My Husband Was Clearly a Paladin
Chapter 52
“W-what do you mean by that…?”
She should have just brushed it off with a chuckle, as if she’d heard a dull joke.
Contrary to her thoughts, her mouth stammered, unable to form a proper sentence.
‘How?’
Michael was speaking as if he knew she had returned to the past.
Just then, Michael spoke again.
“It isn’t unreasonable for you to think that, as there have been instances in the past where Distorted Dungeons formed different entrances.”
As he said this, he handed the paper he was holding to Irene.
Nowhere on his face was there any sign that he looked at her strangely or regarded her with suspicion.
Taking the paper, Irene slowly steadied her breath.
‘Calm down. There’s no way he could know.’
For the first time in a long while, she recalled the moment of her death.
Inside a dungeon filled with the bellows of monsters, she had died alone, clutching her wounds.
Michael had been nowhere to be seen. The only thing that stayed by her side until the end was an unidentified metal fragment from a chest.
Even when she opened her eyes again, Michael wasn’t around.
Irene stole a glance at him.
He was intently reviewing other records from the Archive laid out on the table.
There wasn’t a single strange vibe coming from him.
‘It’s all just my paranoia.’
Even now, she sometimes felt like her death and return to life were a dream and couldn’t believe it herself; to think someone else would know was absurd.
Having set aside her suspicions of him, Irene suddenly remembered the metal fragment she had seen in her memory moments ago.
‘Now that I think about it, if I asked for an appraisal, would I be able to find out what it really is?’
Dozens of unidentified metal fragments with similar appearances poured out of the dungeons every day. Therefore, she couldn't be certain that it was the artifact that had allowed her to return to the past.
‘Still… if there’s anything suspicious, it’s that.’
If that was the cause of this regression, wouldn’t the Hand of Appraisal be able to tell her for sure?
However, getting an appraisal was no easy feat.
First of all, a single appraisal cost the exorbitant sum of 10,000 gold.
The Fortress had also added a condition that only items obtained from dungeons could be appraised. This was because many people brought in strange objects, claiming they felt like artifacts, even though they didn't come from a dungeon.
‘Since you have to report all rewards to the staff when you bring them out, I can’t get that unreported fragment appraised.’
If so, there were two ways.
First: sneak in and use the Hand of Appraisal.
Naturally, it was the most ridiculous method. Because it was the most important and useful artifact in the Fortress, the appraisal room was located in the deepest part of the Alliance building, guarded by countless sentries. Sneaking in there was impossible.
Second: bring the metal into a dungeon, then report it and ask for an appraisal as if she had discovered it inside.
The problem was that it would be difficult to pretend it came from a reward chest when she was with others.
‘Then should I try when it’s just me and Michael entering?’
As Irene was lost in thought.
“Irene?”
“Ah, yes!”
She snapped back to reality at the sound of Michael’s voice.
“Since you were looking at this, do you intend to participate in the subjugation of the Distorted Dungeon?”
“Even if I say I’ll participate… you must be the one to go, Sir Knight.”
“Please just call me Michael.”
He spoke stubbornly, as if determined to finally change the way she addressed him today.
Since it seemed he wouldn't back down easily, Irene quietly did as he wished.
“Yes, Michael.”
Contrary to her thoughts, calling him by his name wasn't that awkward.
Only then did Michael look satisfied as she spoke his name.
“Aren’t you going to participate in this subjugation anyway? That’s why I intended to follow along if possible.”
Irene turned her gaze back to the paper.
‘I had planned to go in from the start.’
This Distorted Dungeon was one where an immense number of reward chests appeared.
Contrary to people’s expectations, no legendary artifacts appeared, but even the small chests contained rewards satisfying enough.
Didn't the pairs who entered back then say it felt like a fun treasure hunt?
So, even if she only found a few, she would be able to pay back the debt she owed to the Auction House and the appraisal room immediately.
There was another reason as well.
“And… if you’re okay with it, I’d like to ask you to join a raid once more.”
“Is this regarding the gathering we were with last time?”
“Yes…”
Irene’s voice trailed off.
It couldn't be helped. What she was doing now was quite a brazen request.
While he was away, the gathering had grown even larger.
‘The sale of the Ring of Invisibility was the biggest promotion.’
At the news of the high winning bid and the fact that it had been shared equally among everyone, people wanting to join the gathering flocked in starting the next day.
There were knights who confessed they were tired of acting as the Princess’s shield and facing the dangerous monsters at the front, even going so far as to openly badmouth the Princess.
There were also purifiers who were tired of doing work no different from maids in the gathering due to their low rank.
But of course, the most common grievance was the unequal distribution.
“Even if low-rank pairs kill the same number of monsters, their share of the reward is much stingier. They accept it because it’s the only way to go to high-level dungeons, but…”
More than the money, many felt miserable, as if they were selling their very lives for a pittance.
“At least Sir Michael wouldn’t use us as human shields.”
“That’s right. I heard he even gives the knights a lot of technical guidance.”
Those who came said over and over again that they wanted to be with Michael.
‘It’s also difficult to raid without Michael.’
Although they had gathered many people, the majority were low-rank, so going to high-level dungeons was still difficult.
Moreover, there were many risk factors.
In the end, the gathering could not grow any further without Michael.
“Actually, I had no intention of participating in this Distorted Dungeon.”
“Pardon? Why?”
She naturally thought he would go. He considered dungeon subjugation to be his mission, after all.
“It feels as though it is targeting me.”
“Pardon? Targeting you?”
Irene was puzzled by Michael’s words.
Targeting? Who?
Irene asked back, but he didn't answer. Instead, he looked at the paper again.
After staring at it for a long while, he turned his head and asked her a question.
“But if it is for the sake of the gathering, I suppose I must go.”
“Well, that’s… yes…”
Her voice grew smaller and smaller. Eventually, Irene bowed her head low.
“I’m truly sorry. I know you don’t like these private gatherings, but if you could just help a little more…!”
“Do not bow your head to me.”
Michael straightened her up as if he were troubled.
Even so, he didn't readily say he would go with her.
After being lost in thought for a long time, he spoke as if he had made a decision.
“I will join the subjugation of the Distorted Dungeon. However, I have a condition.”
“A condition? If you want a purification again, that’s my duty, so you don’t have to set a separate condition for that.”
At the word 'duty', Michael made a somewhat bitter expression and shook his head.
“It is not purification. However, until we go to the dungeon, I would like you to give me about two hours of your time once a day.”
“Your time? What do you plan to do?”
“I shall keep that a secret. I think it will be more interesting if you come without knowing.”
As he said that, he smiled brightly.
At the smile that was somehow like a mischievous boy’s, Irene felt her face flush and bowed her head again.
She could hardly believe that the man playing such a trivial prank in front of her, the man who had frantically pressed his body against hers at night, and the Holy Knight who was always like a wall of ice were all the same person.
*
The next day, Irene finished preparing to go to the Fortress Temple, dressed in clothes that were easy to move in as he had requested.
He had asked her to come to the Fortress Temple at the appointed time.
‘I still have some time left.’
Irene sat at the table and picked up a pen.
A Distorted Dungeon was a rare phenomenon that appeared perhaps once every ten years.
Because of that, in her past life, the Fortress had frantically scraped together information about it.
Thanks to that, even Irene, who hadn't been able to enter the dungeon, had come to know well what it looked like, how massive it was, and how many reward chests had appeared while sitting in a corner of the Archive.
Because so many people had entered, the records were quite accurate and detailed compared to other dungeons.
So Irene could imagine it by looking at the records.
Which entrance Michael had entered through. Where and what kind of monsters he had killed, and how.
And how he had saved many people, obtained rewards, and safely emerged from there.
His deeds were always heroic, but because the records were exceptionally vivid, she had read the records of the Distorted Dungeon over and over again.
But in his records, he was always alone.
Unlike other knights, he was a man who never allowed a purifier into a dungeon.
‘Still, we’re going together this time.’
It seemed that reaching Rank 8, unlike the Rank 10 she had been in the past, had an influence.
Just as Irene was about to draw the shape of the dungeon she remembered, loud footsteps sounded outside, and Reina burst in, shouting.
“Irene, something terrible has happened! Princess Cecilia is…!”
