Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 299

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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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299. Sesi is Anxious (1)

She climbed the stairs excitedly thinking she’d be praised, only to find giant earthworms piled up like mountains, and an undead old woman with a sword cutting open the earthworms’ bellies?

Even Serena would have confidence in screaming her throat raw.

Surprisingly, among the Heuji’s Labyrinth 2nd Group strategy team, Sesi was the only one who screamed upon seeing Krom.

‘Something seems to be above? No hostility and not a monster, so should be fine.’

Hana, blessed with an innate ability from some heavenly deity, was certain it was an ally thanks to her natural talent.

‘Strange sounds coming from above? Butchering monsters?’

Low knew something was there from the presence he sensed the moment he entered the 1st floor while climbing the stairs.

“Woong!”

Duri needed no explanation. With a bear’s sense of smell and hearing, she was the first to know it was Krom in the leader’s chamber.

So Sesi was the only one whose heart dropped in shock upon discovering Krom.

The problem was that Sesi was a monster tamer, and monsters reacted sensitively to Sesi’s emotions.

Sesi screamed loud enough to shake the 1st floor, and the Chicken Leader (named by Sesi) and Duri, whom Sesi had successfully tamed, reacted honestly to their tamer’s emotions.

They attacked Krom, who had frightened Sesi.

The labyrinth chicken’s giant claws slashed Krom’s upper body, and Duri’s bear punch struck her head. The force was so strong that her head separated from her body.

When people who heard Sesi’s scream arrived at the leader’s chamber, the room had a horror special interior so disgusting it would make even the strongest stomach turn.

“You came? If you heard the scream, you should’ve come faster.”

And as the finishing touch, a talking head.

“Wow.”

Olive, satisfied with the horror interior, exclaimed in admiration. Count Alpha also frowned deeply and swallowed a groan.

“Philia shouldn’t come. Count Ralph, take Countess Randy and Lavenda. Take Neet and return to the lobby.”

Philia would obviously faint, and Ralph and Neet had grown up seeing only proper and pretty things.

Especially since Neet remembered everything she saw for life, blocking her from seeing grotesque things was a guardian’s duty.

Serena barely endured wanting to faint at the horror interior that satisfied all senses – sight, hearing, smell, and touch.

“Aaaahhhhh!”

“Sesi! Calm down! Sesi needs to calm down so Duri and Chicken Leader calm down too!”

“Aaaaahhhhhhh!”

Fortunately(?), the excited labyrinth chicken and Duri only attacked Krom. To clean up this chaos, they needed to calm Sesi, but the labyrinth chicken was acting up near Sesi, making it difficult to approach.

“Ugh, tsk tsk.”

Grey clicked his tongue and created water with shadowless magic, splashing it on Sesi. Sesi, whose pretty face was covered in tears and snot, was now soaked through.

“Cough cough. What, what is this? What happened?”

Sesi coughed as water entered her nose. Grey answered with an expression like he wanted to beat her a hundred times with his staff.

“What do you mean what? Sesi noona got startled and made the monster and even Duri hyung go wild. Snap out of it quickly.”

At the old man’s sharp rebuke, focus returned to Sesi’s blue eyes. But seeing Krom whose head had flown off from Chicken Leader’s attack, she lost focus again.

Serena urgently pressed Sesi.

“Sesi!”

“Gasp! Duri unni! Calm down. Chicken Leader too, it’s okay now.”

The tamer regained her reason and soothed the bear and chicken. Though they no longer attacked the motionless Krom, the bear and chicken that had been waiting for a chance to rampage calmed down.

Sesi confirmed the disaster in the leader’s chamber with blue eyes that had become more vivid from being wet. Sesi’s hands trembled.

“Grandmother Krom, did you die again, d-d-die?”

“If I died, I died. What do you mean died again?”

Krom’s head replied grumpily. Grey and Countess Nex’s eyes lit up.

“How can you talk with just a head?”

“That’s what I’m saying, Grey.”

“Ah, Neet! You can’t go!”

“Cough, Grandmother Krom. It doesn’t hurt, right? It really doesn’t hurt, right?”

Neet, who felt the change in the undead she had contracted, found Ralph’s weak point and came running quickly.

Fortunately, Neet wasn’t frightened by the interior that made her sister Sesi nearly faint.

Though the bandages wrapped around her face were wet with tears, they were tears of worry for Krom.

Neet sniffled and picked up Krom’s head, fitting it to her body.

The adults and old man who were worried about the child’s mental health left Neet alone, impressed by her bold and dignified attitude.

“Sob, I’ll fix you. Cough.”

Though always earnest when casting magic, this time Neet recited the spell even more earnestly. Fortunately, corpse restoration magic could restore severed parts too.

But perhaps because the damage was extensive, restoration took long and required much mana. Neet, still young and lacking concentration, had to repeat the corpse restoration magic several times.

“The power granted by heaven… Cough cough cough. Cough!”

Neet couldn’t endure the repeated spellcasting and coughed severely. Countess Nex stopped Neet.

“Miss Neet, that’s enough for today. Mental strength is as important as mana for mages.”

“Cough cough. But Grandmother Krom’s neck isn’t fully attached yet…”

“It’s fine if we secure it.”

Krom secured her partially attached neck with clothes torn from the bear and chicken’s attack. The undead old woman clicked her tongue seeing Neet’s tear-soaked bandages.

“The child suffered because of her pathetic sister. Go get some sleep quickly.”

“You heard her? Rest well now and help Krom with a clear mind tomorrow.”

“Sob, cough. Yes…”

Neet, who was returning to the lobby under Countess Nex’s guidance, slightly turned her head to look at her sister.

“Sesi unni, I hate you. Cough.”

Tears welled up again in Sesi’s eyes upon hearing ‘I hate you’ from her youngest sibling, who was kind, gentle, and had never been seen blaming others.

“Ugh.”

“Se, Sesi! You can’t cry! The kids will go crazy again!”

“Hiiing.”

Though Hana tried to comfort Sesi, it was useless for Sesi, whose mental strength had already dropped significantly from the heart-stopping shock.

Sesi knew she had done wrong and tried to hold back her tears, but it didn’t seem to work well.

Before the old man could shout ‘What are you crying for when you did well!’, Serena comforted the red-haired beauty.

“Sesi. You had reason to be startled. Even I would have been shocked enough to faint.”

“Sob, Princess. I really did wrong. I didn’t do it on purpose.”

Sesi, who had been wiping tears and snot on Hana’s front, walked over to embrace Serena.

Though embracing her was awkward, Serena graciously extended her hand. Sesi took the Princess’s hand and dripped tears and snot.

“I was so surprised and scared that I screamed. Sob, Chicken Leader and Duri attacked Grandmother Krom on their own!”

“The one who should apologize is not me but Krom. If you’ve calmed down, apologize to Krom for your mistake.”

“Hic! I’m sorry!”

“Just saying sorry with words isn’t enough.”

“I’m so sorry!”

Sesi swallowed her tears with hiccups and pulled out her wallet from her bosom. Krom shouted.

“What use is giving money to a corpse!”

“Hic.”

“Stop the nonsense and work. Thanks to you, I can’t bow my head so I can’t do it.”

Krom put a dagger in Sesi’s hand.

“Here. Hold this and cut the earthworm’s belly like this. There are stones like this inside, so just take them out. Pretty easy, right?”

“Waaah. I don’t want to touch earthworms.”

“It’s dangerous because of the salt, so definitely wear gloves.”

“Waaah. I don’t want to cut earthworm bellies. I don’t want to put my hands in earthworm bellies either. Can’t I do other work?”

“Stop the nonsense and work!”

“Hing.”

At Krom’s sharp rebuke, Sesi cut the earthworm’s belly while crying. Hana scratched her head and sighed as if she had no choice.

“I’ll help. Sorry for not saying anything when I knew something was above.”

“Sniff, Hana unni.”

“Duri also smelled Grandmother Krom and earthworms but didn’t tell you. Duri did wrong too. Duri should work too.”

“Groong.”

At the eldest’s scolding, Duri made a sound of reflection. Serena watched curiously to see how Duri would extract the earth dragon stones.

“Woong!”

Duri transformed into a human, put on gloves, and gripped a dagger.

‘Ah, right. Duri is a person.’

Duri was a bear who could even use tools. No. She was a person.

“You could take a break though….”

Though he sensed the presence but didn’t warn Sesi, making her witness a frightening scene without mental preparation. Low eventually sat down next to the Worm Mound as punishment.

“Work faster, faster. Why are living people so sluggish in their movements?”

Living people performed simple repetitive labor while the Undead supervised.

‘It’s like hell.’

Serena left a brief impression of this rare scene, difficult to witness even in a fantasy world, and turned around.

‘They must be tired, so I should bring them some warm tea.’

Grey, who confirmed the incident was over, also moved to the Lobby with Serena. On the way back to the Lobby, Grey suddenly spoke.

“This won’t do.”

Though the subject was omitted, Serena understood what the Old Man wanted to say.

“I agree. Taming strong monsters isn’t everything.”

Sesi was an excellent Monster Tamer who could even tame Floor Bosses, but her mental strength was weak.

Every time Sesi’s emotions fluctuated, not only the monsters she had tamed but also nearby beasts were affected and went berserk.

This was a very fatal flaw. If Sesi tamed stronger monsters without being able to control her own emotions and reason, not only the Lobby Members but Sesi herself could be seriously injured.

‘It would be better to postpone the bear until Sesi builds up her mental strength.’

After Duri caught the scent of bears in the Snowy Mountains, Serena, who had been excited about having the Monster Tamer tame bears, immediately scrapped the plan.

‘So the dream of two bears ends like this.’

Physical strength can be built through exercise, but how should mental strength be developed? Serena asked the Old Man for his opinion.

“Isn’t there a way to train Sesi’s mental strength?”

“We should start with meditation. Simple labor that isn’t difficult goes well with meditation, so we should start tomorrow.”

Serena doubted whether cutting worm bellies could count as meditation, but since she wasn’t a meditation expert, she kept her mouth shut.

“Miss Lavenda. Could you bring some warm tea to Low and the children?”

“Of course. I’ll bring snacks too.”

“Tell them to wash up and rest if they’re tired.”

Since there was always a pot of water boiling in the Lobby, tea was prepared quickly.

Lavenda loaded the tray with plenty of snacks for Duri, who ate a lot, and left the Lobby with Ralph.

Prince Willow stared blankly at the corridor, curious about the Leader’s Chamber situation he had only heard about.

How much time had passed since the two left?

Serena was lying in bed trying to sleep when she heard faint sniffling sounds from afar. She thought it might be a mistake or auditory hallucination, but the sound grew closer.

“What’s wrong.”

Serena hurriedly emerged from her capsule, just like when she heard Sesi’s scream. The owner of the sniffling sounds was the same person as the owner of the scream.

“Hic. Hiiing.”

Sesi entered the Lobby with her hands clasped together, accompanied by Lavenda and Hana. Behind the three women, Low followed with a worried expression.

Red blood the same color as her hair dripped from Sesi’s hands, and tears streamed down from her blue eyes.

Serena became fully awake.

“Are you hurt?”

“It’s a wound that will heal with a recovery potion. All our hands are dirty and have salt on them, so we’ll wash at the fountain first and then treat with a potion. It’s not a wound for the Princess to worry about. Yes.”

It was a wise measure since carelessly using a recovery potion in unclean conditions could cause the wound to fester inside.

Lavenda washed Sesi’s wound with fountain water and applied a recovery potion. Serena asked Hana why Sesi got hurt.

‘She was working with a blade, so it was dangerous. But is cutting worm bellies that difficult?’

Since she was holding a blade, it was simple work that wouldn’t cause injury if she was just careful.

Hana couldn’t answer Serena’s question immediately and rolled her eyes.

“Sesi is, well…. She can’t endure sitting work.”

At Hana’s confession, Serena pressed her forehead. She felt like she had received an advance report of the results when Sesi would be made to meditate.

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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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