The most painful day of the week, Monday, had come. As usual, the Zenover and Suzannia would have to go to school. The only special thing about today would be that it was Zanphia's school days were over, as students of her high school were given off time for studying. In other words, she would have all the time she needed to study for entrance exams.
Her mood had been improving recently, very likely because she hadn't encountered any incidents of bullying since the girls from that time demeaning her. She was also doing well in her revisions and mock exams, which was a relief for not only her, but also every single one of her family members.
Things were usual at the Maladin household. Proxer and Naytia doing their own things, Jogrin sitting at the couch, and two people standing beside him to supervise him. Those two people were Captain Ryov and Griston. Meanwhile, Zanphia was sitting at the dining table. There was no need to say what she was doing.
There were no interactions between any of them for almost half day, which was impressive in its own way. Even the couple who displayed to Jogrin how madly in love they were when Jogrin first saw them together didn't speak to one another.
It wasn't that they had fallen out though. The reason for this was because Proxer had been feeling like he'd become sloppy in physical training and catching up with military affairs, so he decided to work on those today. Naytia, an understanding person, encouraged him and left him to his own devices.
Needless to say, she didn't want to bother Zanphia either. That left only Jogrin, but he told everyone not to talk to him because he'd be busy with something, even though all he'd been doing was sitting on the couch doing nothing.
It was now lunchtime.
"I sure worked up a sweat... Let to shower first before lunch." Proxer wiped his sweat while looking a little breathless.
"Commander Maladin, there really is no problem with you using our equipment..."
"While I appreciate the offer, if I just walk right in and train with the Knights, I'm just going to disrupt their training regimen. Still, thank you, Captain Ryov."
Captain Ryov knew there was no point in persuading Proxer, since he was being insistent, so he just let it go. Proxer headed upstairs to take a shower.
"Darling! Your sweat is dripping on the stairs!"
"Oh sorry! I'll wipe it clean after the shower!"
"Gosh..."
Naytia griped, but she still believed Proxer. Well, this was one of the typical conversations between a married couple. Captain Ryov and Griston let out wry yet warm smiles at the two of them.
"EHH?! It's time for lunch already?! Feels like I didn't get much progress..."
The one who sounded gobsmacked was Zanphia, who just took a look at the time on her phone. While her tummy was growling, she still yearned to study just a little more before eating lunch.
"Delaying your mealtime is bad for your health. So put those away for now, and enjoy my food!"
"Yes~"
"Please join us too! I've made your portions."
"You're too kind. We can't possibly accept your goodwill..."
"Too late, here's your food!"
Naytia beckoned to Captain Ryov and Griston and called them over to have their lunch. They couldn't refuse, since Naytia was being too forceful for some reason.
"Then, we'll gladly eat the food. Thank you very much." Both of the Knights spoke in unison.
They took seats at the dining table so that they could still see Jogrin while eating. Nonetheless, they felt like Jogrin was being too standoffish today. It was like he didn't what happened around him at all. Normally, while he didn't react to anything, he would still listen to whatever was going on near him.
"Whew! Nothing beats a shower after a workout!"
Proxer, despite having seemingly enjoyed the shower, didn't take long to come back down. He took a look at Jogrin's state with a worried look on his face. He walked over and whispered to him.
"Um... Is now a good time?"
Jogrin slowly opened his eyes and cat his gaze on Proxer.
"Sure."
"So... How's it going?"
"Nothing works... In fact, the more I try, the worse it gets."
"Is that so..."
"What are you guys talking about?"
Zanphia chimed in while Proxer and Jogrin were talking about something. Didn't know whether Jogrin wanted her to know, Proxer looked at him apprehensively. Jogrin returned his gaze expressionlessly and sighed once, before speaking up.
"Something's been giving me a lot of trouble. That is the range of 'emotional perception' expanding ceaselessly."
"You sure you should be revealing that?"
"I don't see the harm in doing that... Anyway, the expansion means that I'm picking up on more presences, and it's honestly starting to get bothersome, overwhelming even." Jogrin scowled as he rubbed his head with his palm.
This was a novel idea. Neither Proxer nor Zanphia really knew how that felt whatsoever, but they still felt bad for Jogrin. In fact, that was the first time Jogrin'd ever shown his vulnerable side, at least a little bit of it. They were caught off guard, as they couldn't even imagine him being vulnerable.
"And anything I try just exacerbates it."
That was why he seemed to be doing nothing earlier today, and why he told everyone else not to talk to him.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Zanphia attempted to offer words of consolation, but she could honestly do better than that.
Though, Jogrin didn't even care whether someone would console him or not.
"I guess I have no choice but to roll with it for now. Maybe I'll think of something some time later."
"Just curious... How far can you actually perceive now?" Proxer posed such a question.
Naytia and the two Knights also came over to figure out what the three of them were talking about.
"I can't tell the exact radius, but if I have to give an example... I can clearly tell where Zenover, Suzannia, and Garty are."
"That's really far!!!" Both Proxer and Zanphia exclaimed.
"The furthest point is... the shop owner of the kitchen wares store."
"If I remember right... that store is like 20 km away!!!" Naytia also exclaimed, while Captain Ryov and Griston looked at each other with their obviously widened eyes.
"Hm. So it really is around 20 km, I didn't expect to get it right..."
"I don't think that's what you should be concerned about though?!"
Zanphia grabbed Jogrin's shoulders as she spoke with a tone of profound intensity. Jogrin replied with a tone of resignation.
"I'll deal with the expanding range eventually. No need to over-exaggerate..."
Instead of being convinced, Zanphia only gripped Jogrin's shoulder with more force, as she appeared to be despondent for some reason. Well, Jogrin had some idea why she was acting like that toward him.
"Is there something I can do to help...?" She wanted to offer a hand somehow.
"... Zanphia. I'm fine. I'm not suffering from this. It's just a little overwhelming, but I can adapt quickly, so calm down first."
"Oh... Sorry..."
Zanphia let go of Jogrin and turned away. The other four people present, knowing Zanphia's circumstances, remained silent. Their flabbergasted emotions vanished into thin, and was replaced by dourness.