Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 139

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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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139. Friendship Event (1)

 

Labyrinth flies and maggots explode when they die.

 

If enemies got close, they would even perform suicide attacks.

 

Since they were monsters difficult to fight in close combat, Ying’s performance stood out.

 

However, after consecutive battles with labyrinth flies, the archer declared a strike.

 

“I’m not fighting anymore.”

 

“What? Why?”

 

“Bolts.”

 

When the fly corpses exploded, bolts would fall into the water or fly far away and couldn’t be recovered, so the number of bolts kept decreasing.

 

Unfortunately, there were many labyrinth flies.

 

You never know what might happen in the labyrinth.

 

That’s why Ying wanted to maintain a certain number of bolts and arrows.

 

“Then I’ll attack the flies and immediately retreat!”

 

“It’s hard to hit flies with your longsword, Knight~ My dagger isn’t much better either.”

 

There were two more people in the Princess’s party who could attack from a distance.

 

“How about the Count and I attack with magic?”

 

Labyrinth flies and maggots were numerous but individually weak.

 

Even magic bullets had enough attack power to crush fly heads and kill maggots.

 

“Setting aside hitting flying flies with magic, didn’t you two also use a lot of mana? Yo? We need to conserve mana too. Yo.”

 

You have to save everything to live well, and save to conquer labyrinths.

 

How to attack labyrinth flies that swarm together and launch suicide attacks.

 

Fortunately, the group had experience being troubled by similar insect-type monsters.

 

And they had a magic tool obtained after overcoming that trial.

 

“How about using the insecticide we got on the 5th Floor?”

 

As soon as Count Randy heard Serena’s words, he pulled out the insecticide he had brought in his spatial bag.

 

“It’s worth testing.”

 

“I’ll try it! Yo!”

 

Just then, they saw a maggot wriggling on the wall.

 

Olive took the insecticide and secretly approached the maggot, spraying the medicine on the larva.

 

Hiss.

 

The rich cinnamon scent briefly covered the sewers’ stench.

 

The labyrinth maggot hit by the insecticide writhed more violently than when struck by a bolt, then fell from the wall and died.

 

When Olive gained distance, the maggot corpse exploded with a pop.

 

“It works on maggots! Good, good!”

 

The next target was labyrinth flies.

 

The first labyrinth fly the party encountered was alone, but all the labyrinth flies they met afterward traveled in groups of at least three.

 

Olive had no choice but to test the insecticide on three flies gathered together and made a request to the archer.

 

“If the flies don’t die, you know what to do, Zero?”

 

The archer loaded a bolt into the crossbow without answering.

 

A fly’s field of vision is 270 degrees. With three gathered together, there were no blind spots.

 

Olive gave up on sneaking and approached slowly along the wall before charging.

 

“Die!”

 

Hiss.

 

Serena didn’t particularly prefer cinnamon scent originally.

 

But after suffering from the sewers’ stench, the cinnamon scent was truly fragrant.

 

Of course, for the labyrinth flies, the sewers’ stench would have been the finest fragrance.

 

The labyrinth flies hit by the cinnamon insecticide staggered through the air before losing strength and falling to the ground.

 

The flies trembled, flailing their legs and wings, then died.

 

Pop!

 

The dead fly corpses exploded, but Olive had already gained sufficient distance.

 

A smile bloomed on the guide’s face.

 

“Even 6th Floor flies die in one hit? This should work. Yo.”

 

“It’s recharged with magic stones too, so it’s very good.”

 

‘It came from rare grade, but it’s better than I thought?’

 

Of course, nothing in the world is free.

 

Count Randy spoke to Olive, who was spraying insecticide like air freshener even when there were no monsters.

 

“Superior magic stones are needed to replenish the medicine. Don’t overuse it.”

 

“Huh, superior magic stones? Yo?”

 

If the price difference between low-grade and mid-grade magic stones is about 10-20 times, the price difference between mid-grade and superior magic stones can be up to 100 times.

 

The guide’s round pupils trembled wildly.

 

‘We’ve been throwing money into thin air!’

 

Right after obtaining the insecticide, Ralph, Serena, and Ying, who had excitedly sprayed the medicine everywhere, all felt regret.

 

“We sprayed it everywhere carelessly. I’m sorry.”

 

The Young Knight spoke honestly and reflected.

 

Count Randy waved his hand.

 

“Actually, if I had been there, I would have acted the same way. Just save it from now on.”

 

“I’ll really spray just tiny amounts! Yo!”

 

Spray water on wall holes, and spray insecticide when encountering flies and maggots.

 

The Knight forgot his gauntlets were still on while fighting a crocodile, got electrocuted, and dropped his magic sword in an unfortunate incident.

 

Swoosh!

 

Thanks to the help of the perfect marksman, he bought time to pick up his sword and achieved victory safely.

 

The Knight, having gained valuable experience, reflected while expressing gratitude to Ying.

 

“Thank you so much!”

 

If Ralph had been alone without companions, it would have been a fatal mistake of being bitten to death by a crocodile, not valuable experience.

 

Ying looked at the Young Knight with an expressionless face – similar in height but with a youthful face.

 

“That’s what a party is.”

 

She left those words and walked past the Knight.

 

“It sounds fine when others say it, but it doesn’t seem like something a party destroyer should say.”

 

Olive expressed her doubt.

 

Serena was curious why the archer, who always stood at the very back of the party, deliberately walked past the Knight.

 

‘She did that on purpose, right?’

 

The archer definitely walked past the Knight intentionally. The Princess was certain.

 

‘It wasn’t something strange or embarrassing to say. She could have just said it and stayed still. But why did she deliberately walk beside him while speaking and then stop in front? Her position is at the very back of the party anyway?’

 

Why did Ying do that?

 

Serena racked her brain but couldn’t figure out the reason and felt frustrated when she heard a slightly excited young voice.

 

“So cool!”

 

Serena opened her eyes wide and looked to the side.

 

Ralph was gazing at Ying’s back with eyes full of admiration.

 

‘No way.’

 

“I want to become a taciturn, strong, and cool person like Ying too!”

 

‘Really?’

 

“She is indeed serious and has gravitas.”

 

‘Count, you too?’

 

Serena kept thinking “no way” until one possibility occurred to her.

 

‘She just did it to look cool?’

 

But Serena knew Ying’s true identity was a 5-star Priest of the Deity of Darkness.

 

‘Would a 5-star Priest do such a childish thing? She must have gone ahead to keep watch.’

 

The silhouette of the blonde archer wrapped in the sewers’ darkness did look cool and heroic.

 

Serena looked at Ralph, who was sending admiring glances at the cool and heroic silhouette, and thought.

 

‘Don’t notice the bandages.’

 

Ralph Hanson, age 16. Still at an age where an archer with black bandages wrapped around him would look cool.

 

***

 

Iron bars blocked the path in front of the Princess and the assault team once again.

 

This time too, they had to dirty and sneakily open the door from the opposite side.

 

“There are some side paths, but we’ve figured out about half of the main route. Yo.”

 

The sewers the party had walked through were semicircular in shape.

 

“The other side probably has a similar structure. So the 22nd Floor has this kind of layout. Yo.”

 

The guide showed the party his hand-drawn expected structure of the 22nd Floor, referencing the magic map.

 

There were stairs and a water reservoir in the center of the floor, with sewers forming a circle.

 

“If we go back the way we came and head right, we should find the stairs. Probably around here?”

 

The guide pointed to the location where he expected the stairs to be.

 

It was a place they could reach with just a little more progress from the party’s current position, but it was blocked by iron bars.

 

‘So the right path was the way.’

 

Though it was disappointing not to find the stairs immediately, Serena wasn’t discouraged.

 

It wasn’t bad since they had discovered the pond on the left path and rested there.

 

Serena and the party diligently moved their heavy legs back to the water reservoir.

 

They continued without stopping at the water reservoir.

 

When poison gas traps appeared, they found holes to bypass them, and as a result of moving without rest, they discovered a waterfall at the expected location the guide had marked.

 

“Let’s keep going and pick the door first. Yo.”

 

Before going down to the next floor, Olive picked the iron gate that had blocked access to the waterfall from the left path.

 

With this, they could now go down to the next floor from either direction.

 

“Good. It would be better to rest for today. Yo. It’s probably past evening and into night now, but I pushed us pretty hard.”

 

Since time and space are distorted in the Labyrinth, measuring time is useless.

 

That’s why Labyrinth explorers move based on travel distance.

 

“We should have rested when we returned to the water reservoir, but since the battles weren’t difficult, I pushed us forward. Yo. Now that we’ve confirmed the waterfall too, let’s sleep at the spring and go down tomorrow. Yo.”

 

“Understood.”

 

Serena hadn’t participated in combat, but she was exhausted and worn out just from walking and crawling through the sewers.

 

The Princess entered the room with the pond and immediately lay down on the grass after washing her hands and face.

 

Leaves poked her face and dirt covered her entire body, but it was fine.

 

Compared to the sewer floor, this was heaven.

 

“Lady Serena. You should take off your shoes and wash your feet too.”

 

If Philia or Lavenda were here, they would have washed her without being asked.

 

Since that wasn’t possible during the Labyrinth strategy, Serena had to move herself.

 

The Princess took off her shoes and socks.

 

Thanks to the waterproof effect applied to her shoes, her feet were clean except for being damp with sweat.

 

As the Princess dipped her feet in the pond and wiggled her tired toes, the guide and archer stood up.

 

“Princess! There are stairs behind the waterfall. This place probably has a similar structure, so we’ll quickly go open just the stairs and come back! Yo!”

 

“Will it be alright with just you two?”

 

“I’ll go with them too.”

 

Ralph, who had been preparing the meal, quickly stood up.

 

“No, it’s fine. Yo. I brought insecticide, and Zero and I can handle the crocodiles. We can just ignore the lizardmen and run away.”

 

The guide and archer disappeared like that. They only took one bottle of purified water, saying they’d use it after falling into the waterfall.

 

Count Randy, who was helping Ralph prepare the meal, kept glancing at the door with a worried expression.

 

“Are you worried about those two?”

 

“I’m a bit anxious, that’s all.”

 

“Those two will be fine! Ying is cool and strong! Olive is less cool but also strong!”

 

“That’s not what I mean…”

 

Count Randy seemed reluctant to tell the unsuspecting Ralph what he was worried about, trailing off his words.

 

“Are you worried they won’t come back?”

 

“That’s right.”

 

When Serena hit the nail on the head, Count Randy readily admitted it.

 

“Don’t worry! Those two will return safely!”

 

Ralph, who didn’t grasp the key point of ‘not coming back,’ clenched his fist.

 

Serena understood Count Randy’s concern.

 

‘Though some trust has built up, they’re ultimately strangers hired with money.’

 

They were all companions trapped in the Labyrinth looking for an escape route, but hadn’t one thing changed?

 

‘The Bluebird’s Wing.’

 

The party had obtained a magic tool that could help them escape the Labyrinth.

 

Though it was a useless magic tool since the location wasn’t input from outside the Labyrinth, who knows?

 

Maybe there were secret methods known only to experienced Labyrinth explorers?

 

“Better than Olive, but. Giving the Bluebird’s Wing to Ying was too hasty.”

 

Count Randy lowered his voice and posture to point out his lord’s judgment.

 

Since he didn’t know that Ying was accompanying the Princess due to divine orders, it was unavoidable.

 

“In the Labyrinth, knowledge directly correlates to survival and rewards, so information hoarding among adventurers is severe. Zero’s Ying or Winds of the Wilderness would know Labyrinth information that even the Empire doesn’t know. If such information included details about the Bluebird’s Wing.”

 

“Gasp. Count, were you worried that those two would abandon us and run away?”

 

“I don’t want to be suspicious either. But the situation changed when Ying took the Bluebird’s Wing.”

 

“There’s no possibility of them using the Bluebird’s Wing to escape the Labyrinth. If they could escape with the wing, Olive wouldn’t have given up on it.”

 

“That could be a deception. Deliberately showing a giving-up attitude to make us lower our guard before running away.”

 

Usually Serena was the one who suspected people, but since they knew little about Olive and Ying, Count Randy was suspicious of the Labyrinth explorers.

 

“I’m sorry, Lady Serena. I’m not doubting your judgment.”

 

“I know, so it’s fine, Count. In anxious situations, to protect precious people, sometimes you need barbed wire that stabs everyone.”

 

Having lived suspecting every person she saw after reincarnation, Serena understood well.

 

[You have discovered stairs leading to the next floor. Shop 1 coins will be awarded.]

 

A notification window appeared in the world of her left eye that only the Princess could see.

 

The guide and archer had found the stairs.

 

If Count Randy could also see such notification windows, he wouldn’t have suspected those two.

 

“Just don’t forget that barbed wire can also stab me and the people inside the wire fence. That’s enough.”

 

The Royal Palace where there was no one to trust except her young sibling.

 

That’s why Serena was glad to meet the silver-haired girl who was tactless and spoke whatever came to mind.

 

‘There was no need to suspect her.’

 

It was fortunate that such a friend’s husband was someone who knew how to be suspicious.

 

“Just don’t forget that fact and protect Philia.”

 

“How could I refuse.”

 

And making the Count’s suspicions seem pointless.

 

“Olive! Splash splash! Entrance!”

 

The guide and archer returned, throwing the door wide open.

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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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