Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 4

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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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4. The Sacred Tomb of Huji (1)

The guard thrust his spear forward as soon as he sensed someone approaching. If the distance had been closer, he really would have stabbed them.

Serena released her grip that had been restraining Philia. Philia shot forward like an arrow to stand in front of Serena and scolded the guard.

“How dare you!”

“Eek! A witch? A spirit?”

The guard’s eyes and spear tip trembled as if struck by aftershocks, startled by the beauty who had suddenly appeared.

“This person is the only granddaughter of His Majesty Harold II and the eldest daughter of His Highness Crown Prince Kipan, Grand Duchess Pakling! Show proper respect!”

“I have committed a mortal sin!”

“A princess? Really truly?”

“Princess, you’re safe!”

Serena was actually not a princess but a princess-to-be. However, with royal family members countable on one hand and her being the only female among them, from a commoner’s perspective, she was simply a princess.

Most nobles also called her Princess, and Harold II, who was only waiting for the right time to depose his drug-addicted youngest son, always called her Royal Princess or Princess, so let’s call her Princess.

“Let’s organize the situation first.”

In a hierarchical society, status was law. The confused people gathered at the Princess’s command.

A strange space they woke up in after losing consciousness. Strange people gathered there. The great earthquake they witnessed just before fainting.

It was a situation where maintaining sanity was difficult. Serena decided to first resolve the questions about each person.

“State your name, occupation, and what you remember from just before coming here and after. You start first.”

Serena pointed to the guard who was the only one with a weapon. His profession was obvious at a glance, but she still wanted to know the details.

“Loyalty! Sincerity! Guard Han Son Han Son of the City Guard! During the proud founding festival period of the Kingdom of Heuji! Without shifts! Day and night! Serving with all my might! Over! Out!”

Guard Han Son Han Son shouted at the top of his lungs. Already tense, he became even more nervous when the Princess appeared, making his speech pattern really strange.

“You’d better lower your voice. Your name is Hans and your surname is Hanson?”

“No! Han Son Han Son is correct! When registering my birth! The village chief! Made a mistake!”

‘Village chief?’

Heuji City was a city. Naturally, there was no village chief.

“You’re not from Heuji City, I see.”

“Yes! That’s right! I’m from Kizen!”

Hanson mentioned a region near Heuji City. Since it wasn’t important, Serena listened to Hanson’s next story.

“The proud Heuji City Guard! Day and night! Serving faithfully without shifts!”

‘They do have shifts. Was there such a shortage of manpower?’

Since even the knights who were dedicated to royal escort were being drafted for palace security, the overwork of the City Guard was understandable.

‘How hard must someone be working for their speech to become like that? Excessive labor really does ruin people.’

Her desire to avoid work grew even stronger.

“I was arguing with an unlicensed peddler when the earthquake hit! When I woke up, I was in a strange corridor! While walking cautiously, I met the peddler and walked toward where bright light was coming from and arrived here! End of report!”

Serena observed Han Son Han Son.

An iron helmet shaped like a cap with a narrow brim and brigandine armor. Along with a spear and a longsword at his waist. Though not visible, there was a dagger in his chest. This was the standard armament of the City Guard commonly seen in Heuji City.

If the uniform became a bit more ornate and he held a halberd, it would become royal guard armament.

The face revealed under the narrow brim was younger than expected. Though he should be of age to be a guard, he looked around the same age as Serena’s younger brother. Small freckles dotted his forehead and cheeks, making him look even younger.

‘He has a baby face.’

Moreover, his eyes drooped downward, giving him a gentle impression. Even wearing guard uniform, he didn’t look scary. With his gentle features and baby face combined, it seemed like he’d have a hard time working.

‘Not important, so next.’

“I heard you well. Now you speak.”

Serena pointed to the peddler.

“I’m Krom. There’s a big sawmill in the neighborhood, so I make a living by taking wood scraps they throw away and carving them. They’re having a big festival in the capital this time. I’ve never seen the capital before, so I came to see it while doing business. Oh my, they’re all thieves. Pure bandits. Wherever I sit, they say it’s someone else’s spot, asking if I got permission and chasing me away. I finally found an empty spot and sat down, but they came there too telling me to pack up.”

“Unlicensed stalls prohibited during festival period!”

Hanson, who was treated like a bandit despite just doing his job, shouted angrily. He was like a machine reciting the official notice sent to the guard during the festival period.

“I was chased around so much that I didn’t want to lose the spot I finally got. We were talking and then the ground went thud thud thud. When I woke up, it was a strange place. Then I.”

Peddler Krom looked at Hanson, pursed his lips, then spoke.

“Met this guard and came here. But this guard made such a fuss that I left my cart and luggage behind. That’s all my wealth. Now that introductions are done, can I go get them?”

“Wait until everyone else’s introductions are finished.”

“All because of that damn rat…”

Krom grumbled quietly. Even knowing Serena was a princess, he wasn’t particularly intimidated. Rather than disrespecting Serena, the status difference was so great it didn’t feel real.

His outfit with a scarf wrapped around to block wind and sun, along with his wrinkled face and hands. Especially since he said he made a living carving, his hands had many calluses and scars. He was definitely over forty, but it was hard to gauge precisely.

‘Forty? Or sixty?’

Serena clicked her tongue inwardly. She couldn’t guess Krom’s age range.

Sunlight accelerates aging. Nutritional imbalance does the same. Unlike her previous life where malnutrition was associated with dieting, this was a Western fantasy world without basic welfare.

Though it was called a prosperous nation, that only meant fewer people starved to death.

She could roughly guess the apparent age of well-fed nobles similar to her previous life, but commoners aged rapidly after adulthood, making their ages impossible to estimate.

She might be able to tell if she saw commoners frequently, but who was Serena? Wasn’t she a princess raised preciously in the palace? She had almost no opportunity to see ordinary commoners.

“Lavenda. It’s your turn.”

Serena designated Lavenda as the next batter. Lavenda opened her lavender-colored eyes wide (probably why she was named Lavenda) and nodded enthusiastically.

“Yes! I’m Lavenda Puri. I came from Vieta. Here’s my passport… I also have an entry permit and massage business license at the boarding house. There are copies at the shop too.”

“Vieta? You came all the way from there? Young lady, you have great courage.”

“Vieta, you mean the Vieta at the eastern end?”

Krom and Hanson were shocked upon hearing Lavenda’s hometown.

As mentioned before, Huji was at the western end of the continent, while Vieta was a country at the eastern end of the continent. It was a great journey that even seasoned travelers or adventurers would find difficult.

“Did you walk here?”

“Of course I took a ship. Sea routes are much faster and safer than land routes. The travel expenses were much cheaper by ship too. The boss who proposed a business partnership paid for my travel expenses.”

“Hmm.”

Lavenda’s once-in-a-lifetime adventure of leaving the red ocean of massage competition in Vieta for the blue ocean of Huji!

It would have been quite an interesting story to listen to if she were receiving a massage.

But the five were currently in the predicament of having fallen into a strange space.

When Serena made a small sound, Lavenda closed her mouth. Krom and Hanson, who had asked questions in surprise at the sudden foreign story, soon calmed down too.

“As I told the guard earlier, I was on my way back to the boarding house after closing the shop early. Suddenly the ground shook, so I was leaning against the wall when the ground below caved in. I screamed as I fell, but when I woke up, I was here. I was looking for a bright place and found the guard, so I came here.”

The rest was omitted since everyone had seen it.

She had heard the introductions and stories from just before and after the fall from three people.

Just before having Philia introduce herself, Serena asked the three for confirmation.

“You woke up in a corridor?”

“Yes! That’s right!”

“The material and structure were different from here, but it was a stone corridor. There were no windows… Were there lights? I’m sorry, Princess. I was too shocked to observe my surroundings carefully.”

“It was a corridor? I thought it was some basement. Wasn’t it a basement?”

“The place we woke up was a cave.”

Serena pointed in the direction she and Philia had come from.

“Since we fell from different positions, that could be possible, right?”

Philia hurriedly answered her master’s question.

‘When falling from a high place, even a slight change in direction can greatly change the landing point…’

What was the probability that all the people who fell from that height would be completely unharmed?

‘It’s not like Cheolsu fell, so why am I calculating that? Moving on.’

In the direction Serena and Philia came from was a cave, and if you went down the passage the three came from, there would be a stone corridor. Serena just extracted that information for now.

“No windows either. The ceiling was also… seemed to be blocked… but it was bright…”

Lavenda bit her lip as if trying to recall her memories. Serena let Lavenda make the effort and gestured to Philia.

“Countess. It’s your turn.”

“Yes, Lady Serena! I am Philia Landriol, Lady Serena’s head maid. You may call me Countess Randy. I have served Lady Serena for over 5 years and will serve her for life.”

“Countess Randy. Only say what I told you to say.”

While Serena was turning off Philia’s local broadcast, the people were shocked by something else.

“If you’re a countess, are you married?”

“Her husband is very lucky. I’m jealous.”

“You married early.”

The three seemed shocked by the information that the greatest beauty of Huji was already married.

They had seen such a beautiful woman who seemed more like a spirit than a person for the first time in their lives, but to hear she was already married seemed quite shocking to them.

“I was walking with Lady Serena when I fell and lost consciousness, and when I woke up, I was here.”

It wasn’t wrong, but the explanation was far too lacking. Serena stepped forward herself.

“You just heard what Countess Randy said, but I’ll introduce myself again. I am Serena Fackling Huaim. I’m the granddaughter of His Majesty Harold II, King of Huji, and the daughter of His Highness Crown Prince Kipan. Properly speaking, I should be called Grand Duchess Fackling, but since there are few hands in the royal family and I’m the only woman, everyone calls me Princess Serena.”

Everyone was humbled by Serena’s self-introduction.

“We left Lavenda’s massage parlor and were walking through what was supposed to be a shortcut—a path narrower than an alley—to get to the open area where the carriage was waiting. The Countess was with us too. On the way, we saw Hanson and Krom having an argument, and then an earthquake occurred. It shook so violently that I was thrown into the air, and the ground collapsed completely. I lost consciousness while falling, and when I opened my eyes, I was in an unfamiliar cave. After walking a bit, I found the Countess collapsed and woke her up, then came here.”

After saying this much, Serena suddenly remembered something and asked the people.

“Did any of you happen to see a knight? My escort was between me, Hanson, and Krom.”

“Haven’t seen anything but you guards, not even an ant.”

“On duty! Nothing unusual!”

“I didn’t see anyone else either.”

No one had seen the knight. Perhaps he was lucky and avoided falling. With his knightly agility, he might have grabbed onto something nearby before falling.

‘There’s also the possibility he died unluckily by himself…’

Understanding the situation was more urgent than looking for someone who wasn’t there.

“…”

After the introductions ended, silence lingered for a moment. Everyone looked around uncertainly, not knowing what to do.

Krom broke the silence.

“Can I go get the cart now?”

“Wait just a little longer. Do any of you know anything about this place or have any ideas? Even something trivial would be good, so please tell me.”

When Serena asked, everyone made similar expressions.

We’re curious about that too.

Serena sighed softly and observed the space they were currently in.

Compared to the cave Serena had passed through, this was a spacious area. The width was about the size of the playgrounds that used to exist in every neighborhood in her past life.

The ceiling was also higher than the cave but was blocked, and except for the passages on both sides, everything was completely filled in with stone.

On the floor, stones of different colors were arranged regularly like tiles to create patterns, and there was a fountain in the center.

If not for the blocked ceiling and walls, it would really look like a small town square. Or the lobby of a large shopping mall.

‘Lobby. Yes, it’s a lobby. It’s a bit small for a lobby, though.’

Though she didn’t know what it was, since it was inside an artificial structure, lobby seemed fitting.

‘Water is coming out, but where does it flow to?’

Water spouted freely from the fountain. It didn’t overflow and existed only within the fountain itself. There were no immediately visible sewage or purification facilities.

‘I want to wash.’

Seeing the water made her desperately want to wash. But she held back. Not only could she not wash here, but she couldn’t tell if that water was clean.

While Serena examined the lobby, the other four also moved. To be precise, the three excluding Philia moved.

“What is that fountain? Having a fountain in a place like this. It’s really strange.”

While Philia stuck right next to Serena and chattered about the fountain, the other three moved toward the passage Serena and Philia had come from.

They wanted to confirm for themselves whether the path was really blocked.

‘If I got angry here saying “How dare you doubt my words,” the atmosphere would be fantastic.’

In an emergency situation, wanting to discern the truth with one’s own eyes was human instinct and perfectly normal behavior.

‘A flower trash would have done that. How dare you doubt my words!’

She worried about her younger sibling for a moment, but Serena thought positively. Her sibling had received a lot of criticism, so they would live long.

Shortly after, the three who had gone to the cave returned with dejected expressions.

Hanson gripped his spear so tightly his hands hurt, and Krom examined the statue as Serena had done. Lavenda investigated the walls.

Serena gave the three some time to investigate the lobby. When they finished their investigation, they returned to the princess’s side with even more dejected expressions.

“Isn’t this a basement? There were many big buildings, so the basement should be big too.”

“Sir! Yes sir! I suspect this is the legendary secret passage of the royal family!”

“Huh? I, I don’t really know…”

Krom guessed it was a large basement, while Hanson suspected it was a secret passage.

Lavenda mumbled her words, seemingly having no idea. Though the situation was what it was, her expression was particularly dark. Being caught up in a great disaster far from home seemed to leave her feeling hopeless.

“A secret passage? I think that guard is right too!”

Philia cast her vote for Hanson’s opinion.

‘A secret passage.’

For Serena, who would need to use that secret passage, this was news to her. While it was true that there were secret passages in the Royal Palace leading outside the city, none of them had fountains.

“In my opinion, this place is.”

Everyone’s attention focused on Serena.

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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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