Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Edlyn closed her eyes. She stood right outside of Amelia’s room. Only just a few minutes ago had the brown-haired woman disappeared inside, leaving Bucky at the kitchen clucking angrily at nobody.

And the [Royal Chef] had watched as the chicken stormed off and out of the restaurant angrily. Now, despite seeing that failed attempt at convincing Amelia to put a halt to the [Hero King], Edlyn was going to try where others failed.

Was this a pointless endeavor? Perhaps. Edlyn could very much see Amelia rejecting anything that had to be said immediately. After all, Amelia had to be tired of all the pestering from everyone about the Kingdom of Kal at this point.

But Edlyn at least had to try.

It was her home that was at stake. It was her life that she had worked so hard to protect and provide for. So she raised a hand to knock on the doorway.

Before she hesitated.

“...this is pointless,” Edlyn whispered to herself as her shoulders sagged.

And a hand landed on her shoulder, gently reassuring her. “Do you think this is what’s right?” a familiar voice asked.

Blinking, Edlyn turned around to see Harlan standing there behind her. He had a warm smile on his face— as usual— and his gaze bore into hers.

“Because if you believe that this is what you have to do, then you should do it, regardless of the outcome,” Harlan continued as he glanced towards Amelia’s bedroom door. “Besides, it doesn’t hurt to try speaking with Amelia anyway.”

“I—” Edlyn hesitated.

For a moment, her past fears of Amelia returned. The dreading feeling that if the [Royal Chef] did anything to upset her employer, her life would be taken away.

But then she balled her hands into fists, recalling how kind Amelia had been to her. And Edlyn nodded, resolving herself.

“You’re right, Harlan. I’m scared for nothing. I need to at least try something.”

And Harlan smiled at her. “Don’t worry, I’ll be here with you too.”

“Thank you.” Edlyn nodded back at him, before she pushed the door open.

—--

I just wanted to sleep at this point. While I could deal with monsters and gods, I hated being pressured into doing something I didn’t want to do. Sure, that was what heroes did— even if they didn’t want to do something, they did it because it was what was right.

However, I had already done that back when I was trapped in the Void. And I was sick and tired of it. I just wanted to do what I wanted to do. I just wanted people to respect my boundaries.

So what if I had the capacity to save the world right now? So what if I could go back into the Void and face the Voidgod once more?

That was not what I wanted to do. I wasn’t going to continue babysitting this world— protecting it as its hero.

I was done with that. That was my past life. Now, I was a humble chef who had a small but popular restaurant which I was planning on franchising in the future to potentially become an incredibly wealthy business mogul.

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…that probably wasn’t going to happen. But a girl could dream.

But actually, I couldn’t dream. Because even my alone time where I wanted to nap was interrupted as my door swung open.

Looking up, I groaned as I saw Edlyn and Harlan standing at the doorway. Even before either of them spoke, I knew what they were going to say. So I just groaned.

“Alright, Edlyn I can understand. But you too, Harlan?” I asked him in a betrayed voice.

Edlyn shifted back when she heard that. Harlan just scratched the back of his head.

“While I do agree with what everyone has had to say so far, I’m not here to argue with you. I’m just here to support Edlyn,” he explained himself.

I rolled my eyes. “That’s the same thing.

I sat up and hopped off my bed. Dusting myself off, I faced the [Royal Chef] expectantly.

“Alright, so what do you have to say to me?” I asked as I crossed my arms.

Edlyn hesitated. She looked like she didn’t know what to say for a moment, before glancing at Harlan. He nodded at her, and she took in a deep breath.

“Please, Amelia,” she started as she took a step forward. “I know you have heard this a million times already. But you need to do something about the [Hero King].”

I scoffed at that. “But why should I?”

I strode forward as I waved a hand dismissively. Even before she could explain herself, I spoke tiredly.

“I’m no hero. With great power comes great responsibility, they say. But that’s not true. I don’t have a duty or obligation to do anything unless I want to. Besides, everyone has the power to help at least one person, and most people don’t even do that. So I have no reason to abide by these standards—”

But before I could finish, Edlyn cut me off.

“That’s not what I came here to tell you,” she said, lowering her head as gritted her teeth. “I don’t care about any of that.”

“Hm?” I cocked my head curiously when I heard that.

Edlyn sighed as she looked down at her own hands. “It’s not about justice. It’s not about what’s right. It’s not even about dealing with the responsibility or the consequences of killing the [Hero King]. It’s something… more selfish than that.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, frowning.

Sighing, Edlyn closed her eyes. Her hands trembled as she unclenched them, before she took a step backwards.

“It’s because my family lives here. In this nation. And I don’t want anything bad to happen to them, which I’m scared will happen once the [Hero King] takes over Astral. That’s all. That’s why I’m asking for your help.”

“I…” I opened my mouth to say something.

But I paused. This was the first time I heard anyone say anything like this to me. Usually, it was always an appeal to my morals— to my sense of justice. Which I didn’t have much of left anymore, anyways.

However, right now, Edlyn was begging me to do something for her own sake and nobody else’s. It was oddly refreshing.

“It’s not for the sake of the world— it’s not even for the Astrad Kingdom.” The [Royal Chef] placed a hand on her chest. “It’s for me.”

“I see.” I didn’t say another word as I stared at Edlyn.

She was speaking honestly from her heart. There was only a fear there she felt for herself. For her loved ones. For her friends.

And I didn’t know what to say in response.

Edlyn saw that. She watched me in silence for a long moment, before drawing back.

“That’s all I came here to say. You should think about it, that’s all I’m saying. I know I can’t force you. But I want you to at least consider it.” And with that, she left the room.

Harlan blinked, seeing her go. It took him a moment to process what just happened— he definitely didn’t expect the conversation to last so short. I didn’t expect it either.

“Well, I guess that’s it? Thanks for hearing us out,” Harlan quickly said, before chasing after Edlyn. “Wait—”

And the door swung shut behind them as I blinked a few times. It also took me a moment to fully comprehend what had just happened. There was no argument— no long and drawn out discussion like with Harlan.

Edlyn wasn’t even upset with me. She told me how she felt and that was it, because she already knew my stance.

And now, I didn’t even know how to feel— whether I should actually do something about Kallistus Kal or not. Because on one hand, I did care about Edlyn, and I knew her family members, having met them a handful of times.

But on the other hand…

I paused as I tilted my head back. “On the other hand, what?” I asked myself the question.

It was like there was something I wanted to add. A justification I wanted to make. However, any argument I could make didn’t apply at all to what Edlyn said. So I had no response. And I didn’t know how to feel about that.

I pursed my lips as I stood there in silence for a minute. Then I shrugged off this feeling as I threw myself back into my bed.

“...anyways, it doesn’t matter. Since Jax and Arthur has this handled, right?”

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