"What is the meaning of this? Is that a way blatant way to incite distrust among our ranks?"
In one of the tents that was stationed next to the sole tree on the grassland, Kapel became irritated due to what Jogrin told him. Jogrin basically repeated what he said to Captain Ryov to Kapel, of course, without the part about the "true nature."
"I've spent some time mulling it over. Although I can't say for certain, this is one of the possibilities. I can be wrong about this, but if you think about it, it's not actually far-fetched."
"I have interacted with His Majesty for a lot of times than you, Jogrin. And I can tell you, without a single doubt that, what you said is indeed far-fetched. You have witnessed first-hand, about... what kind of person he is. He could not have been the one to have concocted that plan."
The plan about ascertaining whether Jogrin could become a military asset to Zuta, in the potential expense of Proxer and the others.
Kapel refrained from expressing his personal opinion about the king, to avoid incurring even more punishment. He spoke from his countless experiences communicating with the king, and apparently every time he did, the king had always given him the very same impression. It was no wonder that Kapel insisted that Jogrin was wrong, and "keeping an eye out for the king" was a needless notion.
Then, did that mean Jogrin was actually wrong? He didn't know. There was nothing to base his claim on, but he also believed it'd serve Kapel better to heed his advice. As an outsider though, it was definitely much less convincing than if the same words were said by the Secretary, who was usually beside the king.
"Jogrin. I understand that you have much time thinking about it, but even I have to say that... it's too quick to conclude that..."
Captain Ryov was also present, and spoke his two cents. He also agreed with Kapel, but remembering how Jogrin saw through him yesterday, he was still a little apprehensive about speaking too casually with him. Jogrin, on the other hand, didn't care about his tone, as he pondered a little bit.
"Well, if both of you say that, I guess it's more likely that I'm overthinking things, sorry about that."
"Do not ever speak of anything that could tarnish the public's impression on the royalty, whether it is actually the case or not."
"I'll keep that in mind."
Jogrin heeded Kapel's warning. Albeit the fact that Kapel didn't like the king's attitude, he was able to objectively deal with matters regarding the person in question, which was one of the reasons why Captain Ryov and many others admired him. They aspired to be like Kapel, but those who were able to were sparse.
"Good... And Captain Ryov, about the punishment."
"Oh... Well..."
Captain Ryov wanted to say that it should be withheld, but after listening to what Kapel said earlier, he knew that Kapel wouldn't be willing to accept that. He glanced at Jogrin while coming up with a way to settle this.
"Let's put a rain check on that, shall we? While negligence of duty is punishable, since there were consequences brought about by it, the sentence is usually much lighter. There have been prior examples as well."
"So, you are suggesting that my punishment should be lighter?"
"Yes..."
Captain Ryov tried to lighten Kapel's punishment as much as possible, but he didn't know whether this was the best way to do it. Since Jogrin knew nothing about the laws of Zuta, he didn't speak up.
"You are correct about the fact that there have been precedence, but in my case, the extent of the potential consequences was unknown, so I cannot say that those examples could be applied here."
"Still, I think it's logical to make it lighter."
"... Perhaps we should ask the higher-ups."
"That'd be unnecessary!"
"The higher-ups?" Jogrin finally decided to chime in.
"Yes. That should be the most logical solution." Kapel replied.
"Then you'll just be excused."
"What do you mean?" Kapel demanded more elaboration.
"They'll just tell you that you'll receive no punishment, and should simply continue with you current operation."
"Um... I'm not sure I follow."
Once again, Captain Ryov was baffled by what Jogrin said. It seemed that Jogrin's thought process was so fast that he couldn't catch up. Meanwhile, Kapel seemed to be able to connect the dots and interpret what Jogrin insinuated.
"He is referring to the matter we discussed yesterday, about their real intention behind their consent to this operation."
"In order to make the operation as smooth as possible, they need Kapel. They don't care about giving him punishment. They want their answers as soon as possible."
"I see... That makes sense." Captain Ryov was extremely impressed by how in sync Jogrin and Kapel were.
"That brings me to that previous questions of yours, Kapel." Jogrin addressed Kapel. "Seek advice from those higher-ups just like you said, and you'll be absolved from any punishment by their orders."
"I cannot accept that."
"Then you'll need to accept that, begrudgingly."
"Tsk." Kapel clicked his tongue. Even though he had his own standards, he still had to obey the commands from people with more authority than him.
Hence, accompanied by Captain Ryov, Jogrin met with Griston and the three of them waited outside the tent and Kapel dialed the personnel at "Palacial." After around half an hour, Kapel emerged from the tent. There was a dissatisfied look on his face, so it was clear what he'd been told.
"Does that mean..."
"Yes, I shall receive no punishment, and carry on with my current duties."
It was just as Jogrin's predicted. Adding that to the fact that a verdict was made in such a short time, it only further reinforced the level of truth to what Jogrin said about the higher-ups' ulterior motives.
Captain Ryov couldn't help but drop his jaws in awe. Having perceived the emotions coming from him, Jogrin glanced at him before talking to Kapel again.
"Now that that's over, you can forget about it."
"Yes, begrudgingly."
Griston tilted his head, confused by the exchange between Jogrin and Kapel, since he wasn't inside the tent earlier to listen to the previous discussion. Despite that, he refrained from asking about it.
"Oh! There you are, Jogrin." Zenover beckoned at Jogrin and the others as he approached from a distance. "Dad was wondering where you went, and sent me to look for you guys. He said dinner's ready and hope that Mr. Ryov and Mr. Griston could join. Grandpa Grunmyt, he said that you must come and uh... 'have no right to refuse.'"
"Proxer... He's quite a handful sometimes."
"Since we're invited, it'd be rude to turn him down, right Griston?"
"Yeah. I'm looking forward to the food."
"Griston... You're such a glutton..." Captain Ryov showed a wry smile at Griston.
"I suppose we will go to the household now, since our business here is already done." Kapel accepted Zenover's invitation and prepared to move.
"OK... It's good that you accepted, or else I'll get an earful from both Mom and Dad..."
"... You have it rough, Zenover..." Kapel expressed his empathy.