Holy Night: My Husband is Definitely a Paladin - Chapter 311
Side Story
TL: Elphie / PR: Mikan
The tiny village of Keiyara, tucked away at the southern edge of the continent, was unusually lively around the well on a weekend morning. It was such a small place that even a neighborâs sneeze could become the talk of the town.
Because of that, the villagers gathered in groups around the well, busy chatting about whatever had happened to them over the past week.
Normally, someone whoâd visited a big city would be excitedly recounting all theyâd seen, but todayâs topic was different.
âSomeone moved into that house on the hill, didnât they?â
âReally? But monsters used to come out of that place!â
At that, someone let out a loud gasp, but the person who first spoke waved their hands dismissively.
âMonsters? Come on. All the dungeons on the continent have disappeared. There arenât any monsters left now.â
âExactly. Itâs already been a whole year since the last dungeon vanished.â
The people who said that the dungeons had disappeared were excited.
Dungeons were horrifying things that had started appearing across the continent at some point.
From the dark, unknowable holes came all manner of bizarre and nightmarish monsters.
Because of this, whenever a dungeon appeared, people living nearby had no choice but to flee in a panic.
This village had been no exception.
When a massive, pitch-black hole suddenly opened up on the hill above the village, the villagers screamed and ran for their lives.
In such cases, it was usually the kingdomâs knights who came to subjugate the dungeon.
But they couldnât always arrive right away. Even if they arrived late, that was considered lucky.
In many cases, when knights were in short supply, dungeons in rural areas were simply left alone.
After all, if it was only commoners who were dying, some higher-ups believed it was cheaper to ignore the problem than to dispatch the knights.
Keiyara had been one of those cases.
The lord governing this region had no intention of wasting resources sending knights to protect a village that barely managed to pay its taxes.
And once the villagers learned that truth, they fell into despair.
Should they abandon the village and leave it behind?
Just when all hope seemed lost, they appeared like a miracle.
They were knights of the temple, known and revered as Holy Knights.
Five of them came and entered the dungeon.
A full day passed before they emerged, drenched in the blood of monsters.
And not long after they exited, the dungeon vanished. The subjugation was a success.
The villagers rejoiced, returning to their homes and welcoming the knights with gratitude.
The Holy Knights, in their humility, asked for nothing more than a bit of water to wash with and a simple meal.
But the townspeople, now that their lives had been restored, would not listen.
Though theyâd only asked for one meal, the knights found themselves faced with a table overflowing as if it held a weekâs worth of food all at once.
Smiles crept across the faces of the villagers as they recalled that day.
âWe couldnât offer them a single coin, being such a poor village, and yet they risked their lives to take down the dungeon for us.â
At that, someone smirked.
âWell, it makes sense. One of the most famous Holy Knights fell for a woman and left the temple. If they wanted to restore their reputation, theyâd have to work pretty hard for it, wouldnât they?â
“Hey, why do you always have to say things like that? Even before all that happened, the knights of the temple helped people without asking for anything in return.”
As the two began to raise their voices, someone else quickly cut in.
“Alright, alright. But what about the house on the hill? Is someone really living there now? Wasnât that the place where a monster lived after it ate the whole family when the dungeon appeared?”
“Monster, my foot. And only one person actually died, remember? The rest of the family just left far away. If you go check it out sometime, youâll see. The crumbling walls have all been painted white, the broken windows are replaced, and even the garden has been cleaned up nicely. I used to be nothing but a patch of weeds.”
The other person shuddered, clearly creeped out by the suggestion to go take a look.
“But until just a little while ago, you could still hear crying sounds from the hill at night⌔
That was why rumors had spreadâthat the ghost of someone who died when the dungeon appeared still lingered there.
Or that the monster who had devoured them was mimicking human voices it had stolen.
To think that such a place had begun to be inhabited. Or was it really nothing at all?
“More importantly, who are the people living there now? Where are they from?”
Then, the person who had first brought it up perked up with excitement, eyes gleaming as they began to speak.
“I was just about to tell you! It’s a young couple.”
“A couple?”
“Yeah! But thatâs not even the important part. Both of them are insanely beautiful and handsome!”
At that, the villagers let out a half-hearted sound, clearly unimpressed.
“Whatâs with those faces?”
“Do you even have to ask? Last time you said your boyfriend was handsome, everyone got excited, only to find out it was Reuben the shepherd. After that, people started questioning your eyesight. I mean, calling something that looks like a squashed lump of cheese handsome?”
“What? A squashed lump of cheese? Did you really just say that?!”
“Whatever, just tell usâwhat do they actually look like?”
“Um, well, the guyâs super tall and broad-shouldered, and he has golden hair⌔
Just as she got that far, her expression suddenly went hazy.
It wasnât just her. Everyone gathered around the well suddenly stopped talking and stared blankly up at the sky.
After a long moment, they all flinched at once, like waking from a dream. Focus returned to their eyes.
âHuh? What⌠were we talking about again?â
