Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 62

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

62. Seraph (5)

Her heart was racing, so she didn’t even converse with the Labyrinth God. Serena gritted her teeth to endure the phantom pain and revised her plan.

‘I’ll catch the deer and proceed similarly to last time. That should work.’

The powerful enemy continuously roamed the layers searching for prey wandering the labyrinth. If they were destined to meet eventually anyway, it was better to hunt it down and eliminate the danger.

To do that, she had to defeat the Labyrinth Deer with certainty.

‘Arrows and magic bullets don’t work at all, and Ralph’s sword does pierce it, but that deer bastard is just too damn big.’

The only viable option was the oil application that Count Randy had mentioned.

What if she applied oil to the parts where the Labyrinth Deer stepped while it climbed cliffs to toy with the party?

It would fall into the bottomless depths below and die from the fall.

‘This is the most feasible option.’

Having decided on the hunting method, it was time to increase the chances of a successful hunt. Serena asked for understanding from her companions who were waiting for her to go to the 3rd Layer.

“Wait a moment.”

“What is it? The restroom?”

“How rude!”

“If it’s the 6th Floor, the monsters will start getting stronger, so Princess doesn’t need to go.”

“If you’re tired or having difficulty, you can rest here.”

Serena shook her head and requested aromatic incense from Lavenda, and gems and magic stones from Philia.

“Let me learn just one spell before we go.”

Serena arranged the offerings for the ritual, lit the incense, and closed her eyes.

“Magic isn’t something you can learn that quickly.”

While the adults were bewildered by what was perhaps the most absurd reason for delay they’d ever heard, Grey, who was a child, spoke up.

The child clicked his tongue as if something was very unsatisfactory, then became conscious of the adults’ gazes and smiled cutely.

***

Oil Creation was a 2nd-tier spell like Magic Bullet. Whether it was because Serena lacked talent, or because her will to save was weaker than her will to kill, she didn’t know, but it was harder to learn than Magic Bullet.

After failing once and losing the offerings, then trying again, the Princess finally mastered the Oil Creation spell. Checking the time with the Bread Tree, roughly 30 minutes had passed.

‘Should I practice a bit?’

When she learned Magic Bullet, she had to hide it from Lucas so she couldn’t practice and went straight into real combat. But this time there was no one to hide from, so trying it once wouldn’t be bad.

As Serena opened her eyes, she instinctively categorized the gazes focused on her.

The maid, knight, and Mysterious Stranger who naturally believed she would have learned magic, the alchemist who was half-believing, the guide who didn’t care whether she learned it or not and just wanted to depart quickly.

‘What’s with this one?’

A child who seemed to regard Serena with disdain in a different way from Lucas. Ying was still expressionless, so she was excluded.

When Serena’s eyes met Grey’s, the child’s eyes widened. Seeing the child’s innocent face, the disdain she had felt just moments ago seemed to fade.

‘No. He definitely looked down on me.’

He claimed to be the Grand Mage’s grandson, so perhaps the Princess who suddenly wanted to learn a spell right before going to conquer the labyrinth seemed pathetic to him?

‘I didn’t prepare in advance. Yeah, it’s my fault.’

Serena cast the Oil Creation spell on a bucket. A very thin layer of oil spread across the bottom of the bucket.

“Hmm, it works well.”

“As expected of Lady Serena!”

“As expected of the Princess!”

“Oh, did you really just learn it now and use it right away?”

“If you’ve learned it, let’s go quickly. We were all ready but you suddenly interrupted and killed the mood.”

“Can we eat this oil? How about for massage use?”

Lavenda tilted the bucket and asked what to do with the small amount of oil. Oil created by magic? That’s supposed to be sprinkled on enemies or the ground and combined with fire magic, right?

Looking at the knowledgeable Count Randy, the Count had a similar expression to Serena’s.

Edible or not? Don’t know. Safe for skin contact? Don’t know. Good to use as lantern oil? Don’t know.

“Oil created by magic can be used for both food and massage. It disappears after a day or two, making it difficult to use though.”

A clear and cheerful voice provided the answer.

“Oh, what a waste.”

“But if you process it, it won’t disappear. You should be able to extract components by steeping herbs in it.”

“Really? Then I should process it and store it! Thank you for telling me, young master.”

Lavenda carefully transferred the oil from the bucket to another container.

The gaze of the child, who was knowledgeable beyond his years, fixed on Serena.

“Did you really learn it and cast it in just two tries?”

“Grey, that’s rude. Lady Serena overflows with magical talent and has been called a genius. Her first ritual succeeded in three tries, and all subsequent spells were learned in one or two attempts. She learned 3rd-tier Ice Creation magic just six months after starting to learn magic.”

“3rd-tier in six months? Then why are you learning 2nd-tier Oil Creation magic now? That’s basic among basics.”

“Magic is a mage’s job, so why should Lady Serena learn difficult and useless spells? She learned Ice Creation so she could eat shaved ice before it melted.”

“Ugh.”

Grey suddenly grabbed the back of his neck. Having blood pressure problems at that age would be serious, so he seemed to be imitating what he saw adults around him do.

“So you’re saying she only learned up to Ice Creation and stopped? Aunt, Your Highness. Please tell me it’s a lie.”

“I regret it too.”

If she had known the genre she reincarnated into was a labyrinth conquest story, she would have worked harder to learn more spells. Because she couldn’t do that, she was now learning 2nd-tier basic magic.

“What was Your Highness’s Magic Tutor doing? Why did they stop teaching such an excellent talent? That tutor isn’t qualified to be a tutor!”

Serena wanted to quickly go down to the 3rd Layer, but Grey held onto her and wouldn’t let go. He was just like her Magic Tutor who used to grab even her skirt and cling when Serena said she would stop learning magic.

‘I’m sorry, Tutor. I doubted you.’

Why didn’t she realize back then that it wasn’t empty flattery and fawning toward the Princess, but the truth? Serena roughly pulled off Grey, who was clinging to her pants instead of her skirt.

“Ask Countess Randy about your curiosities.”

Serena slightly shook her head at Philia. It meant don’t speak and keep your mouth shut. Philia dutifully blinked her eyes.

Serena stood before the statue. Touching the statue would delay the regression point by about 30 minutes. If she didn’t update it, she would have to learn Oil Creation magic again after regressing.

‘Being 30 minutes late won’t kill me.’

She just needed to meet them before walking the narrow path in the middle of the night.

‘If I die again, I don’t have confidence to concentrate and learn magic.’

Learning new magic required concentration, but Serena’s mental strength was already at rock bottom.

She had died from falling three times, and while her body was fine, her soul remembered all that pain.

If she failed this time too, she would have to learn magic again, and it would definitely take longer than 30 minutes then.

‘Let me save.’

Serena pretended to pray to the Labyrinth God while touching the statue. Now that she had saved, there was no time to hesitate. Serena headed resolutely toward the 3rd Layer while lying to her companions who followed.

“Actually, while I was meditating to learn magic, I received a revelation from the Labyrinth God.”

A magic map showing the 3rd Layer she had never been to would make convincing the party members simple. The Princess added deer topping to it.

“A powerful enemy that looks like a mix of mountain goat, goat, and deer appears, and we must defeat this creature.”

“According to the map, it’s an incredibly vast layer where we could easily avoid it, but you want to specifically hunt the powerful enemy?”

“We must catch it.”

When Serena emphasized this, Olive, like with the frog, seemed to guess it was something like a trial sent by god and didn’t complain.

Serena explained everything she knew about the Labyrinth Deer’s form, characteristics, attack methods, and even revealed her expected conquest strategy.

“Since our weapons don’t work on it, I plan to kill it by making it fall.”

“Don’t tell me you suddenly learned magic because of that?”

“Yes. Ice wouldn’t be enough.”

“Lady Serena, if you had told us in advance, we could have discussed conquest methods together or chosen better magic.”

“That’s true. However, since we need to catch the Labyrinth Deer quickly, I thought of magic I could learn immediately and a conquest method using it.”

“Next time you learn magic, please consult with Grey.”

“Grey? Even if he’s the Grand Mage’s grandson, he’s not a Grand Mage himself, right?”

“Grey still lacks mana so he can only use 2nd-tier magic, but he learned theory from his master so his knowledge is extensive. He’s a genius.”

“A genius.”

“Yes, a genius.”

Count Randy nodded seriously. A child who uses 2nd-tier magic at 12 and is well-versed in higher magic theory?

‘That’s me though?’

Serena had mastered 3rd-tier Ice Creation at age 12. Her Magic Tutor praised her endlessly, but that year Richard returned, Seraph fell seriously ill and nearly died, her mother passed away, and other major events occurred consecutively, causing Serena to lose interest in magic.

“Stop talking about magic and let’s plan how to catch the powerful enemy. Right now the Princess wants to make the deer slip on the cliff and kill it, right?”

“Right.”

“Then how about digging a trap and waiting? We can retry multiple times if we fail, and it’ll be in a location advantageous to us.”

Olive pointed to several locations on the magic map.

***

“Aaaaaaaaaaah!”

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

These weren’t the screams of chamois. They were the desperate cries of a princess and knight trying to lure the annoying chamois.

Serena screamed at the top of her lungs, while the young knight danced beside her, reflecting his plate armor in the light and banging his scabbard against his shield.

The sound and light, stimulating both hearing and sight, agitated all the monsters on the 3rd layer. Bats woke from their sleep and flew out of the cave, but couldn’t endure the daytime sun and crashed into the cliff while trying to return to the cave.

The condors responsible for the 3rd layer’s daytime were startled by the noise and light and flocked over, but they couldn’t attack the party and all crashed from the air. This was because Serena and Ralph had lured the monsters through crevices in the cave.

Among the caves on the 3rd layer, there were sections connected to crevices carved into the cliff. The crevices were too narrow for Labyrinth Condors to fly through and attack, making it a perfect location for drawing aggro.

Aaaah!

The cry of a Labyrinth Deer responding to Serena’s screams grew closer. When they get close enough, chamois stop crying to ambush their prey. Serena and Ralph also closed their mouths and waited cautiously.

Aup aup.

Ying, who had been hiding in various spots waiting for the Labyrinth Deer, sent a signal. The Labyrinth Deer was climbing up from below the cliff where Serena and Ralph were positioned.

Ying shot an arrow to divert the Labyrinth Deer’s attention.

Serena cast the magic she had been preparing while screaming. As previously agreed, Count Randy also cast magic simultaneously.

The Labyrinth Deer’s hind legs slipped on the cliff as it tried to leap up to avoid the annoying rain of arrows.

Aah?

The Labyrinth Deer fixed its front legs and tried to stretch its hind legs again to cling to the cliff. Serena cast oil creation magic at the predicted spot.

The Labyrinth Deer’s hind legs landed farther than the predicted spot. Seeing the chamois proudly display its flexibility and strength by stretching its hind legs wide to both sides, the princess ground her molars.

Aaaah!

Perhaps wary of its feet slipping while trying to leap, the Labyrinth Deer slowly climbed up the cliff.

Though the first attack failed, there was always a second chance. Serena waited until the Labyrinth Deer let its guard down.

The wait wasn’t very long. Ying, who had changed positions, pierced the Labyrinth Deer’s eye with an arrow.

Serena and Count Randy didn’t miss the opportunity while the chamois writhed in pain and cast oil creation magic. The writhing chamois slipped on the cliff, struggled, and then fell below.

Aaaaaaaaaaah!

What falls has no wings. Crash here, bang there. The Labyrinth Deer that had been hitting various parts of the cliff while falling disappeared from view, hidden by clouds.

From the faint cries rising up, it seemed to still be falling.

“We got it! Zero, well done!”

“Phew. I almost ran out of mana.”

“Let’s rest a bit before moving.”

“I’m glad everything went according to the Princess’s plan.”

Serena didn’t celebrate immediately. ‘Did we get it?’ was a magic incantation that revived dead enemies. Serena silently opened her left eye and waited for the strong enemy defeat notification to appear.

[You have defeated a strong enemy. The probability of getting nothing from the limited shop roulette wheel has decreased.]

‘So it wasn’t giving me absolutely nothing.’

When she defeated the 2nd floor strong enemy, it opened the roulette wheel, but defeating the 3rd layer strong enemy reduced the probability of getting nothing.

Though she was busy, Serena checked the blank area of the roulette wheel. The blank space that had occupied half the wheel had decreased slightly. Just a tiny bit, maybe 1 or 2 percent?

Anyway, having received the notification, Serena recited the now powerless magic incantation.

“We got it.”

‘How dare such a trivial creature eat my brother!’

“Now shall we go look for the Prince? Since we caught the strong enemy, we can go comfortably~”

The party members who had been scattered in spots with good views to catch the chamois gathered together. There was no loot, but they were happy to have defeated the strong enemy without casualties and were about to leave to search for Seraph when.

“Hello, Serena.”

The screams meant to lure the Labyrinth Deer had attracted something unexpected. The party was shocked and alarmed by the sudden gentle greeting they heard without sensing any presence.

Richard entered through a crevice in the cliff and waved his hand as if pleased to see them.

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————