The shuttle. One that was a man-sized device. One that Jogrin'd been put in so that he could escape from an insufferable fate that was death. One that should've come with him to this planet called Zuta. Now, if only he could find it, he'd then have a chance to traverse the outer space, and back his home planet.
'There haven't been any mentions of the shuttle ever since I woke up. Normally, Proxer should've said that I crash landed with said shuttle, yet... They have no reason to deliberately hide it from me. I'll have to ask Proxer about this.'
Jogrin was digging way too deep into this and became absentminded, making him unbecoming of one presenting himself before the king.
"HEY YOU!" as soon as the king raised his voice, the Knights within the throne room pointed their swords and spears at Jogrin, which snapped him back to reality.
While staring quietly and blankly at the king, Jogrin noticed the skyrocketing "anxiety" coming from the Knights all around him. Luckily, "mind tampering" didn't seem to be affecting them, like it did with the soldiers who were involved with the bombardment.
'The soldiers... From what I've perceived, they didn't seem to remember that they were the ones to have done all that damage, so in order to prevent their emotions from going berserk again, it's better to keep them in the dark about this. As for Proxer... I wonder what his past is that led to his desire to help me... Whatever it is, I can use that to my own advantage.'
Unlike the others, Proxer was less wary of Jogrin, but it felt more like he was really concerned about Jogrin. Jogrin found that behavior inscrutable, especially since he was an unknown being with some kind of revolting power.
'I wonder... If he saw how I got down from the hospital room to the ground, will he change his mind about that?'
"PREPOSTEROUS! How dare a plebeian such as yourself ignore the king's orders?! Do you know this is a crime?! Do you want to be executed?!"
Continuously absorbed in his own thoughts, the king became enraged and stood up with a stomp. His voice resounded in the throne room.
The throne, among all the other objects, stood out the most with its golden yellow color. Meanwhile, the king was wearing a blue woolen cloak, as if to contrast the throne's color. Unlike the calmness elucidated by the blue color, the king was currently throwing a fit, his faced flushed.
Walking down the stairs, the king glared at Jogrin as if he really had the intention to execute Jogrin. But even though Jogrin could sense how much "rage" the king had, he was still composed, not thinking the king's intimidation as a threat.
'Oh, "king" isn't a name, but a title.' That was what he was concerned about, despite perceiving the fury from the king. Perhaps after knowing that the king wasn't as intelligent as Jogrin anticipated, he just couldn't care less about the king.
Jogrin's insensitivity was brewing trouble at that very moment. With the desire to break out of the growing, exasperating development, Kapel, with a much sterner look, attempted to halt the king's advances, only to swallow his words and have his body frozen with a half-reached out arm. The king paid no mind to Kapel as he grabbed the collar of Jogrin's new purple robe.
That act was truly unbecoming of a king. The atmosphere was insanely tense, with the Knights including the Captain Ryov becoming nonplussed as they didn't dare raise their voice against the king. Moreover, there was a chance that Jogrin might release the miasma-like aura like the one back in the hospital.
As a result, Proxer decided to stand up for Jogrin.
"If I may, Your Majesty. I believe it would be wiser to act with grandeur as a great ruler. I'm sure Your Majesty is magnanimous as to omit his impudence..."
Proxer spoke as if he had an alternate personality. Jogrin couldn't believe what he heard from Proxer's voice. What had taken him aback even more, was how "composed" Proxer was.
Under the pressure of authority, even Kapel couldn't help but hesitate, especially when apparently his relation with the king had been in a pitfall to begin with. Even so, Proxer spoke up and boldly advised the king without showing any euphemism, elegant as his words might've been. This could either go well or badly.
There's a fine line between bravery and stupidity after all.
To Kapel and Proxer's dismay, the king turned his piercing glare at Proxer. They both realized that Proxer had made the wrong move, only to be stupefied by the king's next action.
He let go of Jogrin, whose robe become ragged, then took a few steps back and a deep breath.
"Yes, you are certainly right..."
"Proxer Maladin. Commander of the military's emergency deployment force."
"Yes, I... remember you, Maladin. You sure are a bold one, but that's a virtue of yours and I like that... Then I shall act like a king as you've suggested. But that doesn't mean I'll let what this plebeian did be unaccounted for. Now, instead of Kapel or this insolent boy, Maladin, tell me detail by detail about what'd transpired at the military hospital."
Fortunately, before things took a turn for the worse and become irreversible, Proxer seemed to have been able to put a lid over it.
After consenting to Proxer's words and praising him, the king seemed to have grown fondness over him. Moreover, there appeared to be favoritism toward Proxer.
"Yes, Your Majesty. When I was overseeing him, he appeared to have activated a supernatural power, to which the two soldiers who were inside the room panicked..." As Proxer was attempting to recall as many details as possible, even if minor, the king listened attentively with one of his hands on his chin. Meanwhile, Kapel did the same, except that the fingers of both of his hands were tapping on his trousers.
There was one problem if the explanation was allowed to proceed till the end: the reveal of "mind tampering". So far, the only person Jogrin'd informed this of was Proxer.
The conflict here was that, eventually, Jogrin wished to make this unknown force known throughout the people of Zuta. Even though the soldiers had intended to kill him, they were merely victims of that force. Every single person on this planet was innocuous, so Jogrin believed that they deserved to know about this, and come up with some kind of preventive measures themselves.
He didn't want innocent people to lose their lives, or their minds because of him.
'It could be targeting only those around me, but it's better safe than sorry.'
The "mind tampering" could vanish from Zuta once he left the planet, but at this point, he couldn't be sure.
Perhaps, this would be the prime opportunity for the reveal of it and begin the spread of the news. It could be only among those who were working in the military and the "Palacial" for now, and not the general public, as long as some awareness was raised...
The most probable person to come up with a plan to counter this, among the various people he'd met so far, was Kapel. Jogrin side-eyed him as he pondered.
Kapel, upon noticing Jogrin's secretive gaze, returned a glare. It seemed the king wasn't the only thing he was dissatisfied with, which was to be expected.
'Then, go ahead and reveal it, Proxer, for the sake of the people of Zuta.'