Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 171

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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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171. The Prince’s Request (5)

The Princess skipped the 15th Floor of Heuji’s Labyrinth 4th Layer and pressed the draw button on the 14th Floor.

‘If others are busy fighting Labyrinth Rat Leaders in other labyrinths and I draw someone away, reducing their fighting force, that would be terrible.’

Though it was an unlikely scenario, in this mysterious labyrinth, one had to keep an open mind to all possibilities.

So Serena pressed the draw button on the 14th Floor.

The Princess pretended to pray earnestly to the gods, taking her time before looking around.

“It would be wonderful if I could meet Count Alpha.”

‘Please, a Knight! Definitely a Knight!’

Right now, she was willing to gladly welcome any Knight to the lobby, whether they were Imperial Knights or Duke faction Knights enchanted by Duke Oren.

‘They’ll convert anyway once they hear about Grandfather’s death.’

What if a Knight maintained their loyalty even after hearing that Duke Oren had assassinated Harold II?

‘There are tombs in the lobby too.’

All the capsule beds were full, but there were still many empty spots in the tombs.

Serena was more than willing to make room for loyal Knights.

While the Princess was having terrifying thoughts, Low, who had left the 5th Layer for the first time, carefully surveyed the 4th Layer.

“This is the 4th Layer 14th Floor? It’s so dark I can’t see anything.”

Since Serena’s party had left all the crystals in darkness while conquering the 4th Layer, both the 15th and 14th Floors were shrouded in the labyrinth’s eerie darkness where you couldn’t see an inch ahead.

When Ralph lit his magic lantern, the labyrinth’s mysterious darkness lifted and the surroundings brightened.

“Oh, the lantern’s goo… d.”

Low had opened his mouth in delight as the area brightened, but his voice retreated inward, unable to overcome his shyness.

“Shall we head to the stairs going up? Maybe?”

“Since it’s so dark, how about hitting the crystal to brighten it?”

I’m in favor. A day or two should be fine.”

“Hmm~ Considering we’ll do half-and-half raids later, it’s better to leave it alone~ Princess, what do you think? Maybe?”

The Guide, Knight, and Alchemist judged it would be okay to hit the crystal a little.

To proceed with half-and-half raids of the 4th Layer later, it would be convenient to maintain the darkness.

However, there was currently a lonely stray wandering alone on the 14th Floor.

‘Since I drew them, I should save them.’

Living Goblins and Labyrinth Chickens were relatively easier to handle than undead.

Serena nodded, agreeing with the party’s opinion.

“If possible, hit it within 5 times.”

“Yes.”

“You mean that crystal over there?”

Low, who had been looking around, quickly spotted the crystal. Low only took the stance to throw his short spear and waited for permission to be granted.

‘This is why experienced workers are good.’

The Mysterious Stranger was a seasoned labyrinth adventurer who knew the labyrinth’s terrors, so he never moved without the party’s agreement.

“Throw it.”

As soon as Olive’s permission was given, Low threw his short spear. The spear cut through the air and struck the crystal.

Clang-.

A clear, transparent sound rang out as part of the area brightened. Like the darkness, an eerily bright light shone down brilliantly.

“My eyes!”

“Stop being dramatic.”

When Ying dramatically complained of suffering, Olive clicked her tongue and turned on the magic lantern.

The mysterious light that seemed like it would damage one’s vision from being so bright everywhere was somewhat subdued.

“Come back.”

The short spear that had hit the crystal disappeared and returned to Low’s hand.

“Should I brighten everything?”

“No. Each time you hit a crystal, half a day is lost.”

Like a working adventurer, Low was surprised by something else instead of asking what that meant.

“This is the 4th Layer now? You said this was the 14th Floor.”

“Yeah. For reference, the estimated difficulty is 8th-Level. Exciting, right?”

Low’s healthy complexion turned pale, just like when Serena had caught him infiltrating the Royal Palace.

“You’re joking, right? Why would the Princess and Count enter an 8th-Level Dungeon?”

“Didn’t I tell you? We’re trapped in the labyrinth~”

“Su-surely you don’t mean that serving until we exit the labyrinth wasn’t a metaphor!”

It was literally what it meant.

Realizing the reality, Low hurriedly grabbed the Guide who was leading due to traps.

“Olive! This isn’t the time. If we’re really trapped in the labyrinth, we should stick together and.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Don’t worry, don’t worry. Everything you’re worried about right now, our Princess will solve for you.”

When the Guide’s reaction was different from what he expected, Low looked at Ying in confusion.

The Taciturn Archer kindly explained to his long-lost former party member.

“Listen to the Princess.”

“What on earth are you talking about.”

In Heuji’s Labyrinth, the more knowledgeable someone was about labyrinths, the harder it seemed for them to adapt to the Princess’s greatness.

Olive had been like that, and so had Grey.

Low was also in a confused state, but this too would pass.

‘Since he’s a labyrinth adventurer, he’ll be convinced without needing to show anything grand, just using the Teleportation Room should be enough.’

For that, they needed to quickly find whoever was drawn and return to the lobby.

Unable to call out due to monsters and advancing while fighting, the party was stopped by the Guide.

“Hmm, it seems the Princess’s prayer was successful. Maybe.”

“How do you know?”

“There’s someone else on this floor besides us.”

Serena was confident there was someone since she was the one who pressed the draw button.

What was Olive basing her confidence on?

When the party members, including Serena, expressed doubt, the Guide shrugged.

“We turned off all our lights, but there’s a light on over there.”

The darkness of the 4th Layer was so eerie that it completely blocked even the labyrinth’s blindingly bright light.

So it was difficult to confirm areas of light and darkness before getting close, but the party had a way to know this.

Olive pointed to a crystal on the magic map.

“This crystal here. It’s marked as bright. Maybe. We haven’t been there yet.”

“It even displays this kind of information in advance! Really useful!”

The magic map’s feature of displaying information unknown to the holder when continuously exploring the same location shone brightly.

“That’s how often we’ve traveled the 4th Layer~ Anyway, unless it brightened automatically due to the labyrinth’s restoration power, someone other than us hit the crystal. Maybe.”

The party immediately headed toward that crystal.

The area where the crystal was located was dazzlingly bright, just as marked on the magic map.

The party approached near the crystal while being careful of traps that activate when bright, and discovered a black figure leaning against the wall where the crystal was.

It was matte-finished black plate armor.

‘When I saw it in passing at the Royal Palace, I thought it was just painted black for show. But seeing it in the labyrinth, it’s useful.’

Painted matte black, it absorbed rather than reflected the labyrinth’s eerie light with metal’s characteristic luster, making it less noticeable.

It would be even harder to discover if the surroundings were dark.

Next to the Knight in black armor lay the corpse of a Labyrinth Chicken.

The Knight was cutting small pieces of the Labyrinth Chicken’s breast meat with a dagger and bringing them to his mouth.

‘Ugh, eating that raw? Was it because there was no firewood?’

Remembering how they had struggled without firewood before purchasing the Eternal Campfire, she suddenly felt sorry for the Knight.

The light in the day area was strong and the Knight’s hair was bright blonde, so his face wasn’t clearly visible except for his armor.

The Knight seemed very tired as he noticed the party’s presence later than expected and became alert.

“Who goes there! Identify yourselves! I am Sirius Alpha, Vice-Commander of the Empire’s Black Wolf Knights.”

Saying this, what the Knight picked up was a massive double-edged axe with a gleaming blue blade.

“Wow! It’s really Sir Sirius! As expected of the Princess!”

“Amazing!”

Olive praised the Princess without even batting an eye at the axe. Ralph chimed in with approval.

“Count Sirius. It’s me. Count Mark Landriole.”

Count Randy approached with a magic lantern so Count Alpha could see his face clearly.

Count Sirius Alpha, revealed in the refracted light, was a handsome man with blonde hair and green eyes.

‘How flashy.’

If Ying, who was equally a blonde beauty, was a graceful and delicate beauty with the elegance of an ancient sculpture, Count Alpha was flashy like a painting by an excited artist who received massive patronage and applied gold leaf, silver leaf, and expensive pigments with elaborate techniques to suit the patron’s taste.

‘Sorry for thinking this upon first meeting. But he looks like he’d make people cry.’

The green eyes revealed beneath his disheveled blonde hair would captivate women’s hearts, while his thick neck and muscles, contrasting with his flashy and delicate face, would captivate men’s hearts.

Count Alpha’s height was similar to Low’s. His muscle build was similar too, but Count Alpha looked bigger because he wore armor.

With a cloak that was black on the outside and navy blue on the inside, he looked quite threatening.

If he had worn a helmet too, he would have been a perfect black knight, but his delicately flashy face slightly diminished his dignity.

Of course, a flashy face had nothing to do with rank.

Serena grumbled inwardly as she looked at his full 4-star rating.

‘Our Ralph is still 3-star, but if you include the gray, he’s 5-star.’

“Count Landriole? My goodness. Were you also swallowed by the labyrinth? Or are you perhaps an advance rescue team? The 5th Prince—”

The knight immediately asked about the 5th Prince upon seeing his compatriot. Count Randy interrupted the Imperial Knight and hurriedly said:

“Rest assured. Lord Willow is safe.”

“Really?”

Even though a famous person from his own country had spoken, Count Alpha didn’t believe him immediately.

Whether it was because he had a cautious personality or because his nerves had become sharp from being isolated in the labyrinth was unclear.

“It’s true. This person here is Her Highness Serena Fackling Huaim, Grand Princess of Heuji. This is Count Ralph Hanson, Her Highness’s knight, and those are Ying, Olive, and Low, labyrinth explorers hired by Her Highness.”

When Count Randy introduced the others one by one, Count Alpha, who had been on edge like a wounded wolf, relaxed his guard.

The presence of Serena, a member of royalty, seemed to have an immediate effect.

“I never imagined that even Your Highness the Princess had fallen into the labyrinth. Well, since the Royal Palace shook…”

“We came to rescue you at Prince Willow’s request. We’ll take you to the Prince.”

Normally, when told they’d be taken to their charge after being separated from them, a guard should readily agree.

But for some reason, Count Alpha hesitated instead of moving immediately.

“Do you have business to attend to?”

“Are you perhaps worried about the other knights?”

At Ralph’s question, Count Alpha sent another wary look.

“How did you know?”

“What? Mr. Low saw Count Alpha moving together with other knights.”

‘Oh my, Ralph.’

Serena sighed inwardly at the young knight who innocently revealed the witness’s identity.

Already shy by nature, Low hid behind Ying when it was revealed he had been secretly watching.

Though Ying was tall, she wasn’t tall enough to hide Low, who was nearly 2 meters tall. Low’s fake bald head was clearly visible behind Ying.

How long had he been secretly watching, and if he was watching, why didn’t he come out and instead hid?

She expected such questioning to follow, but contrary to expectations, where the black knight’s gaze landed was on the Princess’s face.

“Excuse me for asking, but are you truly Her Highness Grand Princess Fackling?”

If it were someone else, they would prove it with items bearing the royal crest, but Serena had no need for that.

She had been born with an unforgeable symbol of royalty.

“You’re quite the foreigner. In Heuji, no one would say such a thing after seeing my eye.”

Serena opened wide her one and only eye. The Princess’s orange iris glowed mysteriously.

“There was clear evidence, but I failed to recognize it! I apologize!”

Count Alpha seemed even more sorry for making the one-eyed Princess mention her eye herself, and his flashy face showed genuine remorse.

Count Alpha knelt before the Princess in apology.

“Your Highness! I am truly sorry!”

‘What? The apology seems a bit excessive.’

Prince Willow had said Count Alpha had a rigid personality, so he might be apologizing seriously.

But somehow, to Serena’s eyes, Count Alpha kneeling in apology looked like a precursor to something.

‘He’s not about to gain momentum and attack me.’

Serena racked her brain trying to figure out what it was a precursor to, but whether it was because she was slow-witted, it was too late.

“I failed to prevent Crown Prince Kipan from falling into a trap!”

‘Damn it.’

Her anxiety became reality, taking shape through Count Alpha’s heavy and serious voice.

The Princess had learned the status of the person she least wanted to know about among those who had fallen into the labyrinth.

Serena couldn’t bring herself to stop the knight from speaking and only maintained a serious expression.

“As soon as I confirm Lord Willow’s safety, I will participate in searching for and rescuing His Highness the Crown Prince! I will carry this out with my life on the line, so please allow me to confirm Lord Willow’s safety first!”

‘Don’t stake your life. That man isn’t worth even the dirt under a groom’s fingernails.’

Serena couldn’t speak the truth and focused on managing her expression.

Meanwhile, Count Alpha swore by his god, the Imperial Emperor, Prince Willow, his parents, ancestors, his wife who must be earnestly waiting at home for her husband’s return, and even the honor of his unborn child that he would help rescue Crown Prince Kipan.

‘He sure has a lot of people to swear by. If you have that many precious people, cherish your own life first.’

“Enough! Count Alpha, you must cherish your own life first. We’ve accomplished our objective, so we’re returning to the lobby.”

“What? Aren’t we going to search for His Highness the Crown Prince?”

The righteous Count Ralph spoke the proper course of action.

As long as she was born as the Crown Prince’s child, if Serena left room for neglecting the Crown Prince’s rescue, it would negatively affect her as well.

The Princess thought of a suitable excuse and then gave this world’s universal answer.

“This is as far as God has permitted. We’re returning now.”

Serena turned around more coldly than usual.

Even the Guide, who always arrogantly tried to cross the line, kept his mouth firmly shut.

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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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