Paladin of the Dead God

It was like receiving a black card with no spending limit.

‘For most people, this might be better than any miracle. Honestly, I kind of prefer this myself.’

When Isaac slipped the ring onto his finger, it fit perfectly, as though it had been custom-made. Belman smiled with satisfaction at the sight.

“Normally, when one joins the Platinum Society, there’s a special ceremony, and you’re given a new title. But since you already know about Midas’ Hand, we’ll skip all that.”

The moment he accepted the ring, Belman’s tone shifted from addressing him as ‘Holy Grail Knight’ to ‘Isaac.’ Isaac couldn’t tell whether this newfound familiarity was a good thing or a bad thing.

“Now, before we explain what Midas’ Hand truly is, allow me to first explain about our Platinum Society. It was established 455 years ago by then-Guild Leader Roheret…”

“Father.”

Leonora placed her teacup down with a loud clatter. Belman flinched, closing his mouth, only to open it again with a displeased expression.

“…We skipped the ceremony and even the title naming, as you said. But do we also have to skip explaining the history of our Society?”

“The burden of listening to such pointless stories is a pain that only our family should bear. Isaac wouldn’t be the least bit interested, so just get to the important part.”

“Tch.”

Isaac, who had been preparing to zone out as soon as Belman started talking about dates and history, felt grateful for Leonora’s sharp intervention.

In the end, Belman cut out all the preliminary explanations and got straight to the point.

“Midas’ Hand is a relic that grants wishes.”

“…Wishes?”

Belman nodded.

Isaac was caught off guard by the unexpected truth of Midas’ Hand.

“I thought it was a relic that creates gold.”

“Well, that’s understandable. Someone could certainly wish for a lot of gold. But if that’s all it was, would we really need to form a secret society to hunt it down? No, in that case, we’d be hunting it down just to destroy it.”

Isaac already knew why the Golden Idol Guild wouldn’t need a relic that simply created gold.

Though surprised, he understood.

‘Now that I think about it, whenever I played as the Golden Idol Guild, I always chose rewards related to financial gain. Those choices must have accumulated and influenced the result.’

The result was a world made of gold.

As Isaac recalled that scene, he suddenly realized how powerful and overwhelming a relic that could simply grant wishes would be.

There are countless legends about wish-granting relics, and in many faiths, there are relics with similar properties. However, they all come with limitations or severe penalties. But Midas’ Hand was a relic that, just by possessing it, held the power to trample the world.

A chill ran down Isaac’s spine.

‘Is it really okay for such a relic to be unrestrained? With such great power, there must be an equally significant penalty or counterbalance.’

At that moment, Belman spoke again.

“In fact, when you mentioned Midas’ Hand, I was quite surprised. You see, that name is just a placeholder we used to hide the true name of the relic. We didn’t want any other faiths or legends to match the clues and figure it out.”

“The true name of the relic?”

And as soon as Belman said the following words, Isaac realized the immense penalty attached to Midas’ Hand.

“Yes. The true name of Midas’ Hand is ‘The Monkey’s Paw.’”

Once upon a time, there was a man.

One day, the man happened to acquire a Monkey’s Paw that would grant three wishes. The man wished for a small sum of money. The next day, his son died in a horrible accident, leaving the man with insurance money that matched the amount he had wished for.

Devastated, the man used his second wish to bring his son back to life. Soon, someone began knocking on his door. Overjoyed, the man rushed to open it, but then he remembered the terrible state his son’s body had been in.

Panicking, the man used his third wish to send his son back to the grave. When he finally opened the door, the street outside was quiet and empty…

This was the rough outline of the story Isaac remembered about the Monkey’s Paw—a thing that grants wishes but twists them in the most undesirable ways.

‘This Monkey’s Paw might not be the same as that one.’

But for Midas’ Hand to hold such tremendous power, it would need a penalty of that magnitude. Looking back, it was obvious that no character in the game would have truly wanted to turn the entire world into gold just for the sake of acquiring wealth.

That was probably the result of the Monkey’s Paw effect.

‘In fact, even the myth of Midas itself is about a man destroyed by his own greed. It was practically a direct hint.’

Isaac found it curious that such a relic shared the same name in a world devoid of Greece. Then again, he couldn’t exactly understand why he had been dragged into this world either.

Perhaps there had been some philosopher from Greece in this world before him. Isaac didn’t think too deeply about it.

“You seem to be deep in thought.”

Outside the walls of Odryf, Leonora was walking alongside Isaac.

Behind them, countless people were cutting down trees, trimming grass, and leveling the ground. They were preparing to welcome the famous Dawn Army of Issacrea. Since the entire army couldn’t enter the city, they were setting up a military camp outside as a sign of hospitality.

Leonora, observing the land being prepared, spoke.

“Ever since you heard about ‘the Hand,’ you’ve seemed lost in thought. May I ask what’s on your mind?”