Re:START/If {Book 1.0}
Chapter 62: Aswad 9 of 15 “The sad ones from past” (Part 02)
The statue added tightly wrapped his right hand, did not release Odo and again said, “Sure I will remember! Is that right, Mr Aprilo?”
The two young men stared towards the short blonde middle-aged man near them. At first glance, seeing the satisfied smile that appeared on the face of the executive, Odo ensured that his plan was running smoothly. Aprilo's colleagues also showed a similar expression, as did the executive's personal servant.
“Hmm!” Aprilo nodded. While throwing a smile at Odo, the blonde-haired man said, “Maybe this will be a great momentum for our Union of Lorian Branch Mylta. All thanks to you, Mr Odo!”
Odo did not pay much attention to the sounding speech just for the formality, he still tried to break away from the statue and in the end succeeded. “I am in a hurry, you go to the store first,” said the young man as he quickly stepped away carrying Lisia.
But before Odo could get away from them all, a small group of imperial people approached them and called, “Excuse me, may I have a minute?”
The sound brought Odo Luke's footsteps to a halt, taking a deep breath and starting to stand upright. The escape route was completely lost for him. Although he never talked to the owner of the polite voice, Odo clearly understood that running away from the man was impossible in his current condition.
The first to turn was Arca, then followed by Aprilo and two people from the trade union. As they saw the multilayered and authoritative Hanfu emanating from him, at first glance they thought that the man from the empire was a high-class merchant. But when they saw the two slaves he was carrying, they quickly understood that the man was a militant or a noble from the Urzia empire.
Arca tried not to over-complicate the differences in existing rules about slavery. Gazing at the friendly man escorted by the three martial arts experts, the Eldest Son of the Rein Family said, “May. But before that, can you introduce yourself first?”
“Ah, forgive my impoliteness.” The man slightly bowed by putting the right palm to the front of the chest, then in a very polite tone introduced himself, “I am a High Officer from Magetsu, Fai Fengying.”
The name had made Arca and Aprilo surprised, as well as their colleagues from the trade union. Lisia also had a jerk, immediately released the hand of the young man holding her and turned to look at the man who introduced himself. The statue immediately sharpened the look in his eyes, then suspiciously the son of the Rein family asked, “There is a need for the Dark Swordsman From the North to come to this city?”
Fai Fengying — For all those close to the military realm, surely the name had once come to their ears. After the military concept of the 12 Zodiac Commanders began to collapse after the Great War, a new concept named the Four Way General was created as the spearhead of the new empire replacing its predecessor. Unlike the 12 Zodiac Commanders where their hierarchy was still under the emperor, a person who was placed in the position of a Four-Way General was equal in status to the Emperor in the military. In other words, they could be said to hold extremely high power authority that could easily move thousands of troops at once.
Fai Fengying himself was one of the young generals appointed at the beginning of the civil war, still in his 32s and handsome with his charisma. He earned the nickname of the Black Knight of the North after going through dozens of civil wars, as a lone sword wielder and martial expert. The man also had another name in his title that was, Xuan Wu. A figure symbolized by a turtle and a snake which is also known as Genbu.
Fai Fengying put on a friendly smile, raised her body upright and explained, “I came to this city without any ill intent, just in a small mission from His Majesty the Emperor. Please don't look at me like that. Although a General, I am also a human being with a heart.”
“Ah, forgive me.” The statue immediately stopped intimidating, as did Aprilo and the others. Following the hospitality of the man whose right hand carried the chain of the two slaves, the Eldest Son of the Rein Family asked, “You were talking about the mission. What kind of mission is Mr Fai Fengying doing here? Is it that important to the extent that a General like you left the front lines of the war and went to this corner of Luke's territory?”
“Although it is called a mission, I came to this city actually just for vacation only. At the beginning of my leave I actually want to go to the Capital ...” Fai Fengying glanced at Odo who was speechless on the spot, a little curious and wanting to be sure. Staring straight back at Arca, the big hunk of Hanfu wrapped in layers and said, “Master Arca himself knew that there had just been a funeral ceremony of the Queen, right? It would be problematic if a General from a neighboring country came uninvited.
The fleeting statue wore a flat expression, beginning to realize that most of Fai Fengying's words were lies. “She knows to say my name even though I have not introduced myself,” Arca's mind while again putting on a friendly face to follow the flow of the conversation.
“I understand Mr Fai Fengying's condition, you definitely want to change the atmosphere with a vacation and relax the shoulders, right?” Arca looked back suspiciously and clenched her own chin, then with a faint smile asked, “But, why should it be in this city? Isn't Felixia still a lot more interesting places like the Kritasil Bascal islands? Or in this Luke Region .., there is also the city of Izta Maria. Why should Mylta? Is it because of the rapid economic development that is taking place here? Or is there another reason?”
“It ...”
Fai Fengying began to run out of words to dodge, but still occasionally the look in his eyes was directed towards Odo standing in place and there was absolutely no intention of turning his head in the slightest. Amidst the confusion of what to answer, the look of a hasty face was more clearly visible to him and made Arca a little curious about what made the officer seem to be up to it.
To the astonishment of the Rein family's son asked, “You're not as focused as that. Is there something wrong with Mr Odo?”
“Odo?” Both Fai Fengying's eyes were wide open, he dropped both ends of the chain he was carrying and immediately held both sides of the Arca's shoulders. Closer to the face with curiosity, the officer again confirmed, “Is that young man there really Odo Luke?!”
The voice that was a little loud and enthusiastic wanted to know was very excessive, had made Arca stare a little disgusted. Aware of the gaze, Fai Fengying raised both of her hands and stepped back. Turning his gaze with some regret, the officer said, “Sorry, I got carried away .... I came just because I wanted to meet Odo Luke, the son of the Sword Expert.”
“Hmm, meet Mr Odo?” Aprilo got into the talks, saw little business opportunity from it. “What do you need with Lord Luke's son?” ask the executive with a friendly smile.
“I just want to talk to him.” Fai Fengying looked a little reluctant to deal with a merchant, he looked back at Odo and made sure, “Is that young man there really Odo Luke? Isn't he still a kid with less than ten years of age?”
“Yeah, there's a lot going on.” The statue slightly sighed, shook its head and replied, “He is indeed Odo Luke whom Lord Fai Fengying is looking for.”
“Wah, leg. I finally get to meet him—”
Before Fai Fengying finished her sentence, one of the slaves the man had brought suddenly pulled her Hanfu from behind. The officer jolted immediately turned his head towards him with a slightly panicked expression. The slave girl had the posture and face of a 14-year-old child, but her long hair that was dragged into the street clearly indicated that she was more than that.
Staring sharply at the owner, the slender-clothed slave roughly ruled, “Remove .., Fai.”
Paras, body gestures, look in the eyes, mannerisms, and aura, everything in the black haired girl was so long it really did not reflect a slave. Without refuting the order, Fai Fengying gave way and slightly bowed as the girl with the slave chain necklace passed by. The escorting martialists also reacted similarly, as did the other slave girl who looked a little more mature.
Seeing what they were doing, Arca and everyone in the place were confused by the relationship between them and began to wonder who exactly the long-haired slave girl was.
While standing before Arca and the others, the girl in thin cloth stared intently and asked, “Is the young man standing there really named Odo Luke?”
“What is he Odo Luke?”
The question that was asked for the second time seemed to seep into the body of Arca. It sounded like a softly spoken whisper to his ear, directly creeping into his body and making him tremble. Without being able to refute the pressure, the Rein family's son replied, “I-Yes, he's Odo Luke ..”
“Receive this thank you, lads .... Get rid of.”
With trembling Arca obeyed the order and let the girl pass by. Lisia vaguely noticed the terrifying aura from the girl's eyes, she was about to block it and said, “Wait a moment, what do you want—!” His voice stopped, the same thing that Arca experienced also hit him when he was stared at by the girl.
The surrounding noise was heard growing quieter and more inaudible, leaving only the clattering sounds of the black hair girl's chain. It was as if indeed his consciousness was forced to focus only on her, focusing on a single individual in the form of the girl. Lisia's body was petrified, completely unable to move from the spot or simply lifting her legs.
Disregarding the woman's red hair, the girl looked back at Odo and held her cannoneal arm from behind. “Can you turn around for a while and let me stare at that face of yours, Black Element?” pinta the girl.
Odo slowly looked. Then when the two pairs of eyes meet, in their heads as if there are two red ribbon lines that quickly bond with each other. They in the mind seem to have known each other and feel a sense of nostalgia in the mind, understand what is being addressed, and feel the nature and personality of each.
In a sad smile, the girl took a step closer. He tiptoed while raising his right hand until the tip of his finger touched Odo's cheek. As their eyes were still staring at each other, in a soft voice he said, “Iiriku want to make sure, please turn off once.”
The sound of the paper being torn apart suddenly rang out loud inside Odo's head. His eyes instantly became empty, his heartbeat halted, and all of his organs lost their performance functions and stopped operating. In a pause of just two seconds after the sentence was spoken, Odo Luke collapsed into the street and lay dead. Lisia, Arca, and the others were anxious to see this. But out of all the anxious people, Fai Fengying's face that looked the palest knowing that the young man had actually died from just one touch.
“O-Odo?” Lisia frantically knelt down near the young man lying on the street, confirming the pulse on his neck and breathing. Yet he felt no signs of life from Odo, the young man with black hair had actually died just like what the girl had said. At once Lisia's face paled and immediately stared intently at the slave girl. “What did you do to him?!” he nodded with a wrathful look.
“Destroying the makeup of life ..” The girl opened her palm towards Lisia, then with a faint smile said, “I don't think humans would understand such a thing. Simply put, I killed him.”
The words made the atmosphere around him tense. The statue immediately activates The Ritman Library and in his right hand raises the Book of Laws, Ferman. But before he activated the book to reverse the karma towards the slave girl, Fai Fengying clutched his hand from the side and drove the Mana flow towards the Grimoire to forcibly cancel the Activation.
“Tch!” The statue immediately flapped its left hand, then immediately sent a punch towards the officer despite knowing it could be avoided easily. “I've expected you guys—!”
“You don't need to panic, Arca.”
The speech stopped the hand of the statue before it hit the officer's face. At that moment, almost everyone who heard the voice was shocked. Lisia who confirmed Odo's death really could not believe he was still alive, Fai Fengying and his people also showed similar expressions. Only Aprlilo and the people from the trade union looked puzzled by what was really going on.
Of all the people staring at the young man with black hair, only the girl with the slave chain necklace showed a very different expression. Staring at the young man lying on his side of the road, the long black haired girl looked so fascinated and said, “You are indeed the real one, the original incarnation of her.”
Odo could only open one eye, staring at the girl blankly. Biting the right glove and releasing it, the young man with black hair extended his hand towards the girl and said, “Help me to my feet. Part of my body is still paralyzed because you killed me earlier.”
“Of course ..., o Black Element.”
The girl unhesitatingly grabbed Odo's hand. But not for a second when their skin touched, Aitisal Almaelumat active in synchronization is very high to the point that the consciousness of the two of them is connected in one direction. The young man in black hair infiltrated into the consciousness and construction of the girl's Personal Reality, then read some of the information he had and copied all the other information in the form of an information package.
Realizing her memory was peeping, the girl immediately let go of Odo's hand and stepped back. “You ..., how dare I peek at my soul like that. It's very disrespectful of you,” he said with annoyance.
Odo just put on a thin smile without being able to wake up, then while opening his eyes he quipped, “I don't want to hear that from you. You yourself killed me without thinking, ‘kan?” The young man in black hair again reached out his hand, then with a listless smile said, “Sorry, can you help me stand up? Part of my body is still paralyzed. Recovering cells cut off from brain tissue isn't as easy as you think, you know. Next time you kill me, can you not turn off the cell connection?”
The girl hesitated to grab Odo's hand a second time. But understand there is no point in hiding something from the creature that is very close to the concept of the Supreme Knower, he took a fretful breath and again grabbed the hand of the young man's black hair. The girl immediately wrapped Odo's hands around his body, to shake him to his feet.
“You are in action, what is it from the experience in your long life?” ask Odo.
With a flat tone and a slight glance at the young man she had broken into, the girl replied, “Entah, it might be so. I myself can't remember. Time too much deleting just thing.”
Seeing that the young man in black hair couldn't stand on his own and go back to remembering what happened before, anxiously asked, “Tuan Odo, are you really okay, ‘kan? Your heart rate was ...”
Odo turned his head lightly, then while putting on a lethargic face he threw a lie, “No problem, I was just surprised because of the beauty of this girl. Well, it's a pity a girl as beautiful as this is just a slave.”
Of course, Lisia and Arca did not believe the obvious lie, but it was captured by Aprilo and his colleagues. The Trade Union Executive put on a teasing smile, then without knowing what really happened he quipped, “Ho-hoh, has Mr Odo also matured faster on such a thing as well? Turns out you are also interested in things like that’kah?”
Odo stared lightly at Aprilo, then in a poignant tone said, “Don't dream, uncle. I still don't like prostitution .... Poor wife and son uncle, loh!”
“I get it, really. Just kidding, I know it will be difficult if you are exposed to such a scandal,” said Aprilo with a little cry. For her who often came to such a place for entertainment, it was a very frontal innuendo.