Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Chapter 162

I stared at the King of the Astrad Kingdom. He was smiling at me like an idiot. He still had one hand on my shoulder, but I didn’t even focus on that. Instead, I repeated what Jalen had said to me just a second ago.

“I’m going to be the one saving your country?” I asked.

“Yes you are.” He nodded.

“From a food shortage, right?” I said hopefully.

Jalen simply stared back at me.

“...right?” I repeated myself, and he took a step back.

“From the Kingdom of Kal,” he corrected me.

And I cursed under my breath. “Fuck.”

I looked towards Rowland Donovan. The [Knight]-Captain finally turned to face me, and he gave me an apologetical look. I shook my head, closing my eyes.

“...he said he liked my cooking, and I believed him. I can’t believe I fell for that,” I sighed.

Now, I was going to have to figure out a way to politely decline Jalen’s request without telling him to fuck off. And that wasn’t going to be easy.

—--

But before Amelia was met with her terrible predicament, only about an hour after she had just left Wolfwater…

Noele was faced with a bit of a dilemma of her own. She stood before the hive of the bastion bees, right at the side of Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant. A cacophonous buzzing came from within as a chicken clucked at her side.

The blonde girl looked down at Bucky, before looking back into the darkness. She saw the red eyes glowing within, and she hesitated.

“You go in first,” she said as she pursed her lips. “You’re their friend, aren’t you? So you first.”

She spoke insistently, and Bucky turned to face her. She shook her head as she waved her wings wildly.

“Bawk bawk bawk!” the chicken protested.

Noele couldn’t speak chicken, but she was almost entirely certain that meant something along the lines of, “Fuck no, you go in first!”

She took in a deep breath, trying to steel herself. “It’ll be fine. I’m an A-ranked adventurer— I can bring down S-ranked threats. They can’t hurt me… I hope.”

While she really didn’t want to delve into the hive, she had no other choice. Noele needed to see what was wrong. After all, something had to be wrong.

The bastion bees were angry. It happened only a few minutes after Amelia left, but they started buzzing loudly inside of their hive. Harlan was the first one to notice it. He tried to enter the hive to placate them, since he had harvested honey from within many times, but he was chased out by them.

While they didn’t sting him, he had been more than certain that they would have if he hadn’t fled when he did. After that, they called for Dorien’s help. Unfortunately, the bastion bees chased out the [Druid] too.

“They’re protecting something,” Dorien had said. “I don’t know what it is, but they’re on edge because there’s something inside they want to protect, and they don’t feel safe.”

Noele had surmised that the reason they started acting up after Amelia left was because they saw her as their protector. Now that she wasn’t around, they didn’t feel safe. But the blonde girl remembered another time when her master hadn’t been there— when she left with Jax to save Guildmaster Evan— and the bastion bees had been perfectly fine.

So something had changed since then. And Noele was supposed to go in to investigate exactly what it was.

“I don’t want to get stung…” she murmured under her breath. “I hate getting stung. I don’t mind getting stabbed— maybe getting cut here and there. Being burned is fine too. But being stung?”

The blonde girl shook her head as she dragged her feet forward.

“It’s just the worst,” she sighed as she placed a hand on her chest.

[Nobleflame Armor], she thought, and she was wreathed in an aura of golden flames. The fire wouldn’t hurt anyone who got close as long as they weren’t trying to hurt her. So, in theory, she wouldn’t scare the bastion bees even more with it.

However, she wasn’t exactly sure if her hypothesis was true, but she had no choice other than to test it out. The Noble Spellsword strode forward as Bucky watched from behind. Garron had evacuated the nearby premise in case anything happened, and he had set up a perimeter alongside the local [Hunters] of Wolfwater so no bastion bees would break out. Jax didn’t offer any support— he went off to who knew where to continue training so he could lose to Amelia in a duel once again.

Noele closed her eyes as she reached the edge of the hive. The buzzing of the bastion bees was deafening now, and she was having second-thoughts. She licked her lips, but her mouth was still dry. So she couldn’t even take in a nervous gulp.

“I’m an A-ranked adventurer,” she reminded herself. “I am the Noble Spellsword.”

Behind her, Bucky clucked wildly, breaking the blonde girl’s concentration. Her flames flickered as she tried to dim them as best she could— so she wouldn’t startle the bastion bees. Unfortunately, she heard the clucking from behind, and she couldn’t focus.

“Bawk bawk bawk bawk!” Bucky said.

Noele gritted her teeth and looked back towards the chicken. “Look, if you’re not going to help, can you at least be—”

And the Noble Spellsword froze. She saw a figure walking past Bucky as the chicken warily backed up. A heavy, metal boot pressed against the grass as Noele stared with round eyes.

Slowly, the blonde girl raised her head, looking at the armored man standing before her. He smiled at her, shaking his head.

“So you are the Noble Spellsword,” he said as he placed his gauntleted hands on his hips. “I have to say, I quite like your Title. It has a nice ring to it.”

He was dressed like a [Knight], although he was not nearly as heavily armored as either Rowland or Wyn. He carried a visored helmet under his arm, letting his long, golden locks flow freely down to his back. A rapier hung from his waist, and he wore a charming smile as he nodded at Noele.

“I’m glad I can finally meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.” He spoke simply.

And the blonde girl could only back up, gasping. “You’re… Nicholas the Noble Knight.”

She couldn’t believe her eyes. Here he was— an S-ranked adventurer in the flesh. One that wasn’t as despicable as Jax, at the very least. But not only that, there was another reason why she was trembling where she stood.

Noele remembered a scene from so long ago. A memory she shared with her sister. Nora had taken her to Whiteridge— to show the blonde girl around the Adventurer’s Guild. And there, the two of them met a charming young man.

A man with golden hair, and kind blue eyes. An S-ranked adventurer who called himself the Noble Knight. He was the reason why Nora had called herself the Noble Sworddancer. He was so kind. So noble. He hadn’t shunned Noele’s sister even though she had only been a C-ranked adventurer at the time.

And when he had heard that it was Noele’s first time at an Adventurer’s Guild, he had personally given her a tour around the place, teaching her many things that came with being an adventurer. It was an incredibly impactful moment for both sisters.

Noele held that memory close to her till this day. So when she saw Nicholas standing before her, she wasn’t sure if she was just imagining it. She rubbed her eyes, and looked back at him. He was still there. He looked no older than he was all those years ago.

He strode forward with a soft chuckle. “Indeed I am. And you…”

Nicholas came to a halt right before Noele as she blinked a few times. He unsheathed his rapier, and she paused.

“What…?” she asked as he raised the blade.

“You need to watch your back,” he continued. “[Impose Terror: Forced Retreat].”

Noele spun around, looking on just in time as a bastion bee rushed towards her. But there was a flash of light. A golden glow overcame the sacred monster, and it slowed. Then it turned around, fleeing back into the hive.

“For an A-ranked adventurer, I’d have thought you’d be a little more aware of your surroundings.” Nicholas shook his head as he walked up to the blonde girl’s side. “But I guess I distracted you from what you were doing, so I shall take partial blame for that.”

He grinned at her as she just stared at him, still at a shock. “W-what are you doing here, Nicholas? I mean… Sir Nicholas?”

“I am not actually a [Knight], don’t worry about formalities. You can just call me Nicholas.” He looked past her, staring at the hive of the bastion bees. “However, introductions aside, I believe we should deal with that.”

Noele glanced back apprehensively. “Right. I was going to investigate inside— see what was riling them up.”

“There’s no need to investigate,” a voice said from the side. Bucky clucked loudly as another figure stepped forward. This time, it was a lady with a bow slung around her shoulder, dressed in tight clothing. “They are worried about their newborn queen. That is all.”

“Good work, Sienna.” Nicholas nodded at her. “And you appraised that with a single look? You’re amazing as always.”

Sienna’s expression remained neutral as she continued. “I suggest creating a containment field around the hive. It will prevent them from harming any outsiders, and it will placate their nervousness. Can you do that, Kale?”

She glanced towards a third figure. A rather rotund man. He was right behind her, munching on a fruit— a malim fruit.

“These are really good!” he said, holding it into the air. “I hear they make drinks out of it too. I want to try one!”

“Did you hear her, Kale?” Nicholas asked as he gestured towards the hive. “We need your expertise here.”

“Right, right,” Kale sighed, downing the malim fruit. Noele watched as he licked his fingers, before pulling a book out from his side. He flipped through the pages, mumbling to himself, until he seemed to find the right page. “Alright, here goes— [Activate Scroll: Spatial Shield]!”

And a flash came from the open page of the tome. Noele covered her eyes, watching as a transparent domed barrier fell upon the hive. It muffled the buzzing of the bastion bees, before drawing them out of the hive for a moment.

The sacred monsters looked around nervously, staring at the sheen of the barrier. But they paused when they realized it was protecting them as much as it was keeping them in. Slowly, they returned to the hive, buzzing softer now. Still evidently restless, but less so than before.

Noele stared on with wide eyes. She took a step back, before looking towards Nicholas, Sienna, and Kale. The three other adventurers nodded back at her, and she finally found the right words to say.

“Thank you,” she said, glancing at each of them. “For your help.”

Nicholas just laughed and gave her a light bow. “It was my pleasure, Noele.”

He raised his head, meeting her gaze as his eyes glinted.

“It was no trouble at all. After all, we came here all the way to Wolfwater because of you.”