Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 308

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

308. Musk Expedition (1)

“I really hate snow!”

The sisters habitually embraced each other and shared warmth.

“The clothes are so thick I can’t feel Sesi!”

“Me too! Actually, it’s less cold so we don’t need to hug?”

“I understand! It’s because the clothes are warm!”

Hana and Sesi, wearing proper winter clothing for the first time in their lives, exclaimed in admiration. It didn’t feel like someone else’s business, so Serena clicked her tongue inwardly.

In her previous life, when Serena first wore proper down padding, she had reacted just like the sisters.

‘Honestly, sponge padding was way too cold.’

When Serena felt cold, people around her would wonder why she was so cold wearing such thick padding.

The important thing wasn’t the volume of the padding but the filling material inside, which Serena didn’t know until she became a working adult.

‘Grandmother’s embrace wasn’t warm for nothing.’

Grandmother’s padding was bought by her eldest uncle. It was filled with goose down, making it incredibly light and warm. Young Serena didn’t know this and thought it was warm because Grandmother was wearing it.

‘If we really had no money, that would be one thing. But we weren’t actually broke.’

At the time, her eldest uncle had tried to buy winter clothes for Serena too.

‘Grandmother stopped him, saying it was wasteful to buy expensive clothes for a child who would only wear them for one season.’

Grandmother was always like that. Her thoughts and stubbornness came first. She was willing to spend the money she earned through hardship on Serena, but begrudged even 10 won of her children’s money being spent on Serena.

She never considered at all that Serena suffered because of those thoughts and stubbornness.

In the end, Serena never asked for the reason while Grandmother was alive, but if she had asked, Grandmother would have answered like this.

That Serena being born was wrong in the first place.

‘By that logic, wasn’t it the parents’ fault for not studying and causing trouble?’

Going further back, wasn’t it Grandmother’s fault for raising her child wrong? Grandmother could say she was paying for her sins, but why did Serena have to bear the sin of being born too?

‘Knowing that Mom tried to take me but gave up because of Grandmother! How much I!’

Things from her previous life. Even though it was all over since she died and the world had changed, just thinking about it made her blood boil with indignation.

“It’s safe! Everyone come in!”

The Hunter’s loud shout awakened the Princess who had been caught up in memories of her previous life. Serena felt relieved as if waking from a nightmare.

‘It’s all over. Now I’m the Princess of Heuji. It’s better that my parents are equally absent, but at least I hold wealth and power.’

“Princess. Are you perhaps feeling unwell?”

The Imperial Knight who had been guarding behind Serena asked with a worried voice. It was strange that the Princess, who had been fine, suddenly looked upset without any warning.

‘Come to think of it, I showed an unseemly sight to Count Alpha on this layer. I need to be careful.’

It was also the 10th Layer where she had laughed madly, assuming her sibling had died. At that time too, Count Alpha had watched everything from close to Serena.

‘It would be troublesome if rumors spread that while Mother regains her sanity during thunder and lightning, the daughter goes mad when she sees snow.’

With a father who was a drug addict and a mother with mental problems, Serena had to spend her whole life proving her sanity.

‘Get it together, Serena.’

She had been too lax with image management lately. Serena deeply reflected.

“It’s nothing serious. My heart ached at the fact that Hana and Sesi couldn’t even wear one set of warm clothes to endure the cold.”

“That certainly is heartbreaking. When you marry Lord Willow, the poor of the Empire and Heuji will, I apologize. I was so deeply hoping for your union that I forgot the engagement was broken off.”

The upright Knight seemed to hope that if his light-hearted friend united with the dignified and merciful Princess of Heuji, he might become more serious.

Count Alpha knelt to sincerely apologize. Serena magnanimously forgave the Imperial Knight’s slip of tongue.

“Enough. This isn’t necessary. Low is waiting for us, so let’s go inside.”

“Your gracious treatment. Thank you.”

“Since you made a slip of tongue, I’ll ask one mischievous question too. Was it a love marriage or an arranged marriage?”

Count Alpha’s gorgeously beautiful face flushed subtly. It wasn’t just because of the cutting wind blowing into the cave.

“It was a love marriage.”

Just because Imperial high society encouraged free love, multiple relationships, and adultery didn’t mean marriage was also done freely.

Rather, because adultery wasn’t socially condemned, marriages were decided based on family interests.

You like someone? Then date them. You want to marry that person too? Go ahead if you want your name erased from the family register.

‘Love marriages are common in Heuji, but they said they’re very rare in the Empire.’

For Count Alpha, from a considerable noble family in such an Empire, to have had a love marriage. It was truly an interesting story.

‘If family talk wasn’t a death flag, I’d ask about this and that.’

This damn Knight had too many conditions that made him seem like he’d die first, except for his gorgeous face.

Serena slowly walked into the mountain hut. Low and Ying had already lit a fire with charcoal and laid out cushions for Serena to sit comfortably.

“I’ll take Hana and Sesi to check if Sesi can tame the magical beasts here too. Princess, please rest here with Sir Knight and Ying.”

Low pointed to the inside of the mountain hut.

“I’ve also heated up the sauna, so it would be good if you sweat it out nice and hot.”

She felt sorry for enjoying a sauna in the mountain hut while Low and the Odd Sisters had to roam around the snowy mountains.

“Is there nothing for us to do here?”

The Hunter shook his large, fierce-looking face back and forth.

“Just bringing us here comfortably through the teleportation room is enough to be grateful for. If you’re really bored.”

Low pointed around the mountain hut.

“I’d be grateful if you could set up traps near the mountain hut. All the traps the Prince set up last time are gone.”

So the mountain hut investigation took a long time. It seemed to have taken long because they had to check all the traps Seraph had persistently installed.

‘I don’t have confidence to do it like Seraph.’

She had confidence in somehow finding traps, but setting traps was a separate domain.

Serena was about to shout ‘How dare you!’ at the Hunter who dared request trap installation from a Princess, but stopped when she saw Low’s pure(?) eyes.

‘This is all because of Seraph.’

“Then we’ll be going. It’s unlikely, but if… if several days… if a week passes and we don’t return.”

Serena, who had been blaming her sibling inwardly, seriously waited for the rest of his words.

“Don’t wait any longer and return straight to the 1st Floor. Absolutely do not go looking for us.”

Low’s statement was excessively realistic and cold.

“You’re abandoning us?”

“I don’t want to become a frozen undead!”

“Wouldn’t a search be acceptable?”

Not only the Odd Sisters but Count Alpha was also surprised and pressed for reasons. The Hunter firmly shook his head.

“Among the people here now, no one can properly search the 10th Layer. If we’re alive, we’ll somehow return to this mountain hut and wait. Please leave some supplies, and just check occasionally so the supplies don’t disappear due to restoration power.”

“Duri is here! Duri can smell!”

“Snow covers smells too. We’d find you if we kept searching, but would you want Duri to smell your corpse scent?”

“Gyaaaak! That’s horrible! Duri shouldn’t know our corpse smell!”

“Jjin jjin jjin jjin that’s too much! Scary!”

“Quiet! If you stay sharp, that won’t happen!”

“Gyaaaak! Too cruel! That’s not something a person should say!”

“Poor sister Duri!”

Low’s words were cold and realistic enough to make one frown, but his tone seemed to come from experience, making it difficult to criticize.

‘So if we search for people, we’ll have a reunion in the ravine?’

She recalled stories of searchers who went out to find missing people also disappearing, only to be found as corpses side by side in ravines when the snow melted.

“Be careful.”

After seeing off the Hunter and Odd Sisters, Serena observed the area around the mountain hut. Since she was asked to set up traps, she planned to try as much as she could.

‘In the name of Huaim. I’ll set up traps for you!’

The Princess’s single eye flashed as she stood in front of the cave.

***

“Whew.”

Serena exhaled roughly while wiping the sweat flowing down her forehead. Even though she hadn’t entered the sauna, sweat poured down because she had worked hard with both her body and mind. Every time the wind blew, the sweaty areas felt cool.

‘Is this enough? Is it insufficient?’

Serena inspected the traps she had set up inside and outside the cave and around the mountain hut with vision that was half as good as others’.

With insufficient materials and being hastily made, she wasn’t satisfied at all.

‘Traps really need to be meticulously designed and installed. They’re too conspicuous.’

Throughout setting up the traps, she kept thinking of all the tools her sibling had and couldn’t express how envious she was. Serena made a firm resolution.

‘I need to learn how to set up traps using magic.’

With Huaim’s name on the line, she absolutely couldn’t install shoddy traps. Since she had started setting up traps, she had to see it through to a proper conclusion.

As the Princess made this resolution, she heard the sound of a beast that made her blood pressure spike just from listening to it.

Kyaaaaaaah!

‘You again!’

At the cry of the Labyrinth Deer, whose very existence was utterly tiresome, Serena smiled confidently.

‘Even if the traps are lacking, they should be more than enough for a deer. Try coming through this trap field if you can!’

Aaaaaaaoooooh!

The deer’s cry grew closer. As Serena looked forward to the future where she would mock the deer caught in her trap, there was a figure approaching along with the deer.

The large mass wasn’t a newly appeared enemy but Serena’s companion. Low, who had arrived at the cave entrance with the pure white deer, swallowed his breath in surprise.

“Whoa, Princess. What is all this?”

“Traps.”

How nice it would have been if she could answer confidently. Serena was embarrassed by her hastily made traps and tried to respond nonchalantly.

It was a monotonous setup that would be embarrassing to show Low, who had knowledge about traps as a hunter.

“All the monsters that appear on the 10th Layer are quadrupedal magical beasts. I lacked materials and didn’t have time to set up proper traps, so I unified them all as snares.”

The Mysterious Stranger touched one of the snares laid out in front of the cave with a stern expression. Just a light touch made the snare react with fierce speed, trying to strangle the prey’s neck, snout, and legs.

Low pointed to the snares hanging openly in clusters at the cave entrance, not just the ones installed on the floor and walls. Even knowing they were snares, seeing them lined up like gallows waiting made his spine tingle.

“Wh-what is this?”

“It’s prepared for humans or flying magical beasts. Any person with common sense would see the snares and make their presence known first instead of approaching secretly.”

The hunter rubbed around his neck and muttered quietly.

“They’d probably run away in fear.”

“What did you say?”

“I didn’t say anything!”

Low jumped and shut his mouth. Serena pointed to the white magical beast making a disgusted expression next to the hunter.

“What about you? What is that deer?”

“It’s the one Sesi tamed. Sesi said climbing the mountain was hard and wanted to ride on this thing, so I brought it along to prevent her from being lazy.”

Sure enough, Hana, Sesi, and the Chicken Leader appeared from behind, completely exhausted.

“Huff huff, if Sesi tamed it, why am I being lazy?”

“Cough cough. It’s my ability though.”

Hana and Sesi, who had barely reached the cave, were about to collapse right there.

“Hey. If you collapse here, you’ll be strangled to death. Collapse over there— No! Not there either!”

Low raised his voice after belatedly discovering the snares Serena had secretly hidden.

There was no space near the cave where the Odd Sisters could lie down comfortably. The hunter had no choice but to carry the sisters under his arms and transport them into the cave.

The Labyrinth Deer and Labyrinth Chicken, who were thoughtlessly trying to follow their master into the cave, triggered the snares.

The snares mercilessly strangled the ankles and legs of the Labyrinth Deer and Labyrinth Chicken. The two magical beasts screamed and flailed their limbs.

Each time they did, the snares tightened even more strongly around the beasts’ bodies.

Low was shocked.

“The rope doesn’t break even when the magical beasts struggle? What kind of rope did you use?”

Serena held up the synthetic fiber rope she had purchased from the vending machine. At the same time, she muttered to herself.

‘Ah, this is called nylon rope.’

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————