[Amelia] The Level Zero Hero Chapter 224 (Patreon)

It was all gone.

Her house was no longer here.

Edlyn couldn’t believe her eyes. After so long, she had finally returned to her hometown. But it was all for naught. Because her house had been destroyed.

“Everything I had worked for… everything I have done…”

The [Royal Chef] whispered as she dropped to her knees. Her fingers trembled as she tightly gripped onto the seams of her shirt. She thought of everything she had been through— all that she had done. It was all for the sake of her family. But now—

“It’s all gone.”

Edlyn gritted her teeth, fighting back her tears. She couldn’t believe it. But it was the truth. How did it happen? She didn’t know. However, she knew what she saw before her eyes. Her house was destroyed…

And a voice piped up.

“Uh, are you sure they didn’t just move houses?”

Amelia asked as she scratched her cheek. Edlyn paused. Raising her head, the [Royal Chef] glanced back at her employer.

“I… what?”

“Like, why are you assuming the worst has happened? You do realize that your family could’ve just moved houses, right?”

Amelia continued with a shrug. Edlyn stared in disbelief for a long moment.

“That’s—”

Edlyn tried to work her jaw. But before she could muster up her words, she spotted a shadowed figure approach from the side, carrying a box of tools. A vaguely familiar face looked her up and down, before he blinked.

“Edlyn, is that you?”

“You’re… Jason?”

Edlyn’s eyes went wide when she finally recognized who he was. Amelia stared at him quizzically.

“Who is this, Edlyn?”

“He used to be one of my neighbors— a childhood friend of mine. But that’s beside the point.”

Shaking her head, Edlyn rose to her feet. She approached the young man with a confused look.

“Jason, what happened to my home? Where are my parents?”

“Your ma and your pa?“

Jason raised a brow as he lowered his box of tools. He had an accent which Edlyn lacked— or rather, she lost after having worked at Astra for so long. And it wasn’t that she intentionally got rid of it. Spending time around others who spoke differently naturally changed the way she spoke.

Wiping the sweat off his forehead, he answered casually.

“They’re back at their place. They’re fine. Why the worried face?”

“Their place? But isn’t this supposed to be our house?”

Edlyn asked as she gestured at the pile of rubble. Jason blinked a few times, before the realization settled in. He finally understood why she was so worried.

“Yeah, it was. But your ma and your pa decided they wanted to rebuild it from the ground up into their dream home. They actually hired me to help— I’m a [Builder] now. Not as impressive as you, since I’m only Level 18. But I’m helping out the best I can with my friends. Your ma and your pa are currently staying at a temporary house they bought a few blocks away though.”

Edlyn’s head spun as she tried to process everything Jason had said. She stared at him blankly, and he sheepishly scratched his cheek.

He looked like he had something else to say. But Amelia stepped forward and placed a hand on the [Royal Chef]’s shoulder.

“Seems like your parents are fine. Let’s go and see them now, shall we?”

Amelia grinned. And Edlyn… couldn’t help but sigh in relief. Nodding, she followed after Amelia and Jason as they led her to see her parents again after so long.

—--

I knew that Edlyn was overreacting. First of all, she tended to overreact. Sure, some of her reactions to what I did was fair… sometimes. But many times, she would construe what I was doing weirdly— because she didn’t trust me or whatever. However, there was certainly some level of anxiety or stress she experienced that probably needed to be addressed.

Of course her family was fine— I knew they were fine, and anyone with common sense wouldn’t have reacted the way she did. Even if her home had been torn down, there was no way their house would have suddenly been targeted and destroyed, while the surrounding buildings were left unscathed. Unless there was some criminal activity involved, like her parents owing a gang of thugs some money. But even then, I doubted any repercussions would be so severe to result in this.

So the fact that it was simply renovations didn’t surprise me. Or rather, they were doing a complete overhaul of their house.

I did wonder what Edlyn’s parents were like, considering how the [Royal Chef] was so often easily-disturbed. We followed Jason until we reached a small shack located at the edge of the town’s market street. There, the young man nodded at Edlyn with a smile.

“Here it is. Your parents have been staying here for the last month. They will be here for at least the rest of the year… me and my mates aren’t the fastest [Builders], y’know?”

Jason chuckled as Edlyn stared at the house. He scratched the back of his head, before she faced him.

“Thank you, Jason,” she said as she bowed her head. “I know it’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, and we should catch up too. But I want to speak with my parents first.

“Oh, uh, of course. We should catch up, for sure,” Jason agreed hastily, averting his gaze.

He flushed as he stood there, shifting his feet. I could tell he liked her. But for whatever reason, she seemed completely oblivious to it.

“You’ve really grown a lot since we last—” he started.

But Edlyn stepped forward as she slapped her cheeks. “Alright, let’s do this.”

And she left him behind as he lowered his hands. I gave him an apologetic look, before following after Edlyn. She reached the doorway and took in a deep breath. Raising a hand, she began to rap at the wooden door, but it immediately swung open as she backed up.

“Yes?” an old woman answered the door, blinking a few times.

Edlyn’s eyes grew wide. “Is that you… mother?”

The old woman paused as she squinted. Her ears almost twitched, and she leaned forward. “You sound almost like my daughter. Wait, you look like my daughter!”

She fumbled for a pair of glasses slung around her neck, before putting on. Her eyes went round as she stared at Edlyn.

“Wait, you are my daughter!”

“Mother— it’s been so long…” Edlyn started.

But her mother didn’t stop to reminisce. Spinning around, the old woman called out to an elderly man sitting on a couch.

“Darling, look who has returned! It is our daughter!”

And the elderly man raised his head as he frowned. “What?”

“Edlyn is back!” the old woman said excitedly. “She’s here to visit us!”

But the elderly man just put a hand to his ears. “What?!” he repeated himself.

The old woman sighed and walked up to the elderly man. She grabbed him by the shoulders, before yelling into his ears.

“I SAID: EDLYN HAS RETURNED! NOW PUT ON YOUR DAMN HEARING-AIDS!”

He recoiled, before rubbing his ears. Scowling, he grabbed what looked like a glowing pebble and placed it in his right ear.

“Fine, but you’ll have to bring it to the [Enchanter] when it’s out of mana…” But as he adjusted his hearing aid, his eyes landed on Edlyn who was standing by the doorway. And his jaw dropped in shock. “Wait, you were being serious? Edlyn is back? But I thought she was still working in the capital…”

Edlyn shuffled her feet when she heard that. But she quickly brushed off that remark as she strode forward.

“I’m here, mother, father. And I’m real.” A smile spread across her face as I watched from the side.

It reminded me a bit of when Noele reunited with her parents. Except everyone was much older.

Edlyn herself didn’t look to be the youngest. Certainly, she looked older than Noele. I would say she was approaching her 30s. If not already in her 30s.

However, her parents were definitely elders. They weren’t just middle-aged like Nolan or Nicole were. I could see the wrinkles on their faces, and their age catching up to them. If I had to guess, they were nearly in their 70s, which was unexpected.

And Edlyn seemed to be surprised by their appearances too. The two of them hobbled over to her as her smile vanished. Looking at them, she couldn’t help but purse her lips. When she opened her mouth, she hesitated.

“I… you’ve both grown so old since I’ve last seen you...” Edlyn whispered.

And I watched as a dark shadow washed over her face— the sudden regret and consequences of her actions becoming evident. The realization that she had wasted all those years away from her parents, only for them to now be much older.

I pursed my lips, wondering if I made the right decision to bring her here.

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Author's Notes:

What thonk?

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