Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 74

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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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74. The Sealed Door of the 2nd Layer

The guide shouted excitedly.

“We found the sealed door!”

The knight’s excited voice followed.

“It’s time for the princess to step forward!”

The alchemist tried to calm the excited duo.

“How many times must I say this? There’s no guarantee it will open just because Serena goes there.”

“No way, what does the count know? The princess will open the sealed door with a snap! Yo!”

“That’s right! Serena is the apostle of the Labyrinth God! She can open all the doors in the labyrinth!”

‘Did these guys eat some laughing mushrooms somewhere?’

Right after consuming laughing mushrooms, her father would get excited and elated like them, spouting thoughtless words.

Sending the excited father back to his bedroom, comforting her sibling who was deceived by false promises of playing tomorrow – all of it fell to Serena.

Fortunately, Olive and Ralph were easier to deal with than her father and sibling.

“What I desire is a bowl of cool water!”

Water materialized from thin air and fell onto Ralph and Olive’s heads.

They could have dodged it, but out of courtesy to the princess, the two who got drenched calmed down.

“Looking at the lobby’s brightness, is it past midnight? Sorry for being noisy while you were sleeping. Yo.”

“I must have gotten too excited. I apologize. I’ll report tomorrow.”

As the two withdrew, Count Randy announced he would report tomorrow.

Serena struggled to get up, then lay back down.

Olive tried to entice Ralph to bathe together but received a contemptuous look from Ying.

In the end, Olive entered the hot spring alone, and the princess fell asleep to the sound of his “Ah, so nice” and the splashing water as a lullaby.

***

After purchasing the hot spring, the princess’s mornings began refreshingly with a hot spring bath.

Though the soap quality was poor and disappointing in many ways, her skin’s luster and split hair seemed to improve slightly, so Serena was in a good mood.

Philia was also in good spirits, singing like a golden bead rolling on a jade tray while combing her master’s hair.

Olive, who had been watching them with dilated pupils like someone drunk without alcohol, suddenly snapped his fingers.

“When we leave the labyrinth, the 1st floor could be developed as a tourist destination like Vieta, right? If Vieta is for group tourism, this place could be expensive small-group tourism. Enjoying hot springs in the labyrinth while eating bread trees, fruit trees, and dishes made from labyrinth monster meat. For an extra fee, they could even pick bread and fruit directly from the trees. It would do better business than Vieta.”

“Gasp, that’s a bit…”

Lavenda, who loved her hometown, looked troubled.

“If that happens, I’ll entrust the overall management to Miss Lavenda.”

When Serena threw out a half-serious joke, a smile returned to Lavenda’s face.

Deciding to end the small talk there, Serena received the report from the party that explored the 2nd layer.

“We found a treasure chest on the 2nd floor and obtained rock salt. We found a good treasure chest on the 3rd floor and obtained iron, copper, and other ingots.”

“Gold would have been nice~”

“We can reinforce our equipment with this. If it’s not finished products, this is a much better harvest.”

Befitting a gold-rimmed treasure chest, it was said to be packed full of various metal ingots.

Count Randy was pleased that his worries about metal materials had lessened.

“And on the 4th floor~”

“We found the sealed door!”

This was the core of the 2nd layer exploration.

Olive touched the magic map to display the map of Heuji’s Labyrinth 2nd Floor 4th Layer.

“Wow~ The 2nd layer was wider than expected. Yo! The paths were complicated too! But who am I? Olive of the Winds of the Wilderness! Someone who started not from the bottom but from underground and climbed up here! I didn’t miss that there was a path behind this crack in the wall, and after going to the end, I discovered the sealed door! Applause!”

“Wow!”

Looking at the map, there was no way to tell how narrow the crack in the wall was.

Only the assault team that witnessed the crack gave sincere applause.

Serena also clapped for now, then asked.

“You seem confident that I can unlock the sealed door, but what will you do if I can’t open it?”

“If the princess can’t open it, Olive will be sad.”

“The princess will surely be able to open it!”

Ralph seemed to genuinely think so, and the guide who always sought new paths changed her words.

“It would be sad, but we’d have no choice but to give up and look for other conditions or keys.”

Olive pretended to wipe away tears while taking out the requested item and handing it to the client.

Grey checked and stored the item.

“Still, since it’s the 4th floor, we can take the teleportation magic circle to the 5th floor and just go up one more floor. Nice, so convenient. Labyrinth conquest with the princess is so easy and good!”

“Serena hasn’t fully recovered yet! Wait!”

“Let’s go.”

The princess’s mouth remained still, but the maid and the maid’s nephew spoke on their own.

Philia glared at her nephew disapprovingly. Grey organized his papers while speaking logically.

“Muscle pain heals faster when you move. You can walk now, so let’s go, Your Highness.”

“Go?”

“I’m going too.”

She could forgive his rudeness in pretending to teach Serena magic, but inviting danger was a separate matter.

Serena prepared her voice to scold the child.

“Grey. Didn’t you learn from being scolded for wandering around the 1st floor? From the 2nd floor onward, the layers change and it’s more dangerous.”

Grey looked directly into the princess’s eyes while pointing at the adults.

“You’ll protect me, right? And I’m suggesting we go together for magic lessons. I’ll manage and supervise from beside you so Your Highness can use magic while walking around.”

“The princess is one thing, but escorting the old man’s grandson is a bit…”

When Olive showed reluctance, Grey signaled to his uncle.

Count Randy took out gold coins from his wallet.

“Oh my, we’ll serve you gratefully.”

“Count. Are you planning to neglect your nephew who keeps getting involved in dangerous places?”

“Up to the 2nd layer should be fine.”

“Then I want to go too!”

The sealed door’s unlocking was supposedly such a great thing, but Philia always stayed in the lobby and couldn’t see her master’s activities.

“No.”

“Madam, that’s troublesome.”

Philia was about to argue with the two people she loved when Grey struck first.

“I’ll take you along when you can use magic.”

“Ugh.”

What could she do when she could feel mana but couldn’t use magic?

Philia’s lips protruded more and more. Count Randy changed the subject to appease his sulking wife.

“By the way, I heard the herb garden changed. What happened? I heard the madam checked it instead of Serena?”

“Yes, honey! The herb garden got a little bigger, and flowers bloomed!”

“I see. Whatever flowers bloomed, they couldn’t surpass the madam’s beauty.”

The Count Randy couple drifted off into their own world.

Lavenda supplemented the lacking explanation for the other companions.

“More edible plants appeared, and herbs increased too. There were carrots and cabbage too! So today’s breakfast menu is salad!”

Just weeds with only salt, no sauce.

Normally, even goats would protest that they’d starve to death eating this, but to taste buds that had been trapped in the labyrinth eating only bread, meat, and weeds, vegetables like carrots and cabbage tasted as sweet as if honey had been sprinkled on them.

“This is the first time carrots have been this delicious! I think I understand how horses feel!”

“I always ate pickled cabbage during conquests, but eating it raw is delicious~”

The fruit added instead of sauce provided a sweet and sour taste, breathing life into what could have been a tiresome meal.

“I brought spiders just in case, but they’re not needed. This will be tonight’s side dish!”

“Eek! Burn it quickly! Quickly!”

“But meat is important too. Since rats won’t come out much now, wouldn’t it be better to get used to spiders, Countess?”

“No! Since Serena is here, we can eat bats or condors! Quickly remove the spider!”

Olive had been teasing Philia with the giant labyrinth spider before hiding it behind her body.

Even so, her small frame meant the spider legs stuck out, only fueling imagination and fear.

“I think if we just open the sealed door, the 2nd layer will be perfectly conquered. The 3rd layer is too vast to conquer completely, so it’d be better to leave the bats and condors to feed on each other. Yo.”

“Hmm, since undead appear on the 4th layer, that would be better.”

After finishing their meal rich in vitamins and minerals, Count Randy departed with Lavenda to the herb garden to teach her about edible and medicinal plants.

Serena brushed her teeth generously with the now-abundant salt, then diligently stretched her leg muscles.

Walking on flat ground had recovered to an acceptable level, but just thinking about climbing stairs equivalent to three floors of an ordinary building made her thigh muscles tremble in anticipation.

***

“Since we cleared it yesterday, there shouldn’t be many monsters. Yo.”

As soon as they left the lobby with the guide’s words, magic lessons began.

“Light orb magic first. No, don’t stop – try to use it while walking, even if slowly. The trick is simple. Just like you don’t consciously think about breathing or swallowing, operate your mana at an unconscious level without forcing awareness of it.”

“Young master, now I’m breathing awkwardly because of you. How did I swallow saliva before?”

“I don’t know either. Am I blinking my eyes correctly like this?”

“Even my arm swinging has become weird!”

The lesson was briefly interrupted when they reached the teleportation magic circle.

Upon arriving at the 5th floor, the lesson resumed.

“Does our body consciously send blood throughout our entire body? No, right? You need to make mana circulate through your body like blood. 1st tier magic should be usable as naturally as breathing. Don’t stop just because you’re climbing some stairs – keep going!”

Despite being out of breath himself after climbing ten steps, his mouth never rested.

The number of light orbs Serena created with magic increased in the dark stairway.

Climbing stairs, casting magic, and Grey’s nagging.

Unable to endure this triple hardship, when Serena tried to pinch the cheeky child’s lips, the child fled up the stairs.

As Serena tried to chase after him, her calf cramped up.

“Ugh!”

“Princess! In times like this, if you bend it the opposite way like this, it’ll release quickly.”

“Argh!”

It did release quickly as Ralph said. It was just that the pain that would normally last during a cramp was compressed into a short period.

Serena and her party thus reached Heuji’s Labyrinth 2nd Floor, 4th Layer.

With Serena maintaining about ten light orbs, it was as bright as broad daylight.

As they headed toward where the sealed door was located, Grey looked around the labyrinth and shared his impressions.

“There are a lot of spider webs.”

“That’s why the request was hard to complete~ It’s only visible now because of the magic, but try looking with lantern light. You can’t see it~ If it weren’t for me, you would have missed it. Yo.”

“I’m glad I trusted Olive’s keen eye.”

“Skip the empty compliments and pay me with performance bonuses please.”

As the guide had said about clearing out monsters beforehand, the spiders that used to attack the party with cute chirping sounds were nowhere to be seen.

“This is exactly where the crack was! I discovered there was a path through a gap smaller than a hair strand!”

She was curious if it really was as thin as a hair strand, but since it had already been broken through to pass, there was no way to know how narrow it had been.

Serena and her party arrived at the sealed door without any monster battles.

To Serena’s eyes, it appeared to glow faintly, but it probably wouldn’t be visible to others.

“We’ve already tried touching it. Yo.”

“Wait a moment.”

“Would Gray Young Master like to try as well?”

Ralph kindly made way for him.

Grey gently placed his small hand on the sealed door. The door did not open.

“So it’s not about being a child.”

Now it was Serena’s turn.

Everyone’s gaze turned toward Serena.

She should have been used to being the center of attention by now, but strangely, it felt burdensome.

Even Grey, who had been constantly urging Serena to cast magic while moving, quietly waited for her to step forward.

‘What if I can’t open it either?’

Since the door was glowing faintly, this door would likely open easily too, but what if later there was a sealed door that wouldn’t open even for Serena?

Would they be disappointed? Would they get angry out of spite? On top of that, they might even harbor resentment.

People aren’t logical and are swayed by emotions.

She had to consider the possibility that instead of thinking the princess’s continued door-opening had been lucky, they might now get angry asking why she couldn’t open doors.

‘Why does my mind always turn to the negative side?’

Positive thinking! Serena repeated to herself to think good thoughts as she placed her hand on the door.

The sealed door pushed open lightly, and as the space that had been cut off by the door connected, humidity and cold air rushed out.

Croak.

The princess’s eyebrow twitched at the familiar sound.

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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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