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

Ella turned her palm towards Nanako, motioning her to wait a moment.

If things continue like this, and I become a very powerful and smart guy in Nanako's eyes, things will definitely turn out very strangely.

You know, the reason why I didn't stay in the Demon Clan all the time, besides wanting to travel around the continent, is because everyone in the Demon Clan regards me as a strategic ruler, and regards my every move as purposeful and meaningful behavior. That kind of life makes me feel stomachache just thinking about it. If I live there for a long time, it feels like my life span will be shortened.

So we must avoid this from happening now.

Ella took a deep breath and spoke to Nanako calmly.

"Putting everything else aside, it was Nanako who killed the demon wolf in the end, right? I didn't do anything at all, and the ogre, you see, wasn't dead at all, right? I don't have much power."

"That's right."

Nanako grabbed Ella's free hand and placed it against her chest.

"But this is due to your innate weakness, and has nothing to do with strategy. If your level were higher, I believe you would have already defeated these two monsters. I am certain that, apart from Master Mitis, no one else here could accomplish this impossible task at your level."

"Ah! So listen to my explanation! It was just a coincidence, a coincidence! If it weren't for Nanako, I definitely wouldn't have discovered the existence of the demon wolf!"

"Aila-sama, you're so modest! If you hadn't chanted it in advance, how could you have used such a miraculous defensive magic the moment the wolf pounced on you? Honestly, I was so worried that you'd be in grave danger, and my heart nearly burst out of my throat, but I didn't expect you to have already prepared a countermeasure... Next time, Nanako, I hope you'll tell me in advance. Putting your lifesaver in such danger would give me nightmares."

As she spoke, Nanako reached out and wiped the corners of her eyes, looking very worried indeed.

Ella couldn't help but feel that this was a bit too tricky, and things seemed to have developed into a situation that could not be stopped.

But! But, even so, I must find a way to redeem myself.

After saying "Excuse me" in her heart, Ella placed her hands on Nanako's shoulders and took a deep breath.

"Nanako, calm down. I heard I—"

"boom--!"

A huge explosion was heard in the distance, followed by the cheers of the soldiers. Ella and Nanako subconsciously turned their eyes to the source of the sound.

It seems that Mitis and Gerard have finished their battle with the rock puppet.

Nanako came to her senses and took a step back, then slowly bowed to Ella.

"The battle is over, Lady Ella. I'm going to take stock of the battlefield now. I'll be sure to report your heroic performance to Lady Mitis. Please forgive me for not being able to bring you back to the team."

“…Haha.”

Ella sighed deeply, and Nanako's face was filled with an unquestionable dazzling expression, which showed that she was completely determined.

As if all the energy in her body was used up, Ella could only wave weakly at Nanako.

“Go ahead, go ahead…”

Chapter 17 Cutscene

*创世纪6187年6月20日 晚19:21分 布鲁泽亚帝国北部

With the help of Gerard who suddenly appeared, Mitis quickly dealt with the three rock puppets. Although the two had very different ideas, they were extremely powerful when they worked together. Gerard was a warrior who preferred defense, while Mitis could both attack and provide support. In addition, the levels of the two were generally higher than those of the rock puppets, so it was natural that the rock puppets were quickly dealt with.

The team is now stationed at the junction of the Beirut River and the continuous forest.

With the army guarding them, countless bonfires were lit to cook food. The army of approximately 30,000 men included many baggage trains, and they were responsible for preparing most of the meals. Despite this, the food was actually very simple. For normal soldiers, hastily heated rice balls were a rare sight. Meals usually consisted of pre-prepared, compacted black bread. This type of food didn't need to be heated, yet it was still filling, making it very popular with the army, primarily for portability.

Normally this should have been the case, but today because there were monsters to be conquered, they had to use local materials, pick out the edible monster meat, and stew it into a broth with a few oil stars floating on it. Of course, the food was not enough to be distributed to Gerard's team, and Mitis had no intention of doing so. The only ones who could eat these were Mitis's team that participated in the conquest.

"Ooooh! What is this! It's delicious!"

A soldier exclaimed after drinking the stew.

Hearing the soldier's words, another soldier next to him frowned.

"Hmm? Doesn't it taste the same as before?"

"How is that possible! This feeling reminds me of the taste of home. No, just in terms of taste, it must be the best thing I have ever tasted!"

With a serious look on his face, the original soldier smacked his lips as he savored the taste.

"Are you starving? This doesn't taste any different than before."

The questioning soldier frowned, leaned over to the sighing soldier and sniffed. In just a moment, his expression became strange.

"This taste... is definitely different from mine. What's that? Different treatment? Where did you get it?"

"Huh? I just saw a lot of people gathered near Mitis-sama's tent, so I wanted to join in the fun, so I took a look. Then I received dinner from a girl with purple hair. Didn't you go?"

The first soldier gave a matter-of-fact look.

"How would I know about this, purple-haired girl? Are you talking about Nanako-sama?"

"No, it's the guest the captain told us not to offend yesterday. It seems he's the adventurer who helped Master Mitis."

"Tsk...were they still there when you left?"

"Don't even think about it. There's only one dinner per person. You should go tomorrow."

"Ahh, damn it, you didn't even take me with you."

The soldiers who came later were very regretful. They looked at the half bowl of stew left in their mouths and suddenly felt it was tasteless. Such scenes were happening in every corner of the military camp.

◇

"Ah~ah, if I keep eating like this, I'm sure I'll become dependent on Lotte. As expected, this is a family that has served the nobility for generations. Their cooking skills are surprisingly good."

After drinking the remaining stew in one gulp, Mitis placed the empty bowl on the wooden table. Besides Mitis and Nanako, the only people left at the table were Ella and her group.

Lotte showed a reserved smile that could make women freeze.

"I saw how hard the cooking soldiers were working, so I wanted to help. I'm glad it suits your taste."

"No, no, it's not about it just happening to suit my taste. If someone says even Lotte's food isn't tasty, then there must be something wrong with that person's tongue."

"Yeah, I think so too."

Putting down the chopsticks, Camisia nodded in agreement.

Nanako poked the roasted poultry with cutlery, which was covered with a thin layer of red liquid.

"When I first saw this red, soft, gooey thing, I thought it was a special dish prepared for Lady Mitis. But I didn't expect it to taste sour and sweet. With all due respect, Lady Lotte, did you make this yourself?"

Without hesitation, Lotte answered Nanako, who was sitting across from Ella.

"This is a condiment called ketchup, right? I just made it recently, and it was Miss Ella who first suggested it. If it weren't for Miss Ella, I would never have thought that such a delicious thing existed in the world."

"What? Ella actually has this skill! Don't tell me you were the one who taught Lotte her cooking skills."

Mitis leaned forward slightly, looking very excited.

"Honestly, even though I've lived for over fifty years, I know nothing about cooking. If possible, Ella, could you teach me once we reach the Black Dragon Mountains?"

"Eh? Wait, Mitis, you misunderstood. This isn't my work. Lotte's cooking skills were all learned on her own. I have nothing to do with them. As for that tomato sauce, I only described the ingredients and the general taste. Everything else was developed by Lotte through trial and error."

Ketchup was an idea he had when he was on Dragon Island. At that time, because Tina could communicate with birds, he asked the seabirds through Tina to obtain many fruits and vegetables called "Devil Fruits". Although the appearance of the fruits was a very ominous purple, the taste was not much different from tomatoes on Earth.

Before in Semirabi, Ruti had mentioned to me that the ketchup was almost finished, and in the Holy City it was completely made into a finished product. As for the current red appearance, it was also my suggestion - it was originally purple, but because I couldn't eat it, I went through an extra processing and turned it into the current red. However, the taste is a little different from the original ketchup, considering that it is developing in a good direction, there is no need to worry about it at all.

"In that case, let Lotte-sama teach Mitis-sama, right?"

Nanako gave some advice, but Mitis had a new idea.

"No, it's really too much trouble to learn it myself. I'd better ask someone else to do it for me. If I can get Ella to join the team, Lotte will follow too, right?"

"...If Miss Ella is willing, I have no objection."

"Mitis, I haven't agreed yet! Why are you so sure?"

"Eh... didn't Ella say she'd reconsider last time? Well, let's put that aside for now. Lotte seems more approachable than Ella. How about you just join us? I'll keep you by my side every day and never let you fight monsters."

Mitis throws a straight shot to Ruti.

But it was obvious that this didn't work, and Luty gave a troubled smile in return.

"Even if Miss Mitis says so...I really can't leave Miss Ella."

"...I think it's because you can't leave Lotte-senpai."

Fukagan, who had been tasting the ketchup in silence, rolled his eyes.

Mitis looked around at Ella and Lotte and sighed.

"Is that so? I get it. As expected, we still have to find a breakthrough with Ella. Speaking of which, when we were fighting the rock golems earlier, I saw Ella fighting a monster. What was the outcome?"

"Lady Ella won, huh? With just her level 8 strength, she neutralized the ogres and demon wolves, and that was her first time using close combat. Even I was surprised by her clever strategy."

Putting down the cutlery, Nanako answered Mitis first, her eyes full of strong admiration.

"Oh?"

Mitis let out a light exclamation, and then Ella immediately explained.

"No, that's not it! I didn't have any strategy at all. It was just a coincidence. If Nanako hadn't been there to remind me in time, I wouldn't have been able to find the Silver Wolf."

"Lady Ella is truly too modest. There's no need to underestimate yourself."

"but--"

"There's no need to talk about Ella anymore. Whether it's an ogre or a demon wolf, they're not opponents that a level 8 warrior can defeat one-on-one. Although we didn't kill them directly, it's still a good result. If other commanders saw this, they would definitely bring Ella into their team, even if it means forcibly taking her. However—"

Mitis glanced at the other people at the table. Except for Luty who had finished eating and was still smiling, the others were busy with their own things, especially Angelini, who kept searching for food on the table, even to the point where she needed Shen Gan to share some of her food with her so that she could fill her stomach.

"Aren't you all surprised? As Ella's companion."

“Hmm.”

After swallowing the food in her mouth, Angelini turned her gaze to Mitis and blinked in confusion.

"Why are you surprised?"

"Isn't it natural to see your friends accomplish the impossible?"

This time it was Mitis who was puzzled.

"But it's only natural that little Ella can do it, right? Just ten more ogres—"

"Isn't this what Angeline-senpai wanted just now?"

Shen Gan interrupted Angelini's speech in time and put a piece of monster's breast meat into Angelini's plate.

"Yeah, thank you, Fukagan-chan."

"Haha——it's just that I can't help it."

Seeing that her companion had come forward, Iris continued the conversation.

"Ella-chan is our miracle machine, right? We're used to these things."

"Is that so... Could it be that Ella has also done many impossible things in the past?"

Perhaps her curiosity was aroused, Mitis wiped the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief, sat upright and prepared to listen to Iris's story.

"Well, there are so many different things that it's hard to describe them all. If I wrote down each story, I could make a whole book."

"Hey, that's great! I want to live that kind of life too. Staying in the Bruzea Empire all the time is so boring."

Mitis tapped the table with her fingers, and then her whole body shook as if she remembered something.

"Oh, right! I was curious about why three different types of rock golems appeared at once, so I sent someone to investigate. They discovered a hot spring nearby. Perhaps the fire or water type rock golems used to live there. Wanna check it out? Honestly, it's been really tough being on the march with no place to bathe."

It's summer now, and the whole body will sweat even if you don't move, not to mention that there was a battle in the morning. Mitis has long wanted to take a good bath to relax her body and mind. Similarly, Ella's group, except Ella, also has this trouble - Ella herself will be reset including her appearance after switching states, so she can directly switch back and forth instead of taking a bath. Thanks to this, Ella's laziness in this regard has reached a new level.

Mitis's words made everyone's eyes light up. Even Angelini had the reserve of a girl. Not to mention that the feeling of sweating made people feel uncomfortable all over, the possible odor made them feel embarrassed. Under normal circumstances, they could go to a hidden place and use a water stone to summon clean water for washing, but this is the army, and they might be seen by others if they are not careful. No matter what, no one would have such a habit, so they could only force themselves not to think about it.

"Hmmmm—, it's actually a hot spring? I wanna go, I wanna go!"

Angelini stood up, wrapping the food in her mouth and swallowing it quickly like a squirrel.

Then Camisia nodded.

"Indeed, if it's a hot spring, then there's absolutely no problem, but..."

Perhaps noticing Camisia's doubts, Mitis stood up and placed her hands on her well-developed chest.

"Don't worry, I've checked it beforehand. It's well hidden, and I'll also have female soldiers guarding the area."

"That's totally fine! Ella-chan, let's go, shall we?"

Running to Ella, Angeline grabbed Ella's hands, and her appearance reminded Ella of a puppy wagging its tail.

Since this was a reasonable proposal, Ella nodded naturally.