Holy Night: My Husband is Definitely a Paladin - Chapter 47
“Looks like it’s a binding artifact.”
Inside the appraisal room in the fortress, the attendant examined the ring tightly clinging onto Irene’s finger.
“Have you had any symptoms of dizziness, nausea, anxiety, chills, vomiting, or anything else?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
Irene mumbled weakly, staring at her finger as if she couldn’t believe what was happening.
‘A binding artifact.’
That meant it permanently stuck to the wearer. When the nature of this property was first discovered, the Alliance of Kingdoms reportedly deliberated for months on whether to classify it as a curse or not. However, once it was confirmed that the binding itself had no adverse effects on the subject, it was categorized as an independent property.
‘Binding artifacts are extremely rare.’
Once owned, they could never be owned by another. Therefore, artifacts with the binding property fetched a hefty price in the market. But that was only before it became bound to someone. Once bound, it became useless to others, as only the owner could harness its power.
“If only I had known, I wouldn’t have put it on.”
Irene let out a long sigh. Despite lacking any special powers, many people valued artifacts with binding properties for their own sake. If she had kept it after it had been appraised, she could have gotten quite a bit of money for it from people who wanted to own a binding artifact.
“So what will you do?” asked the attendant. “We’ve already confirmed that it’s a binding artifact. Would you like to get a full appraisal?”
Irene shook her head. “No, there’s no need. It’s already bound, so there’s no point in going through with it.”
Besides, she didn’t have 10,000 gold to pay for an appraisal.
It was then that Michael, who had been silent the entire time, spoke up.
“Please proceed with the appraisal.”
“What? No! I don’t have that kind of money…”
“I’ll cover the cost, so you don’t need to worry about it.”
“But… Is it really necessary to appraise something like this?”
At a glance, it seemed like a plain and unassuming ring. While it was surprising that it had the binding property, there didn’t seem to be any extraordinary abilities associated with it. So, was it really worth spending 10,000 gold on this?
“Since I’m the one who gave you this item, I would at least like to confirm what it is.”
The attendant agreed. “True. You may not feel it right now, but sometimes there are some properties like curses that can manifest later on.”
“Then…I suppose it can’t be helped. Please proceed.”
At the mention of curses, Irene’s resolve weakened. Not knowing exactly what had bound itself to her was a bit unsettling. Considering that Michael would cover the appraisal cost, she had no reason to decline further.
“Well then, let’s go inside.”
The attendant led them further inside. They opened the ornate doors and stepped inside, where a severed hand lay on a large desk.
‘So this is the Hand of Appraisal.’
It was an artifact that was said to have appeared in the first dungeons of the continent. In her previous life, Irene had only heard stories about it but never had the chance to see it.
“Now, place your hand here. I must warn you, the sensation when the Hand touches you might be unpleasant, but please bear with it. This one gets startled easily too.”
Referring to such a fearsome-looking artifact as “this one” was quite unexpected. Irene nodded, thinking to herself that not everyone must be suited to this kind of work, especially when the artifact is so frightening to look at.
“Alright.”
As Irene followed the attendant’s instructions and sat down, the Appraisal Hand seemed to be waiting, creeping towards her hand as she placed it on the table. Carefully tapping Irene’s ring, it quickly started moving back and forth over her hand. It looked like it was…excited?
The attendant’s eyes lit up. “Judging by how swiftly the Hand of Appraisal is moving, it seems to be an artifact with considerable power. When it comes into contact with something unique or powerful, it tends to move that fast.”
Irene felt even worse hearing that.
‘If I had known it was something like that, I would never have put it on.’
She even started resenting Michael a little for urging her to try it on.
The Hand of Appraisal, having roamed over Irene’s hand for quite some time, swiftly returned to its initial position. It then picked up a pen from there and quickly wrote something on a piece of paper.
“The Hand of Appraisal gives the name of the artifact it has identified, along with its characteristics. Ah, all done.”
The attendant moved the Hand aside and lifted the paper it had written on.
“The name of the ring is ‘Infinite Healing,’ and its ability is…”
In the next moment, the attendant’s eyes widened like they were about to pop out.
“…Increased purification power as it absorbs magic?”