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

Although Ella lifted the seal, the boy did not run away immediately. Instead, he touched the ribbon around his neck, his eyes filled with reluctance and anger. At this point, he understood that he had no room for resistance at all.

"I will listen to you, but you must keep your promise."

"certainly."

Ella looked around and confirmed that the onlookers had dispersed before she slowly spoke.

"I swear in the name of the Demon Queen, Eleraya Nott Mistydin."

"W-What! Demon King!?"

The resentment and anger in his eyes instantly turned into fear, and the boy's whole body trembled. Even though he had never received any education, he knew that in the demon territory, the orders of the Demon King were far more terrifying than mental magic. Moreover, just for offending the royal family, he should have been beheaded by now.

Kneeling tremblingly, the boy begged.

"I...I understand! Please, please, Demon King, spare my life!"

"Is that a bit too much? Well... it's a good thing that communication is possible. I'm glad you didn't doubt its authenticity."

However, what Ella didn't notice was that the person who dared to impersonate the Demon King in the Demon Territory was probably not born yet.

"Ms. Ella, are we heading back to the royal city?"

"Hmm? Aren't we going to the underground labyrinth together later? I just have something I want to ask him. It won't take long."

"Okay, Miss Ella."

After giving Lotte an apologetic wry smile, Ella turned her gaze to the boy who didn't dare to look up. Since she had already revealed her identity as the Demon King, she could only speak in a tone that was full of majesty in the eyes of the people.

"Get up."

"Thank you, thank you, Demon King!"

Chapter 18 Hidden Truth

After leaving the original street, Ella and the other two randomly found a hotel on the side of the road as a place to talk.

"Excuse me, sir, what can I do for you?"

Facing the waiter's professional smile, Ella glanced through the menu and gave her answer.

"Three copies of 'Dark Elf Tears'."

"Okay, please wait a moment."

The waiter bowed slightly to Ella and turned to leave.

After taking a quick look at the surrounding decoration - there was a half-person-high screen between each table, and the tables and chairs were extremely neat and tidy, full of a high-end feel - Lotte, who was sitting next to Ella, exclaimed.

"This place should only be open to nobles and high-ranking adventurers..."

However, having said that, in reality, Ella and the other two were not stopped at all when they entered the store; even the ragged boy was allowed in.

Perhaps the hotel didn't have such rules in the first place, Ella couldn't help but think so. In a place like this that only looks very luxurious, if you don't have a certain level of strength, you will probably not dare to set foot in it because you feel ashamed of yourself.

With her hands crossed on the table, Ella looked at the boy sitting opposite her.

"Okay, let's get started."

“Yes, yes…”

The boy, who was not used to this high-end environment, looked at Ella timidly. He had once ventured here to steal, but was picked up and thrown out by the security guard.

——People like you are not qualified to enter. The guard’s expression seemed to be saying this at that time.

"Can you tell me about your experience?"

Although she initially wanted to ask about her parents, it would seem impolite to bring up that right away, so Ella changed her approach.

"experience?"

The boy had a confused look on his face.

"It's your story from birth until now. I just heard someone say that you were offered a job by a noble, but you gave it up. What's the reason for that?"

"Because... there's not enough money."

“Isn’t the salary enough to live on?”

"No... I am more than enough on my own. Lord Setes is a very good man."

This time it was Ella who frowned. The boy was paid enough but still committed theft, which was the worst behavior. At first, she thought that the boy was treated unfairly and was forced to steal, and she never expected the answer to be what it is now.

Seeing that Ella didn't say anything, Lotte took up the topic.

"The salary is enough to live on, but they say it's not enough. Is there something hidden?"

"Well……"

The boy paused for a moment, obviously having his soft spot touched.

"With the Demon Lord, Miss Ella, here, you don't have to worry. Miss Ella brought you here because she wants to help you."

Lowering his head, the boy's face showed obvious hesitation, as if he was considering whether to tell the truth.

Seeing this, Ella also spoke—in a tone of authority that made it impossible to refuse.

"As Lotte said, I will ensure your safety."

Ella's words made the boy frown and think. After a moment, as if a switch had been triggered, he finally put away his hesitant expression.

He didn't look up, but just stared at his hands clenched into fists on his knees, with bitterness on his face.

"If it's the Demon King... Actually... although the original monthly salary of seven silver coins is enough for me to live on, it's still too little for all of us."

"us?"

Ella raised an eyebrow, and the boy's expression became even more bitter.

"Yeah, they're all abandoned children."

"Are you the biggest of them all?"

"Not originally, but after the older man quietly passed away, I..."

The boy stopped talking here, his eyes filled with resentment and powerlessness, and he spoke to himself through gritted teeth.

"Everyone clearly believed in them, and it was clear that if they just held on for a few more years, things would improve. Why did they leave?"

"They" probably refers to the older people. Although I don't understand what "if you hold on for another year, things will get better," I know that these children abandoned by their parents must have fallen into difficult situations, so much so that the boy had to resort to stealing to make a living.

Not knowing how to proceed, Ella looked at Lotte beside her for help.

Nodding to Ella, Lotte took over the conversation.

"Are all the kids there your age?"

"No... there are only three people who are capable of working, and the rest are under ten years old."

"What are the other two doing?"

"One stays home to look after the others, while the other works at the docks."

"Do they know what you're doing?"

Luti's words made the boy look up with panic.

"Please don't tell them this! Please!"

As he said this, he was about to leave the table and kneel down to kowtow to Ella and Lotte.

Ella, who was sitting on the outside, stopped him in time.

"We won't tell anyone. How many of you are there?"

With Ella's help, the boy slowly stood up, his voice sounding a little choked.

"Including me... there are thirteen of us."

"Can you take us to see it?"

"Yes, I can, but could you please not reveal your identity, Demon King? Those children might be scared."

If the guards heard this, they would definitely blame the boy for being too rude, Ella couldn't help but think so, but she was not the kind of person who cared about such details, so she didn't feel anything at all.

"good--"

"Miss, these are the three servings of 'Dark Elf Tears' you ordered."

Just as Ella stood up, a waiter came to the table with drinks. However, she was in no mood to enjoy them, so she simply nodded to the waiter.

"Got it. Just leave it here. How much are these in total?"

"Three portions total three gold coins."

Hearing this, Lotte, who was in charge of keeping the gold coins, handed the money to the waiter, while Ella urged the boy to leave quickly.

"Let's go now."

But the boy's face showed obvious hesitation, and his eyes kept wandering between the cup of blue liquid on the table and Ella.

"Demon King, this is worth three gold coins, and you're just leaving it here—"

"These are all unimportant matters, so it's okay to leave them here."

"Can I take these with me? I want to take them back with me so that the children can..."

The fear and pleading look in the boy's dark eyes made Ella pause for a moment and let out a long sigh.

"It's up to you, Lotte. Give the money for the tableware to the waiter as well—"

Having said that, Ella glanced at the boy, who was now carefully holding up the glass, as if afraid of spilling the liquid. However, it was impossible for him to pick up three almost overflowing cups with two hands, so the boy kept changing his posture and looked very tired.

"No, let's get a bigger container. This is too uncomfortable to hold in your hands."

"Okay, Miss Ella."

Chapter 19: Children in the Slums

After buying a clean bucket from the waiter, Ella and the other two walked out of the hotel and, led by the boy, crossed from the East District to the West District. Perhaps because of the boy's usual habits, he rarely took the main roads of the city. Most of the time, he chose some very remote and smelly alleys.

At the same time, Ella also discovered something she had never seen before - the changes in the environment along the way were very obvious. The East District was extremely prosperous because of the existence of the port, while the West District was relatively deserted. Although the main roads were still bustling, the alleys were a completely different picture.

The unpaved roads and the tall buildings on both sides make the alleys here extremely gloomy, with green and black moss everywhere and rats running around in the roadside ditches. Because no one has cleared the ditches for a long time, sewage mixed with excrement is all over the ground. It takes a long time to find a place to stay. Occasionally, you can feel the prying eyes from the surrounding collapsed buildings on the road, giving people a feeling that they will be attacked if they are not careful.

Compared to the outside world, this place is completely another world.

Affected by the environment, Ella's mood also became a little bad. Although she knew that a city with bright places must have a shameful side, and such places were very common in the original world, now it was different from before. She had the ability to change this place. If she saw these things with her own eyes but did nothing, the monarch called conscience would probably condemn her every day and make it difficult for her to sleep.

Even Dean, with his title of Great Sage, can't change this... In the old world, places like this always appear. Dean probably knows about them, but dealing with them is another matter...

From the looks cast at him just now, he could tell that most of the people living here had bad intentions. If he expelled them at will, it would be like throwing a huge rock into a pond, which would bring turmoil to the entire city. Even if he gave these people jobs, they would not be interested in something that made money very slowly and was very hard, and they would eventually gather together.

If it were Camisia, she would probably expel and destroy it decisively - she had never seen such a thing among the Western Demon Tribe - but Dean was undoubtedly a conservative, so the current situation had occurred.

"So, I still need to talk to Camisia and Dean? And I'll ask Iris for her opinion, too."

Although Ella instantly thought of the practices of some countries in the previous world - creating leader cult through brainwashing, and then letting the leaders lead the people, but this practice was really outrageous in her opinion. Considering Camisia and Dean's attitude towards the Demon King, if she told them without thinking, they would probably listen to it immediately and then implement it without hesitation. For the demons, even if the Demon King said white was black, they would immediately nod in agreement.

Ella shook her head, driving the thought out of her mind.

Let Camisia and Dean decide on their own solution.

Perhaps it was the intimidating power of Hela, carried on Lotte's back, that meant no one bothered them on the road; they only felt unpleasant gazes.

After crossing the last pile of debris, Ella and the other two finally arrived at their destination, a small house built deep in the alley.

"Demon Lord, the place ahead is where we live."

The boy put the bucket on the ground and shook his sore hands.

"Well, come on over."

"Yes."

Following behind the boy, Ella and Lotte slowly approached. According to the "Terrain Search", there were eleven people of different races in the room. Their levels were generally low, and the highest was only level 2.

Walking quickly to the door, the boy knocked on the wooden door that still showed signs of erosion by time.

"Lisa, look what goodies I brought back."