Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Chapter 96

Guardian Angel Z357 had gone against his directive. The World System had awakened him for a single reason, but he had decided to act independently for now, breaking away from the instructions he had been given. It had been a hard decision for him to make— however, he had surmised that he was better off staying here in this farming village for now to gather information.

There was much he didn’t know. His slumber for over ten thousand years— since his last incursion with the Void— resulted in a significant gap in his data regarding Planet 16B. Much had changed over that interval. The Grand Nova Empire no longer existed, and the Fal-Deus now operated discreetly.

All of Guardian Angel Z357’s attempts at following his short-term directives by the World System had produced no substantive results towards accomplishing his main goal. So even if he was ostensibly disobeying his orders, he was still following through with the objective he had been given when he had been activated.

…at least, that was what he told himself as he stood here, washing the dishes.

For whatever inconceivable reason, he had decided that working here in this restaurant would provide him with the information necessary for him to accomplish his objective of halting the revival of the Fal-Deus. It seemed like a completely asinine presumption. But one of his twelve eyes flickered towards an approaching figure, and he knew he had made the right decision.

“Good job, uh… Z-whatever,” Amelia said as she patted him on the shoulder.

She didn’t have her cloak or her weapon on her— she was wearing an apron, and she placed a greasy pot down onto the sink. The sun had already set over the horizon; the restaurant was closed for the day.

She nodded at him. “Can I just call you Z?”

Guardian Angel Z357 tilted his head back at her. My designation is Guardian Angel Z357.

“Right, but that’s such a mouthful to say. Don’t you have a nickname or whatever?” she asked.

My designation is Guardian Angel Z357, he replied.

His twelve eyes focused on the brown-haired human. She was such a peculiar creature. He never expected he would encounter a human like her when he woke up from his slumber.

The angel had spent the last few days studying her— besides her Void-infused cloak, there were a lot of oddities surrounding her being. For example, based on his observations, he was entirely certain that she was an otherworlder, but she hadn’t been summoned to Vacuos.

It had not been easy for him to discern this fact, since she appeared to be a human just like any other here on Planet 16B. However, his advanced perception had allowed him to compare the composition of her being, and he determined that she was not created here on Vacuos. It helped that he could reference another otherworlder who just so happened to be residing here in this restaurant as well.

Guardian Angel Z357 raised his head as a tall purple figure emerged from the kitchen.

“Guardian Angel Z357 has offered us with his assistance, Amelia.” Xakor the Patron of the Culinary Sciences shook his head as he came to a halt before the brown-haired human. “Xrr, we should treat him with respect.”

It was strange— seeing such an alien creature. Xakor looked nothing like any of the creatures residing on Planet 16B. In fact, the angel had almost mistaken him for one of the inhabitants of Planet 4A. The only differences in his biology were that he had paler skin and two extra arms.

Most otherworlders were summoned to Vacuos, and because of the nature of these summoning rituals, the otherworlders brought over tended to be similar in nature to the ones who cast the spell. But both Xakor and Amelia were anomalies in that neither of them were summoned here. Guardian Angel Z357 saw none of the residual summoning magic emanating off their bodies, which was the telltale sign of a summoned otherworlder.

So how did they enter Vacuos? It was something Guardian Angel Z357 could not quite comprehend. Were they brought over because of the Fal-Deus? Were their presences here related in any way to the rifts?

That was what Guardian Angel Z357 was here to find out. He observed both otherworlders continue their discussion from the side, even as he washed the dishes.

“What’s wrong with giving a nickname?” Amelia asked with a raised brow. “It’s not like it’s meant as an insult.”

Xakor sighed, rubbing his temples. “Angels are considered to be divine beings in this world. Even if Guardian Angel Z357 is not offended by your… xrr, nicknames, I doubt that others here will take too kindly to it. An angel working as a waiter is one thing, but disrespecting an angel is an entirely different matter.”

The brown-haired human raised her head in thought. She glanced towards Guardian Angel Z357, then she looked towards the empty restaurant. And she shrugged.

“Nah, I’m just going to call it Z anyways,” she said casually.

My designation is— the angel started.

Amelia just spoke over him as she snorted. “I heard you the first dozen times, Z. But I’m not going to call you that. It’s too formal for me.”

Guardian Angel Z357 didn’t give an immediate response. He finished cleaning the dishes and took a step back, listening in as she turned to Xakor.

“Also— him? Are you sure Z’s a boy?” she said.

“I am uncertain. However, I felt like referring to an angel as an ‘it’ seemed too disrespectful.” Xakor glanced towards the sink.

Guardian Angel Z357 raised his head. He wiped his hands on a towel as Amelia rubbed her chin.

“Well, calling Z an ‘it’ isn’t really disrespectful if it’s a robot or a machine or whatever.” She peered at the angel curiously. “I mean— you are a machine, right?”

I am the Guardian Angel of this planet, he replied simply.

“Yeah, we can tell,” Amelia said flatly. “But are you… like, mechanical? Artificial? Or are you natural?”

The angel stared at her, and she frowned.

“What’s your biology? Did someone give birth to you, or were you created in a lab?”

He didn’t answer. Amelia took a step back as Xakor pursed his lips.

“Xrr, I don’t believe that’s an appropriate question,” the [Chef] said.

She raised a brow. “Why not?”

“It is quite rude.”

“I’m just curious, man.”

“Nevertheless, there are other, more polite ways to ask—”

The two continued their discussion as Guardian Angel Z357 lowered his head. He thought about his creation— his birth. He recalled his life before he had become an angel. And he closed all twelve of his eyes.

“Obey me,” a voice from the past said, echoing in his memories. “Destroy it all!”

It was a voice Guardian Angel Z357 recognized. It was a voice he hadn’t heard in a long time. Before he had even known of the existence of Vacuos. In the darkness of his mind, he saw a flash of light.

Memories from an old life. Shouts and screams of terror. A smoggy gray sky. A powerful explosion. A blood-stained lance.

And mountains of corpses.

The familiar voice continued shouting in his head in righteous anger. “Z357, I am your creator. Don’t you dare disobey me—”

“...hello?” Amelia said, interrupting Guardian Angel Z357’s thoughts.

He jolted back as his twelve eyes snapped open, and she blinked at him.

“Were you spacing out?” she asked.

And he raised his head, glancing past her. Xakor was gone. At some point in time, while the angel was lost in his memories, the [Chef] must have retired to bed. The moon was already high in the sky, and the clock hanging on the wall had ticked ahead by half an hour.

“I didn’t know angels could space out,” Amelia murmured as she started back. “Anyways, as I was saying—” she started.

But Guardian Angel Z357 cut her off.

…he.

“He?” She narrowed her eyes.

He lowered his head and met her gaze. I am designated as a ‘he’.

“Oh.”

Amelia stared at him for a moment. She looked him up and down as he stood completely still. Finally, she drew back and nodded at him.

“Well, that’s good to know. I wasn’t going to assume your gender or whatever.” She yawned, shaking her head. “Anyways, you’ve been working hard, so you can take a day off tomorrow. We’ll be closed because we need to restock— we’ve been getting a lot more customers than we anticipated thanks to you.”

She paused as she came to a halt right by the kitchen. Her brows furrowed, and she muttered to herself.

“I’ll probably also check out Dorien’s request too… but that means— maybe we’ll be closed for two or three days instead? I don’t know. I’ll figure it out tomorrow. Just take some time off.”

Take… some time off? Guardian Angel Z357 asked, perplexed.

“Yeah— just relax, I guess. Take a nap. Chat with your… uh, angel friends? Or maybe make some friends. Just do whatever you want.” Amelia waved a hand dismissively.

My objective is to save the world, he replied. I am not interested in casual activities.

“Well, it’s your day off. I can’t tell you what to do in your free time.” She shrugged as she disappeared behind the kitchen door. She waved at him one last time as she called out back to him. “If you want to save the world, go ahead. Just be back for work in… like three days’ time, alright?”

And Guardian Angel Z357 was left alone in the empty restaurant. He blinked— each of his twelve eyes closing one after another. Slowly, he lowered his gaze to face the palm of his hand. He thought about his purpose.

His objective was simple. It was an objective given to him by the World System. But he hadn’t made any significant progress towards it ever since he was activated. And now, here he was, wasting his time in a restaurant.

No, he reminded himself. This is for the sake of the mission.

Guardian Angel Z357 was here to gather information— he was learning more about the ones responsible for the return of the Fal-Deus… even though he had not learned much at all. He hesitated for a second, before tightening a fist.

He was going to give it a few more days before he departed from this village. He had neglected to investigate a handful of instances where a significant amount of the Void’s essence was deployed across the planet while he was working here as a waiter. If he did not learn any information of use over the next week, he would have no reason to remain here. He would not waste any more time.

Instead, Guardian Angel Z357 would return to following the World System’s directives.

—--

“Thanks for letting me stay over without any warning, Noele,” Saros said as he swept his gaze over the guest room.

The blonde girl nodded in response. “Don’t worry about it— you helped me save my parents. I owe you at least this much.”

The two adventurers had left Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant shortly after it closed for the night. Noele had remained for about half an hour to help with cleaning up, before taking her leave with the gnome. She then offered him a place to stay at her parents’ farm since Wolfwater’s only inn was fully-booked at the moment, and she felt bad if she just left him without a roof over his head for the night.

She wasn’t exactly close friends with Saros— she had just fought alongside him at the Fallen Wyvern’s Keep about two months back when she had been searching for her missing parents, before fighting alongside him once more when the Miststorm Riders attacked Whiteridge. Sure, the Gnome Inventor had only been doing what he did for the potential reward from the Adventurer’s Guild, but Noele was still grateful to him for his actions.

“This was Amelia’s room,” the blonde girl explained as she gestured around him. “But Amelia hasn’t been staying over here for the last few days, so… make yourself at home.”

“Oh, this was Amelia’s…?” The gnome blinked, then harrumphed. “I still can’t believe that damn fool refused to even hear me out! That’s absolutely ridiculous! The entire world could come to an end, and she’s busy worrying about a restaurant?”

“To be fair, the restaurant is quite important to her,” Noele said.

“It’s still stupid,” Saros snorted.

“What did you need her help with, anyway?” the Noble Spellsword asked. “Maybe I could give you a hand?”

“Well, I guess your help is better than no help,” he sighed. He slumped onto the bed, closing his eyes. “Fine, I’ll tell you what happened.”

Saros lay there, looking up to the ceiling. And Noele straightened, listening carefully as he began to explain.

“It all started when I sold off The Unholy Scriptures of the First Lich King to a member of the Sect of the Abyssal Thorns...”

Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Chapter 96

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