Chapter 12
Huji Labyrinth ā Floor 1 (Part 1)
Hanson offered the potion he had taken from the treasure chest to Serena.
The transparent glass bottle was about the size of her fist. It looked like it could heal small wounds about five times.
“Do you know anything about it?”
Serena showed the potion to Philia. She only let her look at it because she was afraid Philia might accidentally drop and break it.
“Judging by the colour, it’s a low-grade potion. The better the quality, the brighter and deeper the red colour becomes. This one is rather dark.”
‘Nothing special.’
Since Philia dealt with potions often, Serena had hoped she knew something more, but the answer was no different from what she already knew.
“Oh, right!”
Philia suddenly clapped her hands as if she had remembered something.
“You know something else?”
“When we get out of here, let’s take a potion bath together! We’ll fill an entire bathtub with high-grade potions!”
Everyone’s eyes immediately turned sharp.
To prevent a revolution over the precious potion, Serena quickly changed the subject.
“Since we’ll be fighting monsters, I should tell you now. My magic cannot be used in battle.”
“What? Really?”
Hanson looked the most shocked.
“I don’t know much about magic either! But… Your Highness’s ice magicāisn’t that basically Ice Arrow?”
“It is. Ice Creation is actually the same spell. If you shape the ice into arrows or spikes and launch them at an enemy, it becomes Ice Arrow.”
“Then why can’t you use it?”
“If you can’t launch it, couldn’t you just create ice around the rat and freeze it?” Chrome asked.
“To use magic in battle, you must move while chanting the spell and maintaining a clear mental image. Only combat mages with special training can do that. Casting magic accurately on moving targets is another difficult skill.”
“And to use Ice Creation as an offensive spell, I would need to know other supporting magic.”
“I never learned those.”
“I-I see…”
Hanson’s shoulders drooped in disappointment.
Although Chrome had been the most effective fighter so far, Hanson was still the group’s only trained soldier, and the burden clearly weighed on him.
‘He must have felt reassured knowing there was a mage with us. Now he’s disappointed that I can’t really help in battle.’
Whenever people faced something dangerous or difficult, they naturally expected a mage to solve everything with a wave of magic.
That didn’t happen in Serena’s previous world.
And it didn’t happen in this fantasy world either.
“I’ll help whenever I can,” Serena said.
“But don’t expect too much.”
Of course, she had no intention of standing around doing nothing.
She simply wanted everyone to stop expecting her to blast monsters apart with magic.
“I’ll work extra hard so Lady Serena won’t have to fight!”
Philia declared enthusiastically.
Serena had no idea what she planned to do, but Philia’s fighting spirit was burning brightly.
“Then let’s go find the Floor Boss.”
“Yes!”
“…By the way,” Chrome asked, “what exactly is a Floor Boss? You said you knew.”
“You know that some Labyrinths have multiple floors, don’t you?”
“Yep.”
“I’ve read that each floor usually contains one monster stronger than the ordinary ones.”
“It usually guards either the entrance to the next floor or a valuable treasure chest.”
“So that’s what’s called a Floor Boss?”
“Exactly.”
“Although… I’ve also read that not every floor necessarily has one.”
“That’s true,” Lavenda agreed.
“I’ve heard the same thing.”
Normally, defeating the Floor Boss meant clearing that floor.
“Then what’s an Area Boss?” Philia asked.
“Vieta’s Labyrinth only has one floor,” Lavenda explained.
“But other Labyrinths have many floors.”
She paused, trying to remember the guide’s explanation.
“Imagine Floors One through Four all look like these stone corridors and only contain Labyrinth Rats.”
“But then Floor Five suddenly becomes wooden corridors filled with completely different monsters.”
“That can happen?”
“That’s why they’re Labyrinths.”
“Floors with the same environment are grouped together into what’s called an Area.”
“And the strongest monster in that entire Area is called the Area Boss.”
The strongest monster on a single floor was the Floor Boss.
The strongest monster across several connected floors was the Area Boss.
“It must be very powerful,” Hanson muttered.
Adventurers considered an Area conquered after defeating its Area Boss.
“Vieta’s Labyrinth only has one floor in one Area.”
“So the Leader Labyrinth Rat defeated by the shepherd was both the Floor Boss and the Area Boss.”
Apparently, when Vieta had asked other Labyrinth nations for information about Area Bosses, everyone had simply laughed and said,
“You don’t need to know.”
‘I hope our boss is another Leader Labyrinth Rat.’
If one shepherd boy could defeat it alone, then their group should have no trouble.
“Wait a minute,” Chrome said.
“Let’s take that chest.”
“The empty treasure chest?”
“It’ll make good firewood.”
“Since treasure chests regenerate, it should be fine,” Lavenda said.
“But won’t it be heavy?”
“I’ll leave it by the fountain.”
“We’ll be passing by there anyway while hunting rats.”
Serena nodded.
If they failed to find the Floor Boss along every path at the second intersection, they would eventually have to return and search every path from the first one anyway.
“You don’t have to come with me,” Chrome said.
“I’ll take it there myself.”
“That’s too dangerous.”
“We’ll wait for you at the first intersection.”
“Alright.”
While waiting for Chrome, the group discussed which corridor to explore next.
They carefully examined each entrance, hoping for some kind of clue.
There was nothing.
“Since we have no clues,” Serena said, “let’s search the corridor where Lavenda originally came from.”
“It’s this way.”
Lavenda pointed toward the far-right passage.
Not long after entering the corridor, they heard the familiar sound of claws scraping across stone.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
As the sound grew closer, Hanson, Chrome, and Lavenda gripped their weapons.
“Prepare for battle!”
Just like before, three Labyrinth Rats appeared.
Hanson thrust his spear at one clinging to the ceiling.
The rat dodged the spear, released its grip on the ceiling, and leapt directly onto his head.
“Aaagh!”
The Labyrinth Rat clung to his face.
Hanson screamed, tore it off with both hands, and threw it onto the ground.
“You little pest!”
Once again, Chrome smashed its skull.
As soon as one rat died, the other two immediately retreated and fled.
The battle ended exactly the same way as before.
‘They haven’t learned a thing.’
If this had been a game, Hanson would have gained experience.
Instead, he made the exact same mistake, and the rats escaped again.
“You have to watch carefully before stabbing!” Chrome scolded.
“They’re too quick.”
“I told you to swing your spear, not just stab with it!”
“I was worried I’d hit everyone else…”
“Then avoid hitting them!”
“You’re supposed to be a soldier!”
“Y-Yes, ma’am! I’ll improve!”
Chrome had killed two rats.
Hanson had only finished off one.
He looked thoroughly intimidated.
“Don’t blame Hanson too much,” Serena said.
“I’ve heard Huji’s soldiers mainly train to fight people rather than monsters.”
“That’s true!”
“And I’m much better with a sword than a spear!”
“If you’re a soldier, shouldn’t you be good with both?”
“Are you really a soldier?”
“You didn’t bribe someone to get your job, did you?”
“N-No!”
Chrome tied another rat’s tail to her belt while muttering,
“One rat isn’t enough.”
“I hope more show up.”
As if her words had become reality, they encountered another group.
This time…
Five Labyrinth Rats.
“You little pests!”
“Get away! No, come here!”
“Hyaah!”
Small enemies with a low centre of gravity were surprisingly difficult to fight.
People assumed they would be easy because they were tiny.
In reality, their small size made them hard to hit.
And because they were so fast, they were even harder.
Sometimes it was better to wait for them to attack first and then counter.
“Hah!”
A Labyrinth Rat slipped past the front line and charged straight at Serena.
She kicked it.
Just like when she had kicked Lavenda before, she didn’t have much strength.
Fortunately, Hanson stomped on the fallen rat before it could recover.
“That’s it!” Chrome shouted.
“See? Your legs are more useful than your spear!”
“Yes!”
“I think I understand now!”
Hanson practically abandoned his spear and began fighting mostly with his feet.
His heavy iron military boots proved much more dangerous than the spear itself.
Having learned how to fight properly, Hanson aggressively attacked the rats.
After losing three of their companions and suffering injuries, the remaining Labyrinth Rats fled.
Chrome happily collected the bodies.
“Not bad.”
With so little food left, they should have been delighted to have more edible rat meat.
The fact that they weren’t very excited only meant one thing.
They still weren’t hungry enough.
‘Sigh… what a life.’
Serena looked helplessly up at the ceiling.
It remained nothing but solid stone.
The path where Lavenda had fallen had no intersections.
Before long, the group reached the end.
There was a small clearing.
Instead of stone flooring, the ground was covered with dirt and grass.
A small pool of water sat in one corner, surrounded by thick grass, making it resemble a natural spring.
If someone placed a single bench there and forgot they were inside a Labyrinth, it could almost pass for a peaceful park.
Chrome immediately stuck her hand into the water.
Serena nearly had a heart attack.
“I told you not to do that!”
“It looks clean.”
“There aren’t any fish.”
“Your sense of danger is terrible!”
“The fountain water was clean too.”
“That’s different!”
“Alright.”
“I’ll be more careful next time.”
Will she really?
Serena doubted it.
Chrome washed her hands before pushing aside the grass.
“Let’s see…”
“Anything edible growing here?”
“These are medicinal herbs,” Lavenda said.
“They’re good for reducing swelling and removing toxins when brewed into water.”
The moment she heard they were edible, Chrome pulled them up.
“Do we eat the roots or the leaves?”
“Both.”
Chrome searched for edible plants.
Lavenda searched for medicinal herbs.
Since each knew different things, they complemented one another well.
Serena tried to recognise some plants herself before giving up.
She barely knew any plants at all.
And she wasn’t even sure the ones she remembered from Earth existed here.
‘I know mugwort… but does this world even have mugwort?’
It certainly wasn’t growing here.
She had memorised the names of a few flowers after becoming a princess.
Then she’d quickly stopped.
Why bother remembering flower names when she could simply ask the royal gardener?
Instead of identifying plants, Serena thought of another use for the soil.
‘This would make a perfect toilet.’
There was even a spring nearby.
If they dug a pit in one corner…
When Serena suggested the idea, everyone except Chrome agreed immediately.
“It’d be easy to dig,” Chrome said.
“But human waste will kill all the grass.”
“And if it seeps into the pond, we won’t be able to use the water.”
“That should be alright,” Lavenda replied.
“This is a Labyrinth.”
“No matter how deep you dig, you can’t reach the next floor.”
“And no matter how much you break the walls, you can’t reach the next room.”
“True enough.”
“And we’ve still got the fountain.”
“Should be fine then.”
After securing food…
The group had now secured a toilet as well.
Since falling into the Labyrinth, it was their greatest achievement.
“Where to next?” Hanson asked.
“We’ve searched two paths from the first intersection.”
“Before moving on to the second intersection, let’s finish searching the remaining ones.”
If they were unlucky, none of them would contain the Floor Boss.
If they were lucky…
One of the remaining three paths would.
They entered the fourth corridor from the left, between the middle passage and the third one.
They found no rats.
Instead, they discovered a trap where stepping on the floor caused sharp spears to shoot upward.
It was so obvious that Serena ground her teeth in frustration.
This corridor was also much shorter than the middle one.
‘Shouldn’t the boss be after the second intersection? Did we choose the wrong path?’
Feeling uneasy, Serena led everyone into the second corridor from the left.
They killed one Labyrinth Rat and found aĀ low-grade mana stoneĀ inside another treasure chest.
‘Damn it… this is making me nervous.’
Only one path remained at the first intersection.
Fortunately, all the corridors were short.
But this wasn’t a game.
Their exhaustion kept building.
‘No choice. Let’s keep going.’
Serena led everyone into the final corridor on the far left.
No one questioned her decision.
That only made the responsibility on her shoulders feel even heavier.
They passed another trap.
They fought more Labyrinth Rats.
Eventually, there were so many rat corpses that Chrome could no longer carry them all by herself.
Each member of the group had to carry one or two dead rats.
Thenā
For the first time since enteringĀ Huji Labyrinth…
They found aĀ door.
