Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

Zach's vision slowly improved, thanks to his world essence energy and Alzara's potions. But even after a day when it was time for the entrance ceremony and the first day of classes to begin, he still couldn't see clearly. However, his other senses were at least good enough for him to pick out the presences of his friends.

He went to find them as soon as the entrance ceremony finished. Together, they headed for the city, which they had all intentionally refrained from looking at since they returned to the Academy. They didn't want to do it alone, and they didn't want to start before the school year started.

The Underworld and Monolith were like weights on their shoulders. There was no need to pick them back up again after the break before the break was even over. But now that the break was over, they had to get ready to fight for their lives and their graduation again.

On the way to the city, Dukiel, Anerias, Violina, and Nessa teased Zach a little about summoning another battle maid familiar, but what was there to tease? That she was SSS-rank? As soon as Zach revealed that, they shut up pretty quickly.

But the silence didn't last long before Nessa asked how he managed to summon a familiar when he had been in the capital. That took them down a whole other rabbit hole of questioning about what he was doing with the princess and the Empress Dowager.

As a Duke's son, it wasn't strange for Zach to be on good terms with the Imperial Palace, but he wasn't just on good terms after their latest break. He was chummy with two highly valued members of the imperial family. And it was on a personal level. It had next to nothing to do with his status as a Duke's son.

While they had been rolling around in the dirt in the Jira Labyrinth, Zach had gone to spas with the Empress Dowager and the Princess. While they bathed in blood, he bathed in rose water. While they ate beef jerky, he ate food good enough to become a family heirloom.

As if that wasn't enough, he had made a fortune while doing it since his Nyasm Desert Guild had taken off and soared into the sky. Zach had been spoiled with enough money from his family to never worry about going hungry with just one month's allowance.

Now, he dwarfed that number on a weekly basis. Of course, he sent most of it right back into the guild since he didn't need that much money, especially if he was just going to sit on it. But he was still rich.

The others lamented their fates. Maybe they should have bugged Zach about using their talents to help him establish his guild. Maybe they should have done something similar on their own.

But when they thought about it, they realized it wasn't feasible. The only things they could help Zach with, he could either do on his own or Derot was already handling.

And none of them had anything they could turn into a flourishing business. Violina could probably make a profit selling ice during summers or in the South. But she would have to do that on her own. It wasn't like she could hand off the recipes for ice to a bunch of workers and let them do it for her.

It was the same with Dukiel's Enhance. He could charge a hefty price for the use of his skill. But he was the only one with that skill, and he could only use it once a day. Besides, no matter the money, he would much rather use it for himself. With his current strength, if he needed money, he could just go out and hunt a stack of monsters.

"What about you guys?" Zach asked, changing the topic. He felt like bragging about his repeated success in the capital wouldn't do him any good.

"...We couldn't find the rat king," Anerias answered with a sigh. He had long since understood that he couldn't compare to Zach, so he didn't even bother trying to hide their failure.

Zach blinked. Right. They were trying to do that.

"It's understandable. Does anyone have it figured out?" He asked curiously. He didn't even know the trick himself. He had just done it. It would be interesting to know what the actual mechanic behind it was.

Anerias shook his head, downcast.

"No one knows how you did that, Zach," Violina said.

'Including me.' Zach nodded. He knew it most likely had something to do with being directionally challenged, but it couldn't be that easy.

"How deep did you guys get, then?"

"The fifteenth floor," Dukiel answered.

Zach's eyes widened.

"That's pretty good. It's better than me."

"How far did you go?" Anerias asked eagerly.

"The first."

"..."

"We also had help from Rabst. He told us to say hi, by the way."

"Oh, is he staying in the East?"

"Yeah. He liked Jira, apparently. And he didn't have anything else to do, so he's been hanging out there since he graduated."

"And did you meet my family?"

"We did. Honestly, Zach, it's amazing you are even related to them." Nessa looked at Zach's face with her head tilted to the side, scrutinizing him. His hair color told them he was an Evandiel. But personality wise…

"What do you mean…?" Zach asked worriedly.

"They were all so nice to us."

"..." Zach blankly looked at Nessa.

"...What about the baby?" Zach looked at Dukiel.

"...The baby's fine. He's even got a name now. Minatio."

"Minatio?" Zach asked, doubting his ears.

"Yeah."

"Who named him?"

"I think Lexi took credit for it."

"Figures. Horrible name."

"What? I think it's cute," Nessa said. The others nodded and agreed with her.

Zach's eyes narrowed and he looked at them like he was concerned for their well-being.

"You guys haven't noticed…?"

"Noticed what?"

"Minatio. Abo-minatio-n."

"..."

"...There's no way, right?"

"It's Lexi." Zach shrugged.

"Poor kid…" Anerias' voice trailed off as he looked ahead.

The others couldn't even wonder what he was about to say since they were also looking forward. They had arrived at what remained of Basilia.