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

Naturally, Ella refused them on the grounds of being unwell. Besides not knowing how to dance, her reason was also that she did not want to dance with men. Fortunately, those nobles consciously stopped pestering her and gave up on Ella, looking for other dance partners.

As for Camisia and Lotte, they were changing clothes backstage because they wanted to change into formal clothes.

[If I had known earlier, I would have gone with Camisia and the others. ]

Although I don't like constantly changing clothes, it's better to be with Camisia and the others than in this awkward situation where I don't know what to do.

"What is Ella thinking?"

Just as Ella was thinking about all sorts of things in her mind, she suddenly felt a cool sensation on the side of her face. She turned her head and found that the person who came was Angeline with a pair of water-blue eyes, and the object that felt cool was fruit wine with ice cubes.

"Eh? Angeline? Didn't Angeline just go out to demonstrate how to brew black tea? How come she's back so soon?"

Brewing black tea refers to the process before the dinner started when Angeline said she wanted to perform the magic of brewing black tea for her fellow elves. Of course, the brewing process she used was not the kind that would turn plants into charcoal, but the tea-brewing process from another world that was taught by Ella during the bridal training.

Hearing Ella's words, Angeline first blinked her eyes with long eyelashes, then pounced on Ella and rubbed her with her cheek.

Chapter 75: The Academy Journey Will Finally Come to an End

"Hey, Angelina, this is outside, and you're a puppy! Also, the fruit wine is about to spill!"

As a healer, Ella certainly couldn't withstand Angeline's arm strength. She was pushed against the wall by Angeline and continued to rub her face.

"I... I've finally been acknowledged by them. Wow, this is the first time since leaving the land of elves that someone of my kind has acknowledged me as an elf. This is the first time my black tea has been praised for being delicious..."

As Angelique sobbed, Ella felt as if some warm liquid was on her face. Her hand, which was originally intended to push Angelique away, froze in the air. In the end, she could only smile bitterly and gently pat Angelique's slender back, saying comforting words.

Judging from Angelina's expression, it must have been successful... Well, although it's something to be happy about, I'm still a little troubled.

After about a few minutes, Angeline ended her intimate behavior and nodded vigorously to Ella, as if she had made some decision in her heart.

"I've decided. I'll be spending the rest of my vacation with little Ella."

"Eh? You're not going back to the Elf Country? If I tell the teachers there about this, they'll probably be happy, right?"

Originally, Ella thought that she would stay in the academy during the winter vacation, spending her days hugging the fireplace and eating mandarin oranges. So, someone like Angelica who couldn't sit still would probably choose to take this opportunity to go home.

But Angelina pouted as if she was angry.

"It's been so long since I've been back, so it won't matter if I stay a little longer. I'm sure I'll learn a lot if I stay with little Ella the whole time."

“Uh…”

Ella stammered in her response to Angeline. Honestly, she didn't think Angeline had any potential as a bride... No, she should have said something comforting like "If Angeline becomes an adventurer, she will definitely become a Crimson Gold-rank adventurer!" But for now, let's make Angeline happy.

Taking out a handkerchief from the storage, Ella imitated Lotte and wiped the remaining tears from Angelini's face. However, because her movements were a little clumsy, she could occasionally see Angelini showing a look of pain. However, Angelini did not point this out, so Ella did not know.

"That's fine, but if Angeline wakes me up while I'm sleeping, I'll have Camisia throw you into the snow, okay?"

"Eh... Little Ella really is a devil..."

"You can't interrupt your nap time!"

"So, you're the type who likes to sleep in, huh?"

Hearing the familiar name, Ella turned her head and found that it was Shen Gan who was wearing a gorgeous orange dress. Because it was a long dress with the hem dragging on the ground, she must have spent some effort to dress up, and was not forced to come in like herself.

"Fukan? I didn't know Fukan would participate in this kind of event."

"Ahaha—I'm a little curious about how I look like to you, Senpai. Singing outside in this kind of weather is out of the question, no matter what."

“Ah, that’s right…”

"Besides, Senpai, you should take care of yourself more than me. That annoying woman is here."

Shen Gan turned his head and looked at Ella's other side with an expressionless face.

"A disgusting woman?"

For a moment, Ella didn't understand what Shen Gan was saying and showed a puzzled expression until the person Shen Gan was talking about spoke.

"Ah, am I that annoying? Fuka-chan, I do hold grudges, you know?"

"I'm just expressing my own opinion. What you do is up to you. By the way, I also hold grudges."

“Hohoho——?”

Ella, who already knew from the conversation that the person coming was Iris, quickly acted as a mediator to keep some distance between the two people who were staring at each other.

Because there was a big height difference between herself and Iris, Ella chose to pull Shen Gan back. However, Iris seemed to think that Ella was protecting Shen Gan, so she showed a very dissatisfied expression.

"As expected, little Ella has started to dislike me too."

"Huh—I've heard this joke so many times. Elise, why don't you try something different?"

"Oh, what a shame! I thought little Ella would come up and wave her hands anxiously to explain."

Retracting her pretended dissatisfaction, Iris put on a serious expression and clapped her hands gently, asking Ella and the other two to turn their attention to her. Although the people around her also cast their eyes over, after noticing that the atmosphere here seemed very tense, they quickly turned their heads back with an expression as if they had seen something terrifying.

Don’t pay attention to those people, Iris said seriously.

"Actually, this assessment has another purpose."

"Another purpose? Iris, you're not going to play a trick on me again, are you?"

"You're talking about Aira-chan's true strength?"

With the corners of her mouth slightly raised, Iris gave Ella a meaningful smile.

"Tsk, he's really an annoying person. Senior, let's go find Lotte-senpai and the others."

"Uh...ah...Fukan and Angelica, please go first. I suddenly remembered that I have something to tell Iris."

Ella responded to Shen Gan's pull somewhat stiffly, but Shen Gan seemed to notice Ella's unnaturalness.

"Ku—handle?"

"How could Iris-senpai do something so outrageous? Fuka-chan, you're overthinking it. Let's leave this to Iris-senpai and Ella-chan. Let's go find Lotte-chan and Camisia-san."

Just like that, with an unwilling expression on his face, Shen Gan was dragged away by Angelini. However, Ella originally thought that Iris would say something to provoke Shen Gan at this time, but Iris didn't seem to have such an idea now, but looked at her with interest.

"Why do you know my true strength? How much does Iris know? No, calm down first and slowly try to get information from Iris. Getting too excited will only reveal more..."

With this mentality, Ella sighed.

"I don't know what Iris wants to say, but why don't we talk outside?"

"Hmm~hmm? If Ella-chan likes it."

Iris casually picked up the wine glass that had just been filled by the waiter and took a sip, then followed Ella slowly out of the pastry shop.

The streets were covered with a thin layer of white snow, and only the light coming through from the shops on both sides made people feel lively. Due to the cold weather, there were very few pedestrians and carriages passing by. The moon was covered by clouds, and the whole night seemed unusually deserted.

"ha--"

Feeling a little cold, Ella cupped her hands and blew on them continuously, white mist rising from both sides of her cheeks. Although she looked like she was fine, she was actually starting to feel nervous inside.

Why did Iris suddenly mention her true strength? She didn't think it was just a joke, but what exactly she was talking about would require her to slowly figure out through the conversation.

What is certain for now is that Iris is not sure whether she has that ability, otherwise she would not be the only one meeting with her alone like this.

Let’s just play dumb for now.

"What are you talking about, real strength, Iris?"

"It's just the two of us here, okay? It's okay if you tell me openly. I won't blame Ella for this—I just want to find out what happened."

[Speak out openly? Blame? The reason for the incident? Have I done anything that would be blamed?]

Ella couldn't help but feel puzzled. Even when she first arrived at the Sacred Academy, during that time when she was penniless, she hadn't exploited her rank to do anything harmful. And at a time like this, shouldn't her rank be the first thing to be mentioned? Suddenly, mentioning something like she'd done something bad seemed a bit strange.

Under the dim light of the venue, Iris found that Ella was looking at her with eyes wide open, asking for help, as if she had no idea what was going on.

Sighing slightly, Iris put her hand on Ella's head and rubbed it roughly.

"You, have you forgotten what you did?"

"Eh? Did I do anything? Are you talking about that accidental healing spell back in Ryan Town that was considered a miracle? No way... That's something from long ago, and it's definitely been sealed by the royal family of the Kingdom of Barris."

Finding that Ella still had no reaction, Iris showed a slightly annoyed expression and tapped Ella's head lightly, and this action finally made Ella react.

"It hurts, it hurts, Iris, what are you doing?!"

"Could it really not have been Ella-chan's doing? The destruction of the Holy Pillar in the East Church of the Holy Academy was caused by Ella-chan, wasn't it?! Although I initially suspected the Seal of Original Sin, it's impossible for it to remain silent for so long. Even the thorough search of all students during the assessments found no trace of it, making it even more impossible. There are many people in the entire academy who could destroy the Holy Pillar, but they all have conditions. After eliminating them one by one, the only one left is Ella-chan, right?"

Ella, who held her head with both hands to prevent Iris from touching her head, raised her head after hearing Iris's somewhat anxious words.

"Holy Pillar?"

If I remember correctly, it was when I first entered school. I felt that I had been tricked by the Holy Pillar, so I accidentally smashed it in anger... At that time, I was in swordsman mode at level 50.

However, from Iris's words, it can be clearly seen that these are all Iris's speculations, so Iris is not sure whether she did it. There is no function to check the level on the Holy Pillar, so Iris absolutely cannot know her level at that time.

"Yes, that pillar that shattered when Ella-chan entered school. It was you, Ella-chan, who used the 'Spirit Summoning' magic to smash it, right? We had originally planned to test the power of Ella-chan's 'Spirit Summoning' magic in this exam, but that little dragon ruined the plan before Ella-chan could use it—"

"Wait, Iris, are you talking about the 'Seance' magic?"

At that moment, Ella had the urge to spit out all the juice she had drunk tonight. She thought Iris had noticed her level, but she didn't expect it was the "summoning" magic that was explained in the lava cave before.

If that's the case, it doesn't matter even if I admit it. Although the compensation from the Holy Pillar will definitely be a huge sum of money, it is much better than discovering my true identity. Besides, I did it myself after all, so it's only natural for me to admit it. I just hope that I won't be forced to drop out of school by the academy.

[Luckily... I didn't use the 『Ice Freezing Technique』, otherwise...]

While congratulating herself, Ella lowered her hands from her head and blinked innocently.

"That thing... yes, I did it... but that was also because the design of the Sacred Pillar was unreasonable!"

"Is the design unreasonable?"

Not quite understanding, Iris repeated Ella's words.

“That’s right, obviously—”

Then, Ella omitted her own level and recounted how the Holy Pillar had played tricks on her height. As for the level bonus that was accidentally shattered, she changed it to say that she had used the "Spirit Summoning" magic to shatter it in anger.

“Hmm—it’s true that this aspect is not well designed, but I’ve mentioned this to Ella-chan so many times before, and she didn’t react at all—”

"Isn't that because you're bound to lose a lot of money?"

Looking at Ella's pitiful expression as she looked up at her, Iris reached out again and ruffled Ella's golden hair.

"Anyway, it's enough to know who did it. Seriously, I thought it was the Mark of Original Sin and was worried for a while - I'll take care of this for Ella-chan, so Ella-chan, just enjoy your vacation without worry."

"Eh? No need for compensation?"

"The academy isn't such a stingy person. If—if they knew there was a student with such ability, they would definitely devote more resources to training him. However…if Aira-chan wants to compensate me, you can also compensate me with your body, right?"

"Ahahaha... Then I'll leave it to Elise-senpai."

Ella imitated Angelica and put her hands together in front of her chest as if asking for help.

Faced with Ella's awkward posture that was not very well imitated, Iris turned around and waved her hand helplessly.

“Ah~ah, really.”

Then, just as they were about to enter the venue, Elise turned around and said to Ella, who breathed a sigh of relief.

"After all, it's better to ask for some compensation. How about a dance together?"

"Ugh—I, I can't dance..."

"Ah~ah, how on earth did Camisia teach Ella-chan? She's just doting on me. I'll teach you. There shouldn't be any problems in this regard, right? The princess of the God-man clan and the princess of the Demon clan... unexpectedly, they're a perfect match?"

At the end of her speech, Iris's voice gradually became softer and she revealed a slightly amused smile.

"Well, whether you're willing or not is up to Ella-chan. I'll go in first."

After saying this, Iris walked into the venue.

Then Lotte in a white dress and Camisia in a red dress trotted out from the venue.

"Ms. Ella, I see you're here."

"Princess, Iris didn't do anything to you, did she? I heard from the Dragon Princess—"

Looking at Lotte and Camisia who were asking her about it with concern, Ella completely relaxed and stretched out her body.

"There's nothing here. This is a rare opportunity, so why don't you go in and dance? But first I have to learn how to do it."

"Eh? Eh, is Miss Ella inviting us?"

"That's right."

Pushing Lotte, whose cheeks were slightly flushed, and Camisia, who had a relieved expression, from behind, the loli girl Elelaya temporarily drew the curtain on the stage of the Holy Academy.