Divine Luck: SSS-Rank Battle Maid Harem

Zach and the others had told the citizens that they would be coming back shortly to help them with the underworld energy and their poisoning, so it would be best if they didn't leave the city. But they could still leave the city just to go beyond the area with underworld energy and catch some fresh air.

It wasn't enough to even start working the underworld energy out of their systems. Far from it, in fact. But just getting away from the puddles of puke and pile that littered the city was a great relief for the citizens.

Lying down in the grass instead of on the stone streets didn't ease their suffering, technically. But it was better to suffer on something more comfortable.

The Underworld Exterminators had mixed reactions. Some had been against the plan to quarantine everyone since it didn't seem humane. Others had seen the Underworld's tricks and were all for it.

But now that the gate was destroyed, there wasn't much they could do other than keep their distance and the citizens from going too far. Fortunately, the citizens weren't interested in fleeing the city.

It was their home, and they trusted the Academy's students. Over the years, the city had experienced all kinds of troubles. It was a little annoying, especially when people died. But that was life. And the students solved things almost always before it got too bad.

It would be the same this time. The students who had visited the city just now had been the top students of their year. They were reliable, much more so than the strangers from all over the Empire that no one had even heard of before.

The Underworld Exterminators showed up out of nowhere and put the city on lockdown as soon as they arrived. They were working for the Empire as confirmed by the city's administration, which gave them some credibility.

But there was a limit to doing things without caring about the people. Well, the Underworld Exterminators cared about the people, and that was the problem. They put the good of the many above the good of the few.

In the end, they didn't do much.

There were a few who helped the people in the city as best as they could now that the general consensus was to lay back and wait for something to happen. Some even had herbal concoctions and medicines that alleviated the symptoms. Others investigated the city and the sewers.

The club members gathered their classmates.

It wasn't intentional by any party, whether it be the club members themselves or the principal, but the Underworld Research and Extermination Club ended up being the leader of the class and the principal's designated messenger when it came to updates regarding the overall situation.

It was the club that informed the rest of the class about the forest's recovery, and now the club practically put the class to work.

The class started preparing the materials Zach would need, first aid kits for the citizens, and materials to construct a camp outside the city for them to work out of and for the citizens to rest in.

There was a lot to do, but the students were satisfied since it meant there were more opportunities for them to show their capabilities and earn marks. If nothing had happened to the city, the school year would have ended with the club having made great contributions to the fight against the Underworld while the rest of the class did almost nothing.

Now, however, there were endless things the students could do to raise their contribution rate.

It was great!

…Until they found out that one of the major symptoms the citizens were displaying was seemingly endless vomiting.

That put a damper on the atmosphere. It didn't stop the students from doing what had to be done, but it decreased their energy.

The club members and the rest of their class racked up merits and scores by helping the city begin to recover from the outburst of underworld energy even before the underworld energy had subsided. After all, Zach was supposed to deal with that.

It didn't show, since he had seemingly disappeared from the world, but Zach was working hard.

However, he wasn't working hard on what people thought he was working hard on. That was Alzara.

Zach was sparring with Yanael and only occasionally made worms with Material Extraction.

Zach was confident in his barriers. He was confident in his familiars' abilities and strengths.

He was not confident in his own offensive power. It hadn't been a deciding factor in the latest battle.

But Zach had felt a little useless when he was relegated to a backline position. He had also noticed the increase in his strength when he pressured the guy from the Underworld Exterminators.

It would be a shame if he let his physical prowess rot.

So, he was going to learn how to put the spear he got from the Rat King to full use.

He hadn't made much progress yet, but he could feel himself improving. He held the weapon steadier, and when he thrust, it would hit somewhere around where he aimed more often than not.

After a few days, Zach had new callouses on his palms, and Alzara had devised a few trinkets for the city.

They weren't potions but something she called talismans. The ones she had made to ward off underworld energy were ivory figures like circles and other shapes. They were tied to strings so they could be hung around the city.

That's exactly what Zach had his club members do. They were curious about the talismans and, more specifically, how Zach of all people had made them. After all, they didn't know the specifics about Zach's second familiar.

But they had seen Alzara buzz around that oversized underworlder bear like a butterfly, so they couldn't immediately guess that it was she that had created them. A familiar that could fight on par with such a powerful monster in addition to creating a variety of useful tools and consumables was too great of a familiar for them to consider it a possibility.

The talismans soon showed their effect as they started pushing the underworld energy back into the underworld a little faster than before. But they weren't enough. They didn't help the citizens who were already poisoned.