Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Chapter 164

Edlyn was tired.

She stood in the middle of the gilded halls of the Astra Palace, sighing to herself as she bemoaned her troubles. Sure, the Astrad Kingdom was at war, and everyone was stressed out. But somehow, what she felt and experienced was still an exception.

After all, she had to bear the weight of everyone else’s worries and relieve them of it— with her cooking.

She was the [Royal Chef] of the Astra Palace. Every night, it was her job and duty to cook up a feast for the nobles residing here. And it wasn’t just a banquet either. She’d have to prepare meals that would be sent to everyone’s rooms, making sure to satisfy their dietary preferences.

And, well, since this was quite the dire time for the entire country, and many of the royals and nobles here played at least a minor role in the war, they would turn to food to placate themselves.

…in short, Edlyn had to deal with annoying, entitled nobles screaming at her because their steaks were slightly underdone.

But she was Level 47. She could make the perfect steak with barely any effort. And the [Chefs] in her retainer were all at least Level 30. They literally did their job as they were requested, but they still received complaints.

“It’s not my fault you fucking idiots don’t know the difference between medium well and medium rare,” she cursed under her breath as she lit a pipe.

Smoking inside of the kitchen wasn’t allowed, which was why she was standing out here, disgruntled, and murmuring to herself like a madwoman. She glanced back into the kitchen as she saw her [Chefs] working under her going about their job inside. She needed to go back inside soon. But there was only going to be even more of a hassle when that happened.

After all, they were mostly older than her— she was relatively young for her level, only in her late 20s. And because of that, many of them refused to look at her for guidance, despite her being higher-leveled than all of them.

So Edlyn just wanted to quit. She wanted to give up, retire, and go back home. Maybe she could open up a small shop on a less busy street, serving a few dozen customers a day…

“That would be nice,” she whispered to herself.

But she could only daydream about it. She sighed, taking a huff from her pipe. She couldn’t quit her job without a plan of action, and she certainly didn’t have enough currently saved up to just open her own restaurant. So there was nothing she could do.

“It’s not like an opportunity better than working at the Astra Palace would fall onto my lap anyway…” Edlyn sighed, lowering her pipe.

And she heard a commotion coming down the hallway. Blinking, Edlyn looked up to see a group of figures making their way towards the kitchen. An unfamiliar woman with brown hair walked at the front, marching casually towards the front doorway.

Edlyn’s brows snapped together, and she moved to intercept this stranger.

“Hey, you can’t be here—” And she paused.

Her eyes went wide when she saw who was with the brown-haired woman.

“King Jalen?” Edlyn exclaimed.

Walking by the brown-haired woman’s side was the King of the Astrad Kingdom himself. And that was not all. Edlyn also recognized the group of armored figures following the two of them.

“Why are the Knights of the Astral Order here? What is…?”

The [Royal Chef] stepped back, watching as the group entered the kitchen. And as they passed, she could hear the briefest snippet of their conversation with each other.

“Ms Amelia, I’m begging you to please reconsider!” King Jalen pleaded.

And in response, the brown-haired woman called Amelia just replied, “Nope, I came here to cook. So that’s what I’m going to do.”

Edlyn saw this. She watched as they vanished into the kitchen. And she dropped her pipe.

“What the fuck is going on?”

—--

“So… Sienna, huh?” Garron said as he leant back in his chair.

He glanced down at the petite girl who was sitting to his left. She had a single dagger sheathed on her breast pocket, and a bow slung around her back. Also, she didn’t give him a response.

The Steel Tank pursed his lips. “I have never heard of an adventurer that goes by your name. Do you perhaps go by another Title?”

Again, no reply. The expression on Sienna’s face didn’t change from the moment Garron met her. She refused to even acknowledge his existence. And while he didn’t want to make assumptions, he also had an inkling of an idea as to why she refused to speak to him.

It was because he was a B-ranked adventurer.

Garron shook his head as the thought crossed his mind. No— there could be a plethora of other reasons. It is best not to assume, or so he told himself.

However, he had met plenty of A-ranked adventurers before, many of whom were too snooty to even interact with a C-ranked adventurer. They would give B-ranks the brief time of day, but it was clear that there was a bit of condescension there.

That kind of pointless politicking in the Adventurer’s Guild was what Garron hated the most, and he had seen it plenty of times. So even if he hoped that this was not the case for Sienna, he couldn’t deny that it could have been a possibility.

“Oh, ignore her,” Kale said from the side, munching on another malim fruit.

Garron blinked as he turned to face the other supposed S-ranked adventurer. Once again, he had never heard of Kale before, which was quite odd, since most people at that level were quite famous.

Kale continued, shaking his head. His rather large belly seemed to bounce with his words. “Sienna’s a bit of a prickly bitch anyway. You don’t want to get to know her. Want one?”

He proffered a malim fruit to Garron. The Steel Tank politely declined the offer.

“No thanks.”

“Your loss,” Kale said, shrugging. He turned away from Garron to face Noele and Nicholas sitting at the other side of the room. “Anyway, you should be more worried about your girl than trying to make friends with us.”

Garron furrowed his brows, following Kale’s gaze. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t play dumb with me. You like her, don’t you?” Kale grinned as he nodded at Noele.

“And?” the burly man asked.

Kale chuckled, leaning back in his seat. “Don’t you feel jealous? She’s enamored with Nicholas. And clearly, he’s interested in her too.”

That made Garron pause. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at Noele and Nicholas once again.

“Noele is not—”

But he caught himself. He saw the way the blonde girl was excitedly speaking with the S-ranked adventurer. He saw the way she leant closer, staring intently into Nicholas and listening to every word he said. Garron saw it all, and he drew his lips into a thin line.

“I…” the burly man trailed off.

There was no denying that Noele was interested in Nicholas. But whether it was a romantic interest or just one borne from him being an S-ranked adventurer… Garron didn’t know. He didn’t want to speculate either, since it was none of his business.

But Kale didn’t let up. “Nicholas wants her.”

Garron didn’t respond.

“Nicholas is a professional,” Kale continued. “Trust me, I have seen him at work many times before. When he finds his target, he won’t stop until he gets her, by any means necessary.”

“Noele can be with whoever she wants,” the Steel Tank finally said. “It is not up to me to decide anything for her. Now if you’ll excuse me—”

Garron rose to his feet with a grunt. He wanted to say more, but he just clenched his jaw, holding back any rude remark he had within him. He thought Kale could have been nice, unlike Sienne. But both the S-ranks infuriated him.

He just marched out of the room as he shook his head, leaving Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant behind.

Kale snickered, watching the Steel Tank go.

—--

Noele heard the door slam shut behind her. She looked back, catching a glimpse of Garron right as he stepped out of the room. For a moment, she wondered where he was going. But Nicholas spoke up, quickly drawing her attention back to the conversation at hand.

“What do you think, Noele the Noble Spellsword?” the Noble Knight asked with a kind smile.

“About… joining your team?” Noele turned back to face Nicholas. He peered into her, and he nodded slowly.

“That’s right,” he said as he held her gaze. “It is a rare opportunity— for an A-ranked adventurer to join a team of S-ranks. But I can see your potential. I’ve heard about what you’ve accomplished, and I’m sure you won’t let us down.”

“O-oh, thank you.” The blonde girl flushed at the compliment. She averted her gaze for a fraction of a moment, before steeling herself.

Even though she could feel her cheeks heating up, she was still trying to maintain her composure. There was no use acting like a giddy little girl knowing that her idol was inviting her to join his team. All she’d do was embarrass herself, and she didn’t want that.

“I… I really appreciate the offer,” Noele said, smiling back at Nicholas. “But this is a bit too much all at once. I mean, are you even sure I’m the right choice? And there’s many things I have to consider too. I’ll have to think about it for a few days—”

“I don’t see what there is to think about,” he cut her off, leaning closer.

Noele blinked as her face grew redder. His sparkling blue eyes looked deep into her as he spoke insistently.

“After all, aren’t you getting tired of surrounding yourself with such…” Nicholas raised his head, before shaking his head dismissively. “Such pathetic, low-leveled people?”

And that made Noele freeze where she sat. “What…?”