Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 15

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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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15. Heuji’s Dungeon 1st Floor (4)

“You bastard!”

“How could you say such a thing!”

Everyone forgot their exhaustion and became indignant at Double Hanson’s (real) words.

“Honestly, brother has never properly taken care of his nephews because he’s been going back and forth between Heuji City and Kizen. You were weekend spouses!”

Ralph said that his sister-in-law was staying at her parents’ house in Kizen after giving birth.

Hearing that she wasn’t living in Heuji City, Serena felt a little relieved. The quadruplets wouldn’t have been caught up in this disaster.

“So when he kept spouting nonsense about being busy to death during National Foundation Day, not sleeping for two days, wanting to heal at home while watching the kids… when I came to my senses, I was wearing brother’s clothes and had come to Heuji City.”

Since he was already there, he decided to give his brother time to heal while watching the children as he wished. Ralph pretended to be his brother. Double Hanson’s colleagues immediately caught on, but when he told them about his brother’s misdeeds, they all let it slide.

His identity was certain anyway, and as a squire in training, he would have martial skills and legal knowledge. Strictly speaking, a knight-in-training was more impressive than a regular guard, so it was excessive manpower.

With manpower already short, what was there to complain about? Ralph Hanson became Han Son Han Son and continued working.

“I had to stay tense and anxious the whole time so I wouldn’t be found out. Now I feel so relieved!”

Ralph Hanson. Not a guard but a knight’s squire, and he was 16 years old this year.

‘He wasn’t just young-looking, he really was young.’

The freckles covering his face, and the way he smiled sheepishly from relief and guilt about deceiving them – everything matched his age.

‘He’s the same age as Seraph.’

She wondered if her irresponsible younger brother was safe. Serena hoped her blood relative was also alive and healthy like Ralph.

“I believe Your Highness will show mercy!”

Ralph’s eyes sparkled. Serena smiled gently and nodded. Ralph excitedly raised both arms again.

“Can we get out now?”

“Let’s look around.”

Since they had won the battle, it was time to collect the spoils. The party looked around. The corpse of the leader rat left alone after its subordinates disappeared and the door inside the stone chamber were most noticeable.

“There’s a door over there.”

The door inside was smaller than the stone door and even had a handle. It wouldn’t hurt to be careful. The party checked for traps following Serena’s instructions.

“There doesn’t seem to be any.”

“Surely there isn’t another one of these things waiting, right?”

Krom frowned while pointing at the leader rat’s corpse.

“Let’s hope not.”

Ralph, still energized from the lingering excitement of victory, carefully opened the door. Behind the door was a room with a chest and stairs.

“It’s not an exit.”

“There’s no magic circle either.”

“So the 1st floor wasn’t the end. Well… they did say Vieta was special…”

“But there is a treasure chest.”

Despite defeating the floor boss, the party didn’t receive the reward they had hoped for most. Everyone, including Serena, was disappointed.

“Ahem.”

Serena coughed audibly to draw attention. It was too early to be disappointed.

‘I didn’t think an exit would appear from the 1st floor. We need to go at least to the 3rd floor.’

The princess comforted her tired, injured, and disappointed party. As the fear and excitement of battle faded, various parts of their bodies began to ache.

“It’s too early to be disappointed. We were just flustered, but it wasn’t that difficult a battle. You all think you can fight better with fewer injuries than now, right? Just do that on the next floor. The 2nd floor will probably be similar to here.”

Courage and hope appeared on everyone’s faces.

“Since everyone is injured, let’s treat the wounds first. Rest is also important if we want to go to the next floor.”

The party was battered from being bitten by the rats. Ralph’s condition was the most serious, having fought while being chased by the rat swarm.

His earlobe had been gnawed off and he was covered with wounds where flesh had been gouged and torn.

“Ugh, didn’t that hurt?”

“Getting hit is part of a squire’s job, so I’m used to pain.”

‘Just how much do they beat him?’

Just how much beating would it take for “getting hit is part of the job” to come out so naturally? Serena checked the party’s injuries and nodded.

“We’ll need to use potions.”

“What? You should use those, Serena!”

“Of course I’ll use them too. We’ll have to use herbs for minor wounds.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if only Your Highness used them and we saved the rest?”

“I’m fine! It’ll heal if I put some spit on it!”

“For me, this much will heal if I mix some charcoal or ash and apply it.”

‘Like hell it will heal. It’ll fester.’

Serena was about to launch into a long speech about the insufficient medical knowledge of fantasy world inhabitants, then stopped.

‘Medicine. I don’t know shit about it either.’

Serena’s medical knowledge ended at cleaning wounds thoroughly and applying antiseptic when injured. Except for the antiseptic being replaced with charcoal or ash, it wasn’t much different from Krom’s knowledge. Also, people in this world didn’t need to know such things.

‘Because there’s divine magic.’

In this world, gods clearly demonstrated their existence by bestowing divine power. There were so many gods with such complex genealogies that it rivaled some island nation she knew from her previous life.

With so many gods, there were also many clergy who could use divine magic. They traveled around treating people’s injuries while receiving donations or proselytizing.

Perhaps because it was advantageous for proselytizing, most divine magic had good healing performance. If you left a wound untreated and it festered? Just find a temple or priest famous for healing magic.

If you were in a remote area with no nearby temple or priest, or if it was an urgent wound? Just use a potion.

Of course, potions were so expensive that ordinary people could hardly touch them, but any decent village chief would keep one bottle for emergencies. You could use it urgently and spend a lifetime paying it back, or have generations pay it off.

A wound that couldn’t be treated with a crappy low-grade potion? If there’s no priest nearby, you’re already dead.

Right now, Serena’s party was trapped in the closed room called a labyrinth.

The wounds were numerous but minor – they could worsen if left untreated, but would heal completely with low-grade potions.

If they didn’t use potions now, when would they?

“Even regular rats are filthy, but since you were bitten by undead, we can’t leave it untreated. Isn’t there a saying that those bitten by undead become undead?”

“Is there such a story? I’ve never heard it.”

Getting bitten by zombies turning you into zombies was the standard rule, but not in this world. Serena felt the cultural difference.

“Poison could set in, so wash thoroughly and apply potions to the deepest wounds first. Use herbs for shallow wounds.”

Before going to the lobby to treat wounds, she had Ralph open the wooden chest behind the door – though it was too shabby to call a treasure chest.

“Potions!”

Fortunately, there were three bottles of low-grade potions inside. This eased their worry about having to mix spit with charcoal due to insufficient herbs and potions.

‘Is there nothing from this guy?’

It was standard in games and novels featuring labyrinths to pick up materials or equipment from boss corpses. Serena examined the pulverized Labyrinth Rat Leader’s corpse just in case.

There was absolutely nothing.

‘No magic stone or anything? Really?’

Serena irritably rummaged through the Labyrinth Rat Leader’s corpse. Philia was shocked by the grotesque sight of the princess rummaging through an undead corpse with an expressionless face.

“Serena must be very tired. She’s under too much stress. What if she becomes like Her Highness the Crown Princess?”

“I’ll stop her, Countess.”

“She mustn’t become like Her Highness the Crown Princess.”

Serena’s mother had been insane. Driven by madness, she had ended her own life.

Ralph and Krom, who knew this fact, were horrified that a maid would say such things to the princess she served.

The foreign masseur who didn’t know this fact only recorded the additional information that the princess was vulnerable to stress in his mental notebook.

“Your Highness?”

“Hm? Ah, don’t be alarmed. I was just looking to see if there was anything useful.”

“Please let us do it. We’ll be your hands and feet whenever Your Highness commands.”

“You might miss items imbued with magic. So I looked myself, but… there’s nothing.”

‘Broke bastard.’

If this were a game, at least the level would have gone up. At the very least, an Achievement notification would have popped up for defeating the first boss.

This was damn reality, so there was nothing. It was even undead, so they couldn’t use the meat or hide.

‘Damn broke bastard. Damn undead.’

“I see. It’s so big but useless. The tail is huge but it’s rotting, what a waste. In Vieta, it would have sold for a lot.”

“Rat tails?”

“Yes. In Bieta’s Labyrinth, they dry and sell labyrinth rat tails as lucky charms, but supply is insufficient compared to demand.”

Lavenda shyly revealed the secrets of Vieta’s tourism industry.

“So they mix in some ordinary rat tails too, but the bigger the rat tail, the more expensive it sells for. I’ve never done it, but quite a few kids made pocket money that way. Without needing to spend time, just setting rat traps at rat pathways was quite profitable.”

Rats that had grown plump tails from eating food scraps left by tourists at the tourist destination.

Vieta catches such rats to maintain hygiene and dries their tails to sell as charms, claiming they’re labyrinth rat tails, making money in the process.

Everyone was happy except the deceived tourists from outside.

Weren’t the rats unhappy? The rats were probably happy too since they could eat their fill until they were caught.

“How did that Shepherd boy catch such a dangerous thing all by himself in Vieta?”

“It probably wasn’t undead. Only ordinary labyrinth rats and labyrinth slimes appear in Vieta’s Labyrinth.”

Lavenda said she clearly saw labyrinth rats happily running on wheels in the Labyrinth Rest Area. Unlike the labyrinth rats they encountered here, those had glossy fur and were plump.

“He must have finished it quickly before it could call its subordinates. I succeeded in the first strike too…”

If it had been an ordinary leader rat, it would have died instantly, but it happened to be undead so it didn’t die and called its subordinates. The party was surprised by the undead rat army spawning from the corners and fell into confusion.

“As you said, Princess, it wasn’t that difficult an enemy. I won’t act so foolishly next time.”

After reviewing and reflecting on the battle, they searched the Leader’s Chamber a bit more. They looked for hidden passages or treasure chests but found none.

***

The party returned to the lobby. The lobby was still bright. It felt like many things had happened, but the actual time that had passed didn’t seem that long.

Everyone washed their wounds and applied potions.

“Philia, you need to apply the potion more thoroughly. You can’t get scars.”

“The same goes for you, Lady Serena!”

“I’ll take care of both of you thoroughly.”

Philia, the greatest beauty of Huji, and Serena, whose face was practically national treasure, received special care.

While they were at it, Lavenda also treated her wounded hands. For a masseuse whose soft hands without a single callus were her livelihood, her hands had become rough from gripping and swinging sword sheaths and being bitten by rats.

“Since we have more potions now, apply some to Lady Serena’s feet too. Okay?”

“I hate repeating myself. You know that, right?”

After treating everyone’s wounds, they used 2 bottles and had 2 remaining. Serena and Philia decided to keep one bottle each in their pockets.

Having the two people with the least injuries carry the potions was actually close to preferential treatment. Philia, who didn’t realize this, burst out in frustration over what seemed so unfair to her.

“When we get out of here, I’m definitely going to put Lady Serena in a bathtub filled with potions. I’ll ask him to fill it completely with only the finest Landriole-brand potions.”

Philia revealed what she would do first upon escaping the labyrinth. Dunking the princess in a warm potion bath!

The finest Landriole Workshop potions were a luxury that even an imperial princess would find difficult, let alone a princess, but Philia burned with determination as if she would definitely make it happen.

“Don’t misunderstand—Philia is paying with her own money. As royalty of Huji and the only woman of House Huaim, I indulge in moderate luxury to maintain dignity, but I’m not on the level of Countess Randy.”

Serena made excuses to prevent any potential red spears of envy. Fortunately, the party members didn’t know the price of Landriole Workshop’s finest potions.

“I heard Landriole potions are hard to obtain.”

Ralph seemed to have heard something about it, but didn’t know the price. Serena deflected, saying there were ways.

“We’re commoners so it’s fine, but you two have it rough.”

“Krom, you’re also having a hard time at your weary age. But how old are you…”

“Just over fifty.”

Younger than sixty but still in his fifties when his limbs would ache. Krom took out the rat meat buried in ice, pondered, then seasoned it with salt and pepper and grilled it on skewers.

The rats were large, so three would be enough for five people with two left over. The problem was what came after.

“There’s nothing to eat.”

After the meal, Krom’s words, spoken without inflection, weighed heavier than a death sentence. Serena, who had been craving carbohydrates, completely lost her appetite. The others besides the princess felt the same.

“If we go down unexplored paths, there should be more labyrinth rats. I’ll go catch some.”

“I’ll go too. There might be more herb patches.”

“Before that, it would be good to take a quick look at the lower floor. Labyrinth rats might appear on the lower floor too, and there might be a suitable resting space like here.”

Having finally discovered stairs, it would be a waste of time to search unexplored sections of the 1st floor just for food.

“What about the cart? Should we leave it here?”

“Let’s leave it for now, and if we find a suitable place on the lower floor, we can bring it down.”

“Hope those rat bastards don’t mess with it.”

Ralph picked up his wooden sword and Krom gripped his spear. Though it was Krom’s first time with a spear, it was better than nothing.

The party passed the Labyrinth Rat Leader’s corpse.

‘If only that bastard hadn’t been undead, we could have eaten the meat. Disgusting rat bastard, it was horrible meeting you and let’s never see each other again.’

“Right! I have something my sister-in-law packed just for me!”

Before going down the stairs, Ralph smiled brightly and pulled something out. It was small candy. There were five pieces total, so each person could have one.

Everyone was in no position to decline, so they thanked him and brought the candy to their mouths.

The stairs were steep and who knew what lay below. It was uncertain whether there would be an exit on the lower floor, but the candy in their mouths was sweet. Their mouths filled with saliva.

Serena and her party, who descended to the 2nd floor of Heuji’s Labyrinth, were completely annihilated.

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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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