Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

Zach waited a few hours as he let Derot sleep before tapping him on the knee with the tip of his boot and asking,

"So, what's the situation in the capital?" Zach waited patiently as Derot pulled himself out of the envious swamp of sleep and rubbed his eyes, surprised at how well he dozed off.

"...It's a little messy, to be honest. I've somehow managed to deal with smaller troublemakers, but they were more of a nuisance than anything. Right now, the ones causing the most trouble for us is a group called the Kadricke Coalition." Derot glanced out the window as he spoke, worried about the sounds of fighting he heard in the distance. He glanced at Zach.

"Monsters," Zach answered the silent question. The world essence energy helped hide whatever it was on him that attracted monsters, but it wasn't perfect. It only helped hide, it didn't perfectly conceal it. So, every now and then, monsters would come looking for him.

But it worked out well for Zach right now since he needed every last cockroach so that he could get to level thirty as soon as possible and summon his next familiar. He was going to the capital, after all. Another explosive in his arsenal couldn't hurt.

Derot nodded with an, 'Ah' before continuing to introduce Zach to the capital and their enemies–those who were trying to keep them from expanding their business.

Eventually, long before Nessa and the others even left the central region, Zach, Derot, Nora, Yanael, Alzara, and Soara arrived at the capital.

"Um, do you mind if I ask you to ask your familiars to ride inside the carriage?" Derot asked Zach when they got close enough that others might see and recognize the carriage and start thinking and doing unnecessary things about the maids on top of the carriage.

Zach glanced at the carriage's ceiling. He shrugged, his arms still crossed.

"What are you worried about?"

"Uhh…" Derot hesitated. He wanted to say a lot of things. "Reputation, mostly." But he soon settled for a simple answer. As an up-and-coming alchemist guild, they didn't need the added label of being led by a crazy young master with a maid and bragging fetish.

"Don't worry. This will work in our favor," Zach said confidently.

"Will it?" Derot was skeptical. But Zach just nodded with a smile asking Derot to trust him.

Derot sighed lightly and looked outside the window. It wasn't like anything would change even if he continued pestering Zach about it. He wasn't even going to try and talk to Zach's familars directly about it. They had heard their conversation. If they cared enough to go against Zach's wishes, they would have done so already.

The three maids on top of the carriage earned them more than one or two looks from other travelers and the guards at the capital's gates. But both Derot and Evandiel were used to the spotlight.

Derot had grown up and been raised as a potential successor to one of the noteworthy merchant houses in the South. He wasn't allowed to be affected by how others looked at him. He was supposed to take note of and analyze it but not be affected by it.

Zach had been awkward as a kid due to his unfortunate circumstances, which had led to an—in hindsight—embarrassing first year at the Academy. But he had also gone on to summon three overwhelmingly beautiful maid familiars. He was used to people looking at him in a mix of fascination, weirdness, and awe.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

But a few minutes later, it was Zach and Derot's turn to stare and gawk but not in any mix of fascination, weirdness, and awe.

They looked at the burning warehouse in disbelief.

"I thought you said the situation was under control?" Zach asked.

"...I said it wasn't that messy anymore. That just means I know who did this, not that I can stop them or retaliate." Derot shrugged. It wasn't the first warehouse fire, it wasn't their only warehouse, and their losses weren't enough to make him cry. This much was manageable. He glanced at Zach.

"Don't even think about it," Derot warned.

"What?"

"I know what that look in your eye means, you musclehead. Just because you're here now does not mean we're going to use force to solve everything. Even trying will only work against us."

"...I'm not saying that's what I was thinking, but why is that?"

"This is the capital of the Empire. It is the most important city of all regions. It's the home of the imperial family. Please explain to me why you think it would be a good idea to use force."

"That would have been a valid point," Zach nodded toward the warehouse fire now being smothered by a barrier, "If not for that. Why can they torch our buildings but we can't retaliate?"

"Because the knights and the guards don't know who did that. But they will know if you pull up with your maids and start rampaging. They will also know who did it if we retaliate in a similar manner."

"That sounds…"

"Unfair?"

"...Yeah."

"Look in the mirror before talking about fairness," Derot said sharply.

"Hey?"

"Sorry. I've been a little stressed recently."

"I don't blame you. But if force is a no-go, what do we do?" Zach asked.

Since they couldn't retaliate or have the knights and guards in charge of protecting the city go after the ones who did it, what were they supposed to do? Watch their supplies turn to ash and rise to the sky and become stars?

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Zach's time at the Academy had been focused solely on solving everything with force. He was at a loss now that Derot was telling him that wouldn't fly in the capital. Without being allowed to overpower their competition with brute force, there wasn't much Zach could do.

Derot returned to the carriage with a grin on his face.

"We? Now that you're here, you can take it easy. I have an idea."

Since Zach wanted to make use of his infamy to lower their opponents' guards, Derot could only fall in line and take advantage of that.

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