Holy Night: My Husband is Definitely a Paladin - Chapter 333
TL: Elphie / PR: Mikan
But the Hand of Appraisal didnāt tell the others right away.
What heād found was, after all, nothing more than a trace.
āCome to think of it, there was one among the monsters who used to lurk here that had an unusually high miasma resistance.ā
There was a three-thousand-eyed demon who claimed to be a pacifist, a young being who had only existed for a thousand years in human time, and who cried so hard to return to his world.
While theyād been using an artifact to send other creatures back through the portal to the monster realm, that one had quietly vanished without a word. The spatial barrier had weakened around that time, so theyād all assumed heād slipped back home on his own.
But now, the Hand was starting to wonder. What if that thing wasnāt just from the demon realm? What if he was from a higher dimension?
Anyway, after confirming the traces, the Hand of Appraisal spent the entire day wandering around the small dungeon, trying to find another clue.
[Hey! At least earn your keep!]
Chomp-chomp tried to pull the hand out, as it hadnāt left the place all day, but the Hand ignored him and kept moving around inside.
After several days like that, the Hand finally found what it had been looking for.
There were traces of a high-dimensional rift having opened multiple times. As the Hand felt around the area, it sensed a warping of space.
Moments later, a small passageway formed, just barely wide enough for the Hand of Appraisal to squeeze through.
Seeing it, the hand confirmed its theory.
āSo this is how other monsters came through to this place.ā
The Hand left four fingers still anchored in the human world, and slid the remaining three fingers into the passage.
There was no immediate sensation of its fingers being bitten off or devoured.
Instead, what the Hand of Appraisal saw was a bizarre, grotesque world unmistakably of a higher dimension.
Of course, there was no reason to believe its actual body was in there.
Now wondering what to do next, the Hand of Appraisal withdrew its fingers and began rummaging through every corner of the dungeon.
Because they lacked proper storage space in the house, Michael had ordered Chomp-chomp to stash all sorts of things in the dungeonāartifacts, other valuables, and even cleaning supplies.
The Hand of Appraisal searched the area and picked out the artifacts it needed.
Then, while Irene, Michael, and Chomp-chomp were out having fun, it slipped out and left a short note by the entrance:
<The body. Iām going to the Monster Realm to check something out.>
To be honest, if the Hand had just told the three of them it had finally found a lead and asked for help, they definitely would have come.
But just as they had grown attached to the Hand, so too had the hand grown attached to them.
Rather than drag those whose defenses against miasma were weak and whose mana reserves were diminished into a place that might not even hold the answer, it seemed better to go alone, scout it out, and only tell them if the lead turned out to be real.
With that in mind, the Hand of Appraisal departed for the higher dimension alone.
* * *
[No, seriously, what happens next? I’m dying to know.]
As Chomp-chomp read the handwriting of the Hand of Appraisal, it munched on a salad with loud crunches and spoke in a disinterested tone, as if reading a boring book.
Veins bulged on the back of the Handās palm at Chomp-chompās casual remark.
– Anyway, since Iāve found the higher dimension where my body is, go pack, will you? You said youād help me find it, didnāt you? Huh? Huh?
Irritated, the Hand burst into a string of demonic finger-gestures, clearly fed up. Chomp-chomp clucked its tongue.
A promise was a promise. As annoying as it was, it had to be honored.
Michael, who had been seated, rose to his feet.
“Iāll go.”
At his words, Irene looked up at him in alarm.
“Youāll go? Donāt tell me youāre thinking of going alone?”
“Were you thinking of coming with me?”
Michael and Irene looked at each other like the other was being completely absurd.
“Michael, didnāt Chomp-chomp say your miasma resistance is lower than mine right now?”
“But Iām the one who still has mana.”
“Did you forget? Purification magic can be used as a weapon in the Monster Realm.”
As Irene extended her hand, with the ring clearly visible on her finger, she couldnāt help but recall the past. The rings they had worn when they first met had been scarred and worn, much like when they had first discovered them. But now, though it wasn’t flawless and still showed some imperfections, it had been cleaned up and looked far tidier compared to before.
“When we checked in the temple last time, it was ranked as Grade 3, remember? It might… have improved by now.”
Irene cleared her throat, her face turning a little red.
Though not as powerful as it once was, Michael still had miasma within him. Occasionally, that miasma would clash with the divine energy inside him.
It wasn’t life-threatening or anything.
The real problem came when it was harder for him to suppress his desires, especially when it came to Irene.
