Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Chapter 129

Jax screamed.

Then he stopped screaming. After about half an hour, he had gotten used to the speed. Which was as expected. He was an S-ranked adventurer— actually, he was an SS-ranked adventurer now.

He was quite competent. And he was very smug about it too.

“Hmph,” the Forsaken Archer harrumphed. “You simply caught me by surprise, that’s all.”

I gave him a flat stare, even as I leapt through the sky while carrying him in my arms. I sighed as I looked towards the forest expanding over the horizon.

“Whatever you say,” I murmured.

“Please, are you even trying to make me scream?” he chuckled.

“No, I’d prefer it if you shut up—” I started.

“This is hardly even a challenge!” Jax smirked at me. “Are you even trying? Come on, now! Make me scream!”

I landed right in the middle of a clearing of trees, before staring down at the elf’s smug face. He looked at me challengingly, and I opened my mouth. But I caught myself. I didn’t want to argue. So I acquiesced.

“Fine.”

I took a step forward, still carrying him in my arms.

“Oh? Are you finally going to give me a challenge—” the Forsaken Archer began.

And I shot through the air, crossing a hundred miles in seconds as Jax screamed again. But this time, he screamed much louder too.

—--

We arrived at Windrip a few minutes later. I had to slow down because Jax passed out for a few moments. And when we finally landed, the Forsaken Archer was drenched in sweat. He collapsed onto the grassy ground, panting as he stared up at the sky in a daze.

“Is that… all you… got…?” he mustered up.

I rolled my eyes, before looking away from him. I had already indulged him once, so I was going to ignore him now. Instead, I swept my gaze over my surroundings. I took in the lush green forest surrounding me.

The trees were tall and dark. Many of them stood at a hundred feet tall, creating a thick canopy overhead that cast a dark shadow over the underbrush. But somehow, the foliage down here was thick, even with the sparse light that leaked below.

It was unlike the area around Wolfwater which looked like an ordinary forest I’d see back on Earth. With the colorful mushrooms and the vibrant flowers sprouting from the trees and the bushes, this place almost looked like a magical land straight out of a fairy tale.

And it was a familiar sight to me. After all, I had been here before. In fact, it was the very first place I had found myself in when I first exited the Fractured Realm and entered Vacuos.

It was Briar Glenn. A B-ranked region. One full of dangerous monsters and plantlife. And just up ahead, located right in the very fringe of this forest was the city of Windrip.

Well, it was a city in name, but it was built like a fortress. Although… most of its defenses had been torn down when Glutaz the Goblin Lord attacked.

I had specifically chosen to land a few miles outside of Windrip to not draw too much attention to myself. I wanted to go in, grab Guildmaster Evan, and get out. I was here to make things right, but I also wasn’t going to get involved in this war between the Astrad Kingdom and the Kingdom of Kal. That was why I wanted to get this over with as fast as possible.

“Come on,” I said as I glanced back down to Jax.

He rose to his feet, still looking sickly. But he forced a grin back at me. “I’m… completely fine…”

“Then let’s get going.” I strode past him, heading for the city in the distance.

The Forsaken Archer stumbled after me. Evidently, he was not completely fine just yet.

Not much had changed since I had last been here. Some colorful flowers had sprouted on the leaves of the trees in Briar Glenn, but it was mostly the same forest I remembered. And when I got to Windrip, I expected there to be significant changes to the city since Kallistus Kal attacked.

But there was no substantial change— the populace wasn’t enslaved, and there weren’t legions of guards marching down the city streets. It… looked just like it did before. Except in a state of disrepair.

The only real difference was that there was now an encampment of soldiers located right next to Windrip. A small fort had been erected at its very center, probably built out of magic by some [Geomancer].

They flew the banner of the Kingdom of Kal— a crescent moon hanging high over a pyramid. I narrowed my eyes as I stared at the fort in the middle of the encampment.

“Think Evan is in there?” I asked as I turned to Jax.

The elf just shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ll have to poke around and find out.”

A savage smile spread across his face as he unhooked his bow. I stopped him from reaching for his quiver. I sighed as I gestured at Windrip.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I said, taking a step forward. “Let’s ask some questions first, alright? I don’t want to storm that fortress if Evan is not in there. It would just be embarrassing…”

“Hmph. Very well.” Jax lowered his bow as he slumped his shoulders, following me as I walked up to the city.

He pulled his hood over head, and I did the same. My jacket had a hood— it didn’t mask as much of my face as the elf’s since mine wasn’t enchanted. But it was good enough for me.

Windrip wasn’t in the best of state right now. But that was true from when I had last been here. The only difference was that a few more streets had burned down, and the makeshift walls covering the perimeters of the city had been destroyed.

Most of the rubble and the wreckage had already been cleared away. But there hadn’t been any repairs made to the infrastructure since the city had been attacked. And the mood hanging in the air reminded me of what I had seen right after the Goblin Lord’s attack.

The streets were mostly empty. Everyone kept to themselves. Jax barely paid any attention to the state of the city, but I noticed that we were drawing a little bit of attention to ourselves. I heard a handful of voices whispering as figures pointed at us from the dark alleyways.

“Are they…?”

“They look like adventurers, so maybe...”

“We should stay away.”

“They would only cause trouble.”

“Let’s go—”

I watched as those who had been watching us began to slink away. I narrowed my eyes.

“What’s going on?” I whispered.

It was strange. Most of the passersby would shy away from us too, and parents would bring their children into their houses.

“Are we just going to wander around aimlessly, or do you actually have something in mind?” Jax asked as he crossed his arms.

I glanced back at the impatient elf, before sighing. “Come on.”

I led him down another street corner, before coming to a halt right before a ramshackle building. Jax looked it up and down, inspecting the damaged brickwork. The sign that had once been hanging from the front door was gone, but it was evident even to the elf that this was an inn.

It was the inn I had stayed in when I was living here in Windrip.

“Brynn’s inn,” I said its name. “We can ask her some questions. She’ll help us out.”

Jax just shrugged and followed me as I pushed the door of the inn open. But right as I took a step in, a trio of hooded figures made their way out.

“Watch it,” a gruff voice said as the first man brushed past me.

His companions trailed after him, and I stepped out of the way. The second figure just silently followed him, while the third figure turned to face me. I caught a brief glimpse of her face— she looked like a young woman, about Noele’s age.

“Sorry about him,” she said as she nodded apologetically at me. “He’s an idiot.”

Jax glared at them, but I waved a hand off dismissively.

“It’s fine.”

I watched them go, before I turned back to the lobby of the inn. There were hardly any customers here— which was unexpected. I had thought that Brynn would be offering her establishment to house those who had lost their homes during the attack.

But it was mostly empty. There were only a handful of slumped figures sitting at the tables and chairs of the inn, passed out from drinking too much.

I strode up to the bar as I heard a voice calling out from the kitchen.

“We’re closed!” Brynn emerged from the kitchen, carrying a steaming pot with both her arms. She was paler and thinner than when I had last seen her, and she wore a disgruntled look on her face. “If you want a room to stay, you can go to Jesper’s place. You just have to fork up the right price.”

She shook her head as she set a pot of soup down on the bar, and I came to a halt right before her.

“I’m not looking for a room,” I said simply.

“Then what do you want?” The [Innkeeper] narrowed her eyes. “If you’re here to rob me—”

“We’re not.” I pulled my hood back as I cut her off.

I smiled at her, and her eyes went wide. She stared at me, taking a step back.

“Hello, Brynn,” I greeted the [Innkeeper]. “It’s been a while.

Brynn tried to work her jaw. Then she leant forward, pointing at me in shock.

“You’re— Amelia the Unranked Adventurer!”