Chapter 102 – The Origin of "Absolute Zero"
After defeating the last enemy, Leafa happily ran toward the two of them. She raised her palm, and Kirito and I high-fived her.
"GG~!"
"You two were amazing!"
"No, Leafa-san, you were the amazing one. When did you manage to circle behind the enemy? I didn't notice at all."
"Just call me Leafa. You two are Hachiman-kun and Kirito-kun, right?"
"Yeah, I'm Hachiman. Nice to meet you, Leafa."
"I'm Kirito. Pleased to meet you."
"We can go over the details later.
On the way here, I saw several squads of fire sprites.
The ones we just fought might've already contacted their allies. Let's move quickly."
"Got it."
"This way."
Leafa said, then leapt into the air. Hachiman and Kirito followed right behind her.
As they flew through the forest, Leafa suddenly pointed downward and signaled to land.
The two descended beside her.
"Whew, we should be safe here for now."
"If any enemies approach, I'll detect them immediately. Don't worry!"
"Eh? Huh? C-Could this be a private sprite?"
"My name's Yui! Nice to meet you, Leafa-san!"
"Ah, n-nice to meet you too."
Leafa instinctively reached out to shake hands, but their size difference was too big.
Yui, unfazed, grabbed her index finger and shook it up and down.
As Leafa was admiring how cute Yui was, she noticed Hachiman and Kirito watching her warmly, making her blush and withdraw her hand.
"Private sprites were those given to a few players through that promotional lottery before ALO launched, right? This is the first time I've seen one."
"Ah, yeah... that's right."
Hachiman vaguely answered, clearly not fully understanding.
"So you two must've been playing for a while, right? Like, leveled up your characters and then went AFK for a bit? No wonder you're so strong."
"Yeah, something like that."
"I heard Yukino claimed that you were newbie, so I thought maybe you inherited a high-level character after someone else trained it.
But now that I think about it, she probably hates that kind of shortcut.
So you're a new player from the Sylph territory, huh?"
"Yeah... something like that."
"Hey Hachiman, you already said that."
Kirito whispered close to Hachiman's ear.
"Sorry, I didn't plan that part of the backstory and panicked."
"Whatever, just go with it now."
"Okay."
"What's wrong?"
Leafa tilted her head. "Nothing, don't worry about it."
"By the way, Leafa, you're pretty strong yourself. That sword technique earlier was impressive."
"You could tell what I did, Kirito-kun? But I'm the one who was surprised. Dropping low and dashing to get behind the enemy, then slashing through two of them in one move... my eyes couldn't keep up."
"Wow, you saw all that?"
"Well, it happened right in front of me. I couldn't really see what Hachiman was doing from afar though."
"I just snuck around behind and attacked. Nothing special."
"Still, both of you were basically one-shotting enemies."
"That's because you weakened them first. Honestly, hurting that many on your own was impressive."
"Ahaha, I guess I was just desperate to at least take a few down with me if I died."
Hearing this, Hachiman and Kirito exchanged a glance and bowed deeply to Leafa.
Yui also imitated them, bowing her head.
"W-Why are you suddenly being so formal?"
"Thanks so much for accepting this sudden request. We're really sorry you got caught up in something dangerous."
"We didn't even understand the situation, and you helped us out so much. Thanks, Leafa."
"Don't worry about it. Yukino's always taken care of me, so this was a chance to repay the favor."
"Repay the favor, huh. Hey, can I ask you something? You don't have to answer if it's uncomfortable."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"Why is Yukino called 'Absolute Zero'?"
"Ah, that..."
Leafa hesitated for a moment and then asked in return: "Why do you want to know?"
"I'm worried it might be a derogatory nickname."
"...And if it is?"
"Then I'll find whoever started it and erase them. Then I'll trace how it spread and wipe them all out."
"What?"
"Exactly. I'll help too, Hachiman."
Leafa was startled by their unexpected response but soon burst out laughing.
"Ahaha, erase everyone, huh?"
"Just so you know, we're dead serious."
"I know, I know. You looked so serious, it was actually funny. Sorry, okay?"
"Oh, okay."
"Don't worry, it's not an insult. If anything, it's a title given out of awe."
"I see."
"Yeah. It started with a conflict between the Sylphs and the Cait Sith."
Leafa began to explain the origin of the nickname.
"Even though they're allies now, they used to fight?"
"Uh-huh. All the races had bad relations at first. The Sylphs and Cait Sith lived next to each other, so naturally they clashed.
Back then, the Salamanders were rapidly expanding, so it made sense to form alliances quickly.
But the fighting had been so intense that instead, they decided to hold talks to form an anti-Salamander alliance."
"So basically, trying to make peace right after intense fighting. Sounds like something out of a manga."
"Exactly. At the talks, the Sylph leader Lady Sakuya and the Cait Sith leader Lady Alicia each led their forces.
But their subordinates started fighting over who would take the lead, and even the leaders got caught up. It turned into a big battle.
I was there too and got caught up in the mood, so I joined the fight."
"I see."
"Yukino isn't a Sylph. But Yui is, and Iroha and Komachi are Cait Siths. The three of them asked her to help mediate. But Lady Sakuya and Lady Alicia were too deep into the conflict to back down. Then Yukino... well, I think she got mad."
"They actually made Yukino mad? That's impressive."
Leafa said, hugging herself and pretending to shiver. "Just remembering it makes me feel cold all over..."
"No way... what exactly happened?"
"Yukino had a friend cast a flashy wide-range spell in the air to grab everyone's attention.
While Lady Sakuya and Lady Alicia were distracted, she grabbed both their heads and made them sit properly on their knees.
Then, expressionless, she started a long lecture. Her eyes were terrifying. Everyone wanted to stop her but was too scared by her glare.
The battlefield went quiet except for Yukino's voice."
"The two leaders tried to talk back a few times but were shut down instantly by her emotionless comebacks.
Eventually, they gave up completely."
"That's amazing, but is that enough to be called 'Absolute Zero'?"
"After that, Yukino shouted, 'If anyone disagrees, come argue with me!'"
"Argue with Yukino? That's harder than a boss raid."
"Lots of people challenged her, but she shot them all down without changing her expression. To end the fight once and for all, she gathered the wounded and cast a wide-area healing spell.
But that spell... I don't know how to put it. Maybe it was the mood, but it felt like the whole place froze."
"Ohhh..."
Hachiman suddenly got it and nodded.
"That's where the name 'Absolute Zero' came from?"
"Incredible... what kind of healing spell was that?"
"Thinking back, it was just a normal area-heal. But maybe her presence made everyone feel like the temperature dropped."
"She might've gone beyond the system's limits..."
"Maybe. But thanks to that, the Sylphs and Cait Sith stopped fighting.
Lady Sakuya and Lady Alicia even became friends from mutual respect and formed an equal alliance.
So now, in both territories, Yukino is more than just respected—she's revered.
Eventually I became the liaison between Lady Sakuya and Yukino, and we all got close."
"Yukino really is amazing..."
"I definitely don't want to make Yukino-san mad..."
"Since it's her request, I'll do everything I can to help you both."
"We're counting on you."
"Thank you, Leafa."
Hachiman bowed in thanks, and Kirito smiled at Leafa. Leafa suddenly felt her heart race.
Even though she liked her brother... What was this feeling?
Trying to shake off her confusion, she cheerfully shouted: "Leave it to me! First, let's head to the Sylph capital!"