Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

There was a slight fuss at the gates when the Underworld Research and Extermination Club tried to enter and find a carriage due to Rierdan's unconscious and lightly beaten state. But that was quickly fixed by Liam and his authority as a member of the Student Council.

The Academy City was a separate entity from the Academy, so the Student Council didn't have any direct power over the city. But the city lived and thrived on the Academy, its students, and its needs.

By making a request or asking for a favor, Liam could make life very hard for the guards who didn't feel safe letting the group of students into the city in the middle of the night. It was clear from a glance that they were troublemakers, after all.

Even if they were students, they had to behave when inside the city. The guard didn't trust them to do that, and he said as much.

However, the threat from Liam, and the others' explanation made him give way.

Only a few minutes later, they had managed to grab hold of a carriage and four horses that were ready to run like their lives depended on it.

Rierdan appeared to be stable, but occasionally, his breathing would grow so shallow it was like he was not breathing at all. His body temperature fluctuated, and one moment he was as cold as ice and pale as a sheet. The next, he was like a stove and beet red.

Then, he was only slightly paler than usual but breathing heavily through his teeth again.

That was another thing they noted. It looked like Rierdan's body was cramped. All of his muscles were tense and refused to budge. It was like he would crumble as soon as he relaxed.

Zach and the others were too worried about Rierdan to think about much else other than how carriages quick enough to go airborne on the smallest of bumps had never been so slow.

But eventually, without Rierdan's condition worsening further, they arrived at the infirmary.

Zach, Dukiel, and Anerias carried Rierdan as they sprinted through campus toward the infirmary.

The idea of having their familiars, who were stronger and faster while carrying someone, didn't even pass through their minds. The only familiar carrying anything was Julius' Mannequin, who carried Rierdan's Runic Moss Butterfly while trying to control the underworld energy in its body.

Zach and the others burst into the infirmary, disturbing the few patients on bed rest and raising the anger of the ones working the night shift. However, the healers quickly focused on the unconscious Rierdan instead of the anger-inducing face of Zach.

Zach didn't even feel slighted when the healers pushed him and the others away and took Rierdan from them before bringing him away into a room to treat him. Another healer swooped up the Runic Moss Butterfly and was about to leave. He glanced back at Julius.

"You're the one who can use underworld energy, right?"

"...Something like that."

"Come."

Julius followed the white-clad healer into another treatment room.

Zach, Liam, Dukiel, Anerias, Violina, and Nessa stood and looked at the doors to where their friend and club member was being treated until an attendant shooed them up since they were a little disruptive just by being there. They had to wait outside.

Zach and the others didn't mind. It wouldn't change whether they waited within or outside the infirmary. Where they waited wouldn't change anything when they couldn't contribute to Rierdan's treatment in any way.

However, they felt pretty useless when they sat and leaned against the hallway's walls with nothing but their thoughts to entertain them. And the last thing they wanted to do was indulge in the thoughts that told them Rierdan might not come back from that room. Or the thoughts that blamed themselves for this. Or the thoughts about the dangers of the forest and the club activities.

But there was also something they had to think about and discuss, even if they had no way of getting any answers to any questions they might ask. It was something that lurked in the back of everyone's minds.

The underworld energy that the Runic Moss Butterfly had been trapped with.

Rierdan had been kidnapped by someone strong enough to overwhelm both him and Liam. That alone didn't mean much. Then, considering he was brought toward the closest city, maybe it was someone who held a grudge against his parents and was planning to use him against them.

Kidnap him, smuggle him into the city, and then smuggle him away to use as a hostage or something. That could have been a plan. It was a reckless one. But it fit the image of someone stupid enough to attack a student of the Academy.

It could have also been someone looking for younger men to kidnap. No one wanted to think of what could have happened to Rierdan if that was the case.

But every possible mundane reason for Rierdan's kidnapping disappeared out the window when Julius opened the bag with the Butterfly.

An underworlder had kidnapped Rierdan and stuffed his familiar into a bag with enough underworld energy to make it sick. Most likely, it tried to contaminate or convert the familiar rather than kill it. Some kind of experiment, perhaps.

The real reason to worry was the fact that an underworlder had brought Rierdan toward the city.

A coincidence. Or a horrifying possibility.

The door to the infirmary opened and a tired, white-clad healer stepped out. He had a grave expression as he looked at Zach and the others.

"...He's stable. For now. But it's impossible to tell when he will wake up. By the looks of it, his body is fighting with his familiar against the intrusion of…underworld energy, right?" Discover hidden content at m,v l'e-NovelBin.net

Zach nodded.

"So, as long as his familiar recovers, he will be fine?" Liam asked.

The healer, who maybe wasn't as professional as he should have been, shrugged.

"There's no way to know what kind of damage he or his familiar has. It's not unreasonable to expect such a result. But I would recommend not getting your hopes up. For now, it's a waiting game. Unless you guys know something to treat underworld energy with?"

They shook their heads.

"Guessed as much. Go back for now. You can visit him in the morning or during lunch or something."

The healer returned inside, leaving the club members outside with blank expressions.