Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 298

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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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298. Undead Taught by Worms

“Grow into a staff that fits perfectly in Lady Serena’s hands.”

Philia, who was carefully watering the trees as always, smiled brightly at the noise coming from the direction of the teleportation room.

Her beloved master had returned.

‘I should be the first to welcome her.’

Though no one thought they could receive more favor from the Princess than Heuji Jeolmi, Philia burned with competitive spirit alone and ran to the teleportation room.

Lavenda followed Philia, saying she shouldn’t move around alone.

For Philia, who felt an hour without her master was like a week, being separated from Serena for days was like torture.

Philia prayed that Serena wouldn’t participate in the next raid and was about to run to her master.

“Lady Serena! You’re back, aaaah!”

She nearly fainted at the sight of worm corpses pouring out from the teleportation room door.

“Lady Sereeeena!”

She endured with love and loyalty for her master, and pulled out Serena who was standing on top of the worms.

It was truly a human victory.

“What are all those hideous things?”

Of course, having endured so hard, she deserved a reward. Philia whined while being held in Serena’s arms.

Serena held onto her confused mind from repeated roller coaster rides and comforted her maid. Holding her tightly and swaying helped restore not only Philia’s but also Serena’s mental strength.

‘Now I can live a little.’

Serena released the maid who always missed her master’s embrace and gestured to Lavenda, who looked ready to faint.

“Miss Lavenda. Please call everyone. Each should bring buckets and bowls.”

“Radish is a must!”

“Mr. Low and the children haven’t returned yet.”

“What?”

Low and the Number Siblings had gone to the 4th Layer but apparently hadn’t returned yet. Olive raised both eyebrows and cursed her ex-boyfriend.

“What! Someone went all the way to the last floor of the 11th Layer, but these guys are still struggling on the 4th Layer? If they tamed the 14th Floor Labyrinth Rat Leader, there’s only one floor left! But they’re this slow, useless!”

“They can’t use the teleportation room, so it’s natural, isn’t it— ueeeek.”

“Why are you grabbing me and throwing up! Hey!”

Count Randy, who was suffering from the aftereffects of repeated roller coaster rides like the Princess, vomited on Olive’s feet. Philia ran to her husband in surprise.

“Honey! Are you okay?”

“My dear… I’m sorry for showing you such a pathetic sight.”

“How is throwing up because you’re sick pathetic? Lean on me.”

Philia supported her husband and headed to the lobby. Count Alpha, who had no one to lean on comfortably, gazed enviously at the couple’s retreating figures.

“Damn. I was planning to make Radish do all this.”

Olive, whose plan had fallen through, scratched her head looking at the worm corpses she had greedily brought back. The rest of the remaining group who came running after hearing Philia’s scream were horrified at the sight of the worm corpses.

“What are all these, Your Highness?”

“Cough. The worms are that big.”

“Why are the worms so shriveled up?”

“Oh my, why did you bring such disgusting things?”

“They’re Labyrinth Worms! If you cut open their bellies, earth dragon stones come out!”

At Ralph’s confident answer, Grey poked at the dried-up worms with his staff.

“I know that, but why did you bring them whole?”

“Well, obviously.”

Olive placed her hand on Grey’s shoulder. The Old Man narrowed his eyes at the Guide’s audacity. Olive lightly pushed Grey toward the worms.

“Because it would be annoying, tiring, and unfair if only we worked. Hey. Everyone work together! Payment is per piece!”

Following the Alchemist’s advice that the salt remaining in the worm corpses could adversely affect the herb garden, Olive set up shop in the 1st Layer Leader’s Chamber.

“Look, look. This is how you extract the earth dragon stones. Hey.”

The Guide skillfully cut open a worm’s belly and extracted the earth dragon stone. Olive’s mouth widened at the sight of the high-quality earth dragon stone.

“Eheheheh.”

“Are you telling us to do menial labor now?”

Grey glared at Olive as if he couldn’t believe it. Olive responded without backing down.

“Then should I, who’s tired from raiding the labyrinth, do it? Or the Princess, Zero, the Count, or the Knights? Hey?”

“Countess Nex and I could be doing more useful and productive work in this time. We were in the middle of very important magical research right now.”

Grey firmly drew the line, saying this kind of work wasn’t for him to do.

In small communities, working together was important, but assigning personnel to the right places was also crucial.

If Grey had pulled rank, she would have told him to stop talking nonsense and cut worm bellies, but since he said he was doing magical research, it was hard to force him.

Couldn’t he cut all the worm bellies and then research? It wasn’t as easy as it sounded.

‘Magical research also requires inspiration.’

Since mental imagery had a great influence on magic, inspiration was important in magical research too.

But this inspiration couldn’t be 100% perfectly preserved just by recording it in writing or pictures. The research design had to be completed before the inspiration faded.

It would be different if Grey had been slacking off to avoid menial work until now. But the Old Man had understood the lobby situation where everyone regardless of status had to work and had never slacked off once.

‘Rather, it was Olive who slacked off.’

Since such a Grey was saying this, he must really be doing magical research.

With Grey and Countess Nex out, and Neet automatically out, only Lavenda remained from the staying group. There were too many worms for Lavenda to handle alone.

‘Can’t be helped. I’ll have to rest after cutting the worm bellies.’

Rather than leaving work half-done, finishing everything and then resting suited Serena’s temperament.

As Serena put her gloves back on and picked up a dagger, Krom waved both arms.

“Never mind. I can do it alone, so everyone go away.”

Krom plopped down on the bare floor and held out her hand to Olive. Since they hadn’t given her weapons just in case, Krom didn’t have a dagger.

When Olive handed over an ordinary dagger, Krom grabbed a worm with her bare hands and cut open its belly. She extracted the earth dragon stone from inside and placed it on the empty floor.

“This should do it. Is there anything to be careful about?”

“Is it okay for undead hands to touch it?”

Olive was worried about the earth dragon stone’s quality, not Krom’s skin.

It seemed too cold, but the Guide’s reaction was understandable. Even intact iron would rust and corrode when touched by undead.

Olive checked the condition of the earth dragon stone Krom had extracted. The earth dragon stone was fine. Officially authorized undead were definitely good.

“Great! It’s fine!”

Olive smiled brightly. Krom sat down properly.

“Then I’ll do it, so everyone go away.”

“Cough. It’ll be hard for Grandmother to do it alone. Cough.”

Neet looked at the worm corpses piled higher than her height and tried to stop Krom. Krom waved her hand roughly.

“I’m a dead body, so I don’t get tired. I don’t even sleep, so I was bored at night anyway. This actually works out well.”

Krom grabbed another worm and cut open its belly. Her handling of the blade showed not a trace of caution.

‘Originally, having undead do simple repetitive labor is a necromancer story cliché.’

Even so, it was too much for one person to do alone, but was it really okay to leave it all to Krom?

Not only Serena, but even Grey, who had said he was busy with magical research, couldn’t easily leave.

“Please take care of it, Undead Grandmother.”

Olive, who had actually brought the work, walked cheerfully to the lobby.

Countess Nex, who had been watching Serena’s reaction, also returned to the lobby, not wanting to lose her inspiration. Grey called Neet.

“Neet, let’s go.”

“Cough. Is only Grandmother working?”

The fake child kindly answered the real child’s pure question and concern.

“I’ll help too once this research reaches a conclusion.”

“I’ll work with Grandmother Krom for now. Don’t worry.”

The Mysterious Stranger rolled up her sleeves, saying she would also cut worm bellies. She was about to say to definitely wear gloves since salt was bad for the skin, but Krom refused Lavenda.

“Never mind. It’s annoying and gets in the way. I’ll do it alone, so go away.”

“Grandmother Krom. Working alone and being alone in the labyrinth is forbidden.”

Lavenda brought up the lobby rules established by the Princess. Krom replied bluntly.

“I’m dead, so it’s fine.”

Was it okay for undead to act alone? The Mysterious Stranger fell into confusion. Ralph plopped down on the floor and saved the confused Lavenda.

“Then I’ll rest here! Please call me after the Princess and everyone else have washed up!”

Now that the exploration team had returned, Lavenda had many things to do. Lavenda smiled and thanked the young knight.

***

The Princess’s body let out a silent scream as she entered the hot spring water. Serena did the stretches Lavenda had taught her to loosen her stiff muscles and joints.

“Princess, today we have berry juice.”

The fruit trees in the Labyrinth bore various fruits one at a time. So large fruits like watermelons were jackpots, while small fruits like strawberries or blueberries were disappointments.

Lavenda had gathered those small fruits for the Princess. It was special treatment for Serena.

From Serena’s perspective as someone receiving special treatment, the best response was not to decline but to honestly express gratitude.

“Thank you.”

Serena gladly accepted the berry juice and sipped it slowly. The characteristic tartness of berries combined with honey’s sweetness and imperfectly crushed fruit pieces created a healthy yet delicious taste.

After finishing her bath, Serena went to the campfire. A chair exclusively for the Princess was already placed there.

As Serena sat in the chair, Philia applied fragrant oil to her master’s hair and dried it. Olive and Ying also dried their hair near the campfire.

Lavenda, with her sleeves rolled up, collected the wet towels used by the exploration team and distributed dry ones.

Prince Willow, who appointed himself guardian of the campfire, seemed to enjoy the scent of lavender oil and followed the masseuse’s movements with a slightly enchanted expression. Grey’s staff flew toward the Prince’s head.

“Stay alert in front of the fire. Really, who does he take after? Tsk tsk.”

“Ahem. If you brought the earthworms here, I could help too.”

“Earthworms smell fishy.”

“It’s unfortunate that there’s nothing I can do since Krom doesn’t eat.”

Prince Willow expressed sympathy for Krom working alone. Grey clicked his tongue.

“Grandmother Krom has escaped her painful state through a contract with Neet, so there’s no need to worry.”

After his status elevation to the Prince’s uncle(?), Grey’s manner of speaking became even more bizarre. Count Alpha pressed his forehead as if just listening was painful.

“Shift change.”

Ying, who had finished drying her hair, stood up to switch with Ralph. Serena was concerned about leaving all the work to Krom, so she moved with Ying. Philia naturally followed her master, and Count Randy also walked beside his wife under the pretense of collecting earth dragon stones.

“Did you come to supervise?”

Sensing the presence of the group approaching, Krom turned her head.

Krom pointed to the mountain of earthworm corpses as if the timing was perfect.

“Do I need to hurry with this?”

Could the freshness of earthworm corpses be related to the quality of earth dragon stones? Since Serena didn’t know, she looked to the expert. Count Randy answered instead.

“Fresh is better, but it’s not urgent.”

“So it was too much for you to handle alone?”

“That’s not it.”

Krom picked up an earthworm corpse as if to show off. She stabbed its belly with a dagger and split it open. She rummaged through the earthworm’s stomach to find and extract the earth dragon stone.

Though she held the blade and moved without hesitation, there was one strange thing.

‘She’s slow?’

“See? It’s not difficult work. But I’m terribly slow.”

“You mean you weren’t moving slowly to show me?”

“That’s right. I thought I’d get faster quickly since I did this kind of work when I was alive, but that’s not the case. This is how it continues to be.”

When repeating simple labor, people usually become skilled unless they’re particularly clumsy or slow-witted.

But Krom said that despite being familiar with this type of work, she wasn’t becoming more skilled at it.

“It’s because you’re undead! Learning is a privilege of the living!”

Skills not acquired in life cannot be learned. The alchemist, witnessing firsthand the limitations of an officially affiliated undead, opened his eyes wide with excitement.

“That’s why I asked if it was okay to work slowly. Is it fine?”

“Yes. It’s fine.”

“Still, since I don’t sleep at night, it won’t be too late.”

“Take your time.”

“I don’t need to rest either.”

Krom clicked her tongue in dissatisfaction with maintaining the same speed as when she started and continued moving her hands.

At dawn that day, Sesi’s ear-splitting scream spread from the Leader’s Chamber to the lobby.

Serena, who had been climbing the stairs diligently, offered her sincere condolences to Sesi, who had encountered the undead grandmother holding a knife while cutting earthworm bellies in half.

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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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