Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 136

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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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136. Heuji’s Labyrinth 6th Floor Strategy (4)

 

The clear air felt even more refreshing because they were in the sewers.

 

The soft, cushioned grass-covered earth floor was the complete opposite of the dirty, humid ground crawling with insects.

 

The spring was so clean it was transparent enough to see the bottom, with small fish swimming around in schools.

 

There were even large edible fish.

 

The party washed their hands and feet in the spring. Even when they put their shoes caked with all sorts of garbage into the pond and shook them, the water remained clean.

 

Thanks to this, the group was able to eat with refreshed spirits.

 

Ralph devoured the sandwiches the prince had packed in the blink of an eye.

 

Only after the growing boy had satisfied his hunger did he notice his surroundings, looking around in amazement.

 

“To think there’s a place like this in the sewers! It’s truly amazing!”

 

Though the emotion was slightly dampened by catching fairies, the extreme change made them wonder if the floor had changed.

 

Olive answered while contemplating whether or not to catch a bird that was sitting on a branch chirping merrily.

 

“It’s telling us not to die.”

 

The bird was too small to have any meat and its feathers were useless.

 

The guide gave up on bird hunting and sat on the ground.

 

“I told you. The labyrinth reflects people’s desires. When you’re crawling through dirty sewers like sewer rats, you miss clean places, right? That’s what this is.”

 

“Why does it do that?”

 

At Ralph’s question, the guide shrugged her shoulders.

 

“How would I know? Maybe the gods know? Yo?”

 

The gazes of the leading duo flew toward Serena and stuck to her.

 

Serena desperately held back her desire to say “How would I know” and shrug her shoulders.

 

‘Isn’t there some plausible answer.’

 

As a result of quickly racking her brain, the princess came up with an obvious answer anyone could think of.

 

“Isn’t it an intention to keep people from stopping their labyrinth conquest and to keep them wandering? If people don’t want to conquer it, they won’t enter the labyrinth, so it places breathing spots too.”

 

The advantage of a clichéd answer that anyone could think of is that there’s little rebuttal.

 

Those expecting a witty answer would be disappointed, but at least it was passable.

 

“Speaking of mana recovery potions earlier~”

 

The guide once again shared an anecdote she’d heard through her long career, excellent skills, and brief but extensive dating experience with the party.

 

“There was a labyrinth adventurer party led by a mage. Yo. They entered a labyrinth and the rewards were good and the conquest was easy. Today’s the day, they thought. They got excited and tried to push forward, but the leader’s mana ran out completely.”

 

The guide’s real labyrinth stories had equal parts horror and humor.

 

Serena listened attentively, curious about which it would be this time.

 

“It’s a shame but let’s go back, they said. But then a mana recovery potion appeared. Today’s really the day something’s going to happen! They got even more excited and kept going up.”

 

Ralph, who had been listening to the guide’s story with an intrigued expression, expressed his confusion.

 

“Don’t you go down?”

 

“It’s different for each labyrinth. That’s why when we first fell here, Zero and I agonized so much over whether to go down or not.”

 

“Ah, that’s right. What happened when they kept going up?”

 

“Whenever their mana was about to run out, somehow mana recovery potions kept appearing. So they kept missing opportunities to stop and kept going up until finally.”

 

“Finally?”

 

The young knight gulped.

 

“They went so deep it was beyond the party’s level and got wiped out or something.”

 

Olive wagged her index finger.

 

“It’s a story told to newcomers in the labyrinth adventurer industry as a lesson. Yo. It’s a short story but there’s a lot to learn from it.”

 

Lesson one. Even if the labyrinth’s rewards are excellent and the conquest goes smoothly, you must be able to restrain yourself.

 

Lesson two. Mages must be careful about preserving their mana and mental strength.

 

The last third lesson was exactly.

 

“A real proper mage wouldn’t become a labyrinth adventurer, so don’t dream of things like having a mage leader. Kyahaha!”

 

Olive held her stomach and laughed as if something was so funny.

 

“From the beginning! The leader! Wasn’t a proper mage! Uhahahaha! When a fraud becomes leader and enters a labyrinth, the party gets wiped out! Uhahahaha!”

 

The guide stopped laughing and patted her chest.

 

“Compared to that! I’m! An excellent guide with proven skills, so trust me and follow! Yo! I can’t be compared to frauds like that!”

 

Ying, who was rinsing her bolts in the pond, muttered quietly.

 

“Romance fraud.”

 

“That’s right! We liked each other and got together, so why should I be cursed at!”

 

“That’s because you unilaterally changed your heart.”

 

Serena spoke common sense, but Olive got angry at Ying.

 

“Zero, you never even dated me in the first place! Why do you keep bringing up such stories! Don’t tell me you’re doing this to get my attention because I don’t pay attention to you!”

 

Ying cut off Olive’s words as if it were a terrible misunderstanding.

 

“Do you remember the Sol brothers we met 4 years ago?”

 

“Who’s that?”

 

Seeing the clear, round eyes that truly seemed not to remember, Ying slightly narrowed her brow.

 

“Twins.”

 

“Ah~ Ah!”

 

Only after the archer mentioned the uncommon characteristic did Olive barely succeed in recalling the twin brothers who were fellow industry workers.

 

“I remember. The carrot-colored hair twin brothers. Labyrinth adventurers. The younger brother was bigger than the older one. Why?”

 

“You broke them up.”

 

Ying lowered her long eyelashes and sighed.

 

“Six months. It was the longest period.”

 

Though Ying’s words were few, all the necessary materials were gathered.

 

‘Ying had a party she stayed with for a whole six months, but it broke up because the brothers fought over Olive.’

 

The parties she joined broke up so often that her nickname became Zero’s Ying, so how happy she must have been to have a party that lasted six months.

 

When such a party disbanded not because of the labyrinth but because of romantic problems, her heartbreak must have been great.

 

Serena made a fair judgment as the leader of the current party.

 

“Olive was wrong.”

 

“Why! I didn’t force them to date me! Yo!”

 

“I don’t know which of the brothers you met first, but dating a new person from your ex-lover’s family is.”

 

She was saying this when Olive rolled her round eyes to the side.

 

Serena narrowed her one eye.

 

“Don’t tell me you. Both brothers at the same time?”

 

“No~ It wasn’t on purpose~ The twins had similar tastes so they both liked me, what could I do~”

 

Olive protested that they fell for her first, but Serena maintained her earlier judgment.

 

“Guilty. Ying may continue to damage Olive’s honor and pick fights with her.”

 

“Miss Olive is bad.”

 

“Olive. If you don’t fix that attitude, you’ll greatly regret it someday.”

 

“Ugh! I already changed my thinking a bit after seeing the Count and his wife. Yo.”

 

It was welcome news to hear that seeing the loving lovebird couple had changed her approach to love.

 

Count Randy grinned from ear to ear, embarrassed but pleased.

 

“Even if I can’t match the Countess, next time I must date a beauty that makes my eyes pop! Or a rich person like the Count!”

 

She wanted to say why would such a person meet you, but the guide had her own unique charm.

 

Serena appreciated the guide’s efforts to lift the party’s mood and shouted.

 

“Guilty!”

 

***

 

At the spring, there was a secret door connected to the sewers.

 

After finishing their rest, the guide opened the secret door.

 

Now they could directly open the door from the sewers to the pond.

 

When the dirty sewers spread out before their eyes, the group sighed or let their shoulders droop.

 

Their steps were heavy as if leaving heaven for hell.

 

“We’ve eaten, so let’s go with energy!”

 

The guide who had sacrificed himself to strengthen the party’s unity and boost morale splashed through the sewage water and entered the new hole.

 

Serena felt like the sandwich might come back up as she crawled earnestly through the narrow passage.

 

Fortunately, this passage connected to the sewers.

 

Olive emerged from the hole first, surveyed the surroundings, then signaled that it was safe to come down.

 

“That’s the end of the poison gas trap!”

 

The guide pressed a hidden button on the wall while the party was emerging from the hole.

 

Though invisible, the poison gas trap that had been blocking the party was deactivated.

 

They sprayed water into the hole in the wall to prevent ambushes from sewer lizardmen, then faced the Labyrinth Alligator.

 

The party advanced smoothly.

 

Of course, like life itself, it wasn’t perfectly smooth.

 

“Eek! Bones! There are human bones!”

 

All sorts of garbage floated in the 6th Floor sewers.

 

From rotten food to unmentionable types of excrement.

 

The sewage garbage, which seemed even filthier than real-world sewers, naturally included corpses of animals and monsters.

 

But human bones were a first.

 

Ralph trembled as he looked at the skull poking out above the water.

 

“Bones! A person died!”

 

“Hmm, they’re dead. Just the head? Good grief.”

 

“They were swallowed by the labyrinth! We, we came too late and couldn’t save them!”

 

Serena was thinking the same thing as the knight and feeling nauseous when Olive snapped.

 

“Knight!”

 

“Eek! Yes! Serv- No! Knight! Ralph Hanson!”

 

“That’s fake. It’s decorated in the labyrinth like how nobles put decorations in their houses.”

 

“It’s fake?”

 

“Of course it’s fake. This labyrinth doesn’t have them, but how many labyrinths have human undead? You think those are all real human undead? They’re fake like other monsters.”

 

They had already finished discussing fake monsters that appear in labyrinths when summoning goblins.

 

Ralph seemed to find the guide’s explanation plausible and quickly calmed down.

 

‘Thank goodness.’

 

Serena felt the same way.

 

“Don’t get too shocked just from seeing some corpses in the labyrinth. If you didn’t see them alive, they’re all fake.”

 

It was better for mental health to think of them as decorations rather than getting stressed thinking they were real corpses.

 

Serena gritted her teeth.

 

‘That’s a decoration. It’s for atmosphere.’

 

Serena’s goal was the liberation of 100,000 people anyway. Life or death wasn’t important.

 

‘They looked tormented even as souls.’

 

Wandering the labyrinth trembling in fear while alive, then unable to escape even after death – that was too miserable.

 

The Princess was walking through filthy sewers, turning away from the golden path to prevent that.

 

People who died during the conquest without being saved couldn’t be helped.

 

‘Saving and liberating everyone is impossible. Even Richard couldn’t do it.’

 

Like how rolling in a dung heap is better than the afterlife, she was conquering the labyrinth believing it was better to exit the labyrinth even if it meant death.

 

She would save those she could save along the way, but those already dead with only bones remaining couldn’t be helped.

 

‘That’s a decoration. Like a Halloween decoration.’

 

But she continued to feel uneasy. Just then, the knight said something welcome.

 

“Even if it’s a decoration, we can’t leave it soaking in dirty water. How about we at least bury it at that spring we passed?”

 

‘Yes! Even doing that would make me feel better!’

 

Serena was mentally giving the kind young knight a million thumbs up and about to voice her agreement when the guide beat her to it.

 

“Absolutely not. It might not be a decoration but a trap, and touching it could curse you.”

 

Olive had a small build and round eyes that gave her a cute impression.

 

When that Olive became serious, a cold chill flowed like the dagger borrowed from Ying.

 

“This is a labyrinth. Get your head straight, Knight. Never touch corpses of unknown cause of death.”

 

“Understood. I’m sorry.”

 

The young knight apologized dejectedly. Serena also mentally apologized to both the skull and the guide.

 

“It’s a decoration.”

 

At least fortunately, Ying confirmed it was a decoration.

 

Serena left the skull decoration behind with a somewhat more comfortable mind and kept repeating to herself.

 

‘There are decorative corpses in labyrinths. Don’t be shocked or sad. It’s a decoration.’

 

The skeleton just now was a decorative skeleton.

 

As the Princess repeated her self-hypnosis, a new decoration appeared before her.

 

“Eek! Is, is that also a decoration?”

 

Unlike the previous decoration, this was a fresh decoration(?) with relatively intact parts and flesh and skin still attached.

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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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