Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 71

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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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71. Hot Spring

People don’t know exactly what kind of blessing Serena received.

Because of this, they couldn’t imagine that Serena would be the one deciding what items to get.

They thought the Labyrinth God looked at people and decided, or that the Princess asked and He bestowed them.

So people tried to understand the god’s intention in suddenly giving them a hot spring.

Why did the Labyrinth God give us a hot spring?

Does it mean we should take care of hygiene? Were we so dirty that we disgusted the great one?

Unfortunately, people’s efforts to interpret the god’s intention were meaningless.

The Princess couldn’t handle the stress and made an impulse purchase.

This was the correct answer.

‘I splurged. I bought it! I spent a precious 1 coin on a hot spring that doesn’t even help with conquering the labyrinth!’

Like Serena’s life, the shop window had no refund or cancel button.

Regret flooded in after the impulse purchase, but what could she do? She had already splurged.

Since she had already splurged, she had to soak in it. She wouldn’t come out until all the oil was drained from her entire body!

Serena gritted her teeth.

A ghost who died after eating looks good, and a ghost who died after washing is clean!

“It’s a hot spring! Will the drainage system be okay? How should we clean it? How do we change the water?”

Lavenda, who was from Vieta where hot springs were common, was delighted while having realistic concerns.

The question about floor cleaning was quickly resolved.

The Mysterious Stranger checked the water temperature and splashed water outside the hot spring.

The water that fell on the lobby floor seemed to pool for a moment, then disappeared instantly.

Olive whistled.

“We don’t have to worry about splashing water?”

“It’s a bit hot but so good. Good~ Really good~”

Lavenda’s eyes became dreamily relaxed.

“How wonderful. Really good. How nice. So good.”

The Mysterious Stranger was so moved by the hot water touching her hands after so long that she repeated “good” like a parrot fixated on one word.

Other people also crouched around the hot spring like Lavenda and dipped their hands in. As the hot water touched their hands, their lips naturally relaxed.

The women who had been playing in the water turned their gaze to the three men.

Their eyes, which had been dreamily relaxed from dipping hands in the hot spring, became clear. The intention in their eyes was obvious.

“We’ll wait outside. Let us know when you’re done.”

Count Randy led Ralph and Grey outside the lobby and closed the door.

Normally, they would have exchanged pleasantries about being sorry since the Count and Ralph must be tired too, but today there was no more time for such courtesies.

When Serena took off her clothes, Olive cheered.

“Kyaa! Princess! You’re amazing!”

“You go out too.”p>

“Huh? Me?”

“Didn’t you say your taste includes everyone regardless of age or gender, except children?”

“I want to wash now too! I’ll cover my eyes!”

Since there was no energy to argue, they agreed on covering eyes.

Olive first washed her face and covered her eyes with cloth.

Then she quickly threw off her clothes and immediately entered the hot spring.

“What are you doing! Lady Serena hasn’t even entered yet and you’re dirtying the water!”

“It’s okay~ It’s okay~”

Olive deliberately lifted her feet, which would be the dirtiest, and rubbed them in the water.

Philia was about to faint when she tilted her head.

“Oh my?”

“The water got dirty but then became clean again?”

“I’ve been in hot springs in other labyrinths too. Usually there’s no time to bathe, so we just scoop water and wash our faces, but once our whole party was covered in blood and we needed to get rid of the smell. So I dipped my arm in and it became clean, you know?”

“We don’t need to change the water, and we don’t need to clean the floor and walls either! It’s a dream hot spring!”

No need to maintain it and the water stays clean continuously. It was literally a hot spring that reflected human desires.

Serena’s hands were trembling so much that Philia and Lavenda helped her take off the rest of her clothes and shoes.

Lavenda stopped undressing Serena because she looked dangerous.

“Princess, wouldn’t it be dangerous to bathe like this? Sometimes people collapse after going straight into hot springs without rest after mountain climbing, which is quite dangerous.”

“I’m going to wash. I’ll wash even if I die.”

Moving the body vigorously and entering hot water is dangerous.

Such health knowledge briefly crossed Serena’s mind, but who cares.

Serena had splurged on the hot spring, and she would soak her body in the hot water. She had decided.

‘If heat is the problem, I can just cool it down.’

The bucket was already occupied by rat meat, so pass. She made ice in another large bowl, but something was lacking.

Ice was precious in the labyrinth, but 18 years of growing up as a princess demanded greater luxury from Serena.

‘I was going to buy this because I needed it anyway!’

Serena opened her left eye and purchased a whopping 10-coin item.

An item that could only be bought after conquering the 4th or 5th layer if the 1st floor hadn’t been perfectly conquered!

“Come forth, fruit tree!”

Even when tired, showing off is important. At Serena’s cry, people who had been waiting for a new miracle cheered as a fruit tree appeared next to the bread tree.

From fruits that grow on trees like apples, pears, and oranges, to fruits that grow elsewhere like strawberries, melons, and watermelons.

A tree appeared in the lobby bearing all kinds of fruits that scholars defined as fruits and that people commonly think of as fruits.

The women remaining in the lobby couldn’t help but admire this amazing sight.

“There are watermelons hanging on the tree!”

“What? I want to see too!”

Olive tried to remove the cloth covering her eyes but was stopped by Ying.

Olive tried to escape from the archer’s grasp, gave up, and asked others.

“Don’t pick the watermelon until I see it! Even when I found fruit trees before, others had already picked all the watermelons so I never got to see them! My hometown village’s specialty is watermelon, you know? The watermelon is mine!”

‘The Princess received a fruit tree along with the hot spring from the Labyrinth God! The Labyrinth God must really favor the Princess!’

Lavenda was overwhelmed with awe and picked fruits with trembling hands. She mixed cut fruits with crushed ice to make fruit punch.

She made a separate portion for the Princess, who must be very tired.

After crushing the ice even finer, she squeezed lemon juice and added juice from sweet, juicy fruits.

‘Will it taste good?’

Was it okay to make fruit juice using the same sense she used for blending massage oils?

The big question that popped up like bamboo shoots after rain dissolved like sugar in water when she tasted the completed fruit juice.

‘It’s so delicious!’

After being trapped in the labyrinth for days eating dry bread, under-salted jerky, and picking grass closer to weeds than vegetables, drinking fruit juice was truly a revolution of taste.

‘Right, I shouldn’t use the word revolution.’

Anyway, fruit juice worthy of offering to the wonderful Princess who was favored by God was completed.

Lavenda carefully poured the fruit juice into the legacy Krom had left behind.

Meanwhile, Serena, in her primordial state, carefully entered the hot spring.

When her toes touched the hot spring water, a thrill ran up her body, and when she submerged up to her calves, her body already felt drowsy, and when she entered leaving only her head above water, there was nothing more to envy in the world.

To such Serena, Lavenda offered fruit juice with ice floating in it.

Though it was in a rough wooden bowl rather than a crystal glass, the taste was no less than the juice eaten in the royal palace. It tasted even better because she was tired.

‘Ahh~ This is life.’

Other people also cheered when they saw the fruit punch.

Philia was excited about eating cool fruit punch in the warm hot spring and tried to take off her clothes, but thought of her husband.

“Honey! What fruit do you like?”

“What happened inside?”

“Lady Serena received a fruit tree from the Labyrinth God, and it has all kinds of fruits!”

“We should offer thanks for the Labyrinth God’s grace. If there are apples, could I ask for one?”

“I’d like to eat a peach!”

“You received a fruit tree along with the hot spring? Aunt, are there grapes?”

Philia tried to pick the requested fruit but broke a branch. The color drained from the face of Huji’s greatest beauty.

“Oh, oh, what should I do, Lady Serena?”

“It’s fine, so leave the fruit picking to Lavenda.”

“Yes, Countess. I’ll handle it, so please help the Princess with her bath.”

Lavenda carefully picked the requested fruit, washed it at the fountain, placed it in a bowl, and passed it through the door gap.

Serena also had fruit punch made and sent that out as well.

The three men waiting outside cheered and praised the god and princess.

Lavenda, who had been busy handling various tasks, also undressed and entered the hot spring.

Huh, her mouth fell open involuntarily.

The hot spring was large enough for five people to sit with their legs together.

Even with additional people, the water didn’t overflow, the temperature remained constant, and it stayed clean without a single hair floating around.

As Lavenda had said, it was a fantastic hot spring that seemed like something out of a dream.

“Huuk.”

Philia suddenly showed tears. I thought it was because she was so happy.

“Bathing with Lady Serena was a privilege only I had among the maids, but huuk. With these strangers, huuk.”

It was a trivial reason.

Serena ignored Philia and drank the fruit juice.

It was sour yet sweet and refreshing, sharpening her mind, and she could vividly feel the flow from her lips to tongue, down her esophagus to her stomach.

At the same time, soaking her body in the warm water was nothing short of paradise.

The phantom pain accumulated from repeated falls and the muscle aches from climbing stairs felt like they were dissolving in water like sugar or salt.

How happy would it be if she could melt into the water and die as if falling asleep?

Serena curled up and deliberately submerged her face in the water, then realized.

‘Even if I die, I’ll just go back.’

Not even to yesterday. To several days ago.

Serena straightened her back and sat upright.

Philia, who had been preparing to shake her master awake, instead scrubbed the Princess’s body with a water-soaked cloth.

“My goodness, look at your cracked elbows. Your hair is so damaged too.”

“I have oil infused with medicinal herbs prepared. I’ll apply it after the bath.”

Olive hummed while eating fruit punch by touch alone, invisible to the eye.

“Wow~ to enjoy such luxury in the Labyrinth. The god wouldn’t have given this just out of pity, it must be because the Princess worked hard for it.”

When Serena overcame the trial of conquering the Labyrinth, the Minotaur God bestowed rewards. Olive seemed to be gradually understanding the pattern of miracles the Princess showed.

“How about it, shall we climb the stairs one more time?”

“Kill me.”

“Haha. Was it that hard? The 3rd Layer was quite vast~”

Olive stretched. Her entire body was covered with scars large and small. Some were so large it was miraculous she hadn’t died from them.

In contrast to Olive, Ying’s plaster-white skin didn’t have a single scar that people commonly get from mosquito bites.

The skin of an adventurer who had wandered the Labyrinth for a long time was cleaner than that of the Princess or the noblewoman Philia.

‘She didn’t unwrap the bandages?’

The black bandages wrapped around Ying’s left hand extended up to near her shoulder.

“Is it okay for the bandages to get wet?”

Ying silently lifted her left hand out of the water. Whether magically treated, the bandages were fluffy and dry without any sign of being wet.

“Why do you keep bandages wrapped? Are you cursed?”

“I sealed a monster that blasphemed against god.”

“Ah! That kind of setting!”

Olive quickly changed the subject.

“Being washed like this makes my head feel clear~ That’s why I realized something.”

Olive set up the topic but no one responded.

The guide, who had been stirring her spoon in circles waiting for a reaction, gave up and spoke herself.

“The inn where Zero and I stayed was one of the expensive ones in Hujihen. And the place where the Princess was is District 7 or something like that. The Imperial Embassy where the kid was would naturally be near the city center. That alone covers a considerable area, and on top of that, there’s the Prince and Duke Oren.”

‘What was bound to come has come.’

Anyone perceptive would have noticed this issue long ago. If Olive had been a Hujihen citizen rather than a foreigner, she would have immediately grasped the severity of the situation upon hearing Count Randy’s story.

“Where were the Prince and Duke Oren before falling into the Labyrinth? Naturally the Royal Palace, right? Then more than half the city, including the Royal Palace, was swallowed by the Labyrinth~”

“S-surely not.”

“Whether the country falls or not isn’t my concern, but I’m curious if the Princess can pay the employment fees for Zero and me? Especially Zero agreed to be paid later without receiving any advance payment, so it would be too sad if she couldn’t get a single coin~”

‘Making excuses about others.’

Would she really have brought this up just for money? In the end, it’s a power struggle.

It was an intention to reduce the speaking rights that Serena, who was merely weak within the Labyrinth aside from being royalty, possessed.

It would have worked on Serena when she had her left eye, but it was a petty and obvious trick that wouldn’t work on Serena without her left eye.

Someone who received gifts from god including bread and fruit, firewood that burned continuously without fuel, and even a hot spring?

Even if Serena had been a foreign commoner like Lavenda, she would have been treated like a princess.

“So? Are you saying you want to end the employment contract?”

“That’s not it~ I’m saying if you have nowhere to go after leaving here, let’s conquer a Labyrinth together~”

“How rude! Even if Huji falls, Lady Serena will go to the Empire with me!”

“Oh my, Countess. Shouldn’t you be saying that Huji will be fine there…”

“Don’t worry, Lady Serena. Mark is wealthy even in the Empire. He has a palace similar in size to the Royal Palace on his territory, so live there with me. I’ll make sure you live in luxury.”

“As you heard, I’ll compensate you even if I have to borrow money from Countess Randy, so don’t be disappointed.”

“How can you say such hurtful things! My money is your money, Lady Serena!”

Philia’s whining voice faded distantly.

Serena could no longer endure and fell asleep as if fainting.

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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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