Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

Zach's mouth hung open slightly as he blankly looked at everyone in the room.
Discover hidden content at мѵʟ

"So, you want to bench me, the strongest in the club, just because I didn't get a little beauty sleep?" Zach couldn't believe it.

"It's not just sleep. When was the last time you took a bath?"

"Are you really the strongest, though?" Nessa asked.

Zach ignored Anerias' question and turned to Nessa.

"Who are you saying is stronger than me?" He pointed at Liam.

"Liam? A fish and a crow. Before either scratches my barrier, he'll already be a goner. The same with everyone else in this room. Pure combat strength aside, if anything happens in the sewers, my barriers are the only things that will save everyone. And you're saying I sit this one out?"

"Tha—"

Zach interrupted Nessa before she could explain.

"And you choose the one time when we have a lead? We've finally found one of those disgusting bastards. We've finally found their hideous scent, and you want me to go to bed on time like I'm some child with a curfew?"

"That's not what I'm saying, you idiot!" With Zach's heated words and gestures, Nessa also couldn't help but get a little agitated. She shouted at Zach's face.

"If you're worried about us making progress without you or if you're worried about us, then we can simply not go to the sewers tonight! Any traces we would have found from that fucker you saw last night would already be gone by now. And if we, through some fucking miracle, find anything, it's a hair away from guaranteed to be a trap!

"I know you love springing traps by relying on your barriers, but if we find that blasted entrance or end up sucked below Basilia, do you want us to trust the barriers of someone who looks like they're about to crash? Can we trust your barriers?"

"..." Zach was silent. He didn't want to admit it, but he was maybe a pinch sleep-deprived. And Nessa was making a stupid amount of sense and bringing up many valid points.

"Be honest, Zach, can you even focus your eyes right now? 'Cause it looks like you're looking at my past, not me."

Zach wasn't sure what Nessa meant by that, but the others understood when they looked at his eyes. He was not looking at the present.

Nessa had half a mind to grab Zach, carry him to his dorm, and force him to sleep if he didn't give in.

"...fine."

Fortunately, for Zach's pride, it didn't come to that.

Zach didn't want to go along with it, but he wasn't so stubborn that he would resort to violence just because he didn't want to go to sleep. Even if others might find him childish at times, he was not a child. He didn't throw a tantrum just because he needed to go to bed a little earlier than he wanted.

He ignored the tantrum he had just thrown. With the state of his sleep-deprived mind, it was easy to forget such inconsequential things. In the end, Zach ended up in his bed without really knowing how or when he got there, and as soon as he did, he passed out.

Nora and Yanael exchanged looks.

"I see what you mean, Yanael."

"Yes. If he had pushed himself to the breaking point last year, he would have realized much sooner that he had gone too far now. But it's better late than never. With this, Master should have learned to pace himself."

"Hopefully."

"Hopefully. But if he hasn't, it is our duty to make sure he does, right?" Yanael made it sound like a question, but she wasn't asking whether it was their duty. She was confirming Nora's agreement.

"Yes." Nora nodded with a stoic expression. It had made her heart ache to see Zach wear himself thin and ragged like he had done the past couple of weeks. But the fact that he was doing so was proof that he hadn't learned anything from last year when he did the same.

If she wanted him to refrain from doing it again, he had to learn on his own that it did more bad than good.

Well, Nessa had stepped in before Zach could collapse, but it wasn't far away, and it might have been a good thing she did. The words of outsiders had an occasional tendency to pierce deeper than the words of those who were closest to one's heart.

Nora and Yanael watched over Zach while he slept. Fourteen hours later, Zach woke up to a four-course breakfast and a shoulder massage.

He couldn't believe how refreshed he felt afterward. Since he had slept a little every night the past few weeks, it had taken a while for the sleep deprivation to build up and fray his senses and nerves, so he hadn't been able to accurately tell how poor his condition was.

But now, he could clearly feel it, and it was like the difference between night and day. His eyes weren't foggy and grainy. His tongue wasn't dry and clumsy. It was great.

For the first time in a week, Zach could focus during the lessons. He could taste the food he ate. He could think thoughts that moved faster than a tired snail.

It almost felt like the day was extra long because of it. But just like any other day, it soon started grasping for the end, and the last class ended. It was finally time to start looking for the underworlders beneath Basilia again.

However, instead of just Dukiel, Julius, and Rabst, Zach was met with the entire club standing there, ready to leave.

"?" Zach raised an eyebrow.

"Nessa raised a very valid point yesterday, and while you were off catching up on beauty sleep, we figured that it all might have been a trap from the very beginning. The underworlder you guys saw, the man he 'dropped' by throwing him at Rabst, and how the man tried to attack Rierdan. It could be the first half of a trap to lure us back to that location in the sewers.

If it is, it's better we all go." Anerias spoke for the other club members when he informed Zach of the plans they had made yesterday evening.

"Alright." Zach shrugged. "Then, it's best I bring my second familiar."