Re:START/If {Book 1.0}
Chapter 29: From the rice that is planted can grow weeds (Part 01)

The population grew increasingly crowded as Odo and Fiola began to enter the market area of the city's business district. The front gate of the place is located on the main road that connects between the town hall and the Main Church in the west direction, right near the main road and can be clearly seen because of the crowds of people who come in and out of the place.

Before Odo went to the Main Church for talks, he had walked through a road that was directly related to the front of the market. Back to the place, there is still a crowd that seems to have no sign of unraveling even though the day is getting late. Whether it is humans or Demi-humans, all of them systematically carry out their respective economic activities in the place.

Standing at the entrance of the market around the T-junction, Odo momentarily put on a radiant face and stopped his footsteps by the roadside. “Although the city looks a little gloomy, but this part is very lively .... Indeed ..., the center of money turnover will always be more shining than other places,” the child's mind while grinning a little.

“Master?” Fiola stared confusedly at the grin.

“Ah, the land I bought said is at the end there. Let's see first, Ms. Fiola.”

Odo returned to his feet and entered the business district. With a hint of astonishment still lingering in his mind, Fiola followed and walked beside the boy. In the area the market is indeed really crowded even though the city's trade routes are still closed due to the danger level of potential snowstorms and bandits.

Various shops are seen on the side of the road, the store building is no less interesting to visit. Most of the buildings along the road look old, but it looks highly cared for and is a sign that its owner has still not given up on the potential changes that exist to get Mylta City out of the slumped economic conditions.

Along the street in the commercial district, there were no horse-drawn carriages or carts. That is not because the place is specifically for pedestrians, but because they do not need it because there is no mobility of goods large enough to require such conveyances. Buying and selling activities that exist only for basic needs, barter or such, as well as other small transactions but in large quantities. There really is nothing big in their activities.

Although the snow is still falling slowly and the air is still cold, people with warm leather clothes still do the routine of buying and selling at the place. They buy staples such as wheat, hunted meat, or other foodstuffs.

While walking on the road from a tight and snow-covered stone structure, Odo's view was glued to one corner of the place. It was not out of awe like before, but rather being overwhelmed by what he saw. The boy's footsteps came to a halt, his eyes staring into one of the alleys of a fairly quiet shop of shoppers.

Of all the people who passed by in the place and were wearing warm clothes, inside the alley was seen a group of children of the Demi-human race of the half-gerbil type of humans. They were sitting on the ground, very dirty and even more sloppy than the vagabonds Odo had seen in his previous life. They are almost similar to half-rats, but the tendency of such races is their resilience to live in water or desert conditions.

They are just like other Demi-humans in appearance, have a human body and in some parts there are animal elements according to their type. The four Demi-humans in the alley were exactly in such a category, their figures were human-like but had the tail, ears, fangs and claws of a garbil.

Odo's footsteps turned towards the group of Demi-humans. Seeing them sharing dull cloths for warmers and small bonfires, a glimpse of a sad look on Odo's face. Judging from the appearance of those who were still small and had cream hair with a dark complexion similar to each other, the black hairdo could tell that the four of them were one family.

Knowing Odo's arrival, one of the largest and oldest gerbil-type demi-humans soon hides his young family members into a dull cloth blanket. He stared intently with red eyes, squeaking as if signifying hostility.

“Are you illegal immigrants from Ungea Kingdom?” asked Odo as he stood before them. Not answering, the four Demi-humans added an adversarial response.

Odo sighed lightly, turning his head towards Fiola who was staring intently at the four Demi-humans. “Mbak, can stop intimidating them like that?” he said in a lethargic tone.

“Eh? Intimidation ..” Fiola looked confused, he had no intention of doing so at all. Instinctively, he gave such a sharp look.

“What Mbak Fiola got money from Mommy?”

“Emm, I got some silver and gold coins from Madam. He said at least for Young Master's pocket money. But ..., sep—”

“Please buy cheese and smoked ivory around here,” cut Odo. The boy looked back at the seedy Demi-humans, then crouched down before them and started to smile faintly. “Quick, yes. Later I change if Mbak Fiola does not want to spend the money, now I only bring magic crystals doang ...,” he continued while looking back a little.

“Do you intend to help them? What's in it? Helping out like this was indeed satisfying, but it was only temporary. Me—”

“Please, yes ...” Odo stared at the fox girl flatly. As if under pressure from that silent gaze that felt so deep, Fiola nodded and said, “Alright. Wait a minute, don't go anywhere, yeah.”

“Ya ..”.

As Fiola went to buy food as Odo requested, the boy looked back at the four Demi-humans with a friendly face. Suppressing the surface of the Dimensional Bracelet and activating one of the runes on its surface, Odo took out a bottle of Potion from the storage dimension.

Offering it to them, he said, “Think this to the smallest member of your family ..., he has a fever, ‘kan? If left that way, he could have died of cold, loh.”

The oldest of them stared intently, not believing the words of the boy. Feeling natural for the reaction, Odo again took out something from the Dimensional Bracelet. This time he took out a cloak cloth over which was already given a magic structure to load the warm temperature automatically. The structure uses Ether from the air and converts it into Mana for its activation.

Throwing it at them, the Demi-humans panicked and thought the boy wanted to catch them. But as they felt the temperature clearly warmer than the dull cloth they were using, the four Demi-humans looked at the puzzled Odo.

The smallest of the Demi-human family members stopped shivering, feeling the warmth emanating from the cloth. “Hmm, like my experiment stuff works like it should. Do not let anyone else know that it is a magic tool if you do not want to get into trouble,” said Odo.

The boy placed the Potion in front of them, then got up and sighed a little while looking back hoping that Fiola would come quickly. “Why did you help us?” ask the oldest demi-humans among them.

Although the oldest in his small family, the Demi-human looked like a young man of about twenty-five years old with his face. Odo turned to look at the Demi-humans who finally intended to make friendly communication

The boy watched closely and only really saw the four Demi-humans. Of them all, besides the oldest other female kelami two of them have a face level of about seventeen years and the smallest still looks less than ten years old. From these observations, Odo more or less knew why it could be that the Demi-human Race like those who used to live in the desert could get to the Kingdom of Felixia.

“Hmm, why do you think?” ask Odo back while smiling.

“We don't know ...” They looked confused, staring at each other, except for the smallest of them who had just plainly stared at Odo. “Black ...,” says the tiny Demi-human.

“He, he .... Brother's hair is black,” said Odo with a cheerful face.  “What little sister has a fever?” tanyanya while back crouching.

“Eng, my head hurts .... Shift ...”

“Then, drink this so as to get well soon ...” Odo took the Potion that had been placed, and offered it to the little Demi-human. Crawling out of the arms of his family, he took the bottle of medicine.

“Do not drink ..., later there will be anything ....”

“Perhaps it's rancun ..”

The two little Demi-human sisters whispered anxiously, Odo clearly heard that and just put on a calm facial expression without taking issue with it. The oldest among them nodded when looked at by his family members, then allowed the little Demi-humans to drink Potions.

The little demi-humans took the medicine as if they were thirsty, until it ran out and licked the muzzle of the bottle. “Enak ..., it tastes sweet,” he said cheerfully.

“That's one of my sister's home remedies, combined with some kind of berries to make it easy to drink .... So, how are you doing now, little sister?”

“Hmm, I don't know. But ... it's not cold anymore, it feels .. warm. It's yummy! What is the sister of a witch?” said the little Demi-human with a confused face. He woke up, then jumped up small with an energetic.

“Hmm, more or less like that. Then, can you have the bottle back? Actually it's even harder to make by me ..”

“Hmm!”

The little demi-human returned the glass bottle to Odo. After handing it over, the petite girl immediately hugged him tightly. Odo was not at all reluctant even though the scent coming out of the little girl's body smelled unpleasant, he only slightly smiled knots and put the bottle into the storage dimension.

Fiola came carrying a small woven bag of cheese and dried meat that he bought from a nearby store. Seeing Odo being hugged like that by the little Demi-human girl and the others no longer giving a hostile look, Fiola was surprised by the level of socialization of the black-haired child.

“Tuan ..., what happened?”

“Oh, can already eat it.” Odo turned his head, he slightly smiled knotfully and said, “How much is it?”

“One small silver coin and small bronze .... Uh, not that! Why are you familiar like that ...? Aren't they illegal immigrants and said they were violent with the locals? Why can you ...”

“Oh, definitely get that information from Mbak Minda?”

“Ya ..”.

“Haha!” Odo laughed dryly. “Better not to believe information regarding Demi-human from Mbak Minda. Besides Shieal members, he tends to hate races other than humans,” he said flatly.

Little Demi-human let go of her hug on Odo, then immediately entered into the blanket with her family when she got Fiola's sharp gaze. Receiving food from the Huli Jing, Odo placed it in front of the gerbil-type Demi-humans.

“Tu-Tuan ..., why did you give this all away? Not just giving blankets and medicine to our sister ..., but food also ...” Their faces except the smallest one looked confused as well as afraid, receiving kindness from an unknown person could indeed cause such a taste.

“Information ..?”

“Ya, information. Actually I'm a prospective merchant in this town, therefore I want information. You guys are from Ungea Kingdom, ‘kan? Are illegal immigrants like you still a lot?” ask Odo in a friendly tone. Having a clear reason for the child's kindness, they began to stop showing a fearful and agitated expression.

After that, they began to speak as a sign of Odo's kindness. Illegal immigrants, they're common in port cities. In fact they have absolutely no intention of settling down and becoming immigrants, he said, the Demi-humans who tended to be manual laborers in the Ungea Kingdom were brought by merchants to be used as transport workers in trade by sea.

In the days before Free Trade had not been treated and the City of Mylta was still the main line of trade, laborers like them often went in and out during the Great War as manual laborers. Because it has ended the period, the workers whose status if in the Unga Kingdom is a slave are abandoned by their owners because of bankruptcy or other reasons.

The kingdom of Felixia stopped using the slavery system when King Gaiel and Queen Dalia ascended the throne. After the Fourth Conference the country was formed, the slavery system stopped entirely in the Kingdom of Felixia and the Demi-humans, mostly from neighboring countries, became illegal immigrants because they could not buy the status of citizens by paying taxes. Indeed, there are some who become permanent residents and get citizen status, but it is very minimal and can even be counted on the fingers because of the terrible wages that are always set for them.

From the information Odo got from the little Demi-human family, the illegal immigrants like them were pretty much in the Coastal City. They had no proper place in the government and had no protection from the Religious because they were not from the Kingdom of Felixia. They are also illiterate, cannot count, and have a low standard of living.

Indeed, broadly speaking, the Kingdom of Felixia did not discriminate against Demi-humans after the Fourth Conference of the Land, but clearly their caste differences with pure humans could not be eliminated in society. Basic knowledge such as, Demi-humans are identical to manual laborers whereas humans command or occupations that use expertise are already firmly attached. Those who do not even have a citizen's mark are low on the hierarchy and cannot demand a wage amount, the result is the homeless life that illegal immigrants have.

Recalling reports of incidents at the docks, in addition to fishermen the number of general residents who took part in the case also contained some illegal immigrants. When reviewed again, Odo felt that such a thing made the residents feel dissatisfied with the existing government.

After talking back and getting other information from them, Odo left the place and told some things to the homeless family. Seeing the child's actions that turned out to have a clear purpose when helping others, Fiola again corrected his perspective on the child of his employer.

Back down the street in the business district, it didn't take long for Odo and Fiola to finally arrive at the vacant lot that was planned to be used to build an office. It was located outside the market area, but was quite close to the branch Guild office of Mylta City.

There is no specific reason Odo chose the land, not even himself given the opportunity for it. In the system of buying and selling land in the City of Mylta, the land still belongs to the government and Odo is only given the right to cultivate in full with some provisions. Every building in the city is like that, the absolute land belongs to the government and the people only get the right to cultivate. The license made by Odo serves to give it the right to operate a business, it is still in the provisions and subject to additional taxes.

Around the land owned by Odo there are still no buildings, it really gets the land at the very end of the business district. The place is close to the giant wall that surrounds the city but access only one way and must pass through the market area.

Looking at the snow-covered land that has not even built the foundation, Fiola spontaneously said, “Narrow the land.”

Odo immediately glanced sharply at hearing that. Sighing, he looked away and said, “Well, I didn't expect much from the woman's favor, anyway.”

“Whatever Young Master bought this at what price?”

“One Best Quality Magic Crystal.”

“Eh?! Which is similar to the Religious Party fund!?” Fiola surprised. Looking at the land that was not even more than one-fifth of an acre, he slightly frowned. “I will protest! That girl must be corrupt! How can you just get this!” fiola said annoyed.

“No need .., that is indeed the agreement. Anyway, this is enough.” Odo held Fiola's hand and stopped him.

Pointing out those intentions, the Huli Jing stared in surprise as she asked, “Testament? The master of the time talking to him also said that, actually what agreement did you agree with him?”

“Later also know ...” Odo stared back and smirked a little. Fiola was a little annoyed at hearing such an answer again, curiosity made his face pout.

“What kind of building do you want to build on this narrow land?” ask Fiola a little sniffly.

“Narrow? Well, when compared to the Mansion whose land area of nearly four hectares itself is indeed this narrow it seems .... That's enough, though. The area is about 200 cubic meters, with a pattern of 10 x 20 meters. Hmm, if the extent like this means the design ..”

Odo stopped clasping Fila's hand and put his right hand in front of his mouth, then began to mutter to himself as he looked towards the ground. In the child's head the calculation begins significantly, he measures the area only by sight and estimates the amount of material required as well as the design of the building. The necessary spaces have been clearly formed in the child's head, only to adjust its size to the existing land.

“Hmm, indeed a little less .... If the building is three floors, the main warehouse and other storage space is still lacking,” murmured the child.

“Eh? Three floors?” Fiola was wide-eyed to hear that, both of his eyebrows twitching.

“Ya ...,” Odo relaxed reply while still estimating the shape of the building.

“Can collapse, loh! Who wants to make a blueprint for the building?”

“I ...” The boy looked at Fiola flatly, answering as if it was indeed an ordinary and natural ha.

“Eh? Mr Odo can also make building designs? Have knowledge?” Fiola's face looked in disbelief, he slightly underestimated the child's words.

“Yes, less is more. I can replicate the design of the library foundation at home. The design is very nice and strong, minimalist and sturdy for multi-storey building.” Odo looked back at the land, then re-imagined the shape of the building and took it into account.

“You can make one like that?” ask Fiola not to believe it.

“Mimics Only .... I'm very good at imitation .... After all, in the library there are also some legendary moder— development techniques there.”

“Eng, what is autodidact again?”

“Ya ..”.

The atmosphere was silent for a moment, at least the people around the place added to the awkward atmosphere that felt momentary. Turning her face heavily, Fiola sighed, then said, “You've got a lot of talent, yes. My breath gets tight every time I know your strengths, Mr. Odo.”

“Not really ...” Odo did not turn his head and kept looking towards the land. “I ... actually don't even have talent,” said the boy in a soft voice.

“Keep what do you call the skills you have? At your age now, if it's not talent what else is it called?”

Hearing that question did not make Odo's heart happy. He stared lethargicly, his eyes looking annoyed and a little bit preoccupied. It was the first time Odo had clearly shown an expression of dislike towards something in front of Fiola blatantly.

“Mbak Fiola never saw my efforts, therefore Mbak Fiola can say that.”

“Even though never, but I know the difference where talent and effort .... What Master has is talent, why do you insist on rejecting it?” said Fiola. He looked back flat, then again said, “I heard you also said something like equality of opportunity and talent to Julia while in the nun's orphanage .... I don't think it's wise saying that and making Julia lose her confidence as a Shieal.”

“What's the reason Fiola's sister replaced him?” ask Odo.

“Ya ..., because you said like that Julia to the point of inappropriate talk or something. He has always had such inner problems, so please don't be ignorant of him ...”

“I just said the facts,” revealed Odo.

Fiola faced firmly at the boy, then looked at him straight. He began to show dislike with Odo's view of the matter. Unfortunately, the fox ears he had hidden with transformation magic came loose and began to be seen.

“Please don't misunderstand which one is talent and where to work hard. You are smart, but why not understand the difference?” fiola asked in a tone that began to show annoyance.

“What does Mbak Fiola think that Fiola himself is endowed with talent?” asked Odo while facing firmly Huli Jing.

“Of course, I am greatly endowed with talent. That's why I'm a Holy Animal.”

Hearing the answer, Odo slightly sighed and understood the way the woman looked at the black-brown hair before him. Odo is not stubborn and arrogant to change the way the view of beings who approach the word immortal like Fiola, he realizes that such a viewpoint can not be changed from the Huli Jing.

Turning his eyes away, the boy said, “We've finished this talk, we'll continue if there's time. It's already afternoon, there are some places to visit again.”

Fiola understood that Odo just didn't want to discuss such matters anymore. When he saw the look in the eyes of the boy who did not even intend to look at him, he knew that the boy really did not want to assume that what he had was talent, he knew that what he had was talent, an advantage that no one else has.

“Baiklah .... Please forgive my presumptuous action, Mr. Odo.”

Fiola bowed respectfully, showing his obedience to the boy. Seeing him bow his head after the conversation, Odo made sure that loyalty was not a guarantee that could help him later.

“Shieal is loyal, but it's only on Luke .... No to me,” Odo's mind.