Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

Zach walked along the streets, weaving between houses with Alzara and Yanael by his side for a good ten minutes before he suddenly stopped walking. He looked up in realization.

In two other spots in the underwater city, Violina and Nessa also stopped walking. They froze, and their eyes widened similarly to Zach's.

"'Ah…'"

At the same time, all three of them remembered one of Zach's most prominent traits.

He didn't have a fucking sense of direction. How the fuck was he supposed to find his way back to the plaza? He was doomed.

"Well…" Nessa shrugged and kept moving.

Violina sighed and shook her head slightly, in a state of disbelief. She couldn't understand how she had forgotten that part of Zach's nature. Then, she also kept walking, looking for anything to help them survive the ocean when it collapsed on them.

Zach stayed still.

He turned to Yanael. She shook her head. She did not know the way back.

He turned to Alzara. She shrugged like she was saying it wasn't her fault. Even if the color of the stones resembled the color of sand, it was a city, and, as if that wasn't enough, it was underwater. There was no sunlight or stars for her to follow or use to keep track of their location. Alzara did not know the way to the plaza, either.

"Well, that sucks," Zach commented and made a full turn on the spot to look around. Every last house looked exactly the same as the one before. They didn't, not really. Some houses had two or three stories and regularly spaced windows. Others were stony shacks with nothing more than a hole for a door.

But to Zach's directionally challenged mind, he might as well have been trapped in a maze.

The others would disagree, but he felt like this was why the five Labyrinths were called Labyrinths.

After a few minutes, he turned to his two maids.

"Is anyone nearby?"

Alzara and Yanael were silent for a moment as they spread their senses. They hadn't noticed anyone creeping in. But passively staying alert and potentially noticing someone nearby couldn't compare to how keen their senses were when they actively tried to detect someone's presence. It didn't hurt to double-check."

"I do not sense any other presences nearby, Master." Yanael was the first to answer. After giving her answer, she turned to Alzara.

The two combat maids had their differences. Yanael still didn't like how clingy Alzara had been when Zach first summoned her and how she still was. But she had gotten a little better when she focused on creating potions and things, so Yanael's impression of Alzara had improved.

And while Alzara wasn't as hot-blooded or interested in combat, Yanael had to accept that Alzara was strong. She had shown her strength and capability in the fight against the bear in the forest by the well of underworld energy. Alzara knew how to fight.

That was enough to earn Yanael's respect, albeit reluctantly.

So, Yanael wanted to see if Alzara had detected something when she hadn't. However, she had still spoken aloud since she was confident in her own abilities.

"Me neither, Master," Alzara answered with a light, one-shouldered shrug.

"Good. Do you think I can create a barrier strong enough to block the water? And, while we're talking, what do you think about the similarities between the summoning interface and the communication window from the Syst Labyrinth?" Zach asked.

"First of all, Master, setting aside whether you can block the water, are you sure that's the right answer?" Alzara responded with a question of her own.

"What do you mean?" Zach tilted his head.

"The Trial was to find a way to survive, right?"

"Yeah?"

"You didn't find your skill to make barriers, and you certainly didn't find it here."

"Does that matter? Isn't the goal to survive?"

Alzara shrugged and showed the palms of both her hands as a way to show that she didn't know.

"It could be. But based on my limited experience, things like these are picky about wording, especially when it sounds simple like this."

"I see. It's better to err on the side of caution then. Let's continue looking. And the message window?" Zach asked both Yanael and Alzara.

"I have no idea, Master," Alzara answered first.

"...In the first place, Master, we don't know much or anything about the summoning interface, much less anything about these Labyrinths." Yanael's answer was a little more detailed, but it was the same.

"...Wait, you don't know? It's not that you can't tell me?" Zach's eyebrows were raised as he made sure he heard and understood right.

"That's right, Master." Yanael nodded.

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Zach's eyes narrowed.

"...Interesting." He stroked his chin as he started walking again.

His familiars knew what his summoning interface told him about them, but they didn't know anything about the summoning interface itself. It wasn't too strange, considering the summoning interface existed on a much grander scale than one or two familiars.

But it was interesting they didn't know anything about it.

Zach was curious about what they–his familiars–knew but couldn't tell him yet due to his lack of authority. He was once again remotivated to level up, summon more familiars, and grow stronger so that he could one day satisfy his curiosity.

There were so many things he could learn about everything in this world. There were even things he didn't know that he could learn about.

Zach hadn't ever thought of himself as a studious, curious, or scholarly person. But for some reason, dragging out the secrets of summoning into the light fascinated and drove him more than he thought it would when he first decided to become a summoner.

Zach's eyes burned with eager light as he went from house to stony house, looking for clues.

After all, the secrets of summoning were far away on the path he was walking. Before he could get there, he had to cross the hurdles immediately in front of, which, currently, were the Syst Labyrinth's Trials.