Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 335

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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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335. Roommate

Serena was a mage. Though her stamina had increased unintentionally after falling into the labyrinth, she couldn’t handle monsters alone.

So she was happy not to be alone. It was really good that the party member transported with her was Ralph, a knight who served as the front line, and it was also good that it was Ralph, a knight she had appointed herself, rather than Count Alpha, who belonged to someone else.

It was really good, but.

‘Ralph again?’

Serena had thought that the mechanic where party members were scattered and transported separately, like on the 5th Floor and 12th Layer, would naturally be random.

To put it simply, like the treasure chests in the labyrinth.

‘But was that not the case? Was it fixed? Or is this another coincidence?’

If so, probability-wise, she should have been transported with Olive or Count Alpha, who had been holding her hands, rather than Ralph.

When Serena said nothing, Ralph, who had been happy about falling together with the Princess, furrowed his brow.

“Um, what’s wrong?”

“According to superstition, I thought there was a higher probability of being transported with Olive or Count Alpha, who were holding my hands, rather than Count Ralph.”

“I must have desired more strongly to be with Your Highness than those two! Hehe.”

Ralph smiled happily. Serena smiled back at him, but her feelings were complicated.

‘What’s going on? Is it completely random and coincidences just overlapped, or did desire work as Ralph said? Or was only the first time random and it’s fixed after that?’

The mechanic of the party being scattered was extremely dangerous. Serena deeply regretted not properly checking it on the 5th Floor and just passing by.

But it was already a departed train. Serena sharply surveyed the cell they had been transported to. Ralph followed the Princess’s lead and opened his mouth wide.

“It looks like a prison!”

A small room in a stone building with a toilet, straw mat, and barred door. Since prison interiors and structures were all the same, Serena first unfolded her magic map.

After checking her current location on the map, Serena widened her one eye.

‘It’s the same.’

It wasn’t just the companion that was identical to the previous round. The cell where Serena and Ralph had been transported was also exactly the same as the previous round.

A very ominous thought bloomed in her mind.

‘Don’t tell me it’s not random transportation? Are we being transported according to the rules of this layer?’

If so, what were those rules?

While Serena was earnestly racking her stone-like brain, Ralph was startled.

“Ugh!”

Without even looking, the Princess could tell why the knight was surprised.

“My swords are gone! Both of them!”

Ralph, who had turned pale, looked around frantically while desperately making excuses.

“I, I really brought them! I clearly remember the weight of the swords!”

“Calm down. My staff and dagger are gone too.”

Hearing Serena’s words, Ralph searched his clothes. Learning that his dagger had also disappeared, his face became even paler.

Serena explained that it was a mechanic of the 12th Layer before the young knight’s face could turn completely blue.

“It’s fortunate that our armor remains!”

Ralph reacted positively, just like before. Serena took a deep breath and held her head.

‘Everything is exactly the same as the first time. Tomorrow’s execution will probably be the same too.’

Execution by guillotine. The phantom pain she had forgotten in her anger belatedly tormented her.

Serena looked at Ralph while thinking she wanted to scratch the cross-section of her neck where the guillotine blade had passed. Ralph’s freckled face was still well attached to his body.

“What should we do now? Olive said that in times like this, we should leave a mark and wait in a safe place. I’ll check if this place is safe first!”

Ralph, who had been looking around the cell with curious eyes, pointed at the barred door.

“Your Highness! I can break this door!”

“Good. Before we attempt to escape, let’s do just one experiment.”

Serena gritted her teeth and clenched her fist.

***

Clank clank. A guard that looked like an armored monster but was actually moving armor appeared in front of the cell where Serena and Ralph were.

Swoosh. The guard’s piercing gaze illuminated the prisoners inside the cell. The guard didn’t stop walking and passed by the cell as it was.

The two, who had been watching with wide-open eyes, sighed and relaxed their tension.

“The guard doesn’t know the door is broken.”

“Right. It’s fortunate that its intelligence is low.”

Serena looked at the barred door that had fallen away from the wall and was leaning diagonally against it.

Breaking the cell door and checking the judgment while inside the cell. This was the subject of Serena’s experiment.

Serena immediately conducted the next experiment before the guard moved away.

“What I desire is an explosion that bursts magnificently!”

A mana explosion spell burst right in front of the guard’s nose. The guard hesitated and stepped back.

Despite having no contents inside the armor, the guard turned its helmet to look around like a human would. After confirming there were no escapees, the guard returned to its patrol route.

‘Good. So it’s okay to make a commotion as long as we’re not within the range of its gaze?’

Since the first patrol had been completed, there would be no next patrol until it came to deliver lunch. Serena immediately began the third experiment.

“Should I cover it with this straw mat to block its vision?”

“Right. But you mustn’t be caught before that. Even after blocking its vision, avoid the range of its gaze.”

Ralph, who had already taken off his armor in the cell, stealthily approached the guard standing watch at the iron door.

Taking advantage of the moment when the guard was looking elsewhere, the young knight covered the helmet with the straw mat.

Peeeeeeeek-!

A loud whistle sound rang out, and red light flashed throughout the entire prison.

When she opened her one eye, Serena and Ralph had returned to the cell. Serena looked at the giant X mark that had appeared on the wall.

‘One out.’

They had to escape from the prison before getting three outs and going to the guillotine.

Serena also touched her neck and then commanded the knight who was looking curiously at the restored door.

“Count Ralph.”

“Yes!”

Ralph! Having broken the door once and gauged the necessary force, Ralph struck the door with his blanket-wrapped shield, then caught it before it hit the stone floor and propped it against the wall.

Serena gave Ralph an eye-smile, then went out into the corridor. The subject of this experiment was.

‘Checking the judgment when in a different cell.’

Naturally, if a prisoner was in a cell other than their own, it would be an out judgment.

Some people might think this way, but this was a labyrinth, and the 12th Layer’s mechanic was stealth.

‘Sometimes there were games where it was okay as long as you stayed in safe zones, no matter how you moved around.’

If this applied to the 12th Layer as well, it would make escaping easier, so it had to be checked.

Thinking this, Serena came out into the corridor, but quickly ran into a difficulty.

“This one is locked too.”

All the cells on the corridor side where Serena and Ralph were imprisoned had their doors locked, whether they had treasure chests or not.

Breaking the doors was the same. From the corridor side, the mysterious power of the labyrinth made it absolutely impossible to break cell doors.

Clank clank clank. The sound of the guard walking down the corridor to deliver lunch could be heard.

Serena returned to the cell to avoid a second out and propped up the removed door.

The guard pushed in two wooden bowls containing white porridge and left.

The white porridge that she had only examined and not even glanced at last time.

This time too, she first examined the contents with the wooden spoon.

It had no solid ingredients but was thick and had a slightly savory smell. When she tasted it slightly, the flavor was quite decent too.

A savory smell and taste. She wondered what ingredients were used, when Ralph exclaimed.

“They must have added beans!”

‘It was bean rice!’

To be imprisoned without committing any crime and receive bean rice. And even have an execution scheduled for tomorrow!

‘Wow, this is really annoying.’

The Princess couldn’t bear the rising irritation and fury and pressed her forehead. She thought it would be better to soothe her sibling’s annoyance instead.

“Your Highness, are you alright? Would you like some water?”

Ralph, worried about the Princess who had been suffering from headaches continuously since coming to the 12th Layer, offered water and dried plums.

Serena chewed the dried plums vigorously to relieve stress. The sour taste and the sweetness concentrated from drying burst in her mouth with each chew.

Serena dumped the porridge from the wooden bowl into the toilet and examined the bottom and inside of the bowl, and the spoon. She prayed there would be hints, but it was bland.

While she was at it, Serena re-examined the interior of the cell. She didn’t investigate casually, but concentrated all her nerves as if searching for traps.

As a result, Serena discovered that one of the stones in the wall hidden by the straw mat was embedded rather loosely.

‘If I poke at the gap between stones and pull it out, I could get to the next cell.’

Since the stones making up the floor and walls were on average about the size of Serena’s head, it seemed she could barely squeeze through.

Serena touched the hard substance filling the crevice between the stones. Scraping it out with bare hands was out of the question – she needed tools.

‘Lime? Concrete? It can’t be cement, right? I don’t know anything about this stuff.’

“What’s wrong?”

“This stone here is loose. If I dig it out a little, I can pull it out.”

“Leave it to me! With this dagger!”

Ralph rummaged through his belongings and then looked dejected.

“I forgot that I don’t have a dagger.”

All their weapons were gone. The two searched through their belongings for something suitable to poke at the stone crevice, but couldn’t find a decent substitute.

Serena missed the Alchemist, wherever he might be.

‘It would have been convenient if the Count were here.’

Since only their weapons had disappeared while other belongings remained, they could have traded for weapons using money and materials.

“I’ll try digging with this wooden spoon!”

Perhaps remembering an entertaining novel where someone escaped by digging a hole with a spoon, Ralph picked up a wooden spoon.

‘A wooden spoon won’t work. No wait, this is a fantasy world, so maybe it will.’

“I’ll leave the stone to you, Count. I’ll do a different experiment.”

“Yes! Leave it to me!”

Ralph replied energetically and began poking at the stone crevice with the handle of the wooden spoon.

Serena picked up a magical tool that had tormented the Party on the 5th Floor with the exact same gimmick as the 12th Layer, quite coincidentally.

‘Goblin summoning horn.’

The experiment she was about to conduct was whether the Guard would react to summoned creatures.

‘Even if it reacts and we get an out, I can use the goblin’s equipment.’

Every goblin was equipped with one shabby dagger. Though it would be woefully inadequate for attacking the Guard, it would be better than the wooden spoon Ralph was currently holding.

Serena blew the horn with all her might.

Buuuuuung-!

Keuruk.

Mana drained away and an ordinary goblin was summoned. Serena, who had secretly hoped for a Goblin Rider or warrior, let out a small groan.

“Count Ralph, use this dagger.”

“Thank you! Wow! It’s digging so well!”

Serena handed the goblin’s dagger to the Knight, who had broken one wooden spoon and was poking between stones with a second spoon.

Clank clank. The Guard, having heard the unmistakably grand horn sound, approached to identify the source of the noise.

Serena sent the goblin out of the cell and positioned herself by the door before the Guard’s line of sight could reach them.

Keuruk.

The Guard’s glowing eyes caught sight of the goblin. The Guard raised its mace high and struck down the goblin.

The goblin died instantly. Though it was a monster summoned by a magical tool among the Labyrinth’s fake monsters, Serena prayed for the goblin’s peaceful rest.

‘It only attacks and doesn’t blow the whistle. Good, it’s okay even if summoned creatures are discovered.’

As Serena was organizing the experimental results, the Guard, which had been glancing into the cell, suddenly turned toward the cell.

The Guard’s glowing eyes fell upon Ralph, who was digging at the wall.

Piiiiiik-!

A loud whistle sounded and red light flashed. A second X was added to the restored cell wall.

Two outs. Serena slapped her forehead in dismay.

‘Right. Of course it would be an out when we’re attempting to escape right in front of it.’

She had to admit it. This time Serena had been too foolish.

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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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