Chapter 180

Chapter 180

Edlyn had resolved herself. For the sake of her friends and her family and the entirety of the Astrad Kingdom, she needed to do this. She was going to be leaving the Astra Palace— effectively temporarily resigning from one of the most prestigious positions in the world as the head [Royal Chef]— and sacrificing herself to that monster.

She looked up as she walked through the gilded halls of the Astra Palace. Up ahead, a tall archway led to an open courtyard. And there awaited her fate.

Amelia. A woman with brown hair. Seemingly harmless at first, dressed in strange clothing and with an unassuming sword sheathed at her side. With the way she stood and carried herself, she looked like she barely even knew how to swing a sword. Such a casual demeanor. It looked like she’d accidentally hurt herself if she drew her blade.

But Edlyn knew better now— after hearing the stories that Rowland Donovan and Wyn Stefard told. The fact that Amelia was able to defeat the [Knights of the Astral Order] with a flick of the wrist lent credence to their claims.

There were still some doubters, of course. Particularly, Jordan Cel was the most vocal one. Even though he had been defeated by a gust of air, he still refused to admit he was wrong. He still claimed that Rowland Donovan had gone senile and imagined seeing Amelia beat Jax in a duel.

However, Edlyn was not one of these doubters. She believed what she saw, and she believed what others saw. So she was nervous. She had taken a full day to prepare herself to leave for Wolfwater, but she couldn’t fully get rid of her anxiousness. And now, as she stepped out of the halls of the Astra Palace into the vast courtyard, her trepidation only grew worse.

It’ll be fine, she tried to reassure herself with logic. As long as I don’t do anything to upset Amelia, I’ll be fine.

King Jalen, Sir Rowland, Sir Wyn, and a handful of the [Knights of the Astral Order] were waiting there, standing in an orderly line. Even Jordan Cel was present, although he looked more disgruntled than ever.

“What a farce...” he muttered under his breath as he gave a sidelong glance towards Amelia. “Why are we doing anything to appease that fraud?”

No one acknowledged his statement. Edlyn pursed her lips, before shaking her head. If Sir Jordan can get away with his snide comments, then I’ll survive.

It wasn’t going to be anywhere near as bad as she thought, right? She walked up to King Jalen as he nodded at her.

“Thank you, [Chef] Edlyn. If anything happens to you... I shall ensure that your family will be able to live well for generations to come.” He placed a hand on her shoulder.

That did nothing to reassure her. Edlyn just took in a deep breath. She turned to face her fate.

“Are you ready?” Amelia asked as she raised a brow.

But I didn’t exactly have all the proper ingredients to make the best shrimp fried rice I could make. I knew that. So I really appreciated Edlyn’s criticism of my dish. There were plenty of [Chefs] in that room, but she was the only one who seemed to actually notice anything.

That was why I offered to hire her. And I wasn’t surprised that she said yes either. I wasn’t an idiot— I knew that King Jalen brought her out of the dining hall to convince her to work for me. I knew that this was a ploy to try and get me to side with the Astrad Kingdom against the Kingdom of Kal. I knew this would happen. In fact, I planned for it.

And maybe this scheme of theirs could work in the end. Maybe Edlyn could tug on my heartstrings and get me involved in the war. But as long as I came out of this ordeal with a new employee, it was worth it to me.

I looked down at Edlyn as I continued to carry her through the air. She had passed out a while ago. I had tried to take it slower than even when I was traveling with Garron. But the [Royal Chef] was an ordinary person— for the most part. So it made sense that she couldn’t quite handle this type of travel like high-leveled adventurers could.

I felt a bit bad for her. However, I wasn’t going to take a few days to get back to Wolfwater. So I continued on until I would arrive back at the farming village. While my trip to the Astra Palace was short, it was actually quite exhausting. Normally, I’d be at the back of my restaurant, just cooking away.

I never really had to deal with my customers— that was up to Harlan and Arthur. So being inundated with a flurry of questions from the nobles of the Astra Palace about my restaurant completely exhausted me. Even the [Knights] tried to pester me, asking me how I got to my level. I was completely honest when I said I didn’t have any levels, but most of them seemed to think I was joking.

And the [Chefs], too. They were the most bothersome bunch. They kept trying to poke and prod at me for how I got the recipe for the dish. Then when they heard I had worked with Xakor before, they tried to interrogate me on that too.

So I couldn’t wait to get back to Wolfwater so I could relax. I couldn’t wait to play with Bucky again, and I couldn’t wait to have a casual conversation with Nicole and Nolan. My restaurant wasn’t going to reopen until another day from now, so I had time to rest. Maybe I could even take some time to train Noele again.

I hadn’t done that in a while, and I felt bad about it.

The only annoyance I would probably have to deal with back in Wolfwater was Jax. He was definitely going to challenge me to a duel again. Even though I told him that we weren’t going to have another duel until he was SSS-ranked, he was persistent. Like a cockroach.

Anyways, I would deal with him when I had to deal with him. For now, I landed back in Wolfwater in a good mood. I carried Edlyn on my back as I walked back to my restaurant, prepared to be greeted by the smiling faces of my friends— ready to be pounced at by an excited Bucky. But instead, I saw...

Bucky sitting in the corner of the room with a broken wing. Garron being tended to by Arthur, covered in bandages and with an arm slung in a cast. And Noele slumped over a table, eyes-closed as her shirt was stained with blood.

I stared at this scene for a long moment. And then I could only sputter out.

“What the fuck happened while I was gone?”