Kapel and Captain Ryov exchanged all the information they had obtained during the short time frame. Kapel talked about everything Jogrin's told him while the latter was standing at his side, attentively listening in, Captain Ryov followed by telling Kapel and Proxer what the victims told him, while Naytia stood beside them and listened in.
Meanwhile, Zanphia, Zenover, Garty, and Suzannia were seated at a long table, some distance away from the rest.
Kapel glanced at Jogrin pensively after listening to Captain Ryov. He'd expected to hear something of the sort from Captain Ryov, but at the same time, he felt hard-pressed about the current circumstance.
"They all said the same thing. No memories of what happened after meeting a Knight in the alleyway, and the next thing they saw was Jogrin flying into the same Knight who had peculiar facial features and obliterating him along with the armor."
That was the summary of what Captain Ryov informed Kapel and Proxer of. Kapel had no choice but to acknowledge the existence of an ability known as "mind tampering."
According to Jogrin, amplifying emotions wasn't all that it was capable of, it could even do the opposite. By tampering with one's emotions, the wielder of said ability could indirectly control his victims' movements, hence the assault on Jogrin by both the soldiers and bullies.
In fact, the soldiers might have been under its effect before Jogrin even awoke on the bed in the cubicle.
"Is Fron doing well?" Captain Ryov raised a personal question.
"He needs some time to recover."
"I understand."
Captain Ryov wore a pained expression as he looked downward. Tyron and Griston did the same. Deciding that this couldn't go on since it might hinder their discussion, Captain Ryov thought of something to talk about. Though he thought of it on the spot, it was one rather important topic.
"Jogrin. Is your 'emotional perception' still expanding in range?"
"Yes, unfortunately, especially when I activated my powers."
"That's... sad to hear... But I'd like to ask..."
"Yes?"
"Can you detect Kron right now?"
"He's out of range."
"Just for reference, how far can you detect now...?"
"Well... I can detect the king just hurriedly got out of range from reacting to what he was told just now."
Everyone's eyes widened at Jogrin's reply and they stared at him in disbelief.
"Grand Commander Kapel, may I know how far the 'Palacial' is from here, just to be sure?"
"Approximately 60 km."
"It expanded that much just by some brief instances of activation of my powers... This is absurd."
"That's our line!!" Griston exclaimed while sweat drops were visible on his forehead.
"Are you alright...?" Proxer expressed his concern toward Jogrin.
"I can do nothing but to accept it, as annoying as this is."
"Is it not reversible?"
"I hope it is, but I honestly don't know what I can even do about this... Anyway, the focus shouldn't be on 'emotional perception,' but on what follows after Kron's stupid antic."
Jogrin didn't feel like dwelling on something that had no feasible solution at the moment. Since it was something that only he could come up with one for, he also felt that it was pointless to put this as the center of the discussion.
He noticed Zanphia was wearing the same expression as Proxer while she gazed at him. When she saw that Jogrin returned his gaze, she attempted to stand up, but Jogrin shook his head at her, so she sat back down dejectedly.
Zenover caught all of that, and shot a strange look at Zanphia. There seemed to be something on his mind regarding Zanphia's behavior just now.
As for Garty, she still averted her gaze from not just Jogrin, but from everyone as well. Even with "emotional perception," Jogrin couldn't quite make sense of her behavior, but he simply ignored her, as there were more important matters at hand.
"Right. Regarding that, I have talked to the higher-up about it... They were disappointed that no recordings of Jogrin using his abilities could be given since there were no security cameras at the scene, but they're sending more persons here, claiming that they will be involved in dealing with the aftermaths caused by this incident."
"So that's why the king has been in a rush. I suspected as such."
"... Jogrin, please refrain from prying on His Majesty's privacy..."
"Can't help it when my memory doesn't allow me to forget."
"Then, you could just keep it to yourself."
"... Hm. They sure work fast."
"What do you mean?"
While Kapel was telling Jogrin to stop, Jogrin seemed to have picked up something from his reaction. Proxer immediately followed up by asking Jogrin for clarification.
"Well, some presences just vanished from the 'Palacial' and reappeared close by."
"... In other words, they have already arrived here by portals."
"Seems like it? Feels weird to perceive presences going through portals... So that's what it feels like."
Jogrin didn't appear to quite catch the severity of the arrival, according to what he said. To Kapel, Jogrin was acting rather nonchalant, but he didn't say it out loud and only let out a soft sigh. Then, he once again entered his pensive state, and began to repeatedly tap his finger against his thigh.
"Since we've pretty much wrapped up, shall we go greet them?" Captain Ryov faced Kapel and queried.
"I will do that. Please stay here and await my return."
"Alright. See you in a bit."
With that, Kapel took off, his pensive look still on his face. Perhaps he was using this opportunity to contemplate by himself, though the time he had wouldn't be that long anyway. Jogrin thought about that.
'If he figure out what to do in such a short time, color me impressed.'
"Um. Jogrin?"
He turned to the source of the voice, and saw Zanphia. She was grabbing Jogrin's forearm and tugged at him. After drawing his attention, she glanced at Garty. Jogrin understood that the reason behind Zanphia wanting to call out to him earlier.
Jogrin wondered what Garty was really thinking, so he let Zanphia pull him along.
"Garty? You good to have a talk now?" Zanphia addressed Garty gently.
Despite Zanphia's voice being audible clearly, Garty showed no reaction, at least ostensibly. Her emotions were a different story. From Jogrin's perspective, she yearned to speak up, yet lack the courage to.
Then, Zanphia forced Garty to turn around, and pinched her cheeks until they're beet red.
"Owowow!! What are you doing, you idiot?!" Garty showed resistance toward Zanphia's antics as she glared at her.
However, when she noticed Jogrin behind Zanphia, she averted her gaze again.
"Sorry about that Jogrin. Zanphia told her about you... Like, you know, your past and stuff, and a little bit about your kind's abilities? But she can't seem to remember it all."
"Hey, Zenover!! It's not like you're any better!!!" Zanphia glared at Zenover while still pinching.
"Hey! Stop it, Zanphia!!"
"Ah. Sorry for going overboard..."
"Hmph." Garty shot Zanphia an irritated look.
Jogrin had no idea what that was about, as he just silently watched this scene play out as an outsider. The other outsider, Suzannia, also watched with amusement and confusion.
"Ahem! Anyway... Like I said, Zanphia talked to Garty, and it's up to you to explain yourself..."
"Explain myself? Care to elaborate?"
Jogrin didn't quite comprehend what Zenover was talking about, since he wasn't here to witness everything that unfolded between them. While his guess about Garty being told about his past was correct, it didn't necessarily mean that he knew what to do about Garty.