Arifureta Zero: Volume 1 Read online

“Mhm... That too. But the templar knights have been poking around the mine shafts as well. There’s no way those elite soldiers are there just to chat it up with the miners. Word among the adventurers is that there’s an insanely strong monster hiding somewhere down below. None of us are willing to go too deep, just in case.”

  “I see...”

  Fortunately, the serious topic managed to calm the horde of hormone-crazed girls.

  Just then, Oscar and Miledi’s food arrived. The adventurers said their goodbyes and returned to their table.

  Oscar eagerly dug into his food. After a few bites, he finally noticed Miledi wasn’t touching her food even though she’d said she was starving. He looked up at her.

  “Miledi?”

  “Hm? Oh! This looks great! Time to eat!” Miledi stuffed her face full of food.

  Oscar felt a sense of foreboding. He hadn’t liked that thoughtful expression on Miledi’s face one bit.

  Once they finished eating, Oscar was instantly on guard again. She isn’t really going to follow me back to the workshop, is she?

  “Thanks so much for hanging out with me today! Can I come back again tomorrow?”

  Well, I didn’t see that one coming.

  He wanted to refuse, but instead he found himself saying something else.

  “Even if I say no, you’ll come anyway, won’t you?” That was basically the same as implicitly giving her permission.

  “Ehehe. See you tomorrow, then!” He realized too late what he’d done. Before he could call out to her, Miledi slipped into the crowds and vanished from sight.

  Oscar scratched his head and began walking back to the workshop. He still needed to figure out what kind of excuse he was going to give his coworkers.

  A week had passed since then.

  Though she came and went as she pleased, Miledi had spent most of her time hanging around Oscar. At this point, all of the common citizens knew her.

  Oscar spent most of his time with her complaining, but the others just took this as a sign of their closeness. After all, he was reserved and polite to everyone else.

  And in fact, the two of them had talked quite a bit over the past week.

  Most of it had been Miledi going on about something, but as time passed Oscar found himself replying to more and more of her questions as well. Though the conversations were never serious, Oscar still found himself learning more about Miledi. At the same time, he found himself opening up to her more as well. Slowly, he found himself giving up on getting her to leave.

  Oscar walked down the twilit street, heading toward the orphanage. He made sure to check up on everyone at least once a week.

  The pale orange sunlight cast long shadows on the ground, and the cries of crows echoed in the distance. For some reason, the sight made Oscar feel empty.

  This was his first time coming back to the orphanage since meeting Miledi. The reason for that was because he was still a little wary. Though he may have opened up to Miledi, she was still a heretic. If the Holy Church found her, they’d kill not only her, but the people she’d been in contact with.

  Still, if he’d really wanted Miledi gone, Oscar could have used his artifacts to chase her away whenever. At that point, even he didn’t fully understand why he hadn’t.

  She’s no ordinary person, that’s for sure. There’s no guarantee I can beat her even with my artifacts, so it’s better not to poke the hornet’s nest. That’s right, I’m just being careful here. I’m just being cautious about how I handle her, that’s all. Oscar tried to convince himself that was the reason he hadn’t done anything more than yell at her over this past week.

  However, things couldn’t continue for much longer. Miledi had already become rather well-known among the citizens. If she got herself arrested now, Oscar’s involvement with her would almost certainly come to light. He needed to put an end to their relationship once and for all.

  “Sheesh, she’s such a handful...” Oscar surprised himself by muttering that. He hadn’t said it in his usual annoyed tone. No, in fact, he’d sounded almost happy.

  No matter what he said or did, Miledi was always smiling. Though he’d said a few truly hurtful things, for some reason, she never lost any of her cheerfulness. It was infectious. Even Oscar couldn’t help but loosen up a little around her.

  “What the hell’s wrong with me.” Oscar smiled to himself and shook his head.

  Tomorrow. I’ll cut my ties with her for good tomorrow.

  If he had to, he’d use his artifacts to force her out. Though she was pushy and always fooling around, if Oscar really put his foot down she’d listen. He hoped.

  With that, his strange days with this odd girl would finally be over.

  He’d go back to living simply, hiding his true strength and making basic necessities for the people. He’d be made fun of and insulted again of course.

  However, that was a price he was willing to pay. Or at least, he thought it was. Regardless, he knew there wouldn’t be any problems with returning to his ordinary life.

  “Hey there, O-kun! It’s me, Miledi-chan in the evening!”

  “Why do you have to go and ruin the mood every single time! What the heck does Miledi in the evening even mean!?”

  Miledi popped out of nowhere as always, making Oscar retort as per usual. The tension drained from Oscar’s body as he watched Miledi laugh. He’d psyched himself up to finally chase her away, but now this happened.

  Miledi looked at Oscar’s soot-stained face and said something with a smile.

  “I figured since you were heading this way after work, you’d be seeing your family today!”

  “Yeah...”

  “Hey, hey, O-kun. I want to eat Moorin’s food again. It was delicious.” Miledi casually invited herself over for dinner. Normally, Oscar would have adjusted his glasses and told her to get out.

  That’s what Miledi was expecting as well.

  However, contrary to expectations, Oscar just looked at Miledi with a serious expression on his face.

  He’d steeled his resolve once more.

  Miledi could sense it, too. The time had come for them to part ways.

  “O-kun, can we talk for a bit?” Miledi’s smile faded and she spoke quietly.

  Oscar deliberated for a few seconds before nodding.

  The two of them silently walked over to a nearby bench and sat down.

  The sun sparkled in the evening sky, as if determined not to set. Miledi’s profile was dyed bright orange by the light. Her blue eyes looked off into the distance.

  Finally, she began to talk.

  “My name is Reisen. Miledi Reisen. Daughter of Earl Reisen, and the last living member of the Reisen family. I come from a long line of executioners. We manage the Reisen Gorge Execution Grounds for the Grandort Empire.”

  Oscar whistled in surprise. The Reisen name was so famous that even people in other countries had heard of it. The whole family supposedly died a few years ago... but I guess one of them survived. Miledi smiled sadly at Oscar and continued her story.

  Her tone was serious throughout the entire tale, which she started from the very beginning.

  Chapter II: Reisen and Orcus

  To Miledi Reisen, the world was full of absolutes.

  The law was absolute. The country that decided the law was absolute. The Holy Church that controlled the country was absolute. The god they worshiped was absolute. His teachings and doctrines were absolute. The conventions of her house were absolute. Everything from the time she had to get up in the morning, to what her tutors told her, to what her father asked of her, to her role in the family, was absolute.

  The Grandort Empire’s influence was vast. It stretched from the central part of the continent all the way to the east, and within it was the Reisen Gorge. It was the country most well-known for its magical prowess, and though most of its mages weren’t as strong as the demons, they were still the strongest the humans had.

  As magic was the forte of most citizens, they all considered the Reisen Go
rge, which dispersed mana inside of it, an execution ground. Without the aid of their spells, no Grandortian could hope to survive in a place like that, teeming with powerful monsters as it was.

  Political prisoners, criminals, witnesses... Anyone who was sent into that hellish crack in the earth never returned. An execution ground was a fitting term for it.

  As the gorge was known around the world, the noble family that managed the lands around it was, too.

  That was the Reisen family.

  They were also known as a family of executioners. The family ran and maintained the massive prison that was the Reisen Gorge. They handled not only criminals the empire sent them, but those from the Holy Church or other countries as well.

  The family dated back so many generations that some scholars believed they’d existed since even before the founding of the Grandort Empire. No one was sure if the gorge got its name from the family that managed it, or if the family that managed it had taken on the name of the gorge.

  Regardless, the family was known for being utterly ruthless. They were called a family of executioners not only because of the job they handled, but because of the fear their name struck in the hearts of others.

  And Miledi was the daughter of that ruthless and terrifying earl.

  Because she could use gravity magic, and control her mana directly without any need for a magic circle, she was hailed as a genius Atavist.

  Normally, she would have been taken under the Holy Church’s protection and raised as one of Ehit’s descendants, but because of the influence the Reisen family held, she had been allowed to remain home. According to history, the very first Reisen had been able to use ancient magic as well. Records claimed that he’d used it to turn the gorge into a magic-sealing execution grounds. Because of that legend as well, Miledi was allowed to remain part of the family.

  The only people Miledi had ever seen in her life were her grandfather, her parents, her uncle, her cousin, the doll-like servants, her tutors, her father’s soldiers, and the criminals that came to be executed.

  She had been completely isolated from the outside world, and spent her days learning how to be an upstanding member of the Reisen family.

  That was all that was expected of her, and all that was granted to her. Nothing more, nothing less.

  To the outside world, Miledi’s family would have seemed cold and inhuman. Whether for good or ill, however, Miledi had nothing else to compare her own situation to, so she didn’t see it that way.

  Once she turned eight, she began helping out with the family business.

  Every time she sat down with a criminal, she was met with cursing, begging, and despair. Still, they were criminals. Someone had to take on the job of executing them. The law was absolute, and the law said that they were to be cast into the gorge.

  And so, Miledi did her job. She read out the charges to the condemned, and watched as they were flung into the gorge.

  Those that tried to flee died at her hands.

  Those that tried to climb their way up were shoved back down.

  Over the course of a year, Miledi’s face lost all emotion. Their despair, grudges, and lamentations no longer moved her. After all, what did it matter? They were here because they tried to go against an absolute. That they would face retribution for it was also an absolute. Their fates had already been decided.

  It was all pointless in the end, so Miledi found it easier not to feel anything at all.

  By the age of ten, Miledi had become the perfect Reisen daughter. She was taciturn, expressionless, and emotionless.

  One day her father, Colt, summoned her to his office.

  “Father, it’s Miledi.”

  “Enter.” The same inorganic voice greeted her after she knocked on the door. But she didn’t seem to mind, and entered the room.

  “This is the next person to be condemned.”

  “Understood.” Miledi took the documents her father handed her.

  Inwardly, she was a little confused. Though each criminal was given a chance to plead their defense or repent their sins, that was nothing more than a front the family put on to seem fair. In truth, all who passed through the estate’s gates were doomed to be executed, so why was her father bothering to give her the details of one of the condemned?

  “Their punishment is death. The execution will proceed at the appointed time. But before it happens, I want you to ask them something.”

  “What would that be?” Miledi looked down at the documents.

  “The condemned is a heretic, but there is a strong possibility they weren’t working alone. There may be an organization that they belong to.”

  “May?”

  “It was the Holy Church who captured them. They tried to interrogate the heretic, but learned nothing. It was one of Ehit’s descendants who oversaw the interrogation, so there’s no reason to believe they were deceived by their interrogator. That’s why they are still unsure.”

  “......” Miledi’s lips twitched at the mention of the word “interrogation.” She knew what the Holy Church conducted was no interrogation, but torture. She wondered what kind of state the criminal would come to her in. Colt had been in charge of this particular criminal, so Miledi hadn’t met him before. Chances were he’d be on death’s door already.

  “How do you want me to phrase the question?” She didn’t ask why Colt wanted her to do it. An order from her father was absolute. Questioning it wasn’t allowed. She only needed to fulfill her duty as a Reisen.

  “As if you were a child.”

  Her father’s words were so surprising that Miledi almost laughed. She knew what the servants said about her. She was probably the most adult-like ten-year-old in existence.

  All thanks to the Reisen upbringing. Though acting like a child would be... I suppose I do still look like one. There is certainly a possibility they may be more willing to open up to a child.

  “I am not asking you to pull off a perfect act. Simply do what you can.”

  “Yes, sir.” Miledi sharply bowed her head. Manners were also part of the Reisen upbringing.

  As she left the room, she put the man she was to execute out of her mind and began thinking about how to act like a child.

  That evening, Miledi stood before a man dressed in rags. He was flanked by two guards and standing on the execution platform that overlooked the gorge.

  One push, and his fate would be sealed. Without magic, survival was nigh impossible. Even the man’s remains would be eaten by the monsters that lurked below. In practice, execution was simple.

  The criminal was lying in a heap on the stand, not even twitching. He was already at death’s door. In fact, he was likely to die before Miledi got the chance to push him.

  However, work was work. The rules were absolute. Whether the condemned was deceased or not, she would push him into the ravine.

  “Davy Consman. You have been charged with heresy. Your crimes include denouncing Ehit’s doctrine and attacking a priest. You have rebelled against our lord, and thus will be executed.” Miledi spoke emotionlessly, reading from the document she’d been given.

  There was no response. Normally, this was when they started hurling curses at Miledi.

  She waited for a while, but when it was obvious he wasn’t going to say anything she signaled to the two guards.

  “You two are dismissed. I’ll handle the rest.”

  “Miledi-sama?”

  “What’s this about?”

  The two guards followed the script to the letter. Miledi curtly replied with “That’s an order,” and watched them shuffle away.

  Then, after a moment of feigned hesitation, Miledi leaned closer to the man.

  “Umm, can I ask you something?” Miledi did her best to sound like a child.

  There still wasn’t much emotion in her voice, but it was a far cry from the inorganic way she’d read the charges.

  Davy stirred. Miledi could see empty eyes staring at her from behind his dirty bangs.

  “What?�
�� To her surprise, he answered.

  “Why did you attack that priest? You should have known what would happen if you did.”

  What she really wanted to know was what organization he’d been a part of. However, she figured asking that right away would look suspicious, so she started with something more innocuous.

  Davy stared at Miledi. His empty eyes began to glow with a fiery determination.

  “How horrible.”

  “Hm? You definitely did something horrible. But if you knew that, then why—”

  “I can’t believe you’re like this already, at such a young age.”

  “What?” Miledi’s surprise wasn’t feigned this time.

  Davy smiled at Miledi. He struggled to his knees, coughing up blood.

  “Why? It’s simple. Because you’re making a face like that, little girl.” Miledi had no idea what he was talking about. He’d done it because of her expression? That didn’t make any sense chronologically, let alone logically.

  Was he messing with her? Or had the torture addled his wits?

  Either way, it didn’t seem he was going to open up to her.

  In that case, she’d just end it. Like she always did.

  Her father had only told her to try it and see what happened, after all. She’d fulfilled those orders.

  “What worth is there in a world where children can’t smile?”

  “Ah...” He spoke again before Miledi could condemn him.

  She didn’t have an answer for him. For once, she was dumbfounded. It felt as though something had stabbed her through the chest. By the time she returned to her senses, Davy had stood up and was standing at the edge of the platform.

  How can he stand with wounds that bad?

  “Sorry, but I can’t answer what you really want to know.” He tottered unsteadily. One more step and he’d fall into the abyss.

  Yet Davy’s eyes burned with life.

  “But I believe. One day, the world will be free.”

  “Free?” She spoke it hesitantly, like she’d never heard it before. Davy’s words didn’t make sense to her.

  Davy coughed up another mouthful of blood. He was practically dead. And yet... he smiled.

  “Hey, little girl. Don’t you want to live your life smiling?”