Holy Night: My Husband is Definitely a Paladin - Chapter 310
TL: Elphie / PR: Marm
āHaaā¦ā
Standing on a mountainside, Irene pulled back her hood. Despite the crisp autumn air, the uphill climb had left her slightly flushed and warm.
Noticing this, Michael, who had also removed his hood, gently fanned her with his hand.
āItās definitely warmer down south,ā he remarked.
āIt really was,ā Irene agreed.
She enjoyed his makeshift hand-fan for a moment before shaking the paper bag in her hand and calling out,
āChomp-chomp! Hand!ā
At her voice, a long, peach-colored tentacle peeked out from behind a nearby boulder.
Attached to it was a severed hand, gripping the tendril like a lifeline.
“Here’s your salad.”
At Ireneās words, Chop-chomp wiggled its way over. Then, it opened its mouth wide.
Then something poured out of its mouth.
Clatter!
A mountain of objects tumbled onto the ground with a loud noise.
The severed Hand of Appraisal which had been clinging to Chomp-chompās body, scurried down excitedly and began touching the pile.
Every single item Chomp-chomp had just coughed up was an artifact.
[Pwaaah!]
Chop-chomp let out a satisfied noise, as if it had finally relieved itself of a heavy burden. Then, it wrapped its body around the paper bag Irene was holding.
[Long live Her Majesty!]
Now cradling five servings of salad, Chomp-chomp shuddered with joy.
Then, with lightning speed, it pulled out the food and started devouring it.
[Chomp, this batchāchomp chompāis from the strongest artifacts in the Kingdom of Tyrenia.]
Even as Chomp-chomp spoke through mouthfuls of salad, one of its tendrils was busy gulping water from a nearby stream.
After stuffing its mouth with cherry tomatoes, it smacked the middle of one tendril with anotherāalmost like thumping its chestāand continued.
[I asked them, you know? Wanna come with me, or stay here? And they all said they wanted to go back.]
[Some wanted to stay, but they were dangerous, so I told them not to act up. Ah, this one here!]
With that, Chomp-chomp lifted a short spear that the Hand of Appraisal had been inspecting.
Immediately, the Hand scrawled words into the air.
[DO NOT TOUCH ā When activated, it slashes everything within a 15-cubit radius of the wielder. However, it cannot cut anything shorter than 3 cubits.]
Reading the description, Irene picked up the spear and handed it to Michael.
“It really is dangerous. Can you send it back first?”
“Understood.”
Michael grasped the spear and exerted a slight force.
In an instant, space itself distorted, and the spear vanished without a trace.
“I’ll send the rest back as well.”
“Please do.”
At Irene’s words, Michael placed his hand on the pile of artifacts stacked like a mountain.
Moments later, the space distorted again, and everything that had been piled up vanished without a trace.
As Irene watched intently, Michael asked.
“Is there anything else you’d like me to do?”
“No, it’s not that. I just… find it amazing every time I see it.”
As she spoke, Irene noticed the red miasma lingering at the tips of his fingers. He was no longer the King of Monsters, but his power still remained.
“My purification power is completely gone, but your miasma is still quite strong, so I guess Iām a bit envious.ā
At her words, Michael smiled and moved closer to Irene. He then whispered softly,
“Don’t worry. I’ll fill you up again today.”
At his words, Irene’s face instantly turned red.
“That’s not what I meant!”
But Michael, seemingly unaffected by Irene’s words, continued speaking with a hint of dejection in his voice.
“It seems that since the power of my miasma isn’t what it used to be, no matter how hard I try every night, I can’t raise it as quickly as I did in the past. I always feel sorry for that. But Iām working tirelessly, so…”
“Enough, enough!”
Irene hurriedly covered Michael’s mouth. At that, Chomp-chomp looked at the two of them.
[Oh, are you talking about reproduction? Feel free to do so!]
“…”
Really?
Irene pressed her lips gently against Michael’s to silence him, then looked at Chomp-chomp, who was happily eating the salad, and at the Hand of Appraisal who, with the artifacts returning to the monster realm, seemed bored and had nothing to do.
When the two of them met again, they immediately left the Fortress.
It was a place where they no longer needed to be.
No longer a knight and purifier.
Not as a pair.
But simply as Irene and Michael, connected as individuals.
It must have been a month or so since they left the Fortress together.
[Your Majesty!]
While they were resting in the mountains, suddenly the sky twisted, and a cluster of tentacles poured down.
[Sorry! I just remembered you two! Phew!]
Chomp-chomp wrapped its tentacles around them both and cried, overwhelmed with joy at seeing them again.
It seemed that it wasn’t just the two of them who had retained their memories.
Moreover, a month later, the Hand of Appraisal also regained its memories.
The four of them had been traveling together ever since.
There was something the two humans and the two monsters had to do.
It was to separate the monster realm from this world.
“I have seen what you truly desired.”
At Michael’s words, Irene recalled what she had desired in the world created by the impossibility.
What Irene wanted was a world without dungeons.
A world where people didnāt have to live like commodities, categorized by their purification power, based on the ranks that determined their worth. A world where others wouldnāt have to endure such a fate.
And Michael promised to give her that world.
Now, the world created by illusion was no longer needed.
She could slowly change the world they lived in.
So Michael began severing the dungeons connected to the monster realm, collecting the artifacts from this world, and sending them back to the original monster realm.
Naturally, it was Chomp-chomp’s job to retrieve those artifacts.
[Leave it to me! They’re all dead!]
It seemed that Chomp-chomp found it quite fun to secretly collect them, eagerly entering other kingdoms’ warehouses to swallow the artifacts and bring them back.
Then one of the artifacts, which had its own consciousness, wrote on the floor.
You thieves!
At that, Chomp-chomp squeezed the artifact with its tentacle and said,
[Thieves, you say? I’m just sending the runaway ones back home. Go back to the monster realm!]
The artifacts were sent back to the monster realm by Michael.
It was something he could still do, as he still had his miasma and the remnants of his power.
But curiously, the red energy no longer glowed in his eyes.
Meanwhile, Chomp-chomp had eaten all five servings of salad.
Then, leaving only one tentacle behind, it stuffed everything else into its body and peeked out from Ireneās bag.
The Hand of Appraisal also climbed up Irene, gripping the strap of the bag, and dangled from it.
[So, where are we going now?]
“Weāve swept through the Tyrenia Kingdom, so thereās nothing left to stay for here. So…”
Irene took a few more steps, reaching the edge of the hill.
Beyond the opposite side of the path she had climbed, the wide southern land still held traces of greenery.
She knew what lay beyond this land, if she passed through it.
Irene took a deep breath.
In the wind, there was a scent she had once smelled before.
It was the scent of the sea.
“Michael.”
Irene took Michaelās hand, who was standing beside her.
The sound of their rings clinking together echoed as their hands intertwined.
Identical rings, still slightly scratched.
And someday, those scratches would disappear, and the rings would become perfect.
After a moment of looking at their hands, Irene lifted her gaze.
“Letās go together.”
At her words, Michael smiled with unparalleled happiness and squeezed her hand.
Together, they took a step forward.
Toward the place they had promised to reach long ago.
Irene smiled.
Today, happiness was continuing, as it had every day.
