Holy Night: My Husband is Definitely a Paladin - Chapter 114

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Two hours later.

“The chest is heavy!”

Reyna approached Irene with a big smile, carrying a wooden chest, and opened it in front of her.

Before opening it, both Michael and Felix had thoroughly inspected it. The moment it was opened, a brilliant golden light radiated from inside.

“Gold!”

“It’s pure gold!”

The others, who had gathered around to peer into the chest, cheered in excitement.

In the two hours since they had entered the dungeon, the group had encountered monsters three times.

Under Michael’s guidance and leadership, the knights had moved quickly and efficiently, taking care of the threats without any issues.

The only injury was a knight who had his arm grazed by a monster’s claw. However, his purifier had immediately healed both the wound and the miasma, leaving no trace behind.

When they discovered their first treasure chest, it was even more bountiful than they had expected.

“Let’s keep going and reach the end!”

Encouraged by their success, everyone’s energy surged, and their pace, which had slowed down, picked up again.

After walking for a while longer, they arrived at a large plaza that they assumed to be the dungeon’s central area.

The plaza connected to several other paths besides the one they had entered from.

“It’s strange. I thought the other raid would have passed through here before us, but there’s no sign of them.”

At Irene’s words, Michael and the other knights inspected the surroundings.

Sure enough, there were no footprints in the sand.

It appeared that no one else had reached this point yet.

“Maybe the paths connect differently… Either way, let’s rest here for a while.”

Some of the purifiers were showing signs of exhaustion from the walk, and they needed to take stock of the rewards they had gathered and record everything properly.

The group sat in a circle, sharing simple snacks.

Irene opened her backpack to take out an apple but paused, tilting her head in confusion.

‘Why is this here?’

Inside her backpack were the items she had packed, but there was something else—something she hadn’t put there.

‘Why is this dagger here?’

It was an old, rusted dagger with a damaged blade, one she had failed to have properly appraised.

She had no memory of putting it in her bag, and no one else could have placed it there. Just a few days ago, she had wrapped it in cloth and stored it in her drawer.

Yet now, the cloth was gone, and the dagger was sitting there alone.

‘Did it follow me on its own?’

She wasn’t even surprised anymore.

With the ring forcing her to keep it, why wouldn’t this dagger, perhaps imbued with its own will, follow her?

‘It must have a reason for being here.’

For now, there was no need to use it, so she left it in the bag. But she sincerely hoped she wouldn’t need to use it at all.

Irene pulled out the apple, munching on it as she considered her next steps.

‘We’ve secured one of the targeted chests… If we go a little further, there should be another chest with valuable rewards. That’ll be our next goal.’

She had thought that the other raid would have found it by now, but since they hadn’t arrived yet, her group could get to it first.

‘This time, I really need to make money.’

The thought of her remaining debts made the apple feel like it was stuck in her throat.

Despite all the rewards she’d been collecting, why was she still struggling financially?

‘If the kingdom hadn’t provided accommodations, I would’ve been in serious trouble.’

If they hadn’t helped, what would she have done?

Borrowing money from Reyna or Cynthia was an option, but she didn’t want to ask for such a favor unless absolutely necessary.

‘Maybe I would have gone to the temple.’

Suddenly, she thought of Michael’s room at the temple.

Though it was plain and sparsely furnished, Irene had found it surprisingly comforting.

‘I bet if I asked, they’d give me a room.’

And if that happened, maybe she would have seen Michael more often.

As her thoughts drifted to that point, Irene flinched, startled by her own improper thoughts.

Was she really thinking about spending more time with him at the temple?

‘If God is watching, I’m going to get struck by lightning.’

At least they were in a dungeon, so maybe the cave walls, connected to who-knows-where, would shield her from divine judgment.

The atmosphere in the group signaled that everyone was finishing their snacks and preparing to move again.

“Michael, could you check that path over there? If possible, could you also check how far the other group has gotten?”

Irene pointed toward the path that led to the location of another chest. More importantly, she wanted to know how close the other raid was to finding it.

“Understood.”

Leaving most of the knights behind, Michael took two others and headed down the path Irene had indicated.

Some time later—

“Something’s wrong!”

One of the knights who had gone with Michael came running back, his face pale as he shouted.

“The other group has been completely wiped out!”