Arifureta Zero: Volume 1 Page 5

  For some reason, that made her happy. Her ponytail swung happily from side to side, mirroring her emotions.

  “Yay. You finally responded, O-kun.”

  “Because I realized ignoring you only makes you more annoying. Sheesh, you’re like a walking disaster, you know that?”

  “Ehehe, you’re making me blush.”

  “That wasn’t a compliment. Seriously, would it kill you to act like a normal person for even five seconds?” Oscar tiredly rubbed his temples.

  Miledi was right, going back to the workshop now wouldn’t be pleasant. He wondered if his half-assed acting had done anything to stop the rumors. Probably not.

  He knew he’d have to keep this walking incarnation of chaos away from the workshop if he didn’t want them getting any worse, too.

  “O-kun, what’s wrong? You look like someone who just got fired.”

  “And who’s fault do you think that is? I’m begging you, at least realize what it is you’re doing. Anyway, you broke your promise. I thought you were a more sincere person than that, but I guess I misjudged you.” Oscar started walking again.

  “Excuse me! I always keep my promises!”

  “Not this one. You said last night that you wouldn’t ever come near me or my fami—” Oscar cut his words short, realizing something. When he’d asked her that, all Miledi had said was...

  “All I said was ‘I see...’ I didn’t say anything else. You just assumed~”

  In other words, she’d just acknowledged that was what Oscar had wanted. She hadn’t actually promised to do anything.

  “I-I can’t believe you.” Oscar ground his teeth in frustration. He knew it was his own fault for not squeezing an actual promise out of Miledi, but that didn’t make him any less mad. Especially because she was just rubbing it in now. Still, if he let his emotions get the better of him it’d be over. Oscar adjusted his glasses and did his best to wrest his emotions under control.

  “Then I’ll ask you once more. Please don’t ever come near me or my family again. As things are right now, your ideals are too dangerous. Please. Don’t get me, or the people I love, involved.”

  Miledi ran up in front of Oscar. She turned to face him and continued walking backward, hands behind her back.

  “My ideals aren’t the real danger here. It’s this world. Please, O-kun, don’t avert your eyes from the truth. Even without me telling you, you already knew how twisted and unfair this world was, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah, but that’s no reason to bring its wrath crashing down on my head. At the very least, we’re living in peace right now. As long as I live quietly and don’t stand out, there won’t be any problems.”

  “You really are a loser, O-kun.”

  “No I’m not. I’m just realistic. Anyway, will you please—”

  “Absolutely not!”

  “Want me to turn you over to the inquisitors?” Oscar’s eyebrow twitched dangerously, but Miledi just smiled and let out a scream.

  “Nooo! Don’t abandon me, O-kun! I’ll do anything for you!”

  “Damn you, Miledi! You purposely screamed that in a street full of people!” Oscar finally lost his calm as Miledi clung to him and started begging.

  Many of the onlooking housewives shook their heads sadly. “Oh my, I can’t believe Oscar-kun would make a girl cry. What a brute,” one of them said. The other pedestrians, too, were hanging on to every word.

  The street’s attention was focused on Oscar and Miledi. At this rate, the inquisitors would come for him first.

  “Fuck,” Oscar muttered, as he dragged Miledi away.

  “How long are you planning on following me?”

  “Until you agree to join me, I guess?”

  “Then you’ll be following me for the rest of your life... Anyway, I need to deliver these orders to my customers. Can you at least promise you won’t say anything misleading to them? Or rather, can you promise you won’t say anything at all? If not, I really will turn you over to the inquisitors.”

  “Okaaaaaay! Hehe...”

  Despite Oscar’s cold attitude, Miledi seemed happy. He glared at her suspiciously.

  “Is it really that fun watching my reactions?”

  “Not really? I was just thinking that even though you keep saying I’m dangerous and that you don’t want to be seen near me, you’re not actually reporting me to the inquisitors.”

  “Don’t mistake it for goodwill. I just don’t want to have to deal with the trouble that will come with reporting you. I still wish you’d go away.”

  “Hmm...” Miledi smiled, her expression making it clear she didn’t believe Oscar. Oscar shook his head and tried his best to ignore her.

  That lasted all of a second.

  “Hey, O-kun. Last night, when I was leaving, were you thinking of saying something to me?”

  “Wh-What?” Oscar was taken aback. He hadn’t expected her to see through even that. But even though this was a perfect opportunity for her to tease him further, her expression was serious.

  Because of her usual frivolity, the moments she was serious stood out even more. Oscar found himself being drawn into her piercing, bottomless gaze.

  “I won’t leave until you tell me what it was you were going to say.”

  “There wasn’t anything. Maybe I might have said ‘Hurry up and get out of my sight’ or something, but that’s all.”

  He pulled himself away from those eyes with some difficulty, then gave a scathing reply.

  “I see,” was all she said in return. After that, she returned to her usual, cheerful persona.

  “Hey, hey, O-kun. What kind of things are you delivering?”

  “We’re almost to my first customer. The owner of that restaurant over there ordered dishes.”

  Miledi nodded and peeked curiously into the boxes inside Oscar’s cart. Oscar once again reminded Miledi not to say anything misleading before knocking on the restaurant’s backdoor.

  A well-built woman answered the door.

  “Oh my, if it isn’t Oscar. Welcome! If you’re knocking at the back entrance, then it must mean you have a delivery.”

  “Yep. Here you go, Daisy-san. I brought the butcher’s knives and frying pan you asked for. Are the goods to your satisfaction?”

  Oscar handed over the box filled with cookware to Daisy. She looked inside the box and nodded in approval.

  “As always, you work fast. I asked for these the day before yesterday and you’re already finished. Thank you so... hm? Who’s this?”

  Daisy looked at Miledi, who was poking out from behind Oscar, curiously.

  Oscar cursed inwardly. He put on his best fake smile and quickly came up with a good cover story. Before he could say anything, though, Miledi opened her mouth.

  “Hello! I’m O-kun’s friend, Miledi! I’m here today to see what his work’s like.” Oscar let out a sigh of relief when he heard Miledi give a proper introduction. He tried to signal Miledi to leave, but Daisy’s interest was piqued now.

  “Oh my, I never knew Oscar had such cute friends. How long have you two known each other?”

  “Since yesterday! When I first met O-kun, I felt, like, a spark. You know what I mean, Miss?”

  “Oh, but of course! When I first met my husband, I felt like I’d been struck by lightning! I see now, so that’s how it is. Good for you, Oscar. We were all worried about you. You’re handsome and great at your job, but you’ve never even flirted with a girl before. Me and the other housewives were starting to think I should try and set you up with my daughter if you didn’t find anyone soon!” Oscar knew girls got friendly with each other easily, but he hadn’t expected Daisy and Miledi to hit it off so well so quickly. They kept on talking, mostly saying embarrassing things about Oscar.

  It got more and more awkward for him by the minute. He wished he could crawl in a hole somewhere and die.

  The housewives’ rumor mill was something to be feared. He didn’t have time to spare thinking about their secret meetings where they discussed finding
him a wife though, as he had to do something about Miledi not-so-subtly hinting that she was trying to marry him herself.

  The only saving grace to this situation was that Daisy was unlikely to guess the truth. Namely that Miledi had meant “I thought this guy would be perfect for my anarchist society” when she’d said she’d felt a spark upon meeting him.

  “Daisy-san! Sorry for interrupting, but can I explain what my goods do yet?”

  “Huh? Oh, yes. Sorry, Oscar. I got a little carried away there. She’s a really nice girl, though. You treat her well, you hear?”

  Oscar replied with his usual smile. He could see Miledi grinning out of the corner of his eye, but he ignored her.

  “Umm, so these butcher’s knives have serrated edges. That’ll help keep them from getting stuck when you’re cutting through particularly tough meat. Though I haven’t really tested them too much myself, so could you tell me how they’re holding up after a month or so?”

  Both Daisy and Miledi examined the knives appreciatively.

  Oscar continued, explaining how things wouldn’t stick to the frying pan even if Daisy didn’t use oil. One of the main reasons Oscar was so popular among the common folk was because he put extra touches like these on his goods.

  “You always pay attention to the little details like this. Alright, I’ll let my husband know too. And whenever I get a chance, I’ll drop by to let you know how it feels to use. By the way, did you carve some weird name on this one too?”

  Daisy examined the knives and the frying pan suspiciously.

  Miledi tilted her head in confusion as Oscar sighed.

  “No, as you requested, I didn’t mark these with my brand. Why don’t you like it, anyway?”

  Daisy replied with another question.

  “Out of curiosity, what exactly did you name these knives and this frying pan?”

  Oscar puffed his chest out proudly.

  “Glad you asked. The knives are called Meat Shredder Mk. III, while the frying pan’s named Slide Master Alpha. What do you think? Cool, right? If you want, I can still engrave the names—”

  “No thanks.” Daisy shot him down before he could finish.

  “Why...?” Oscar muttered quietly.

  “O-kun... You’ve got a terrible naming sense.”

  “What do you mean, terrible!? Shouldn’t you have my back here!?” Oscar cried out. Daisy nodded in agreement with Miledi’s statement, leaving him with no one to turn to.

  Though Oscar was beloved by the citizens, they all unanimously thought the names he engraved into his goods were terrible.

  Though it had pained him to do it, he’d begun complying with his customers’ requests to stop engraving them. He was careful to keep them plain in the workshop’s ledger as well. All craftsmen of the Orcus Workshop were required to record their transactions.

  That way, he didn’t have to listen to people telling him how his naming sense was terrible.

  Oscar took his money from Daisy, then quickly moved on to the next customer. He was still a little sulky about the names.

  The rest of his deliveries went by smoothly enough, but each conversation left him a little more mentally drained. At every delivery, Miledi would hit it off with the customers and cause some sort of misunderstanding that Oscar would desperately try and rectify.

  By the time they finished the last one, Oscar was exhausted.

  “O-kun, O-kun. You look realllllly tired.”

  “And who’s fault do you think that is?”

  “Wow, it’s already past noon. What’s a good place to eat around here? I’m starving.”

  “Listen when people are talking to— Oh, I give up! I need some food myself or I’ll collapse.” Grumbling to himself, Oscar led Miledi to a nearby restaurant. It was run by an acquaintance of his.

  Since it was still lunchtime, there were quite a few people inside. Though it was in a seedier part of the city, the restaurant itself was impeccably clean. There were pictures of its menu stationed outside, too.

  Fortunately, there was still one empty table left in the corner, so Oscar claimed it. Miledi sat down next to him.

  “Hm? Is it just me or are people staring at us?” Miledi looked around the room.

  Oscar looked around and saw some residents, a few adventurers, and even a table full of local girls sitting at the nearby tables. The restaurant attracted all manner of customers, so that wasn’t too unusual. What was unusual was that each and every one of them were staring at him.

  Oscar knew Miledi was probably the reason, so he ignored them and called for a waiter.

  “Hello~ Ah, Oscar-san, wel...come?” A bright teenage girl came over to take their order. The clean white apron she was wearing suited her nicely.

  “Good afternoon, Aisha-san. Could we get two of the daily special?” Oscar ordered for Miledi as well. He didn’t want to ask her what she wanted, since that would’ve given her an excuse to say something.

  However, the way he so casually ordered for Miledi seemed to crush Aisha. She glanced from Oscar to Miledi before suddenly bursting into tears.

  Oscar was completely taken aback. Miledi smiled wryly, realizing what was going on. The diners watched on with interest, wondering how Oscar had made her cry.

  “O-Oscar-san. I-I-I-I didn’t realize you had a lover...”

  “Huh? Oh, no, I don’t. This girl’s just—”

  “This girl!? You’re always so polite to everyone, but you’re so close to her that you refer to her so casually... I-I can’t believe it.” Aisha stumbled backward, one hand over her mouth. Miledi didn’t chime in with her usual teasing this time. Even she didn’t want to crush a pure little girl’s heart.

  “Umm, I think you’re misunderstanding something here. O-kun and I—”

  “O-kun!? You call him O-kun!? Even I’ve never used such a casual nickname with him!”

  “Err, well, umm...” Before Miledi could say anything else, Aisha turned and ran.

  “Waaaaaaaaah, I thought I had a chaaaaaance! Daaaaaaaaad, two daily specials!” She disappeared into the restaurant’s kitchen. An elderly man’s voice rang out through from the back.

  “Two dailies, coming right up! Thanks for coming!”

  Even when her heart was broken, Aisha still did her job properly. And it said something about her dad’s dedication to his own job that he took the order without batting an eyelid. Like father like daughter.

  Wails of lamentation could be heard in another corner of the room.

  Oscar turned and saw a group of local girls slumped over at their table. The cause of their despair was evident if you thought about what had just happened.

  “You’re pretty popular, O-kun.”

  “No comment.”

  Objectively speaking, it made sense. Oscar was well-respected, came from a distinguished workshop, was rather handsome, and even had an amiable personality to boot. And because everyone knew he was a bachelor, the girls all thought they had a chance.

  Oscar adjusted his glasses to cover his expression.

  Two of the adventurers stood up and walked over to him. They were grinning.

  “Yo, Oscar. Looks like you’ve finally found yourself a girl.”

  “Nice going, kid. You always turned us down when we offered to introduce you to someone. We were so scared you might be into men that we stopped putting in orders for a while. Thank Ehit we don’t have to worry about that.”

  The two adventurers patted Oscar on the back. They hadn’t ordered weapons and armor from Oscar before, but rather miscellaneous traveling equipment.

  Things like lanterns, cookware, tents, and other things that every adventurer needed. Oscar’s items were always sturdier and easier to use than those of other craftsmen, so he was popular with adventurers too. Most of the adventurers who made this city their base carried around items made by Oscar.

  “Umm, guys. She’s not actually—”

  “Hey Missy, how’d you get this stubborn fool to fall for you?”

  Oscar tried to fix
the misunderstanding, but before he could they turned to Miledi.

  It dawned on Miledi that basically all of the diners here knew Oscar, and they all loved him.

  She thought back to poor Aisha and the girls despairing a few tables over, then decided to answer honestly.

  “The truth is, I haven’t yet. I’m still trying to make him mine.”

  The girls jolted upright. They stared at Oscar, a fierce determination burning in their eyes. Aisha, too, came running out of the kitchen. She hid behind a pillar and stared at Oscar.

  “Miledi... Why do you keep adding fuel to the fire? First you had to go and make my workplace hell, now you’re destroying all the places I visit... How much do you have to ruin before you’re satisfied?” Oscar massaged his temples.

  Seeing his reaction, the two adventurers realized what kind of relationship Oscar and Miledi really had. They smiled sadly and patted Oscar kindly on the back.

  Though they looked scary, the two of them were actually quite soft-hearted.

  They cast about for a different topic, hoping to distract themselves and Oscar from the girls now staring at him like he was a choice cut of meat.

  “Oh yeah, speaking of your workplace. You know that shitty noble brat that’s always getting in your way?”

  “Err, you mean Ping-san?”

  “Yeah, that fool. I’ve seen him and his cronies skulking around here recently. It’s always at night, too.”

  “Ping-san comes here at night?”

  Ping was basically a walking bundle of pride.

  He held as much contempt for the residential areas of the city as he did for Oscar himself.

  He wouldn’t ever come down here for fun, nor would he willingly associate with any of the people living here. Like he’d said to Miledi, he only associated with nobles.

  “Yeah. Weird, right? I dunno what that little brat’s up to, but be careful. You’re the only reason I can think of for them to come down here.”

  “Yeah, exactly. And the streets have been dangerous lately...”

  “You’re referring to the missing people?”