Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest Zero Volume 1

Bonus Short Stories

Maid Lover

Oscar and Naiz lounged by a fountain located in the
square of a small oasis town. Two weeks had passed since
Naiz had joined Oscar and Miledi on their journey, and the
three of them had stopped to stock up on supplies. They
had decided to split up to do their shopping, then meet back
up at the fountain. Over an hour had passed since Oscar
and Naiz returned to the fountain, but there was still no sign
of Miledi. Naiz frowned and muttered something.

“Miledi’s late.”
“Well, she is still a girl. It’s no surprise her shopping’s
taking longer than ours.”
Naiz nodded in understanding. He’d heard that girls took
longer to shop than guys too. But still, he was getting tired
of waiting. He looked over to his partner, who didn’t seem
the least bit impatient.
“You seem rather knowledgeable about women, Oscar.”
“Please don’t make it sound like I’m some kind of skirt
chaser.”
Oscar frowned. Though it was true that back in Velnika
he’d been forced to accompany girls in their shopping more
times than he could count. Many of his regular customers,
or their relatives, or their friends would “coincidentally” run
into him on the street, and then strong-arm him into going
along with them.
If those outings count as dates, then I guess I’ve been on
dozens. Can’t say I actually wanted any of them though.
Oscar adjusted his glasses and changed the subject.
“Anyway, it’s not like we’re in any hurry. I made a new

board game the other day, how about we play that to pass
the time? It’s a mock-war game where you order your
pieces around and try to capture the opponent’s king.”

“Oh, sounds interesting.”
Naiz’s interest was piqued. However, before they could
start their game of magic chess, Miledi arrived.
“Sorry I took so long, guys! But I’m back now~”
Oscar and Naiz exchanged looks, and turned toward the
overly energetic voice. When they saw what Miledi was
wearing, their jaws dropped open.
“Miledi, what on earth is that outfit?”
“Nufufu. Impressed? You’re impressed, aren’t you? Have
you finally fallen for my charms too, Na—”
Annoyed, Naiz grabbed Miledi’s face in a death grip
before she could finish.
“Miledi, what on earth is that outfit?”
“Okay, okay, I’ll quit joking around, so please stop
crushing my skull!”
Miledi hurriedly took out a letter and a photo from her
pocket. She flung them both to Naiz, who caught them with
ease. His expression stiffened as he examined the picture.
“Nufufu. Hey, Nacchan, how does it feel? Those two
sisters took pictures of themselves in maid outfits just for
you. As a grown man, how does that make you feel? Come
on, tell—”
Naiz clamped down even harder. The picture showed
Susha and Yunfa wearing revealing maid uniforms. Both of
them were striking sexy poses. If anyone found out a grown
man like Naiz was carrying around a picture like that, they’d
certainly think him a pedophile. Ignoring a growing
headache, Naiz opened the letter. It was quite long, but the
gist of it was this: Naiz-sama, remember how much you
were talking about the maid uniforms of that one restaurant
before? We thought you might like them, so we tried
wearing them too. I hope you like the picture. Love, Susha
and Yunfa.

Naiz definitely knew what restaurant Susha and Yunfa
were talking about. In the last town they’d stopped at,
they’d had dinner there. Naiz had really liked their food, so
he’d asked one of the waitresses for the recipe. The
question was, why did Susha and Yunfa know about that?

“One of the Liberators delivered that to me. Then, on my
way back, I saw a similar outfit in one of the shops, so I
figured why not?”

Naiz wasn’t even listening to Miledi anymore.
“Hahaha... Look, Oscar. I can’t stop shaking.”
He was terrified. Terrified of the fact that Susha and Yunfa
seemed to know his every move. Oscar, however, didn’t
respond. In fact, he’d been completely silent since Miledi
returned. Wondering what was wrong, Naiz turned to look at
him.
“O-O-kun?”
Oscar’s attention was completely taken up by Miledi. She
was actually somewhat scared by the intensity in his gaze.
“Glorious...”
Oscar looked Miledi up and down, his eyes sparkling.
“O-O-kun? What’s wrong? You’re starting to scare me a
little...”
“Miledi, you’re the most annoying person I know. Even
when you do those dumb cutesy poses of yours, they just
make you look like you’re trying too hard.”
“Hey, are you trying to make me mad?”
Miledi went from scared to angry in a heartbeat.
Oscar ignored her and continued his speech.
“But still, that maid uniform suits you perfectly. I suppose
if I had to critique your outfit, your skirt could be a bit
longer, and folded better.”
Oscar started inching toward Miledi.
“You’re still a novice maid, so it’s understandable that
you’re not an expert with the uniform yet. Listen up, first of
all, a maid is supposed to be prim and proper. So no peace
signs and definitely no cutesy crap. If you’re going to strike

a pose, then you have to do it right. Keep your arms
demurely in front of you, and when you walk, keep your gait
graceful. Never, under any circumstances, act like an
excited little child. Keep your eyelashes long, and don’t look
too arrogant.”

“Okay, I get it, you have a maid fetish. C-Can I go change
now?”

Miledi slowly backed away. Oscar’s fanaticism terrified
her. Once she’d put some distance between them she spun
around and dashed off down the street.

“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Hiiiiii!? O-kun, snap out of it! You’re really starting to
scare me now!”
Oscar grabbed her shoulder before she could go more
than a few steps, then spun her around and forced her to
meet his gaze.
“Miledi, right now you look more amazing than you ever
have.”
“Thanks so much for that! But you know, you’re still
scaring me! So I’m gonna go change!”
“Don’t be ridiculous! If you change, you’ll just go back to
being your regular, annoying self! Without that maid
uniform, you’re nothing!”
“Hey, now that I can’t let slide! I never knew you were
such a pervert!”
“Excuse me! I am not a pervert! I’m simply a gentleman
who loves maid uniforms!”
“I’m changing out of this right now!” “Don’t you dare!”
“Just try and stop me!” “Oh, it’s on!”
Their back and forth exchange continued for a few
minutes. Meanwhile, Naiz sighed deeply as he saw more
and more people come to watch the spectacle. It didn’t help
that he was still holding a picture of two underage girls in
maid uniforms.

Farewell with my Beloved

“I’m sorry. I just can’t take you with me. Please, try and
understand.”

Despite the man’s pleading, she didn’t listen. The forlorn
look she gave him tore at his heart. He was just as sad to be
leaving her as she was, however. They had weathered good
times and bad together, supported each other in sickness
and in health, braved both poverty and riches, and sworn to
be together until death did them part. They loved each
other, so of course neither of them wanted to part ways.

Unfortunately, the man had to embark on a journey. One
that had no end, which would be filled with hardship and
danger. That meant he would be forever walking in
darkness.

“Don’t make that face, please. This is hard for me too,
you know? Please, Suzanne, just try and understand.”

“Gweeeh.”
Indeed, Naiz was tormented over parting with his beloved
irak, Suzanne. He was gently patting her oval-shaped face in
front of the irak-seller’s hut. The shop’s apprentice, Oscar,
Miledi, Susha, and Yunfa were all watching, incredulous.
“He looks like one of those deadbeat husbands who try to
sell their wife off to pay off his debts.”
“Don’t worry, Mister... I promise I’ll take good care of
Suzanne-chan.”
The young apprentice tried his best to placate Naiz, an
exasperated expression on his face.
“Wait, does Naiz actually understand what that irak is
saying?”
“Beats me, O-kun. All I hear is gweeeh.”
“Don’t worry, Miledi. That’s all I’m hearing too.”
Oscar and Miledi stared at their new comrade with
exasperated expressions on their face.
Meanwhile, the dramatic farewell between Naiz and
Suzanne continued.

“Gweeeh.”
“That’s not true. I don’t hate you!”
“Gweeeh.”
“What? You think I’m leaving you because I found
someone else? Don’t be ridiculous, I’d never do something
like that!”
“Gweeeh.”
“So bring me with you? I can’t, it’s too dangerous.”
“Gweeeh.”
“Will I ever come back...? I’m sorry, I’m not sure if I will.”
“Gweeeh.”
“Wait. Wait, Suzanne!”
Miledi snickered to herself.
“Even I could understand that last gweeeh. It sounded
like ‘Hmph, I don’t care about you anymore!’”
“Yeah, it sounded like that to me too.”
Suzanne huffily turned away from Naiz and walked over
to the apprentice boy. He seemed at a loss for what to do.
Naiz crumpled to the ground as he watched his beloved
Suzanne go off to another man. Oscar had never seen such
a look of profound despair on his face before. Susha
suddenly butt into Oscar and Miledi’s conversation with a
completely unexpected remark.
“I want to become an irak.”
“Sue-nee!?”
Even Yunfa was surprised by that. Oscar and Miledi
turned to Susha, shocked. Her eyes were dead, and there
was a mirthless smile on her face. Both of them backed
away a few steps.
“Hey, Miledi-san, do something.”
“O-Okay! Umm, what’s wrong, Sue-chan?”
“Is there any magic from the age of the gods that can
turn me into an irak?”
Oh crap, she’s serious...
“W-Well, the world’s a big place, so maybe? But I think
you’re a lot cuter the way you are, Sue-chan.”

Susha turned her dead gaze to Miledi, who squealed in
terror and clung to Oscar for safety. Unfortunately, he too
was trembling in fear.

“What good is being cute, if it’s not the kind of cute Naiz-
sama wants?”

“You’re right, I’m sorry!”
The leader of the Liberators kneeled and bowed her head
to its newest member. Yunfa sighed and muttered.
“Haaah, Sue-nee’s gone over to the dark side again.
Bringing her back takes so much time.”
Yunfa set about consoling Susha, her practiced
mannerisms making it evident that she was used to dealing
with this. Oscar and Miledi were once again reminded that
Yunfa was just as amazing as her older sister. No one else
had been able to stand up to Dark Susha. In that moment,
they both thought the same thing: There’s no way Naiz is
ever gonna escape those two.

Table of Contents

Cover
Prologue
Chapter I: The Meeting That Started It All
Chapter II: Reisen and Orcus
Chapter III: The Macho Fairy of the Desert
Chapter IV: The Liberators and God’s Apostles
Epilogue
Afterword
Color Illustrations
Bonus Short Stories
About J-Novel Club
Copyright

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Copyright

Arifureta Zero: Volume 1
by Ryo Shirakome

Translated by Ningen Edited by DxS

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places,
and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or
are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events,
locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2017 Ryo Shirakome Illustrations by Takaya-
ki Cover illustration by Takaya-ki




All rights reserved.

Original Japanese edition published in 2017 by OVERLAP,
Inc.

This English edition is published by arrangement with
OVERLAP, Inc., Tokyo English translation © 2018 J-Novel
Club LLC

All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright
Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing
of any part of this book without the permission of the
publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s
intellectual property.

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Ebook edition 1.1: August 2020
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