Holy Night: My Husband is Definitely a Paladin - Chapter 317
TL: Elphie / PR: Mikan
In fact, each of them called that thing by a different name.
Chomp-chomp called it a subspace, Michael called it an abnormal passage, and Irene called it a black hole.
All three names were accurate in their own way.
After deciding to live in the house, the two of them immediately inspected the surroundings.
Just as the villagers had said, as they approached the house, a creepy feeling crept up on them, accompanied by strange sounds.
The moment they felt it, all of them said at the same time.
âItâs a dungeon.â
âItâs a dungeon.â
[Itâs a dungeon!]
Yep, definitely a dungeon.
Even the Hand of Appraisal wrote out the letters on the ground to confirm there was a dungeon nearby.
But it didnât make sense. The dungeon here had supposedly already been cleared long ago.
So was this a newly formed dungeon?
âDungeons never form in the same place twice.â
Once a space has been distorted, even after restoration, a faint disruption lingersâpreventing another dungeon from forming there.
If this really was a new dungeon, the question wasnât just why it formed in nearly the same place, but how it had gone unnoticed for so long.
And most puzzling of all: despite all that time, no monsters had emerged.
Then there was the sound. Not quite the wind, not quite weeping, just something. A strange, unpleasant sound drifting intermittently on the breeze.
A sound so unnerving, it made perfect sense why the villagers stayed far away.
Sensing the danger, Michael turned to Chomp-chomp before anyone else could react.
âGo check it out.â
[Huh? Me? No way! Thatâs scary!]
Chomp-chomp yelped and darted behind a nearby tree.
âWhat exactly is so scary about another monster to a monster like you?â
Michael looked at Chomp-chomp with a baffled expression.
[Humans are scared of ghosts too! And theyâre all human-shaped, arenât they?!]
Was that really the same thing?
Michael didnât argue the point. Instead, he narrowed his eyes, casting a cold, cutting stare toward Chomp-chomp. The kind of stare that asked: So, whoâs scarier? Me or whatâs in there?
Wilting under that gaze, Chomp-chomp wobbled his tendrils miserably and inched toward the abandoned house.
[Iâm going, Iâm going⌠Thus ends the life of your loyal Chomp-chompâŚ]
After grumbling for a good while and circling beneath the window, Chomp-chomp narrowed its tendril and slipped cleanly through a cracked pane of glass.
Michael, Irene, and the Hand of Appraisal all watched him go. Yes, Chomp-chomp really was the best for things like this, they thought.
A moment later, Chomp-chomp slid its body back out and returned.
Instead of whining about how scary or shocking it was, Chomp-chomp tilted a tendril, as if puzzled.
[Uh, so⌠There is a dungeon in there, but⌠somethingâs a little off.]
âHow is it off? Does it seem dangerous?â
Michael, ever sensitive to Ireneâs safety, asked quickly.
His expression said he was concerned that something inside might pose a threat to her.
[Itâs not that but, well, the entrance is really small. And those weird sounds? Theyâre from things echoing inside. Itâs like theyâre⌠trapped or something.]
Even after hearing the explanation, the two grew only more confused.
In the end, Irene and Michael decided to go in and see for themselves.
– Iâm not going in.
The Hand of Appraisal scrawled the words across the ground.
But Chomp-chomp, unimpressed, wrapped a few tendrils tightly around it and started dragging it along.
– Let go, you little brat!
[Hey, weâre all in the same boat. Stick together âtil the end, right?]
And just like that, all of them headed inside.
The inside of the abandoned house was an utter mess. It looked like the residents had fled in a panic when the dungeon emerged. Traces of their lives were still scattered everywhere.
On the dining table lay a plate with dried-up scraps of food, a fork and knife tossed aside. In the living room, a blanket was now lying crumpled on the floor.
Feeling a pang of sympathy at such clear signs of a hasty escape, Irene followed where Chomp-chomp led.
[Over here!]
What Chomp-chomp showed them was a black hole beneath the stairs. To anyoneâs eyes, it looked exactly like the entrance to a dungeon.
The only difference: it was unusually small.
Holding their breath, Irene and Michael carefully examined it.
Behind them, Chomp-chomp and the Hand of Identification were bickeringâ
– Let go, you brat!
[No! We die together!]
Unbothered, Irene and Michael took the Eye of Exploration theyâd brought from the Fortress and sent it into the black hole.
Moments later, the Eye returned and relayed what the inside of the dungeon looked like and what lay within.
