Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Chapter 80

Chapter 80

Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant. I thought it was a good name— fitting, too. After all, both Xakor and I were otherworlders. We would be serving food that quite literally didn’t exist in Vacuos. Of course, we’d make it palatable to fit with this world’s tastes, and we’d also serve food that was considered normal here.

I renovated this entire building on my own. It took a little bit of trial and error to polish up this place. I had even crafted the furniture myself. While the tables and chairs weren’t exactly ornate, they were functional, which was what mattered. I had worked with Nolan to get the ingredients, and Nicole had helped acquire everything else, so the restaurant would be ready to go. And today was finally the day. 

The restaurant was actually going to be open for the public after a week and a half. I was a little bit nervous. But I had higher hopes for this restaurant than I did for my food stall back in Windrip. I was certain I would at least get a single customer this time around, right? After all, while we hadn’t attached Xakor’s name to the restaurant itself, we were advertising ourselves as a restaurant run by a high-leveled [Chef].

And on the first day of the restaurant’s opening, no one showed up. 

On the second day, no one showed up again.

On the third day, no one showed up— until the very end of the day as the sun was setting over the horizon. And I finally had my first customer.

—--

Harlan returned to Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant five minutes later. He remembered the chicken— he recalled that strange woman. It had been like witnessing a fever dream while fully sober, but he wasn’t sure if he had actually been sober. It was such an odd place, he really didn’t want to return. Especially considering that the chef wasn’t a [Chef]. She was an adventurer. The food… probably sucked.

However, his hunger drove him forward. It forced him back to the unassuming hut, despite the fact that an adventurer was running the place. He hesitantly pushed the door open as he heard a cluck from the other side.

“Bawk bawk!” a chicken greeted him, and he blinked.

“H-hi?” he said. It stood by the doorway, hopping up and down as it waved a wing. “You’re… Bucky, right?”

The chicken nodded before turning around. It scampered towards a counter as Harlan just watched. 

“Bawk bawk bawk bawk!” the chicken loudly clucked. “Bawk bawk!”

“Wait, we actually have a customer?” a voice said lazily, emerging from behind the counter. Harlan shifted back uncomfortably as he recognized the brown-haired woman. “Just before we closed, too. That’s convenient—” she started.

And she paused when she caught sight of Harlan. Her brows snapped together, evidently remembering who he was too.

“Oh, you’re that guy who was sleeping on our property.” Amelia narrowed her eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re here looking for a place to stay. I heard about what you did at Jerome’s house. I’m not going to give you any charity.”

That made Harlan purse his lips. He couldn’t believe that those rumors had even spread here. He tried to work his jaw as the adventurer-farmer-chef stared at him. 

“I… that was an accident,” he mustered up. 

“How do you accidentally drink an entire barrel of beer?” she asked flatly. “That just sounds like an excuse. But, like, not even a good excuse. It’s just a bad lie.”

“That’s—” Harlan hesitated. It was definitely a lie. And she saw through it immediately. He glanced back out the window towards the setting sun, before shaking his head. “Look, I’m not here to break into the place. I’m just here for the food,” he finally said.

Amelia frowned. She studied him for a moment, and his stomach rumbled. He flushed, clutching his empty belly. He slunk into a seat as she finally acquiesced.

“As long as you’re paying, I guess.” She reached behind the counter and produced a paper menu. 

That surprised Harlan. She handed it to him, and he just stared for a moment. Most taverns just had a menu scribbled up at the front. But the fact that this place had an actual paper menu… it amazed him for a moment. This place was fancy. Was it really a proper restaurant? It was partially owned by Xakor, right? That meant the food could actually be good.

He shifted back in his seat, and the chair creaked. Blinking, he looked down to see the chair legs bending from his weight. He pursed his lips at that. Nevermind, the thought crossed his mind. I don’t think this food will be… palatable.

“Don’t tear it up,” Amelia said as she drew back. “We only have like a dozen of those. Just call out when you’re ready to make an order. We’re supposed to close up at sundown… but since you’re my first customer, I’ll let you take your time.”

“Uh, thanks.” Harlan nodded. 

His eyes scanned the menu as the chicken sauntered after the brown-haired woman. She was just about to vanish back into the kitchen when Harlan frowned. 

“Wait,” he called out. 

Amelia stopped mid-step, before glancing back. “What is it?”

His lips twisted as he traced a finger over the menu. He eyed one of the menu items. “What’s a… pita?” 

“It’s like a kind of flatbread. It’s a side dish— you don’t usually eat it by itself without something like hummus or whatever.” Amelia quickly explained, waving a hand dismissively. She turned back around as she continued towards the kitchen. “If that’s everything…”

“Wait,” Harlan called out again. “What’s a hummus?”

“It’s a dip made from chickpeas, garlic, and a bunch of other ingredients,” she said, glancing back at him once more. “I—”

“And what’s a kebab?” he asked, eyeing another menu item.

Her brows furrowed. “It’s just skewered meat. Don’t you guys have that here?”

“Oh, we do. It’s just called… a skewer.” 

“Fair.” Amelia stepped back. “Now, just—”

“Wait, what’s a falafel?” Harlan piped up once more.

And she sighed. She dragged her feet back towards him and crossed her arms. Bucky just followed, hobbling over.  

“Look,” Amelia said, coming to a halt before his table. “Why don’t I just go over everything on the menu for you?”

“Yes, please.” 

—--

Harlan eventually settled on a dish called pilaf. He thought it had a strange name, and it honestly didn’t sound appetizing at all. But he was too hungry to care. At the very least, it was the cheapest of the main course items on the menu. It was pretty much all he could afford. But he just wasn’t sure what to expect.

This was a restaurant. A proper dining establishment. It wasn’t like the inns or bars he’d normally visit on a night out for drinks and dinner. The food served here was supposed to be cooked by a Level 20 [Chef] at the very minimum. But there was no [Chef]. There was just that brown-haired woman. An adventurer who renovated this small rundown building over the span of a few hours.

But despite her speed, the fact that the renovations weren’t… the best, was proof that she was just an adventurer, nothing more. Harlan swept his gaze over the restaurant. There were a dozen tables and chairs set up, many of them shoddily built, lacking the uniformity that would come from being an expert [Carpenter]. There really wasn’t much design put into the indoor decor either.

The walls, at the very least, had been painted over. And the old broken windows had been replaced. However, it was still pretty plain, especially for what was supposed to be a proper restaurant. 

Harlan waited, shifting in his creaking seat as he heard the clamor of cooking from the kitchen. His eyes darted around, landing on Bucky who was casually lying down in the corner of the room. The sun had already set at this point, and it was dark outside. The former guardsman wasn’t looking forward to scouring Wolfwater for a place to stay tonight— not especially when he likely wasn’t going to be able to convince anyone to give him shelter.

He had managed to survive here in this village longer than he thought he would, but now it was over. Honestly, Harlan wondered how it had come to this. He had come to Wolfwater with… hopes. Not high hopes. But he sought out sanctuary, and he had come from the city. He had expected that it wouldn’t be too hard to find a job here in some rural village. As a Level 17 [Spearman], it shouldn’t have been too difficult to work as some sort of hunter or guard here.

Unfortunately, his chances were probably squandered now that half of Wolfwater hated him. He sighed as he leant against the table. 

“I should just go back…” he murmured.

“You’re still going to have to pay for your meal, even if you leave right now,” Amelia said as she strode up to his table. She carried a steaming bowl as he blinked and looked up. “Your order’s ready.”

“O-oh, thank you.” Harlan straightened, and she set the plate down. 

He eyed the dish with a frown, seeing the yellow rice and diced onions. There were nuts thrown into the mix too, alongside a little bit of meat. But— 

“Why is the rice yellow?” he asked apprehensively.

“Because of the turmeric, I think.” Amelia took a step back and shrugged.

“You… think?” Harlan pursed his lips. He poked the rice with a fork, before glancing back up at her. “Did Xakor teach you how to cook this?”

“Uh, sure,” she said. “I just follow his instructions or whatever. The recipes are all from the Patron of the Culinary Arts!” She gave the former guardsman a forced smile as she weakly pumped a fist.

“The Culinary Sciences,” he corrected her. 

“Yeah, that.” Amelia rolled her eyes. “Just give the pilaf a try, and let me know what you think.”

“Alright…” 

Harlan slowly dragged the plate closer as the brown-haired woman hovered over him like a hawk. He wondered why she was just standing there and waiting for him. It honestly was weirding him out. But he didn’t say anything.

He just remembered how fast she had been moving when she was fixing up this restaurant. She had been like a hurricane— a walking natural disaster. As odd as she was, the former guardsman really didn’t want to upset her. So he tried to ignore her piercing gaze as he dug into the pilaf.

“Here goes,” he whispered to himself.

His hand trembled as he raised the spoonful of yellow rice into his mouth. He hoped it wasn’t poisoned. An [Herbalist] had once told him that bright-colored mushrooms were poisonous, and while he was pretty sure the same didn’t apply to rice, he couldn’t be too careful with an unqualified [Chef]. Sure, he wasn’t a [Chef] either, and he regularly cooked for himself at home. But other than simple dishes, he never really made anything that looked nearly as complex as this pilaf.

“Hurry up already,” Amelia said flatly. “It’s going to get cold.”

“Right.” He gulped hesitantly, before plunging the spoon into his mouth. He closed his eyes, bracing for the worst. He was ready to collapse onto the floor from food poisoning, but—

An explosion of flavor invaded his mouth. Harlan’s eyes widened as an eclectic mix of spices ran down his tongue. He slowly chewed, and the rice melted like butter, before his teeth crunched on the nuts. He gulped again, this time, savoring the taste of this dish.

“This is… actually really good!” he exclaimed, getting to his feet. 

Amelia blinked for a few moments, like she was waiting for something else. But when that ‘something else’ didn’t come, she uncrossed her arms.

“That’s it? You don’t think it’s unrefined just because I’m not a Level 30 [Chef]?” she asked.

Harlan shook his head. “I thought it would be terrible— I mean, it doesn’t look great.” He gestured at the dish itself.

Amelia frowned. “Thanks, I put a lot of effort into the presentation. Good to know it still sucks.”

“But the flavor… it’s amazing!” He gestured wildly around before scooping up another spoonful of pilaf and chomping down on it. He quickly scarfed down the dish as she watched. “I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this before!”

“Well, that’s a relief.” A smile slipped onto Amelia’s face. “So you like it, then?”

“I love it,” Harlan said, placing the empty plate down onto the table. “I have heard that Xakor invents amazing recipes, but to think he can create a dish that even a non-[Chef] can cook well? He has outdone himself this time!”

The brown-haired woman’s smile vanished. She opened her mouth, then caught herself. She just sighed. “You win some, you lose some. But this is good enough, I guess.”

Harlan just slumped back in his chair, letting out a self-satisfied groan. It was delicious. He wasn’t sure if it was because he had been famished, or if it was actually that delectable. But he thought the pilaf had been amazing. He wanted to pass out right there and then into a food coma, but Amelia spoke up.

“Anyways, pay up.” She brought a hand forward, and he blinked at her. “We need to close up. It’s past sundown. So pay up.” 

The former guardsman sat up, staring at her. He hurriedly dug into his coin pouch, then paused. He felt the lack of coins in there— he barely had any money left. This would be the last of his savings, and after this, he would be completely broke. He hesitated as Amelia gave him an expectant look.

“Well?” She waited.

He knew he had to fork over the payment. She was an adventurer— she would kill him if he delayed any longer. But he couldn’t just pay her. Not when he would have nothing left. And a thought crossed his mind. A stupid thought.

“I was thinking… for payment,” Harlan started, averting his gaze. “Could I maybe work for you as payment instead?”

And Amelia blinked. “What?”

MelasD

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