Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

Zach's carriage was understandably called to a halt at the palace gates. They were still far from the palace, but someone unauthorized wasn't allowed to even get close to the palace.

"State your identity and the purpose of your visit," demanded, one of the guards on either side of the gates in full plate armor with a halberd and shield. He looked at Nora, who was sitting up front steering the horses.

"Young Master Zacharia Evandiel has come to pay the Imperial Library a visit." Although the Imperial Palace, including the Library, was off limits to ordinary people, Zach was far from ordinary.

The guard was silent for a moment as he exchanged a look with his partner.

"The library is currently undergoing repairs. I must ask Young Lord Evandiel to return another day." The guard denied their entry.

Nora's brow entered a furrow. Zach glanced at the guard through the carriage's window.

"Is all of the library undergoing repairs?" Nora asked doubtfully. If the guard were going to come up with a shitty excuse, she would just have to embarrass him by poking holes in it.

"...The rest is closed off."

"What kind of repairs? Was there a water leak? Fire? Did someone spill hot chocolate on the floor?"

"I must insist that the Young Lord returns another day." The guard did not entertain Nora's questioning. He didn't answer to her anyway. He looked straight ahead, ignoring the carriage with a son of one of the four founding ducal households.

"...What's your name?" Nora asked the guard. This was not the proper conduct of someone supposed to work for the imperial family. Zach wasn't even here on guild-related business. He might as well be here on his family's business.

That meant the guard wasn't just stopping Zach. He was standing in the way of the authority of a family only a notch below the imperial family. Naturally, the imperial family had better standing, and they certainly had more power in the capital and at the Imperial Palace.

But the Dukes showed respect to the Emperor and his progeny. It was a given that the Dukes and their offspring shared the same privilege.

"Sam." The guard answered with a shrug. Nora glared at the guard.

"If you're going to use someone else's name, use the name of someone you don't like, not your partner's," Zach said as he opened the carriage door. He had noticed how the other guard flinched when the first guard said his name.

He stepped down from the carriage and walked up to the guard.

As guards of the Imperial Palace, they were well-trained and equipped with the best mass-produced weapons in the Empire. They didn't look like knights, but guarding the front gate, as boring as it could be, was a prestigious task that required recognized strength.

The guards had martial energy and were good fighters.

Zach had no plans of fighting, but that wasn't why.

He would get into a world of trouble if he was caught beating the shit out of a guard of the Imperial Palace.

The guards were certainly capable, especially compared to what he had seen so far. But they couldn't compare to the knights and veterans of Evandiel. And they could not compare to even a hair on either of his familiars' heads. Nora would have trouble fighting them. She would most likely lose, in fact.

But that was it.

So, when Zach approached, oozing bloodlust, the guard couldn't help but tighten the grip on his weapon.

Zach stared into the slit on the guard's helm, his gaze boring into the guard's pale blue eyes.

"Now, Guard who's too cowardly to state his name, please explain to me why you're coming up with a bullshit reason to deny my entry to the Imperial Palace. Explain to me what gives you, a coward, the right to stop me, a descendant of Evandiel, from entering the palace."

"..." The guard gulped, and his eyes widened. He hadn't even noticed when the three strikingly, hauntingly beautiful maids appeared behind Zach. He looked at Zach again and took a short breath.

He had probably made an erroneous judgment. But the guard was confident the palace would protect him from Zach's wrath. Now, the problem was if he should explain why he had denied Zach entry or come up with more nonsense and hope Zach left.

"…Regardless of what family you belong to, the Imperial Palace is not a playground. It is not a place you can enter as you wish, and it certainly isn't a place for you to 'flirt' with your maids. Of course, if you insist, I can permit your entry on the condition that your maids stay outside the palace." The guard gained a little confidence as Zach let him speak without interrupting.

"Heh." Zach's cold chuckle erased the guard's confidence.

"Who do you think you are?" Zach asked coldly.

"Not only do you have the gall to judge me, but you also dare doubt my intentions of entering the Palace?" Zach took a step closer to the guard, who, suppressed by Zach's presence, took half a step back.

"Are you my father? Or perhaps a bastard son of the emperor? Is that why you think you are better than me? In a higher position than me?" Zach was close enough to see his nose hairs in the guard's helmet's reflection.

"You judge me, doubt me, and ask me to leave my familiars behind. You are one lucky bitch of a dog's piss that your armor has the imperial insignia on it." Zach scoffed and poked the emblem engraved on the guard's chest hard enough to make the guard stumble.

He then turned around.

There was no need to visit the Palace. He would just have to find another solution or source of information. Maybe Derot would be able to find something once the business was fully established.

With a sour expression and most of his day ruined, Zach returned to his carriage. Nora intentionally had the horses draw the carriage rudely close to the guards as she turned it around to leave.

"Please wait!" Stay tuned with empire