Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 293

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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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293. Labyrinth Quiz Show

“Oh.”

The Guide, who was the first to step onto the 45th Floor, let out a small exclamation of admiration. The party members, who couldn’t yet see the 45th Floor due to the narrow and winding passage, also exclaimed in turn.

“Wow.”

Ralph looked around with sparkling eyes.

Sparkle here, sparkle there. Gems and mineral ores scattered throughout the small chamber reflected the light from the orb of light, creating a dazzling display.

‘It’s fantastic.’

All kinds of gems were embedded throughout the small chamber. Though not as colorfully dazzling as what they’d seen in the magic stone mining site, the gems had their own unique charm.

“Is it safe?”

Count Alpha was also captivated by the gems, but remembering his position, he remained vigilant of their surroundings.

Following the senior knight’s example, Ralph also closed his mouth and looked around. Olive waved her hand lightly.

“If there were any, I would have said so. But just in case, don’t fall behind. I’m going to check if there are any paths or secret rooms.”

Not every wall was covered with gem ores. Olive investigated walls that had no gems or few gems.

Hearing the Guide’s words, Serena also checked if there was any faintly glowing crimson light.

‘There isn’t any.’

There were no sealed doors in the chamber. Olive seemed convinced there was something there, persistently knocking on, touching, and glaring at the walls.

‘Prioritizing wall investigation over gems? That’s not like Olive.’

Looking for hidden doors first when their retreat route wasn’t even blocked?

Curious about this attitude so unlike the greedy Guide, Serena asked for the reason.

“Are you certain there’s a hidden path or door?”

“Oh, didn’t I mention this? Everyone, pay attention!”

Olive focused the party members’ attention on herself and held up the labyrinth compass high.

“Remember how this thing shook wildly on the 44th Floor because there were so many stairs?”

“Yes, I remember.”

Holding up the compass must have been intentional for them to see. People looked at the labyrinth compass and tried to figure out what Olive wanted to say.

Ralph, who was closest to Olive, was the first to notice.

“Ah! The needle pointing to stairs only stops at three places!”

“Correct, Knight!”

Unlike the Number Siblings, Olive seemed pleased with the diligent student and stood on her tiptoes to pat Ralph’s head.

“Three stairs? That’s strange. There were five downward stairs on the 44th Floor, so it should point to the same five or more, shouldn’t it?”

Count Randy posed a sharp question. Olive grinned.

“Exactly. The number of stairs is different, isn’t it? Why would that be~ Count, you’re smart and well-educated, so think carefully~ Everyone else too. I’ll give a massage I learned from Miss Potpourri to whoever gets it right.”

Though the prize wasn’t appealing, everyone seriously pondered the reason out of curiosity. Count Alpha was about to give an answer but was stopped by Olive.

“Black Knight, even if you know the answer, don’t say it~ By the way, the hint is stairs.”

‘The hint is stairs?’

She had been thinking seriously, but hearing the hint made it more confusing. Even drawing on her past life experience of playing games while drawing maps on graph paper, she was completely lost.

‘Among the stairs on the 44th Floor, there was a stair going up to the 43rd Floor. But that doesn’t make sense. Then the labyrinth compass should have reacted to two stairs on the 43rd Floor.’

Count Randy, the smart one, seemed equally stumped as he rubbed his chin vigorously. With the party’s alchemist and mage in confusion, the knight suddenly raised his head.

“I’ve got it! Among the stairs on the upper floor, there was an upward stair instead of a downward one!”

This was a hypothesis Serena had considered but discarded due to errors. The Princess mentally recalled the incorrect answer sound from quiz shows in her past life.

‘Buzzer. That’s wrong.’

The Guide snapped her fingers and said cheerfully.

“Correct, Knight!”

“What?”

“How is that possible!”

The quiz host had marked an error-filled wrong answer as correct. Serena exclaimed in surprise without realizing it, and Count Randy protested to the quiz host.

“Count Ralph’s answer is wrong! Then there should have been more stairs the compass needle pointed to on the 42nd Floor!”

“Ah, now that you mention it, that’s right.”

Ralph realized the error in his answer after hearing Count Randy’s protest. There’s no way Olive would miss such a simple error, so why did she mark it as correct?

“Don’t tell me you marked it correct out of desire to massage Count Ralph’s shoulders? Count Ralph’s shoulders belong to Lady Serena!”

“Ah! My shoulders belonged to the Princess! I didn’t know.”

At the young knight’s words about realizing this new fact, Serena shouted inwardly.

‘I don’t need them!’

The reason she shouted inwardly was because in this medieval-style society, it was normal for vassals to dedicate both body and mind to their master.

It wasn’t literally offering one’s body, but a direct expression of labor and service, though in the Empire, they sometimes literally offered their bodies.

In such a world, if a master said ‘I don’t need it,’ the servant would be hurt. A noble person in this world had to hold onto things even if they didn’t need them.

“From Count Ralph’s head to toe, everything is mine, so take good care of it. If you carelessly handle and damage what’s mine, I’ll hold you strictly accountable.”

“Hehe. Yes, I understand.”

Ralph blushed on his freckled cheeks, looking embarrassed. He didn’t seem to dislike it.

“And Olive. Why did wise you acknowledge a wrong answer as correct? I’m curious about your intention.”

“Right. Here comes the real question.”

Olive wagged her index finger left and right, then revealed this was the main point.

“The question the Princess asked me earlier. It was very sharp and good. I’ll ask you the same question the Princess asked me! Why was I so certain there was something hidden in this chamber!”

Rather than resolving the participants’ doubts and objections, Olive threw out a new question.

“The hint is the correct answer to the earlier question.”

She handed the magic map and labyrinth compass to the Princess, telling her to look closely. Count Randy, eager for the correct answer, lightly said “Excuse me” and took the map and compass.

Serena had to maintain her dignity, so she looked at the map and compass from the side.

‘The hint is the erroneous answer? What on earth does that mean?’

The Guide could have just explained, but making it into a quiz was annoying. On the other hand, she thought this method brought vitality to the labyrinth that lacked entertainment.

‘She’s an excellent Guide.’

Of course, Olive being excellent was separate from the difficulty of the problem. Serena whipped her poor brain.

‘Among the five stairs on the 44th Floor, there was an upward stair included. If this is the correct answer, it can’t explain why there weren’t more stairs on the previous floor.’

Glaring at the map, Serena recalled there was one more stair on the 41st Floor they hadn’t taken.

‘Ah! Could one of the 44th Floor stairs connect to the 41st Floor?’

There’s no way the truly smart Count Randy would have missed what Serena thought of. The alchemist, who had been somewhat obsessively studying the map, raised his right hand high.

“Correct! One of the 44th Floor stairs connects to the untaken stair on the 41st Floor!”

“Wrong! That’s not the answer to the question. And.”

Olive wagged her index finger and even clicked her tongue while giving the Count a look of disdain.

“Those two stairs might be connected, but it’s not confirmed. Black Knight, give us a hint.”

Olive snapped her fingers at Count Alpha. Count Alpha, seemingly tired of pointing out the Guide’s arrogant and rude attitude, sighed and spoke.

“I’ll give you a hint. Um… The question Olive asked was first asked by Her Highness the Grand Princess to Olive. Why she asked such a question. That should be a hint.”

“Wow. You gave it all away.”

Olive slapped Count Alpha’s forearm, saying he’d basically given away the entire answer.

“Lady Serena, why did you question Olive?”

Count Randy’s eyes were intense, wanting to solve the problem on his own somehow. Serena searched her memory.

“As you can see, this is a dead-end space. And it’s full of gems that Olive loves. Olive should have been looking for the most expensive gems first and calling dibs on them rather than searching for secret doors of uncertain existence, but she didn’t, which was strange.”

“That’s definitely strange. Olive is the type to pick up gold coins at her feet rather than treasure across the river.”

“Eek. When did you observe me like that? Olive is embarrassed.”

Olive lightly clenched her fists against her cheeks and stamped her feet. The Princess and alchemist ignored the Guide.

“Count Alpha knows the answer, so it must be one of the labyrinth’s characteristics. Don’t you remember anything?”

“I’m sorry. I should have paid more attention to the labyrinth.”

Count Randy regretted his past focus only on results from the labyrinth rather than the process.

Serena took back the magic map and labyrinth compass from the Count. She enlarged and reduced the innocent magic map, looked at other floors, and shook the compass.

‘Olive hates wasting time. She moved with certainty that doors or passages were hidden. Why?’

Olive, who hated waste, was actually investigating the walls again while the party solved the problem. Serena wracked her poor brain.

‘Think! Think, Serena!’

The Princess dredged up memories from her past life that had been helpful in the labyrinth.

Countless dungeons she’d wandered through while playing games. Dirty, cheap, unpleasant dungeons with many stairs, complex paths, and developers’ malice.

Thinking of the worst also brought up the best. Open doors, locked doors, doors that could be opened later. Kind maps that used different colors for each type, and maps generous enough to tell you everything you could manipulate or obtain in each area.

At the same time, Serena drew maps of the 44th and 45th floors directly in her notebook.

‘Since there are multiple staircases, you have to go up and down and back and forth, but once you break through all those paths, there’s bound to be a shortcut. Usually, if you rub against the walls in areas close to each other on the map, a shortcut will appear.’

Having thought that far, Serena furrowed her brow.

‘Could it be?’

“Oh, Princess. Did you think of the answer?”

“Wait. I need time to organize my thoughts.”

Serena covered the Guide’s mouth, worried that the clue she had barely grasped might slip away. It would be best to organize her thoughts before speaking, but fearing she might lose it, she opened her mouth first.

“So. The staircase that the labyrinth compass needle points to is.”

“Ooh, good start.”

Before the sentence was finished, Olive clapped her hands together. Her mind scattered, Serena covered her ears.

“Only the staircases we can currently access.”

“That’s right! And then?”

“Ah, so that’s how it was?”

“Huh? I don’t really understand.”

The Alchemist who roughly understood and the Knight who didn’t understand at all. Serena drew a picture in her notebook to help her own understanding.

“The chamber we’re currently in is here. And the staircase the compass needle points to must be somewhere else on the same floor.”

Serena drew a small circle and labeled it ‘chamber’, then drew a huge circle next to it and labeled it ‘Staircase 3’.

“This chamber appears to be a dead end at first glance. It seems like we can’t go to other areas on the same floor. But if the labyrinth compass’s staircase needle only points to staircases we can currently access.”

Serena drew a line connecting the two circles.

“It means there’s a hidden passage somewhere in this chamber that appears to have no path. That’s why Olive immediately started looking for secret doors as soon as she saw the compass.”

“Truly brilliant! Your Highness the Grand Princess is the wisest princess on the continent!”

Count Alpha clapped his gauntleted hands together. The sound of metal clashing against metal pierced sharply into their ears.

Perhaps because her thoughts were organized, the sound of clashing metal didn’t bother her ears.

“I see. Then the error in Count Ralph’s answer is also resolved. The reason the needle didn’t react on the 42nd and 43rd floors is because there were staircases on those floors that we couldn’t access.”

“Princess, you’re amazing!”

The Young Knight sent a look of respect to the master of his body and mind. The Alchemist also cast an admiring gaze at the Princess, who jointly owned half of his body with his wife.

Serena attributed all this glory to the development team who had considerately designed a kind and gentle map system for gamers.

“Princess. Correct answer!”

Perhaps because it was an answer obtained by wracking her poor brain, she felt refreshed. Serena smiled brightly and left the punishment of the annoying Guide, who was approaching while rubbing his hands, to the Archer.

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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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