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

Seeing that no one wanted to talk, Ella, who had come back to her senses from the panic, took the initiative to ask questions. The hard touch of the half-broken staff in her hand always proved that this was reality.

Although she was confident that she wouldn't be caught even if she ran away, the title of Demon Queen would still remain, so running away wouldn't solve the problem.

"Before that, please let go, Ella-chan."

"Eh? Oh, sorry."

"Really... that scared me. Next time I should stay away from Ella-chan."

After sighing in a complaining tone, Angeline leaned over to look at the cross-section of the sacred staff in the pile of dirt. It was not the uneven cross-section left after being broken by brute force, but it looked as if someone had cut it in half with an extremely sharp object and then put the two broken parts back together. The entire fracture was very smooth.

"Isn't this a bit strange?"

Pointing at the smooth cross-section stuck in the pile of earth, Angelica's blue eyes revealed a look of doubt. Even she could understand that this was an abnormal situation. It was certain that Ella had not touched the staff with any sharp objects. If the cross-section existed before, then the person who broke the staff should have been her, the first one to come on stage.

Following Angelina's gaze, Ella also noticed the abnormality, and then the others also went up to the altar.

Comparing the staff in her hand with the remaining part in the pile of dirt, Ella frowned.

"This has to be a prank, right? There's no way the force you used just now could have broken the staff. And the way it's in now, it looks like someone sawed it off on purpose."

"That way, it would have broken when Angeline-chan tried it at first. Maybe the original sealing formation was like that—for example, after the chosen one was chosen, the staff would break in the middle or something. But what good would that do? Could it be that Eve is actually a joker? If that's the case, it's really a bad taste."

Iris waved to Ella while telling some inappropriate jokes in a frivolous tone.

"Well, anyway, let's take a look at the relic itself first. At least let's confirm whether it's a genuine relic."

It was really hard to imagine what method could be used to leave a smooth cross-section on the metal. Iris's words cheered Ella up a little, and she handed the staff that was only half a meter long to Iris. But when Iris was about to touch the staff, the staff suddenly flashed for a moment, and the strong light seemed to warn Iris not to touch it.

“Huh?”

A look of dissatisfaction flashed in the green eyes, and this behavior, which was infinitely close to provocation, touched Iris's self-esteem.

"—[Dark Guardian]."

The black liquid began to wriggle in Iris's palm like a living thing. Although "Dark Guardian" was only a first-level defensive skill and the effect was not satisfactory, it had one very outstanding feature - it was very effective against attacks from light magic. There would be no problem using "Dark Guardian" here.

After the black wrapped around her entire arm, Iris reached out and grabbed the Staff of Holy Light. Perhaps due to insufficient magic power, the Staff of Holy Light only flashed faintly for a moment before being swallowed up by the black. In the end, Iris won completely.

With the corners of her mouth slightly raised, Iris looked at the Holy Light Staff from left to right.

"It's actually still able to resist. It seems like this holy relic hasn't been damaged by the rupture. But if it resists, it means it's now Ella-chan's property, right? What does this mean? Does it treat Ella-chan as its master?"

Weapons like this that can only be used by those who recognize them are usually rare wisdom items, such as Menia's crown that Ella had seen before. A staff like this, which is not a wisdom item no matter how you look at it - wisdom items can often communicate with people - will produce an rejection reaction. This is the first time Iris has encountered one.

To prove this, Iris handed the Holy Light Staff to Camisia.

The result was the same as before. The Staff of Holy Light flickered for a moment, clearly repelling Camisia.

"As expected, it unexpectedly chose its master. But since it didn't turn into a normal weapon, that means Aira-chan didn't forcibly destroy it, right? Maybe it was always like this. I don't think any weapon can maintain normal function even with its internal magic circuits destroyed."

After all, the rupture itself is equivalent to the destruction of the internal magic circuit.

After taking the Holy Light Staff back from Iris, Ella blinked her purple eyes.

"So, it actually has nothing to do with me?"

"Of course not."

"Very good......"

Ella let out a long breath, feeling as if she had used up all her energy for the entire day. At the same time, she couldn't help but complain in her heart that Saint Eve was too much fun. Judging from the current situation, it was a foregone conclusion that the Chosen One would have his staff broken, and the evidence was that the broken staff still retained its full power.

[Ah, no, no, it would be better to confirm this again.]

『Low-level item identification』

"Ah?"

"What's wrong?"

"No... nothing."

While putting the half-broken Holy Light Staff into storage, Ella looked up and responded to Iris.

In addition to the normal values ​​displayed on the "Low-Level Item Appraisal" - inferior to the Pestle of Heavenly Punishment in all aspects, with an improvement of less than 15% - there is another point worth noting. This item is displayed as gray in the "F.Wing", which symbolizes "unusable". This is a state called "Cursed·Forced Awakening". Seeing the word "Cursed", Ella immediately tossed it into storage.

[Although it's gray and unusable, it would be troublesome if it were triggered by some special conditions in the future... I don't know what the effect of the "Forced Awakening" will be. Well, anyway, the curse is definitely not a good thing.]

While making the internal decision to use the Holy Light Staff as little as possible in the future, Ella clapped her hands in a relaxed manner and turned her gaze to the crowd with a smile.

"Just tell Galaga that the sacred object isn't actually broken, right?"

"There shouldn't be any problems, but even if there are, it will be fine."

Iris glanced at Camisia beside her and sighed helplessly.

Understanding Iris's words, Ella walked down the altar with a wry smile.

"Then let's go find the village chief of Galaga now. That way, we can leave here quickly and go directly to the Enstanit Church in the Papal States."

clack clack-

After everyone stepped down from the altar, the ground began to tremble, followed by the heavy sound of gears meshing. The entire altar - or more accurately, the mound of earth - cracked in the middle and slowly opened to both sides like a sliding door, revealing a cavity hidden under the altar. A surging wave of magic instantly filled the entire hall.

Looking at the circular hole buried deep underground that continuously exuded magical energy, Camisia, who had already retreated to the door with Ella, let out a light exclamation.

"Is this... a portal?"

Chapter 16 Cutscene

*创世纪6187年3月7日 晚20:03分 矮人村落地下

When Galaga and the other dwarf elders returned to the underground hall, everyone was stunned. Not only Galaga, but also the other dwarf elders - their mouths were so big that they seemed to be able to swallow the "Angel Crystal" in one gulp, and their eyes were so wide that they looked like they were about to fall to the ground.

The hall, illuminated by light magic, was exceptionally dazzling. Although the surrounding reliefs were a little blurred due to the ravages of time, one could still see their former glory. There was an altar at the end opposite the gate - it should have been like this, but now the altar had disappeared, leaving only a deep hollow in its place. The surging magic power emanating from it seemed to blow Galaga and the others away, stirring up gusts of wind.

After staying there for a full half minute, Galaga came to his senses and checked with his fellow tribesmen behind him.

“This…this is…”

"I thought it was just a story my father made up...but I never thought it actually existed..."

A dwarf from the same tribe murmured in a trembling voice, and these words brought back Galaga's memories - according to legend, there is a portal buried under the Staff of Holy Light, and when someone takes the Staff of Holy Light away, the portal will reappear in the world.

This was what Galaga's father had told him. At that time, Galaga just took it as a joke because it was not very realistic. There were only a handful of countries on the continent that had portals, and the portals had to be replenished with a large amount of magic power every once in a while. Therefore, not to mention that there were no portals in the Dwarf Territory, even if they existed, they would have lost their function long ago, so Galaga didn't take it seriously at all.

But the scene in front of him slapped Galaga mercilessly.

However, this slap did not hurt Galaga. It would be better to say that Galaga enjoyed it. If possible, it would be better to have a few more such happy slaps. The presence of a portal meant that this place would be valued by the dwarf leader, and it was almost certain that it would develop into an important town. In that case, his clan would not have to move out of the village, and they might even be rewarded by the king for discovering the portal. In the current difficult situation, it was a surprise no matter what, no, it was a gift.

While imagining his future life in his mind, Galaga looked for Ella in the hall. He must be very grateful to this benefactor who not only saved him in times of crisis, but also gave the entire village a future. In comparison, the holy relic was nothing. Moreover, perhaps breaking the holy relic was something that had been arranged long ago. All this was just a joke left by Saint Eve to future generations. After all, he saw with his own eyes that the benefactor did not use much effort. If the Church of Enstanit held him accountable, he would definitely be the first to rush forward as a witness.

When Galaga's eyes were filled with gratitude, Ella and her group, who had been waiting in the hall, came to Galaga.

Because the scene was too weird, Ella couldn't help feeling a little uneasy. After all, it was an altar that enshrined holy relics. It disappeared so silently that it was inevitable that it felt like the holy image that others believed in was destroyed along with the church. Moreover, even the remaining half of the staff disappeared with the altar... Even if it was not her doing, it would be impossible to clear herself of the blame without witnesses. A sense of tension arose spontaneously.

"that……"

He opened his mouth tentatively, but was immediately interrupted by Galaga's excited voice.

"M-My benefactor, did you do this?"

“…Ah… I can’t hide it now. Indeed, this is what happened after I broke the holy object—”

In order not to show her nervousness, Ella turned around and looked at the portal.

"What should I do next? Even if I say it wasn't me, no one will believe me, right? Ah, in that case, I'll just have to change the subject."

"Ahem, about the holy relic—"

"No matter what happens to the holy relic, I will never forget the kindness you showed me today!"

Galaga was so excited that his beard began to tremble. He asked the elders behind him to walk through the door and bow to Ella together.

"Eh?"

Completely unable to understand what was going on, Ella stepped aside out of politeness and did not accept Galaga's salute. However, Galaga, as if under some kind of mental control, changed direction without hesitation and saluted Ella again.

"Wait, wait, what happened?"

If I have to express my gratitude, it ended when I first met Galaga. Now it is happening again, and it is based on the premise that the altar has disappeared. It really feels weird.

"My benefactor, you have saved our village once again!"

"I don't know what 'once again' means, but let's get up and talk."

"If you say so..."

At Ella's persuasion, Galaga stood up and began to tell Ella the legend of the portal and the blessings it would bring.

His expression gradually changed from confusion to astonishment, and finally to a complete dry laugh. Ella could only keep responding with perfunctory responses like "Ahaha", "Really", and "That's great". Because Galaga was too excited in the middle, it developed into a scene with saliva flying everywhere. If the other old men behind him had not pulled him back in time, Ella couldn't help but suspect that Galaga would dance in place with joy.

Of course, this cannot be blamed on Galaga. As the village chief, Galaga felt deeply helpless about the gradual weakening of the sacred objects and the attack on the village. Therefore, he developed an extremely strong sense of guilt, especially the future of the village, which was like a huge rock weighing on Galaga's heart all the time. Now the appearance of the portal was like suddenly moving the huge rock away. The tension and pressure of the whole day were instantly eliminated, and dancing for joy was also normal.

Perhaps Galaga's performance was too embarrassing, and the old man behind him couldn't help but bring a basin of cold water from outside and splash it on his face. Normally, this is a very impolite behavior in front of guests, but because the old men behind Galaga were also very excited, they forgot about the rules that needed to be followed and just wanted to make Galaga come back to his senses as soon as possible.

"Ugh! A-Ahem, w-what are you doing?"

Galaga yelled at the old man while wiping the cold water off his face, but he froze in place for a moment - the coolness from the winter made him instantly sober up, so the red color symbolizing embarrassment suddenly spread to his entire face.

Completely ignoring his soaked robe, Galaga looked away awkwardly.

"Ah... um... um... I'm so sorry! I was so disrespectful in front of my benefactor."

“…It’s okay. I already understand the general situation. I understand the excitement of the Galaga village chief—”

How can I possibly understand this?!

She stuck out her tongue inwardly, but on the surface she pretended to be serious—even though Ella felt she could no longer maintain this serious expression.

"—Anyway, this portal is something very important to Chief Galaga, right?"

"Yes, benefactor, with this, we can..."

"We'll talk about that later. We still don't know if the portal will work, right? If it does... I mean if, could my companions and I try it out first?"

Chapter 17: A Conversation with a Girl in an Unknown Land Filled with Holy Light

"If possible, can my companions and I try it first?"

After thinking for a moment, Ella gave this answer.

The reason he said this was simply to reach the Church of Enstanit as soon as possible and hand over the Staff of Holy Light to the Pope of the Church of Enstanit. After all, he didn't want to stay with a cursed weapon for too long, so it would be better to return the item to its original owner as soon as possible. Moreover, he was also very concerned about what Iris had said before about taking an airship to the Papal States - such a journey was too boring, and just imagining it was unbearable, so the best choice would be to take this opportunity to leave directly through the portal.

Although we still don't know where the other end of the portal leads to.

Ella's suggestion made Galaga look hesitant.

"Is this okay? We haven't had time to entertain our benefactor yet..."

"It's okay, it's okay. I still have some things to do. If I stay too long, there will be some problems."

"Is that so... Fine then, but the location of the portal hasn't been determined yet. Wouldn't it be dangerous if I just walked in?"

"That's okay. As long as we set it up beforehand, there won't be any problems."

I've checked it myself using the "Item Appraisal" function. It's probably because the magic circles originally carved on the altar were used to maintain the portal. Even after thousands of years, the portal is still usable. As for setting the destination, I can just leave it to Iris.

"...If my benefactor is satisfied."

After saying this, Galaga bowed deeply.

Ella turned and looked at Iris.

"I'll leave the portal matters to Iris. I'll go up there and retrieve the airship."

"I'll charge you for ordering me around like this, okay?"

Despite saying this, Iris waved her hand and turned towards the portal.

It took almost no time for everyone to get ready to pass through the portal.

Besides Ella and her group, there was only Galaga at the portal.

After throwing two mithril-grade magic cores into the portal, Iris explained to everyone.

"The original destination was set near the Papal States, so there's no need to re-set it. However, the workmanship of this portal is a bit crude, and I'm not sure of the coordinates of the Enstanit Church, so I can only teleport to the approximate location. Is that okay?"

"no problem."