My Husband Was Clearly a Paladin
Chapter 56
Last night, when the distorted dungeon first revealed itself and sent everyone into an uproar.
Wilhelmina had not missed that opening. Her key strategy was to raise her voice so that as many people as possible could hear her.
“I’ve never seen anything so terrifying. We’ll know more once the Eye of Exploration surveys the interior, but I’m certain there are horrific things inside! Do you really think you can go into a place like that with a ragtag bunch of nobodies?”
Reina, who had become one of those “nobodies,” watched Wilhelmina’s performance with a look that clearly said, ‘What is this woman even talking about?’
But Wilhelmina didn’t care and continued to speak loudly.
“Everyone, think rationally; your lives are on the line. What do you think will be left for you if you get swept up in the heat of the moment and run around blindly?”
To the purifiers trembling with anxiety, Wilhelmina’s words carried more weight than ever.
“Maybe I should just go back to the Princess’s side.”
“But they won’t take us back just because we want to return now.”
Wilhelmina quickly interjected into the purifiers’ conversation.
“Do you think the Princess is that petty? In fact, she told me to bring anyone back who might be afraid of that horrific sight.”
The purifiers’ eyes widened at the news that the Princess would accept them.
Then, one by one, they began to slip away. They were heading off to meet the Princess.
If only she had stopped there. Wilhelmina eventually spat out words to Reina that she never should have said.
“Reina, was it? I heard you paired up with a knight whose skills are far below your purification rank. If you come to our Princess, we can give you someone much better than your current pair—”
“Gah! Hey! Let go of this! Let go!”
Before Wilhelmina could even finish her sentence, Reina lunged at her and grabbed her by the hair.
Usually, Reina was someone who smiled often and acted kindly.
However, there was one thing she would never let slide: an insult to her pair, Felix.
“Reina! Stop it!”
“Let me go! I’m going to pull out every single strand of your hair! Who do you think you are, insulting Felix?!”
In the end, other purifiers and maids had to rush in to finally pry the two apart.
Naturally, a handful of Wilhelmina’s brown hair lay scattered on the floor.
By the time they managed to soothe Reina and bring her back to her room, the look in her eyes had changed.
“That woman… I’m not letting her get away with this. And the Princess too…”
Then, her fighting spirit suddenly ignited on its own, leading to the current situation.
Irene smirked as she looked at the glaring Wilhelmina.
“Oh, you still have some hair left?”
“You…!”
Though it was a childish provocation, the memory of her hair being pulled yesterday must have been quite painful, as Wilhelmina snapped back heatedly.
“Let’s see how long that smug attitude lasts! Just make sure you don’t end up begging for your life in the dungeon!”
After that, Wilhelmina spat out a few more curses—carefully staying just within the legal limits of the fortress—before storming out.
The central plaza of the fortress was already bustling with people who had come out early.
‘Everyone was so shocked yesterday.’
Irene looked down at the paper in her hand.
It contained the results from this morning, after the Eye of Exploration had finished surveying the dungeon.
The difficulty level of the distorted dungeon as assessed by the Eye of Exploration was “Upper-Mid.”
It was too vast and contained too many varieties of monsters to be called Mid-rank. However, there weren’t any monsters powerful enough to classify it as High-rank.
Of course, that didn’t mean they could relax. No matter how weak a monster might be, when their numbers increased, they became more dangerous than a single strong one.
Fortunately, the distorted dungeon hadn’t changed much from what Irene remembered.
Though it wasn’t exactly the same, either.
“‘Unexplorable areas exist. Exercise extreme caution for your safety’… I see.”
Simply put, it was a warning to stay away if possible.
‘Since it’s an unstable dungeon anyway, it’ll disappear even if we don’t kill all the monsters.’
Normally, it would be the perfect condition to just take a moderate look around and leave. However, considering the Princess, she couldn’t afford to just skim through it.
“We’re heading out!”
Accompanied by Princess Cecilia’s clear voice in the plaza, horses began to kick off the ground and gallop away.
All the members of her faction began heading toward the location of the distorted dungeon on the horses she had provided.
Those who couldn’t ride horses left the plaza in ornate carriages that looked fit for royalty.
It was, of course, a deliberate display by the Princess.
‘She never used to treat people with such extreme hospitality before.’
The Princess would likely continue such antics until Irene’s Faction was completely demolished.
Four hours later, Irene and the members of her faction arrived at their assigned dungeon entrance.
Michael, who had left for this location earlier at dawn, was standing there.
“Michael!”
As soon as she saw him, Irene waved and ran toward him.
“Please, take your time. There are many wet leaves, so it is slippery.”
Just as he said, her body wobbled with every step she took.
Perhaps finding the sight too precarious to watch, Michael hurriedly reached out, caught her, and pulled her to his side.
“How is your body feeling?”
“My muscles are a bit sore in places, but there’s nothing seriously wrong.”
As she spoke, Irene rotated her shoulders for show.
She had no idea how many times she had swung that wooden sword over the past week. She hadn’t just practiced during the two hours she spent with him.
Even after returning to her quarters, she had continued to practice her posture alone while looking in the mirror.
‘I can’t just do this halfway.’
She wasn’t sure how much help it would be, but she didn’t want to ignore the sincerity Michael showed by taking time out of his schedule to teach her.
Besides, it wasn’t a bad thing to learn.
Most of all, she didn’t want to disappoint him.
For the first two days, her entire body throbbed so much that she wanted to scream just from moving.
But there was something even more horrific.
“Would it be alright if I applied some pressure for a moment?”
Thinking his polite request meant he would just poke a few spots, she had agreed.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
His large hands had mercilessly massaged Irene’s neck, shoulders, and arms.
It was so intense that the priests standing further away had rushed over in surprise.
They were at a loss, caught between embarrassment and shock at the fact that Michael was laying hands on a member of the opposite sex.
But Michael spoke with confidence.
“We have been training to increase the survival rate in the dungeon, but as she is unaccustomed to such movements, the muscle pain throughout her body is severe. If left as is, it will hinder future training…”
He then proceeded to name muscles she had never even heard of and gave a long explanation as to why those specific areas needed to be loosened.
To be honest, Irene and the priests just listened in silence, not understanding a word of it.
They simply figured it must be true since Michael said so.
Furthermore, while it was so painful she felt like her muscles were being torn apart while he was doing it, her pain subsided and her movements became much lighter once he was finished.
As a result, Irene had eventually started naturally entrusting her body to him after their training sessions.
“I am glad to hear you are well. How are the others?”
“Everyone seems to be in good physical condition, but…”
“The numbers have decreased significantly.”
“Yes. That’s the problem.”
Irene looked back and swallowed a sigh.
Compared to what they had first reported to the Alliance staff, the number of pairs participating in this raid had been cut in half.
“While I was scouting the perimeter earlier, I ran into the people from the other raid. They made me an offer.”
Hearing his words, Irene felt even more apologetic.
To have made a Holy Knight like him get caught up in such a petty power struggle.
The moment Irene’s head began to bow out of habit, he spoke.
“You do not need to say you are sorry. Their offer has actually made me more invested in this raid.”
“Pardon? What kind of offer did you receive?”
Instead of answering, he gave a faint smile and walked over to the Alliance staff member standing in front of the entrance.
Left without an answer, Irene called out to the people standing behind her.
She thought she had gathered quite a few people for the faction in the meantime, but because so many had returned to the Princess this morning, there were only about fifteen pairs left here.
‘Thirty-two people, including Michael and me.’
Irene looked at the paper she brought.
Their group would enter through this entrance, but the other three entrances would all be taken by pairs from the Princess’s Faction.
The Princess’s raid party consisted of over three hundred people.
‘Ten to one. Still, I have no intention of losing.’
Irene recalled as much information as she could about the reward chests.
Ultimately, this childish fight would be settled by who obtained more rewards.
‘I’ll have to cherry-pick only the most valuable ones.’
Irene prayed that the locations of the reward chests hadn’t changed.
No matter what, she had to win today.
