Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 273

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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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273. Deep Treasure Chest

Return to the lobby.

It was unanimously agreed upon, including Seraph, but one problem arose.

“The shortcut is narrow and winding, so we can’t transport the patients.”

They had crafted stretchers to carry the patients, but the shortcut was too narrow for the stretchers to pass through.

This was a labyrinth, and considering the 5-star healer and recovery potions, they could ignore wound deterioration and carry them on their backs.

But that was only when the injuries were at a manageable level.

Knight Marin was relatively fine, but High Priest Hazel had been slashed diagonally across his torso, damaging even his internal organs. To transport High Priest Hazel, a stretcher was absolutely necessary.

“What should we do about this?”

The alchemist who had excitedly crafted the stretchers fell into contemplation.

“I’m sorry for continuously causing trouble.”

The High Priest of Earth apologized to the group with a pale face even after taking blood supplements.

High Priest Hazel, unable to tolerate the passing time in this predicament, made a decision.

“I’ll remain here until the sutures stabilize.”

“What? It’s dangerous if you stay alone, Priest!”

Ralph was startled and opposed. Knight Marin waved her uninjured hand.

“Then I’ll stay too. That would be better.”

If a patient stays, the doctor must stay as well. Count Randy rubbed his chin.

“Hmm. Then I should stay too. What about the Effort Priest?”

“Hehe, Bindo will stay as well. I’ll recover my strength through prayer without moving.”

Serena showed reluctance.

“Won’t it be dangerous?”

“This is the leader’s chamber, so if we close the door, other monsters won’t invade.”

High Priest Hazel persuaded the Princess with a weak voice. The Prince, who showed reluctance like his sister, pointed out the possibility of other enemies appearing.

“What if the unfilial son returns?”

High Priest Hazel smiled with a kind and warm expression that reassured those who saw it.

“You’ve set traps on the stairs, haven’t you, Prince? I believe your skills will protect us.”

“Hmph.”

Seraph couldn’t endure High Priest Hazel’s gentle smile and turned his head away with pursed lips.

Muffin, who had been rubbing her solar plexus, raised her hand saying she would stay too.

“Ugh. I’ll stay too. I can still move around.”

Though she said she was fine, Muffin was also a patient. At least one healthy combatant needed to remain.

Who should they ask to stay? Before Serena could worry about it, the Imperial Knight stepped forward.

“Then I’ll stay.”

Count Alpha had volunteered on the 10th floor and now volunteered to remain on the 11th floor as well. He seemed to judge that he should stay based on skill and experience.

‘Leaving him behind consecutively makes me feel indebted.’

The debt to Count Alpha would extend to feeling indebted to the 5th Prince, the knight’s master. But given the situation, it couldn’t be helped.

“It’s reassuring that you’ll stay, Count. I’m counting on you.”

“It’s what I should do.”

Count Alpha’s character was as beautiful as his appearance.

After finishing the conversation with the knight, the alchemist approached the Princess with a serious expression.

“Lady Serena. I dare to make a request.”

“Like the 10th floor, you’re thinking of returning to the lobby and coming right back. Is there something you need me to bring?”

“Yes. First, all the potions are depleted, so I’d be grateful if you could bring the superior recovery potions from the workshop. My wife knows the storage location. And the herbs…”

Perhaps feeling ashamed of using his lord as an errand runner, Count Randy couldn’t meet Serena’s eyes at first, but gradually regained confidence as he explained the herbs that needed to be brought.

“That’s all.”

“Good. I’ve written it all down. Do others need anything?”

Both Serena and Seraph’s party had sufficient food supplies.

Just as Serena was thinking they only needed to bring bandages and other medical supplies, her single eye caught sight of the hesitating pink-haired girl.

“Miss Muffin. Is there something you’d like to request?”

“Ugh. Well, you see.”

“If there is, speak up. Should I bring fresh fruit?”

“That’s not it. High Priest Hazel injured his internal organs, right? The food we have now would be hard for him to digest, so I was wondering if you could bring the liquid diet that my aunt used to have.”

It was something Serena hadn’t thought of, so she widened her eyes. Noticing the Princess was surprised, Muffin regretted speaking up.

“I’m sorry! We can just boil the dry rations we have!”

“That’s not it, Miss Muffin. I was surprised by your thoughtful consideration. I’ll ask the 5th Prince.”

It was obvious, but eating well meant faster recovery. Serena added patient food to her errand list.

“Then I’ll go.”

Thus, the party that was originally two was reorganized.

Those remaining in the leader’s chamber were High Priest Hazel, Knight Marin, Muffin, the Effort Priest, Count Randy, and Count Alpha.

Those returning to the lobby were Serena, Seraph, Ralph, Olive, and Ying.

As they say, you don’t know what you have until it’s gone. Without the well-built Count Alpha, the party felt empty. Ralph walked with a serious expression, his discipline heightened.

Olive’s steps were light as always. Seraph, walking beside his sister with a sullen expression, secretly mimicked the guide’s footsteps ahead.

Though he was only copying the visible footwork by eye and couldn’t know the muscle movements hidden by clothes and shoes, his imitation was quite convincing.

‘Oh. The thief’s ultimate secret technique: stealing skills by observation.’

“Huh? Everyone stop.”

Olive, who had been leading the group with light steps, signaled to halt. Olive sniffed and frowned.

“A fishy smell?”

Where Olive stood was safe. Serena approached Olive and narrowed her brow like the guide.

‘There really is a strong fishy smell?’

It was a type of fishy smell she had never encountered before. It was strange, like blood mixed with wet earth after rain.

“What should we do? The distance is close, so it would be better to check.”

“Go check it out.”

“Yes.”

Since the distance was close, Olive moved alone. The wind of the wasteland left like wind and returned like wind.

But the guide’s expression was somewhat strange. She looked dazed, as if she had returned too quickly for her mind to catch up with her body.

“So, well. It’s better to see this directly.”

“What? Can’t you properly explain what you saw?”

“It’s close, so we can see it quickly. We have this much time, right?”

The guide ignored the angry Seraph and led the group toward the direction of the fishy smell.

‘What’s going on?’

Smelling the increasingly strong fishy odor and passing the corner of the tunnel, Serena saw the scene spread before her and understood what the guide meant about seeing it directly.

“That’s!”

“An earthworm? It’s an earthworm! It’s huge!”

In the wide cavity that was the main mining site of the 46th floor, a giant earthworm corpse lay sprawled, filling the entire space.

The body was cut vertically, and the unique fishy smell came from the bodily fluids and soil from the intestines of the dead earthworm.

There was no need to deduce who had killed the giant earthworm by splitting it vertically. Seraph bit his lip.

“Richard!”

While he and his party had fled in surprise at the earthworm’s writhing, their target of revenge, Richard, had easily defeated it, which seemed to anger him.

“Wow. This one has tough hide, but he cut it so cleanly. The legendary Sword Master is really strong. Right?”

“Indeed. The hide is incredibly tough. Even with my sword, it would be difficult to cut without finding the right grain.”

Ralph was talking about swords when he suddenly became sad, perhaps remembering Priest Rihua who had enhanced his sword’s properties.

Olive poked at the giant earthworm corpse and then ran toward where the head was.

“This one’s teeth and gizzard stones are super expensive, but that’s not why I suggested coming here~”

Olive gestured for them to hurry up, asking what they were doing. Going toward the earthworm’s head, they could quickly understand the reason.

“Ta-da! A treasure chest that goes beyond sparkly-sparkly-sparkly-sparkly to sparkly-sparkly-sparkly-sparkly-sparkly appears!”

Attached to the giant earthworm’s head was exactly that special treasure chest Seraph had mentioned. With the glowing object in the center of its head, the earthworm looked exactly like it was wearing a treasure chest-shaped crown.

Moreover, the chest was in an unopened state. The reward inside remained.

“Ha!”

Seraph let out a bitter laugh as if finding it absurd. He had nearly died trying to open that chest, but Richard had left without even opening it, which seemed to hurt his pride and stir up mixed emotions.

The guide patted the special treasure chest with an expression that looked satisfied just from seeing it.

“This one’s a chest that only appears from the depths of grade 6 or higher labyrinths. You have to have seen this chest to be recognized as a true deep-layer adventurer.”

“Then is this place also the depths?”

“No. The depths usually start from the 50th floor. Well, since you can only open it after defeating a powerful enemy right before the depths, the difficulty is probably similar to the depths.”

Since it appeared from the labyrinth depths, there was no need to worry about naming the treasure chest grade. Serena decided to classify the newly appeared magic chest grade as ‘depths.’

“But this is strange. Why didn’t the traitor open the treasure chest?”

Count Ralph is right. Even if that unfilial son didn’t open it, it seems odd that High Sol would have passed by a treasure chest.

“Are you saying there’s a trap set on the chest?”

Olive waved her hands dramatically as if that wasn’t the case in response to their questions.

“It’s not that~ Most of these chests are sealed. You need to meet certain conditions to open them, and ones guarded by monsters like this can usually only be opened by the person who killed that monster. You can open it by disabling the lock mechanism, but Duke Oren wouldn’t have waited while little Carrot picked the chest lock. Maybe Duke Oren killed it alone but didn’t open it, so Carrot couldn’t open it either and gave up?”

Olive’s speculation was likely true. The princess’s heart raced in a good way upon seeing a treasure chest of a grade she’d never seen before.

‘Free treasure chest!’

Serena hurriedly asked the depths guide a question.

“Can you open this chest?”

“Actually, the thing is~”

Olive, who should have confidently shouted ‘totally possible,’ scratched the back of her head and showed reluctance.

“Actually, the lock-picking tools I have now are ordinary. If I had my original tools maybe, but I can’t pick it now.”

The lock-picking tools Olive currently had were ones she’d obtained by requesting them from an alchemist. They were ordinary tools – lacking nothing, but nothing exceptional either.

As Olive pretended to cry while thinking of the tools she’d left in the vault, Seraph scolded her.

“Hmph. Blaming your lacking talent on your tools.”

“Your Highness! I’m the top winner of the lock-picking competition you hosted! No, that is!”

Olive, who had been protesting with triangular eyes, was startled when she saw the item in Seraph’s hand. What Seraph had taken out was a tool set that looked like it would be used for very precise work.

“It’s exactly the same as the lock-picking tools I received as the grand prize! That’s right, I remember! I saw it on the 5th floor!”

“Hmph. To say this looks the same as the competition prize. Your eyesight is as terrible as your skills.”

“What!”

Olive, whose blood pressure had shot up while looking at the tools, was shocked.

“What is this. Looking closely, the material is gold and diamond! Your Highness, are you crazy?”

“Insolent! I asked Count Randy to solve gold’s softness problem too. If it’s a tool to be held in my hands, it must have this level of refinement!”

This was the first time Serena had heard of this.

“You made Count Randy make something like that?”

Although Count Randy had purchased territory in Heuji and acquired a title and citizenship when he married Philia, strictly speaking, he wasn’t Heuji’s vassal.

He acted like a retainer to repay the debt he owed Serena, but in reality, he was an honored guest of the Empire who should be treated like a guest by Serena as well.

When she tried to question the sin of making such an imperial genius alchemist craft his hobby items, Seraph pouted.

“Ugh. It’s useful, so it’s fine.”

If a labyrinth hadn’t appeared in Heuji City, it would have been an excuse with no chance of working.

The guide extended her hand to the prince who was desperately avoiding his sister’s gaze.

“If you have something that good, that changes things! Just lend it to me for a moment and I’ll show you this Olive’s skills!”

Desire gleamed in the guide’s olive-green eyes.

“I could never give it to a thief like you. Don’t even dream of it.”

Seraph instinctively knew that the moment the lock-picking tools fell into Olive’s hands, ownership would transfer, so he gripped the tools with both hands.

“I’ll open that chest.”

The prince and guide bickered with each other about opening the depths-grade treasure chest. The thief’s scheme of extending bad hands while pretending to argue was seen through by the prince who had similar thinking.

“Too slow!”

“No way, you dodged that? Why is Your Highness able to see through pickpocketing techniques!”

Was it that not only kings, generals, ministers, and nobles, but thieves too had no separate lineage!

Olive held her head and suffered.

Serena passed by the frustrated Olive and the triumphant younger brother and approached the chest.

Now was the time for her to step forward.

As soon as the princess’s hand touched it, the treasure chest’s seal was released. Serena opened the treasure chest.

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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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