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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 25
Chapter Title: The One in a Hundred Thousand Man (8)
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"The problem is that we lack the power to damage the Minotaur."
We had the tanking, but our DPS was lacking. The conclusion was simple: insufficient firepower.
A monster as powerful as the Minotaur appearing from the second floor was the root cause, but regardless, our damage output was too low.
"Sir Lucas."
Ralph raised his hand crisply. Sir Lucas nodded.
"There should still be poison lingering in the undead rat corpses. What if we coat our swords and spears with it to poison it?"
"No. It would just ruin good weapons."
Unless it was a potent poison that could deliver a lethal blow in small doses, it would only wear down weapon durability pointlessly.
'Using poison is a good idea. It's resistant to physical attacks, so if poison doesn't work... fire?'
Serena asked Chrome.
"What about dousing it in oil and setting it ablaze? Chrome, how much oil do we have?"
"This is all there is."
The oil was just a bit in the lantern and leather pouch.
"Milady, can you perhaps create oil?"
Oil creation was a second-circle spell. It paired well with fire magic, so most mages learned it as a basic.
"I'm sorry."
Sir Lucas fell silent, as if regretting bringing it up after seeing Serena's expression.
If only the lady had learned up to third circle properly, we wouldn't be struggling like this.
Sir Lucas's inner thoughts rang out vividly.
"No helping it, then."
Sir Lucas opened Lavenda's notebook and sketched a map of the second floor. Serena hadn't seen it all, but he must have surveyed the wide space already.
The second floor he'd mapped resembled a lollipop: a round candy head with a winding stick handle. At the center of the candy was a circular structure where the Minotaur appeared, and there were more passages around the edge, but he hadn't drawn those since they hadn't explored them.
"Not certain, but there are traps here and here."
Sir Lucas marked the approximate locations.
"We need to lure the Minotaur with these traps to take it down or pin its feet. Checking those passages might reveal other options, but we'll get spotted by the Minotaur before reaching them."
"What if you and I lure it while the others check the passages?"
"Too dangerous. We got lucky last time."
Sir Lucas pointed to the traps again.
"If there's a pit trap like the ones on this floor, we could drop the Minotaur in and move on. But we'd need to confirm the traps first."
To do that, they'd have to head back down to the second floor.
"We've rested enough. Let's move now."
"Agreed."
"Granny. Grab the oil and lantern."
"Right away."
"Isn't the oil amount too little?"
"Useless on other parts, but lighting its face on fire would be effective."
The Minotaur was over two meters tall, so splashing its face wouldn't be easy.
'No. If it falls into a trap, we can hit the face.'
"Ah goo goo, better than before. Thanks."
"Leave it to me anytime."
Chrome twisted her waist, praising Lavenda's skills.
'No matter how I look at it, that was a shrimp twist.'
Massages in this world must follow different principles. Serena smiled and lightly patted Philia's shoulder.
They bid farewell to the dismembered undead rat corpses and descended the steep stairs to the second floor. As Serena prepared to conjure light with magic, Sir Lucas stopped her.
"We'll use the lantern. But milady, when I say, prepare to make ice immediately."
"Got it."
She couldn't cast while moving, so she'd have to chant as fast as possible from a standstill. Serena focused her mind, visualizing the ice creation spell at the ready.
Chrome took the lead with the lantern. She gasped at the broken pillars, walls, and corners from the clash with the Minotaur.
Not at the Minotaur's power to shatter stone walls.
"Half... restored."
In the short rest on the first floor, the pillars, walls, and corners damaged in the collision with the Minotaur had halfway regenerated.
"Is this the labyrinth's restorative power?"
Ralph was stunned too, touching the walls that had risen to his ankles or knees.
"Well."
Just before reaching the wide space, Sir Lucas groaned in dismay.
Both Serena and Sir Lucas had expected the Minotaur inside the structure, with the door dropping as the party reached the circular area.
"The door's open."
The door was already open. No sign of the Minotaur. Remembering its keen hearing, the group fell silent and crept forward.
"What now? Retreat?"
"...Milady, stay here."
Sir Lucas left Ralph with Serena and slowly advanced toward the open central structure with Chrome, intending to scout inside while the Minotaur was absent.
Shining the lantern inside, Chrome shook her head vigorously.
'Nothing inside? But the motion was huge.'
A grinding of stone echoed as the floor trembled slightly. The source was the open structure. The vibrations grew stronger.
Sir Lucas and Chrome glanced around before ducking behind a nearby stone wall.
As Chrome hurriedly tried to close the lantern shutter, Sir Lucas stopped her. Meanwhile, the vibrations intensified and halted.
Mooo.
The Minotaur emerged from the central structure.
'So that's an elevator.'
Chrome's vigorous headshake earlier meant there was no floor inside the structure.
'Does it use that to go to other floors? Then it's not the floor boss. Maybe the stratum boss?'
Stepping out, the Minotaur looked around. Not wanting to be detected, Chrome closed the lantern shutter.
Sir Lucas snatched the lantern and shoved Chrome.
"Eek!"
Unprepared to be pushed by a knight, Chrome screamed and tumbled to the ground. Serena froze in shock. Ralph beside her held his breath.
Snort.
The Minotaur's ears perked at the sound, locking onto the direction.
"Save me!"
Not about to abandon Chrome, Sir Lucas opened the shutter, lantern light returning, and stepped out the opposite way. He experimentally swung the lantern high.
The Minotaur's gaze shifted to the lantern. Sir Lucas sighed in relief and tossed a stone toward the stealthily crawling Chrome.
"Ugh!"
Chrome groaned from the hit. Though muffled, it drew the Minotaur's attention back.
Ignoring the lantern-shaking Sir Lucas, the Minotaur stomped and charged the fallen granny.
"Aaaah!"
Chrome scrambled up and fled with all her might. She aimed for Sir Lucas, but the knight mercilessly drew his sword and pointed the way she should go.
There was a trap in that direction. Chrome veered sharply, rolling away. Too slow—collision inevitable.
"Ugh!"
Just as Ralph struggled to spear a small rat with his long spear, the Minotaur failed to gore the short granny with its horns.
Did that mean she was safe? No. Chrome tripped on the Minotaur's foot and rolled away. Something seemed broken; she couldn't stand.
"Chrome! Sir Lucas, what are you doing?!"
All this happened while Serena held her breath. She shook off her paralysis like scissors snapping open.
"P-Princess! You can't go out there!"
Ralph followed anxiously. Sir Lucas blocked their path.
"Sir Lucas! What in the world!"
"Milady, what do you think you're doing?! It was going perfectly!"
"What?"
Serena couldn't comprehend Sir Lucas's words. As she stunned a second time, the Minotaur lowered its head and charged, impaling Chrome on its horn.
The Minotaur, charging with Chrome skewered, stepped into the trap. The floor collapsed, tripping it up.
"Now's the time. If milady hadn't interfered, we could've set its face ablaze and finished it."
The trap lacked spikes but wasn't deep. For the massive Minotaur, it was climbable.
Indeed, it quickly regained footing and climbed out. Chrome slid off the horn to the ground.
"Damn."
Sir Lucas, regretting the lost chance, cursed and shoved Serena toward the stairs.
"Granny Chrome..."
Ralph cast a pitying glance at the motionless Chrome before turning away.
"If you can't help, at least don't hinder!"
The moment they climbed the stairs, Sir Lucas berated Serena. His eyes and expression unchanged after letting someone die.
"Do you know what you just did, milady?"
"And you—do you even realize what you've done?"
"I did my duty."
"Your duty?"
Serena barely held back a curse. Even accounting for this medieval fantasy world's rigid class system and outdated sensibilities, this was outrageous.
'Don't tell me. It wasn't your skills—it was your personality that was the one-in-a-hundred-thousand draw.'
A conscienceless, nasty jerk who treated lives like tissue paper. The type who'd kill for his own gain.
Sir Lucas fit that type perfectly.
"No, seriously."
Serena wiggled her fingers before rubbing her forehead. Her head throbbed.
"I suspected, and sure enough. Taking Chrome along on the first floor was to dodge traps, right? Using her to scout them."
"Of course. Why else drag around that sluggish old hag?"
"Is that what a proud knight of Hwaji does? Where's your knightly honor?"
"Your accusations are unfair, milady. I did my job. Besides, that granny wasn't some innocent commoner. She hid it with a scarf, but there were two diamond tattoos on her nape—meaning a two-time convict."
"If she's out and reformed, she's a commoner. Past crimes don't justify killing her like that."
"Indeed. The naive thoughts of a sheltered lady. She trembled whenever I looked her way—like she had plenty of undiscovered sins."
"That's not what I mean. Using a living person as bait..."
"Then should I have died?"
"What?"
"To serve you and fulfill my role, I fought monsters head-on and stepped into danger first. You use me to survive—can't I use one lowly granny to boost my odds?"
Sir Lucas looked down at Serena like she was pathetic.
"Get a grip, milady. This is the labyrinth. I'm not escorting you on a picnic with a criminal granny, dimwit soldiers, foreign masseuse, countess with nothing but her face, and a lady whose mind was muddled until suddenly chosen by the gods to perform miracles."
Serena sensed it instinctively. Without the miracle of the breadfruit tree, she'd be dead by his hand now.
"This isn't your palace playground where you play queen of high society, laughing ha-ha-ho-ho. It's the labyrinth. Second floor with a Minotaur! Got it?"
Serena gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. This was the most humiliating moment of her life so far.
'As if my family wasn't dysfunctional enough!'
Strangled by Mom, beaten by Dad, venting post for Grandpa. The one sibling starved for affection constantly caused trouble. The cousin she met as an adult kept wanting to pat her head—greasy hands.
"S-Sir Lucas."
Ralph, pale since witnessing the atrocity, interjected.
"You were wrong, Sir Lucas. A knight can't do that."
"Good lord."
Lucas let out an exclamation at the squire's brave words.
"Now even a lowly soldier insults me. All because of you, milady."
"I'm not insulting you! I—"
"How dare you!"
Lucas kicked Ralph's knee and slapped him. Praising his mercy for not drawing his sword despite the gauntlet-clad blow.
"Ugh..."
"If this weren't the labyrinth, your head would be rolling."
Ralph staggered, nose smashed, but his eyes remained resolute.
"Sir Lucas... you were wrong."
"Want to die?"
"Sigh."
Serena made up her mind.
Lucas's skills were valuable, but his personality was too flawed to travel with.
She needed to conquer the labyrinth to save Hwajichen's people—things would only worsen if this continued.
"Lucas Biron. You're fired."
"What?"
"Leave my party. We'll manage without dead weight like you. Do as you please."
Serena expelled Lucas Biron from the party. The party leader, blind to or underestimating talent, kicks out a capable member—wasn't that the start of an expulsion story?
Lucas had the skills, Serena acknowledged them, but hated his personality and booted him—perfect setup for him as the protagonist of an expulsion tale, thriving after being kicked out.
'Thanks for watching Serena and the Mysterious Labyrinth so far. Now begins the saga of the expelled party member Lucas's triumphant rise. Something like that.'
Clearly not expecting to be told to leave, Lucas snorted derisively.
"What did you just say? Still not facing reality?"
"I know. So let's part ways. I don't need a knight like you."
Cheap things are the most expensive—drawing Lucas for free came at a grave cost to his character.
'Is personality DLC? Sold separately?'
She'd actually buy it if sold apart.
"I'll share the breadfruit bread. You won't destroy the tree if you value your life."
"Are you even aware of your nonsense? Even if the remaining four all gang up, you can't handle me. What if I monopolize the breadfruit? Can you stop me?"
"I'll stop you."
Ralph spoke in a nasally voice, raising his wooden sword.
"Ha! Ridiculous."
Lucas sneered at Serena and Ralph mockingly.
"One last chance. Say it again."
"You're expelled."
"I'll stop you."
"You insolent fools!"
"Princess! Run!"
Lucas's sword sliced Ralph's throat. Serena tried fleeing but was grabbed by her long hair.
Lucas's sword pierced Serena's abdomen. The princess's slender waist was cleaved in two by the knight's blade.
Her entrails spilled as her upper body tilted and fell. Less painful than the Minotaur's horn, at least.
Her vision blurred, then sharp crimson eyes appeared.
"If I die like this, what happens to Sir Lucas and the breadfruit?"
Sir Lucas could vanish, but the breadfruit was too precious a loss. The labyrinth god just laughed again.
"See for yourself."
"Another question!"
The god answered the new question promptly. Satisfied, the princess opened her one remaining eye.
Lucas was visible. The breadfruit too.
Serena had much to ponder, so she patted Philia's shoulder repeatedly.
Having thought it through, the princess smiled faintly.
