Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 10

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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10. Heuji’s Mausoleum(?) (2)

Mmph.

Serena woke up with a groan. She seemed to have slept deeply, but it was still bright around her. The light Serena had created was illuminating the lobby.

‘The magic lasts roughly 6 hours…’

She had cast the lighting magic when they returned to the lobby. After that, they spent about an hour or two catching rats, cooking, and eating, so there were about four or five hours left.

‘I didn’t sleep long.’

She clicked her tongue, feeling like she hadn’t made good use of her precious rest time. She had expected this since she started having that strange lucid dream, but it was still annoying when it actually happened.

‘The fire went out.’

The lobby was a bit chilly, but the fire had gone out, probably because there was no firewood.

“Hm?”

Somehow there was a sweet fragrance. It contained a scent she had smelled before. When she sniffed around to find the source of the fragrance, it immediately dispersed.

‘Could this be why I had that lucid dream?’

The dispersing fragrance was somewhat similar to the incense Serena burned when meditating. That might be why she had dreamed of that strange person.

Come to think of it, the misty atmosphere in the dream was also similar to what she had seen when she succeeded in her rituals.

Serena looked around to find the source of the fragrance but couldn’t discover anything particular.

‘Was it my imagination? I should switch with someone if they’re keeping watch.’

She folded the cloak that Philia seemed to have covered her with while she slept and slowly got up.

Only Serena, being a princess, had slept on a blanket spread on the ground, while everyone else had curled up and slept on the bare floor.

‘I told her to keep the cloak on.’

Serena unfolded the cloak again and covered Philia, who was curled up with her slender body.

‘Philia’s sleeping, Lavenda’s sleeping next to her too. Krom’s also sleeping by the cart. Is Hanson awake?’

Hanson was sitting with his legs blocking the passage to the corridor. His small helmet with a visor was tilted forward, hiding his face.

She had a rough idea, but just in case, Serena quietly approached Hanson. When she carefully lifted his helmet with her finger, she saw a freckled face sleeping soundly with both eyes closed.

‘Good grief.’

How could there not be a single person awake in this situation?

‘They must be tired though.’

It was absurd, but she understood on one hand. Since Serena was in the same situation, she couldn’t blame those who were sleeping.

‘He really looks young.’

Hanson had a youthful face. He already looked young, but seeing his sleeping face made him look really young.

‘If he’s in the Security Force, he must be an adult. Did he get hired this year? Is he the same age as me?’

Serena was always told she looked mature and adult-like. Not because of her mental age, but because her slightly sharp eyes and alluring features were far from youthful.

‘They say if you age quickly when young, you age slowly later. But that’s only if you take good care of yourself, ah.’

She hadn’t been able to wash her face before sleeping yesterday. She hadn’t even bathed. Suddenly, her whole body felt itchy and she was struck by the unpleasant sensation of bugs crawling on her.

“Ugh.”

Serena was about to use magic to make ice but hesitated. This magic should be saved for drinking water, not wasted on washing.

Her orange eyes glanced at the fountain. After intense internal conflict, Serena filled a bucket with water from the fountain.

‘It probably won’t kill me.’

The group had already eaten rat meat washed with this fountain water. It would probably be fine.

‘When I get out of here, I need to learn purification magic, cleaning magic, or cleanliness magic.’

She had learned only the theory and given up on too many spells that wouldn’t have been bad to learn. If she had learned all those spells, Serena would have received everyone’s applause and heard them say ‘Princess is the best! Genius mage!’

At least her body would have been clean.

Her long-dormant motivation to learn was ignited. Serena took the bucket and went toward the cave to wash her face. Even washing with just water without soap felt quite refreshing.

‘I want to wash my body too.’

She should have ignored Philia’s urging yesterday and taken a proper bath. Serena regretted her past choice again and again.

‘No. If I had done that, I might have fallen here naked.’

Even though her body was sticky, at least she had fallen with clothes and shoes on. Serena dampened her handkerchief with water and wiped the parts she could reach.

“Lady Serena.”

Philia woke up and approached. It was unexpected.

‘I thought she’d be the last to wake up.’

Lavenda, Krom, and Hanson had fought rats, Serena had used magic and led the group. Philia hadn’t done anything yesterday, but Serena thought she would be the most tired.

‘At least I was reincarnated. She’s really a hothouse flower.’

She thought Philia would sleep like she had fainted and wouldn’t wake up unless someone woke her, but Philia had gotten up on her own. She felt proud, wondering if she had survival instincts.

Serena’s fond feelings for Philia disappeared with her frail plea.

“I need to use the bathroom.”

Philia whimpered pitifully.

‘So that’s why she woke up on her own.’

Philia’s bladder or bowels must have reached their limit and woken their owner. This was also a kind of survival instinct, but it was a bit pathetic.

‘I’m not in a position to call her pathetic.’

Actually, Serena’s bladder was also approaching its limit.

‘Now that I’m aware of it, I’m getting urgent too.’

Serena looked for a place that could serve as a bathroom. The place that might be a mausoleum or labyrinth was questionable whether water would drain properly, so it was excluded. In the end, the only option was the cave.

‘This is where Krom butchered the rat. We might have to eat rats again, so somewhere away from here.’

Looking for a place away from where the rat was butchered, she walked and walked until she arrived at the place where she had woken up yesterday. Serena tapped the floor with the tip of her shoe. It was shallowly covered with dirt and moss, but underneath was solid stone.

‘Isn’t there anywhere to dig?’

“For now, relieve yourself here. I’ll shield you.”

“Here?”

Philia was aghast at Serena’s words.

‘If she says one more word, I’ll hit her.’

Fortunately, Philia realized her situation faster than usual. Crisis really did make people grow.

“You’re right. Since that’s the royal mausoleum, there’s nowhere else to go. I’m sorry, Lady Serena.”

‘That’s right too.’

Whether it was a mausoleum or labyrinth, if there had been a place suitable for use as a bathroom, Serena would have used it as a bathroom without caring.

‘Even ancestors would tell their descendants to go ahead rather than die from holding it in.’

Serena spread her cloak to shield Philia. Philia hesitated but couldn’t endure the pressure from her bladder and squatted down.

“Sob, honey.”

Philia seemed quite miserable as she called for her husband while urinating. Between the sound of the stream flowing freely, footsteps could be heard, so Serena turned around.

“Me too…”

Lavenda approached with an awkward expression. Krom came along, apparently woken up as well, carrying a shovel (slightly larger than a trowel).

“Oh my, if you had said something, I would have helped.”

Krom poked around the cave with his shovel. It was all stone.

“This place is all stone. I’ll cover it with dirt at least.”

Krom gathered the dirt and moss on the floor with his shovel and covered it. Philia’s pretty face glistened with tears.

“Thank you.”

“We need to get out today.”

They could handle it this way a few times, but it would become impossible as time passed. Serena also agreed with Krom’s words and gritted her teeth as she squatted down.

How did it come to this when she had been reincarnated as a princess? A few tears trickled down.

***

Even after Serena’s magic ended, the lobby remained bright. Serena pondered for a moment and quickly found the answer.

“The lighting here seems to be synchronized with external time.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think it’s bright now because it’s morning, and it was dark yesterday because it was night.”

“Aha!”

“I think the Princess is right!”

For breakfast, the group shared Krom’s rations and the jerky Hanson had brought as a snack. The portions were small, so they only got a taste.

‘We’ll starve to death before worrying about the bathroom.’

After a day had passed, despair came rushing like a tidal wave. Serena shook her head.

‘Positive thinking! The goal is escape!’

“Does anyone have paper and writing materials? The paths are complex, so we should draw a map or at least mark the crossroads.”

“I have a notebook and pen.”

Lavenda took out her notebook. It was a thick notebook with leather binding on the outside. She didn’t hand over the notebook immediately and spoke evasively.

“I need to use the restroom for a moment.”

“What? Are you going suddenly?”

Lavenda hurriedly fled to the cave and returned shortly after. It wasn’t really an urgent bathroom need, but it seemed she had written something in the notebook that others shouldn’t see.

“Sorry. I had written down customers’ personal information.”

“It’s fine.”

I wondered why she was carrying paper and pen around.

“Someone with artistic talent or who knows how to draw maps. Hmm, I’ll do it.”

I asked in case anyone had talent, but everyone was busy avoiding Serena’s gaze. Serena personally picked up the pen.

Her past life came to mind when she used to draw maps on graph paper while playing classic games. Being directionally challenged and having no sense of direction was bad enough, but not having maps in games was truly heartbreaking.

‘Start at the bottom center of the paper.’

Sometimes the paths were so twisted that she needed paper even behind the starting point, requiring her to tape papers together. The princess hoped her ancestors weren’t that cruel.

Serena roughly drew the path the party had walked yesterday, then stood up.

“Let’s continue on the path we took yesterday.”

***

Just like when returning to the lobby yesterday, the party’s travel distance yesterday wasn’t that long.

Walking quickly while only being careful of giant rats, or labyrinth rats, they arrived soon. It was the second crossroads that had stopped the party.

“Where should we start from?”

Though there were five people, the decision naturally fell to Serena. Serena swallowed dryly.

If this were a game, Serena would have entered from the first passage on the left for easy remembering.

Even if that place was a bad path full of traps and monsters, she would have laughed it off casually and returned to the crossroads.

Sadly, this was reality and the party had limited time. She couldn’t laugh saying ‘Hahaha, level up!’ while passing through paths full of monsters and traps.

‘I can’t exactly ask for the luckiest person to come forward.’

Even if she decided by luck, Serena would have to choose. Since she was reincarnated as a princess, wasn’t she the luckiest person in the party?

‘Argh! What was the structure of other mausoleums like? In game dungeons, which side was usually the shortest path?’

While maintaining her princess dignity on the outside and frantically wracking her brain inside, Serena decided on the first path to visit.

“Let’s try the middle path first.”

Since she had already chosen the middle at the first crossroads, the middle again this time!

Hanson led the way and Serena followed behind him. The walking order was the same as yesterday. Since Serena wasn’t searching for traps as meticulously as yesterday, their movement speed increased.

The party reached the end of the middle path in less than 10 minutes.

What awaited the party at the end of that path was an unexpected object that no one had anticipated.

“The path is blocked! Box discovered!”

“Why is there a box there?”

“There’s a wooden box sitting right in the middle.”

“That’s a treasure chest. This really is a labyrinth after all!”

An ordinary wooden box was sitting squarely in the center of the dead end. Its size was about that of an apple box from her previous life.

“How presumptuous! It might be something from the mausoleum!”

“If it’s a royal tomb, there would be precious items buried with it, but that box wouldn’t be one of them.”

“It’s a labyrinth! It’s definitely a labyrinth!”

“Calm down. It might be a trap.”

Hanson touched the wooden box and the nearby floor and walls with the tip of his long spear. It was quiet. Nothing happened.

Hanson gathered more courage and opened the wooden box with his spear tip. It remained quiet. Nothing happened.

Hanson walked over to the wooden box and looked inside. He pulled out a small glass bottle. The liquid in the transparent glass bottle was red.

“This is what’s inside!”

It was a potion. Anyone could see it was a potion.

‘Damn it.’

As soon as Serena saw the potion, she held her forehead. She deeply regretted having to deliver bad news to the party.

“This seems to be a labyrinth, not a mausoleum.”

“Wahhh!”

Even though her opinion was proven correct, Lavenda burst into tears instead of rejoicing.

Serena couldn’t hide her complicated feelings and looked up at the sky. She wanted to see the sky, but the stuffy stone ceiling blocked between the sky and her.

‘So when I couldn’t figure out the genre, it was a labyrinth conquest story.’

Serena slowly closed her eyes. The darkness seemed just like the future that she and the party faced.

It was bleak.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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