Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

Zach got lost the moment he tried to walk somewhere more complex than a straight hallway. Yanael wasn't much better. Alzara was a little better than that as long as she was in a desert. Soara refused to admit she was similar in any way. But she was admittedly a little better at finding her way than everyone else. Or maybe she was just luckier.

So far, Zach hadn't noticed a similar trait in Mandra. She was an SSS-rank familiar, after all. She was a being close to perfection. She wouldn't have such a glaring flaw.

But they also hadn't been in many situations since he summoned her where she had been responsible for finding the way without relying on magic.

However, as it turned out, there was a reason she wasn't more insistent on teleporting to help Zach arrive at his destinations quicker.

Her flaw wasn't strictly limited to the traditional sense of direction. It affected her teleportation's navigation.

"Well…It's not that big of a deal," Zach said after a while since he could tell Mandra was uncomfortable.

"This forest looks familiar, doesn't it? I'm sure we aren't that far away," He added confidently.

His familiars took one additional glance around just to make sure.

"Master, we have never been in this forest before," Yanael said. She might not know where they were, but she did know where they weren't. They had been in a couple of forests, and none of them looked like the one they were in.

"Hum." Zach nodded like that was what he said.

The trees were shorter and skinnier and covered in vines. Their leaves were wide and grew only from the top. It felt humid.

It was more a jungle than a forest.

"Want to try again?" He asked Mandra.

She hesitated.

"I…can take us back if I'm fast enough to reopen the path before it closes completely, Master." Even if she wanted to try again, she knew better. They would just end up somewhere else and by then, it would be too late to find their way, whether they wanted back to the Imperial Palace or anywhere else.

"Let's do that, then." Zach nodded.

Mandra nodded and used her magic to reverse the spell and follow the traces back to the imperial palace. Another vertigo-inducing, instant-long trip later, they found themselves on the Imperial Palace's doorstep.

An order of knights surrounded them when they appeared. They were about to point their weapons at Zach and his familiars when they recognized him. But they couldn't just back down because of an apparent likeness.

"Zach?" Rienne called out from the palace side of the knights.

"Rienne?" He said questioningly. This situation was familiar. He didn't think it would happen again so soon. He hadn't even done anything this time.

Rienne dismissed the knights with a wave as she walked over.

"The Palace alarms went off. You wouldn't happen to be the cause?"

"Uh…would teleportation close to the Palace trigger those alarms?"

"Yes," She answered immediately.

"Then, no. I have no idea why that would happen, and I certainly don't have anything to do with it." Zach denied it, lying straight to Rienne's face. Rienne sighed. It was clear as day that Zach was the reason. He had not been there a couple of seconds before.

"It's fine. Just…Do it a little further away from the Palace next time."

"Got it—I mean…" Zach's voice trailed off. There was no point in insisting on his innocence.

"How are you feeling, Zach?" Rienne took the initiative to change the subject.

"Better, but not perfect." Zach was thankful. It seemed being an Archduke meant he wouldn't get in trouble for provoking an emergency response or triggering the Palace's alarms.

"That's good, that's good." Rienne nodded. She did not know what to say now.

"..."

"I'm…—"

"I'm sorry," Zach apologized before Rienne could.

Rienne's face scrunched up in confusion.

"For triggering the alarms?" She asked. It was the only thing she could think of, but hadn't they already put that in the past?

"For taking out my anger toward my family on you. You were just carrying out your duty, but I behaved childishly and blamed you for it."

Rienne's eyes widened.

"You do NOT need to apologize for that, Zach!" She exclaimed. Why was Zach apologizing for being arrested?

"If anyone should apologize, it's me," She said. "I should have known that you weren't involved. If I had spoken up about it—"

"You would have lost favor with the Emperor and the nobles. I don't know if you're aiming for the crown, but I know that Yan was pretty miserable when the Palace was against him. If you had taken my side when the Empire thought I was a traitor, you would have ended up the same as him.

"Take it from someone who traveled with him for several weeks. It's a good thing that things went down the way they did."

Rienne's eyes widened. She wasn't sure what to think of what Zach had just said, but since that's what he thought, she didn't have the right to insist that she had wronged him. Eventually, she just sighed.

"Alright, if that's what you think, I'll hold off on my apology."

"Feel free to erase it."

"I still feel guilty."

"Channel that guilt into productivity and convince your father to give the East a tax break for a couple of years."

Rienne gave Zach a deadpan look. Was he even interested in the East?

"Derot already managed to negotiate that."

"Oh. I knew he was trustworthy."

"You might be the only one who thinks that." Rienne just shook her head.

The capital's nobles had many words to describe Derot. None of them would use the same one as Zach.

Zach shrugged. That meant he was the only one who could trust Derot.

"So, what are you doing here? I thought you were still asleep or already gone."

"I…" Zach paused and turned to the side.

"...was waiting for my ride." He said with a wide smile as he waved to greet Anerias and the Darkwing.