Nero | Between the Spaces of a Wavering Existence

[healingbonds]

MahoYaku Masterpost & Translator's Notes

CHAPTER 1

Around the time I grew familiar with living in the magic headquarters, I began interviewing the wizards about themselves.
I was planning on recording information on each wizard in the Sage’s manual, so that I could go back to my world at any time.
Nero is my next interviewee.

Akira: Please tell me more about yourself, Nero.

Nero: What are you gonna do with that info?

Akira: I want to make it easier on you as you go about living your life, Nero. Is there anything you dislike, or anything you don’t want to do?

Nero: What I don't want to do....

Nero stops cooking and gazes at his hands.
The scent of the half-chopped citrus is refreshing and somehow lonely.
Nero replies, with his eyes cast downward.

Nero: Don't trust me.

Akira: Eh...?

Nero: I'll probably betray you.

I couldn’t ask any further after that.
Nero is an Eastern wizard; characteristically, he doesn't really like being around people.
He doesn't try to form meaningful relationships with others. But his cooking feels like the exact opposite — it's kind, and delicious.
It’s homely, tender, and warm; it fills our hearts and stomachs — it’s far from betrayal.

✦✧☾✧✦

Riquet: About Nero?

Akira: Yes. Riquet, you get along with Nero, right? What do you know about him?

Riquet: What I know... Now that you mention it, I might not know much.
I like Nero's cooking, so I go to see him all the time, but Nero doesn't talk about himself.

Akira: I see....

Riquet: ....Now I'm getting worried. I'm going to say hi to him right now.

Akira: Eh.... Eh...!?

Riquet: Because I love Nero, but I don't know anything about him. Isn't that strange?

Nero: What's strange?

Akira: Nero....


CHAPTER 2

Nero: Here, have some. You too, Mr. Sage. I made eggnog with some leftover eggs.

Riquet: It smells so good... it tastes like sweet candy, even though it's a drink.

Nero: The base is eggs and milk. It tastes good with brandy or rum, but you're a child, so this is all you get.

Riquet: Geez, I'm not a child. But thank you!
...It’s delicious.... I feel like I’m in the land of dreams.....

Akira: It tastes good...! The spice adds a lovely touch to the depth of the flavor!

Nero: Glad you like it.

Riquet: Oh, that's right, Nero. Please tell me about yourself. I don't know much about you.

Nero: What's this? Were you influenced by Mr. Sage and his manual-building?

Nero looks at me and laughs. I was worried he might be bothered, but his expression is kind.
It's a gentle laugh, but somewhat downhearted and bitter.

Nero: I'm an Eastern wizard. I ran a restaurant before I came here. Didn't I tell you all this already?

Riquet: Yes, but... Tell me more.

Nero: What do you mean, more?

Riquet: I can't really put it into words... I want to know about your experiences, like the way I was so moved when I tasted your cooking, Nero.

Nero: What do you mean?

I think I sort of understand what Riquet is saying.
I want to know something special. How did Nero become the person he is today? I want to know what shaped his way of life now.
For example...


Option: What are you most proud of?

Nero looks at me and raises his eyebrows.

Nero: What now, you too?

Something I’m proud of is that you guys praised my fresh-made eggnog.


Option: What's your biggest regret?

Nero turns around to look at me before giving Riquet a glance, as if to signal something.

Nero: I mean, I can answer that, but not in front of a kid.

Akira: Why?

Nero: It's perverted.


Nero laughs, and I can’t tell if he’s joking or not.

Akira: Okay then... Nero, tell me about an experience that moved you more than anything else.

Nero: ....Moved me?

Nero strokes his chin and looks into the distance as if he’s trying to remember something.


CHAPTER 3

Nero strokes his chin and looks into the distance as if he’s trying to remember something.
Suddenly, his gaze narrows.

Nero: ....Guess it's when a guy who I thought was an idiot turned out not to be one.

Riquet: Who are you talking about?

Nero laughs and pats Riquet's head.

Nero: He turned to stone already. You’re all warmed up, right? Go back to your room.

Riquet: ....I see. This was very delicious. Please make some for Mitile next time too.

Nero: Sure, next time.

Akira: (I wish I could learn a little more about him.... But he probably won’t tell me much right now.)
(Nero said he wasn’t very good at getting along with others. I can sort of sense a wall between us even as we’re talking.)
(He’s friendly and easy to talk to when it’s not about himself, but... The moment I ask about him, he throws up a smokescreen.)

✦✧☾✧✦

(Footsteps)

Akira: (Huh... Nero is talking to someone...?)
(Is that Bradley...?)

I’m surprised to see Nero and Bradley standing next to each other. It’s an unusual combination.
I can’t tell what they’re talking about, but I can clearly see Nero's expression, even from this distance.
He's glaring at Bradley, poking him with his elbow, and laughing; they look very friendly with each other.

Akira: (When did they get so close?)

Nero stops laughing when he notices me. Bradley turns around and greets me.

Bradley: Yo, Sage.

Akira: Hello, Nero, Bradley. I didn't know you two got along.

Nero: We don't. —Hey, you know what’s up.

Nero smiles at me, and in the next moment, before Bradley can say anything, Nero growls at him with a deep voice. He's pointing his finger at him like a threat.
I expect Bradley to get mad; he hates it when people look down on him.
But he just makes an exaggerated gesture, shrugging and lifting his arms. It’s as if he’s given up.

Bradley: I know, I know. Don't make such a scary face.

I blink.

Akira: ...So you do get along?


CHAPTER 4

Akira: ...So you do get along?

Nero: Ahaha. Not at all. What gave you that impression?


Option: Because Nero’s acting assertive....

Akira: You don’t usually glare at people or point at them, but you’re quite frank with Bradley.

Bradley: Ahaha. Hear that, Nero?

Bradley puts his elbow on Nero’s shoulder in a gesture one hundred times more frank than Nero’s.
Nero is bitterly glaring at Bradley.

Nero: Don’t act all friendly with me.

Bradley: Ah? The fuck did you just say?

Nero: I’m telling you not to touch me with those filthy hands of yours!

Bradley: Haah!? The fuck, I’m gonna kill you....!

Bradley grabs Nero's shirt.
Nero looks somehow relieved. Bradley seems to notice that, because he puts on a frown and lets go of him.


Option: Because Bradley isn't getting mad....

Akira: Usually he'd get so mad if someone pointed a single finger at him....

Nero: Oh, man, yeah, he’ll get mad. He's gonna get mad right now. Come on, Bradley. Hit me with your best shot. Right now.

Bradley: Huh? What the hell are you saying?

Nero: Get mad!

Bradley: At who.

Nero: Me! What are you, an underdog who lets an insult from an Eastern wizard slide!? Huh!?

Bradley: The fuck!? I'm gonna kill you.....!!

Bradley grabs Nero's shirt.

Akira: Ah, yeah, that's how it usually goes....

Nero: There~, there there! You got this!

For some reason, Nero looks happy. Bradley comes back to his senses, lifts his arms, and clicks his tongue.


Bradley: Tch... This is so stupid.... I can't keep playing this idiotic game. Hey, you should just tell the Sage.

Akira: Huh?

Nero: ..... Damn it, don’t go around saying unnecessary shit....

Bradley: Hey, Sage. You're writing about us, aren’t you? In your Sage’s manual, or whatever it’s called.

Akira: Y-yes.

Bradley: Just go to Nero's room and make him spill everything. You make sure to tell him, too. Don't make me clean up after your shit forever.

(Footsteps)

Bradley says this, bluntly, and disappears.


CHAPTER 5

I give Nero a glance. He's playing with his bangs, as if he doesn't know what to do.
We stand there in silence for a while. I feel a strange sense of hurried anxiety as I break the silence.

Akira: U-um... It’s all right. You don't have to tell me if it's difficult for you....

Nero: ....No. Hm... What should I do....

Nero lets out a deep, concerned sigh. Then he smiles and looks at me.

Nero: Well, no use standing around here. Wanna come to my room for now, Mr. Sage?

Akira: Ah... Yes.

Nero: Sorry for being all half-baked.

Nero laughs and apologizes about himself as if he’s a poorly cooked ingredient.
Nero's lonely profile is dyed in the brilliant colors of the sunset. The light looks like blood seeping out of a wound.
"I'll betray you, so don't trust me." Those words are a wound that's still bleeding.
The red breeze blows through Nero's hair.

✦✧☾✧✦

Akira: This is Nero's room...!?

Nero: Haha... You surprised?

Akira: It's basically a kitchen....


Option: Why is your room like this?

Nero: It puts me at ease. I've been working as a chef for ages; the kitchen feels like where I belong.

Akira: I see...

Nero: I can cook here, eat here, and sleep here. It's a nice place to be.


Option: You even cook in your room.

Nero: Yeah. For samples and snacks, I usually just make them here.
Lately Miss Canary cooks for all of us, so I don’t have to worry about meals from morning to midnight, and I only cook basic foods.


Option: It’s incredibly clean.

Nero: I do keep food here too. I use magic to prevent stenches and bugs and the like.
It feels good to live in a clean space, after all. Whether you’re awake or asleep.


Nero: Let me pour you some tea. Sorry the teacups don't match.

(Clatter)

Nero: I never expected anyone to come to my room, so I only have one of each kind, you see. Sorry.

Nero apologizes while laughing bitterly. His concern for cutlery is so like a chef. I laugh.

Akira: That's completely fine. Am I the only one who drops by?

Nero: No, Shino comes by once in a while. Like when he gets hungry in the middle of the night, he knocks, and goes, do you have food?

Akira: That sounds exactly like Shino.

Nero: Geez. I'm not a restaurant. But that's why I keep a stock of non-perishable foods.
Want some too, Mr. Sage? I have dried apples, baked nuts, and sugar oranges.

Akira: Looks delicious!

Nero: Haha, I'm glad.


CHAPTER 6

Nero breaks into a smile. He won’t invite people to come over, but he still prepares snacks when they visit — that’s just like him.
It's as if he's tried to close the door to his heart, but can't keep it completely shut. It's the same clumsy and hurt kindness that I feel from him all the time.

Akira: Nero. Let me first say this. I initially wanted to learn about you guys for your sakes.
I wanted to make sure you wouldn’t have to do what you didn’t like, or didn’t want to do. That’s why I wanted to know.

Nero: I see...

Akira: But right now... My personal curiosity is winning out.

Nero blinks and raises one eyebrow in surprise.

Nero: I see?

Akira: That's why I might ask too much of you. Please refuse to answer if I go too far.

Nero: That's not fair. Because if you ask me and I refuse to answer, I'm going to feel bad about myself over that.

He makes a strong point, and I feel ashamed. But his words don’t match his expression — he looks as if he’s watching over me kindly.

Nero: But you're right. I shouldn't stay silent about everything. It’s inconvenient this way — like I’m in someone else’s kitchen.
You're basically telling me, if you want the knives and spices to be kept in a certain corner of the kitchen, let me know — right?

Akira: Yes....

Nero: All right, fine. You're serious, after all. So what do you want to know?

Nero grins, as if to tease me.
He crosses his long legs and tilts his head.

Nero: You can ask me purely out of personal curiosity.

I suddenly grow embarrassed of what I said earlier, and blush.

Akira: I’m sorry... did that sound like power harassment or sexual harassment?

Nero: The heck is that? I dunno.


CHAPTER 7

Akira: Okay, then... a brief introduction, please.

Nero: Nero Turner. I don't remember my exact age, but I am older than Faust and Rustica.
I’m an Eastern wizard, but I was born elsewhere. I wandered around for quite a bit, and wound up settling in the Eastern lands.
The North is too competitive; Central is too bright. The West is too noisy; everyone in the South is too close with one another. The East doesn't care about others. It was just right for me.

Akira: The Eastern wizards hate people... noted. I’ve heard this before, but what kind of place is Eastern Country, really?

Nero: There are a lot of serious, silent types. They don't form meaningful relationships; instead they keep a watchful eye on everyone around them. It's closed-off and difficult to breathe, but it’s an easy place to live once you get used to it.
It might feel a little awkward, but nothing will happen that’s so bad that it makes you feel like your life is over. Unless they find out you're a wizard.

Akira: ...Is it difficult to live in the East if they find out you're a wizard?

Nero: Yeah, because everyone keeps an eye on others. So they don't like people who are different. Light turns to dark; good turns to evil.
Before you know it, the wizard who saved a child becomes the wizard who eats children — it's that kind of country.
Just as Faust lived all those years without ever interacting with others. Just as Shino never found his real parents. Just as Heath, a perfect noble, lost all confidence in himself.
The cold, heavy air that surrounds Eastern Country outright rejects wizards.

Akira: Rejected by the very atmosphere of the country... It doesn't seem like an easy place to live at all....

Nero: It’s easy if you manage to melt into the crowd. Because we all hate meaningful interaction.

Nero breathes, and smiles bitterly.

Nero: ....I'd be lying if I said I never felt lonely in a country where it didn't matter if I existed or not, though.

Akira: Yes.... I lived in a country with a lot of people, so I can understand that feeling of loneliness.


CHAPTER 8

Akira: You said you were born somewhere else. Which country were you born in, Nero?

Nero: ........ ....Haha. What do you think?

Akira: ...I'm not sure.... Was it the West? I get the impression that a lot of Western wizards have refined palates, like Murr and Rustica.

Nero: Nope.

Akira: Eh? Then where... I feel like it's not Central or South, so.... Is it the North?

Nero: Yeah. I was born in Northern Country.

So Nero was born in the North. I gaze at him closely.


Option: That's surprising...

Nero: Really?

Akira: Yes... Because despite everything you say, you're so kind, Nero....

Nero: That's not true. ...In the end, I'm pretty cold.


Option: Now that you mention it, I can see it.

Nero: Why?

Akira: Just a feeling... Many of the Eastern wizards are serious, but you’re a bit more flexible, Nero.
Like, you can do somewhat questionable things without feeling bad about it... I-I mean that in a good way!

Nero: ...How am I supposed to take that in a good way?


Akira: Why did you leave the North?

Nero: The Northern wizards are all strong, so. An average guy like me is treated like dirt.
I didn't like the whole "strong men rule" kind of air, either. It didn't suit me.... It's a country where the weak have a hard time surviving.

Akira: I see... So do you know some of the Northern wizards?
Ah.... wait, Bradley?

I ask, recalling how friendly he looked with Bradley back there
Nero rubs his forehead as his eyes wander.

Nero: .....Ah..... No.... .....Well....... Just a little.

Akira: I see. How did you meet him? Before Bradley was locked up, he was....

Nero: No... I don't know him that well. We've just talked a few times. I told you, right? I was nothing but a small fry.
Bradley was powerful, after all. And he was the kind of guy who knew how to control a group — there aren't many guys who can do that in the North.

Akira: Someone who had the talent to lead...?


CHAPTER 9

Nero: Northern wizards all act on their own, after all. They don't understand others, so they can't use them. That's why they don't know how to work in organizations.
Mithra and Owen are strong, but they don't have followers the way kings do, right?

Akira: True....

Nero: I think that's why Oz quit being the ruler of the world.
Even if you can steal, destroy, and control, it requires a different kind of talent to move an organization and guide it. Brad had that talent.

Akira: The talent to move an organization... So in my country, that would be like the president of a company. Put simply, what kind of talent is that?

Nero: The ability to look after others, I guess. Knowing how to take care of your underlings, and knowing how to make your feelings and identity clear.
Being able to say, "This is what I think, and that's why I want to go there." That makes it easy for your followers. Arthur has the same kind of skill, too.
He might look like a short-tempered idiot, but he has that talent. I think that's more amazing than some stuffy philosopher.

Nero laughs happily. I recall Nero’s words from the other day.
"....Guess it's when a guy who I thought was an idiot turned out not to be one."

Akira: (He said he turned to stone, but... I think he was talking about Bradley. He's a prisoner, so I guess it's hard to admit he knows him...)
All right, then, last thing... could you show me your magic weapon?

Nero: Sure.



Nero nods, and out of nowhere, a set of gleaming silver cutlery appears. It’s fitting for a chef.

Nero: I’ve been using these and caring for them for ages now. Though I don’t really use them to cook anymore.

Akira: What a lovely set of cutlery. Where did you get it?

Nero: Haha.... It's a secret. Not something I can really tell people.

Nero gives me a guilty smile, and the cutlery quickly disappears.


CHAPTER 10

I gaze at his fingertips and raise my head. Nero tends to avert his gaze, but I look him in the eye.

Akira: ....Nero. You told me not to trust you the other day, remember? You said you’d probably betray me.

Nero: Hm? Oh, right....

Akira: You don’t give me that impression, Nero. You're not timid, and you're not cold.
But I can tell that you're not great at building relationships.

Nero: Haha.... Thanks.

Akira: Why is that....? We all love you, Nero. It seems like you're the only one who hates you.

Nero furrows his brows and gives me a troubled smile. Maybe it was a well-concealed, powerfully sarcastic smile, or maybe he was scorning me.
Nero probably doesn't love himself, or this world he lives in.

Nero: I'm indecisive. I can't see the world in terms of power like the Northern wizards do, but I can't be honest like the Eastern wizards, either.
I can't feel passionate about anything, the way all the other wizards can — be it about justice, helping others, or even my own selfish desires.
That's why I'm always living uncomfortably with my shoulders hunched up.
If someone ignores me, I get lonely. If someone asks for my help, I feel anxious. I can't live near people, but when they don't want me around, I feel like my heart's being torn to pieces.
It's better to live behind a membrane in this world. For me, that membrane is cooking. People ask me for food, and I hand it to them. That’s the right distance.
I liked being called "the owner." But here, everyone calls me Nero.
Everyone expects me to be around. It's tough for a guy like me.
This indecisive man is forced to be Nero. But I don't even know who Nero is.

Nero’s smile looks like it’s about to disappear into the wind as he shakes his head.
I feel like I can understand this vague crisis of his. Because I, too, am putting on an act, while not knowing who I am.
I don’t know the goal, but my footsteps keep accumulating day after day, and that terrifies me.

Akira: ....Then please be my friend.

Nero: Eh?

Akira: Please be my friend. Could you make that one of your identities, Nero?
Because I don't know who I am in this world either. In that sense, aren't we comrades?

For some reason, I’m smiling. Nero blinks curiously, and smiles with me.

Nero: Haha... You're a weird one. Sure.

He then offers me his right hand. I grip it tight.

Akira: Let's get along, Nero.

Nero: All right, Mr. Sage.

This has to be a relationship of sorts, too. The tips of his fingers are so warm that they make me blush.