Re:START/If {Book 1.0}
Chapter 45: Mutual-Evit 5 of 10 “Red Rot” (Part 03)

In the cypress forest, Di’in ran as fast as possible shouldering Ra’an. The brown-haired woman's eyes glazed over, her mind full of regret for mistranslating her Master's orders.

Special Doubts are indeed formed to reduce differences of opinion from the Super Intelligent A.I. Then, the order for sabotage was given to those who joined the squad. Di’in thought that he was chosen as the leader to succeed the sabotage plan.

But it was a big mistake, he was made the leader of the squad with members of various factions it was not for that. After seeing the picture and what plan Odo wanted to do with Rhea, Di’in immediately realized what he had done was contrary to his Master's goals.

“Dia ... really is not the enemy! He cannot be my enemy! Sir didn't expect that ...! He also wants to reduce the impact of the war just like my Lord! Then ... why am I ..!!”

Di’in continued to run with tears, regretting his actions because he was consumed by the desire to contribute and gain honor until he was lost and did not realize the order of his Master whose movements were being restricted.

He should have realized that because Rhea would basically not give orders to fight or destroy anything. A system for Technology Development and Research, from it clearly if there is not a single function of Rhea to damage.

While running through the road in the middle of the forest, Di’in passed by a horse carriage driven by Canna. His eyes were fixed on the miquator witch sitting in the coachman's seat and the blue-haired woman riding in the carriage.

Instantly Di’in felt a sign of danger from those riding in the horse carriage. He immediately turned his face, then continued to run and undo the intention to loot their transportation equipment.

««»»

Odo's magic structure is active again with his consciousness beginning to return. Still closing his eyes tightly, what he saw was the arrangement of the competitive magic circle structure connected in the unity of Infinity Formula. There is a large crack line in the arrangement, the particles of light which are Mana come out of the crack and spread widely in chaos.

“Using that Demon King power to patch up my flawed structure was indeed a fatal mistake. Everything is more broken ...”

Odo entered the array with his consciousness, fixed the existing magic circles and replaced some unusable runes. But before the whole thing was done, suddenly Odo's consciousness was drawn out and he slowly opened his eyes heavily.

The wooden ceiling became the scene he first saw when he woke up on a folding mattress whose contents came from a fingers. Odo was bare-chested and only wore long black pants. His hands, head, and waist were bandaged with gauze.

Glancing lightly to the side, he immediately understood being in the hall of the main building belonging to the Klista Elder when he saw the women of the tribe taking care of the injured people. Immediately sitting up and about to raise his right hand, he realized that Vil was lying limp next to the folding mattress and clasped his hand tightly.

Instantly the young man's cornea turned green, then came back blue and came to some conclusions. He understood that one day after the incident, the intensity of the light coming through the main door told him.

Staring at Vil with limp eyes, then looking at the people who were caring for the wounded, Odo understood something because among them there were people wearing full armor but the iron helmet was removed.

Odo pulled his hand from the grasp of the Great Spirit. It made the blue haired woman wake up, then quickly raised her face and looked at the young man with great relief. Tears poured out, watering the red cheeks of the woman and fell onto the wooden floor.

“Thankful .... Finally ... You wake up, Odo. Hicks .... Odo ... Odo ..”

Vil immediately hugged the young man and cried loudly. His voice broke the silence of the place, making the Klistas look towards the two of them. However, the anxiety of the Great Spirit did not reach Odo's heart at all. The young man only put on a flat face when hugged by the woman who was very worried about him.

Aware of that oddity, Odo in his mind felt, “Ah, true as well .... I already threw it away. Information to feel this kind of warmth ..” Odo hugged Vil. Not because he wanted to share the warmth and understand the anxiety of the woman, but only because of necessity.

In the middle of the moment, Odo was surprised to see the most unwanted people there were even present in the Klista settlement. Sitting with the women of the Klista tribe and taking care of the wounded, the figure with bright red hair stared at Odo.

“Lisia ..?”

The young man with black hair was shaking, attacked with confusion, had to explain what to the woman who had a close relationship with the Klista settlement. But when he woke up and approached Odo, the woman wearing a blouse and subordinate tights with a short skirt was immediately prostrated without making a sound.

Odo was confused to see that. Releasing Vil's embrace, he asked, “Why .. why did you do that, Lisia?”

“Sorry .... I'm sorry, Mr. Odo.”

“Why are you even apologizing? I ... I cannot protect the people in this place!! You should blame me! You're absorbing and scolding me! Why instead ...”

Odo was so confused that he could not use his calculations to find answers. His body trembled filled with guilt, feeling unworthy of such an apology.

Stop prostrating, the redhead woman showed a teary face. All 11 of Lisia's men approached, kneeling to Odo behind her as a sign of apology.

It really confused Odo. Taking a breath and calming his mind, he immediately used the calculations and found out why the people from Mylta city were in the Klista settlement.

“What ... do you want to go to Rockfield to have a meeting?” ask Odo.

With a sigh Lisia replied, “Ya ..., we are on our way there.”

That answer tells Odo the situation exists. The meeting that Lisia and her men were about to meet was most likely to discuss the issue related to the events of last winter. Most likely they want to transit in the Klista settlement. But seeing the condition of the village, they were surprised and finally got an explanation of the incident from the residents.

Odo briefly recalled his conversation with Lisia while still at Mylta a few days ago. Indeed, the woman once said will travel and will be increasingly busy with several things.

“Ah, more or less I understand what the inhabitants of Klista explain to them,” Odo's mind.

At first glance he glanced at Vil and was about to ask about the plan to capture Kolt Luis. Getting an answer with a one-time headband, Odo understood that Lisia did not yet know that. Putting on a lazy face and taking a deep breath, the young man looked up slightly with a load of thought and said, “Then, why are you apologizing?”

The helmetless warriors behind Lisia raised their faces. Put on a regretful expression and did not answer. Representing them, Lisia conveyed, “Master Odo .... We ... previously checked your body. Because of the fight you did to protect this place ..., almost your entire magic structure was damaged and most likely you ... Can't use magic anymore.”

The atmosphere of silence was felt, cold wind gusts entered from outside and down their skin as if disturbing the tension. Turning his eyeballs to the side, Odo simply fell silent without replying to Lisia's words.

Odo understood why they looked so sorry. For a noble of the kingdom of Felixia, losing the ability to use magic was very heavy. It is the same as losing the future. For those under the leadership of Marquess Luke, it was a fatal mistake to not be able to prevent it. For them some Klista tribe lives were not comparable to the future of the would-be leaders, assuming it happened because of their carelessness.

As if not caring about it, Odo simply said, “Oh ...”

Lisia was surprised that the young man underestimated the problem. Waking up with resentment in his overflowing mind, he loudly said, “Do you really understand?! You can no longer use magic anymore, loh! The magic circuit that you have been developing all this time has been completely damaged!”

“You're angry because of that?” Odo stared flatly.

“Because of that ...? You this ...! Does Mr Odo really understand the problem?!”

The woman was completely out of control and did not care about politeness. Lisia did feel guilty for what had happened to Odo, but she was also angry for what had happened to the inhabitants of the Klista tribe. Subjecting his head and trembling, he fell silent and understood anger could not change the facts.

Odo weightlessly said, “Lisia ..., to me the lives of these inhabitants are more precious than my magic structures that have been damaged. Anyway ..., I can't save them. I have also failed.”

“What are you saying! What do the people here you think of? You managed to save them when I arrived—”

“How many people died?”

“A—!” Lisia jerks.

“From your reaction, you came since yesterday or last night, ‘kan?”

“It ...”

“How much? How many dead?”

With a trembling body, the woman sat back down and replied, “Clista residents who became victims around 14.”

“You don't count the kids and the girls?”

“If plus children and women, all 27 people. More than 2/3 of the inhabitants of this settlement .. died.”

The mood turned silent again. The Mylta family heir held his own left shoulder, lowered his face palely and was truly sorry as the leader could not prevent the tragedy.

Staring seriously, Odo asked, “After this you want to do what, Miss Lisia?”

“What ... mean Mr Odo ..?” The unraveling red-haired female stared confusedly with a trembling body.

“You have a close relationship with this settlement, ‘kan? You also know the inhabitants,” usik Odo.

“I ...”

“You know who masterminded this tragedy the Moloians, ‘kan?”

Lisia nodded. The red-haired woman stared in trepidation, then replied, “Iya .... I was told Bibi, he said that the masterminds and manipulating the bandits were the people from Moloia who infiltrated Luke's territory .... Them ...”

“So, what do you want after this? Going to Rockfield for a meeting? Focus on rebuilding this settlement? Chase them? Or do something else? What do you want to do after this?”

Lisia lowered her face, her body trembling with overflowing emotions muddily. With a sigh, he murmured, “Mana I know ...”

“Hah?”

“Mana just might know!!” Lisia's emotions escaped, she woke up and hysterically snapped, “Why can you be that calm?! Just now a lot of innocent people died and you said as if nothing big happened!! You saw them die, didn't you?!! Why can you be that calm?!”

“Sialan ..., who is calm ...”

Odo looked at the wrath. It made Lisia flinch, erasing her anger and loading the woman down grimly. Odo understood such a reaction. For Lisia should have been Klista inhabitants in the Rockfield highlands already like relatives. Losing them in such a short period of time certainly took him a hit.

Trying to tolerate it, Odo erased his own anger and put on a calm expression. Staring lightly, he said, “I'm also confused as to what to do .... What is the right choice for a situation like this? That's why I asked you.”

“What do you mean, Miss Lisia?”

“Usually you must have planned everything, ‘right? Hah, you've always been like that manipulating other people .... Though you should not really care and have planned everything neatly, using everything like a pawn.”

Odo understood the words coming out of the person who was being hit, frustrated over what happened and not thinking about the consequences at all. Knowing the conversation would not go in the right direction if it continued, Odo said, “Alright, it's up to you. If Miss Lisia doesn't want to do something to these Klista people, I'll handle it.”

««»»

It was the same day. The Klista settlement was quieter than usual, quieter and there was absolutely no sound of children laughing along the street or the jokes of mothers on the terraces of houses.

Everything was quiet in the charred settlement. Sitting on the roof of the main building that was the only place that did not collapse, Odo stared flatly at the former chaos below.

Lisia's men are seen helping the inhabitants of Klista to clean up the mess. Near the main building, the bodies of Klista people with terrible conditions are laid in rows and covered in white cloth with distinctive Cambodian black embroidery for funeral ceremonies. Most in charge of preparing the funeral are those who live with the Tribe Elders — They are assisted by the soldiers to lift the bodies.

Seeing that Odo's mind grew chaotic, feeling that all the plans he was proud of were useless. The young man felt like a naive and stupid person who thought all the plans he made would definitely succeed, regret and curl up on the tile.

“Odo ..”

The blue haired woman rose from the other side of the roof. Looking and realizing that she was Vil, Odo smiled faintly with a chaotic expression. Saying nothing, he curled up again and put his face between his knees.

Vil limped over the tile, approached Odo and sat down next to him. He simply accompanied, said nothing and stared down— Observing the people who prepared the funeral by means of burial wrapped in traditional cloth.

“Vil ..., Where are Nanra and Canna? From earlier I did not see them,” said Odo without lifting his face.

“They are not here .... You should know what they're doing. You told us about the plan and we did that. Did you forget?”

Odo raised his face and momentarily sighed in fret, feeling unable to throw the plan just like that and pondering like a weakling. He had dragged Vil, Canna, and Nanra into trouble, of course he could not escape.

Glancing lightly, the young man asked, “You've already caught him?”

“Hmm, we already caught it before Mylta's men came. Canna and Nanra hide the man into the forest.” Vil looked at Odo, grasped the young man's hand and brought the face closer. In an anxious tone, he said, “Please don't bear everything alone like that. You can share it with me, Odo ... You can count on me for something like this.”

The words came out sincerely, Odo understood them clearly. However, unfortunately such a thing would not be able to touch the young man's mind. Smiling not from the bottom of his heart, Odo said, “Thank you, Vil .... I'm so glad to take you out of the library .... If you weren't around, maybe I'd have thrown the matter in and curled up indifferently.”

Vil released Odo's hand, smiled lightly and placed both of his own palms to the front of his chest. With a loose smile to the young man next to him, he said, “My soul too, Odo .... Although what I saw was not all good, it was a relief to walk with you. Sharing scenery, sharing problems like this ...”

Odo just stared flat, then his eyes were fixed on the Dimensional Bracelet that the blue hair woman wore. At first glance he wants to ask for it back. But when he saw Vil's expression, he broke his intention and decided to leave the bracelet to him.

Breathing heavily and exhaling heavily, he said, “I think I've improved.”

“Really?”

“Maybe ...”

Odo woke up, looked at Vil and reached out to him saying, “Sorry makes you anxious.”

“Huhuh, when did you not make myself anxious. You always make people around you anxious,” reply as he grabbed the young man's hand and woke up.

“Hmm, really this time I regret it.” Odo again put on a gloomy face, looking at the collapsed houses and charred.

“Do not install such a pouting face.” Vil pinched the young man's left cheek. Staring up close and full of smiles, he said, “You have given me this feeling, making me able to smile again .... A face like that doesn't suit you, Odo. Let's smile.”

Odo grabbed Vil's right hand, clasped it tightly while putting on a stiff smile and saying, “I'll try ..”.

“Tuh, grim again.”

“Sorry.”

“Huh, stop.”

The woman smiled faintly, her face showing a slightly resigned expression with Odo's like nature. In a slightly sad tone he said, “I don't seem too pushy, just don't shut it all up alone. Remember that you can count on me too, Odo. Let's get down, we have to finish this plan ...”

“Hmm ...”

After that, the two of them went down to the terrace and intended to go inside the main building to talk to Lisia. But before arriving before the entrance, the Tribal Elders confronted them. The horned woman with long braided silvery hair looks different than before, more presentable and wearing traditional Klista clothing with a black scarf around her shoulder.

Standing and staring at each other on a wooden terrace with pillars lined up with barriers, they just stared at each other in a quiet atmosphere. The two women who were the servants of the Tribe Elders stood behind him and only lowered their faces, not daring to speak or be protective of the person they respected.

Staring flat and back disturbed by the difference of view, Odo roughly said, “What? Why are you standing in front of me? Is there anything you want to talk about, Intermediary?”

The Tribe elder simply put on a flat expression and stared blankly. A little opened his mouth, he slowly said, “Aura you have .. changed again, yes. Though only a few hours, but you look like you have passed four to five days.”

That sounds like an allusion to Odo. Trying not to pay attention to it, he turned his eyes and saw charred wooden houses. The aroma of charcoal smelled along with the smell of charred meat, so stinging was carried by the mountain breeze.

Looking back at the silver hair woman, Odo firmly said, “Roro Nia’an, honestly I do not like convoluted .... You're the one who has connections with those above, ‘kan? Did you last night get another prophecy?”

The elder was surprised, covered his mouth with the loose sleeves of his clothes and said, “You too .. have a relationship with them?”

“I don't know any of them ..” A look of hate emanated from the young man. Flashing once, it disappeared quickly and he said, “From discussing it, isn't there anything you want to say?”

“Hmm, true also ...” Roro stopped closing his mouth, looked lethargic and said, “This is just a question, you are free to answer it or not. You are ... friend or opponent of the Gods?”

The question made Vil and the Elder's servants surprised, but Odo himself seemed to ignore it and still had a calm expression that seemed grim. Sniffing lazily, the young man said, “Entahlah .... I don't know. What is it?”

“So, yes. I think such a thing I can't know easily.”

“If it's done, can I ask you something?”

“If I am able to answer it.”

“Why ... are you willing to become a slave of fate?”

“Eh?”

The Tribe elder was stunned when he got the frontal question. It was as if piercing his chest, the use of the word that was not refined was indeed very appropriate for Roro Nia’an who always followed the power of his predictions and never really tried to resist the provisions.

Before the Elder replied, Odo again asked, “You can predict, ‘kan? Did you know that this was going to happen? Then why don't you fight?”

Roro understood the young man was angry because of that. Like a servant who obeys and accepts destiny, he lightly said, “We in this world are only weak beings, not worthy of the provisions of the heavens being opposed. You know, we can't go against the rules of nature, like we can't prevent disaster.”

“Lalu ... Why are you still alive?”

“It ... karen—”

“Because I saved you?” cut Odo. The young man stared intently full of anger and again said, “That's right ...! I didn't save a coward like you ..!” His body trembled with anger, his hands clenched and as if he wanted to beat up the woman before him

“But still I owe you my life.”

It made Odo flinch, it was an inevitable fact. Slightly speechless and contemplating, the young man again asked, “.... Why don't you fight back? Though if you at least direct your people to leave the settlement for a few hours, maybe I can have time and the victims do not fall this much.”

“O young man from Lucania, why do you care so much about the people of this place? You should have stayed in this place only for a short time, even you did not exchange many words with the people of the Klista tribe. Why do you come to such a thing to care ..?”

“You should know what is felt by the person who has more knowledge than others.” Odo sighed, slightly put on an annoyed face and said, “When I knew bad events would happen and couldn't prevent it, it was as if what made the bad happen was myself.”

“I think I can understand that .... I also feel very sorry to see them die like that. Every living person has a suitable way of returning, not in such a heinous way.”

At a glance Odo saw the eyes of the Tribe Elders glazed over. Understand that indeed the woman in front of him still cares about the people who serve him, Odo put on a sad smile and asked, “Tua Klista, as the person who once saved you, can I ask for one thing?”

“.... Whatever it is, I will try to fulfill it. Mention, youth ...”

“If you foresee another tragedy, I beg you .. fight it! Fight to the point of blood and squeeze your mind until it runs out. Please ... Don't give up that easily. You know, I ... here also try desperately.”

The Tribe elder simply fell silent, did not reply clearly and briefly closed his eyes. After that, Odo immediately took Vil and walked forward after being given a path by them. At a glance, Roro, as the Intermediary himself knew that the young man would someday lead those who believed him to fight the Sky.

But that does not mean he will prevent or do something. Intermediary only as a conveyer, will not change something because it is like that nature, at least that is what Roro believes until he is saved by Odo.

“You know, lads. I am also still confused why until now still alive and breathing in this world,” the mind of the Elders of the Klista Tribe.