Re:START/If {Book 1.0}
Chapter 15: The Shieal (Part 02)

In the hallway of the Luke Family residence Mansion, the servant-dressed cat girl walked towards her master's room cheerfully. She is none other than Julia Shieal, the personal servant of the future heir to the residence, Odo Luke. Arriving in front of Odo's room, the cat girl knocked on the door several times, but inside there was no answer. Both of his ears moved, trying to listen to a voice from within that felt very quiet.

“Young Master, are you up?” he said, knocking on the door, but still no answer. Feeling a little anxious, he took the safety pin out of his pocket, bent its shape and used it to break into the keyhole of his master's room.

Crack .... It did not take long, the key to the room was easily opened, as if he had become accustomed to it. Putting the safety pin back in her pocket, Julia opened the door slowly and entered the room. He looked scanned, looking for Odo's figure in the room.

“Hmm, neat tumben ...,” thought Julia saw nothing messy in the room. As he looked up at the bed, there was Odo sitting in a meditative position, sitting cross-legged with both palms held together in front of the chest, but the index finger was folded inward. Judging from the clothes Odo was wearing now consisting of a black shirt and pants, Julia knew that the child immediately meditated after eating in the living room last night.

“Is Mr Odo cultivating magic again? From the night she did it, huh?” Curious to see it, Julia approached, then climbed onto the bed and sat down in front of Odo, without first taking off her shoes. “He sleeps or meditates? How come there is no magic power emanated?” Julia drew closer to Odo's face, whose eyes were tightly closed, and his breathing was very weak. A small smile saw his master in a helpless position, He flicked his forehead violently.

Nah! Odo's forehead flushed. The child immediately woke up, his eyes opening rapidly turning to the right and left, looking confused and a little panicked. Aware before him sat the cat girl who moved her tail in excitement, Odo narrowed his eyes and immediately understood the situation.

“Mbak ..., if my body suddenly explodes it's Julia's fault, yes ...”

“EH!? Why suddenly get blamed!?”

Smiling a little at the reaction, Odo got out of bed and immediately stretched his body by jumping lightly near the bed. Seeing that, Julia was a little surprised because her master often did such a thing. “Why do you always do that after waking up, Mr Odo?” tanyakanya.

“Heating ..., to launch magic circulation in magic circuit. Usually if the magic circuit sleep will be slightly hampered performance, because it must stretch to relaunch the circulation. Well, the meditation I used required that the magic circuit be passed by Mana, anyway. Therefore, I have to warm up often ..”

“Oh ..., it turns out there is an intent behind it, I guess it is just the custom of Mr.”

“If you say habit, this is already like a habit, anyway.”

Odo walked towards the window, shifted the curtains and opened the window. Shuu ... The coldness immediately entered, outside it was clear that the snow had started to fall and covered the courtyard of his residence. Judging from this, it was clear that a week had passed since Odo returned from the Astral World and winter had already arrived.

“Tu-Tuan Odo, please close the window, the cold wind is in...”

“Mbak Julia ..., they're on home, yes?” ask Odo.

“Eh? Them? Did you mean Mr Odo the Lizardman and other servants?”

“Ya, of course ...”

“Of course they go home, they also have a family and a home. After all they are not slaves either..”

“So yes ...” Odo's true intentions are not clearly conveyed to Julia, in fact the boy wants to invite her to talk about the cat girl's past by using the word home as a trigger for conversation. Taking a deep breath and exhaling it into white dew from the mouth, the boy undoes his intentions.

In the usually crowded courtyard of the Mansion, there was now no sight of Lizardman or waitresses out there, most of them taking a day off and going home, respectively, except for the servants bearing the name Shieal who were given to the people who were adopted into branch family members by Luke's Royal Family.

The number of servants and guards given the title amounted to less than the number of fingers, and most of them were victims as well as living proof of the cruelty of the Great War.

Luke's family did adopt and save many lives in the crisis after the war, but not all were given the name Shieal, the ones who got that name were only those who were the most trusted and had abilities that met the quality standards of the Luke Family. The people who did not qualify were mostly sent to orphanages or places of worship in towns and villages in the Marquess Luke area.

Odo already knew that from his mother first, more precisely he was told in the form of a bedtime story and the story has been changed so that it ends happily to be suitable for children's stories. Of course the black-haired boy did not swallow the story and check the documents in the archives of his residence, and the fact that they were all victims of the Great War was exposed. Odo never asked anyone at the Mansion, knowing that it was very sensitive given the background of the people who bear the name Shieal.

Odo turned around, then looked at Julia with very calm eyes. A cold wind from outside blew in through the window, hitting the child's back and naturally Julia who was sitting on the bed. Odo's blue eyes seemed to shine brightly, the cat girl felt something very different from her master. Unlike the doubts or negatives that are often felt in her gaze, Julia felt a pure and sincere feeling from the two eyes of the child.

“Mbak Julia ..., can you accompany me out for a minute?” ask Odo.

Julia was confused to hear Odo say that. His tail and ears moved merrily and showed great pleasure because his master had no intention of going out without saying goodbye. The silvery-haired cat girl hoped that her master would also follow the manners of a noble when he was about to leave the residence. “Ya ..., it is my duty to accompany Mr. ..., why not?” said Julia.

“Hmm, then let's go to Mother's place, we ask her permission first ...” Odo immediately walked towards the closet and took the black coat jacket inside. After wearing a coat that was over his knee, he immediately walked towards the door and out of the room.

Julia jumped out of bed and hurriedly closed the windows and curtains, chasing Odo out of the room. Although there was still a question as to what Odo was asking her to do, Julia continued to follow the child without hesitation and was instead shrouded in happiness, her face unable to stop smiling as she walked behind the child.

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After which, the two of them rushed towards the dining room of Luke's residence. Walking for less than five minutes, they arrived at the door of the intended room. Taking a breath and calming down, Odo opened the mahogany door and entered the room. There was Mavis and a few servants.

As usual, Mavis wears a dress with black elements and other dark colors, but with a different knitted motif and looks warmer with a hairy collar and a scarf that coils around the neck. The blonde-haired lady looked at Odo with a slight surprise. He quickly put the book in his hand onto the elongated table in front of him, then immediately looked back at Odo.

Right behind Mavis sat down, standing Fiola who was also staring at Odo who suddenly entered the room. As if not feeling cold, the nine-tailed fox girl still wore the clothes she often used and looked quite minimal considering the cold that was already very pronounced.

“My son, it is now very cold. Such clothes do not warm you enough, at least wear this ..” Mavis removed the brown scarf around her neck, then gave it to one of the other waiters in the dining room. After receiving the scarf with great respect, he immediately walked up to Odo who was still standing by the door, then knelt respectfully and handed the scarf with both hands.

Looking at the way the maid handed the scarf, Odo knew very well the way that most people in the Mansion had changed since the news of her defeating the Black Dragon spread. Perhaps only Mavis, Dart, Julia, Fiola, and Vil were still acting the same as before.

Taking the scarf and wrapping it around his neck, Odo stared lightly at the long black-haired servant girl up to his waist. From his appearance and posture, Odo understood that his age had reached more than twenty-five years and above because he was pure from the human race.

“Mbak Mind does not need to be too respectful like that, just relax no problem, as usual,” said Odo. The black-haired maid lifted her head and looked at the face of her employer, looking surprised that the child before her called her name. Among the servants, Odo tends to be known as a child who is engrossed in his own world and seems indifferent because he always does naughty and often runs away from home long ago.

“Ba-Well, Young Master ..” The mind stands up, then salutes simply by bending its body. With a slight smile towards the servant, Odo walked over to his mother, pulled the chair from her and sat down nearby. Everyone in the place was still surprised by Odo's attitude that looked very mature, even Julia was still standing near the door with a face of disbelief seeing the brat can be polite.

Mavis looked at her son's face with a small smile, she knew the reason why he was acting so maturely today. “Surely you want to ask for something yes, my son?” ask Mavis. Odo smiled little and looked back at his mother, and replied, “Mother is great, instantly know yes...”

“Of course, you ‘kan my son.” Mavis stroked her son's head gently and smiled back. “So, what do you want, Odo?” tanyakanya.

“I want to do an expedition,” replied Odo directly.

“Eh?” Mavis was surprised, as were the servants in the room. The mind that had just returned to the line of the other two maids immediately turned its head with a shocked face.

“I want to hunt monsters and collect magic crystals! Mother, may I go out and hunt?” ask the boy back with ease.

Mavis was silent for a moment understanding the sudden words of her son. Fiola who was standing behind his Master put on a face so astonished that his eyebrows shot up. Julia who stood by the door immediately walked over to Odo, then placed both palms on the table and looked at Odo's face from up to the full glare. Similarly, the other three maids of money were in the room, they had been awed to hear the child who was not even ten years old was asking for things like hunting monsters.

“Mr Odo, why the hell ask weird?” Julia Whispered. At a glance turning his head and a small smile towards him, Odo just stared lightly without answering the question. Looking back at his mother, the boy looked really waiting for an answer.

Mavis looked at her son's eyes calmly and tried to speak clearly to him. “Odo ..., your age will only be nine years later in spring next year, right?” ask Mavis.

“Ya, indeed. Now I'm eight years old, Mommy.” The boy's look did not waver. Despite understanding what Mavis wants to say, but Odo chose to ignore the tertiary intent in his words, then asked again, “So, can I go out and hunt monsters?”

Mavis took a deep breath and began to step down with her son's behavior. Holding a forehead and slightly lowered his face, he looked anxious about the future of his son when he saw that he lacked such common sense. Hunting monsters, the word is very rarely used and probably no one uses it, because basically the monster should be exterminated and not hunted.

Most warriors or knights would not hunt monsters, they would kill and eradicate them. The word hunt and eradicate it though is almost similar, but very different in some points. In that difference, the black-haired child was completely unaware of it.

“Odo, you know ..., now Dad is out with his troops and subordinates to join the troupe delivering aid to the city and the village in crisis, he said, maybe early next year they will be back.”

“Hmm, I know .... That's why I'm asking Mother now. If there is a Father, it will be banned ..”

“My child, you think Mother will allow it?”

Odo was silent for a moment with his face wide open to hear this. “Eh? Kemu really thought that Mommy would allow you?” mavis asked looking at the expression of the boy who was completely shocked.

“Ha-Ease ...”

“You are .... After all, what would it be like to hunt in winter like this? Snow fell last night, now it's cold. It's not funny if you come home frozen, Odo.”

“Hmm, therefore you said you want to hunt, yes ...” Mavis thought for a moment, the reason the boy used was very logical under the pretext of helping his father. Indeed, as a mother, she would be very anxious if she let her child who is still not even ten years old go hunting alone in the forest in winter, but considering Odo's strength and ability to defeat the Black Dragon, it was actually unnecessary.

“Odo ..., you've made plans to hunt, right?” ask Mavis.

“Kor less .... Plans and goals already exist. Now all it takes is a member of the hunting expedition ..”

“You how long you been away?”

“About a month, and likely back in the last week of the year ...”

Mavis reconsidered a few other things. Looking towards Julia who was standing next to Odo, the blonde haired woman nodded and decided something in her mind.

“Alright .., Mother agrees. But, there are conditions.”

“Terms?” Odo slightly tilted his head.

“You you have to bring Julia and the others?”

“If Ms. Julia, indeed from the beginning I want to invite her. But, who are the others?”

“The servants and guards who bear the name Shieal.”

While Odo was surprised, he did not expect that his mother would propose such a thing as a condition. “If everything comes along, here no one is looking after Mother, dong .... If there's anything, how about?” ask Odo.

“Hmm, then leave Linkaron alone, and for the guards just take Gariadin. Of course Fiola didn't come because he's Mother's personal servant ..”.

Odo was silent for a moment thinking about the two names his mother mentioned. Gariadin and Linkaron, the two men are guards who bear the name Shieal of the eight people in existence. Until now, Shieal's name was only owned by the front person consisting of five servants inside the Mansion, two guards who were around the courtyard, and one soldier who always accompanied Dart while traveling.

“Thank you, Mommy .... In that case, I'll leave the day after.”

“Then Mother will have them prepare her expedition equipment. If it's about the carriage, maybe the horse will be difficult to run in the snow ..., so just use Drake, huh? Mommy thinks there is still one in the cage ..”

[Note: Drake; a Dragon, but no wings. Four-legged, long tail, hard skin, and height can be three to four meters, and a length of approximately nine to twelve meters].

“No problem, Mother!” answer with cheer.

Odo turned his head to look at the other servants standing in the corner of the room. Of all the maids who were in the same room as Odo, Other than Julia and Fiola who had the title of Chief Servant, the three maids who were lined up in the corner of the room also bore the name Shieal. From right to left, they lined up Minda, Xua Lin, and Imania.

Minda Shieal is a long black-haired woman who previously handed a scarf to Odo, from the posture and face she is the most mature of the two other servants. The pure mind of the human race, with a tanned cornea of the eye and jet black hair. He came from the Ungea Kingdom, and when the Great War ended, he was less than five years old when the Luke Family adopted him until finally bearing the name Shieal as a servant of the Mansion.

To the right of Mind, stood the Demi-humans of the bear race. The woman who had thick ears and tanned hair like a bear was named Xua Lin Shieal, originally from the Urzia Empire. Her hair was short and brown more as faded as her bear ears, and her cornea was green as jade.

Similar to Minda, Xua Lin was also an orphan adopted by the Luke Family after the Great War and was educated until she got the name Shieal. Although He looks younger than Mind, he is actually the oldest of his age when compared to the other two servants.

To the right of Xua Lin, there was a female who was shorter than the two maids beside her. She was named Imania Shieal, a faded gray-haired woman with a bright blue cornea.

He came from the area around the border of the Kingdom of Felixia and the Empire, his blue eyes indicate that the blood of the royal people of Felixia flows in his veins. Almost the same as the other two servants, Imania was also an orphan adopted by the Luke Family since childhood after the Great War and eventually bear the name Shieal. Slightly different from most people, Imania suffered from speechlessness and could also be said to be mute because her neck had been slashed by a sword until her vocal cords were damaged.

“So Mbak Minda, Mbak Lin, and Mbak Imania are also coming, right?” asked Odo while turning back to his mother.

“Yes, of course. Later Gariadin will also Mother tell you to come.”

“Hmm, alright.” Odo smiled sweetly like a child in general.

Seeing that, Mavis was relieved that the boy did not go alone and ran away like what he often did. However, at that time they did not know that the nature of the child had not changed at all and the habit was still not lost. On the same day, as the men in the Mansion prepared the equipment the boy had brought, Odo fled to the Coastal City without being noticed by everyone.

««»»

Snow slowly fell to the surface, covering trees, roads, and buildings. In the Coastal City, white scenery enveloped and a cold wind blew quite fiercely. Irrigation channels froze, water reservoirs, and the sea. Ships docked at the dock could not be floated and trapped by the frozen sea, as well as fish in the water.

On the main street in the city, only a few people were seen walking outside in their thick clothes. Most people are inside houses and buildings, blowing chimneys and warming themselves. Signs of economic activity are completely out of sight in the city that has a sizable port.

The guards at the entrance sat down coldly, lighting the oil lanterns as lights in the cloudy atmosphere and warming up in the cold snow. Only with thick clothes and lanterns alone could not repel the cold that felt until it seeped into the bones, it was clear they were shivering.

Outside the walls surrounding the Coastal City at its front. There was a little black-haired boy who was sneaking around looking for a way in. Successfully infiltrating out of the Mansion without being known to everyone, Odo had reached outside the great wall of the Coastal City which was a few kilometers to the southeast of his residence. Landing after using thrower magic to get to before, the boy instantly settles down and infiltrates through the frozen ditch of his wetland and into the city.

Although he only wore a coat jacket as a warm-up, he did not feel cold at all thanks to the Special Magic he had received from Seliari. Hariq Iliah, the power is a high level of fire control that concerns heat, oxidation, fire formation, gas control, and plasma molecules, which also concerns light, in other words high control of fire. Using this power, Odo increases the temperature around it to relieve the cold.

Walking down the streets alone, the boy had a chance to look at the contents of the city that had been dominated by snow white. He did not expect that the falling snow could change the appearance of the city until now. Snow-covered trees, frozen freshwater storage ponds, desolate atmosphere, smokestack-flashing buildings, and snow-dropping gray skies, all that feels foreign to the child because in the winter during his life the child was always in the Mansion because he was said to not like the cold.

“If it snows ... it turns out like this yeah .... Different atmosphere. A little quiet and ... a little silence ...”

Walking down the street, Odo finally reached the port area. He quickly went to an orphanage that was once used as a branch worship place. Standing in front of the building that looks like a church with Gothic elements, the black-haired child looks a little reluctant to enter the destination and stay standing outside the fence.

Recalling the moment she left without saying goodbye to the others and just telling Siska, the nun who lived and cared for the orphans in the orphanage, Odo grew anxious to go inside. There were some things that made him anxious, among others the news of him defeating the Black Dragon must have been heard, and therefore it was likely that his identity had been exposed by the other children in the orphanage.

“If not wrong Nanra hates nobility yes .... If he had heard the news, he would have .... Never mind, after all while leaving .., I have left some groceries for them .... There's no reason for me to keep getting involved with them.”

Odo paused the intention to enter. But as she turned and was about to leave, the door of the orphanage opened and was seen exiting the nun who lived there. Then Odo fell silent, turning to the blonde woman who came out of the orphanage with a look of wonder. So did the nun named Siska, he was surprised to see the heir of the Landlord of their area could be out there in the middle of the cold that exists now.

“Ah ..., would you like to enter, Mr Odo?” siska asked nervously. It is clear that the way the nuns look at Odo has changed. Aware of that, the black-haired boy was well aware that the news of him defeating the Black Dragon had really been heard by him.

“Te-Thank you ..”

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Additional Information (Important):

Re;Start/if [Region] Michigan Continent

(+)Michigan Continent, a vast land left after the War of Gods and Demons. Is the Continent controlled by the Fourth Country which among others:  

»[Northeast] Urzia Empire

The Urzian Empire was located to the Northeast of the continent. It was the Land of the Demi-Humans, and had a civilization similar to medieval Southeast Asia until the 17th century. Had a good relationship with the Kingdom of Felixia during the Great War, but it faded. Famous for its Demi-human troops who possess extraordinary physical abilities, as well as special magic in the form of amulet paper, and hand seals.

»[Southeast] Kingdom of Felixia

The kingdom of Felixia is located in the Southeast of the continent. It is the land of the Spirit Witches and the best sword wielders. It has many Great Spirits that have been contracted, as well as being related to the Astral World. The birthplace of heroes during the Great War. Its culture and system of government are similar to medieval Europe. It is also known as a sacred kingdom because the Royal Family lineage is said to have originated from Gods.

–Luke's nobleman's territory, south of Felixia Kingdom.

»[Southwest] Kingdom of Ungea

The Kingdom of Ungea was located in the Southwest of the continent. It was a kingdom that had the protection of many deities, had many kono weapons and historic Magic Artifacts. Also called the Desert. He played a major role in the Great War. The ruler of this country is called the Maharaja.

»[Northwest] Moloia Kingdom

The kingdom of Moloia was located in the Northwest of the continent. It is a country centered on technology and mining rather than magic. The kingdom is most rich in metal, and has a variety of original magic tools. Centered on Alchemist magic. The level of technology is higher than other countries, and is the most established country after the Great War ended.