Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 328

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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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328. How Much Per Sheet?

Having tasted the convenience of magic paper in actual combat, Serena pondered tactics utilizing magic paper.

Magic paper wasn’t simply an intermediate stage for completing blank scrolls. Magic paper had infinite possibilities too!

Its biggest characteristics were two things. First, when writing a spell for the first time, you could store mana and use it like a real scroll if you didn’t cast the magic immediately.

Of course, it wasn’t a real scroll, so after half a day the mana would completely disperse and the magic paper would become unusable. But when there was time to prepare for battle, it was very useful.

‘I can make attack magic scrolls in advance and unleash attack spells, and I can give them to others to use. That’s incredibly good.’

Another characteristic was that it could function as a magic circle without an actual magic circle.

When boiling water, just using magic consumed enormous mental strength and mana from the mage.

Magic circles were convenient because once completed they were done, but they required additional study, aesthetic sense, dexterity, and materials.

Knowing that magic paper stored mana for several hours, Serena drew a magic circle using only the basics she learned from Countess Nex. And amazingly!

The magic circle worked perfectly without using magic circle materials. Though its duration was shorter and power weaker than real magic circles, it was very useful in the labyrinth where all sorts of bizarre things happened.

Serena was amazed at what Countess Nex and Grey had actually created.

And she became curious why they hadn’t told her about this good function.

“There’s such a good function, so why didn’t you tell me? Were you waiting for me to discover it by using it myself?”

“Huh? Oh my, so it had that function too.”

Countess Nex was surprised in reverse despite having made it herself. Seeing the royal mage excitedly recording this unexpected windfall, Serena furrowed her brow.

“Don’t tell me. You only confirmed that magic casting through text was possible and didn’t do other experiments?”

“Yes. Well, when each sheet costs so much, how could I experiment? I couldn’t throw away what I made, so I considered it a sunk cost and moved to new research. Oh my.”

Countess Nex, who had been excitedly moving her pen at the unexpected windfall, covered her mouth with her thin hand.

The Princess heard a sentence she absolutely shouldn’t let slide and narrowed her eyes.

“This paper. How much per sheet?”

The royal mage couldn’t meet the Princess’s eyes.

“As expected of Lady Serena. With the creativity and ideas that have been exceptional since childhood, you’ve revealed functions even I, the creator, didn’t know about.”

Countess Nex babbled earnestly. Though so frail she’d die within a minute if pushed into the sewers, only her mouth was alive.

In the past, Countess Nex had once inflated Serena’s ego with those flattery skills.

Back then, Serena’s self-consciousness had swelled up like a balloon about to burst, then actually burst.

After that, Serena developed the discernment not to fall for the Count’s sweet talk.

“What’s the production cost? How much per sheet?”

“Cough cough! Cough! My, my chest!”

When evasion through flattery didn’t work, Countess Nex clutched her chest and coughed roughly.

Just how weak was her body that fake coughing irritated her bronchi, leading to real coughing that seemed like she might actually cough up blood.

Anyone else would tell her to stop faking illness. But Countess Nex wasn’t faking – she was really sick but kept enduring it, only showing it when necessary.

‘Ugh.’

Serena couldn’t bring herself to interrogate her sickly mentor further and let it go. Instead, she stared at the bundle of magic paper with slightly more displeasure than before.

‘I can’t use it freely.’

When she first discovered the new function, she was excited about using magic paper efficiently and conveniently. Now the thought of saving it and only using it when absolutely necessary occupied her mind.

Noticing the Princess’s mood change, Countess Nex spoke in a hoarse voice.

“Lady Serena. However expensive magic paper may be, could it compare to Lady Serena’s safety? Your well-being is the top priority, so please don’t hesitate and use it comfortably. When we leave the labyrinth, I’ll pay for the paper costs even if I have to empty my personal funds.”

“Your thoughtfulness is appreciated. I am wealthy, so there’s no need to deplete the Count’s assets.”

That’s right. Serena was the wealthiest princess on the continent. Half the assets of the royal family and some nobles who had ruled the peaceful kingdom for a thousand years were inherited by Serena.

With Duke Oren’s survival, there was quite a commotion about returning the dead crown prince’s assets, different inheritance orders, and such. Though Duke Oren took some of the inherited assets, Serena was still wealthy.

‘I thought things gradually improved while living as a princess. But conserving resources in the labyrinth brought back my frugal spirit.’

A proper princess shouldn’t tremble and begrudge the price of magic paper. Unless it was enough to bankrupt the country, she should value her own life more than gold.

‘That’s actually how people around me perceive it too.’

For maintaining royal authority and social order, Serena had to value and treat herself preciously.

To replenish her diminished princess spirit, Serena stopped magic training and took a rest.

As she entered the hot spring and ate grapes, Philia, who had been assisting her husband, somehow occupied the spot next to her and smiled like a blooming flower.

After leisurely enjoying the hot spring, she also received a full-body massage from Lavenda.

Lavenda, who unintentionally ended up working two jobs as lobby manager and masseuse, seemed happy to do her original work after so long and showed off all sorts of techniques.

The masseuse’s skills hadn’t rusted at all, so with eyes closed, it was impossible to tell whether this was inside or outside the labyrinth.

While leisurely recharging her princess power, Serena discovered a new notification in her left eye’s world.

[You have defeated the Layer Boss. 1 Limited Coin is awarded.]

‘Oh. They’re doing well.’

Limited Coins were useless, but having defeated the Layer Boss meant the 6th layer’s conquest progress had increased significantly.

‘What kind of monster was the Layer Boss? Was it the fly monster Hana mentioned?’

She roughly guessed the method to encounter the Layer Boss. Change the direction of water flow.

‘If water fills the leader’s chamber, it’s the Labyrinth Rat Leader Alligator Rius. If there’s no water, the Layer Boss appears – that must be the mechanism.’

Though it was her first time entering a labyrinth, the Princess who had already conquered up to the 50th floor analyzed the Layer Boss’s combat power.

‘Since Alligator Rius was a 3-floor level Labyrinth Rat Leader, was the Layer Boss similarly strong? No. Usually Layer Bosses are as strong as 5 floors’ worth, so it would have been stronger than Alligator Rius. Since it was a fly, could it fly too?’

To defeat a Layer Boss that was stronger than Alligator Rius and possibly had flight capabilities.

Low kept worrying that the 2nd team’s combat power was insufficient, but that was exaggeration beyond mere concern.

“Princess, could you please lie on your side?”

Serena turned her body according to Lavenda’s words.

‘Since they defeated the Layer Boss. They’ll return soon.’

At the fastest, one day. At the slowest, about two days to return to the lobby. Roughly estimating the schedule, Serena made a decision. It wasn’t a good decision.

‘Good. Let’s stay relaxed until the 2nd team returns.’

One day, two days, three days, four days, five days, and six days.

While Serena spent the first day leisurely and comfortably, from the third day she anxiously looked toward the door.

People who had no way of knowing the 2nd conquest team had defeated the Layer Boss thought the Princess was impatient by nature.

“Princess, please don’t worry too much. Originally, labyrinth conquest should be done slowly and safely.”

Serena’s worries were finally relieved on the evening of the sixth day.

[You have perfectly conquered the 6th Layer of Heuji’s Labyrinth. 10 Shop Coins are awarded.]

“Cough.”

“Lady Serena, are you alright?”

“Water here please. Cough.”

Serena, who was anxiously eating dinner, choked on the sudden perfect conquest notification. After drinking water Neet brought and double-checking, it really was a genuine notification.

‘I wondered why they were so late. They went and thoroughly swept everything while they were at it.’

Serena thought she understood why the 2nd conquest team pushed themselves. The 6th layer really was an environment you’d never want to visit again.

‘If they perfect the conquest for me, that’s great. I was worried, but it’s a relief.’

The Princess let out a small sigh of relief. She felt like the shoulder muscles that had remained tightly knotted despite continuous massages, puzzling the masseuse, were becoming soft.

But it was still too early to feel at ease. Until all members of the 2nd conquest team returned and rang the doorbell without major injuries or stragglers, she couldn’t let her guard down.

Fortunately, the 2nd conquest team returned to the lobby the next afternoon with all members present. All limbs were properly attached, and ears and eyeballs were properly attached in pairs.

“Aaaah! My nose!”

“I’m dying.”

“If I breathe through my mouth, my mouth will rot.”

“Groooan!”

Everyone complained that something was wrong with their noses, but their noses were also perfectly well attached.

The 2nd conquest team couldn’t enter the lobby immediately.

Ralph and Count Alpha carried hot spring water to the corridor, doused their dirty bodies with water, and only after removing all their clothes could they cover themselves with towels and set foot in the lobby.

Quite naturally, the destination of those who had wandered through sewers was the hot spring.

Olive didn’t care that the towel Lavenda gave her to cover herself was slipping off and quickly ran to the hot spring.

“Ah! That’s unfair! I won rock-paper-scissors! The men should enter first!”

Grey, who had wrapped his naked body with a towel, was furious at Olive’s cowardice.

“It’s foolish to trust a swindler. Hehe.”

“We’ll wash first!”

“Woof!”

Duri tried to follow Hana and Sesi into the hot spring. Grey stopped such Duri.

“Now now. It might be fine for family members. But when there are non-family people, you can’t enter.”

“Grrowl?”

Duri made a tearful face and roughly rubbed her nose with both hands. Moisture gathered in her clear and pure eyes, but the Old Man was firm.

“Absolutely not because Olive is here.”

“Me? I’m fine with both Young Master and Bear coming in~”

Olive casually called out to Grey and Duri. They said she didn’t discriminate among men, women, old, and young except for the young, and she was truly shameless.

“Eek! Duri is okay, but Young Master is not!”

“That’s right! It’s not allowed! Neet would be sad!”

“Then the Bandaged Child can come in too. Ah, but she’s sick so that won’t work. Then the Bandaged Child is in charge of drinks! Bring some cool juice for Young Master to drink while bathing!”

“Cough. M-me?”

Neet was startled and wiggled her bandaged fingers.

Duri was tempted and tried to enter the hot spring but was caught by Grey again. Olive’s frivolous attitude irritated the Old Man, causing his brow to furrow deeply.

“I absolutely won’t bathe with that girl! Ugh. What is this world coming to.”

“Groan.”

“I shall cast purification magic on you all.”

Serena moved her precious body to prevent the cute bear from falling under the spell of the Winds of the Wilderness and becoming a sad bear.

At the same time, she wondered.

‘Is the Old Man part of the old or the young? Which one?’

While the Princess wasted mental energy on useless questions, the Old Man began reporting on the 6th Floor strategy to make good use of the waiting time for bathing.

“Excluding the formidable Treasure Box Abyss, we’ve caught all the decent monsters and explored all accessible areas.”

“Groan.”

Duri lowered the giant corpse she had been carrying on her back to the floor. It was a giant fly monster.

Anyone could see it was a flying type with huge fly wings attached to its back, but the wings alone were surprisingly pretty.

‘Is it because they’re transparent?’

The fly itself had a hideous appearance, but it had the characteristic luster of a dung fly, so when viewed part by part, there were some pretty sections.

‘This would work as a sacrifice for Neet.’

Serena, who was examining the giant dung fly corpse, discovered something strange.

‘Why is the Stratum Boss corpse so clean?’

If the bear had hit it, there should be wounds on the lustrous exterior, and even if killed by magic, there should be traces.

But strangely, the giant fly corpse showed no signs of what had led the monster to death.

There wasn’t just one strange thing. The giant dung fly that should have roamed the sewers didn’t emit a foul odor. Instead of a foul smell.

“Cinnamon scent?”

As if it had showered with cinnamon water instead of rotten sewer water, the dung fly was vibrating with cinnamon scent.

“We caught it more easily than expected.”

Grey showed off his insecticide with a proud smile. Serena asked the proud Old Man.

“How many magic stones did you use?”

“Heh. What’s important is that there were no casualties against a Stratum Boss.”

The Old Man boasted as if proud of being a stickler who valued human life over material wealth. Even with eyes that were lacking compared to others, it was an eyesore.

‘When did he say we should let a sick child die because the resources to save them were too precious. Well, back then we had fewer resources than now and there was no guarantee we could save them.’

Now they could regularly obtain low-grade magic stones. If they used a few magic stones to safely catch a Stratum Boss and secure a corpse for sacrifice, it was a good investment.

“What I desire is-.”

Still, since it was a fly, she cast purification magic. She also cast purification magic on the bear hide for Lavenda, who was silently screaming at the sight of bear fur soaked in sewer filth.

The bear hide had absorbed sewage from the outer fur to the inner fur, so it needed several more purifications.

“We also checked all accessible areas. Perhaps.”

“Yes. You have perfectly conquered the 6th Floor. Well done.”

Serena felt a bit uncomfortable but thought she could wash later as she patted Duri’s head. Duri, who had been sad about not being able to bathe, finally smiled.

“Groan.”

‘So you can achieve perfect conquest without defeating the formidable enemy. Avoiding is indeed the best strategy.’

It’s beneficial to avoid battles with formidable enemies if possible. Serena added a line to her labyrinth survival methods. Ralph, who had experienced the 6th Floor, was also pleased.

“Perfect conquest! Amazing! Then we don’t need to go to the 6th Floor anymore?”

“That’s not it!”

“…That’s not the case.”

Grey glared through the partition at Olive, who had stolen both the bathing order and the answer.

“You’re saying we still have to go to the 6th Floor even after perfect conquest?”

“I understand! Because we need to open the restored treasure chests!”

“That’s part of it, but we confirmed there’s more important treasure on the 6th Floor.”

‘There’s more important treasure but they didn’t bring it back?’

It would have been frustrating if Grey had dragged it out like when he revealed Neet’s illness, but fortunately the Old Man didn’t do that.

The Old Man, who fell under men, old, and young from men, women, old, and young, opened his mouth.

“We confirmed there’s a bag inside the Treasure Box of the Treasure Box Abyss.”

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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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