Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

Patient Zero hadn't just lost a dear friend or a maid. She had lost everything. Her lover, all of her friends, her children, her parents and siblings, her neighbors, and her people. As if that wasn't enough, she had also doomed her entire world.

What had he lost? One person.

He still had his family. He still had his friends. He still had his familiars. He still had a home to return to.

"I-I'm sorry," he started saying, tears welling up in his eyes again as he returned Patient Zero's hug.

How could she claim to know his feelings? No. How could he dare to question that claim?

Patient Zero understood the feelings in Zach's apology. He wasn't apologizing for being rude to her. That certainly wouldn't have been enough to make him cry.

He was apologizing because he had made light of her grief. He was apologizing because he didn't know what else to do.

"Aw, kid, I didn't tell you that to tell you not to grieve just because I've been through worse. You don't compare grief, kid. You share it," Patient Zero said, tightening her hug on Zach to the point where it almost became difficult to breathe.

Zach didn't mind. The suffocating pressure was nice in a way. It was like he was tightly wrapped in a blanket, protected from the harsh world outside.

"Now, tell me."

"T-tell you?" Zach asked between sobs.

"Tell me everything about this girl."

At first, Zach didn't know why he had to tell Patient Zero anything about Nora.

Nora was his. He wanted her all to himself. But before he knew it…

"She—Nora was stubborn and annoying.

"When I didn't want to get up in the mornings, she would resort to any tactic to get me out of bed. She would tickle me, snatch my duvet, flip me out of the bed onto the floor, press a pillow over my face, or slip ice cubes into my shirt.

"She would force or trick me into eating the things I didn't like. She would make sure I studied. She would…

"She would crawl into bed and hug me when I had nightmares. She always made my favorite snacks. Whenever I got lost, she would be the one to find me and lead me back."

Zach looked at Nora's face. He hoped that now that he had said all these embarrassing things, she would wake up with a laugh and tell him it was all a joke.

But it wasn't.

It wasn't a joke. Nora wasn't waking up.

So, he continued talking.

He told Patient Zero everything he knew about Nora. It was a lot, but Zach's mouth didn't even dry out. He didn't take a break.

How could he when he was talking about Nora?

Even if only for his sake, he would make sure to tell Patient Zero everything he knew and memorize it. He was not forgetting a single detail about the life Nora had lived with him. She deserved at least as much, and Zach was sure she would have done the same if not more for him.

No, in fact, she might have done something worse.

Without anyone to stop her, she might have joined him should the roles have been reversed.

Nora was self-sacrificing, and she attached herself to Zach almost like his familiars. It was entirely plausible.

When that thought struck Zach, he considered doing it. He was silent for a long while as he thought about the possibility of meeting Nora again in death.

It might have been worth trying if he didn't have a bunch of strings tying him to life. His rationality and his feelings toward his familiars won out. Patient Zero's presence also helped.

Zach lay down next to Nora, his hand over hers. He looked at the sky. Patient Zero lay down next to him.

"...Can the Blight—"

"No." Patient Zero's answer was immediate.

"Even if it could, it wouldn't be Nora. It would only be her body moving according to the Blight's hostile will."

"..."

"...I'm not ready to let go of her," Zach said, his voice hoarse and raw. Read new adventures at My Virtual Library Empire

"Then don't," Patient Zero answered with a clear voice.

"Don't let go of her, kid. Hold onto her tight. Remember her. Preserve her body for as long as you want."

"I…It hurts so much," Zach placed a hand on his chest. He turned his head toward Patient Zero.

"D-does it ever stop…?" He asked. Maybe it was a little insensitive, but he had to know. Did it get better? It had been so long since Patient Zero lost her family, after all.

Patient Zero looked straight into Zach's eyes. It was like she was seeing her own all those years ago.

She saw the pain of the burning void in the center of Zach's chest.

It was a wonder how emptiness could hurt so much. It was like the emptiness left behind by the ones who left first was made of fire.

That was why Patient Zero desperately wanted to tell Zach that it got better. That it stopped hurting. But she couldn't do that, not when she was still grieving.

"...It will stop when you stop loving Nora," Patient Zero finally answered in a roundabout way.

Zach understood.

He would never stop loving and missing Nora. It would never stop hurting.

Patient Zero continued as if to answer the questions written on his face.

"You learn to live with it. It's like carrying a stone. If you do it every day, it suddenly isn't as heavy. It's still there, but you've grown strong enough to carry it."

"..." Zach didn't ask anything else. He turned back to continue looking at the empty sky.

Patient Zero was also silent.

She didn't mention that there was another alternative.

Instead of learning to carry the grief, one could end up consumed by it.

That was what had happened to her. And that was why she didn't mention it to Zach. She didn't want to see it happening to him.