[Amelia] The Level Zero Hero Chapter 209 (Patreon)

“Here it is,” the man said as he saw the farming town in the distance.

He was dressed in ragged garbs. His face was creased with wrinkles. He looked tired. Worn out from a long and dangerous journey. But there was an elation evident in his expression. A smile that tugged at his lips when he realized he had finally arrived at his destination.

It was Wolfwater. A small farming village, or so he was told. But by the looks of it, it looked more like a town. It was crowded, filled with life and laughter. A makeshift wall was being constructed around the perimeter of the town, and a steady stream of travelers came and went from the gate.

The man was glad to see that it was not the barren village that it had been made out to be. There was actually going to be a place for him to recover when he arrived. A comfortable bed to fall asleep. It was a soothing sight because he knew that a long rest awaited him here. But there was more to it than just that. There was a reason why he felt like he had reached salvation here beyond simple reprieve.

He had come here for a specific reason. To fulfill a purpose he had been given. He had set out months ago, but it was only now he had arrived. And that was why he was so relieved.

Sinking to his knees, he sighed softly. “Finally, after so long, I have found you…”

He whispered quietly to himself. His eyes fluttered shut, and he recalled a brown-haired girl. A familiar face. A bored face usually, accompanied by an annoying tone of voice. He remembered her vividly, and he smiled.

“I have finally found you, Amelia.”

—--

It was another day working at Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant. Noele had left this morning, and it was a somber moment for me. But now that a few hours had passed, I managed to return to my routine of cooking, so I pushed my worries about her aside for now.

After all, it was another busy day today with even more customers than before. Harlan rushed in and out of the kitchen as he served meals and took orders.

“Order for table 1— and I’ll be right with you shortly!” I could hear his muffled voice through the kitchen walls.

Arthur manned the bar, preparing a variety of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. Even though he had no [Bartender] Skills, he had bought a book on bartending, and practiced quite a bit on his own, so now he had quite the knack for drink-making. From where I stood in the kitchen, I could hear the shaking of ice in metal cups, before seeing the light of the flaming tricks he played before finishing a cocktail as his audience cooed.

Not all of my employees were enthusiastic workers, of course. When I poked my head out briefly into the common room of the restaurant, I spotted Jax glaring at a table as he tightly gripped a pen and paper and waited to take an order from an indecisive customer.

Edlyn wasn’t as obviously upset about working here as the elf was. In fact, she seemed to have warmed up quite a bit here in this kitchen compared to when she first arrived. She prepared her dishes effortlessly, working up quite the sweat as she wore a small smile on her face.

“Order’s up!” she called out, then handed a platter of steaming dishes to Harlan.

She nodded at him, and he smiled back at her. They two exchanged quick conversation, before separating. And she returned to the kitchen station as I turned to her.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” I asked casually as I chopped up some vegetables.

The [Royal Chef] blinked, then sputtered, “W-what? Me?”

She backed up warily like I had just accused her of murder.

“I-I wasn’t slacking off! I wouldn’t do such a thing!”

Well, she’s still nervous, but at least she’s not on the verge of tears like when she first got here. I rolled my eyes back at her, before shaking my head. “I wasn’t accusing you of anything. Honestly, I’m glad that you managed to befriend Harlan. I was afraid you’d be lonely here in Wolfwater.”

“I… what?” Edlyn stared at me for a moment.

“Also, it’s fine to enjoy yourself,” I said, waving a hand dismissively.

Edlyn didn’t respond. Her gaze was fixed on my waving hand. I looked down and realized I had been waving my knife hand. She stared at the knife for a long moment, and I lowered it with a sigh.

“Don’t be so uptight, alright?” I tried to reassure the [Royal Chef].

In response, she stiffly nodded. She didn’t look convinced, but I wasn’t going to try to force her to believe that I wasn’t as scary as she thought right now. I still had a long day ahead of me, so I just went back to cooking for now.

Everything had been going swimmingly so far today. But that was because of one reason and one reason only. I looked up from a boiling pot as I heard a buzzing sound enter the room from the window. I bit my lower lip, and I glanced to the side.

“Oh, good morning. So you’re finally awake, huh?” I said as I stared at the round figure flying there.

It was small and colorful— with black stripes and a pale golden chitin of a body. It had glowing red eyes, but it wasn’t glaring at me. It was a monster, except not really.

She was the baby queen bastion bee, and she looked at me groggily. “Bzzzt.”

I pursed my lips, watching as she flitted over to me. After having clung to me for a few days, barely taking a nap whenever she was resting on the palm of my hand, I had finally gotten her to fall asleep back in her hive. Granted, I had to literally babysit her by waiting by her side until she passed out.

However, after only six hours of sleep, she was already awake. It was troubling. I really hoped she would fall back to sleep before she reached me. However, she landed on my shoulder, and I couldn’t help but sigh.

Now, it wasn’t that I disliked her or anything. But as a literal monster, she had brought quite a bit of trouble to my restaurant, mostly through terrifying both my customers and my help. And right now, there was someone else in the kitchen who was already antsy just being around me.

Edlyn froze where she stood as she stared at the baby bastion bee lying on my shoulder. She looked like she wanted to scream, but she was too scared to make a noise to attract the sacred monster’s attention.

“Calm down,” I said as I placed a hand on the baby queen bastion bee. “I promise you, she won’t hurt you.”

Edlyn barely registered my words. I bit my lower lip, seeing the way she slowly backed away, still holding a spatula in one hand and a filet of steak in the other hand. I looked back down at the baby bastion bee as she snuggled against my neck.

“Look, you don’t have to be scared, it’s only one of them—” I started.

And then I heard a buzzing coming from the window. The rest of the baby bastion bees came swarming into the kitchen, searching for their queen. I pinched the bridge of my nose as I murmured under my breath.

“Spoke too soon.”

Edlyn screamed, dropping the perfectly good piece of steak and the knife. She sprinted out of the kitchen as the baby bastion bees swarmed towards me. I closed my eyes as I heard a commotion growing outside in the common room. Harlan rushed to the kitchen as the ruckus grew louder, and he turned to me.

“Amelia— what’s going…?” he asked, then stared at me, surrounded by the baby bastion bees. “Oh.”

That was all he said. I nodded back at him with a wry smile.

“Yeah…”

“They’re really proving to be much more of a pain in the ass than you thought they’d be, huh?” Harlan remarked as he crossed his arms.

He didn’t seem too worried being in such close proximity to the monsters. Not when he had seen much worse than this. I shook my head and looked down at the baby bastion bee. She stared back up at me with round eyes.

“It’s annoying… but also kind of endearing at the same time.” I brought a finger up and patted her on the head. “I also need to come up with a name for you soon, don’t I?”

Harlan chuckled, and I lowered my head.

“But what do I do now?” I asked as I stared at the swarm of baby bastion bees gathered around me. All of them were wide away now, especially after hearing Edlyn’s scream.

Unfortunately for me, Harlan had no answer in return.

Author's Notes:

What thonk?

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