"I love picnics!!!"
Exhilarated, Suzannia screamed out her feelings while jumping all over the place. Everyone, including Kapel, watched her with soft, gentle gazes as they were glad that she seemed to enjoy it so much. The exceptions to that were Jogrin and Zanphia. The former was simply acting like usual, while the latter was ruminating about something.
Jogrin stared at Zanphia without saying anything, as he perceived rapid emotional alterations from her. Most of the time, she felt conflicted, or downcast. Needless to say, any positive emotions weren't include in the array.
It was obvious what was on her mind: Jogrinn's answer just now.
It wasn't every day that one got to encounter someone who'd lived more than 500 years, while having similarly horrible experiences as well. Zanphia, despite still feeling down, was still eager to know how Jogrin could endure all those years of bullying.
His answer was the same as he'd told Proxer before. He believed that he deserved it, and all the bullying was retributions for what he'd done. In other words, he accepted, embraced it all. However, when the kind Darkian girl was with him, he would resist, so that she wouldn't be embroiled in the physical assaults brought about by the bullies.
He would expend his powers in a way that would make them nauseous, just like what he mentioned in the tent on the first day he met Zanphia and Zenover while explaining the abilities of the Darkians. However, while the bullies did flee, the girl didn't even intend to leave his side, although she definitely felt nauseous too.
But that was beyond the point.
For Zanphia, leaving the fact that that gave little to no insight at all, it also made her feel like what she was experiencing what nothing compared to what Jogrin had. Still, the part about "deserving it" somehow resonated in her heart. Because of that, she felt more downcast.
Jogrin answered her as frankly as he could, without considering if it could help her or not. He thought that, even if she knew about more about his experience, it would change nothing, neither what she was going through, nor his plans. In fact, it would even make his plans proceed more smoothly.
Suzannia dragged Zenover to play with her. Of course, she didn't forget about Zanphia. Nonetheless, she looked like she was in a trance, as she almost fell over from Suzannia's pull. Regretting that, Suzannia thought she was acting impulsively again and vehemently apologized to Zanphia while teary-eyed.
In response to that, Zanphia hugged her and patted her head, saying that it wasn't her fault. To make up for almost making Suzannia cry, Zanphia decided to join her siblings. They started playing catch as Suzannia laughed gleefully while Zanphia let out a warm smile.
While Jogrin and the others were watching them, he noticed there was one person among them who had his eyes on something else, and that something else being Jogrin himself. He glanced at the Knight named Kron, who was seated next to Kapel.
Even though he had donned his helmet, Jogrin knew he couldn't gave mistaken it: Kron was directing hostility at him. While he understood that there would be some people he'd met on Zuta that still wouldn't trust him, it was different in Kron's case. At most, rather than hostility, they'd be more wary of him. Even if there was hostility, it was nowhere as much as Kron's.
Jogrin was a little crept out by Kron's attitude, but he also knew that Kron was a rather radical person when he first interacted with him. And unlike Kapel, who also showed hostility, he came to understand Jogrin more as he had more chances to talk with him.
Still, it wasn't something he should be concerned about now, as Zanphia's adversity was of a much higher priority.
Jogrin wished to put his plan in motion as soon as possible. Unlike when he first came up with it, he was getting impatient, as Zanphia appeared to be so troubled by the bullying the entire time. He didn't know whether she received more of it, verbally or physically, but he knew this couldn't drag on.
He could pull some strings, but the problem was he was under constant supervision. One thing he could bet on, was the fact that Kapel and Captain Ryov had come to trust him more, so maybe they would let their guard down. That would be when Jogrin had a chance to be out of their radar.
But it was easier said than done. All he could do was to pay more attention to the presences he could perceive when he got the chance to go outside, which didn't come often as proven if the last two weeks.
"Would you like some food?" Proxer offered some food as he presented two oboxes to Kron.
"Don't mind if I do then. Thank you for the food."
Kron only lifted up his helmet slightly to put the food in his mouth. Another thing Jogrin'd noticed about Kron was that he never took off his helmet when he was with Jogrin. While he still couldn't recognize Kron's presence as he'd never seen Kron's face, it wasn't like he knew how "emotional perception" worked, since Jogrin never revealed that part of the ability to anyone yet.
If anyone was going to incite others to go against Jogrin, Kron would be the one to do it out of everyone Jogrin'd seen so far, but at least he obeyed to Captain Ryov. Perhaps Jogrin needed to act more prudently around Kron.
...
"Let's have more picnics!!"
It seemed that Suzannia really enjoyed having picnics with the crowd, and was already hoping for more.
"Then, let's make this something we do every two weeks." Naytia suggested.
"Why not every day??"
"You'll get bored of it soon if we do this every day." Zenover explained
"Hmm... OK! If you say so!"
Suzannia was somehow being more obedient than usual, since she'd usually throw a tantrum for a while before conceding.
'Looks like she's growing gradually.' Jogrin thought to himself.
"Alright, everyone. Let's pack up and return!" Proxer spoke up with a satisfied look on his face.
With that, everyone, including Kron and Jogrin, helped to tidy up the place. Since Jogrin couldn't hold onto much weight, he was only asked to help carry some boxes which were put in some plastic bags.
As they were walking back to the Maladin household, Kron continued to have his eyes glued on Jogrin. The latter pretended that he didn't notice the stare as he walked beside Kapel and Zanphia.
As expected, Zanphia still had her mind on what Jogrin said to her, it looked like that she thought she deserved reprimanding for the way she rejected one of the boys back in middle school, but to be treated to the point that it made her almost break down was undoubtedly unwarranted.
Still, ultimately, she'd still have to deal with the bullies whether she liked it or not.
While helping out Zanphia with her dilemma was his main objective, there was also an ulterior motive behind this
Should the bullying happen while Jogrin was present, he would then be able to know about something he'd been wondering about way before he arrived at Zuta...
How the bullies really felt when they committed the act.