Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 12

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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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12. Heuji’s Dungeon 1st Floor (1)

Hanson presented the potion he had taken from the treasure chest to Serena.

The transparent glass bottle was about the size of Serena’s fist. It looked like it could be used about five times for minor wounds.

“Do you know anything about it?”

Serena showed the potion to Philia. She only showed it, afraid she might drop and break it if she fumbled around.

“Looking at the color, it’s a low-grade potion. The better quality a potion is, the redder and clearer it becomes. This one has a dark color.”

‘Nothing special.’

Since Philia usually dealt with potions frequently, she had hoped to get more detailed information, but the answer she received wasn’t much different from what she already knew.

“Oh, right!”

Philia clapped her hands as if something had occurred to her.

“Do you know something else?”

“When we get out of here, let’s take a potion bath together! We’ll fill a bathtub with high-grade potions!”

The party’s eyes grew sharp. Serena quickly changed the subject to prevent a red revolution within the labyrinth.

“Since we’ll have to fight, let me make this clear in advance. My magic cannot be used in combat.”

“What? Is that so?”

Hanson was the most surprised.

“I don’t know much about magic either! But! The ice magic you use, Princess, isn’t that ice arrow?”

“That’s right. Ice creation is actually the same magic as ice arrow. You just need to create arrows or stakes from ice and launch them at enemies.”

“But you can’t use it?”

“If you can’t launch it, can’t you just create ice on the rat’s body and freeze it?”

“To use magic in combat, you need to chant spells and build mental images while moving. That’s a skill only combat mages who have received special training can do. Using magic on moving targets is similar. And to use ice creation as offensive magic, there are other spells needed that I haven’t learned.”

“Ah, I see…”

Hanson’s shoulders drooped in disappointment. Though his performance lagged behind Krom’s, he seemed to feel pressure as the only combat class member in the party.

‘He was secretly reassured to have a mage around, so he’s disappointed that I can’t help.’

When people face difficult and burdensome situations, they hope a mage will solve everything with magic in a flashy way.

Such things don’t exist in the world of my previous life, nor in this world that has fantasy and even labyrinths.

“I’ll help if the situation allows it. But don’t have high expectations.”

Of course, Serena didn’t intend to just watch without helping. This was just a warning not to expect her to attack monsters with magic or actively participate in combat.

“I’ll work hard so Serena doesn’t have to step in!”

Though she wasn’t sure what exactly Philia would work hard at, she too was fired up with fighting spirit.

“Then let’s go find the Floor Boss.”

“Yes!”

“But what’s a Floor Boss? Didn’t you say you knew, Princess?”

“You know that labyrinths are composed of multiple floors, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I read in books that each floor of a labyrinth has monsters stronger than ordinary monsters. They usually guard entrances to the next floor or treasure chests containing valuable items.”

“Are those strong monsters called Floor Bosses?”

“That’s right. But I also read that not every floor necessarily has a Floor Boss…”

“What the Princess read is correct. I’ve also heard that not every floor has one.”

Usually, defeating this Floor Boss is considered clearing the floor.

“Then what’s a Stratum Boss?”

“The labyrinth in my hometown only has one floor, but other labyrinths have many floors. But um…”

Lavenda recalled a guide’s explanation to make it easier to understand.

“From floors 1 to 4, only Labyrinth Rats appeared in stone corridors like here, but from the 5th floor, suddenly different monsters appeared in wooden corridors.”

“Is that possible?”

“That’s why it’s a labyrinth. Anyway, several floors with unified atmospheres like that are grouped together and called a stratum. A Stratum Boss is the strongest monster in such a stratum.”

A Floor Boss is the strongest monster on one floor, while a Stratum Boss is the strongest monster across multiple combined floors.

“It must be very strong.”

When adventurers defeat this Stratum Boss, they’re said to have cleared that stratum.

“Vieta’s labyrinth ends at Stratum 1, Floor 1. The Boss Labyrinth Rat that the Shepherd defeated probably served as both Floor Boss and Stratum Boss.”

That’s why when Vieta sought Stratum Boss information, the labyrinth-owning nations laughed tremendously, saying ‘You don’t need that.’

‘I hope this floor’s boss is also a Boss Labyrinth Rat.’

Since one shepherd defeated it, the current party should be able to defeat it easily.

“Wait, I’ll take that chest.”

“You mean the empty chest?”

“It looks good for firewood.”

“Since they said treasure chests get restored, it should be fine. But won’t it be heavy and cumbersome?”

“I’ll leave it at the fountain area. We’re going to wander around looking for rats anyway, so that much should be okay, right?”

If they couldn’t find the Floor Boss after searching all the paths at the second crossroads, they’d have to search all the paths at the first crossroads anyway.

Serena nodded.

“It’s not far. I’ll go put it there and come back alone.”

“That’s dangerous, so we’ll wait at the first crossroads.”

“Okay.”

The party waited for Krom at the first crossroads while discussing which path to explore next.

They looked around the entrance of each path in case there were any hints. There were no particular gains.

“Since there are no hints, let’s start with the path where Lavenda was.”

“It’s this way.”

Lavenda pointed to the rightmost passage.

***

Not long after walking down the corridor, the party heard the footsteps of Labyrinth Rats. As the sound of claws hitting stone grew closer, Hanson, Krom, and Lavenda bravely gripped their weapons.

“Prepare for battle!”

The Labyrinth Rats that appeared this time were three in total, just like before.

Hanson thrust his spear at a Labyrinth Rat hanging from the ceiling. The Labyrinth Rat dodged the spear, released its grip on the ceiling, and leaped over Hanson’s head.

“Aaah!”

When the Labyrinth Rat clung to his face, Hanson let out a terrible scream, then pulled the Labyrinth Rat off with his hands and threw it to the ground.

“You bastard!”

Once again, Krom smashed the Labyrinth Rat’s skull. When one died, the Labyrinth Rats retreated and fled. It was exactly the same battle as if they had reviewed the previous combat.

‘They haven’t learned anything.’

If this were a game, at least experience points would have increased, but Hanson made the same mistake and the rats ran away again.

“You need to look carefully before stabbing!”

“They’re too fast.”

“I told you to swing instead of stab, didn’t I!”

“I was worried other people might get hurt…”

“You need to avoid that and do well! You’re a guard!”

“I’m sorry! I’ll correct it!”

Krom who had killed two Labyrinth Rats versus Hanson who had only caught one. Hanson was dejected compared to Krom.

“Don’t blame Hanson too much. I heard that Heuji City’s guards prioritize human combat over monsters.”

“That’s right! And I’m better with swords than spears!”

“If you’re a guard, shouldn’t you be good with both? Are you really a guard? Did you get the job by paying bribes?”

“N-no!”

Krom collected the Labyrinth Rats. She muttered while tying the rat tails to her waist.

“One isn’t enough. I wish more would appear.”

They say words become seeds. True to Krom’s wish, the party encountered Labyrinth Rats again.

This time, a whopping five of them!

“You bastard, you bastard.”

“Get away! No! Come here!”

“Hiyah! Yaah!”

Dealing with small enemies with a low center of gravity is harder than you’d think. You might assume smaller size makes them easier to handle, but the small target is difficult to hit, and if the opponent is quick, it becomes even harder.

In situations like this, it’s better to wait for the enemy to attack and then counterattack.

“Eiyah!”

Serena kicked the Labyrinth Rat that broke through the front line of three and charged at her. Like with Lavenda, she lacked sufficient strength. Fortunately, Hanson finished off the fallen Labyrinth Rat by stomping on it.

“That’s it! That’s how you do it! Guard, your legs are better than your spear!”

“Yes! I think I understand now!”

Hanson left his spear as if it were a pillar and worked his legs enthusiastically. The Security Force’s iron-reinforced military boots were more threatening than the spear.

Having learned how to use his legs, Hanson actively attacked the Labyrinth Rats. The Labyrinth Rats lost three of their kind, got injured, and fled.

Krom collected the rat corpses with a bright expression.

“What a shame.”

Since they had no food, he should be happy that the edible rat meat had increased. Still, his reluctance probably meant he was still full.

‘Ah, life.’

Serena looked up at the sky with dejected eyes. The ceiling was still completely blocked.

***

The path where Lavenda had fallen had no crossroads. The group soon reached the end of the path.

At the end of the path was a small clearing. The floor wasn’t stone but dirt, and grass was growing there too.

A small pond sat in the corner, surrounded by lush grass that made it look like a spring.

If you just placed a bench there and forgot this was a labyrinth, it would look like a park.

Krom immediately plunged his hand into the spring. Serena gasped.

“Don’t do that!”

“It’s clean. There are no water monsters.”

“You have a serious case of safety insensitivity!”

“The fountain was clean too.”

“That’s that and this is this!”

“I understand. I’ll be careful next time.”

Would he really? It seemed like next time he’d act on his own again and make Serena’s heart skip a beat.

Krom washed his hands in the spring water and rummaged through the grass.

“Let’s see. Are there any edible plants or not?”

“This is a medicinal herb. If we drink it as tea, it’s good for reducing swelling and removing toxins.”

Lavenda discovered an herb effective for detox. Hearing it was edible, Krom immediately picked it.

“Do we eat the roots or the leaves?”

“We eat all of it.”

Lavenda and he searched for edible plants and herbs. Krom knew wild vegetables, Lavenda knew medicinal herbs. Since each knew different fields, they shared knowledge back and forth.

Serena also looked around to see if there were any plants she knew, then gave up. There were few plants in the world that Serena could identify, and even those were questionable as to whether they existed in this world.

‘I know mugwort, but does this world have mugwort?’

At least there was no mugwort here right now. Since she was reincarnated as a princess, she had memorized a few flowers, but she quickly gave that up too. She could just ask the gardener, so what was the point of memorizing flower names?

Instead of looking for useful plants, Serena thought of ways to use the soil itself usefully.

‘This would be perfect to use as a toilet.’

There was even a spring nearby, so how about digging up a corner to make a toilet?

From the lobby to here, there were no crossroads and the distance was relatively short. She was worried about Labyrinth Rat attacks, but that could be solved by traveling in groups.

When Serena casually brought up the toilet topic, everyone except Krom agreed.

“It’d be good for digging holes, but if uncomposted waste touches it, all the plants will die. And if it seeps into that pond, we won’t be able to use the water either.”

“That should be fine. This is a labyrinth. In labyrinths, no matter how much you dig the ground, you can’t go down to the next floor, and no matter how much you break the walls, you can’t go to the next room.”

“That’s right, we have the fountain water too. It should be fine.”

Serena’s group secured a toilet following their food supply. It was the happiest achievement since falling into the labyrinth.

“Where do we go next?”

“Since we’ve looked around two places from the first crossroads, it would be good to finish looking around before going to the second crossroads.”

If they were unlucky, they’d all be duds, and if they were lucky, they’d find the Floor Boss in one of the three places.

The group entered the fourth path from the left, between the middle and third passages.

They didn’t fight Labyrinth Rats, but they discovered a trap where spears would shoot out when you stepped on the floor. This one was also too easy to discover, so Serena quietly gritted her teeth.

This path was also short compared to the middle path.

‘Don’t I have to go to the second crossroads for the boss to appear? Did I come to the wrong place?’

Serena headed to the second path from the left while feeling anxious. She killed one Labyrinth Rat and obtained a low-grade magic stone from a treasure chest.

‘Damn, this is nerve-wracking.’

There was now only one path left at the first crossroads. Fortunately, all the paths were short so it didn’t take long, but this wasn’t a game—fatigue was accumulating.

‘Can’t help it. Have to go.’

Serena led the group into the first path from the left. Everyone was following Serena’s orders without complaint, but that made it even more burdensome.

They passed traps and fought Labyrinth Rats. They obtained several more rat corpses.

When the rat corpses became too heavy for Krom to carry alone, so they each started carrying one or two rat corpses.

Serena’s group discovered a door for the first time since entering Heuji’s Labyrinth.

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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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