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

Chapter 42: Calm before departure

"Oh, I forgot to introduce you. This is my guest, Elelaya Enstanit, a high-ranking priestess of the Enstanit Church."

"Priest?...As expected, they're not the same person... But they look so similar... Even the name is the same."

Kmir muttered with his head down, and his voice, which he didn't try to control, made Leklik raise his eyebrows slightly.

"They really look alike? Lord Kmir, can you explain?"

Kmir's villain-like facial features relaxed, and after arranging his words a little, he spoke slowly.

"That was about a year ago. Back then, there was a white-haired swordswoman, also named Elelaya, who joined us in a subjugation team to investigate the forest for miracles. Although she looked very young, she was able to fight the silver wolf alone. She was also very kind, and the people in the city called her 'Princess'. She must be the daughter of a noble from another place."

"Ahahaha... There's actually someone with the same name as me. I must go find him when I get a chance. Now let's go to the forest first."

Although the topic was changed as abruptly as possible, Lekrik did not continue to pester her. After telling Ella that he needed to leave for a while to choose magical weapons suitable for hunting, he rode his horse to the back of the team.

Without any scruples, Kmir looked at Ella's face until Ella coughed twice and then he suddenly looked away.

"They do look alike... I remember telling her back then that the kingdom was holding a princess election. If she had gone, she would have been successful. Shouldn't I have given her more gold coins then..."

[No, no, I won't cause trouble for myself even if you give me more gold coins. But if there's a chance, I'll switch to the swordsman class and have a good chat with you.]

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Ella slowed down her horse and came to a position parallel to Camisia and the others. Although Lekrik said that hunting would start in the afternoon, it did not rule out that he would not start in the morning. Now that Lekrik did not give her time to communicate with the griffin, she had to change her plan. Of course, if there was a chance, it would be best to find an excuse to leave temporarily during the journey to facilitate finding the griffin and explain the encirclement plan in advance.

"What should we do now?"

In order to prevent the conversation from being overheard by others, Ella deliberately moved to a place away from the group.

"Ah~ah, Ella-chan, who usually doesn't think about anything, is so sensitive at this moment. How strange."

Iris covered her mouth with her hand and yawned lazily, looking completely unconcerned.

"After all, Lekrik and I are strangers. It's strange to suddenly invite me. There must be some ulterior motive, right? Isn't it natural to be on guard?"

"That's true, but Ella-chan's thinking is completely wrong. Wrong. Well, Ella-chan's way of telling the story is quite interesting, so let's not talk about it, okay?"

Iris curled up the corners of her mouth to reveal an interested smile, and turned to look at the others - except for Angelica, who had to leave the giant scythe outside because she had no storage props, the others didn't even change into combat uniforms, and came out with a completely playful mentality.

"Miss Ella is so proactive this time, I'm a little uncomfortable with that."

"Yes, indeed, the princess's response this time was somewhat unexpected. However, even so, I will still intervene at the critical moment."

"Ah, I feel relieved with what Camisia said."

Ella let out a long breath, and the condensed white mist dissipated in the winter air. Since she was wearing the "Healing Miracle" suitable for combat today, she didn't feel cold. However, if it were the armored soldiers traveling with her, they would probably feel like they were in an ice cellar.

Feeling somewhat helpless at Ella's nervousness, Iris, who was wearing a beige coat, waved her hand.

"Well, since it's rare for Aira-chan to think on her own for once, how about you tell me your plan?"

"Hmm... the plan... is just to fight back if they attack us. Nothing special."

No matter how you look at it, the gap in strength between the two sides is too great to launch an action that can be called a plan. After all, Camisia alone can handle them all, and it is impossible for him and his group to use soldiers as props to practice teamwork. It is better to say that these people are not qualified. If Iris shows a third-level magic, these people may immediately surrender. In the past six days, he has learned that the other party has no idea of ​​the strength composition of his team, and has not even explored their ranks. He is completely conceited.

It must be because they have been in an environment with generally low levels of people around them for a long time, which led Leklik to think that the highest level of his group would not be 15. It's really unbelievable.

Thinking of this, Ella sighed.

After hearing my plan, Iris would definitely scoff at it like before...

As expected, Iris asked further questions.

"Is that all?"

"……Um."

"Is that so? Well, that's it. I thought Ella-chan would make some progress."

"Ah, if I must say it, I'd like to find an opportunity to leave the team for a while, probably no more than ten minutes."

"In that case, just say no to that Lekrik."

"They'll definitely think I'm trying to escape and try to stop me, right?"

Ella's tone couldn't help but rise a degree. This idea was too idiotic no matter how you looked at it.

As if sighing for something, Iris let out a breath.

"I don't object to what you said, Aira-chan. We're about to leave the city and see the forest."

Passing through the slightly dim city gate and following Iris's sight, a large dark forest appeared in the distance. The dark color was not formed by the dense leaves, but because the leaves fell off in winter, leaving the original forest with only a bare and miserable appearance. If it were snowing now, this place might be called a beautiful scenery, but it is a pity that there is only muddy ground caused by rain. In such an environment, not to mention hunting, even going out becomes a punishment.

Fortunately, this also makes the field of vision wider, once Lekrik makes any unusual movement, he can react in time, and if he has the opportunity to temporarily leave the team, it will be more convenient to find the griffin.

After selecting the magic weapon, Lekrik returned to the front of the team and presented a golden longbow to Ella as if to show off.

"Ladies, we're about to enter the forest. If you see any wild beasts, don't hesitate to attack them with magic. My guards will be on guard. If you'd like to try out magical weapons, you can go to the guards in the back. They have an orichalcum-grade magic bow like the one I'm holding."

"Ah, thank you Mr. Lekrik for your kindness. We have prepared our own magical weapons."

Iris smiled - in Ella's opinion, it was definitely a disdainful sneer - and took out the Crescent Dew, the artifact-level staff of the God-Man Leader, from the storage bracelet. At the same time, the others also displayed their magic weapons in front of Lekrik, especially Camisia, who deliberately turned the Sword of Disorder into an ice-blue compound bow. It was a weapon that was much stronger than the bow and arrow in Lekrik's hand just by looking at its appearance.

After being stunned for a moment, Lekrik awkwardly turned his gaze to Ella, the only one who had not taken out her magic weapon. He forced an ugly smile on his stiff face and made a gesture of invitation to Ella.

"I hope Miss Ella has a pleasant journey."

"Really? That depends on Mr. Leklik."

Led by Leklik, the team began to run towards the forest.

Chapter 43: Jungle Spider

* February 7, 6187 Genesis, 10:45 AM, inside the coastal forest of the Kingdom of Barris

The Barris Coast Forest is located in the southwest of the Barris Kingdom. The reason it is called the Coast Forest is that the entire forest is too vast, occupying the entire western coastline of the Barris Kingdom, hence the name of the coast. In the past, there were calls in the kingdom to build a fortress on the coast to prevent other countries from invading by sea - especially the western demon territory in the north of the kingdom, but in the end they gave up because the span of the entire forest was too large. Just entering the forest was very difficult, not to mention that if they wanted to build a city on the coast, they had to open up a road from the kingdom to the forest, which was completely impossible.

Therefore, the call for building a coastal fortress was ultimately suppressed, with the excuse that "other nations who wish to invade would have to overcome the obstacles of the magical beasts in the forest." In reality, unless it was a small-scale force, even a legion-level army would suffer significant damage if it entered.

Now, the coastal forest, which has become miserable due to the cold winter, has welcomed a group of uninvited guests.

Among the people brought by Lekrik, even the lowest-ranked one was level 12, and could be awarded the title of a knight of the kingdom. If they had special skills in certain areas, they could even have the title of a squad leader. These people were equipped with ordinary longswords and standard longbows mixed with a very small amount of mithril, and sat on well-trained horses, fanning out in the forest - this was done to drive away prey while preventing them from escaping. With the strength of these people, even if they encountered a monster like a silver wolf, they could kill it in a short time in a group of two.

Ella used the Fire Arrow to activate the "Terrain Search" function. Lekrik's soldiers had already completely dispersed, with no intention of ambushing or encircling them.

[Is it really like what Leklik said, that we were just familiarizing ourselves with the environment this morning?]

Looking at the "Terrain Search" again, Ella couldn't help but lower her head and fall into thought.

There was no movement in the forest. When we first entered the forest, we could still find some low-level monsters such as "thorn badgers", but an hour after entering the forest, there was no trace of any animals at all. The whole forest seemed to have been harvested by the scythe of the god of death, and fell into an eerie silence. Combined with the bare, twenty to thirty-meter-high trees around it, it made people feel like they were stepping into a dead city.

"Could it be that Griffinmon and his companions encountered some unexpected incident? Or is it that the seal of original sin, 'Gluttony', previously discovered in the Kingdom of Barris, is hidden in the Coastal Forest?"

As a sense of foreboding rose in his heart, several, no, hundreds of densely packed red light spots appeared on the "Terrain Search", with an average level of an astonishing 16. You know, even the personal guards directly under the Dragon King Fios were only around level 15. These light spots formed a huge pocket, waiting in front of Lekrik's team like prey waiting to deliver themselves into their mouths.

Was it a trap set by Lekrik, or something else? Considering Lekrik's hasty entry into the coastal forest, the former was highly likely. A population of at least two hundred, with an average level of over 16, simply didn't remind him of monsters. Putting aside the question of whether a monster group of this size existed, the fact that the monsters were hunting in such a prearranged, motionless formation was a miracle in itself.

Just as Ella was about to tell the others behind her about this, Leklik, who had been riding beside her, suddenly spoke to her. His blond hair sticking up behind his head and his sharp triangular eyes made him look extremely charming.

"If Miss Ella finds prey, please don't hesitate to attack with magic. Even if I can't knock it down in one blow, I will pursue it. Although my attainments in magic are not high, I am very confident in my horsemanship and archery."

"Oh, really? But I don't see any animals around here."

The subtext is that Lekrik cleared out all the animals nearby to lure him to a deeper ambush area.

As if being stabbed in the vitals, Lekrik's smiling face froze for a moment, then gradually turned expressionless and turned his head to shout at his subordinate - a level 25 warrior.

"Why haven't you encountered any prey yet?"

"Sir, we are also very curious. Something must have happened in the forest."

【Hey, you've already revealed yourself! 】

Sure enough, Leklik frowned in dissatisfaction and corrected his men's mistakes.

"Don't worry about anything else for now, just keep moving forward. Signal as soon as you see prey."

"Yes."

No matter how you look at it, the acting is too poor, but now is not the time to worry about these things. The key point is how to deal with the troubles that come next. While Lekrik was patrolling the surrounding area with a serious face for possible prey, Ella moved to the middle of the team. Since all the soldiers around level 12 were sent out, there were only less than 20 people here even with Iris and her group included.

The first to react was Camisia. As if sensing something, she picked up the ice-blue compound bow from her horse's back. Noticing Camisia's actions, Lotte also began to secretly inject magic power into Hela.

Controlling the horse to slowly approach Ella, Camisia lowered her head.

"Your Majesty—"

"Hmm, Camisia also discovered it?"

"Yes, it's been a little strange since the beginning. We should have gotten deep into the forest, but we haven't seen a single monster. How's the princess?"

It was common knowledge that Ella possessed a strong ability to detect. Although Iris had suspected this ability, she had not delved into it.

"Well, there are about two hundred of them, and their average level is around 16. A fight might break out, so let's prepare."

The last sentence was said with a slightly higher volume so that Iris, Angelica and Shen Gan who were sitting in the back could hear it.

Just as he finished speaking, something strange happened in the front. A magic bullet slowly flew into the air from the dark forest and finally exploded.

After hesitating for a moment, the level 26 warrior leading the team suddenly showed an expression of "Oh no!" and shouted to the team.

"Retreat! This is an unbeatable enemy!"

Then he controlled the horse and moved quickly to Leklik, advising him with a sullen face.

"Lord Lekrik, the people ahead may have been killed. Something irresistible must have happened. Perhaps it was a monster over level 40. We should run!"

"Level 40!? What are our chances of winning?"

"This is impossible, sir! It's best to report this to the kingdom and let them handle it!"

An anxious look appeared on the face of the leading soldier. If his family had not been taken care of by the Yars family, he would have immediately abandoned Lekrik and turned around to run away.

"In that case... let's retreat."

After clicking his lips in dissatisfaction, Lekrik turned to explain to Ella.

"Ms. Ella—"

“Hiss—”

"ah--!"

When the entire team began to turn around, a scream that pierced the sky from the side interrupted Leklik's speech.

Ominous clicking sounds rang out from all around. As if they had seen something terrifying, the soldiers showed expressions of extreme fear, gasping for breath with their mouths open. Even the well-trained military horses began to retreat slowly subconsciously.

Finally, a trembling voice broke the extremely oppressive and eerie silence.

“Y-It’s the Jungle Spiders! We’re surrounded—!”

Chapter 44: Desperate Counterattack

The unique clicking sounds of the millipedes rang out one after another. If a person suffering from intensive phobia stood here, he would definitely go into shock instantly. However, such people are actually the happier ones because they do not have to accept the pain and despair of being eaten alive by the jungle spider bite by bite.

This is the situation Ella and her group are facing now. They are trapped in a low-lying valley by a total of 200 jungle spiders with an average level of over 16.

"Tsk, unexpected?"

He muttered to himself that even he could imagine the current situation. It was beyond Lekrik's control. Even though Lekrik was the eldest son of the Marquis of Ars, it was impossible for him to control a team of jungle spiders. If this size was put on the battlefield, it could definitely sweep away a well-equipped light cavalry phalanx of a thousand people.

The Jungle Spider possesses two skills: "Spider Silk" and "Pounce". "Spider Silk" is so tough that it cannot be cut without weapons made of Mithril or above, or a longsword with the "Sharp Blade" skill. "Pounce" is a skill that allows it to instantly jump ten meters away. Combined with the Jungle Spider's solid carapace and a massive body that can reach a total length of nine meters, if it pounces directly on a person, it is like a head-on collision with a truck. Even heavily armored infantry will be shaken.

Of course, with the strength of their group, they would be fine. In other words, using the jungle spiders as opponents could just show their strength, so that Lekrik would give up his bad intentions towards them. However, there was another problem, that is, monsters of this scale could not be outside the jurisdiction of the griffin. To think about it in a positive way, it was that their group just happened to encounter the jungle spiders. To think about it in a negative way - it could only be that the griffins were surrounded and killed by these jungle spiders, and they became the new overlords.

Considering the possible existence of the Seal of Original Sin in the forest, this possibility cannot be ignored. In other words, once I think of this ominous trend, I become more and more certain that this is the fact.

[Since it's related to the Seal of Original Sin, it should have the corrosive effect of the Seal of Original Sin.]

While signaling Camisia and the others not to take action, he raised the Fire Arrow and used identification magic.

『Low-level identification』

——There is no erosion state of the Mark of Original Sin.

With a slight sigh of relief, Ella lowered the Fire Arrow.