It appeared the events of the incident had a much deeper influence and scars on Reo than he initially realized.
A round through the bustling neighborhood had left his whole prospect shattered like fragile glass. Reo felt cold and lost. A chilling fear creeped hauntily into his mind, and for a moment, Reo forgot to move.
'I...I denied it!' he shouted internally. 'all if it — all of this! The peace. The smiles. The cheers. The warmth. My existence instinctively rejected all of it without a thought!'
Reo visibly shuddered in place. His shoulders trembled and his lips quivered in chilling horror.
"...Reo!" A firm voice forced him out of his spiral.
Reo jerked his head up, faced with the concerning stares of six pairs of eyes, each gleaming with a certain light of worry towards him.
"Oi, Reo. Are you okay?" Don placed an arm on his shoulder, closely observing his petrified stiff friend with a welcoming warmth of genuine concern.
It took a stuttering while, but Reo eventually responded.
"... What?" Reo almost stuttered.
"You don't look too good." The others in the group noticed his unusal behavior and Leon gave voice to their worries.
Unknown to Reo, his complexion had taken an ashen shade and his expression was almost sunken and pale, with cold sweat beading against his forehead. Within that time, Reo had unconsciously bit his lower lips to suppress their quivering till he bled on the inside of his mouth.
Reo's lost gaze blinked at the expressions of his friends and Mr. Ridge who remained almost cold and indifferent, but this time his usual detached gaze seemed to hold more shades than its regular grey as he gazed with diligently hidden pity at the young boy, who's eyes soon gained clarity as if just waking up.
"...No...no, I'm fine." Reo blinked and used the back of his arm to wipe his forehead and forced a frail smile. But that was only for a very short moment, as with the next second, Reo took masterful control over his atmosphere and appeared warm and cheery with just a different smile. The dreary and grim atmosphere that garnered the worried attention from the group instantly transitioned in the matter of a millisecond to an almost electric and enthusiastic air surrounding him. Almost as if Reo's expression once never was stricken with cold horror.
But this feign could only go so far.
"Are you sure? If you're feeling under the weather, you could go home and take a rest. We can come see you when we're done." Lia, almost instinctively, saw through Reo's mask, and at her words, Reo came with a casual chuckle.
He smiled at her, his deep dark eyes gained some warmth as he looked back at the girl.
"I'm fine. Promise. I was just a little dizzy, you guys don't have to worry about me, let's keep going." He said to the others, and to prevent anymore doubts from reaching him, walked forward of the group as if to lead the way.
With this action, whatever doubts of the group held were shrugged off, earsed or, at that moment, suppressed as they watched Reo's back and followed behind him.
Throughout the whole exchange, Mr. Ridge remained meaningfully silent.
Their patrol around the village continued peacefully from there, spending about an hour and a half more on it.
The friendly village received this action warmly. At a single glance, it was obvious the local guards had a warm and appreciative relationship with the people of the village, and Mr. Ridge himself, seemed to have his own fair and separate share of admiration, and respect among the mass. This coupled along with the 'fame' and 'reputation' of the 'hero's party' in the village garnered the an even more cheerful reaction from the people.
Mr. Ridge's patrol took a little more than expected, as from time to time, they would stop to help out some of the villagers in need with some chores, and odd jobs. Mr. Ridge not failing to actually willingly help out constituted to one of the reasons for the admiration and warmth held for him and the rest of the local guards.
Reo, for the rest of the time on patrol, remained silent and detached. Every now and then, he'd react to the smiles and greetings with an equal warmth of his, but as soon as that exchange ended with his face turned away, his expression would turn still and cold. His dark eyes would increase in its shadowy depth, forcing momentary release of coldness to his surrounding.
Underneath his masking expression, Reo felt cold, listless, numb and conflicted.
Only a few hours passed for Mr. Ridge to make his full way through the entire village, bringing his round towards an end almost mid afternoon.
From where they all stood then, back at the cliff hill in the guard station by the East gate, the village resembled tiny lego blocks. It might not have seemed like so as they spent a while during the patrol, but the village was a small and remote one with a minute population of barely more than a hundred and eighty to two hundred. Most of the land mass comprises of the massive planes and fields, coupled with the surrounding forest of trees encompassing the village itself.
Aside from those, each of the actual buildings could be easily counted from their spot on the cliff hill, excluding places like the guard posts on the other gates and silos and the like.
Reo quietly observed the village's miniature scenery with a calm expression. Beneath his neutral exterior, he reflected on his firsthand experience, grappling with the feeling of not belonging due to the village's contrasting philosophy. Despite this, a peculiar warmth, akin to a nurturing spark, emerged, casting a surprisingly positive feeling in his gut.
As Reo's initially dark eyes slowly softened, a gentle warmth enveloped him, accompanied by a fluffy sensation in his heart and a singular thought: 'This is my village. Mine.' His eyes briefly shimmered possessively, resembling a child's, and a small warm smile graced his lips.
Though Reo had not yet found peace within his conflicting thoughts, a growing understanding emerged as to why Mr. Ridge had chosen to include them on his patrol.
'That sly old man...' Reo rebuked with a mental sigh, his smile growing on his lips.
While Reo indulged in his thoughts and the view of the village spread out before him and the others, Mr. Ridge began to speak
"This is what we strive to protect." he said, and continued:
"The smiles, the daily lives of all those people, the villagers, are what we so earnestly try every day to preserve. Yes. We might be a little lacking in the population and civilization area, as well as being a little isolated from the rest of the world, but this here is our home. And no matter how small and primitive our home might seem or is, it is something that we must protect no matter what the cost or reason may be."
' "Our home", huh.' Reo's eyes shimmered with dark light at the words, 'home' once more.