Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 321

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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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321. Do You Believe That?

The lobby with enhanced security thanks to the new door.

The party marveled at the Labyrinth God’s grace and went back to sleep.

In the night when everyone was asleep, there were people who remained awake.

Grey and Count Randy, who volunteered for night watch under the pretext of caring for Prince Willow.

The two dismissed the others’ concerns that they would be tired from conquering the 5th Floor and sat in front of the campfire.

The Old Man clicked his tongue looking at Prince Willow who was unconscious beside the campfire.

“Tsk tsk, pathetic fellow.”

“Don’t be too harsh.”

“Should I call something pathetic excellent instead of pathetic, brother?”

Grey was satisfied with his own thoroughness in acting the same whether there were listening ears around or not.

He wished everyone else was as thorough as himself, but it was disappointing that they weren’t.

Especially the pathetic Prince, who resembled someone unknown, was only gentle and kind, which only added to his worries.

“Lord Willow is a bit free-spirited, but still. Even in this extreme situation, he’s magnificently showing the dignity and mercy of the Imperial Royal Family. Ahem. He is.”

The Empire’s Grand Mage asked his disciple who was taking Prince Willow’s side, as birds of a feather flock together.

“Even compared to Her Highness the Grand Princess?”

“Ahem. Comparing him to Lady Serena is unfair.”

Unable to say even as empty words that Prince Willow was superior, Count Randy quietly turned his head away. The Old Man brought up another person.

“How about compared to Duke Oren?”

“That’s unfair too. There’s an age difference between them.”

“Will won’t become a Sword Master just by aging a few more years, brother.”

He wouldn’t become a great Grand Mage or an outstanding Emperor either. He lacked talent to become a mage, and to become Emperor, his older brothers and sisters had already achieved too much, putting him at a disadvantage as a latecomer.

Even though he officially declared no interest in the throne for survival, assassins still came looking for him quite often.

Actually, there was a reason why the other princes and princesses were anxious. The Empire’s Grand Mage was the 5th Prince’s backing. No matter how much the 5th Prince claimed to have no interest in the throne, those who believed him would be fools.

The best thing the Empire’s Grand Mage could do for his only blood relative’s peaceful life was to die as quickly as possible.

‘Or live very long in good health.’

Duke Pein was also human, and moreover a person with much to achieve and much to lose, so naturally he wanted the latter.

As a result of an old man who had lived enough being greedy, the hardships in his later years were no ordinary suffering.

Grey spat out a small curse.

In the lobby where only the sound of the eternally burning campfire consuming infinite firewood could be heard, Count Randy’s cough mixed in.

“Ahem, I wonder if His Majesty the Emperor is safe.”

“Of course he’s safe. He was grumbling about his dim eyesight, but his vision must have returned and he’s probably reading all the books he postponed.”

“You know that’s not what I’m talking about.”

“Sigh, exactly. We need to get out of the labyrinth quickly, but when will the rescue team even come…”

Grey, who had been looking up at the lobby ceiling as if feeling hopeless, gritted his teeth.

“Undisciplined bastards. They all need to be replaced.”

“Don’t be too harsh. You’re the one who said only a week might have passed outside the labyrinth.”

“That was an exaggeration. We’ve been trapped here for over 100 days now. We’re not even on a deep floor, we’re staying on the 1st Floor, but we can’t even hear the sound of digging through dirt.”

If Olive had heard their conversation, she might have made a snide remark like ‘Didn’t the Empire abandon you?’

The two having the conversation never harbored such suspicions.

Duke Pein was a figure who occupied one pillar of the Empire. Even excluding his friendship with the Emperor, he wasn’t someone the Empire could easily give up on.

‘Is it becoming a problem that he didn’t come in his real identity?’

Count Randy became slightly anxious looking at Grey’s young face.

Though he had briefly received survival training, having grown up as a hothouse flower in the research lab, the current situation presented him with extreme stress.

The reason Count Randy wasn’t going crazy was entirely thanks to Serena holding the group’s center together.

The Count praised Serena, another of his lords, in his heart.

“Brother.”

“Yes? Huh? I wasn’t thinking about other things.”

“I have something urgent to discuss.”

Grey gestured with his finger. The two put their heads together and whispered quietly.

“Please investigate Sister Ying.”

At Grey’s request, Count Randy’s eyes widened before he quickly blinked to avoid being caught surprised.

“Why, why?”

“She seems suspicious somehow. It’s also suspicious that I think she’s strange but haven’t thought to properly investigate.”

Grey harbored the exact same suspicion that Count Randy had once held.

Though Grey’s timing of suspicion was later than the Count’s, the Count thought it was understandable.

‘Master has only encountered Ying in the lobby.’

Count Randy had already set aside all suspicions. Since he trusted Serena who trusted Ying, his mind was at ease.

But Grey, who had just begun to suspect Ying, acted as if he wouldn’t be able to sleep until his questions were resolved.

“Observe Sister Ying carefully during the conquest. Tell me everything if there’s anything suspicious or strange.”

“Do you want to know the source of her suspicious knowledge?”

Count Randy guessed that the source of Ying’s suspicious knowledge was some great being from the Heavens, but he didn’t make the mistake of carelessly mentioning it.

Not only could earthly beings not dare discuss the Heavens, but Serena had also earnestly requested this.

“No. Rather than that… Please watch Sister Ying’s injuries carefully. And her bandages.”

Count Randy nodded, but somehow Grey’s expression was peculiar.

He might not know about others, but Count Randy, who had always watched Grey’s mood for survival, recognized it.

‘He seems to know something!’

Count Randy decided to gather courage and find out what Grey knew alone.

“Grey. Knowledge stays the same when monopolized, but doubles when shared.”

“Hmm. You’re right, brother, but uncertain information can also cloud a wise person’s eyes.”

“Do you think I’m a fool?”

“The most important thing for an observer is having no preconceptions…”

Grey tapped his shoulder with his staff while lost in thought, then smacked his lips.

“Can’t be helped. Just think of it as a fairy tale from the old days. Not that old though, from when Father was as young as you, brother.”

“That’s very long ago.”

Grey struck the Count’s head with his staff using flashy staff techniques.

The survival instincts acquired during his days of learning while being beaten awakened, and Count Randy lowered his head to reduce the damage.

“It’s not that long ago. Anyway, back then there was a Labyrinth Adventurer famous for being skilled. Skilled enough for the Empire to make recruitment offers, but no other adventurers wanted to party with that Labyrinth Adventurer.”

“Why was that?”

“The survival rate of parties that entered the labyrinth with that adventurer was terrible. Actually, the party survival rate itself was only slightly lower than other deep-layer adventurers. But because of the Labyrinth Adventurer’s peculiar appearance, an ominous nickname stuck.”

“What nickname?”

“Reverse Ghost.”

It was a much more ominous nickname than Zero’s Ying. Count Randy became curious about the Labyrinth Adventurer’s appearance.

“How was the appearance so peculiar that such a nickname stuck?”

“They wrapped their upper body including their face tightly with bandages.”

Bandages could be worn for skin protection. But wrapping the entire upper body including the face tightly with bandages?

The first thought would be whether they were injured or had a skin disease, and the second thought would be to avoid associating with them since they looked dangerous.

“Like Neet?”

Count Randy gave an example of a poor child who wrapped their whole body in bandages for the former reason. Grey shook his head.

“Like Sister Ying. They were black bandages.”

Labyrinth Adventurer and black bandages. Though only two elements overlapped, both were uncommon elements. Count Randy was surprised and his voice got slightly louder.

“That’s too similar to Ying. Why didn’t you think of it until now?”

“As you said, brother, it was long ago so I was slow to remember. At first I thought Sister Ying might be Reverse Ghost’s descendant or predecessor. That is, disciple…”

Grey trailed off. Count Randy deduced what Grey hadn’t finished saying.

“Don’t tell me you think Reverse Ghost and Ying are the same person? You shouldn’t judge deep-layer adventurers’ ages by their appearance, but that’s too much.”

The Alchemist looked at the child’s face without a single wrinkle and closed his mouth. Impossible things all became possible when you brought the labyrinth into it.

All sorts of mysterious things happened in the labyrinth, and treasures people dreamed of were discovered.

Rejuvenation elixirs that turned old people into children. Conception stones that allowed anyone, regardless of age or gender, to become pregnant if they wished. Fruits that changed gender, and commonly, mysterious potions that turned water into alcohol.

Moreover, time and space were distorted in the labyrinth.

Despite Duke Pein being a Grand Mage known as the premier disciple of magic, his body had aged considerably because he had conquered labyrinths where time was distorted.

It wouldn’t be strange for a labyrinth adventurer who conquered such deep labyrinth floors to luckily obtain something like an elixir of longevity and live longer than others. It was a story with enough possibility.

‘Or perhaps the great one in the heavens granted longevity.’

Count Randy’s mind, who knew more about Ying than Grey did, spun round and round.

“Since you’ve heard this much, listen to the end. The old story isn’t finished yet.”

The Old Man stretched while enjoying his smoothly moving joints. It was good that he had become young, almost childlike, but the problem was getting sleepy at night. Drowsiness poured over him and it was hard to endure.

“Yaaawn. The first thing my father did when he became the general manager of labyrinth conquest was organizing the accumulated records, right? There were several impressive labyrinth adventurers among them. One of them was a bandage man whose entire body was wrapped in black bandages.”

From upper body to entire body. The area of black bandages kept expanding.

“When was this bandage man active?”

“200 years ago. Records remain saying that labyrinth adventurers didn’t want to party with him because his appearance was too ominous.”

Entire body wrapped in black bandages. It was an outfit that superstitious labyrinth adventurers would run away from the moment they saw it, calling it unlucky.

Grey pinched his own cheek to chase away drowsiness.

“Surely he hasn’t been alive since 200 years ago. But anyway, it’s suspicious. Actually, with bandages, there are idiots who wrap bloody bandages as fashion, so I’d let that slide. But Neet said the area of Ying noona’s bandages increased. When I asked in detail, she said the bandage area increased by a span since she first saw her.”

It wasn’t a span by Neet’s standards, but by adult standards. The increased area was considerable.

“It’s not always the case, but there seems to be a causal relationship between Ying noona’s injuries and the bandage area. Please observe such things carefully and let me know. Got it? I’m counting on you, hyung.”

Grey, having finished the conversation, erased the magic circle he had drawn around them.

Grey praised himself for his thoroughness in drawing a magic circle to prevent sound from leaking out while continuing their act.

The Old Man patted Count Randy’s arm as if they were close friends. Count Randy decided to risk his life to repay Grey’s trust.

“Right. Just trust me.”

And as soon as the next day came, he reported everything to Serena.

“That’s what he said.”

“Hmm, I see.”

Serena didn’t know how to react to her loyal retainer, so she started with a smile for now.

‘I thought he insisted on following because he wanted to be with Philia when I was going for a walk with her. But it was to report this.’

Heuji Jeolmi’s lips were sticking out like a duck’s because he couldn’t take a walk alone with his beloved master, nor could he join the conversation between husband and master.

Serena found it cute and admirable that he was plugging his ears tightly to avoid eavesdropping on their conversation.

“Grey trusted you and said this. Is it okay that you reported it to me?”

“I judged it to be Grey’s personal curiosity and not something that would harm the Empire or His Majesty the Emperor.”

“The Count’s judgment seems correct. So what should we do about this…”

Count Randy could handle reporting back to Grey himself. Serena barely managed to recall what Ying had first said when explaining the black bandages wrapped around her left arm.

‘She said it was a setting where some beast or monster that blasphemed against a deity was sealed. Huh?’

Recalling the memory, the content was similar to the achievements of the hero that Ying often mentioned.

‘Could it be real instead of just a setting?’

If she was a faithful servant of darkness, it was a story with enough possibility. Serena couldn’t contain her curiosity and immediately summoned Ying to ask.

“Is it true that a monster that blasphemed against a deity is sealed in your left arm?”

To the Princess’s question, brought forth while enduring embarrassment, the Archer made a truly pitiful and pathetic expression and asked back.

“Do you believe that?”

Serena used all her strength to resist the urge to grab Ying by the collar.

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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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