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

Perhaps because he had never received such almost aristocratic treatment, Jinghua first thanked Ruthie like a chick pecking at rice, and then sat stiffly on the cushion, with his upper body straight, constantly adjusting his posture slightly.

"It's like the life of a royal family... Even though we're traveling, no... even royalty wouldn't be like this..."

When she was still living in the village of the Kingdom of Kumheim, she often heard that due to famine in a certain country, even the royal family had to drink vegetable soup and eat sweet potatoes every day. The life like the one she had been traveling in the past few days, where she could eat meat for every meal - even fish - and also see white rice and white flour, was something Jinghua had never imagined. When she woke up in the middle of the night, she always couldn't help but touch her stomach to confirm whether she had really eaten those dreamy dishes.

"Well then, I'm going to start!"

After praying for a moment with her hands clasped together, Ella took the lead in picking up the chopsticks and picked up a piece of stewed vegetables in the boiling pot.

"Hmm~ As expected, this slightly spicy taste is delicious."

Her mouth turned into a W shape and Ella squinted her eyes happily, but she soon noticed Jinghua who had been standing beside her in a daze.

"What's wrong? Jinghua likes a simple style?"

"Ah! No, no... It's just been a while since we've all sat together to eat like this..."

"Alright, alright, let's put all the sad things aside. Now's not the time to talk about that, okay?"

"O-Okay... Thank you very much. I-I'm ready!"

Originally, he wanted to imitate Ella's energetic tone, but he still couldn't let go in front of unfamiliar people. Jinghua shrank his neck, and after learning the movements of others, he carefully joined the lunch team.

Chapter 28: A Trip to the River

After a pleasant lunch, Ella and her group began to clean up the venue and set off again. Although the method of refining "Kro's Tears" has not been fully mastered, it is only a matter of time before it is completely figured out. As long as there are enough magic cores of the same level, and the technology of purifying magic cores is used with a temperature far exceeding that of ordinary flames, there is about a 30% chance of refining it.

"Is that... a ship?"

Angelica, who had run to the roof of the carriage at some point, shouted. Following the direction Angelica pointed, they could see the faint presence of a sail on the other side of the woods, less than two kilometers away from them.

"They must be merchants from the western kingdoms. Traveling by sea saves a lot of money compared to traveling by land."

Camisia explained while sitting on the horse.

Although Ella meant to ride on a separate horse, Camisia, Angelica and others raised objections. The former believed that letting the Demon King sit on a horse would make them, as guards, feel guilty, and that this should be the duty of a guard, while the latter protested on the grounds that it was too boring to stay in the carriage all the time and wanted to get some fresh air outside. Because the protests were so strong, Ella was forced to obey the majority and implement a shift system, with one person riding a separate horse every once in a while.

"No wonder the air feels different."

Lotte stuck her head out of the carriage and looked towards the river. Ella, sitting in the driver's seat, also turned her gaze away from her terrain search.

"The river next to us is at least a kilometer wide, and there's no end in sight."

"Can we go directly to the Kingdom of Kumheim by water?"

Jinghua, who was sitting near the door, asked.

"Just ask the crew and you'll find out. Let's move closer."

As Ella spoke, she controlled the carriage and quickly approached the slowly moving wooden boat. Perhaps because there were only a few people on Ella's side, the people on the boat did not regard Ella as a robber. Not only that, they slowed down and moved closer to the shore.

"Are you a merchant who wants to board a ship?"

A man dressed as a businessman waved to Ella from the deck.

Because the other party deliberately slowed down, Ella couldn't help feeling embarrassed. She just wanted to ask for directions, but the other party mistakenly thought it was a business opportunity to make money.

But of course I couldn't delay my journey just because I felt embarrassed, so I mustered up some courage and shouted.

"Excuse me, can I reach the Kingdom of Kumiheim by following this river?"

"Our destination is the Kingdom of Kumheim. If you want to board a ship, please come to the city of Shine below to find us. We'll be staying there for a week!"

The man waved his taken-off clothes and said that the environment here was not suitable for the boat to dock, so they could only go to the town downstream to make plans. In addition, traveling by water was much faster than by land, and could save nearly half a month.

"Thanks!"

"See you in Shine City!"

As the sailors on board waved goodbye, the merchant ship gradually disappeared from everyone's sight. It could be seen that they were a very simple group of people.

"Not all kingdoms are bad guys."

Ella, who was in a good mood, sighed.

"Ayla, are you going on a boat trip?"

"Of course, it saves a lot of time, and I've never experienced the feeling of floating downstream before."

When I went to Dragon Island before, I saw the endless sea, and there was no feeling of floating downstream like sailing on a river.

Ella's words made Mitis hold the back of her head in frustration.

"It's fun at first, but it gets boring after a while. It was like that when I was in the Empire. Well, it might be because there's a lack of excitement. After all, the bandits don't dare to challenge the army. It would be nice if there were bandits around to relax and unwind."

"Don't say such scary things, you might run into bandits or something."

Ella looked at Jinghua who was full of anxiety in the car. When Jinghua noticed Ella's gaze, he immediately pretended to be brave.

"N-It's okay! I'll use magic to stop the bandits!"

"Ahh... I'll leave it to Kagamika then."

Ella held her forehead and said perfunctorily.

After about an hour of such an ordinary journey, everyone arrived at the foot of a mountain covered with dense forests. Thick clouds piled up on the mountain peaks, and the cold wind kept taking away the body temperature. It looked like it was about to rain.

"I don't want to advance in the rain, but I can't camp at the foot of the mountain."

If it were winter, it wouldn't matter to me, but it was just the beginning of autumn, and if we were stationed at the foot of the mountain and a flash flood occurred, things would become terrible.

Ella waved to Angelina.

"Angelina, please come in after you tie the horses to the carriage. You'll catch a cold if you get caught in the rain."

"Yes, yes~ But can I sit here?"

After jumping off the horse, Angelini lightly kicked the ground and sat down on the passenger seat of the carriage. As usual, Angelini could easily do actions that were difficult for ordinary people to do.

Ella moved to the side to make room for Angelica.

"That's fine, but if we encounter a wild wolf, Angelina will help chase it away."

"Yeah, that way we can eat wolf meat."

"Don't think about eating all the time!"

While the chewy texture of wolf meat is certainly appealing, the cooking process is quite tedious.

"Ms. Ella, do you want me to take over?"

Because the next road was a narrow mountain road, Lotte, who was more skilled in driving, stuck her head out of the carriage.

"No need. A road like this, where two carriages can run side by side, is no problem for me. Well, the slope is a bit steep."

In addition, because there are many turns and the visibility is extremely poor, even if the road is wide, it is definitely not a type that a novice can handle. Considering the impending rain, Ella drove the carriage to the side close to the mountain, so that even if she made a mistake, she would not fall off the cliff.

When they reached the mountainside, Angelica, who had been sleeping on Ella's shoulder out of boredom, suddenly sat up straight. Her pointed ears, representing the elves, twitched for a moment, and her whole body exuded an air of alertness, like a disturbed cat.

Ella immediately grabbed the reins and stopped the horse.

"What's wrong?"

"There's a strange noise up ahead."

"I'll go check it out."

With the sound of wind blowing past his ears, Fukama rushed out of the carriage holding the snowflake-shaped "Curse of Undine". About five minutes later, Fukama reappeared beside Ella.

"It's not a monster."

"But there was definitely a 'bang, bang, bang' sound."

"It was just Kumi who fell off a cliff."

“Huh?”

Ella and Angeline both made puzzled sounds, and Fukagami, who was in charge of explaining, had a complicated expression.

"Well, if you go to the front, you'll know. Those guys are in some trouble."

"Is that Kumi?!"

With a look of surprise on her face, Jinghua in the carriage pulled open the curtain, and her deep red eyes seemed to be telling Ella to go and take a look.

"Hmm, we have to go this way anyway, so I have to go even if I don't want to."

With this thought in mind, Ella sped up a little.

Chapter 29: The Foolish Martyrs

"Don't delay the tribute to the Saint Lady. Return to the country before winter!"

Standing on the side of a steep mountain road, a silver Kumi shouted while waving.

Like most Kumi in the Kingdom of Kumiheim, this Kumi has the appearance of a desert cactus, with spherical hand-like things growing on its half-meter-high cylindrical body. Although it has no legs, it can walk forward freely. There are holes near the top of its body that symbolize its mouth and eyes. If it were placed on Earth, it would definitely be regarded as an abstract sculpture by an artist.

Of course, in Ella's eyes, she would just think it was a mascot designed by a famous gaming club.

Boom boom.

There was the sound of porcelain hitting stone, followed by a series of bangs.

There was some commotion in the Kumi team carrying tribute - one Kumi lost his balance and fell to the ground. At the same time, because the mountain road was steep, his columnar body began to roll sideways, and then like a bowling ball, the Kumi walking behind him was also knocked down. About one-fifth of the Kumi rolled down the cliff uncontrollably.

“Eeeeeee! No!”

"I've had enough!"

"Don't do it again!"

The knocked-down Kumis rolled down the cliff while screaming in pain, but there was no fear of death in their voices, but more helplessness and anger.

"Who fell down again this time?!"

"I'm definitely going to throw him in the oven and roast him for a month!"

Of course, speaking could not stop the rolling momentum. One after another, the Kumis rolled down the cliff, making a series of bang sounds of their bodies being broken - in addition to the Kumis' screams of fear of heights.

“Nooooooooooooooo!!!”

boom.

And so on.

"Boss, what should we do this time?"

The Iron Kumi asked the Mithril Kumi who was standing at the front of the team. The strange thing was that although the Kumi had a hard appearance, the holes representing their eyes and mouths could change size and position freely, and their expressions were as rich as those of humans, no, richer than those of humans.

Mithril Kumi looked at the remaining Kumi on the road - all of them had nervous expressions - and sighed helplessly.

"Alas, we can only climb again. Those who fell down are carrying tributes, and we can't just leave them alone."

"But boss, we've already wasted a whole day here. We're only a few steps away from the other side of the mountain. If we start over, will we..."

Hearing Mithril Kumi's words of returning, White Iron Kumi suddenly showed an expression as if he was about to cry, and even crystal liquid that should be tears flowed out of the hollow holes of his eyes.

Just as Baitie Kumi said, they had spent a whole day here. The steep mountain road was too challenging for the Kumi. In addition, the team of nearly fifty people was standing very densely. Once someone fell, it would easily cause a chain reaction, just like just now, all the Kumi rolled down the cliff one after another. Even though the Kumi's bodies made of minerals would not die, even if they were broken into pieces, they could be resurrected after being put together. However, the repeated act of climbing the mountain was undoubtedly a mental torture.

"You should know that each of us carries a tribute. If we fail to please the Saint because the tribute is insufficient, the King will definitely throw us into the dungeon."

Mithril Kumi said with a grim face that unlike other countries, there are two types of dungeons in the Kingdom of Kumiheim. One is an ordinary dungeon specifically for imprisoning humanoid creatures, and the other is a special dungeon specifically for imprisoning Kumi.

There are many different kinds of snakes bred in the dungeons dedicated to Kumi. These venomous snakes will build nests in the hollow bodies of the Kumi and move freely in the eyes and mouths of the Kumi. This is undoubtedly a torture for the Kumi who are extremely afraid of snakes by nature.

Of course, there is more than just this type of punishment in the dungeon. There are also baking punishment, piercing punishment, and lifelong ban on touching twintails. In short, no matter which one, it is a torture that Kumi absolutely does not want to endure.

Thinking of the Kumi people in the clan who were sentenced to "never touch twintails again for the rest of their lives" - they were engraved with magic that would immediately shatter at the sight of twintails, Shirogane Kumi suddenly felt a chill running from the soles of his feet straight to his brain, and his whole body couldn't help but tremble.

"Boss... let's start over..."

"Yes...yes, I think we should do it again."

"I don't want to become that dry and shriveled."

"Yeah, let's try again. Put the fallen ones back together and try again. I'm sure I'll succeed next time."

Perhaps they were thinking of the same thing as the White Iron Kumi, so the other Kumi of different colors also nodded. They clearly remembered the appearance of the Kumi who could no longer see their twintails - their bodies made of ore were dull and lifeless, and they could only drink all day long. They looked decadent and looked like they were dead, almost like zombies, just like humans who had taken the drug "rice husk flower powder".

"Should we walk or roll?"