Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 218

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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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218. Roar!

After finishing her save, the Princess sat in her chair and began serious contemplation.

‘Ralph. I should remove him, right?’

Serena didn’t read many martial arts novels, but she knew this one truth.

When a warrior stands at the boundary of enlightenment, carelessly interfering leads to complete failure.

Currently, Ralph was at a crossroads of whether he could become 4-star or not.

Like water filled to the brim in a vessel, swaying precariously. If someone stirred from the side before he could expand the vessel himself, wouldn’t all that carefully accumulated water spill out?

At times like this, he needed time to quietly reflect on himself and organize his accumulated experiences.

‘Fighting monsters is too stimulating.’

Count Alpha had pointed out that Ralph gaining combat experience against monsters while unprepared wasn’t good.

Goblins were fine, but the Minotaur was a monster you had to fight risking your life.

Not only would water spill from the vessel, but there was also concern the vessel might shatter.

‘I can’t interfere with Ralph right now. Then I need to put in someone else.’

This was exactly what the second assault team was for.

Serena crossed out Hana, whose abilities were overpowered but lacked combat power, and Sesi, whose grade changed depending on the monsters she tamed, and put Low and Duri as candidates.

‘Both are 4-star.’

But their jobs were different. Low was a guide spearman and archer, while Duri was just.

‘A bear.’

The Mysterious Stranger was an experienced labyrinth adventurer, if not as much as Olive or Ying.

Logically speaking, it would naturally be right to put in Low.

However, the characteristics of the 9th Layer tempted the gamer reincarnated one to go against common sense.

‘The 9th Layer is all combat, so I need someone who fights well. And bears tear apart monsters.’

Look at those four beautiful stars sparkling above Duri’s black hair.

Just as mountains are mountains and water is water, Duri was a bear, and was 4-star because she was a bear. The reason Duri wasn’t 5-star was probably because her intelligence was also that of a bear.

‘Duri alone could probably sweep away a goblin party.’

Without even seeing how Duri fought, just thinking about it was useless.

Serena summoned Low, who was being teased by Sesi as ‘pathetic muscles, Mysterious Stranger.’

Like the great person who, when asked whether black or yellow cattle work better, considerately asked out of the cattle’s earshot, Serena also considerately asked about the Black Bear’s fighting ability where the bear couldn’t hear.

“Sob sob, Princess. Thank you for saving me.”

Low was mistaken, thinking the Princess had pulled him from the lobby because she couldn’t bear watching Sesi torment him.

Serena didn’t clear up the misunderstanding and asked about the second assault team’s situation before getting to the point.

“What do you think of Duri’s combat ability?”

“What can I say? She’s a bear. No, wait. She seems stronger than ordinary bears. She’s definitely not an ordinary bear. She’s an extraordinary bear.”

“Duri is extraordinary?”

“Yes. Bears come in various types with different builds and fighting skills as diverse as people, but Duri is somewhat different. I’m a hunter by origin, so when I’m not in the labyrinth, I sometimes hunt bounty beasts, but Duri is stronger than even those bears.”

At this unexpected news, Serena probed deeper.

“How do you know that?”

“First, her hide’s toughness is exceptional. Ordinary blades can’t pierce it. Hehe. I think I’d have to throw my spear with all my might to barely pierce it.”

This was welcome news to hear. Serena’s heart gradually leaned toward the bear.

“Does Duri actively participate in combat?”

“Maybe because she’s with her family, she actively steps forward. All 3rd Layer monsters go down in one hit, so it’s easy. Hehe.”

“How was she when fighting undead?”

That’s right. Low had reported to Serena that undead condors appeared on the 3rd Layer.

The condor that the first assault team killed and fell into the thousand-foot cliff had become undead and was soaring through the vast skies of the 3rd Layer.

A layer with corpse birds flying around. It sounded terrible just hearing about it, but the second assault team found the stairs on the 3rd Layer more smoothly than worried.

“The undead were the same. When Duri swung her front paws, it was always one hit. Hehe.”

“Wasn’t she afraid of the undead?”

Serena recalled the Number Siblings who had been paralyzed with fear and could only pray when they saw the zombie leader.

The Mysterious Stranger asked back what she meant.

“She was urging us to catch them quickly because they looked hideous?”

“Hmm. So undead are fine too.”

Rather than the fear that undead brought, the main point of the Number Siblings’ terror was that someone they resented had become undead.

The Number Siblings’ mental strength seemed to have recovered enough not to cause confusion even when seeing undead.

“Then I’ll ask one last thing. Low, in your opinion, if Duri fought a Minotaur, who do you think would win?”

Low was an adventurer exploring the labyrinth depths. He had naturally seen Minotaurs and fought them too.

Low rubbed his smooth head and thought carefully, then answered in as much detail as he had thought.

“If it’s the small Minotaur that appeared as a strong enemy on the 2nd Floor, it would be an easy victory. If it’s a typical Minotaur that appears past the 50th floor, she’d need support from the side. Of course, fighting alongside an excellent mage like the Princess would also be an easy victory. Hehehe.”

“I understand. I’ll take that into consideration.”

Low, who had been rubbing his bald head and grinning slyly, seemed to guess why the Princess had asked and opened his mouth again.

“Uh. Princess. Are you planning to take Duri to the 9th Layer?”

“I’m thinking about it.”

“I think you should reconsider that…”

“Is there something you haven’t told me?”

After praising Duri all along, now he’s telling her to reconsider taking her?

When Serena raised one eyebrow, Low bent his large frame obsequiously and rubbed his palms together earnestly.

“Well. Duri is strong because she’s a bear. But she’s a bear, isn’t she? When excited, she slightly. Doesn’t listen. She only listens to Sesi.”

Only Sesi could calm down an excited Duri.

Serena recalled what Hana had said when describing her sibling when she first met the Number Siblings.

‘I thought I’d try using a 4-star bear.’

To control a 4-star bear, a Monster Tamer had to participate in the party as a necessity.

Serena crossed her arms and pondered seriously. She thought she just needed to swap Ralph and Duri, but that wasn’t the case.

‘Guide, archer, mage, alchemist, knight, and bear. There’s no one to remove. Should I add Sesi without removing anyone?’

When party members increased, labyrinth difficulty rose. If she added Sesi, who wasn’t practically helpful in combat, and the difficulty increased further, it would be pointless.

The Princess’s dilemma was resolved more easily than expected.

“Sister Duri? She calms down even when hearing whip sounds!”

From being whipped so much since childhood, she apparently froze when hearing whip sounds.

Of course, it had to be a special whip sound, not just any whip.

“Like this! Like this. Ah, why isn’t it working. Like this!”

Sesi swung the whip earnestly in the corridor. Since Sesi had taken the whip the former leader used, her proficiency was low, making her whipping quite clumsy.

“Ah~ That’s not how you swing a whip~”

“If you’re so great, try it yourself! You liar!”

Sesi got angry at Olive, who kept giving advice from the side, and shoved the whip at her.

Olive raised one corner of her mouth and grinned, then swung the whip briskly.

Crack-!

Even to Serena’s eyes and ears, the whip cut through the air and struck the floor at a completely different speed.

Olive hummed while wrapping the long whip around her hand in one motion.

“Ah~ Easy.”

“Uuuugh!”

“If Olive swings it like that, does Duri freeze?”

“Not that, but swinging it to make a whistling sound.”

“This?”

The Guide casually swung the whip as if to show off to Sesi. Then, just as Sesi said, a whistling sound was heard.

“Ugh! That’s it.”

“Good! With just this, I can control the bear as I please? At first she was too skinny so I wasn’t interested, but now that she’s put on some weight, she’s cute~”

“Sister Duri is a bear, so she’s not interested in people!”

“Ohoho! My charm overcomes even species differences!”

“Olive. Aren’t you ashamed to say such things when Philia is here?”

In the lobby, there truly existed a cosmic horror of beauty that could overcome most species differences.

Olive, who had been laughing confidently while teasing Sesi, hung her head and reflected.

“I’m embarrassed.”

“Well then, that’s enough. For the 9th Layer assault, Duri will go instead of Count Ralph.”

After consulting with Low, everyone had already guessed this would happen when they saw the Princess asking how to calm Duri down.

“What?”

Except for Ralph, the person in question.

Ralph was shocked to suddenly hear he was being excluded from the planned assault.

“Are, are you removing me? Because I’m too weak? Because I can’t properly wield a sword like Count Alpha said?”

The Young Knight was more shaken than expected.

And he had good reason to be. Ralph had been a party member since the first day the group fell into the labyrinth.

Though he sometimes sat out explorations, he was a true contributor to assaults and a regular party member who had never missed attacking a new floor.

The Young Knight had never even imagined being excluded from Assault Team 1. But suddenly the Princess ordered him to sit out this assault, so of course he was surprised and frightened.

“I, I’m lacking.”

“That’s not it, Count Ralph. Count Ralph is a knight too good for me. I’m always grateful.”

Serena quickly spoke up before the Young Knight could panic and get worked up.

“I think Count Ralph learned a lot from his sparring match with Count Alpha. At times like this, rather than hastily moving your body, wouldn’t it be right to calmly reflect inwardly?”

At this, Count Alpha, who had been listening nearby, widened his brilliant green eyes.

“Good heavens! Your Highness immediately noticed what I myself wasn’t certain of?”

Count Alpha marveled at the Princess’s insight and took Serena’s side.

“Count Hanson. It would be right to follow Her Highness’s words. As an elder and senior knight, I dare to advise that Count Hanson should suspend labyrinth assaults for a while.”

‘For a while? I was only thinking of excluding him from the 9th Layer assault?’

Count Alpha arbitrarily extended the period, but what could she do? He was more of an expert than Serena.

Didn’t that Imperial Knight know Ralph was standing at a crossroads?

‘I was certain after seeing the star shake. Count Alpha has watched seniors, colleagues, and juniors, so he’d be more accurate.’

Count Alpha had just been holding back from openly advising Ralph since he was a knight from another country. When Serena set the stage, he very actively advised doing personal training while sitting out assaults.

“Cough. Have a safe trip.”

For that reason, Duri sniffed the scent of her sibling from the decorative knot she received in Ralph’s place and grinned.

The Princess headed to the 9th Layer with a bear instead of a knight.

Again, let me start with the conclusion.

Bears tear apart cattle.

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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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