Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth - Chapter 86

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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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86. 4th Layer of Heuji’s Labyrinth Strategy (2)

Startled, Serena missed her step and fell on the stairs.

Fortunately, Ralph, who was descending the stairs ahead, caught Serena, preventing the disaster of tumbling down the stairs.

“Princess! Are you alright?”

“I told you to be careful when walking on stairs! Yo!”

“Lady Serena, are you badly hurt?”

Ralph carried Serena down the stairs completely.

Being reincarnated as a princess and carried in a princess carry pose was a new experience as a reincarnated one.

As soon as the stairs ended, Ralph carefully sat Serena on the ground. Count Randy rushed over to check the princess’s condition.

“Just a slight ankle sprain. Nothing serious.”

The married man who couldn’t touch another woman’s ankle handed a low-grade potion to Ying and asked for treatment.

Since potion treatment was faster than bandaging, Serena readily agreed.

Ying gently applied the potion to Serena’s sprained ankle.

Watching Ying’s fingers brush past the affected area, Serena compared it to the touch of fingers that had touched her throat.

‘This person… seems like they can use healing magic too…’

Back then, Ying had treated Serena’s throat with healing magic. Serena was certain.

‘Hiding a lot of things.’

Ying disguises as an ordinary follower of darkness and tries to hide their identity as a priest of darkness.

‘Was surviving alone during the spider poison incident also because they only used healing magic on themselves?’

From Serena’s perspective, Ying had the nature to quietly save even strangers if they were in danger before their eyes.

Would such a person hide their power until party members they explored the labyrinth with died, not even strangers?

‘It’s obviously a religious issue, but it’s unsettling.’

Serena wiggled her ankle to confirm it was perfectly healed and put on her boots.

“Be care! ful when going down stairs!”

“Wasn’t it because you did something wrong that I was startled?”

“Me? I did wrong? Yo?”

Olive widened her already round eyes even more and pointed at herself.

Since she seemed unaware of her sin, Serena felt slightly annoyed.

“I mean saying it’s easy! Isn’t that taboo in the labyrinth?”

“Ah, that. That’s why I added Princess to it. Yo.”

“Me?”

Olive twisted her curly hair around her finger.

“If I just said it’s easy, of course bad luck would stick. But I added the condition that it’s easy thanks to Princess, right? Then it’s fine! Yo!”

“Because you used me as a prerequisite, it’s okay to say such things?”

“Yes! Because Princess is the apostle of the Minotaur God. Saying labyrinth strategy is easy because the Minotaur God’s apostle is in the labyrinth? That’s perfectly natural! Yo!”

Hearing it, it sounded plausible. It was as logical as stories of receiving divine punishment for carelessly touching Minotaur God statues in labyrinths.

“Ah~ Really, how will I conquer other labyrinths when I part with Princess~ I’ve become unable to enter labyrinths without Princess, won’t you take responsibility~ If I conquer just one more besides this one, I think I could retire without regrets~”

Olive tempted her again to conquer the Wilderness Labyrinth. Serena flatly refused.

“Don’t even dream of it.”

“Tch. I won’t give up.”

Since the princess chose directions by intuition at every crossroads, the party quickly arrived at the Leader’s Chamber.

When Ralph bravely faced off against the Goblin Champion and won, Olive chewed jerky while admiring.

“Wow~ As expected, it’s comfortable when Princess receives revelations.”

‘Of course it’s comfortable for you.’

They say a swan floating gracefully on water is paddling hard beneath the surface.

Behind this easy strategy, Serena’s deaths were hidden.

“Phew.”

Ralph, having finished the battle, drank water. The princess dropped a hint in a monologue to the knight who was about to open the treasure chest as the victor’s right.

“I want to eat chocolate.”

The innocent young boy didn’t ignore the princess’s wish.

When Ralph opened the chest, a box of chocolate came out as a reward.

Perhaps because chocolate was more expensive than candy, the quantity was small.

There were only ten pieces in one box.

“If we carry this around, it’ll all melt, so let’s eat it among ourselves. Yo.”

“Olive. This chocolate belongs to Sir Ralph. Don’t steal and eat it.”

“Aw~ Our knight is kind, so he’ll say let’s share.”

“Don’t force him either.”

“Please take one each!”

Ralph held out the chocolate box, and everyone took one and put it in their mouth.

Unlike candy, the weighty and rich sweet taste captivated everyone’s palate.

“Ah, delicious. Count, why are you biting it? Yo? Are you eating elegantly because you’re a noble?”

“I’ll give half to my wife.”

“They say even a bean is shared, but isn’t that a bit vulgar? Yo?”

“I’ll share with the Countess, young master, and Miss Lavenda too, so please eat all of yours.”

Five people ate one chocolate each from ten pieces, and saving portions for the three remaining members left two. Ralph decided to save the remaining two for himself.

That’s certainly what should have happened, but after finishing lunch, Ralph secretly gave Serena one chocolate away from others. When Serena widened her one eye, Ralph said.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to eat chocolate?”

“I already ate one, so it’s fine. They’re all yours, so don’t let Olive steal them and eat them yourself.”

“I’ll eat one myself. I’m only giving this to Princess, so it’s a secret from others.”

Ralph put one of the two remaining chocolates in his mouth and gave the remaining one to Serena.

The Young Knight left the princess’s side, afraid the secret would be discovered.

‘How kind.’

Though they were the same age, there was a world of difference between him and what Serena’s Sibling did.

Serena put the chocolate in her mouth to maintain the secret.

Chocolate melted faster than candy, but the lingering aftertaste lasted much longer.

‘This time will go well.’

Serena activated positive thinking for the first time in a while, using the chocolate’s sweetness and caffeine as nourishment.

***

The Floor Boss of the 13th floor was identical to Serena’s memory.

Ralph had a long battle with the Goblin Champion riding a Labyrinth Chicken before winning.

“Hup!”

Ralph performed a ceremony swinging the Goblin Champion’s greatsword.

Olive and Count Randy applauded for the victorious knight.

‘Come to think of it, I never opened the treasure chest here.’

The 13th Floor Commander’s Room had no treasure chest.

‘There’s no way there really isn’t one, there must be some hidden space somewhere.’

Since she needed to save Ralph and had no time to find hidden treasure chests, she passed the 13th floor without opening any treasure chest.

It happened to be time for dinner.

‘I can rest while looking for the treasure chest.’

Serena repeatedly opened and closed her aching right eye slowly.

Her eye was tired from traveling bright paths all day without rest.

“Let’s rest now and finish conquering the 14th and 15th floors tomorrow.”

“Yes! Good! Then I’ll look for the treasure chest! There’s definitely one somewhere, but it’s suspicious that I can’t see it! Anyone want to come with me! First come, first served, one person!”

“A secret space?”

The Young Knight who liked secret passages perked up his ears upon hearing the guide’s words.

Count Randy generously sent the knight.

“Ying and I will prepare the meal, so Sir Ralph, please help Olive.”

“Thank you! I’ll be back!”

“I’ll help too.”

“No. Please rest with a handkerchief covering your eyes, Lady Serena.”

The strange light of the Labyrinth wouldn’t allow shade even when pulling down a hood.

Only by wrapping a handkerchief several layers thick could she barely block the light penetrating through her eyelids.

Serena wrapped her eyes with the handkerchief and pressed firmly on acupressure points said to be good for eye health.

Having only one eye, she feared losing her sight even from the slightest eye pain.

‘Do I not need to clean the prosthetic eye in my left eye? I think I heard this also needs proper care.’

Though she had never felt any foreign sensation or discomfort, she worried needlessly.

‘Since it’s a void created by offering to a deity, it must have been filled well without aftereffects, right?’

Serena checked the number of coins she currently had with her left eye.

Serena currently had 9 gacha coins, 10 shop coins, and 1 limited coin.

‘I got confirmation that perfectly cleared layers are fine with more people, so it should be okay to summon some.’

In Serena’s opinion, their combat power was sufficient, so she wanted to fill non-combat personnel.

‘Lavenda needs companions.’

Living in a foreign land was lonely enough, but a foreign massage therapist trapped in a Labyrinth especially needed friends or colleagues.

‘Preferably someone from Vieta, but any Vietan currently in Heuji City would be from the delegation or nobles and wealthy people who traveled with the delegation.’

Summoning such a person would only give commoner Lavenda more masters to serve.

‘There are tons of things I want to experiment with too.’

Serena had only summoned people on the 1st Floor so far. What would happen if she summoned someone on a different floor?

And what would happen if she purchased something from the shop then regressed to before the purchase?

The Deity of Darkness’s blessing that Ying had bestowed remained even after death.

She could hypothesize that divine blessings remain even through regression.

What would happen if she learned magic then regressed to before learning it?

The latter two experiments were too risky to attempt for fear of incurring divine wrath, but the first experiment could be tried anytime.

‘Next time, should I try summoning on the 2nd Floor?’

“This can’t be right!”

While Serena was seriously contemplating, Olive’s flustered voice interrupted the Princess’s thoughts.

“This just can’t be right!”

“What’s wrong?”

“I can’t see any secret spaces! Yo!”

‘What’s this about.’

Serena turned her head without hiding her indifferent expression.

Then Olive raised her voice as if telling her not to ignore this.

“In my experience, there absolutely must be a secret space with a treasure chest here! But no matter how much I search, there’s nothing! Yo!”

“Are you sure you searched properly?”

“Of course. Yo.”

“You didn’t miss any spots because it’s too bright and dazzling?”

“I went around tapping everything! Yo! I’m someone who even taps stone bridges before crossing! Yo!”

Then there’s only one answer.

“Then there just isn’t one.”

“That can’t be right!”

Olive reached out and pulled Serena over.

Inside the Sealed Door to the Leader’s Room, where not even an ant could be seen despite scraping with a carving knife. But when the Princess entered? A teleportation magic circle appeared!

Then it was too early to give up saying there was nothing. Since the Princess beloved by the deity might see something different when she looked around!

The guide pulled Serena in with this logic.

“Miss Olive. The Princess is tired, so let her rest…”

“Please don’t disturb the Princess’s rest.”

“It’s not work, just asking her to look around for anything strange! Yo!”

Serena couldn’t resist Olive’s persistence and got up. Even looking around with narrowed eyes, she couldn’t see anything special.

“There’s nothing.”

“Don’t say that! Isn’t there an arrow that only the Princess can see or something like that? Yo?”

“No.”

“Strange. In my experience, there should be something here.”

“Lady Serena, please have your meal.”

Even while Serena and Ralph were having dinner, Olive couldn’t give up and kept tapping the walls, floor, and ceiling.

“Strange. Zero, don’t you think there should be something here too? Huh?”

Ying nodded while chewing dried bread like rebar.

Serena blinked while dissolving the dried bread in her saliva.

‘If Ying agrees too, there really should be something here. Why can’t Olive find it?’

If this were a game, either the sequence was mixed up or there was no quest item so no interaction was occurring.

‘There’s no sequence issue, so quest item?’

The only quest item on the 4th Layer was the magic lantern.

At least that was all Serena had discovered.

Serena lit the magic lantern just in case and shone it on the wall.

Nothing happened as the Labyrinth’s light was stronger than the light from the lantern.

Since she had tried it anyway, she walked slowly as if taking one lap around, when Olive pointed and shouted.

“Over there!”

Serena looked in the direction Olive’s finger was pointing. In a place where there had been no shadows, a door-shaped shadow had appeared.

“Found it!”

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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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