Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 296

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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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296. Clatter Clatter (1)

“This one has red fur.”

Once Count Randy was certain Serena was safe, he turned his attention to the monster that had threatened the Princess. An Imperial Knight from the monster specialist unit spoke the monster’s name.

“It’s a Labyrinth Rat.”

The name was really simple, whoever came up with it. Olive checked the texture of the Labyrinth Rat’s fur and exclaimed ‘This guy really has thick fur’ as she began skinning it.

“You know what? Red moles are 3 times faster than regular moles.”

“That’s incorrect.”

The Imperial Knight firmly denied the guide’s words.

“Experimental results have shown their attack speed to be 5 times faster.”

‘Ah. So it attacks 5 times in the time a regular labyrinth mole would attack once. That was really dangerous.’

It was a dangerous monster that meant certain death if you allowed a surprise attack. Olive seemed displeased that Count Alpha had immediately contradicted her words, glaring at the Imperial Knight while skinning.

“Really? We all heard they were 3 times faster~”

“I think I’ve heard that too. Among mole monsters, red moles are said to be 3 times faster.”

Count Alpha nodded.

“That’s correct. Such rumors circulated among civilians, so the Imperial Monster Research Institute conducted experiments and discovered they’re actually up to 5 times faster.”

“That’s curious. Usually comparisons start at 2 times, don’t they? When rumors spread and get exaggerated, they tend to inflate to even numbers or go big with 10 times. But 3 times?”

‘Right. Usually rumors inflate to 2 times, 10 times, 100 times.’

Why did the rumor spread as an awkward 3 times? Everyone found it curious, but among the group, there was someone who seemed to know the answer.

“Zero. Why do you look like that? If you know something, speak up quickly.”

“A hero said it.”

“A hero? Duke Oren?”

“There is not just one hero. In the past, there was a hero who fought beasts that blasphemed against the deity. That hero would always say red-colored monsters were 3 times faster and stayed alert.”

“There was such a hero! But why are red-colored monsters 3 times faster?”

“That’s what they said in the hero’s homeland.”

“Hmm. Does Ying think this strange rumor that spread among people originated from the hero’s habit of speech?”

“It’s a plausible story. Because it was a hero’s habit of speech, not an ordinary person’s, the number 3 times was passed down unchanged, wasn’t it?”

Red color. 3 times. Serena found the combination of these two unrelated words strangely familiar.

‘What is it?’

Something seemed like it would come to mind, but it wouldn’t surface. It bothered her like having an itch on her back while wearing thick clothes.

‘What is it really?’

The Young Knight, who loved heroic tales and adventure stories, sparkled with curiosity about this hero story he was hearing for the first time.

“Miss Ying! If it’s alright, could you tell us that hero’s story? I’m really curious!”

“I’m curious too. What exactly was the beast that blasphemed against the deity? Is it a true story? Is it recorded in history?”

Count Randy also showed interest, but didn’t sparkle like Ralph. He knew it was difficult to get desired information from the taciturn Ying.

While Serena was racking her brain and Ralph was requesting Ying to tell the story, Olive, who had been investigating the space with the stairs, called the group.

“Everyone! Big trouble!”

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s no Sealed Door here!”

“What?”

At the truly troubling news, Serena stopped racking her brain and quickly looked around.

‘Olive’s right. There’s no Sealed Door!’

Even searching thoroughly, she couldn’t see a door glowing softly in crimson. Olive looked at the Labyrinth Worm corpses spread like flooring across the leader’s chamber floor in despair.

“Aaaah! No way! When will I cut open all those worm bellies!”

It seemed giving up the earth dragon stones wasn’t an option for Olive. Thinking of hundreds of earth dragon stones rather than hundreds of worms made it feel wasteful.

‘All of that is resources.’

Of all places, there was no teleportation room on the filthy floor. The thought of being quite tired even taking the shortest route made her dizzy, but Olive, who had been in despair, suddenly stood up.

“I can’t give up yet!”

Olive, who had jumped up, commanded like a leader.

“Knight! Black Knight! Expand your shields!”

Ralph immediately followed Olive’s words. Count Alpha’s elegant eyebrows twitched, but he also did as instructed.

“Gather all the worm corpses on the floor in one place! Execute!”

“Are you planning to investigate the leader’s chamber?”

“Of course! I’m going to collect all those worms.”

Olive had them clear worm corpses starting from the floor closest to the wall where a secret door would most likely be, then investigated the cleaned wall and floor.

“Ugh, fishy worm smell. Salty smell.”

“Ah, I was late to mention this. That salt water is bad for skin, so be careful not to touch it with bare hands.”

“Really quick to say that now.”

Olive, who had removed her gloves to thoroughly investigate the wall, put them back on. Ralph was pushing worm corpses with his shield when a worm got caught in the lion’s mouth opening, and he sadly pulled the worm out.

‘Originally it would be for catching enemy weapons. But it got initiated with worms.’

Still, the fact that he only felt sad without complaining showed the Young Knight’s kind nature.

“Yes! Secret door discovered!”

The guide, who had been investigating the floor after the wall, cheered. Everyone was happy, but Ralph was especially delighted.

“Good, good. Teleportation room, come out! Pop!”

After checking for traps, Olive vigorously opened the secret door hidden in the floor. The teleportation room Ralph called for didn’t appear, and instead a switch of unknown purpose emerged.

Seeing the switch, Olive let out a groan from deep in her lungs.

“Huhhh. Where does this… connect to…”

Olive eventually cleaned around the switch with water, then removed her gloves and felt around the switch and nearby area.

Serena looked around the leader’s chamber again thinking she might help, but no crimson light was visible.

“Hmm. It doesn’t seem to be a trap. Princess, first overlap your magic barrier. Everyone else gather around the Princess.”

People moved as Olive instructed. Olive muttered quietly.

“It would’ve been damn convenient if I had Compass abilities.”

The grumbling guide’s eyes were ice-cold. But soon she smiled brightly and placed her hand on the switch.

“I’ll operate it on three. One, two, three.”

After operating the switch, Olive jumped and entered the magic barrier at lightning speed.

Rumble rumble rumble-.

When the switch was pressed, the entire leader’s chamber shook. Another giant worm? The party’s fear was brief. One wall of the leader’s chamber slid aside, revealing a new space.

There were two installations in the secret room.

“A mine cart?”

“There are rail tracks on the floor!”

There was one rail track. Ralph got excited seeing the huge mine cart that looked like it could carry ten people.

“We can ride that! We ride that to move!”

What the Young Knight was thinking was obvious. Dozens of mine exploration scenes from heroic tales and adventure stories he’d enjoyed reading and hearing were probably unfolding in his mind.

But fantasy and reality are different. Count Alpha looked in the direction where the rail tracks were laid and spoke negatively.

“Count Hanson. If the mine cart derails, it would be very dangerous. Even following the tracks, it’s better to walk along the rails rather than ride the cart.”

“First we need to check the direction of the rails. Olive?”

The rails led to a hole in the wall, and inside the hole was very dark.

Even for Serena, who was blessed with darkness, only the rails going upward were clearly visible. She couldn’t see anything around the rails.

‘It’s a bit scary. The rails are floating in mid-air.’

If Serena felt this way, then Ralph, Count Alpha, and Count Randy, who couldn’t even see the rails, would only see darkness presenting unknown terror.

Without lighting, Olive would be the same, but today’s Olive was different from yesterday’s Olive. Olive strutted proudly as she put on the magic goggles obtained from the treasure chest.

“Ha, my popularity. The rails go upward.”

Having confirmed the rail direction, Ralph smiled brightly.

“As expected, we ride the mine cart! We ride this to go up and down!”

“I agree with the knight’s opinion too.”

“Olive says it’s right!”

Ralph’s shoulders bounced as if he wanted to ride the mine cart quickly. Olive didn’t move and just wiggled her index finger.

“But there’s a problem.”

“What is it?”

“That mine cart. It’s locked with a padlock.”

“Yes?”

Judging there was no danger, Olive strode boldly toward the mine cart and pointed near the wheels connected to the rail tracks.

“See here? Look? It’s locked with a padlock, right?”

“Miss Olive, you can unlock it!”

Ralph fussed like a dog with treats placed in front of it. Olive observed the lock while taking her time like an owner teasing a dog.

“Let’s see, let’s see. This isn’t a popular style these days~”

“Olive.”

Serena called the guide’s name. Olive, who had only been looking at the lock, immediately pulled out a bundle of keys and lock-picking tools from her waist as soon as the Princess finished speaking.

“First, let me check if there’s a matching key~ Oh my!”

The slightly rusted key from the treasure chest slid perfectly into the lock. Olive trembled with excitement at the miracle of using a key obtained on the 11th layer immediately on the 11th layer.

“Kyaaaaa! Since I’m traveling with a deity’s apostle, the keys fit perfectly into the locks!”

Though it wasn’t a Sealed Door key, this was the second time Olive had found a key while traveling with Serena and opened a matching lock or door.

Given the labyrinth’s nature, this was an extremely rare occurrence. Olive purely rejoiced as she unlocked the padlock.

“This reduces the chance of the mine cart being dangerous by half.”

“Can we ride it now?”

Ralph asked with the momentum to board the mine cart immediately. Count Alpha closed the distance to grab Ralph at any moment, and Olive blocked the space between the mine cart and Ralph.

“Whoa whoa, calm down, Knight. Even if the route is safe, the mine cart might zoom off as soon as you board it. You’re not going alone, right?”

Ralph, who had fallen into traps, hadn’t learned the lesson that the trapped Ralph should have carved into his bones and soul. Still, perhaps his patience had grown while conquering the labyrinth, as he waited obediently. If Flower Trash’s patience was 2-star, Ralph’s patience could be considered between 3-star and 4-star.

“Isn’t the mine cart dangerous since it’s hard to get off midway? If the tracks are safe, how about walking along the rails?”

“Ah~ about that. I don’t know how many labyrinth floors Black Knight has toured, but when there are rails in a labyrinth, you should absolutely never walk along them. There are passable paths and impassable ones, and you only learn this through direct experience.”

“Impossible.”

The Taciturn Archer agreed with the guide’s words. Olive made a bridge shape with her hands.

“Right now, these rails are floating in mid-air without any support structures. Walking on such paths is more dangerous. It’s better to ride the mine cart.”

“I see.”

Count Alpha abandoned his plan to walk on the rails. Olive scratched her black ponytail.

“Based on my experience and intuition, riding this thing should get us comfortably to the upper floor. What do you think, Zero?”

The archer didn’t speak but expressed himself through action. He leaped and boarded the mine cart. Olive’s eyes widened at the archer’s unilateral action and she pointed accusingly.

“Zero! You saw me scold the knight, yet you just hop on!”

“I know.”

“Even if you know from experience that it’s not dangerous! It’s bad for the knight’s education!”

“Miss Ying looked so cool boarding just now! I want to ride like that too!”

“Ugh! He’s already learned something bad!”

“Count Ralph. Since you’re wearing armor, board safely.”

Even if one was confident in their athletic ability, jumping to board a mine cart was dangerous behavior.

Serena cautioned the knight and boarded the mine cart with help from the two knights. Ying, who had boarded the mine cart first, helped Serena.

Count Randy, who boarded the mine cart next, looked around the interior of the mine cart.

“There are no safety devices for sudden stops or derailment. Lady Serena, please be careful.”

“But how does this mine cart move— Ugh.”

As Serena expressed her question, the mine cart automatically started moving once all party members had boarded.

“Good heavens! It’s a magic mine cart!”

Ralph was so moved he even wiped away tears. The two labyrinth adventurers remained alert to their surroundings as if accustomed to such things, and Count Alpha followed suit in staying vigilant.

Count Randy touched the mine cart, curious about how the magic mine cart operated.

And Serena.

‘This is strange. It feels a bit ominous.’

Though it might be unfounded worry, she felt an ominous feeling and wrapped the upper part of the mine cart with a mana field. This way, even if the mine cart stopped suddenly, the party wouldn’t be thrown out of the mine cart.

Clatter clatter, the magic mine cart slowly ascended carrying Heuji’s Labyrinth 1st Unit exploration team.

Along with dreams and hopes, and an inexplicable anxiety.

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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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