The crowd, after some time, seemed to have calmed down a bit. It didn't happen just because some time had passed, but rather because backup had finally arrived, and it was Kapel's idea to have the latecomer Knights restrain Jogrin, since they finally sufficient manpower to do that and hold back the panicked victims at the same time.
Luckily for them, Jogrin showed no resistance and obeyed when he was asked to sit on the ground while the Knights pointed their guns at him.
Normally, this scene would've been the one to cause the panic, but because of Jogrin, this was nothing but a blessing for them.
Unfortunately, that didn't mean that what they witnessed just now didn't traumatize them. On the other hand, Garty was still weeping. While Zanphia and Zenover, who were being looked after by Proxer and Naytia, knew about Jogrin's abilities, that didn't mean they could just act like it was nothing out of the ordinary. As for Suzannia, she was in Naytia's clutches, but not a drop of tears appeared from her eyes at all.
In fact, when they saw what Jogrin did to Kron at the end, their previous opinions of Jogrin seemed to have wavered. They saw him as someone who didn't know how to express himself well, but still possessed above average intelligence. Moreover, there were traces of kindness within him, since he protected Proxer back then. But after what occurred earlier, they couldn't be certain about the last one anymore.
"Everyone, take him back to the encampment please." Captain Ryov gave orders to the Knights present after discerning that now was a good time.
"Yes sir!!" They hastily gestured Jogrin to stand up.
Although Jogrin complied, the way he stood up from the ground only gave the Knights the creeps, since he did it by levitating his body, though there wasn't any dark glow extending from the tail like before.
"Wait, Knights, please escort the civilians to the encampments... I will have to speak with Jogrin now." Kapel issued a new order.
The Knights turned to look at Captain Ryov with confusion in their eyes. The latter nodded at them before he took the lead and led over half of the Knights into the alleyway.
"Considering there are a lot of us here, two of our vehicles won't be enough, so we may need to commandeer some of the other civilians' cars."
"Yes sir!!"
The noises generated by the Knights' steps gradually faded as they escorted the victims, leaving only 15 Knights, the Maladins, Garty, Kapel, and Jogrin behind.
It was obvious what would come next.
"Jogrin."
"Sorry about what I did, and I can make no excuses."
"I do not want to hear your apology. Instead, tell me what took place here after you had arrived."
"Sure."
Jogrin explained everything from start to finish, including what he saw the moment he stepped in from the alleyway, how he threatened Drakob and the others, and how Kron suddenly made an appearance after the bullies returned.
"Halt. Mr. Kron? He was here?"
"Hm. I see he didn't wipe your memories of him. Here I thought he would clean up any trace of his existence. Or maybe he can't do that?"
"I do not understand. How is Kron related? Why was he here? Why did he not report to me when he found you? And what are his whereabou-"
"JOGRIN!!!" A Knight yelled as he took off his helmet. Of course, without him doing that, Jogrin already recognized him as Fron, the "twin brother" of Kron. "Where is he now?!"
As soon as he heard Fron, Jogrin pointed at the pile of ashes. Immediately, Fron grew irate and went to grab Jogrin's collar, but he was stopped by Kapel. He shook his head at Fron, who gritted his teeth as he tried to regain his composure.
"Jogrin, explain in detail, what exactly transpired?"
"Actually, I want to ask you something."
"I am the interrogator. You do not have the right to-"
"Please wait, Gran Commander Kapel, can we at least hear him out?"
Fron interrupted Kapel. Though this would usually be seen as a type of transgression, Kapel understood Fron's throe of having his brother "turned into ash," and that he was doing his utmost to remain level-headed, so Kapel didn't blame him.
"... Then, tell me what you want to know."
"Have any of you seen Kron's appearance?"
"What sort of question is this? What do you intend to find out by asking it?"
While Kapel was perplexed and irritated at Jogrin, the latter turned his gaze towards the other Knights present, and perceived that they'd come to a realization. Kapel followed his gaze and also deduced the same. He began to contemplate about what Jogrin asked.
"Fron. Are you sure you've had a brother since birth?"
"Huh?... I'm pretty sure... I do...?"
"Then what are your memories of him?"
Fron wasn't able to answer as he stared at Jogrin in a daze. He also came to a realization that Kron never existed in his childhood memories. It seemed Kapel also had a revelation and as he pursued for more answers.
"Kron Urta. This name is not enlisted in the Second Order of the Royal Knights... Jogrin, elaborate further."
"Kron Urta isn't a Zutan, but an alien species, just like me-"
"But this can't be!!" Fron lost his composure again and became agitated.
"You need to accept this, Fron. He's not from this planet."
"Mr. Fron. I have to apologize for not considering your feelings. I will have another Knight escort you-"
"I'm sorry for losing myself again... Jogrin, please continue."
Fron mustered his courage as he scowled and held his fists tightly. Jogrin could see the determination in his eyes, so he decided to let Fron listen him. Kapel put his hand on Fron's shoulder and nodded at him, then at Jogrin.
"Alright. As I was saying, he's an alien. He took off his helmet and showed me his face. Pale complexion, white fair, pointy ears with a tall nose... and red eyes."
"So like a goblin?" Proxer chimed in and asked.
"I don't know what a goblin is."
"Is there something special about the red eyes?" Kapel noticed that Jogrin stuttered before talking about the red eyes, so he asked for more elaboration.
"A pair of red glowing eyes... They had a glow which reminded me of the invasion of my home planet."
"Your planet was... invaded?"
Zanphia raised a question after hearing Jogrin. Zenover and Naytia also found it a little surprising, since they were never told about that. They had an inkling about that, but didn't think that was the case. But now that it was suddenly revealed, they were shocked. And somehow, Jogrin could perceive empathy from them, but pay it any mind.
"Yes, I didn't tell you because there were already too many things I've told you about, and I couldn't bring myself ruining your positive emotions by doing that. And I definitely couldn't say that when your moods are low... But I guess now's an exception."
Since he knew that telling about would dampen the mood, as proven by recent experiences, Jogrin didn't want to do so to those uninitiated anymore. However, he had no choice but to disclose it now, if he wanted the others to understand just how threatening Kron really was.
"Exception?" Zanphia asked again.
"Because for whatever reason, he was present during the invasion. He even admitted it himself."
Jogrin looked around at the people who were listening to his explanation attentively. They abruptly had a sense of foreboding, about what was about to come out of Jogrin's mouth.
"And Kron is the wielder of the ability: 'mind tampering.'"