STML 20

If an escort knight left the person he was assigned to protect and then returned, the proper thing to do was to report first.

However, Sir Lucas did not do that.

“What’s inside the cart?”

“The things she sells, sir. Toys for children and decorations and…”

“Other than those?”

“Just a few things for sleeping outside, sir.”

“Take out anything useful. If the others have useful items or food, take all of them out as well.”

‘Oh, look at this guy.’

Serena was surprised when she saw Sir Lucas casually taking people’s belongings.

Actually, every time Chrome took something out of her cart, Serena had wanted to tell her to take everything out and show what was inside.

‘But I was afraid I’d get stabbed with a wooden spear.’

Was this the difference between someone confident in their own strength during an emergency and someone who wasn’t?

The right to private property, which Serena had respected, was being violated without hesitation by Sir Lucas.

‘But isn’t this a bit too much?’

Regardless, Sir Lucas’s attitude continued to irritate Serena. Especially the way he treated Chrome.

Lavenda was a foreigner, so being cautious around her was understandable.

Ralph was a soldier, so treating him like a subordinate was also somewhat expected.

But Chrome was just an ordinary commoner.

She was even the oldest person among them and one of the weakest, meaning she should have been treated with consideration.

Serena herself couldn’t protect her because she had no power.

But Sir Lucas could, couldn’t he?

Yet Sir Lucas treated Chrome far too harshly.

‘Tsk. Is this what a medieval fantasy world is like? I don’t know if this is normal or excessive.’

The royal family was already small in number.

And among them, Serena was the only woman.

Serena had grown up being doted on by even the highest nobles.

Even nobles who looked down on her because of her parents still treated her as someone who needed protection.

She had truly been a flower grown inside a greenhouse, so she had never even heard rumors about what the outside world was really like.

The common sense she had came mostly from her previous life.

After becoming an adult, she had traveled around freely, but she still lacked social experience.

She understood noble society and knew a little about commoners’ lives.

But she didn’t know how nobles actually treated commoners.

‘In novels, I’ve seen knights casually taking people’s belongings, but was it really like this? Still, shouldn’t they show respect to the elderly? Chrome is such a capable old lady.’

Because Chrome treasured her cart so much, Serena expected her to complain quietly, even if only behind Sir Lucas’s back.

But unlike when Serena herself was involved, Chrome simply bent her stiff back and obeyed without saying a word.

“Oh, well, if that’s what Sir Knight says, I suppose I should do it.”

‘So she has a bit of a sly side.’

Perhaps it was the wisdom she had gained from living for fifty years.

Sir Lucas overturned Chrome’s cart and took all the food.

The candy Ralph’s sister-in-law had packed for him because she told him not to eat too much.

The notebook Lavenda had before she even had time to hide her customer information.

“What is this?”

“Ah! That’s aroma incense! It’s a high-quality product used by noble customers! There’s even an ingredient list!”

‘Oh, so that was it.’

Serena finally understood the identity of the sweet, familiar scent she had smelled when she woke from that strange dream.

The package of aroma incense said “2 hours.”

Meaning one stick burned for two hours.

‘So they planned to take turns keeping watch every two hours while burning those.’

But what was the point?

Everyone had fallen asleep anyway.

Sir Lucas apparently considered the incense useful and took it.

Then something happened while checking Ralph’s equipment.

“Soldier. Where are your shield and dagger?”

“I will correct this mistake!”

“A soldier’s duty is to maintain his equipment! I’ll ask again. Where are your shield and dagger? Signal flares and whistles are also standard equipment, are they not?”

‘Oh, Ralph.’

If he had simply said he dropped them because of the earthquake, that would have been a reasonable excuse.

But Ralph repeated the exact excuse he had given Serena.

“I apologize! Without a break! Day and night! I was on duty! And I left them at home!”

BAM!

“Do you call that an excuse?!”

Serena’s one remaining eye widened.

Sir Lucas had hit Ralph.

Without even removing his gauntlet!

Ralph staggered but immediately returned to attention.

Blood stained the corner of his mouth.

“I apologize!”

Right now, Ralph probably had only one thought.

He couldn’t let them find out.

If they discovered the truth, the Hanson brothers would be executed the moment they returned outside, and the entire District Seven Guard would receive punishment.

Because of that, Ralph didn’t make excuses anymore.

He only repeated:

“I apologize.”

“You are a proud guard of Huji! Now that you have been assigned to serve royalty, keep your mind straight!”

“Yes! Understood!”

‘The royal you’re talking about is standing right here watching everything, you know?’

After finishing his disciplinary lecture, Sir Lucas approached the fountain where Serena and Philia were.

Serena deliberately stared at him.

Sir Lucas stopped a short distance away and bowed his head.

“I apologize for showing you such an unpleasant sight. However, given the situation, I had to teach those who did not understand the seriousness of the matter.”

“I understand. However, please refrain from using violence.”

“You may not know this, Lady Serena.”

‘Why does he always start sentences like that?’

“People like that do not listen immediately when spoken to. If it makes you uncomfortable, I will discipline them somewhere out of your sight.”

‘The mindset of medieval knights is really insane.’

‘Usually in novels, when knights appear, the protagonist treats commoners kindly with modern values, and the commoners are moved by it…’

But those protagonists were monsters who could catch bears with their bare hands.

For Serena, who would gladly become a bear’s dinner, that was impossible.

‘Let’s wait. Once he realizes this isn’t a mausoleum but a labyrinth, he’ll calm down. We need manpower right now.’

“What happened after you searched the mausoleum?”

“It will take some time. Please do not worry. Lady Serena, Countess Randy. I will definitely protect both of you.”

“Did you see anything strange?”

“What kind of thing?”

“A rat this large.”

Serena estimated the size of the labyrinth rats with her hands.

Sir Lucas looked startled.

“Could that rat have appeared here as well? Are you unharmed?”

“A rat? A rat came here, Lady Serena?”

“I only saw it running away over there. Anyway, did you see a rat of this size?”

“Yes. I apologize for saying this, but…”

Sir Lucas looked troubled.

Thinking this place was a mausoleum, it would indeed be difficult to tell the descendant of the person buried there that rats were running around inside.

“Several rats of the size you described are wandering around. Fortunately, the inside of the mausoleum itself is clean. It seems the earthquake connected it with a nearby rat nest.”

“Did you see anything else?”

Like treasure chests or fields of herbs.

“I discovered several traps, but nothing else.”

Unfortunately, Sir Lucas had only found labyrinth rats and traps.

If he had found a treasure chest, it would have been much easier to convince him this was a labyrinth.

“I know you must be anxious, but please trust me and wait.”

Sir Lucas then handed Serena and Philia one piece of candy each.

The candy he had taken from Ralph.

‘What am I, a crying child?’

‘If you’re going to give it, just give all of it. One piece each? Are you kidding?’

Serena didn’t eat it.

Instead, she placed it inside Philia’s pocket.

Fortunately, they were individually wrapped.

As time passed, the lobby gradually grew darker.

Night had arrived.

“It’s gotten a little dim, hasn’t it?”

“It became dark.”

The people who didn’t know the lobby’s lights changed according to day and night were confused.

Sir Lucas hurriedly ordered them to make a fire.

To prevent wasting firewood, Serena created light with magic.

“I can make light, so don’t worry. Also, drink this instead of the fountain water.”

Serena ordered Chrome to put ice into a pot.

“You know how to use magic?”

Sir Lucas’s eyes showed interest.

Serena hadn’t said anything, but Philia stepped forward proudly.

“Ahem. Didn’t you know? Lady Serena was famous among the royal court mages as a genius of magic. Everyone said that if she seriously pursued the path of magic, she would achieve greatness. If she hadn’t lost interest in magic, she would have become a grand mage as famous as the Empire’s greatest mage.”

“Countess Randy is exaggerating. I only know two spells. Creating a light orb and creating ice.”

“Excuse me? The light orb aside, creating ice is a third-tier spell, isn’t it?”

“If magic isn’t used often, one’s skill becomes rusty. After learning ice magic, I simply had no reason to use anything else.”

“To reach the third tier at your age… Amazing.”

“Do not be impressed by something so minor. Lady Serena can even—”

Actually, Serena had learned it when she was much younger.

Serena poked Philia in the side before she could reveal more information while bragging about her master.

A rule Philia had memorized when becoming Serena’s maid:

When the master pokes your side, stop talking.

Philia immediately changed her words.

“…Ahem. She uses it very well.”

Just like last time, Chrome broke her carvings and toys to make firewood.

This time, however, she received no gold coins.

Since Sir Lucas had not brought back the rat corpses, the only food they had was the little dried food and grains Chrome carried, and Ralph’s dried meat snack.

Chrome worried over the lack of ingredients, then put everything into a pot and boiled it.

She intended to increase the amount by making it softer and more watery.

The resulting oatmeal porridge was only given to Serena, Philia, and Sir Lucas.

Chrome, who made the porridge, Lavenda, who helped beside her, and Ralph, who stood guard, received nothing.

‘Only us eat?’

‘How can anyone swallow food like this?’

Serena stirred the watery porridge with the wooden spoon Chrome had carved.

“It may be difficult for you to eat, Lady Serena, but there is no choice. Please endure it for now.”

Perhaps misunderstanding Serena’s displeased expression, Sir Lucas spoke.

He had completely misunderstood.

Or perhaps he simply saw Serena as that type of person.

“Are they fine without eating?”

“They ate dried food while searching the mausoleum with me.”

“Is that so? That is a relief. But Lavenda stayed here with me and hasn’t eaten anything.”

“I’m fine!”

Lavenda, hearing her name, quickly waved her hands.

Her expression looked desperate, so Serena didn’t continue the topic.

“Sir Lucas. About the mausoleum…”

“Yes, Lady Serena. Although it has become dark here, the inside remains bright, so after resting a little, I plan to search again.”

“As far as I know, there are mausoleums where the lighting is connected to the sun’s position. This place seems to work the same way, so it should be night now.”

Sir Lucas calculated the time for a moment.

Unfortunately, this man also had no watch.

Serena opened only her left eye, wondering if there was a clock in the shop or gacha window.

There wasn’t.

‘How stingy. They couldn’t even add a clock?’

After roughly calculating the time, Sir Lucas answered.

“The timing matches. Just as you said, Lady Serena.”

“Everyone must be shocked and tired. It would be better to rest and move tomorrow morning.”

“Yes. Since you must be tired, Lady Serena, we will do that.”

“Also, if this is truly a mausoleum, there is a high chance there will be a communication orb in the burial chamber. Even if there is not one, Countess Randy has a communication orb, so we should be able to use it once we reach the chamber.”

“That’s right! There was a communication orb!”

Because she had been worried about Serena’s strange behavior, Philia had completely forgotten about it.

She quickly took out the communication orb.

But as expected, it did not work.

Serena explained that, like before, communication was blocked inside the mausoleum except for the burial chamber.

“Can we get out?”

The eyes of the hungry and exhausted people brightened.

The hope of leaving gave them strength.

Sir Lucas also looked relieved.

He reached his hand toward Philia.

“Please give me the communication orb. I will find the burial chamber and contact the outside.”

“This belongs only to Countess Randy. Others cannot use it.”

Serena blocked Philia and lied.

Actually, others could use it.

But why should she tell them?

As long as Philia stayed silent, no one would know.

And Philia would never betray Serena.

“That’s right. This is only for my husband and me. No one else can use it.”

Philia naturally supported Serena’s lie.

She might lack common sense sometimes, but when it came to lies that benefited herself and her master, she was surprisingly skilled.

“I see… Then as soon as I find the burial chamber, I will guide Countess Randy there.”

“Instead, let us all move together starting tomorrow. I thought about it while waiting here, and if this is a mausoleum, wouldn’t I know it better than anyone?”

“That is impossible. It is too dangerous.”

“You can protect me.”

“If I had other companions, perhaps. But I cannot do it alone.”

Sir Lucas spoke firmly.

Then his eyes moved slightly as he carefully asked:

“Lady Serena. Your behavior is very different from usual. Are you hiding something from me?”

“Is this your first time escorting me?”

“Even so, I have heard and seen things.”

Sir Lucas pointed out Serena’s change in attitude.

Perhaps it seemed strange that a princess who loved playing around and ordering others to do things was suddenly volunteering to act herself.

“Are you perhaps seeing things that aren’t there or hearing voices?”

“No.”

Because he thought she was acting strangely, the first thing he suspected was illness.

Sir Lucas narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

To avoid wasting more time, Serena asked directly.

“Do you know about labyrinths?”

“Labyrinths? I do not know much. I have heard they are dangerous dungeons. However, the rewards are said to be equally great… Lady Serena. Could it be?”

“That is correct. I suspect this place is not a mausoleum, but a labyrinth.”

A princess had presented a possibility.

In a class-based society, the proper response was to praise the princess’s words first, whether one agreed or disagreed.

Opposition should come afterward.

But Sir Lucas did not do that.

“That is not possible.”

He started with rejection.

If he had stopped there, Serena could have understood.

But then he added:

“You may not know this, Lady Serena, but labyrinths are not common places. This is definitely a mausoleum.”

‘This guy. Every time I say something, he opposes it.’

‘Is he on Richard’s side or something?’

Of all the knights she could have ended up with, she somehow got someone from Grand Duke Oren’s faction.

Serena began thinking about how she could join the labyrinth exploration.