Nero

"My name is Nero, a simple traveler passing through."

Nero (ネロ) is a recurring character in Monster Girl Quest: Paradox.

Biography
Nero is first met as Luka leaves Iliasville to begin his quest.

As Luka is preparing to leave Iliasville to go on his adventure, a stranger walks up to him and introduces himself as Nero, a simple traveler passing through (if you try to run away from him, he will stop time). Luka thinks that Nero's clothes are rather odd for him to be just a simple traveler passing through. Ilias agrees. He explains to Luka that he heard he would be leaving Iliasville soon, and wanted to investigate. Nero is also unaware of the Great Disaster and is therefore surprised by how many magic users there are in town. Luka asks if the people where he lives are faithful to Ilias, as magic is rarely used there. Nero replies: "You could say that". He notices Sonya, and when she introduces herself as Luka's childhood friend, Nero says Luka doesn't have a childhood friend, much to the annoyance of Sonya. He then takes his leave, leaving the party bewildered.

Where Nero appears next depends if you have recruited Alice or not.

If you took Alice with you, she'll try to give Luka Angel Halo once you leave Iliasville, but Nero will stop time and take the sword, claiming it's too dangerous.

After that, Nero will appear in Harpy Village, no matter who you recruited. Luka and the party had gone there to investigate the mysterious disappearance of the harpies. After venturing through the village, the group finds Nero drinking tea (out of his own cup – he brought it with him) in the Queen Harpy's house. Vanilla likes the look of Nero's clothes and asks where she could get them. Nero replies that he made them himself. He has the answer to why all of the harpies have mysteriously vanished; they've been infected with ALKQ5 Lust Fever, which drives members of the bird race mad with lust. But that virus should no longer exist, as it was last seen during the Great Monster Wars. The Angels used it as a biological weapon against the monsters, which Nero helpfully points out. Nero suspects that a person from that time must have come to the current world and unintentionally spread the virus. Since the harpies couldn't control their lusts, the Queen quarantined them all within the Harpy Tower, north of Happiness Village. But it could take decades before the virus goes away naturally. Luckily, Nero just so happens to have the cure. A piece of Yggdrasil Fruit, from the World Tree. He wants Luka to deliver it to the harpies. Luka is still suspicious of him, and Nero asks if he is really that suspicious, to which Gob replies she's never seen anyone more suspicious in her life. He mentions he has some other things to take care of and leaves the harpy situation to Luka. Nero goes back to reading through the Harpy Queen's journal while drinking from his personal teacup.

Nero is next seen briefly in Ilias Port. When Luka tries to get on a boat to Sentora, the captain of the ship mentions that no one has been able to cross the sea ever since the storms started. Nero overhears the conversation and rushes over to them from seemingly out of nowhere. He explains they can get to Sentora if they acquire Poseidon's Bell, an ancient artifact hidden in a cave to the west. The bell is capable of protecting the ship from capsizing, no matter the weather. Before he leaves, Sonya thanks him for the fruit used to cure the harpies. He mentions it was nothing important compared to protecting the co-existence between harpies and humans.

Nero's next appearance is in the Cave of Treasures. The situation has utterly degenerated compared to the original trilogy: After beating the hero's party, Nanabi gets beaten by Neris before Tamamo shows up and replays the original scene, to the surprise of the kitsune who is not sealed. Neris forces the White Rabbit to reveal herself, and when the latter tries to eliminate Neris, Nero steps in and forces the strange monster away, letting his sister flirt with Luka.

The final time Nero appears in part 1 is in the Forest of Spirits, along with Neris. Luka and his party get beaten by the Armored Berserker, and Neris evacuate them while Nero takes him on, revealing his nature to the player in the process and making clear he knows the Armored Berserker's true identity. He beats him down and remarks that he will keep coming back for as long as his soul is imprisoned.

Nero makes several appearances in Part 2. He is also seen in Yamatai Village in the Fox Shrine, but was surrounded by a pack of overly-affectionate foxes, and takes his leave without further discussion. He's later seen in Goddard, where he gives Luka an item to allow him to access the Pocket Castle and bypass the teleport blocking spell affecting the area. He is later seen helping along with Neris, fighting off Tamamo from the Monster World. Against this opponent, he tells Neris to not hold back and let slip his relationship with Tamamo, calling her "sensei". They turn into their true form, revealing their true appearance to Luka's party, but the castle collapses before this can be discussed. Still, they manage to escape unscathed and disappear before the party.

He appears one last time in part 2 in the Holy Wing Shrine to inform the party that the reason the ritual to summon the Garuda Girl doesn't work is because the flow of mana is disrupted because of the appearance of the Snow Continent. He suggests blowing it up but is turned down by the party.

In the segments of the upcoming event, he discusses his discoveries with someone who is implied to be the original Luka through an orb. He expresses the possible use made of the divine bird and also the issue with the revealed nature of Sonya as powerful apoptosis.

Trivia

 * If you run away from Nero while still in Iliasville, he will never stop time so long as you don't try to cross the bridge. So if being chased around the village by Nero indefinitely sounds enjoyable to you, go ahead.
 * Nero is technically 1/4 human, 1/4 angel, 1/2 monster
 * He can be added to the party by fiddling with the code, but he will not appear in the Pocket Castle itself, as he hasn't been allocated to a space.