At the Northern Fort

Apparently, the two of them have broken up the team. So I fought in the hallway of the fort during the exercise, and it looks like Mr. Tina won.

"Mr. Rekka, when we were fighting, things were a little weird, right? I couldn't move, and that's why I won."

For a moment, Mr. Rekka thought he might have developed symptoms of dark spot phobia. Because the passage of the fort is dark even at noon, depending on the location.

But the fairy was all the way near Mr. Rekka today, and she should have lit up the darkness.

Mr. Lecca says without looking at Mr. Teena, keeping an eye on the ground.

"It's my fault. I was always the same."

Mr. Rekka is serious, so it's all in his face that he's lying and feeling guilty. Probably easier to understand than me.

Tina glanced at Mr. Lecca with a sad look on her face as she held her mouth. I thought you couldn't help yourself, and you're lonely.

But when I could stare with sad eyes like a small animal, Mr. Rekka seemed restless, too. I said this in a very small voice after twitching and repeating the action of looking at Tina and looking at the ground.

"Teena will be disappointed in me if I tell her the truth about me."

Tina, who hears it, returns it with a firm voice on the contrary.

"That's not true! 'Cause I already know.... Sorry, I heard you talking to Mill the other day. So I know. Mr. Rekka is afraid of the dark. But..."

Mr. Lekka thought he had opened his eyes and, without waiting for Ms. Teena to finish, flipped her body and escaped from the scene.

"Mr. Rekka!

I rushed after him with the fairy, but Mr. Rekka's legs were surprisingly quick. You don't have to run away at that full speed!

But the next moment he thought he couldn't catch up, Mr. Rekka suddenly swooped to the ground of exuberance and fell into a grand tumble.

"Mr. Rekka!?"

Tina and I rush over to Mr. Rekka in a hurry. If you look closely, it was the roots of the trees that should have been buried in the soil that were thriving.

"It worked"

Woodbaum giggles and walks in. I guess he's the one who lifted the roots of the tree. Make a surprisingly forceful detentions.

And some roots from places that have nothing to do with it are also face-off the ground, but let's pretend we don't see that.

When Mr. Lecca got up, Mr. Tina opened her mouth before she could escape again. I look at Mr. Rekka with a serious face and say.

"Mr. Rekka, I know that Mr. Rekka is afraid of the dark. But what does that say? Knowing that doesn't change the fact that you are my admirer"

"Teena......"

Tina asks, lowering her brow, as she takes a breath there.

"But in the exercise earlier, you weren't afraid of the darkness in the hallway, were you? There was a fairy on your side. What else frightened Mr. Rekka?

Woodbaum was the next person to speak to Mr. Rekka, who was upset and lost in answering.

Put your arms firmly on with your nose and let your gaze point toward you before you speak out.

"Hey, Rekka. I don't know what you're suffering from, but if you're trying to get over it on your own, one day the limit will come. I've been trying so hard to restore the forest of my residence by myself, but at some point I got sick. When I realized it, I couldn't even rely on my father for mobility. I was really alone."

Woodbaum's voice was very calm and gentle.

"But Rekka has company who will worry about you. If you trust Teena, maybe you can open it up. Me and Milphyria can help."

As I agreed with Woodbaum's words, I laid my hands on Mr. Rekka's long legs and stood up on his hind legs. And I stare up at my face.

I'm fine.

Eventually, Mr. Rekka looked hardened in her determination.

Although anxiety seeps into my eyes, I start explaining it after looking at me, Mr. Teena and Woodbaum in turn.

"I was... kidnapped when I was a child."

I say pompous, as I tap into my memory.

"My parents are the Viscounts, so it looks like the killer was for ransom.... Nevertheless, he was lucky enough to be helped by the knights around him who happened to take the streets to open up before his parents demanded the ransom. I guess I was caught for about an hour. There were no injuries at all, and the killer was caught and punished"

I stood firm in my ear and listened to Mr. Rekka.

"But when I was kidnapped, I was blocked in the mouth, my hands and feet tied, and put in a crate enough for the little body of the child to finally get in. So they carried him like luggage in a carriage for an hour to the killer's lair. Though it felt longer to me. But most intensely carved into my head while I was being kidnapped was the breathlessness and darkness of being trapped in a narrow crate. It was near sunset that caught me, so the sunset was slipping in from the gap at first, but away from home, as time stood, it got dark outside and in the crate..."

As I listened to Mr. Rekka, I remembered when Mr. Wang and the others kidnapped me in the capital. I was about to be transported in a cloth bag.

If you didn't like it, you stopped, and I went to be kidnapped from myself in the first place, and the killers, Mr. Wangs, weren't extremely evil people, so things weren't traumatized at all at that time.

But in a situation where the killer could kill you, it would be terrible to get stuffed in a narrow place without knowing where you'd be taken.

"The 'fear' of being kidnapped, coupled with the 'sense of blockage' and 'darkness' of the crate, still scares me of the narrow, closed spaces, and the darkness of it. A dark chamber with two conditions... just thinking about it is going to scream."

Are you saying he was not only claustrophobic, but claustrophobic as well?

"Well, just now..."

To Tina's whining, Rekka nods and answers.

"The darkness was fine thanks to the fairy, because the passage over there is especially narrow in the fort. My body shuddered when I saw the low ceiling...... I was trying not to get too close to myself, but I was positioned just near it, and I couldn't leave my place, even though it was an exercise."

That didn't give them the strength they normally do.

I was listening to Mr. Rekka in silence, but then I thought of him and I opened my mouth.

"So the story that inspired me to come to the north... that I was so close to being locked up in here, what does that have to do with anything?

"In the warehouse?

Rekka explains again to Teena, who apparently did not know what was going on.

"It seems that a colleague in our group noticed my weakness in being afraid of closed spaces and dark spots. So when I was in the warehouse, I tried to close the door and make fun of it. They didn't seem to like me when I was knighted by a woman."

I'm sure those people were jealous because the woman, Mr. Rekka, was better than they were. But I wish the knight with his fist bones would scold me for harassing him because he's no match for strength.

"I noticed before I could lock the door and jumped out. You must have looked terrible then, you were both surprised. He didn't think he'd be that scared. But I got so high, I hit them both."

"That's the problem, isn't it? You shouldn't impose sanctions on the Knights for any reason."

Ms. Teena seemed angry at two of Ms. Rekka's colleagues, but she said so calmly.

"That's right. I regret beating him up too. It sucks to get caught in anger and act violent...... And you two apologized later. He seemed to be reflecting on what had happened."

"Still, there's no one to blame for Mr. Rekka's actions."

"Thank you. Nor did my superiors in this regiment strongly reprimand me. Two of my colleagues didn't seem to talk, so my superiors didn't realize my weakness, but they seemed to feel sorry for me for being a knight to every woman."

Mr. Rekka continued.

"To return, the reason I was sent here was to beat up two of my colleagues. But there were other reasons, such as the inability to move as usual on night assignments or lack of focus at work due to lack of sleep. My superior officer might have given me extenuating circumstance if I had told him the cause, and since then, he might have taken care not to turn me over to a midnight assignment. But I didn't say. I was too ashamed to tell you that I was still dragging on a one-hour abduction of my childhood."

I waited for the conversation to continue, even though I had no shame or pity for that at all.

"That's why it became a deal of a move to a northern fort. Seems like the Cromwell Branch Manager is only dealing with it because he still expects me to..."

"Bring me back in the mood! So that's it. He's right. He's expecting a relapse."

"I guess... I hope so"

Mr. Rekka laughed weakly. Ms. Tina says again.

"Mr. Rekka, if there's anything I can do, please tell me. I'll help you with anything. I think you should also tell the chief or deputy chief, don't you like that?

Mr. Lecca replied, stifling his face at the tension.

"... right, I know I should say it, but I still don't have the courage. I trust the chief of branch, deputy chief, and fellow fortifiers, and although I think they should understand me like Tina and the others, but I'm terrified. Because I like everyone, I want to be disappointed."

"Okay. Then don't dare, let's keep it to ourselves. But the three of us already know about the real Mr. Rekka. If you're cornered, rely on us."

"Yes, I am."

Following Mr. Teena, I also shook my tail and looked up, and Mr. Lecca looked relieved, happy and indescribable.

Mr. Rekka may have really wanted to talk to someone while he didn't want anyone to find out his weakness. Maybe he wanted an understander.

"Amnestic dysentery, heck dysentery, it's not weird. I'm not embarrassed at all."

I said that in an attempt to encourage him, but Mr. Rekka and the others ate up unexpectedly.

"To claustrophobia, claustrophobia?

"What is it, Master Mill"

They are both tilting their necks.

"Huh? I'm talking about people who are frightened by dark spots and people who are frightened by closed places... don't you?

I said terribly.

Mr. Rekka shakes his head to the side.

"No, I've never known a name like that because of my lack of study, even though it's about me."

"Me too. You have the word" phobias. "

"Milphyria is small, but she knows everything."

Mr. Rekka, Mr. Teena, Woodbaum seemed, honestly, impressed, but I was a little rushed. Perhaps the word phobia is not yet pervasive in this world, or in this country. Would it have been weird if I'd known?

But the three of them never pursued it in particular.

"The fact that there are words like that means that many people have the same problems as Mr. Rekka!

"Right. I never really thought about it, but I'm glad to know that I'm not unusual."

We're just talking brightly about things like that.

And Woodbaum said this gently to Mr. Rekka.

"I hope you can heal your heart here too."

Mr. Rekka nods at the words, declaring.

"As it is, I am disqualified as a knight. That's because you may make mistakes on assignments or lose your normal strength, like this exercise, because you are a dark phobia or claustrophobic, and you may risk the lives of people and associates to protect because of that. Fortunately, I've made minor mistakes so far, but I don't know what will happen from now on. I think I'll face my weaknesses instead of liding my fears forever"

Mr. Rekka's eyes twinkle powerfully.

"Until now, I thought I had to hide it because if someone else found out, they'd laugh at me. But not now. I don't want to bother my people, so I want to cure them. I want to overcome it."

"If Mr. Rekka is going to do that, I'll help you too. But don't push it."

Following Mr. Teena, Woodbaum nodded, "I'll work with you, too," and I said with my tail up perfectly.

"Me too! Hang in there!

"Thank you, Master Mill, Master Woodbaum, Teena"

I was flying around Mr. Rekka, cheering with a neat face, with a white fairy twirling.