Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Chapter 123

I didn’t know what happened, but some time in the evening, Arthur returned to his job without an issue. I tried to tell him to take a few days off and rest. However, he insisted on working throughout the rest of the evening shift.

He was still aloof— like he lacked confidence in what he was doing. But despite that, he was actually trying to learn the basics of his job. And he was improving. After only a week, the results were evident.

Arthur was actually capable of consistently serving drinks without messing something up. It had been three full days since he spilled a drink, and it had been over a day since he last served the wrong order. I was impressed.

Of course, not everything was smooth sailing at Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant. Now that Guardian Angel Z357 was back, there was some awkward tension. Arthur was visibly nervous around the angel— especially during their first meeting a week ago.

“You’re…?” He froze when he saw the machine. “What are you…?”

Z didn’t respond. In fact, the angel just walked away, continuing with his work as the former Lich King stared.

“Don’t worry,” I reassured Arthur. “Z’s just working. He won’t do anything to you.”

“R-right.”

It would take a lot more than my word alone to convince Arthur that Guardian Angel Z357 wasn’t going to skewer him in his sleep. After all, there was clearly some trauma there— what with the angel having killed him at least a hundred times in a row when he was Ar’elith the Lich King.

But again, it had been a week since their first reintroduction as co-workers. Since then, they hadn’t really interacted much. They hardly even acknowledged each other. Arthur averted his gaze whenever he spotted Z, and conversely, Z didn’t even look Arthur’s way.

I was still surprised that Guardian Angel Z357 wasn’t causing more of a fuss— that he wasn’t upset at me for stopping him from carrying out his duties. However, I was currently far too preoccupied with my cooking lessons with Xakor.

“What do you think?” I said as I presented the bowl to him.

His beady, black eyes didn’t narrow. But judging by the expression on his face, he was quite suspicious of the concoction I had created. He peered into the bowl, seeing the little white blocks he had taught me how to cook.

Savis cubes.

It had been a week since Xakor had shown me the step by step process on how to make this alien delicacy. But even now, I struggled to make them. There were a lot of imperfections in both the taste and the texture of each savis cube. In fact, they weren’t even perfect cubes at this point.

Which was why I decided to embrace these imperfections and do a few experiments. I knew I couldn’t capture Xakor’s exactly cooking abilities— especially since this was a recipe from another world. But I could mix in what I knew from Earth with what I was taught here.

So even as the [Chef] inspected each savis cube with a frown, I produced a second bowl— one filled with a smooth cream. Like mashed potatoes. But with a different texture and color.

“And now you take those savis cubes and dip it in this,” I said simply.

Xakor paused. He looked down at the bowl, before accepting it. He eyed the contents within it— the white cream with a smear of golden brown at the top.

“This is… hummus?” he asked.

And I nodded. “Yeah, dip the savis cube in the hummus and give it a try. I’d say it’s pretty good.”

Normally, hummus would be eaten with something like pita bread. Maybe vegetables like carrots mixed well too. On its own, hummus had quite a distinct taste— savory and slightly sweet. It was a dip, but it could also be eaten on its own.

That was why I was a bit apprehensive about whether it would actually taste good with the savis cube. The taste of both dishes could be too overwhelming. But as Xakor took a bite from a hummus-dipped savis cube, he didn’t spit it out in disgust. Instead, he just blinked.

“This is… really good,” the alien [Chef] said as he turned to face me.

“I know, right?” I grinned back at him. But internally, I was sighing in relief.

He nodded at himself as he munched on another savis cube on its own. “Xrr… normally, I would say that this is not a good mix. The savis cube is meant to be eaten on its own with nothing else. No sauce, no dips. Nothing.”

I watched as Xakor lowered his head and chuckled.

“But with your savis cubes, I would say they’re too bland on their own— their flavor has been diluted just enough that mixing in the hummus makes it even better.”

“...I’ll take that as a compliment, I guess.” Even though the [Chef] was pretty much saying that my savis cubes sucked, it ended up working out in the end. I took a step back as I retrieved the bowls with the hummus and the savis cubes. “I’ll probably get a second opinion as well, but if I have your approval, let’s add it to the menu starting tomorrow.”

“Xrr, that sounds good.” Xakor agreed, before returning to his cooking. But right as I was about to leave, he called out to me. “And don’t forget to add the malim juice to the special item menu too.”

“Right, right.”

And I stepped out of the kitchen. I heard the bustling of the crowd from the moment I entered the large hall. Guardian Angel Z357 glided past me with a pile of dirty dishes. Arthur was standing at the bar, serving a mug of ale to a pair of elderly women. The rest of the room was quite busy. I could see Harlan dashing from table to table as he struggled to keep up with the deluge of customers demanding his attention.

They weren’t going to pester Z with their questions or requests. They held the angel in too far high of a regard to treat him like an ordinary server. And because of that, Harlan was swamped with work. Arthur was too— but to a lesser degree.

I was starting to think that having an angel as one of my main attractions as well as an employee was a bad idea. While Z did do the basic tasks of taking orders and cleaning up tables, no one would go to him to complain about the service or the food.

“Maybe I need to hire more employees…” I scratched my cheek, before shaking my head.

That was for another time. Right now, I strode past the bar, nodding at Arthur who smiled back at me. I spotted Noele in the crowd, sitting together with her parents. This was an expected sight at this point. Nolan and Nicole were here for the food. And Noele…

“What is he doing?” she murmured to herself as I came to a halt next to her. Her gaze was focused entirely on Guardian Angel Z357. She didn’t notice me, even as I greeted her parents.

“Hey.” I waved a hand in front of her, breaking her out of her stupor. “Earth to Noele, are you there?”

“Huh— what?” The blonde girl blinked as she turned to face me.

I rolled my eyes, before placing two bowls down before her. Nolan, Nicole, and Noele looked down at the savis cubes with round eyes, completely ignoring the hummus.

“Is that… a savis cube?” Nolan exclaimed. He raised a hand, reaching for one.

But Nicole slapped his hand away. “Don’t be rude, Nolan! You can’t just take them without asking!” She cleared her throat as she turned to me. “Amelia, are these savis cubes for us?”

“Yeah, I made them myself.” I nodded as I gestured at the second bowl. “The hummus too. It’s complimentary, so don’t worry about paying.”

“Oh, you’re too king!” She clapped her hands together in delight, but I raised a finger.

I wasn’t done just yet. “However— you can only have them together. It’s part of a new dish I’m trying out. Savis cubes dipped in hummus.”

Nolan immediately deflated. “Wait, these weren’t made by Xakor?”

“Don’t be rude, dear.” Nicole scoffed as she reached for one of the savis cubes, before dipping it in the hummus. “Amelia is an excellent cook herself. Even if these… don’t look as appetizing as the ones made by Xakor.”

She eyed the savis cube hesitantly. I could understand her apprehension to a certain extent, but… appetizing? The savis cubes normally looked like the least appetizing dish I had ever seen— they literally reminded me of medicine pills.

But to the people of Vacuos, the design of the savis cube is a novelty. A minimalistic, sleek meal packed with all the best flavors in the world.

Nicole had to goad Nolan into dipping his own savis cube in the hummus. In the first place, he looked dejected knowing that it wasn’t Xakor who prepared the dish. And the fact that he had to ruin the flavor with some hummus made him all the more reluctant to give it a try.

They took a bite from the hummus-dipped savis cube as I turned to Noele.

“And what about you, Noele?” I asked the blonde girl. “You’re not going to have some?”

She bit her lower lip as she looked past me, eyeing Z at the other side of the room. “I’m… fine.”

“Are you seriously still worried about him?” I crossed my arms as I looked at the angel. “He isn’t going to do anything while he’s here. You should be more worried about what he does in his off time.”

Noele didn’t give an immediate response. She continued staring at him, before she finally sighed. “You’re probably right, but it is concerning. I just…”

She trailed off. And her shoulders sagged as she hung her head back.

“I don’t trust him, that’s all.”

And she said nothing more. I shrugged.

“Fair enough.” I turned back to face Nolan and Nicole as their eyes lit up.

The two of them had taken a bite out of the hummus-dipped savis cubes, and their jaws dropped. They exchanged a glance, before taking another quick bite, finishing their cubes in moments.

“This is amazing!” Nolan said as he reached for another one. “It’s not quite like the original, but this is… this is new!”

“You’ve really outdone yourself this time, Amelia.” Nicole wiped her mouth, before nodding at me with a smile.

I grinned to myself. “Success…”

Now if this took off, I would have another draw to my restaurant. I didn’t need to rely so much on either Guardian Angel Z357 or Xakor to bring in customers. Especially once they left, I was certain that I was going to struggle to attract even half the crowd I currently got.

That was… if either of them even left. Well, I knew Xakor needed to go eventually. But as for Z—

I followed Noele’s gaze, looking towards the angel as he swept across the room. He was cleaning three dirty tables at the same time. I thought he was very good at his job. However, there was always the chance that he would suddenly turn on us. I considered that a possibility from the very start, and after what happened back at Arelioth’s Pass, that could become a reality too.

Z was going to leave one day. Or he was going to try and kill us all, and I would have to put him down. Whichever option happened first… I didn’t know. I just knew that I didn’t look forward to either of them for different reasons.

I sighed. “...something to worry about later.”

And as I was about to draw back, a cluck drew my attention. I looked down to see Bucky standing right below me, staring up with an expectant and hungry gaze. When I didn’t react, she pecked my feet, before looking up towards the table with the hummus-dipped savis cubes.

I rolled my eyes. “You’re going to turn on us first, aren’t you?”

“Bawk bawk bawk!” she said impatiently.

“Fine.” I picked her up as I grumbled. “You can have one.”

And she clucked excitedly in response.