chairman queried.

"Any violent acts or behaviors against the law. Hypothetically speaking, if he were to commit any acts that are deemed potentially harmful to any and all people in the neighborhood, we will also act... I am aware of the ambiguity of this statement, but please trust my judgement on this matter." Despite his reassurance, Kapel himself wasn't confident in what other manipulative methods Jogrin could come up with.

"I see. Of course we not only will believe in you and the military, but also will we provide assistance if need be."

"I sincerely thank you for your offer, but we will keep the involvement of you as little as possible."

"I also would like to ask... Will you let Mr. Maladin's family continue to live with this Jogrin fellow?" A woman queried this time.

"It depends on their will. Since there has not been any reports of injuries related to him since his arrival at the neighborhood and having judged his persona from when I made contact with him, I believe he poses little threat, for now... And I also believe that Maladin would succeed in what he is attempting in."

"... Kapel." Proxer addressed Kapel directly. "If you don't mind, do you want to move in with us?"

"Are you proposing..."

"Yes. That way, you can keep an eye on him more closely, and you can also look deeper at his heart." Proxer spoke with a soft tone as he showed a smile, which felt genuine, yet bitter.

"I see. That will do. Then, everyone, if there are no more questions, please expect our arrival three days from now. In the meantime, Maladin, please look after Jogrin, and yourself." Kapel hung up as soon as he finished.

The room was left silent for another brief moment.

"... I suppose it's time to disband. School will resume the day after the soldiers and the Knights arrive. Until then, please remain vigilant... Sorry Mr. Maladin."

"It's fine. I understand your feelings. Instead, I should be the one to apologize for my self-indulgence..."

All of the Association's members got up and left one by one awkwardly, with some glancing at Proxer worriedly, leaving Proxer behind in the empty room as he wore a pensive expression.

...

Two days had passed. While Jogrin never left the house, or rather, remained glued to the couch with books glued to his hands and his eyes glued to the books, nothing of note occurred. There were occasionally conversations between Jogrin and those living in the same house, especially Suzannia and Proxer, but other than that, he didn't bother with anything that happened in the house, which was quite a mire for the Maladins. And just like that, he'd finished 45 books, each containing about 800 pages on average. Proxer was spellbound at how quickly Jogrin managed to read through that amount of words in just two days.

He'd turned off "emotional perception" approximately two hours after the meeting - much faster than the first time. Before that, he remained in the backyard to ensure that no one knew he broke one of the rules Proxer told him about.

He had been notified of the upcoming arrangements which Kapel discussed with Proxer and others. Jogrin appeared to have no qualms about it, as he indifferently agreed and didn't ask any questions at all.

"Proxer." 

To Proxer's surprise, Jogrin suddenly called out to him.

"I'm almost done with the ones on the table, can you bring me the next batch?"

Proxer half-anticipated that would be the motive behind why Jogrin proactively spoke to him. With a resigned sigh, Proxer agreed by gesturing with his arm, and headed upstairs where his study was.

"WOW! Jogrin! You're amazing! You read that many thick books in such a short time!" Suzannia couldn't hide her excitement and passionately told Jogrin how impressed she was.

"Is that so?" Jogrin only curtly replied as he swiftly scanned through the pages.

"Here are your next batch of books, sir." Proxer joked.

Jogrin showed no signs of responding as his gray eyes continued to move back and forth as he turned the pages at regular intervals.

"Hey Jogrin..." Hesitantly, Proxer initiated a conversation with Jogrin. "Have you already read anything similar to all of these books?"

"Content-wise, yes, surprisingly. It's understandable why the differences physics between my home planet and Zuta don't differ much, but I'm finding several oddities regarding this planet from the books..." Jogrin said as he slightly scowled.

"Oddities? What do you mean?"

"Let me ask you some questions then." Jogrin put down the book that he had his eyes glued on, and turned his gaze at Proxer. Suzannia, having her curiosity piqued, strode closer to Jogrin and sat next to him. She waited for him to continue as she stared at him with her puppy eyes.

"Is this returning the favor from when we first met?" Proxer nervously gulped.

"I have no such intention. Anyway, first... how many countries are there on this planet?"

"This is the only one. The country only takes up about one-third of the planet. The rest belongs to the wilderness."

"According to what I've read, there has been no internal conflicts in terms of politics, no usurping, no division of lands which could result in establishments of smaller countries... not even factions exist. The weirdest thing out of all is that, the countries never had any expansion of land since its establishment. I'm confounded by this. This development is just inexplicable. As long as there are groups of people, conflicts and disagreements are inevitable. I saw the conflict between Kapel and the king back at the cuboid building... and I want to know how long this has persisted."

"Uh... I think about 15 years?"

"How many people are on Kapel's side?"

"Jogrin... I don't know what you're getting at, but I wouldn't be talking about this if I were you..."

"Just answer me."

"... Out of everyone I know... like 70% of them are..."

"No records of protests... If you're dissatisfied with the king, why isn't there anyone voicing their complaints?"

"Protests? I've never thought of that..."

"Hm... Speaking of the establishment of this country, there are no books recording anything before it. Are there any books about this that can be bought?"

"What do you mean? There's never been any..." Proxer grew more and more bewildered.

"Then do you know if there was a country that existed before this one, or any sort of communities?"

"There are some history books saying that this is the first ever country to exist. Our ancestors got this country about 1200 years ago and we've been living in it since."

""Got"? They didn't "build" it? Actually, I also find it uncanny that all these fancy technologies were invented as soon as the establishment... at the same time... All the buildings, vehicles, instantly built. The government, military, immediately established... And none of those met any changes after 1200 years..."

"Jogrin... I don't get what you're trying to say, really..."

'The closest conclusion I can draw from this is that the Zutans... aren't originally "Zutans"... They invaded this planet where the original species lived in and were wiped out, along with all records of said species, but this doesn't explain why there hasn't been any technological advancements... If they were capable of invading another planet, that would mean their technology wouldn't be inferior to what's already here... Not to mention the fact that there hasn't been at least some protests against the incompetent king, and the fact that there's only one single country... So I'm basically back to square one.'

"Jogrin? You were saying some super difficult stuff just now... Maybe I really need to read more books to understand what you said!" Suzannia hop up from the couch and tightened her fists to show her resolve. Without another word, she dashed upstairs.

Paying Suzannia no mind, Jogrin remained pensive as he stared blankly at Proxer who was just as bemused as his daughter.

"Proxer."

"Y-yes...?"

"Is it true that no one has ever ventured outside of the walls of the country?"

"Yeah... Why?"

"I should be the one asking that. Is it because there's something dangerous out there?"

"No... Actually, no one knows, because no one ever did that."

"Then the law forbids anyone from doing so?"

"Not that I'm aware of..."

"This only adds more to the mystery..." Jogrin muttered to himself.

"Um..."

"Why was the military established if there are no other countries and the people wouldn't go against the royalty? There hasn't been any real use of it except for "Telestrophe". I just can't wrap my head around all these..."

"Jogrin!" An exasperated yell came from behind. It was Naytia. "I know you're eager to learn, but that doesn't mean you can ask questions or say anything that will evoke bad memories of others!"

"... Sorry. I got ahead of myself." Jogrin apologized to Naytia who calmed down a little.

"Just keep that in mind, please. Darling, are you alright?"

"Yeah... That didn't really affect me much, probably because I'm already overwhelmed, being bombarded by all those questions... Hahaha..." Proxer scratched his head as he let out an awkward laughter.

"Sorry about that, Proxer. I just..."

"I know I know... Don't worry about it." Proxer patted Jogrin's back lightly. "But yeah... I'm really sorry that I can't address what you asked about. Frankly, I've never even thought about any of that, so it really came as a huge surprise when you mentioned it. Maybe Kapel can help with that... if he's willing to that is..."

"That's quite unlikely." Jogrin didn't hesitate to assume so.

"I think he'll be mad if he heard you say that even if that's true..."

Just as Proxer was imagining how Kapel would become irked, his phone rang. He jumped in fear and screamed with a voice one wouldn't imagine a grown man be able to reach. He took out his phone from his pocket and looked at the screen. It was Kapel. Proxer began dropping cold sweats, wondering if Kapel was actually listening via telepathy or something. He began dilly-dallying, with his finger hovering above the screen. A rather childish worry, if one might add.

"I'm pretty sure he was reading my mind..."

"I'm pretty sure he's calling about tomorrow's plans..." Jogrin rebuked Proxer rather sarcastically, though he didn't intend to.

"Oh, right... That's gotta be it eh? Sorry for the mortifying display. Please wipe that memory off your brain." Proxer looked to the side as he proposed.

"You know that's not possible..." Jogrin curtly rejected it.

"Oh... Urgh... Anyway, I'll be picking up the phone." Proxer said so as he walked upstairs and into his study.

...

"What took you so long to answer my call?" Kapel asked in a bland tone.

"Ah! Well, things happened. Anyway, why are you calling?" Attempting to evade reprimanding from Kapel, Proxer cleverly changed the topic, which proved to be successful.

"As you remember, tomorrow will be the day your team, the Knights, and I arrive, marking the commencement of the operation."

"Yeah... And you'll also be moving in our house, right?"

"That is indeed the case." Kapel affirmed.

"We haven't contacted each other since the meeting, so I'm still not well informed of the details of the operation, do you have time to tell me now?"

"Regarding that, it would be the reason for me calling you. I am sorry to inform you, but you have been temporarily relieved of your authority as a Commander. This decision had been made roughly an hour ago by the Council."

"Oh... I was gonna ask why, but I guess it's pretty obvious..."

"Please do not take it to heart. I will make sure to judge Jogrin impartially in order to prove his innocence. After that, I will appeal to the Council to have the decision rescinded."

"... What if... hypothetically, my judgement of him is wrong?" Even though he was certain that Jogrin didn't have any malicious intent, at that moment, Proxer wavered.

"Mal... Proxer. You have taken his side from the beginning. You showed me your resolve in yearning to "save him", and I shall respect it. However, if you begin to doubt yourself, doubt whether you had made the correct choice, it would mean that you were acting on your emotions back then. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah. I know I was being emotional, but there's no going back now, isn't there?"

"Exactly. Whether that choice was right or wrong, led by emotions or logical thinking, all we can do now is to see it to the end. Everyone understands your feelings, I do too. That is the reason why we have faith in you. In the meeting with the Association two days ago, you saw how everyone was thinking in your shoes, and was willing to compromise in the end, despite the confusion caused by Jogrin when he stepped foot in the neighborhood. You are free to give up on the idea of "saving him", but I also hope that you can do your utmost to live up to our faith in you."

"... Right. Everyone believes in me, so I need to do what I can... Haha, I kinda feel like one of the heroes on Suzannia's favorite show." Proxer made a tongue-in-cheek.

"Have you made up your mind?"

"Yep. Thank you, father."

"I am glad. I will support you, although I do have some concerns I would like to address with Jogrin..."

"You are much more intelligent than I am, father. I'm sure you can guide us all to the best outcome."

"That is not my role here. It would fall on you to achieve that. Do not look down on yourself too, you are much more capable than you think. I have faith in you, Proxer."

"It's rare hearing you say something like that. It's pretty out-of-character."

"Well, I have learnt a thing or two from you. Kindness is one of your virtues after all."

"Hahaha! You're kind too, you just express your kindness in a different way."

"I suppose... In any case, I shall hang up now. We will meet tomorrow noon."

With that, the phone call was terminated. Proxer held his phone tightly, pondering about the conversation he just had with Kapel.

'I'm able to express my kindness is only because everyone is so catering. I'm truly grateful... Darotr, my old comrades, please watch over me...'

...

The next day came so quickly as if time had flashed forward. It was the day when Kapel and the others would make their arrival. While the majority of the residents remained in their homes, Proxer, along with other Association members, awaited on the wide grassland.

"Sorry for troubling you guys." Feeling guilty about his self-indulgence, Proxer once again apologized to the others.

"Please, Mr. Maladin. We fully understand your motives behind your actions. Although, if I must say, what you did was certainly reckless, we know that it was out of goodwill... And this must be the famous Jogrin." The chairman, who tried to abate Proxer's guilt as he did back in the meeting, turned his gaze to the scrawny boy who was beside Proxer.

Jogrin, who heard his name being called, also returned his gaze to the chairman. Because of the lack of expression on Jogrin's face, the chairman appeared somewhat intimidated, just like how most of the others reacted when they first saw him.

"Oh, yes... Jogrin, this is Mr. Khanda, the chairman of the neighborhood's Association." Proxer introduced Jogrin to the chairman.

"I'm Jogrin. Sorry for causing an upheaval three days ago, and I hope I won't be bothering everyone else by staying here."

astonished by Jogrin's demeanor, Proxer and the chairman alike remained still for a brief moment.

"That'll be fine, please be at ease. Jogrin, it's nice to meet you." The chairman responded as he bowed elegantly.

"The treatment I got when we first met wasn't anything like this..." Proxer griped.

'This is another thing that feels ominous... The fact that I'm accepted so quickly back and forth. Leaving aside Proxer and Suzannia, the others were so wary of me in the beginning, but almost in the next moment, their apprehension towards me plummeted to the point that they would talk to me voluntarily and act more and more familiar. This has never happened back on my home planet... This can't simply be explained by mere cultural differences...' Jogrin, who only had feelings of foreboding accumulating within him, couldn't stop thinking about all the oddities he'd encountered since he stepped foot on Zuta. In fact, he only noticed how others' acceptance of him felt uncomfortable after discovering the oddities from the books, and the root of that kind of feeling didn't come from his self-deprecation.

As he was wondering how to approach Kapel with those queries, a silver flying vehicle descended from the clouds - Kapel and the others were here. Proxer, Jogrin and the others looked up at the vehicle. It was the same type of vehicle that transported Jogrin and Proxer to this very grassland.

'On the other hand, under the scrutiny of Kapel and the soldiers, it'll be tough trying to deal with Zenover's dilemma in my own way, on my own... I have come up with some contingency measures to get to see what I want from those bullies. The problem now lies in how I should approach Kapel and convince him...'

Putting the mystery surrounding Zuta for now, Jogrin decided to focus on helping Zenover... as a guise, and strove to achieve a certain goal regarding the bullying incident.