Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 352

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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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352. Old Man and Lizardman (2)

“Did Kara participate in the tournament? This is the first I’m hearing of it. If Kara had participated in the tournament, rumors would have spread everywhere, which is strange.”

The citizens of Heuji had been starved for entertainment and excitement for a long time.

If they knew that not just a foreigner, but an entirely different species had participated in the tournament, rumors would have spread not only throughout Heuji City but even outside the city, yet Ralph seemed unaware of it too.

Kara flicked her long tongue and narrowed her eyes. She seemed displeased.

“Kara. Tournament. Couldn’t go.”

“What? Didn’t you just say you got to know people who died in the tournament?”

“Different. Tournament. Kara. Called.”

The citizens of Heuji City, starved for entertainment and excitement, sometimes organized events themselves using their own money.

Besides the events organized by the Royal Family, various private events were held.

Since the Grand Martial Arts Tournament couldn’t accommodate all participants, privately hosted tournaments also flourished.

Kara said she had participated in such a tournament.

‘Still, that’s strange? It wasn’t just any lizardman, but a talking lizardman participating – there’s no way rumors wouldn’t spread.’

The suspicious and negative thinking of the princess naturally extended into darker territory.

“Was it an unlicensed tournament?”

“License? Don’t know. Name. Dark. Tournament.”

Dark Ball. Even the name sounded ominous.

‘Ying would love this.’

“Dark Ball? What a cool name!”

The Young Knight, who had recently awakened to new forms of coolness, lit up with excitement.

Serena prayed that the knight would abandon his newfound sense of style as soon as possible.

“Just from the name, it sounds like an unlicensed tournament.”

“I heard about it. It’s an illegal arena where you can bet money. They said it was okay to kill people.”

“The name was only cool.”

Ralph became dejected and let his shoulders droop. He was truly a stylish knight.

“Why did you participate in such a dangerous arena? Couldn’t you foresee that you’d just be used and then disposed of?”

Serena blamed not Kara, who was of a different species, but Nameless. The old man whose face couldn’t be seen answered briefly.

“Kara is strong.”

“Kara. Strong.”

Kara narrowed her eyes, smiled, and swished her tail back and forth.

Serena didn’t deny Kara’s strength.

‘Four stars.’

Without needing to compare with Ralph, Kara was on the same level as Duri.

Bears tear people apart, and lizardmen bite people.

But bears get caught in traps, and lizardmen aren’t invincible either.

When Serena pointed this out, Kara earnestly moved her mouth and tongue.

“Kara. Heard. Dark. Tournament. Winner. Tournament. Winner and. Fight.”

The illegal arena winner could fight against the winner of the fair and square tournament hosted by the Royal Family?

Serena’s forehead wrinkled.

“What are you talking about? Who dared to say such a thing?”

Seeing that the princess’s mood had visibly soured, Krom intervened.

“Is that really true? The lizardman looks easy to fool, so maybe they tricked her.”

Now that she heard it, Krom’s words made sense. Serena acknowledged that she had gotten angry too quickly and calmed down.

“Why didn’t you stop Kara? Isn’t Kara your student? Or were you also ignorant and deceived?”

“Kara is strong.”

Kyaruk. Having heard twice that she was strong, Kara seemed pleased as she half-closed her eyes and lightly bumped her head against Nameless.

Nameless gently stroked Kara’s head.

The dead were illegal arena officials, and the reason for killing was self-defense.

Just from listening to Kara and Nameless’s words, the full truth couldn’t be known, but they didn’t seem to be lying.

Even to the suspicious and sensitive princess’s ears, it sounded like the truth.

‘I don’t know about other things, but the reason for being imprisoned seems real.’

Precious time was spent listening to Kara and Nameless explain about the people they had killed.

Serena returned to the main point.

“You two probably didn’t know since you have no companions who weren’t imprisoned, but we are scheduled for execution 7 days after our imprisonment. You committed murder and were imprisoned in the same section as us, so it won’t be much different. If we assume it’s the same 7 days, there are two days left.”

“…Who did you kill?”

Upon hearing the news that they might die in two days, Nameless was curious about something unexpected.

Serena thought that was understandable.

‘Originally, the murderer in front of you is scarier than an uncertain future.’

“We were also acting in self-defense.”

If this were a real prison, it would be an excuse that even a dog wouldn’t believe.

Nameless looked closely at the princess’s face, as if trying to determine the truth of what Serena had said.

Then suddenly his breathing became rough.

“Orange… eyes… I’m sorry. My eyes are badly injured and my vision is poor.”

‘His eyesight is bad too?’

The possibility that Nameless was a 0-star with only a good voice increased.

“I can’t fight, escape attempts have failed, and I had a bad feeling so I was waiting for the situation to change… We were about to die…”

Perhaps he had thought of Serena as someone impersonating the princess until now, as Nameless’s formal speech became slightly more natural after seeing Serena’s eye color.

“Kara. Don’t want. Die. But. Can’t get out. If caught. Come back. Here. Can’t fight.”

Nameless and Kara had attempted to escape before, got caught, and were automatically moved back to their cell.

At that time, Nameless said he saw the X mark on the wall and felt ominous, so he didn’t attempt any more escapes and waited.

“How many X marks are on the wall?”

“Two.”

“When that becomes three, you automatically die. That’s the rule of this layer.”

“Why? Kara! Don’t want. Die!”

Kara protested by roughly hitting the floor with her tail.

Seeing a lizardman open her snout wide and get angry up close was quite impressive.

“Still, there’s nothing we can do. That’s the Labyrinth.”

“Don’t worry. The princess will save you.”

“Really. Save? Princess. Deity. Apostle?”

“Since we’ve met like this, I intend to take you with us and escape from this prison. To escape safely, you’ll have to follow my words.”

“The princess has a plan!”

Ralph cheerfully vouched for her, but the lizardman who was smart enough to learn human speech left the judgment to her teacher.

“Teacher?”

“…An old man close to death doesn’t particularly treasure his life anymore. But Kara is a young one with a bright future ahead. I will follow the princess’s orders.”

“Princess! Follow! Orders! Now. What. Do?”

The death row inmates who would be executed in two days waited for the princess’s orders with the momentum to move at just a word.

Serena, whose plan was having no plan, squeezed her rock-like head.

“Just wait until tomorrow. When I meet with my companions tomorrow, I need to confirm when your execution date is.”

Keruk. Kara was openly disappointed and rubbed her belly with her front paw.

Clank clank. The sound of the guard’s footsteps could be heard.

It was dinner time, so Kara and Nameless returned to their original cell.

After the guard left, Kara came back while licking her snout with her tongue.

Kara’s gaze fell on Serena and Ralph’s steaks.

Kyaak!

The lizardman who had only eaten white porridge for 5 days was outraged at seeing the steak.

“You! Why! Meat? Unfair!”

“Ah. You couldn’t even apply for special meals since you have no companions. Princess, may we share our food with them?”

Kara’s size was large even among the lizardmen Serena had seen in the Labyrinth.

She was slightly smaller than the rock lizardman that had been on the 11th Layer.

‘With that build, he must be hungry after eating only white porridge for several days.’

When Serena gave permission, Ralph gave all of his steak to Kara and Nameless.

“You. Good. Person.”

“If it’s not enough, there’s more.”

Ralph also shared the food he had brought with Kara.

After finishing the steak, Kara happily made cackling sounds while tearing into the jerky.

“Good. Person. Repay. Kindness. Good deeds. Come around.”

“Exactly! We should help each other and live together.”

Ralph’s eyes sparkled as he said this.

He seemed to enjoy simply having a conversation with a lizardman who could speak human language.

“Where are you from, Kara? Did you come from a foreign country?”

“Mountain. Kyaruk.”

“Which mountain on the continent?”

While watching Ralph excitedly ask Kara various questions, Nameless cautiously asked Serena a question.

“I know this is the Labyrinth… but why did you and the Knight enter the Labyrinth, Princess?”

Come to think of it, Nameless had sufficient reason to mistake Serena for a princess imposter.

A sane princess wouldn’t enter the Labyrinth, and a sane nation wouldn’t allow a princess to enter the Labyrinth.

‘Except for the Empire.’

Thinking of that nearby yet distant neighboring country where both princes and princesses had to step foot in the Labyrinth, Serena answered.

“Don’t be surprised. Heuji City was swallowed by the Labyrinth.”

It was an almost unreasonable request, but Nameless quietly waited for additional explanation.

Serena, who had been preparing to calm Nameless or refute any objections, continued her explanation.

“While the exit is blocked and we’re waiting for a rescue team, we’re looking for ways to escape on our own.”

“Don’t worry about food! The Minotaur God favors the Princess!”

Ralph excitedly boasted about the gifts the princess had received from the deity, including bread trees and fruit trees. Nameless didn’t react, but Kara responded enthusiastically.

“Bread tree. Saw it. Bread. Branches. Grew.”

“Yes. There’s also a bread tree in the lobby.”

“Meat. Tree. Exist?”

“There’s no meat tree. But you can fish on the 2nd Layer and also…”

Ralph rambled on, boasting about the Labyrinth’s treasures in the lobby.

Kara listened attentively while cackling with laughter. She occasionally wagged her tail too.

While Kara wagged her tail out of joy, it was thick and massive, making it look terrifying enough to cause bruises with just a light bump.

As Serena moved to avoid getting hit by the blind tail, Nameless lowered his cracked, rough voice and asked.

“Is His Majesty also in the lobby?”

Serena’s thoughts came to a halt.

‘Would an ordinary, normal person ask about the king’s whereabouts at a time like this?’

This time, the response ‘I cannot reveal His Majesty’s whereabouts to someone who won’t reveal their name’ lingered on her lips.

‘No. Even in my past life, grandmothers and grandfathers loved saying “our king, our king.”‘

Innocent(?) citizens loved the royal family simply for being royalty, even when the royals didn’t treat them well.

Serena, having been reborn as a princess, felt their love, and wasn’t she trying to save 100,000 people partly out of gratitude for living off their taxes?

‘Should I tell the truth? What if he gets angry after hearing it?’

In Serena’s experience, grandmothers and grandfathers often got angry even when told the truth.

It was actually a trait not limited by age, but due to her grandmother’s behavior in her past life, Serena held the prejudice that elderly people were particularly severe.

After much deliberation, the princess revealed only the simple truth.

“His Majesty Harold II has passed away.”

“His Majesty has…? How did this happen?”

“We plan to announce it publicly once the chaos is settled. I cannot tell someone who won’t even reveal their name in advance.”

“I… see.”

Nameless hung his head.

In contrast to the gloomy atmosphere on Serena’s side, Ralph and Kara maintained a harmonious mood.

“So besides you, Kara, the others can’t speak human language.”

“Kyaruk. Teacher. Learned. Kara. Top student.”

“How did you two meet?”

Kara, who had become friendly with Ralph, was about to answer when a cracked, low voice called the lizardman.

“Kara. You’re tired from speaking loudly after so long. Let’s go to sleep now.”

“Kyaruk.”

Kara stood up abruptly and helped Nameless get up.

The old man with the prosthetic leg left the cell without even saying goodnight.

The two cells had holes in the wall, so most conversations could be heard clearly.

Krom spoke as if he wanted them to hear deliberately.

“Well now, how suspicious. Between a wanted criminal and an escaped prisoner, which one do you think the Princess is?”

Serena shrugged her shoulders.

“As long as it’s not a drug dealer, either is fine.”

“Hehehe.”

The Peddler giggled at the princess’s wit.

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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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