I was accidentally injured by God and I just want to be an ordinary person

"Ahh... just take this as Fukagan's agreement, okay?"

"I'll consider this as a favor for my last hospitality."

As if anticipating Ella's reaction, Shen Gan slowly shifted his gaze back to Ella.

"Well, I don't mind."

Rather, it was the best deal to get Shen Gan's help in exchange for just a one-night stay. Moreover, I had a vague glimpse of Shen Gan's petite body on the day of my stay... No matter how you look at it, I owed her a favor.

"Then the plan is set—"

Chapter 69: Blockade

*At 06:03 AM on December 17, 6186, the Eastern Clock Tower of the Holy Academy

It was the early morning of the last day of the assessment. The sun had not yet risen, so the fog, characteristic of winter dawns, was still thick, adding a touch of mystery to this seemingly lifeless medieval town.

——This kind of weather may be more suitable for a sneak attack.

Thinking this, Ella turned back to check on her companions—Lutee and Angeline. They had chosen this location because the town's clock tower was very close to Hela's optimal sniping range, a thousand yards away. Furthermore, Shen Gan had already discovered Iris's location.

After yesterday's "cooperation" with Oak, both teams came to the conclusion that it would be better to fight separately in two places rather than fighting together with unskilled cooperation.

Lotte's sniping would definitely cause Iris immense trouble, so he simply assigned Anjeni and Ella to protect Lotte, while Oak and his companions could handle the frontal assault. Oak had promised that, with enough high-level magic potions, they could summon dozens of monsters to contain Iris, weakening her strength and giving Lotte ample time to snipe and kill. In fact, when he had just enchanted the monsters summoned by Oak and his companions, they had indeed summoned nearly thirty of them.

However, judging from Oak's words, it seemed that Oak and his group had taken the initiative to treat themselves as pawns and handed over the main attacking power to Ella.

This was also why Ella had chosen to strike back in the early morning. Even if Oak's group failed, they would still have enough time to get up and reach the finish line, provided they could defeat Iris and obtain enough magic cores to hand over to Oak's team.

"Fortunately, Her Highness Iris didn't hide her location."

The one who spoke was Lotte, who was holding Hela.

Angelique nodded continuously as if expressing deep agreement.

"Yeah, luckily Fuka-chan was able to find out Iris-senpai's location beforehand, otherwise we would have had to resort to skirmish."

The advance reconnaissance that Angeline mentioned was referring to Shen Gan's exploration of Iris's ambush site a few hours ago. Thanks to this, Ella and the others made minor changes to the battle plan.

"Well, let's put that aside for now. Let's choose the highest clock tower in town as the battle location. It's on higher ground, which is suitable for Lotte to fight. And even if Iris comes, Angeline can use the densely packed buildings to jump and attack, right?"

"Of course I can, but Ella is being too cruel to me!"

"Well, if Miss Angeline stands by and watches, won't she feel even worse?"

"Hmm... That's true. Let's go now, then."

"I hope Oak and the others can hold on a little longer..."

After praying silently for a moment, Ella continued to walk through the thick fog and soon arrived in front of the clock tower that could be clearly seen even from a distance.

Because this small town is located on the border of the Supreme Sacred Academy, it naturally attracts many tourists. However, due to the ban of the Supreme Sacred Academy, it now looks like a deserted city.

This clock tower is about three stories high. The first floor is used as a church by the residents of the town, while only special personnel are allowed to go up to the second and third floors. Not to mention the function of the second floor, the third floor is naturally used for the clock tower on top. At the same time, the clock tower is also equipped with a small pavilion on the top that is similar to an attic and has a large clock hanging on it.

The sniper location chosen by Ruthie was in that attic.

After easily entering the church on the first floor, Ella and the other two reached the second floor of the clock tower. However, from here, no matter how hard they looked, they could not find the stairs leading from the second floor to the third floor. Even when Ella used the "Topography Search" function, she could only see that the third floor and the second floor were two completely separate places.

"No stairs...?"

Ella fell into thought and murmured softly. Normally, there was no way there was no staircase here, so she must have overlooked something.

While I was thinking, I heard Angelica's voice from the window beside me.

"Little Ella, the stairs are here~"

Following the sound to the window, Ella stuck her head out.

"Stairs? Isn't this just a ladder?"

Connecting the second floor to the main clock tower is a simple ladder made of ropes and wooden strips. Judging from the moss growing on the edges of the wooden strips, this ladder is already quite old.

"I should be able to climb up to the roof of the clock tower with this. Do you need my help, Ella?"

As she said this, Angelique stretched out her hand from the ladder, motioning Ella in the window to grab her.

"I can do it myself, Angelina, come down. I'll go up and take a look first. Lotte, follow me."

"Okay, Miss Ella."

『Floating Technique』

Waving the Pestle of Heavenly Punishment to cast gravity-reducing magic on herself and Lotte, Ella jumped out of the window, carefully stepped onto the roof of the second floor, moved to the front of the protruding clock tower, climbed up the creaking ladder that seemed like it would break at any moment, and stepped into the clock tower whose top was only the size of a bedroom.

Perhaps because people come here frequently, the place is very clean. Only a small black box placed one step away from him attracted his attention.

“…I have this really, really bad feeling…”

"Miss Ella, what's wrong?"

Lotte, who had climbed the ladder behind him, also stepped into the clock tower and looked at Ella, who had been muttering, with a puzzled look on her face.

"Wait, don't come over here. There seems to be something stuck on the box. Anyway, let me take a look first."

—A bad feeling. It's probably an unconscious feeling, a collection of tiny, negative emotions. It's probably something like a shoelace breaking on the way out, or a black cat running past, something that stems from supernatural superstitions.

But in fact, that ominous premonition does exist in reality.

With an expression as if she had seen a black cat scurry past, Ella cast the "Iron Wall Strengthening" spell on herself, then quietly approached the black box, carefully removed the note from the lid, and confirmed the contents.

drop--

As if some program had been activated, a mechanical sound reminiscent of an explosion was heard.

"Ms. Ella, this is..."

Hearing the strange sound coming from the box, Lotte became nervous instantly. In fact, she had heard this sound many times. In fact, she had often heard it in the "Magic Specialization Department" club before. It was the sound of a magic device being activated.

Not daring to move easily, Ella felt her hair stand on end at this moment. She only dared to twist the hand that picked up the note to check the information on it.

"Dedicated to the lovely Ella-chan:

How could I easily pass over a building like the Clock Tower? This black box is a gift specially prepared for Ella-chan, who might have thought of this plan. I'll know once it's activated, so please wait here patiently. By the way, if you wander off, it'll explode like a firework. Also, I've set a time limit, thinking Ella-chan might seek allies. If Ella-chan's companions hold me back for too long, this specially crafted magic bomb will explode, so please don't hesitate to call for help.

“…You must be kidding.”

Facing a development that could be called both expected and unexpected, Ella felt a slight dizziness, her vision limp and crooked, and she even felt a desire to collapse.

After tearing off the note, a countdown consisting of a mechanical stopwatch appeared on the black box lid. It should be the type that will explode when both hands point to 12 o'clock at the same time. The remaining time is 6 minutes and 47 seconds.

Chapter 70: Get Half a Piece

"Miss Ella, is this Her Majesty Iris's magical weapon?"

Lotte behind her took a step forward without hesitation, came to Ella and began to read the note.

Seeing Lotte approaching her, Ella shouted anxiously.

"Don't come over here! I don't know how powerful this thing is. What if it's too powerful for the magic shield to withstand—"

"Leave it to me, Miss Ella."

With a fierce look between her brows, Lotte stared at Ella with a serious look.

"If it's just what you imagine, it should be fine."

"but……"

"Ella-chan, Lotte-chan, what's wrong? What happened—?"

Angelique, who was still waiting at the foot of the clock tower, called out in a long voice. Ella and Lotte, who had gone up, had not responded since a while ago, which made Angelique feel worried.

"It's a bomb, Miss Angelini, run away first!"

"Hey! Don't give up like that! Is there nothing I can do to help?!"

Lotte, who had carefully moved to the front of the black box, hesitated for a moment.

"Uh, then please go to the church and bring the black curtains!"

“Oh! I see!”

Angelica's somewhat anxious voice came from under the clock tower. Judging from the voice, she should have run away to the church to get the curtain.

She rolled up her skirt slightly, and the various tools in the subspace under her skirt fell to the ground with a jingle. She squatted down on the spot and began to observe the black box in front of her.

There are 6 special nails fixing the lid of the box - this kind of nails cannot be simply pulled out directly, and must be twisted in a certain direction to slowly release it - if you look closely, you will find that one of the nails inside is loose.

Common pitfalls.

Lotte made this decision in her heart.

This must be a reverse nail. If you want to open the box and turn the nail to the left, it will tighten it instead and trigger the switch of the detonator. This design has been mentioned in previous lectures. If there is such a design, it means that we should consider that the remaining 5 special nails will also be traps.

In short, when Lotte wanted to insert the utility knife specially used to remove this kind of nails into the gap of the box lid from the part slightly raised by the reverse nail to check inside the gap, Lotte's hand stopped.

——The gap between the box and its lid was sealed with some black glue.

He swallowed his saliva subconsciously, and his dry throat made a gurgling sound.

"So... it's a light-sensitive detonator—or perhaps it's sealed with a light-sensitive gas, and when the lid is opened, light enters the box—or the gas is released, causing a change in pressure that causes an explosion... right?"

If it is the latter, then it is already a dying situation.

If there was magic that could detect enclosed objects, that would be another matter, but neither he nor Ella had learned that kind of magic.

"Lotte, here are the curtains!"

"Ah, well, just leave it there. I'll go get it myself."

"Lotte, does it look like you can handle this?"

Fearing that entering the clock tower might cause unexpected harm, Angeline simply stood on the ladder, watching Lotte and Ella with only her head sticking out.

"I don't know... but even so, it has to be done. Miss Angelini, please run ahead."

"Are you planning to leave me alone? I'm not going anywhere!"

Angelique protested with a dissatisfied expression.

"Lutee too. Lotte and Angeline, go together. I can deploy a magic shield that should be able to handle the explosion. Please, let's go to the shelter, okay?"

"No, this is the only thing I cannot agree to. Miss Ella, please wait a moment."

"Well……"

After being decisively rejected by Lotte, Ella remained motionless holding the note, but beads of sweat appeared on her face.

"Lotte is staying here to disarm the magical weapons. Angelique, why don't you go and keep watch from a distance? Iris left a note saying she'll be here soon. If she comes, everything will be over, right? Go and help us keep watch."

Ella looked at Angeline with anticipation.

"Hmm... well... don't get blown up, okay? Can we make a deal?"

"Yeah, it's okay. It's a deal."

Forcing a smile, Ella comforted Angelini.

“Hmm—, then, go for it!”

Instead of agreeing readily, Angelini put down the black curtain with a frown, pouting lips and an unwilling expression, picked up the sickle and disappeared into the building complex.

Ella lowered her head and exchanged glances with Lotte, who was holding up the curtain.

"Then... let's begin."

Although I can switch to the Loli God state after Angelini leaves, since Iris can even place bombs in advance, there is no guarantee that there is no magic with surveillance effects here, so I can only wait for Lotte to finish.

Although I felt that Iris would not put anything life-threatening in it, that was just my subjective opinion. What if it was really as Iris said - no, considering Iris's playful smile, the things in it might be more terrifying than an explosion.

"call--"

She let out a long breath. Considering the fact that the box was placed in the attic where birds might stand on it at any time, it was almost certain that there was no object sensing device installed on the surface of the box, so it would not explode when touched. Lotte covered the box with a curtain and began to explore it with her hands.

First, place your hand through the curtain and, feeling around with your hand, tap lightly with your knuckles on the surface of the box from above.

Things like vibration sensors are basically positioned downwards by gravity, so it is difficult for them to respond to vertical impacts.

Use your fingers to knock on the lid of the box and rely on the sound of the reaction to find the hollow part, so as to determine the point where the iron cone should be aimed. Then cut a piece of airtight special material about five centimeters long and temporarily stick it next to the point where the hole was opened with the iron cone. This is so that if gas is ejected from the hole, the hole can be quickly blocked with this airtight special material before the air pressure changes significantly.