Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Chapter 93

Business was booming.

Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant was a smash shit. It wasn’t an instantaneous success— the first week having barely any customers dealt a heavy blow to my ego. But unlike with the food stall, I persisted after the first week. I didn’t give up. And finally, thanks to my hard work— along with a lot of tiny bit of help from Xakor— I was starting to find success.

Well, actually, it was mostly thanks to Xakor’s help. He did a lot of the initial heavy-lifting, especially during the grand opening. And the both of us had expected the buzz to immediately die down right after… until I had been given a very lucrative opportunity.

It presented itself to me by pure happenstance. An angel literally descended from the sky, blessing me with the chance to exploit the fuck out of this situation. So I did.

At first, I had gotten the angel to visit the restaurant. I knew that I could use its presence as a sort of attraction— after all, angels were quite revered in this world. Having a literal holy or divine or whatever being visiting a restaurant would bring in a lot of customers, even for a day.

And then, I went a step further and convinced the angel to work for me as a waiter. I was honestly surprised that gambit worked. I thought that it was a longshot, but I still took my chance.

Somehow, it worked out.

My eyes flickered as I saw Guardian Angel Z357 entering the kitchen from the corner of my eye. Harlan quickly passed out a pair of dishes to it, and it deftly swooped out to serve a table. Thanks to its help, we were able to keep up with all the customers coming to the restaurant— although, conversely, we wouldn’t have as many customers as we did if not for the angel.

I shook my head, turning my attention back to what I was doing. I was cooking a large serving of pilaf on a skillet while Xakor prepared another batch of pita bread. We were cooking middle eastern dishes— mostly because it was what we could make with the ingredients we had readily available around Wolfwater. If I wanted to, I could also probably serve some burgers, pizzas, and other junk food as well.

But maybe I could introduce all that later. There were also all kinds of other cuisines from Earth I could serve at my restaurant, and I wasn’t in a rush to expand my current menu. Not until I hired more employees— maybe other [Chefs] or [Cooks] if this deluge of customers didn’t slow down.

Guardian Angel Z357 was going to have to leave eventually. Until then, I would reap the rewards of the angel’s presence. But that was not all I was doing here. This wasn’t all for my own personal gain, even if I stood to benefit from having an angel as a server.

The fact that Guardian Angel Z357 was working here let me keep an eye on it for a few days longer. I wasn’t exactly… sure if I trusted it. Or rather, I didn’t know what I thought of it, and I wanted to take my time to form a proper opinion of it. After all, I was pretty sure that I had heard of the angels of this world before— before I arrived in Vacuos.

I closed my eyes as I heard the sharp hiss of the cooking fire beneath my skillet. A memory flashed in my mind. It was an odd memory. Because it was a memory from my time in the Fractured Realm.

The time I spent in the Fractured Realm was mostly a blur to me. Like it was a dream. And yet, I experienced it in its entirety. It felt like an eternity had passed, and every passing second was everlasting.

It was paradoxical— the fact that I had lived through a million lifetimes, while also having experienced it all in a single second. But time was broken there in the Fractured Realm; it didn’t make sense to me because it was literally impossible to make sense of. So I didn’t bother thinking about it too hard.

I just recalled fighting the endless swarms of voidlings and voidbeasts as a voice of the Voidgod occasionally resounded in my head. It was more annoying than anything, really. Whenever the Voidgod spoke, the world would distort around me. My ears would ring, and my vision twisted as everything grew dark. Not only that— but it was mostly nonsensical ramblings.

The Voidgod would speak to me, but I wouldn’t quite understand what it was saying most of the time. After all, I had absolutely no context for what it was talking about. It took me a while to even piece together a vague image of… well, everything.

From the reason why the Voidgod was trapped in the Fractured Realm, to the reason why I had been summoned from Earth. And while the Voidgod never mentioned anything about the System or Guardian Angels, it had talked about ‘the Enemy’ and ‘its Drones’.

Drones. Machines designed to follow the will of the Enemy. The Voidgod had called them pests— terrible things with no intelligence.

I opened my eyes as I stared down at the burning fire. Guardian Angel Z357 was most likely one of these so-called Drones. And while I didn’t really care about what it was planning on doing to the Sect of Abyssal Thorns or whatever, I was curious about whether what the Voidgod said was true. Because if angels were really mindless machines as the Voidgod claimed, then that gave quite a lot of credibility to the other things he had said.

My eyes flickered as I thought of Noele. I thought of Xakor, Nolan, Nicole, and all the other friends I had made here in Vacuos.

I hadn’t believed the Voidgod at first— that was why I didn’t quite care too much about the System. But if what the Voidgod said was true… then the System was more malicious than I thought.

I sighed. “Now, what am I going to do about that?”

And I didn’t have an answer.

—--

Well, I could deal with all that later. First things first, I had a lot of customers I needed to serve… again. And as much as that was a good thing— busying myself with something to do— there was someone Noele wanted me to meet. A [Druid] or whatever who really liked my cooking.

So I took some time off during lunch today to speak with this man. I left the kitchen, nodding at Xakor as he worked the stove while chopping up some onions.

“I’ll be back in about ten minutes,” I said as I passed by the [Chef]. “You can take your break after me.”

“Xrr, do not worry for me, Amelia. I do not need a break.” Xakor gestured at some leftovers with a smile. “I have my lunch right here.”

I stepped out into the main room as I heard the hubbub of the gathered crowd once again. I spotted Harlan standing at a nearby table as he took an order, while Guardian Angel Z357 was out on the patio serving food. There was a long queue waiting outside, and its presence drew a lot of attention from the customers waiting to be seated. I paused only for a moment to take in this scene.

Was the queue… longer than before? Wait, were those people even from Wolfwater? I couldn’t quite tell for sure, but we usually got [Farmers] and their families visiting the restaurant. Today, however, I saw a lot of men dressed in [Merchant] clothes. I narrowed my eyes.

And a cluck drew my attention away from them. I glanced towards the bar as a chicken waved her wings at me. Bucky hopped off the counter and landed on my shoulder as I nodded at her. I scratched her chin with a smile.

“Hey Bucky,” I greeted the chicken.

“Bawk bawk bawk!” she said.

“You can bug Xakor for some treats. I’ll be busy for a few minutes, alright?” I lowered her to the ground, and she scampered into the kitchen, searching for the [Chef].

Shaking my head, I swept my gaze over the restaurant, before I finally spotted Noele. She was seated at a corner table reserved specifically for her and her family. But neither Nolan, Nicole, nor Garron accompanied her today. She was chatting with an unkempt middle-aged man. Her [Druid] friend.

I strode towards them, patting Harlan on the shoulder as I passed him by.

“Good work,” I said, and he beamed back at me. “Don’t forget to take a break whenever you can.”

No one else really paid me any mind— I was not Xakor, nor was I Guardian Angel Z357. I wasn’t even Bucky. So no one really cared to notice me except for the blonde girl. I didn’t mind the lack of attention— in fact, I preferred it. Since I wasn’t being pestered by anyone, I could reach Noele’s table in a few moments.

She got to her feet and smiled as she gestured at the [Druid]. “Amelia, this is Dorien. He’s a close family-friend who really wants to speak with you.”

“Hey,” I said simply.

Noele nodded towards me as she faced Dorien. “And this is Amelia— she’s my mentor and the owner of this restaurant.”

“It is my pleasure to finally meet you, Ms Amelia.” The [Druid] bowed politely, and I waved a hand dismissively.

“No need for formalities. You can just call me Amelia.” I took a seat next to Noele, and so did the [Druid]. “So, what’s up?”

“Straight to the point, eh? Noele did say you were rather blunt.” Dorien leaned forward as he clasped his hands together.

“Blunt is an understatement.” The blonde girl rolled her eyes. “Amelia is more… rude.”

“Now that is rude.” I gave her a flat stare.

“It’s true.” She grinned back at me.

I just snorted. And Dorien chuckled, glancing between Noele and I. He ran a finger over the round edge of a glass as he relaxed.

“You’re a lot less intimidating than I thought you’d be,” the [Druid] said. “That’s good… I don’t need to be nervous.”

I shrugged and crossed my arms. “I’m just a simple farmer, restaurant-owner, and unranked adventurer. There’s nothing to be nervous about.”

Dorien smirked back at me. “But you cook a damn good meal. I have to say, I can’t have enough of your food. I’ve never had anything like this before. Noele says you aren’t a [Chef], so I must ask— where did you learn these recipes?”

“Xakor taught them to me,” I replied, casually lying. “I’m assuming they’re from his home world.”

“There’s no need to be shy,” the [Druid] laughed as his eyes glinted. “But fine, you can keep your secrets. I just came here with a business proposition.”

“A business proposition? But aren’t you a [Druid]?” I raised a brow.

He shook his head as he settled back in his chair. “Why does that matter? Just because I’m usually a social outcast doesn’t mean I don’t visit a town or city from time to time.”

“I am pretty sure being a social outcast means that you don’t generally visit any town or city,” I said flatly.

“Bah— no one can truly live on their own without going insane.” Dorien glanced past me towards the menu scribbled onto the side wall. “Anyway, I noticed you don’t have any drinks on your menu. You serve water, and that’s it. Good drinks are as important as good food. You’re missing out on a lot of good business.”

“Yeah… I probably need to get a [Bartender] or whatever, right?” I rubbed my chin in thought. I had been meaning to hire one alongside another server or two. I just hadn’t had the time to look into it just yet.

But Dorien just snorted. “You don’t need a [Bartender] for anything. This isn’t some high-end bar in the city. You can serve some cheap ale, and that’ll be more than enough. But I was thinking you could sell some malim juice as well.”

“What is that?” I frowned.

“It’s just the juice from a malim fruit— it grows in the Vox Forest,” the [Druid] explained. “The fruit itself is quite bitter, but its juices are very sweet and savory. You won’t find it being sold in most cities because they don’t know that it works as a good drink. Here, I even have a sample for you.”

I watched as Dorien produced a leather wineskin from his waist. I glanced questioningly towards Noele, but she nodded back in response.

“It’s pretty good,” she said. “It’s also pretty filling, honestly. Give it a try.”

I narrowed my eyes and picked up the leather wineskin. I took a quick sip as Dorien eyed me hesitantly. I pursed my lips.

“This tastes like… pepsi? No— coke?” I muttered to myself. It had a familiar taste. Like I was drinking from a bottle of warm soda. But without the fizzy aftertaste.

“Well?” the [Druid] asked, peering at me curiously.

“It’s really good,” I said as I took another gulp and lowered the leather wineskin. “Seriously— I think it would sell great. But… how am I going to get enough of these fruits to stock up for more than a few days?”

He sighed in relief at my response. Noele smiled, and Dorien waved vaguely in the direction of Nolan’s farm. “Don’t worry about that, I can get Nolan to grow these malim fruits at his farm. With his Skills, I’m sure you’d be able to get a steady supply large enough to restock your inventory every week.”

“I… see. Well, what do you want for it?” I asked as I turned back towards the [Druid]. “Best I can offer is a split of the profits for now.”

“I was joking when I said I need your gold.” Dorien chuckled softly before taking a deep breath. I watched as the expression on his face changed from that of a carefree look to a more serious gaze. His eyes shadowed over and he whispered. “The truth is, I need your help—”

The [Druid] started, and then I heard a shout coming from outside of the restaurant. I blinked as Noele got to her feet. Dorien furrowed his brows, raising his gaze. The three of us glanced towards the entrance of the restaurant as a commotion broke out.

I heard more shouts— I heard the sounds of a scuffle. Like someone was fighting right outside of the building. I exchanged a glance with Noele and frowned. “What is going on?”

Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Chapter 93

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