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

"What is that... huh?"

Because Iris moved a step to the side, he was able to see Iris's current attire - different from her usual gorgeous style, Iris was now wearing a gentlemanly black tuxedo, somewhat similar to the attire of young aristocrats at a ball. Of course, because of her chest, the clothes were designed to be more suitable for women, and her usual camouflage blonde hair was tied into a single ponytail. The previous luxurious style was swept away, and she appeared in a very heroic look. In addition, because it was a women's style, it would look very weird at first glance.

"Why are you dressed like this, Iris?"

"Is it strange? When I visited the scholars of the Kingdom of Kumheim yesterday, I was recommended a ball gown that was originally meant for men. I looked in the mirror a while ago, and the overall feeling is indeed quite different from before, but it can't be said to be bad. I was thinking that Ella-chan would be scared, but it seems that it didn't work."

Actually, I had seen it before, so I wasn't shocked.

Of course, Ella didn't say it out loud, but instead scratched her golden hair that was messed up by Iris.

"It's certainly innovative, but is it okay to wear it on the street like this?"

"question?"

"Wouldn't that be embarrassing?"

"That's something Ella-chan would consider, right? Speaking of attracting attention, your usual attire is already noticeable enough."

Iris waved her hand, looking nonchalant.

Just as Iris said, her usual dress and appearance were enough to make everyone who saw her turn their heads, so her current bizarre attire was no different from before. Iris was already very accustomed to this kind of gaze - or rather, it was the influence of Freya's Eye, and anyone would be forced to get used to it.

"Haha, I can't refute that at all. But it's only for a little while. If it's only for a little while, it's not unbearable."

"Then I'll take this as Ella-chan's agreement."

Having said that, Iris bent the hand closest to Ella in front of her waist, motioning Ella to put her hand on her bent arm.

"I heard from that scholar that this is a gesture used to invite princesses and noble daughters, signaling their willingness to be their protector. Since you're going out with Ella-chan, I should be the protector, right?"

"I don't think it's necessary to be so formal..."

Rather, this posture was only performed by couples in the previous world. I had practiced it with Mitis before when I was in the Empire.

"Fufu, is Ella-chan shy?"

Elise narrowed her eyes cunningly.

"It's rare for me to wear something like a butler's attire. If Aira-chan cooperates with me now, maybe the next few days will be quiet and no one will disturb me."

This is a threat! A naked threat!

Ella screamed in her heart.

But for the sake of the leisurely and happy time that follows, maybe it's acceptable for just a moment? But going out on the street like this, with the rate at which Iris would turn heads, is really too embarrassing.

After swallowing her saliva and struggling internally for a long time, Ella mustered up her courage and tremblingly pointed a finger at Iris.

"One month."

"A month?"

Iris pretended not to understand, but this action made Ella puff up her face and glance away angrily.

"If you don't agree, forget it."

"Pfft, that's right~ I won't tease Ella-chan anymore. As expected, Ella-chan is very interesting. Let's extend the time when we can't be disturbed to a month."

Putting her hand to her lips, Iris showed a knowing smile that she didn't usually have. After a few seconds, Iris returned to her normal state, turned to face the stairs, and extended her arms to Ella.

"Then, can you let me be Ella-chan's flower protector?"

"…It is better to obey than to be respectful."

Not so happily, Ella put her hand on Iris's arm.

Chapter 55: A Leisure Tour in the Capital

At Iris's invitation, Ella came to the street outside. Due to the rain yesterday, water was everywhere on the uneven ground. Fortunately, the Kumi people cleaned the main roads overnight, otherwise the corners of her skirt would have been stained.

"Is this where Aira-chan wants to go?"

Iris looked at Ella who was holding her arm.

"I don't have any particular place I want to go, as long as I can kill time, it's fine."

"Is that so? In that case, I'd like to visit the Kumi scholar I visited yesterday."

"Is there a problem?"

"It's related to the Mark of Original Sin."

Elise shrugged and continued to add.

"That scholar is Kumi, who survived the Demon God era. He knows something about the explosion in Eden thousands of years ago. I'd like to learn more."

Eden is the name of the floating island of the Gods and Humans, and the explosion thousands of years ago refers to the accident that suddenly occurred after the people at that time collected the Seal of Original Sin.

Having no reason to object, Ella nodded.

"Yeah, I'll go too."

Like the city of Shine that Ella had passed through before, the capital of the Kingdom of Kumheim is home to a variety of races. It is common to see Kumi and undead walking on the streets. Traditional humanoid slimes and harpies with bird wings that walk upright can also be found. Occasionally, you can even see naked flower fairies sitting on large flower bushes, selling nectar and special magic crystals extracted from the roots.

It is worth mentioning that Ella communicated with the flower fairy for a while out of curiosity. According to the flower fairy - whose whole body is green except for its red eyes - although they cannot move on their own because their roots are rooted in the soil, if they feel bored with their living place, they will pay someone to help them move. On rainy days or at night, when there are no guests, they will wrap themselves in flowers and sleep in them.

As for whether it was enough to make a living just by selling magic crystals and nectar, when Ella asked this question, the flower fairy suddenly licked the corner of her mouth, revealing a look as if she had found prey. If Iris had not been there with her staff to push the flower fairy away, Ella would probably have been caught by the flower fairy and dragged into the huge pistil wrapped in petals - the flower fairy seemed to also provide special custom services that ordinary people could not do, and she especially liked to hunt pure boys and girls.

Although she encountered various races along the way, Ella had learned her lesson after the incident with the flower demon. For example, she would keep a distance of one meter when talking, and she could react immediately even if she encountered anything.

After two full hours, Ella and Iris finally reached the designated alley. The scholar Iris mentioned seemed to live in a rather remote location.

"Ah~ah~, I can't stand it. I know Ella-chan is curious about everything, but a journey that should have taken a quarter of a minute actually took a full two hours. Are you a child?"

Elise held her forehead with her hand as she had a headache.

Ella responded with an embarrassed laugh.

"Ahahaha... I was so engrossed for a moment that I forgot about the important things."

"Never mind. It's nice to waste time like this occasionally. The road here is a bit difficult to walk on, so be careful not to fall."

"Do you think I'm a child?"

Of course, although Ella said she was relaxed, she was actually very careful about her feet. Just as Iris said, this alley, which seemed to have not been visited for a long time, was filled with rubble. Not only that, countless green vines were climbing on it, and if you were not careful, you would be tripped by the roots. If Ella was asked to describe it, the only word she could think of was "ruins." It was the kind of place that didn't look like someone often passed by.

"Thank goodness Iris was able to find it."

Ella complained as she jumped carefully from one protruding rock to another.

"As long as you have money, you can find it anywhere. Well, that's what I said, but actually I discovered it by chance. When we went out yesterday, Luti-chan was very concerned about the current situation of painters being so popular among the Kumi people and wanted to know the reason, so we did a little research."

"So you found this scholar who's at least four figures old? Did you finally figure out the reason?"

Ella stopped jumping. Before entering the alley, there were indeed many people carrying sketchpads or painting on the roadside. Judging by the number of Kumi gathered around these painters, painters were very popular in the Kingdom of Kumiheim.

Ella's words made Iris look a little helpless.

"Should we say it was founded by the Kumi people? The reason is simple. The Kumi people simply love all kinds of women. To glimpse scenery that is hard to see in real life, the Kumi people will pay artists to create pictures that suit their tastes. This is why artists are so popular. According to that scholar, at least a third of young Kumi people dream of becoming artists."

"Wow...it's Kumi after all."

I can understand it to some extent. It's probably the same as the otakus in the original world who love to collect R18 art books. However, compared to the otakus, Kumi are much more pitiful. Paper is very expensive in this world. In addition, from what I have seen, the artists only draw one picture instead of a coherent plot. It is not an exaggeration to say that it is a drop in the bucket. Of course, this is just my personal opinion. If you were born in this slow-paced living environment, it is understandable that you would be satisfied with just one picture.

[The artist is very popular, so maybe Jinghua won't have to worry about the future? However, Jinghua draws BL manga, which is a bit difficult...]

Putting aside sexual orientation, the painters he had just seen were all realists. It was foreseeable that Jinghua's completely different painting style would be repulsed by people who saw it for the first time.

"Well, works are meant to be seen by people with similar interests. There will always be people who don't like your work. Rather than worrying about the feelings of those who do, it's better to pay attention to the opinions of those who like it."

Jinghua should know this better than himself.

"Ella-chan, if you don't catch up now, you're going to be left behind, right?"

"Ah, wait for me!"

Shaking her head, Ella cleared her mind of all the random thoughts, applied "acceleration" to herself, and hurried to catch up with Iris in front.

but--

"Hehe, I didn't expect someone would pass by a place like this. I'm already preparing to leave. Your luck is really bad."

Accompanied by the sound of ore colliding, a total of five Kumi jumped out from the wall and stood in front of Ella and Iris who had already reunited.

Judging from the less than half-meter size and tinted bodies of these five Kumi, they should be individuals with relatively low abilities. In fact, the "Terrain Search" shows that they are less than level 10 and are the type that can be easily crushed with a magic wand.

The leader, Baitie Kumi, looked full of confidence, puffed out his chest proudly, and banged the wooden stick in his hand with his eyes closed.

"Hand over the collection of paintings you have on you quickly, so you can be spared from physical pain."

"Album of paintings?"

Ella blinked in confusion. Wasn't he just a scoundrel? Responding to this abrupt remark, Ella lowered the Pestle of Heavenly Punishment, which had already gathered its power of "Holy Pestle Strike" behind her.

"Boss, it seems we've got the wrong guy."

Kumi, who was standing at the back, quietly poked the leader and reminded him in a blunt voice.

"What?"

The rogue leader, who was a size larger than the other Kumi, suddenly widened his eyes and looked at Ella and Iris carefully.

"Hmm...it seems...I've definitely picked the wrong person. Why would a female human come here at this hour? I thought I could get a precious art collection from Kumi."

"But Boss, even if there's no art book, we can still grab the money and ask an artist to customize it."

"Oh! You're our military advisor indeed. You'll have a role to play later—surround them!"

Following the leader Kumi's shout, the other four Kumi immediately scattered and surrounded Ella and Iris. Although Ella and Iris could have ended the farce halfway, the former found it very interesting, and the latter wanted to see how the former handled it, so she did not stop the Kumi from surrounding her.

"As long as you have enough gold coins, you can even find an artist to draw the most difficult twintails. It's really a big profit."

“Ohhh! As expected of the boss!”

Ella couldn't help but find it funny to hear the Kumi people discussing how to use their own money to buy the picture album. Even if someone came out and said "the Kumi people are performing on the street", Ella would definitely believe it.

[Well... that's just how Kumi are. It's better not to bully them.]

A trace of pity rose in her heart, and Ella put the Pestle of Heavenly Punishment into the warehouse. Given the kind nature of the Kumis, even if she ignored them and walked away, they would only be angry and say some threatening words behind her back.

"Not just one twintail, but two or three together is totally fine."

"Even the nude type, which is prohibited, is allowed?"

"You want to be locked up in a dungeon?!"

"Then I want the larval form's silver ponytail!"

"What's so good about being a larva? In my opinion, a tolerant older sister is better."

"Do you want to fight?!"

Before robbing Ella, the Kumi people were already in civil strife with red faces. The crisp sound of ore colliding reached the sky, and just from the sound, one could tell how fierce the battle was going on in the dust that was raised.

After a full three minutes, the quarrel between the Kumi ended. It seemed that the settlement was based on the smashing of one Kumi, and the ground was littered with tin-colored fragments.

A slime should come and repair it later, Ella reminded him, thinking so.

"Um... have you guys discussed this?"

"Hey, you guys, if you keep arguing, the prey will get away."

"That's right, getting the money first is the most important thing."

"But then again, these two ladies have completely different styles. One is very cute, and the other is very beautiful..."

"Boss, why don't we ask the artist to draw them, with twintails, of course."

"—Well, that's a good suggestion."

After carefully examining Ella and Iris, the leader Kumi nodded in agreement, and the other Kumi's also seemed to have no objections.

After coughing twice, the leader Kumi put on a very ferocious expression and faced Ella.

"Hey, you two, tie your pigtails for me first, use this."

He took out four black and white ribbons from somewhere, and instead of throwing them on the ground, he walked up to Ella with a serious face. He handed the ribbons to Ella solemnly, and seemed to think that this was too much. He also handed over a few copper coins.

"This is your reward."

"Are you really bandits..."

"You talk too much nonsense!"