Arifureta Zero: Volume 1 Read online

  “Maybe I should see what they’re scheming...” Naiz finished off his bread, downed a pitcher of water, and stood up.

  He thought back to the two who’d been chasing him this whole time. He was certain they wouldn’t be able to chase him into the volcano, but once he left chances were they’d pop up again.

  “Nah, it’s impossible... This place is too far from where I sent them. They definitely won’t find me here.” He’d encountered Miledi and Oscar in the southeastern fringes of the desert, but the volcano was to the north. Moreover, he was planning to make his trip using teleportation. There was no possible way for them to keep up.

  At least, that was what he kept telling himself. He was still terrified of running into them the moment he stepped out of his house. Next time I’ll force them to tell me how they’re tracking me and promise to leave me alone.

  Unwilling to even step foot outside of his house, he left using teleportation. He spent the day checking up on the outlying villages, finally starting down the road home as the sun began to set.

  He breathed a sigh of relief. The pair of troublemakers hadn’t appeared all day.

  Once he was safely hidden behind a pair of sand dunes, he teleported back home.

  “Ah, welcome back, Nacchan!”

  “Sorry for barging into your house without asking. We brought you some gifts, though.”

  Miledi and Oscar were sitting at his table, sipping tea. Naiz couldn’t believe it.

  “How?” He croaked out.

  “D-Don’t be so mad. I-I’m sorry I came in without asking. Please forgive us, Nacchan.”

  “I’m not mad. Just amazed. Also, quit calling me Nacchan.” He said, as he sank down into a chair. Idly, he noticed there were more than there had been before.

  In truth, he almost admired their persistence. At the same time, he couldn’t believe they’d managed to track him down all the way here. Or had the guts to come into a magma chamber, even. More than anything though, he really wished she’d stop calling him Nacchan.

  “You might as well give up... That nickname’s there to stay. She’s crazy— I mean, stubborn. Oh, these are for you, by the way. They’re baked sweets made with the local fruit. You don’t dislike sweets, do you?”

  “Hm? Yeah, they’re fine.”

  “Hey, did you just call me crazy, O-kun? Did you? Hey! Answer me—”

  “You won’t teleport us away again, will you?”

  “Now that you’ve found even this place, it won’t matter where I send you. At this point, I have only two options. Find out how you’re tracking me and destroy whatever means you’re using, or...”

  “Hear us out and refuse our offer, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Hey, why’re you two leaving me out? Don’t you think that’s mean? Also, O-kun, you totally did call me cra—”

  Oscar and Naiz stared at each other, completely ignoring Miledi. They were trying to probe each other’s intentions. An epic battle of wills played out between the two of them in the span of a few short seconds.

  After a while, they heard sobbing from under the table. The two men blinked as they returned to reality. They looked underneath the table simultaneously, and found Miledi curled up in a ball, crying.

  The two proceeded to ignore her completely and resumed staring at each other. Oscar took a sip of his tea.

  “By the way, your place is amazing. As far as I can tell you’re not using any artifacts, but the place is still perfectly insulated against the magma. Are you doing this with your ancient magic?”

  “You could say that.”

  “But why make a place like this your home? Well, I guess if you want to avoid people the middle of a volcano is a perfect place to live.”

  “Are you here to tell me what you came for or to ask me about my life?”

  “Whoops, my apologies. Your design choices just piqued my interest as a Synergist.” For once, the two of them were actually carrying on a conversation.

  Still in tears, Miledi crawled out from under the table and sat with them.

  “Okay, I’ll be serious now, so can you please stop ignoring me?” Her tone was uncharacteristically contrite.

  Naiz and Oscar sighed simultaneously.

  “How are you two in sync like that?”

  “Probably because of you.”

  “It’s definitely because of you.”

  “Hic...” Miledi blew her nose a few times.

  Once she’d composed herself, she gave Naiz the same speech she’d given Oscar. She talked about the tyranny of the gods, the Holy Church’s madness, and the twisted way of the world. She spoke about the fate that awaited those who stepped out of line, as well as the horrors that accompanied blind fanaticism.

  Finally, she came to the organization she belonged to— the Liberators.

  She also briefly explained her past and how she came to meet Oscar.

  Three people’s soft breathing were the only sounds that could be heard when she finished.

  “My magic allows me to interfere with space. I can connect two different points together, teleport somewhere else in the blink of an eye, and, like I did with my house, create spacial barriers to block things off, even insubstantial things like heat... But I don’t have the ability to heal. Not one bit.” After hearing their tale, Naiz explained his powers.

  Oscar could guess why he’d brought up healing.

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said with a smile and shook his head.

  Miledi looked warmly into his eyes and spoke to him once more, offering her praise.

  “You’re a good person.” She said it with conviction. What had pained Naiz the most wasn’t the truth about the gods, or the wretched state of the world, but the fact that Oscar’s siblings had been hurt. And he lamented his own powerlessness to help.

  Come to think of it, he was like that the first time he saved us, too. Oscar thought to himself. Judging by his actions and the fact that he’d chosen a volcano for a home, Oscar could tell he was trying to hide his powers too.

  Despite that, he hadn’t even hesitated to use his powers to save the two of them from the Sandworms.

  The only reason rumors of him had spread at all was because he’d broken his cover to help those in need.

  However, Naiz didn’t seem happy at all to be called kind by Miledi. He twisted his face into a grimace.

  “No, I’m not. I’m just—” He cut himself off. They could tell whatever it was he couldn’t say pained him to no end.

  Miledi looked straight at him and urged him to speak.

  “Just what? Tell us.” She knew it was rude, but she asked anyway. Even if it hurt him to speak, they couldn’t help until they knew.

  Oscar chimed in as well.

  “I have no way of knowing what kind of things you’re dealing with, but at the very least you’ve saved enough people in the desert that rumors have spread about you. And for that, I respect you. We’d really like to have someone like you in our group.”

  Naiz could tell they were being sincere, but his expression hardened. Then, he delivered his ultimatum.

  “As you wished, I listened to your story. However, my answer remains unchanged. Nothing you say can convince me otherwise.” In the end, he said no. At the same time, he opened up another portal. It was obvious he wanted them to leave. Miledi and Oscar could tell from his grim expression that he would say no more.

  They exchanged glances. Oscar shook his head. Miledi’s shoulders drooped, and she smiled sadly at Naiz.

  “Okay. Bye then, Nacchan.” She stepped into the portal of her own accord. Oscar nodded to Naiz and followed after her.

  Silence filled the room.

  For some reason he felt cold as he stared at the chairs Oscar had transmuted into his home.

  Naiz spent a long time staring at those two chairs.

  The next day.

  “We’re baaack. Nacchan, are you here? I’ve come over to hang out!”

  “Hey it’s been a while. A whole day in fact.
We brought you some cheese this time.” Miledi and Oscar returned to Naiz’s house.

  He stared at them in shock, as he’d been certain he wouldn’t see them again.

  “Oh? Did you think we’d leave you alone because of how we parted yesterday? Puhahaha! I never said anything about leaving you alone forever! You just assumed that all on your own, Nacchan!”

  Miledi cackled, her serious demeanor from yesterday nowhere to be seen. A vein pulsed in Naiz’s forehead and he opened a portal underneath Miledi.

  However, she used her gravity magic to dodge out of the way. Then, she sidestepped every other portal Naiz opened too.

  “How many times do you think you’ve done that to us now? I’ve got the timing of your portals down pat!” Naiz wanted to knock that smug smile off her face. This was the first time in his life he’d actually wanted to hurt anyone.

  “We brought our cups too. Seems like we’ll be coming here pretty often now, so do you mind if we leave them here? This is your cupboard, right? Oscar put not just cups, but a few plates and spoons into Naiz’s cupboard as well.

  I thought he was suffering under Miledi’s tyranny, but he’s just as brazen as she is.

  Had Oscar realized how much Miledi had influenced him, he’d probably have been so shocked he’d stay huddled in bed for a week.

  Another week passed.

  Oscar and Miledi started taking their meals together with Naiz. Sometimes they’d talk about the Liberators, other times they’d just make small talk.

  Whenever Naiz tried to tell them he wasn’t interested, Miledi would wave him off and change the topic. He couldn’t get rid of them either. Miledi was too used to his portals now, and could dodge them with her gravity magic.

  Oscar had found himself fascinated by the ore contained inside the volcano, and had started exploring its depths. At one point he had ridden his umbrella like a miniature boat down the volcano’s magma streams.

  In doing so, he’d figured out the real reason why Naiz had chosen this volcano as his home.

  In truth, the Red Dragon’s Mountain was an active volcano that had erupted once every fifty years or so. It had been 55 years since the last eruption, and most of the desert dwellers were expecting another one any year now.

  However, Naiz had been forcibly keeping the volcano dormant. He’d calmed the magma by dumping a massive quantity of stillstone into it. He’d also carved a side channel with his spatial magic for the magma to flow into when the pressure grew too great.

  That had told Oscar that even if he explained to Naiz how they’d been following him, the taciturn man still wouldn’t disappear. Unless something serious happened, he wouldn’t leave the volcano.

  So far, neither threats, nor escape, nor even a blunt refusal had gotten Miledi or Oscar to leave Naiz alone. He was at his wits’ end. Still, though he didn’t realize it, he had started to look forward to Oscar and Miledi’s visits. Eating meals together, talking to Oscar about his various inventions, and discussing iraks with Miledi had started taking on a certain charm.

  Naturally, Oscar and Miledi easily picked up on the shift in his attitude.

  The fact that he genuinely seemed to enjoy their company was the main reason that they hadn’t given up.

  Though Naiz still stubbornly refused to budge whenever they brought up the topic of joining them.

  Eight days had passed since Miledi and Oscar found out where Naiz lived. They were currently eating breakfast at a restaurant in the small oasis village of Liv.

  Though it was classified as a village, the settlement had grown to the size of a small town. It was located in the southern Doumibral domain, and was the closest human settlement to the volcano.

  The two had rented an inn here because of its proximity to Naiz.

  At present, Miledi was flopped over their table and groaning loudly. The two of them were supposed to be hashing out a plan to convince Naiz.

  They were eating their breakfast early, and there was still a chill in the air. The sun hadn’t risen yet, and nights in the desert were frigid. For denizens of the desert though, this cool time period between the freezing nights and scorching days was one of their favorite. Despite the early hour, many other people were eating their breakfast as well.

  Most of the other patrons’ gazes were locked onto Miledi, whose loud groaning had attracted their attention. Oscar, meanwhile, was perusing a local brochure and paying his partner no mind.

  “Miledi, according to this brochure, the greengrocer to the east distills his own wine. What do you think of bringing some to Naiz as a gift? He seems like a heavy drinker, but it didn’t look like he liked the dry sake we got him last time.”

  “O-kun, can’t you see how distressed I am? As my partner, shouldn’t you be more concerned about me?”

  Oscar looked up from the brochure.

  “Sorry. I figured you were just complaining about breakfast. You’re always whining about how you don’t have enough to eat.”

  “Excuse me, I’m no glutton. Besides, what I’m worried about is how we’re going to convince Nacchan. I know you two get along now and all that, but we still haven’t gotten any closer to convincing him to actually join us.”

  “Well, he’s definitely interested in all of my inventions. He’s liked all the ones I showed him so far. Whenever I bring up what I’m working on he instantly pulls out the alcohol and we start talking for ages. Anyway, as for changing his mind... I think we should just take it slow. First we’ve got to build a relationship of trust.”

  “So Nacchan can tell us what’s burdening him, right?”

  “Exactly. Even you had to warm up to me before you were willing to tell me about your past.”

  “You’ve... got a point there.”

  Oscar set aside the brochure. Then, he entwined his fingers together and spoke carefully, choosing his words.

  “Life is... difficult. For everyone, really. But especially if you have scars so deep that they’re still hurting. His problems aren’t something he can tell just anyone, nor are they things we can ask about just because we’re curious. That’s why I want us to get to know each other better. We have to grow closer if we want to help him. And making lasting friendships is something that takes time, right? If we push him, it’ll only end up driving him into a corner.”

  Oscar gulped down some water. As he felt the temperature rise, he turned away from Miledi and looked over at the sparkling oasis. While watching the sun crest the horizon, he spoke once more.

  “So let’s take it slow. I’ll follow you forever, so long as you haven’t given up. There’s no need to rush.” He’d promised her he’d follow her to the depths of hell, and he meant to keep his word.

  Miledi didn’t reply. The sounds of other customers eating filled the silence between them.

  Oscar turned back to Miledi, wondering why she was so quiet.

  “What’s with that expression?”

  “Hmmm? What do you mean?” Miledi was grinning from ear to ear. Oscar’s mood suddenly soured.

  He busied himself with cleaning up the remnants of their breakfast.

  “You’re totaaaaaally in love with me, aren’t you, O-kun?”

  “Leave the sleeptalking for when you’re asleep and help me clean up.” Oscar narrowed his eyes and jerked his chin at Miledi’s plate. Still grinning, Miledi teased him further.

  “Oh are you blushing? You are O-kun!”

  Oscar debated throwing his coffee into Miledi’s face, but he decided to be civil instead. As the days passed, he was getting better and better at handling Miledi.

  And so, Oscar simply adjusted his glasses and changed the topic.

  “Naiz said he’d be busy this morning. He’s probably delivering iraks to the villages that are running low, so I’m thinking we should head over in the afternoon.”

  “He’s out helping people again? I can’t tell if he’s just a good person, or if...”

  “Hopefully we find that out eventually too. Though I am a little worried. Sure, he tends t
o hide his abilities, but he’ll use them if necessary to help people. After all, he didn’t hesitate to save us. And rumors have spread so far that even you’d heard of him, all the way in the east. It’s only a matter of time before his powers are exposed.”

  “You’re right. One thing I don’t get though... Why does everyone call him a fairy?”

  The rumors had all said that the “Fairy of the Desert” had saved them. With his bulky frame, taciturn expression, sharp eyes, and red hair, Naiz was the furthest thing from a fairy that Oscar could imagine.

  “Bwah.” Oscar nearly spit out his coffee, as he imagined Naiz trying to look like a fairy.

  “W-Well, it doesn’t look like he’s the one who came up with it, and rumors have a habit of going wild. A wandering fairy of the desert who helps lost travelers makes for a much better story than a buff dude doing the same.”

  Still, I really want to know how anyone came to associate the word fairy with Naiz. Both Miledi and Oscar were burning with curiosity.

  As they were cleaning up, a young girl’s voice interrupted them.

  “Umm... have you met the Fairy of the Desert before?” Miledi and Oscar turned to see two girls looking up at them.

  They appeared to be siblings. At the very least, they resembled each other quite a bit. They both had dark brown skin and jade green eyes. The older one looked to be around 12 or 13, while they younger couldn’t have been over 8. The younger girl wore her long hair loose, while the older sister had her shoulder-length hair in braids. They were both wearing white robes and sandals, and seemed to be local residents.

  “Umm, are you talking to us?”

  “Ah, y-yes. We’re sorry for interrupting you!” The older sister bowed her head. It seemed they’d overheard Oscar and Miledi talking about the Fairy of the Desert.

  Miledi smiled reassuringly at them.

  “He certainly didn’t look like a fairy to me, but we have~ We were just wondering why everyone calls him a fairy... Would you two happen to know?” The girls’ expressions changed when Miledi mentioned that they’d met him. They exchanged furtive glances. It was obvious they knew something. However, the two didn’t say anything. They weren’t sure whether or not it was safe to tell Miledi.