Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Chapter 140

It was a calm and peaceful morning. The first one in a long while. Ever since Amelia had arrived here in Wolfwater, the little farming village had been met with… chaos. Its regular activities were constantly being disrupted by one major event after another.

From the Cloying Witch’s attack to Guardian Angel Z357 showing up— it all happened because of Amelia. Well, not all of it. But most of it had been her fault. Or at least, she was somewhat responsible for the events in some manner.

However, Amelia never once took blame for it. In fact, most of the time, it felt like the blame was being directed to someone else.

Noele felt like the blame was being directed to her.

She sighed as she hugged her pillow, and it squeaked. “It’s just… it’s not my fault, alright? I mean— maybe the kretus boar was my fault. But everything else?”

The blonde girl paused as she raised her head. She looked up at the clear blue sky— the sun was hanging high overhead, and the fields of Wolfwater were busy with [Farmers] going about their day. It wasn’t even afternoon just yet.

And it had been a rather quiet day so far. Because Amelia wasn’t here to cause a ruckus.

“Seriously,” Noele muttered under her breath. “Guardian Angel Z357 was after her, and the Cloying Witch wanted revenge against her…”

Although— was that even true? Noele might not have been the one to wipe out the Miststorm Riders, but she was the one who defeated their leader. Odell the Monster of the Mist.

She shuddered as she thought of the [Bandit Boss]. Even now, after she had defeated him in battle, she still reviled him. After all, he was the one who had killed her sister. Her breathing heightened, and she clenched her hands into fists. She tightly clung onto her pillow as it squeaked louder.

But after a moment passed, the blonde girl exhaled slowly and closed her eyes. She steeled herself as she sat at the front porch of her mentor’s restaurant. It wasn't as crowded as it used to be. Ever since Guardian Angel Z357 left, there were significantly less customers than before. Although it was still quite busy, just not to the extent that there was a long queue that cut across Wolfwater.

Noele raised her head as she heard the front door of the restaurant swing open. A pair of customers dragged themselves out of the building dejectedly.

“I can’t believe the angel’s gone…” the first man said.

“I came all the way to this backwater village for nothing!” the second man exclaimed.

“At least the food was good,” the first man sighed.

They started away from the restaurant as Noele watched them. She frowned, before shaking her head.

“What do you think, Bucky?” Noele asked, looking down curiously. “Do you think it’s my fault all these things have been happening in Wolfwater?”

She stared at her pillow. Or rather— it wasn’t a pillow. Even if it was soft and fluffy, it was actually a living creature. She was a chicken. And she squawked angrily at the blonde girl.

“Bawk bawk!” Bucky said, struggling to break free from the blonde girl’s grasps. “Bawk bawk bawk!”

The chicken looked mad. And Noele realized why— she was suffocating Bucky by accident.

“Oops, sorry.” Noele stood up as she lowered the chicken to the ground. “That’s my bad…”

Bucky scoffed, flapping her flabby wings. She glared up at the blonde girl, before shaking her head. She clucked once and ran up to this small stone fort at the side of the restaurant. Noele could hear a soft buzzing coming from within.

It was a hive— one for a colony of bastion bees. Sacred monsters that Amelia had, for whatever reason, decided to bring back to Wolfwater.

The blonde girl stared at the hive, before looking back at the restaurant. She nodded slowly as she took in the scenery of the farming village. She heard the birds chirping— she heard the susurration coming from within the restaurant. It was calm. It was peaceful.

It was a relaxing day.

A peaceful day.

…a boring day.

Noele sighed as her shoulders sagged. She would have preferred to have more excitement in her life. That was why she wondered…

“When’s Amelia going to get back, anyways—” she started.

And right as the words left her mouth, she paused. The blonde girl narrowed her eyes as she saw a blurred figure shooting through the sky. The clouds up ahead were ripped open, and her eyes went wide.

Amelia and Jax fell from the sky like a shooting star. They crashed right in front of Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant as the blonde girl stared. While they didn’t leave a crater behind, they sent a plume of dust up into the air. Their entrance attracted the attention of everyone in Wolfwater.

Even the patrons dining inside of the restaurant rushed out to see what was going on. Noele blinked a few times as the dust settled. Her mentor stood there, carrying Jax who was panting with round eyes.

The elf opened his mouth, but Amelia dropped him onto the ground, and he groaned. She dusted her hands off before striding forward.

And Noele just ran up to her mentor. “Amelia— what… are you doing?”

“Hm?” The brown-haired woman raised her head. She glanced back at Jax, before shrugging. “I was carrying that idiot elf back from Windrip, but he kept goading me to go faster. So…”

She gestured vaguely at the scene she had caused. Noele tried to work her jaw, and the crowd of onlookers exchanged a confused glance. Amelia shook her head.

“And Jax ended up screaming anyways because of it. Sometimes, I wonder if he was dropped on the head as a child…”

—--

I was back in Wolfwater. And because of Jax, my return attracted quite a large crowd. Well, it was my fault too, considering I decided to engage with his antics. But he was so annoying about it— constantly asking me to go faster and faster— that I’d rather hear him scream than listen to him speak for another second.

And while I would rather not have caused a ruckus, I did have everyone’s attention right now. So I clapped my hands together, addressing the crowd.

“Welcome to Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant— if you want food served by the world famous [Chef] Xakor, come right on in!” I gestured towards the restaurant.

I watched as dozens of figures exchanged a glance, before shrugging. A stream of the onlookers started up towards the restaurant as they murmured amongst themselves. Of course, not everyone who overheard me decided to pay a visit to Bucky’s.

Most of them returned back to doing what they were doing beforehand. However, getting a few customers was better than getting none.

I walked away from Jax as he quickly covered himself with his hood before anyone could catch a glimpse of his face. Fortunately for him, everyone’s gaze was focused on me, so they didn’t notice who he was.

I strode up to Noele, and she just stared at me.

“You’re… back,” she observed simply.

“I am— how were things when I was gone?” I asked casually.

“You’ve been gone for six hours,” Noele said, glancing between Jax and I. “And you’re already back.”

I waved a hand off dismissively. “Yeah… apparently it was much easier to resolve than I thought. So I’m back now.”

“Oh.” She looked like she wanted to protest, but she caught herself. “And Evan is safe?”

“He’s in… good hands?” I said uncertainly. “I mean— he’s probably going to be fine. He’ll send me a [Message] if anything goes wrong.”

Noele nodded slowly. “Right.”

I gestured for her to follow me as Jax sulked and trailed after us. I turned to the blonde girl, asking with a raised brow.

“So, how’d things go with the restaurant while I was gone?”

“Literally nothing happened,” Noele sighed. “It’s been six hours— and nothing has happened until you showed up.”

“Good.” I grinned at her. “Then let’s get back to business.”

And with that, I was finally back in Wolfwater— I was finally home once again.