Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Chapter 185

At this point, Edlyn wasn’t sure if anything could even shock her anymore. The things she had seen over the last few days— none of it seemed grounded by reality. She was waiting to wake up at any point from this strange dream, but she knew that was never going to happen.

Because this was her life now. This was what she was going to have to deal with from now on. The daily insanities of Amelia and her restaurant— Edlyn could already tell, it was going to be a common occurrence. She closed her eyes as she sat at the corner of the kitchen.

“Jax the Forsaken Archer works here…” she whispered softly. “How…?”

It wasn’t like she didn’t expect to run into him while she was here in Wolfwater. The [Royal Chef] recalled a brief conversation where he was mentioned to have been present here. But she assumed that he was a customer— or that he had just been passing through the village.

She never once imagined that he was actually working here as a ‘temporary waiter’ or whatever. That job title didn’t even make sense to her. Was he just working here part-time? Was he replacing a previous employee who quickly quit after witnessing Amelia’s insanities?

Edlyn was pretty sure it was the last option, if anything. And that didn’t bode well for her. Sure, Arthur and Harlan seemed normal enough. However, it was very much possible that they were also secretly insane.

She hoped that wasn’t the case. But it could very much be true. Even Nicole could have been insane for all Edlyn knew.

The [Royal Chef] hadn’t been here in Wolfwater long enough to familiarize herself with anyone here. In fact, she barely even heard about the farming village before yesterday. And she didn’t even have time to do any research before she left the Astra Palace.

So she was completely in the dark here, not knowing anything or anyone in this place. She wanted to cry. But she was too scared to even cry. Because she had heard about Jax’s reputation, and she was pretty sure he would have killed her for making too much noise.

“I need to calm down…” Edlyn told herself as she raised her head. “I need a smoke.”

She reached for her pipe in her back pocket, producing it in her right hand. But when she searched for her lighter— or any matches to light the pipe with— she realized that she forgot to bring any from the Astra Palace.

So she sat there, cursing as her pipe stuck stupidly out of her mouth. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck!”

Each time she swore, her voice grew more emphatic. More annoyed. She no longer felt like crying. She was just angry. Upset at her situation. She didn’t know what she did to get pushed into this corner she was in. She took in a deep breath, ready to scream out of frustration.

But a voice interrupted her, and she blinked.

“Here,” Harlan said as he stood over her, proffering her a metallic cylinder. “This is a lighter. We use it for the kitchen. Well, Amelia uses it, but I found it for you.”

Edlyn just stared at him for a moment, processing what he had said. She finally realized that he was giving her the lighter for her pipe. She accepted it as she rose to her feet.

“O-oh, thank you.”

She fumbled with it, then activated its magical enchantment as she lit the bowl aflame. She took a puff of it. And she sighed in relief.

“Angel’s breath…” she whispered, shaking her head. She handed the lighter back to the head server of the restaurant. “I really appreciate it. Seriously, I mean it.”

Harlan chuckled as he took a step back from her. “It’s no problem at all. And— don’t worry about Jax. He may have a bad reputation, but he’s mostly harmless.”

“Mostly?” Edlyn narrowed her eyes as she took another puff from her pipe. Each puff she took eased her nerves even more.

The head server shrugged. “As long as you’re not a monster, he’ll leave you alone. Unless you’re Amelia, but she’s basically a monster too anyway.”

“You’re telling me…” the [Royal Chef] scoffed.

She didn’t know if it was the pipe taking effect, or if it was because of Harlan’s words. But she found it quite comforting to know that not everyone here viewed Amelia as a normal person.

Edlyn was calmer now, and she was able to evaluate her circumstances in a much better state. Earlier, she was afraid that Harlan might not have been a normal person. But now that she could take a good look at him and the way he was acting, he seemed ordinary enough. Which was a relief to her.

She placed a hand on her chest, before she caught a glimpse of her own reflection. She was a mess. Her face was red, and her hair was anything but tidy. She realized she was the one who looked like an insane woman.

So she quickly cleared her throat as she tried to dust herself off. “And I’m, uh, sorry for my appearance. I just got here, and it’s been… a lot.”

Harlan just laughed, waving a hand off dismissively. “Don’t worry too much about it. I was the same way when I first met Amelia. She is quite… something.”

“Something is an understatement,” Edlyn muttered under her breath. She steeled herself and nodded at him. “So I’m not the only one who thinks Amelia is insane, huh?”

“Well, she certainly is crazy,” Harlan chuckled as he took a step back. “But don’t worry too much— you’ll get used to it eventually.”

“Are you sure about that?” The [Royal Chef] raised a brow. Somehow, she didn’t believe him. For very good reasons.

But he nodded at her reassuringly. “Trust me. Amelia is a very kind person. I wouldn’t even be here if not for her. She’s the reason I managed to get my act together.”

“I… see.” Edlyn was skeptical, but Harlan had no reason to lie. So she didn’t question it further. Instead, she slapped her face as she turned to the kitchen counter. “Well, I guess it’s time for me to get my act together too and learn these recipes for tomorrow.”

“You should— if you don’t, Amelia’s going to punish you like she did with the last [Chef],” Harlan said as he crossed his arms.

That made the [Royal Chef] freeze where she stood. She turned to him with wide eyes, staring at him in horror. She nearly dropped her pipe. “What…?”

“I’m kidding! I’m kidding!” Harlan quickly said as he raised both his hands. “Relax— as I said, Amelia is nice.”

Edlyn gritted her teeth, before shaking her head. “Please don’t make a joke like that again.”

“Alright. Sorry.” He scratched the back of his head, before nodding at her. “But I’m telling you, Amelia really isn’t a bad person.”

“You’re not being very convincing anymore…” Edlyn said simply.

“I’m serious!”

“Yeah, right.”

“Come on—”

And the two just chatted with each other as the [Royal Chef] began to cook, familiarizing herself with the menu of Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant.