Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Chapter 206

After speaking with Amelia, Noele said her goodbyes to both Bucky and Arthur. The chicken actually stopped eating to cuddle against the blonde girl’s legs for a while. Arthur was less bothered about the news.

The former Lich King wasn’t that close to Noele. They were close acquaintances at best. And that was partly due to the blonde girl’s fault. After all, she had been against sparing him at first, when Amelia had decided to give him a second… or third, or fourth, or whatever chance at life.

So Noele had been apprehensive to even approach Arthur when he started working at Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant. It took her a while to warm up to him. In fact, she only began to actively talk to him after he had helped save her life against Nicholas.

But now she was already leaving.

“Good luck,” that was all he said.

“Thanks.”

Noele waited for Harlan and Edlyn to return to say goodbye to them as well. The two of them were barely acquaintances with the blonde girl. However, Noele had saved Harlan’s life a few times, and she knew he admired her. So the least she could have done was tell him she was leaving. They had a short conversation, before Noele took her leave.

On her way out, she passed by Jax who was coming to clock in for her for the day. He had become a regular part-time employee at this point. And when Noele opened her mouth to tell him she was leaving, he interrupted her.

“I know. I heard everything you said.” The elf pointed at his ears.

“Hopefully you’ll be strong enough to give me a real challenge when you return,” Jax snorted in response.

She also caught Dorien while she was leaving Wolfwater. He just waved at her, and she returned the gesture. She was used to not seeing the [Druid] for long periods of time, so they didn’t need to give each other a long farewell.

And with that, that was everyone Noele needed to speak to at Bucky’s Out of this World Restaurant. So she then headed back for her Papa’s farm to deal with a more difficult farewell.

—--

“This is a bit sudden, isn’t it?” Nolan asked as he settled down into a chair.

He was still dressed in his working clothes, drenched in sweat with a towel slung over his shoulder. He rubbed his temples as he tried to process what Noele was saying. Nicole walked up to him from behind and placed a hand on his shoulder.

“She’s all grown up now, dear,” Nicole said as she looked up at her daughter. “We can’t tell her what to do, and she’s already traveled all around Laxo on her own.”

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Noele bit her lower lip as she saw her Papa’s reaction to the news.

Nolan shook his head as he leant back in his chair. “I understand that. But still— shouldn’t you give us more of a heads-up?”

He looked towards his daughter. And the blonde girl shuffled her feet.

“Sorry, Papa. I spent a lot of time thinking about it, but I need to do this. For all of our sake.” Noele didn’t elaborate any further.

She knew her parents wouldn’t question her that much. After all, she was a well-renowned adventurer. While not everything she dealt with was quite as grand of a scale as what she was setting off to do right now, they knew better than to press her over something she didn’t want to share.

As an adventurer, Noele had witnessed many terrible things throughout the years. Any adventurer like her would come to understand that the world was not a kind place. That was why so many adventurers quit in under a year, or simply kept to dealing with jobs around their city.

Nolan and Nicole both knew just how much stress it took to be an adventurer. So they didn’t question their daughter. But still, they cared for her. They were worried about her. They had always been worried about her, even when she had run away from Wolfwater to pursue her dreams.

“I understand that you have a duty— that you have responsibilities,” Nolan finally said as he got back to his feet. “But you should at least give us a day to come to terms with this. The last time you left us… you didn’t return for years.”

Noele pursed her lips when she heard that. She closed her eyes and lowered her head. “I know, and I’m sorry.”

She thought about how many times she had wanted to come back— but she decided against it, wanting to only return after she had become an A-ranked adventurer. Even if she stayed in communication with her parents. It still hurt her to be separated from them for so long.

“This time,” the blonde girl said as she raised her head. “I promise you, I will return whenever I think about you. Whenever I start to feel like I miss you. I will come back.”

“Don’t say that,” Nicole chuckled, taking a step forward. “You’re putting too much pressure on yourself. I know you have many important matters you need to address, so you can take your time, my sweet little pumpkin pie. As long as you do return.”

“Mama…” Noele flushed when she heard the nickname.

Nolan scowled as he crossed his arms. “Why are you dissuading our daughter from visiting us more often? We hadn’t seen her for years, and we’ve only spent a few months back together.”

“And we will have plenty more time to spend with her once she’s done with what she needs to do. Isn’t that right?” Nicole said, turning to the blonde girl.

Noele paused for a moment, wondering if that was even possible if she failed. If she uncovered that the World System was evil, and she was killed for it. She would never see her parents ever again if that happened. Even if Amelia ultimately saved the world— which was not even a given.

Noele shook her head, dismissing the grim thoughts, before nodding. “That’s right, I will stay for longer when I return. But… I think you’re right too, Papa.”

She turned to Nolan, and he blinked. She held his gaze.

“I don’t need to leave right now. Not yet, anyway. So I can stay for another day.”

“...are you sure?” Nolan asked apprehensively, but his eyes lit up, betraying the tone of his voice.

“I am certain.” Noele nodded and walked up to her parents. “It’s just one extra day, right?”

She smiled at the two of them. They exchanged a glance, before moving to hug the blonde girl.

“You’ve really grown a lot, haven’t you?” Nolan said as he tightly clutched his daughter.

“Nora would be very proud to see how far you’ve come,” Nicole said with a kind smile.

Noele closed her eyes as she embraced them. “Thank you, Mama, Papa.”

And while she was glad that she resolved this. There was still someone else she needed to talk to. But she wasn’t sure how to break it to him.