Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 81

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

81. Falling Behind (3)

Olive found the stairs by combining all clues including monster spawn intervals, trap placements, and passage lengths.

The floor area was vast, so they inevitably wandered around, consuming about 2 hours by feel.

Floor Boss? A Goblin Champion riding a giant Labyrinth Chicken appeared, but Olive instantly slit its throat.

[You have defeated the Floor Boss. Shop 1 coins have been awarded.]

‘He shouldn’t have died in the meantime.’

Serena looked down at the stairs divided into darkness and light with mixed feelings.

“I hope Sir Ralph is on the next floor.”

“If he’s not, we’ll just find the stairs right away like this time. Trust me.”

“Your skill at finding stairs was truly amazing. You’re the best guide.”

Among the guides you can draw from the gacha, Olive would be the best.

Serena gave a mental thumbs up to the best guide.

The party carefully descended the stairs.

Serena tasted the lingering sweetness of candy in her mouth. It was somewhat unpleasant.

After sharing candy they were wiped out, and now a party member had fallen behind.

‘At this rate, I’m going to develop trauma about candy.’

Though her body was light without a bag, her heart was heavy, making her steps down the stairs unbearably heavy.

Heuji’s Labyrinth, 4th Layer, 14th Floor was dark. Serena attached a light orb each to Olive and Count Randy.

“Now, shall we check the map?”

Would Ralph really be on this floor!

Thump thump thump thump.

Serena’s heart beat rapidly like a drum.

Count Randy held the magic map to be certain. Count Randy carefully unfolded the magic map and cheered.

“Sir Ralph is on this floor!”

“Yes!”

“Thank goodness!”

“Hmph.”

A black dot showing Count Randy half-fallen into a trap. That dot was drawn on the same map showing the party’s current location. It meant they were on the same floor.

The party high-fived each other, sharing this good fortune together.

Olive took the magic map from the Count’s hands and gauged the distance and direction.

“Hmm~ Actually, looking at the map is useless!”

Olive’s lips twitched as if to say something, then quickly shut. She restrained herself from saying something like ‘we were lucky’ in case it would make their luck run out.

“I’ll take the lead for now, but it’s too dark so I might miss traps, so Zero and Princess, please double-check.”

“I’ll look carefully.”

It was pitch black darkness—no, it was darkness itself that couldn’t be compared to any other darkness, so the guide’s steps inevitably slowed.

Olive led with more concentration than when Serena mistook the labyrinth for a mausoleum and searched for traps.

“There’s a floor trap here.”

Usually when you find a trap, you disarm it so you don’t trigger it again. This time they decided to skip it since they needed to find Sir Ralph quickly and the environment was poor due to darkness.

“That side looks like a trap floor too.”

Even creating light orbs only illuminated five steps ahead. Beyond that was an unknown realm veiled by darkness.

Olive pointed out a trap five steps away, then heard the sound of bones hitting bricks and gave an additional warning.

“Undead, they all look like Goblin Skeletons. Five of them?”

“Five is correct.”

They were hidden around the corner and invisible until they came close.

Serena was about to cast magic when Olive waved her hand and stepped back.

“That’s also a pitfall trap if you step on it. Monsters can fall into traps too, so let’s watch.”

Clatter clatter. Five Goblin Skeletons with dark red glowing eyes, emanating ominous aura, stepped onto the floor with the trap.

One, two, all five stepped onto the trap floor, but the trap didn’t activate.

“Aw. What a waste.”

“It seems it doesn’t work on monsters.”

“I thought it would work since it’s a simple weight detection type. Or maybe their weight wasn’t enough?”

Olive regretfully smashed the Goblin Skeleton party that had crossed the trap with her axe.

It was a balanced party with three frontliners and two archers, but they were just mobs before adventurers roaming the labyrinth’s depths.

“Ugh, disgusting. This is why I hate undead.”

Having encountered the undead’s miasma, Olive shivered and scratched her goosebump-covered arms. Ying quietly picked up arrows the Goblin Skeleton archers had.

When Ying had collected about twenty arrows, the party arrived at the Boundary of Light and Darkness.

“Now we have a bright path!”

“Since Sir Ralph fell in a dark place, we’ll have to take a detour even though it’s close.”

“Still, I think the path was pretty good without getting twisted. If you’re really unlucky, invisible walls can block you. It looks like you could just run and jump over, but there’s a transparent wall in mid-air, so you have no choice but to go up and down repeatedly to get to the other side.”

Looking at the map, the party and the point where Sir Ralph fell were very close.

But since the party was currently under light, they’d probably have to take a slight detour to reach the darkness.

People carefully sharing opinions to save Sir Ralph. The sight of squeezing out wisdom and information to save another person was noble.

Though it was a party hastily formed because they were swallowed by the labyrinth, everyone’s sincere desire to save Sir Ralph could be felt.

Serena felt inexplicably pleased and put on a serious expression to avoid being caught smiling.

And this pleasure, seriousness, and nobility was.

“Kugh. Snore, wheeze.”

Shattered to pieces when they discovered Sir Ralph sleeping leisurely at the crash site.

“Ugh, I don’t want to wash diapers…”

A bright light bizarrely rivaling the darkness. Perhaps his sleep was disturbed by the excessive brightness, as Ralph frowned and muttered in his sleep.

‘Is this a hallucination?’

In a labyrinth, there could be traps or monsters that show hallucinations.

Serena first doubted and pinched the back of her hand. It hurt, and Ralph was still sprawled out sleeping.

“That’s the knight, right? Not a monster, right?”

“He looks like Sir Ralph to my eyes too.”

He looked like Ralph to the party members’ eyes too. Ralph seemed to want to avoid the light and covered his face with his bag.

Serena exchanged glances with the party, then put strength in her lower abdomen and loudly called the knight.

“Ralph Hanson!”

“Yes! Squire Ralph Hanson! Reveille complete!”

Ralph, who had been sprawled out sleeping, jumped up and stood at attention.

Though his body moved, he seemed not fully awake as his eyes were drowsy.

Ralph looked around with hazy eyes, then spotted Serena’s party and opened his mouth.

The young knight hurriedly pinched his own cheek. His mouth opened even wider.

“Princess! Everyone! You came to rescue me!”

Ralph looked perfectly healthy without a single injury. He had all three supply bags and his equipment was in good condition.

They expected a boy exhausted and haggard from fighting undead in darkness, but he was completely fine under the light.

“I never thought you’d come to rescue me so quickly! I’m really moved!”

Perhaps he had been scared being alone and fallen, as Ralph’s eyes welled up with tears.

The freckled boy seemed to want confirmation and took off his gauntlet, extending his hand. When Olive took it, he sniffled.

“Sniff! I was really, really scared.”

“You know you were lucky this time, right? From now on, absolutely no going ahead without the guide’s permission! For-bid-den!”

“Yes! I really did wrong.”

Ralph looked at each party member with tears welling in his eyes.

Ying silently patted the boy’s head and Count Randy patted his shoulder. Serena bestowed a handkerchief for him to wipe his tears and snot.

‘Oh my.’

She had much to say, but decided to hold back since he was alive with all limbs intact.

If time flowed similarly between the lobby and this floor, the lobby would already be late at night.

Having missed the time to rest while searching for Sir Ralph, the guide declared rest for now.

“Ugh~ I’m so tired.”

“You couldn’t even rest because of me. I’m really sorry. I’ll stand guard instead.”

“Sir Ralph also looks tired, so let’s rest together. You must have been tense the entire time.”

Would our upright young boy Ralph have slept because he was sleepy?

Isolated alone in the labyrinth, worrying about monsters, worrying about what to do if no one came to rescue him. Wouldn’t he have trembled, overwhelmed by all sorts of worries and anxieties, then succumbed to exhaustion and dozed off?

It was just unfortunate timing that the party arrived at that moment.

Among the party members, Ralph was the most exhausted person.

“Rest first. I’ll ask just one thing before you sleep.”

“Yes. I’ll answer to the best of my knowledge.”

“When you fell, this was the Path of Darkness. But now it’s the Path of Light. What happened? Does this place change over time like the lobby?”

Ralph smiled innocently, pleased that this was a question he could answer.

“It’s because of the crystal.”

“Crystal?”

“Yes! If you go this way, there is one.”

Ralph had started to get up again while spreading out his sleeping bag. Serena stopped the knight and instructed him to lie back down.

“I see. I’ll hear the details after we rest.”

Ralph fell fast asleep as soon as he got into his sleeping bag.

Perhaps relieved to have rejoined the party, he didn’t wake up even when Olive poked his cheeks repeatedly.

“A crystal~ I’m curious~”

“Let’s hear about it when Sir Ralph wakes up.”

“Should we at least check the location? Hm?”

Olive placed the magic map on sleeping Ralph’s face. Perhaps because he was unconscious, the paper only showed blank white.

“As expected, it doesn’t work~”

“Is this your first time trying it on a sleeping person?”

“I’ve tried it on dead people before. It was blank then too~”

The magic map seemed to only reflect information from conscious people.

Count Randy gestured to Serena.

“Lady Serena, please rest as well.”

“You must be tired too.”

“We can manage. We’ll take turns resting, so please sleep quickly.”

Serena took out a sleeping bag from the pack she had thrown to Ralph.

There were signs the bag had been opened, but nothing was missing. It seemed Ralph had rummaged through the bag looking for useful items.

She spread out the sleeping bag and got inside. The light was so bright that even with her eyes closed, light penetrated through her eyelids.

It seemed impossible to sleep, but perhaps due to her exhausted body and relief at finding Ralph immediately, the Princess fell asleep quickly.

***

“Lady Serena, please wake up and have a meal.”

Count Randy’s gentle voice woke Serena. She opened her eyes and then winced.

Her one precious eye felt gritty as if sand had gotten in, making it painful to keep open.

After massaging her eye and gently opening it, she saw that meal preparations were complete.

Serena alone had overslept.

“I could have helped prepare the meal. You should have woken me.”

“Princess was tired from the forced march~”

“Lady Serena’s safety is our top priority. You must preserve your strength.”

Breakfast was chicken stew made with chicken, dried bread, and vegetables. It tasted bland because they couldn’t cook it long and lacked spices.

“How about making delicious stew with chicken bones and other ingredients when we return to the lobby?”

“I agree.”

“I agree as well.”

“My wife would like that.”

“Just hearing about it makes my mouth water.”

Serena swallowed the bland stew while imagining the taste of the stew they would eat upon return.

“So. What happened after you fell into the trap?”

Now it was time to hear Ralph’s story. Ralph told them about what happened after he was left alone.

The ceiling closed up and the light orb the Princess had created also disappeared. Ralph was left alone in darkness.

He froze in terror, but as the candy in his mouth melted, the sweet taste of jam stimulated the boy’s survival instinct.

Ralph decided to be brave.

“I believed you would come to rescue me. I just had to endure until then. With that thought, I first turned on my lantern. It was better than nothing. But then.”

Ralph pressed the button on the lantern at his waist. Nothing happened under the bright light. Ralph wiggled his fingers sheepishly.

“I’ll show you this directly later. Anyway, having the lantern dispelled the fear of darkness.”

Having secured his vision, Ralph judged it better to wait at the fall point and leaned against the wall. Thus began an indefinite wait.

“Being alone in the darkness made my sense of time feel strange. Even when I counted to 100, I couldn’t tell how much time had passed, which was confusing. Then I sensed undead approaching.”

Just like those that attacked Serena’s party – three frontline fighters and two archers. It was a balanced Goblin Skeleton party. Ralph barely dodged an arrow that flew at his face in the darkness and attacked the frontline first.

Ralph steadily faced the monsters alone, but misfortune compounded. Additional monster groups approached.

Perhaps surrounded by undead, his morale and mental strength weakened. Ralph’s courage, left alone in the labyrinth, reached its limit.

Pressed into defense, Ralph fled. Though he knew the arrows flying from behind couldn’t pierce his armor, he was too frightened and wanted to run.

A new group of monsters blocked the fleeing knight’s path.

Ralph completely forgot the swordsmanship he could perform even in his sleep and swung his sword wildly.

His wildly swung sword struck not the undead but the wall. Since it wasn’t a brick wall but something else, the sound was very clear and resonant.

Clang-.

Startled by that sound, he regained his senses, but something even more surprising happened.

The darkness disappeared and light took over the world.

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