Holy Night: My Husband is Definitely a Paladin - Chapter 46
Not every trinket that looked like jewelry had magical powers. To determine whether the item was an artifact, they had to take it to the appraisal room inside the fortress. There, youâll find the Hand of Appraisal, an artifact owned by the Alliance of Kingdoms.
The Hand of Appraisal was shaped like a desiccated, severed mummyâs hand with seven fingers. However, much like the Eye of Exploration, it came to life as soon as it was activated.
When presented with an item found in the dungeons, the Hand of Appraisal examines it thoroughly, noting down its name and abilities.
âItâs very useful, but thereâs a big downsideâit costs a lot of money.â
Because it was owned by the money-grubbing Alliance of Kingdoms, artifact identification didnât come free. The fee for using the Hand of Appraisal for one item was 10,000 gold coins. And if it turns out the item was nothing extraordinary? Well, youâve lost money.
Nevertheless, people willing to pay that much for an appraisal because it was only then that they would be able to put an item up for auction.
Irene handed the ring to Michael and asked, âCould this be an artifact?â
âHard to say.â
âIn any case, I donât think thereâs anything else here besides this.â
Irene showed him the bottom of chest, as if to approve that she didnât secretly take anything else.
Seeing her do that, Michael offered a faint smile. âI donât suspect you of anything like that. Instead, why donât you try it on?â
He handed the ring back to Irene.
âThis?â
âI heard itâs customary among pairs to offer the first trinket they come across as a gift.â
âAh.â
Irene nodded. In fact, there were a number of pairs who would even keep running through dungeons until they obtained something they found a more suitable gift. Naturally, such matters had been entirely irrelevant to Irene in the past.
âSo please, take it.â
âWhat? But this is yours to keep, Sir MichaelâŚâ
âItâs no matter. If thatâs the custom, then you should have a gift too.â
With that firm response that seemed like it wouldnât take no for an answer, Irene looked at the ring on her palm.
âI wasnât expecting anything.â
He hadnât gotten her anything in their past life, so of course she assumed he wouldnât get her anything this time either. If they did find anything, she thought Michael would simply send it straight to the temple.
It wasnât even an official procedure or a temple traditionâit was just a playful and informal custom among pairs. Yet, Michael insisted that Irene should take it.
âThank you.â
Irene bowed her head graciously. There was no reason to refuse his gift.
âSince this is an intermediate dungeon, thereâs a good chance that this might be an artifact.â
Even if it wasnât, it was still from an unstable dungeon. That alone was enough to make it valuable to people outside the fortress. It would be good to save up some money because leaving and perhaps try getting it appraised.
âAt least, I can sell it outside for some money.â
Of course, Irene felt a little bad selling something that had been given as a token of their pair. But when she leaves the fortress, their pairing would be dissolved and she would likely never see him again. So she didnât let herself feel too sorry for selling it.
While Irene was contemplating how to handle the item, Michael spoke again.
âWhy donât you try it on?â
âBut what if itâs cursed? Wouldnât that be dangerous?â
A worry suddenly crossed her mind. It wasnât uncommon for some artifacts to be cursed. However, that didnât necessarily make them less valuable.
âOn the contrary, it sometimes made them more valuable because they could be used for assassination purposes.â
But if what she had right now was cursed, it could be dangerous to put it on immediately.
âIt should be fine. I donât sense any malicious energy.â
Encouraged by Michaelâs words, Irene examined the ring. If a paladin didnât feel anything unusual, then it was unlikely that the ring was cursed.
âIn that caseâŚâ
There was no need to reject his favor and goodwill by refusing.
Irene slid the ring onto her ring finger. It initially seemed a bit large, but strangely enough, when she slipped it on her finger, it fit like it was made for her.
Half-expecting to gain some magical ability upon wearing it, Irene was a bit disappointed. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like it was just a plain, clunky ring.
âI guess itâs not an artifact. I donât feel anything particularly different about it.â
âI see.â
Irene tried to take the ring off. Since it went on smoothly, taking it off shouldn’t be an issue.
â…Huh?â
But contrary to her expectations, the ring wouldn’t come off. No matter how much force she applied or how many times she tried, the ring clung to her finger like it was glued onto her.
“What’s going on?”
“This, ring, won’t, come off…!”
In a state of embarrassment and frustration, Irene suddenly recalled a certain possibility.
“Could it be… Is this a binding artifact…?”