Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 348

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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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348. Prison Break Preparations (1)

Why did Krom become a drug dealer?

Personally, it was a question she wasn’t curious about at all.

‘There can’t be any good drug dealers in this world. The best thing is not to become one in the first place.’

As they say, there’s no grave without an excuse – even the most heinous villains have circumstances that evoke sympathy when you hear their stories.

So the Pakling siblings decided to ignore the reasons entirely and only look at the results.

‘Is it similar to this prison?’

She had that thought for a moment, but after thinking about it a bit more, she canceled it.

‘No matter what, you can’t compare it to a prison that ignores self-defense. This prison is worse.’

Anyway, Krom was a drug dealer, and for Serena, that was the end of the story.

The princess who had a drug-addicted father wasn’t curious at all about what past or circumstances the drug dealer might have.

If Krom poured out his sob story in detail, it would be like pouring oil on the dying embers of anger that had been fading into an honorable death, making them blaze up again.

Serena, now fully awake, perked up her ears to hear what Krom would say.

The silent dead drug dealer finally opened his mouth.

“You call that a question? Obviously I did it to make money.”

It wasn’t a tone that wanted to draw sympathy from the listener. Thanks to that, Serena calmed down slightly.

“Wasn’t there a reason you needed money? Krom, you seem to like children, so perhaps you had a child to take care of—”

“Are you writing a novel?”

Ralph’s words must have seemed absurd because Krom cut off the boy’s words.

The sound of an undead clicking their dry tongue could be heard.

“What? That’s not it. Did you really sell drugs just to make money?”

“Tsk tsk. Ugh.”

The tongue-clicking sound grew quieter, followed by rustling sounds. It seemed Krom had moved.

“Actually, the knight is right. I lost my parents at a young age and wandered around before starting to beg. When I got older, begging didn’t work anymore, so I had no choice but to sell drugs. If I couldn’t meet the tribute payments, I’d get beaten up, so I had no choice. Just like the knight said, I sold them to survive and take care of the children I was looking after.”

The voice of the undead, who couldn’t produce saliva or tears, gradually became moist.

Ralph’s plump eyes also became misty.

The jaw of the princess pretending to sleep tensed up.

“Krom. I knew you had such circumstances.”

“Would there be any? Wake up! Selling drugs to make a living? That’s like saying you eat poison because you have nothing to eat.”

Krom had moved to smack the head of the boy whose head was full of dreams and hopes.

The undead crone hit Ralph’s head hard enough to make a thwack sound.

“Ever since everything got turned upside down because of the prince, all the dealers are complete garbage, so never be fooled.”

Krom glanced at Serena, who was pretending to sleep, and added.

“The princess wouldn’t be fooled, but even so, trash that’s good at selling sob stories can make even their own hearts feel sorry.”

“Ow ow ow.”

Ralph rubbed his head where the old woman had hit him, tears hanging at the corners of his eyes.

The boy who had grown up seeing only the bright side of the world couldn’t readily believe criminals even when they told the truth.

“Did you really sell them just for money?”

“That’s right. I sold drugs because I wanted to make money easily and comfortably.”

“Why on earth would you do that? You know how bad drugs are.”

“I told you. I didn’t want to work honestly.”

“But Krom, you don’t seem like that kind of person.”

“Hmm. You’re disgustingly slow to understand.”

Krom sighed so deeply it seemed like the prison floor would cave in and sat down next to Ralph.

“Look here, knight. Like I said before, after everything got overturned because of the prince, all the dealers left are bastards who deserve to die. Those who dealt drugs because they had nothing and learned nothing all quit the business and left back then.”

The king, who had lost his beloved wife, children, grandchildren, friends, and even retainers, worked mechanically for a long time even after returning to state affairs.

Still, time heals all wounds, and as years passed and Serena and Seraph were born, making him think about succession, Harold II vigorously pursued one policy.

The war on drugs.

He improved the lenient perception of drugs, cracked down on drug dealers, and rescued those who had nothing and were uneducated, working in the drug industry. Those who surrendered at that time had their past crimes personally pardoned by the king.

Harold II, who showed amazing mercy, then adopted a zero-tolerance, merciless principle for all drug crimes that occurred afterward.

‘Even after grandfather went that far, if you still sell drugs, you’re asking to die.’

Don’t ask how the drug-addicted crown prince, known to all the people, is still alive. That’s just how the class system works.

Anyway, despite Harold II even declaring war, drug dealers and drug addicts didn’t decrease.

The reason was quite absurd.

“Since the prince does it, everyone got curious wondering if it’s that good, so the number of people doing drugs increased. Since they’re cracking down from above, prices went up. Making money isn’t that easy, is it?”

Many people couldn’t overcome their curiosity after hearing that His Highness the Crown Prince, who would ascend to the throne, couldn’t quit despite the king scolding him so much, so they tried it just once.

Drugs are called drugs because you can’t just try them once and stop.

People who encountered drugs out of curiosity or through the vicious schemes of drug dealers became consumers or suppliers.

It was enough to drive Harold II and the Pakling siblings crazy.

‘Somewhere a king spread potatoes so his people wouldn’t starve, but our dad made drugs popular. Wow~ how exciting.’

Crown Princess Melang hated Serena because her daughter was born, making her the crown princess and trapping her in the royal palace.

In some sense, the crown princess’s thinking was correct. If Serena hadn’t been born, Harold II might have killed the only remaining blood relative with his own hands.

He would have personally eliminated the last Huai and chosen an appropriate family to inherit Huji.

‘Grandfather would definitely do that.’

The drug addict couldn’t ascend to the throne, and his wife would receive appropriate inheritance and live freely outside the royal palace.

The people would be happy to get a proper king, and the crown princess could escape the royal palace – it would be a happy ending.

Richard might return in a few years and throw the country into chaos, but so what? That would be a world where Serena wasn’t born.

‘If I hadn’t been born.’

Would mother have been happy, at least?

In the cell where only the sound of the undead crone scolding the young knight could be heard, it seemed like thunder was rumbling.

Lightning illuminating the entire darkened prison.

No rain falling, just heavy humidity settling, and mother terrified after being caught strangling her sibling.

‘Destruction that destroys everything? Can’t even break through the ceiling.’

Serena mocked the lightning within herself. The day she could use lightning magic in a place with a ceiling was still far off.

***

The next day. After finishing breakfast with a special steak meal, Serena went through the hole in the wall to the adjacent cell before waiting for visitors.

‘There’s one more line.’

The lines drawn on the wall had increased by one to become five.

‘Is the real room owner carving these? Or are they codes or hints? I really don’t know.’

Serena was looking at the empty cell with a gloomy feeling when she heard the guard’s footsteps and returned to her cell.

The drug dealer reported today’s plan to the princess and knight heading to the visiting room.

“About that room I couldn’t enter because the hole was too narrow. I think I can dig through the wall from the adjacent room, so I’ll try that.”

“Good work.”

“I’ll be back!”

In the visiting room, the alchemist and imperial knight who had exchanged information with the guide and archer were waiting for the two.

“Lady Serena! Thank goodness you’re safe!”

Having not seen her for just one day, Count Randy acted like someone who hadn’t seen Serena for a year.

They say married couples grow alike – he seemed to be becoming like Philia.

After confirming each other’s safety, the four exchanged information.

“If you put bags or blankets under the mat and cover them, the guards won’t notice when you leave the cell. You can use this when leaving the cell to investigate.”

“Such a thing!”

When they shared other prison rules they had discovered, Count Randy lowered his eyes as if ashamed.

He was embarrassed that he had little information to share with the princess.

“We didn’t gain much. I apologize.”

“Not at all, Count. Isn’t it because you’re free that we can exchange information through visits?”

“Sigh. We should be leading the prison break. I’m ashamed.”

Count Alpha frowned his sharp and smooth eyebrows as if he wanted to switch places with Serena.

“As I said yesterday, we still have time, so don’t act rashly.”

A day had now passed. Serena and Ralph still had plenty of time.

Suddenly remembering the lines carved in the adjacent cell, Serena narrowed her eyes.

“What’s wrong? Do you have another headache?”

“That’s not it. Count, has anything changed in the prisoner roster?”

“I checked this morning and it was exactly the same as yesterday.”

Throughout the conversation between the Princess and the Alchemist, the Imperial Knight’s hands and eyes moved busily.

He was transferring the areas added to the magic map onto paper.

Perhaps due to his related training, the map Count Alpha copied was excellent.

Even though he drew it on the spot without tools like rulers, the scale matched quite well.

“It’s fortunate that what Krom saw was reflected on the magic map even though he’s already dead.”

“I think so too.”

If it hadn’t been reflected, Serena would have had to crawl through narrow holes.

“Then, Lady Serena. Do you have any orders for us?”

Since Serena had revealed the prison information from the beginning, Count Randy quietly waited for the Princess’s next command. Serena shook her head.

“Not yet. Explore the prison a bit more.”

“Understood. We’ll gather more information as well.”

“Don’t overdo it. Avoid combat too.”

The Moving Armor on the 12th Layer summoned companions infinitely in a dirty and cowardly manner.

If not for that, she would have deliberately turned the prison into a labyrinth and escaped.

“Understood. Oh, and this is a message from Ying and Olive.”

Count Randy delivered Olive’s message first.

“According to Olive, the handcuffs you’re wearing seem to be a magic tool. She said to make sure to take them if you can.”

“So they were magic tools after all?”

Serena held up the handcuffs that made their heavy presence known on her wrist.

When she first put on the handcuffs, she was surprised and frantic so she didn’t notice, but after calming down, she could feel faint magical power from them.

“I thought they were meant to interfere with a mage’s mana manipulation.”

“They have that function too, but Olive seemed to think they had other functions as well. She claimed they were magic handcuffs that allow people wearing them to move together in labyrinths where parties are forcibly teleported, like the 5th Floor.”

If true, they would be extremely useful magic tools.

Even without Olive’s message, she wanted to take them if possible.

“Why don’t you ask them to provide replacement handcuffs since you’ll secretly take the real ones? So I made extras for everyone else too.”

The Alchemist took out two handcuffs identical in shape and weight to those worn by the prisoners and passed them through the bars. Serena and Ralph took them and put them away for now.

Next, it was time to relay what Ying had said. Count Randy furrowed his brow in puzzlement even as he delivered the message.

“Ying didn’t say much. She only asked me to tell Lady Serena to aim for the grain.”

“Aim for the grain?”

It was something she had heard before.

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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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