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

A thoughtful expression crossed Ester's gentle face. From her perspective, the elves were now like a small boat in a storm. If she hadn't known Hildy wouldn't abandon her people, she would have resorted to force to remove her from the elves. She cared more about Hildy's safety than Malbrune's. She didn't want to watch Hildy and the already aging elves perish in the flames.

Judging from the current progress, this time is probably not far away.

Whenever she thought of this, Ester felt a fire burning in her chest, and the uncontrollable anxiety made her want to throw something. It seemed that she had been tied to Hildy with the rope called love, Ester couldn't help but think so. But this was something they both knew long ago, and her inner anxiety seemed to be about something other than Hildy's safety, something else that she couldn't explain. Before she could think about it further, Ester was distracted by Hildy's cough.

""water"."

Due to the lack of a container, Esther could only hold the water in her hands and bring it to Hilti's mouth. After Hilti lowered her head and drank a little, her face looked much better. She leaned her head against the tree trunk slightly towards Esther and said with a smile.

"I'm really lucky to have Esther by my side."

"Don't try to change the subject. Next time, no matter what you say, I won't let Hildy go alone again."

"Ister, you know right? The World Tree can't hold out for much longer. I can't leave here, but Ister still has a lot of time."

"Fool, would I go alone? I am the second of the Seven Seals of the Deadly Sins, the Water Spirit residing in the Seal of Desire, Ester Malbrune. I have vowed to accompany Hilde until the moment my consciousness fades—"

Although it was what a couple in love would say, Ester could only see the expression of impending doom on Hilti's face. In order to divert Hilti's attention, Ester suddenly remembered another thing that could prevent Hilti from being so pessimistic, and her clear aqua blue eyes suddenly lit up.

"Even for the sake of our children's future, we must protect the elves. We can't just give up, right? She will inherit the vast land of Malborune, the cherry blossoms that cover the entire territory, the fruits that fall from the sky, the wheat sown on the plains, and the cranberries that grow in the cold winter. The Hamil River stretches from the foot of the World Tree to the God-Man Territory, and the people who believe in you, Hilde. All of this will be inherited by Angelini."

"But... the World Tree can't hold out for much longer."

Although she said so, Esther's words gave Hildi some confidence. She stood up, patted her clothes, nodded and apologized to Kiru who had been waiting not far from the two of them, and looked up at the blue light shield that had become so thin that it was almost transparent. She knew that outside this light was volcanic ash that was thick enough to cover the sun. As long as the barrier of the World Tree was destroyed, the earth would be shrouded in darkness again.

Ester and Kiru also looked up at this weak barrier that could not give people a sense of security, but Ester's eyes did not have the tragic and majestic look of Hildy's fading sun.

"And Master, if you can regain your former strength, the fire goblins will be nothing but worthless scraps."

"Master? I heard about it from Esther half a month ago. What kind of existence is it?"

Hildy turned to look at Esther, and Esther's sight seemed to have traveled back to the ancient times. She looked up at the red sky with lightning and thunder to the east of the blue light shield and spoke word by word.

"The god who created us, the elder of all things, the Demon King, Erelia Nott Mistotin."

Chapter 46: Malbrune's Current Situation

* February 3, 6188, 17:05 PM, Malbrune Hamel area

By the time Ella and Cang Yan and their group entered the interior of Hamil City, it was already evening and the sun was about to set. Although the temperature in the Elf Territory was hot, it was entirely because of the underground volcano. If the barrier of the World Tree was still in good condition, the Elf Territory would actually be in winter, and the continuous heavy snow would be enough to cover the entire territory with silver gauze.

"Although they look poor, the elves are very energetic."

Looking at the elves who cast strange looks at the carriage along the way, Ella couldn't help but sigh. Although the twenty-meter-high city walls of Hamil City looked quite majestic from the outside, the buildings inside the city could only be described as barely habitable. Even stone or wooden houses were rare, and there were low earthen houses everywhere. Only the towering castle at the foot of the World Tree in the distance proved that this was the royal city of the Elf Territory, not a village that could be seen everywhere.

The elves on the street also gave people the impression of poverty. They wore short-sleeved shirts with patches all over them, and their skin looked rough from being weathered by the wind and sand. The only thing worth mentioning was the hopeful expressions on their faces. Even though the barrier of the World Tree covering the sky was so weak that it seemed like it would break in the next second, no one panicked or worried about it, as if they were full of confidence in the World Tree.

"It's exactly like the look of a demon."

Recalling the time when she was in the Eastern Demon Tribe and the demons on the streets held their heads high, Iris's narrow green eyes suddenly flashed with a look of understanding.

"Perhaps it's because Queen Hilde is so popular. She led her people to overthrow the tyranny and had just become the Queen of the Elven Kingdom. The elves' reverence for her must have reached an all-time high. The living conditions we see now are very poor, probably the result of twenty years of war."

"War is bad."

Although Mitis's sigh made people want to complain, when they saw that the elves' living conditions were even worse than those in the Kingdom of Barris, everyone had no intention of playing around and just silently watched the elves with curious faces seeing the carriage.

About ten minutes later, a team of people dressed as guards blocked the carriage. These guards were all elves carrying bows and arrows and were also magic chanters. None of them carried swords or held spears. Just as Angelini had said in the Holy Academy, the elves who were close to nature believed that weapons such as knives and axes were too rough and were inferior weapons used by ignorant and inferior people.

"Excuse me, is this the Demon King's carriage that the princess is riding in?"

Wearing light clothing made of special plants, the leading soldier asked Lotte very politely.

"Princess Angelini and the Demon King are in the carriage, along with the princess of the Godman tribe and the princess of the Dragon tribe."

"Excuse me."

The guard saluted the carriage first, then bowed slightly to Luty, then shouted, ordering the ten soldiers he brought to form two teams. Finally, he clenched his right fist and placed the side with the thumb facing the center of his chest, performing an elven etiquette. This action immediately resonated with the other elves on both sides of the street. Although the action was a bit awkward, the residents still saluted the carriage collectively like the soldier.

"Please follow me, my lords. The Queen has been waiting for you for a long time."

◇

It took about half an hour for Ella and her group to enter the castle with Cang Yan, who was also invited. It is worth mentioning that when they passed through the low houses on the outskirts of the city and arrived at the residential area near the castle, the elves' houses had changed from adobe houses to traditional stone houses. Not all elves lived in an unsatisfactory environment - except that the air was still so dry that it made people's throats sore.

"Dear guests who have come from afar, on behalf of Malbrune, I thank you for your help."

In the spacious stone hall, the Elf Queen Hildy, dressed in luxurious robes, wearing a crown and holding a scepter, stood up from the throne impatiently. Without even finishing her polite words, she walked straight towards Ella and her group who had just entered the hall, scanning the crowd. Ester, who stood up with her, smiled wryly and took a step ahead of Hildy to hug Angelique, who was standing next to Ella and was the protagonist of the day.

Of course, Ella would not be angry at Hilti's rudeness. Instead, Ella was somewhat relieved that Hilti did not introduce herself in long court language, which meant that Ella did not need to respond with an equally long self-introduction.

Ester smiled and pulled the bewildered Angelique out of the team, pushing her in front of Hildy, who was excited and didn't know what to say. The last time she saw Hildy like this was when Hildy found out that she and she were pregnant.

"This is our child."

"Angeline..."

Angelique was obviously unfamiliar with this queen, whom she met for the first time but was her biological mother. She subconsciously took a small step back towards Esther. After Esther whispered something to Angelique, Angelique squeezed out the title in a stiff tone.

"Hildy... Hildy's mother..."

Angelica's words startled Hildy at first, and then her lips began to tremble uncontrollably. She slowly squatted down and hugged Angelica and Esther behind her. Her facial features were twisted together. She suppressed the excitement of meeting after a long separation and decades of guilt. She gently pressed her cheek against Angelica's cheek, as if she was afraid that this was a dream. Her voice was so cautious that it was almost inaudible.

"I'm sorry... I failed to fulfill my obligations..."

As soon as she said that, Hildy could no longer hold back the tears of either emotion or pain in her eyes. She hugged Angelique and Esther tightly, sobbing uncontrollably.

Ella and her group could only turn their heads away to give space to this family that had been separated for many years. Kiru took this opportunity to walk between Ella, Hildi and the other two, and made a gesture of invitation to everyone with an apologetic look. Everyone cooperated very well and quietly left the hall.

Only after reaching the corridor outside did Kiru bow and apologize.

"The Queen has long missed Princess Angelina, and coupled with the pressure of the people's expectations, she was unable to control her emotions. I apologize to you all on behalf of the Queen."

"No, as Angelina's friend, we hope she can find a home. By the way, what is Kiru's current position...?"

Ella stretched out her hand to stop Kiru from bowing, and looked at him with great curiosity. When they came, Kiru was the only one left in the hall besides Hildi and Ester, so his identity was definitely no longer the messenger he used to be.

"Thanks to the Queen's kindness, I am now the new Prime Minister of the Elves."

"Where are the other nobles? Why don't I see any of them?"

While speaking, Camisia looked left and right at the corridor. Along the way, there were only a few maids and knights on guard. The huge castle seemed like a deserted city.

Jiru turned his head and glanced at the unfamiliar Cang Yan and his group. As the captain, Berg immediately understood Jiru's difficulties. After greeting Jiru, he and the team members found the knight on guard and went to eat under the pretext of being hungry.

After Kiru watched Cang Yan leave with an apologetic look in his eyes, Camisia spoke again.

"Okay, can you explain now?"

"Ella-chan and Angeline-chan are close friends. If Kiru could explain the situation, things would have a better ending."

Iris expressed it very tactfully. Everyone could see that the crisis of the elves was imminent. If Kiru continued to hide it at this time, it would probably cause unpredictable consequences.

After struggling for a while, Kiru sighed.

"Let's talk as we walk. We elves..."

Simply put, the elves have experienced more than 20 years of civil strife, and their living standards, which used to rank among the best on the continent, have dropped to an extremely low level, to the point where they can hardly even feed their people. More than half of the nobles have also died in the civil strife. Even the less than 30% of the nobles who are left have to lead their soldiers deep underground because of the fire goblin rebellion, in order to buy a moment of respite for the weak world tree barrier. It can be said that 80% of the elves' forces - including regular troops, noble private soldiers and ordinary farmers - are concentrated in the volcanic world under the capital, and they can't even take care of the northern border being invaded by the kingdoms.

"In the past, the World Tree's barrier would have been enough to deter the despicable armies of the kingdoms. But now, in order to concentrate forces near the volcano, the barrier is only maintained at one-third of its original size. If it weren't for the heavy snow on the border, making it difficult for the army to move forward, I'm afraid that large tracts of elven land would have already been occupied by some of the kingdoms."

Jiru's face was full of indignation, but what he didn't say was that when the ice and snow melted in the spring, these fools who were fighting each other in the swamp would definitely occupy the northern territory of the elves.

"Can't the royal family control the World Tree to absorb the magic power from the earth's veins?"

"We could have done this in the past, but because the traitor Adil recklessly used the power of the World Tree, the magical energy in the leylines was drained in a short period of time. Without sufficient time, it will be difficult to restore it to its original level."

"In short, the most urgent task right now is to deal with the fire elves underground, and then turn to meet the invading armies of the kingdoms from the north, right?"

Camisia seemed very relaxed, as if she had already thought of a plan some time ago. However, Kiru did not nod his head at Camisia's words. In fact, the elves simply did not have the strength to resist the invasion of the kingdoms in the spring. At present, even whether they could survive until spring was a problem. It's just that some things should be said and some things should not be said. This kind of secret must be told by the queen at the right time.

"What do you mean, Lord Camisia?"

"Wouldn't it be better to leave it to the decision of both emperors?"

For the same reason as Kiru, Camisia did not overstep her bounds, although this was unnecessary for Ella.

Ruthie, who was following behind everyone, changed the subject at the right time.

"Kiru-sama, where are we going next?"

"It's getting late. Please come and have dinner, everyone. However, we only have some simple food left. Please bear with us if it doesn't suit your taste."

Even the queen had to eat meat every few days, not to mention other people. Originally, it should have been the butler who led everyone to the restaurant, not Kiru. However, in order to reduce expenses, Hildy only left a minimum number of servants.

After passing through a narrow and dark corridor, and then walking down the stairs that should have been filled with a large number of handicrafts, Ella and her group arrived at the restaurant on the second floor of the castle. Like other places, it lacked vitality. There were only two simply dressed, short-haired elf maids who were busy arranging the dishes.

The large long table covered with white cloth was sparsely filled with tableware, with most of the plates filled with vegetables - fried corn, sliced ​​sweet potatoes, whole steamed vegetables, food that looked like mashed potatoes, and cranberries as a dessert. Although there was precious meat, each person was only given a steak half the size of a palm. Even so, the two short-haired maids kept swallowing their saliva. As well-trained maids, they should not have such rude behavior, but they were really too hungry. In addition, they had not eaten meat for nearly two months. After smelling the aroma, they could not help but lose control of themselves. It was quite difficult not to eat secretly.

Looking at the shabby dining table, Jiru couldn't help but feel his face flushed. This was already the best treatment they could offer, but compared to the hospitality Camisia had given him when he was in the Demon Tribe a few months ago, it was a world of difference. He apologized again.

"Serving you all such despicable food is truly beneath your dignity, but due to the current situation within the territory..."

"This is quite good! I thought they would serve sweet potatoes fresh from the ground, but this is much better than I thought."

Interrupting Kiru's words, Mitis found a seat and sat down, then pulled Ella to sit next to her. Putting aside the food, the restaurant's layout could definitely be described as decent. At least in terms of cleanliness and tidiness, it was unmatched by the Bruzea Empire.

"Many of the dishes are new to me. If I can learn them, my repertoire will be even more diverse in the future."

"Yeah, very exquisite."

Lotte and Fukagan, who were in charge of cooking in the team, sighed respectively. Camisia also looked indifferent. Only Iris frowned slightly.

"What happened to Iris?"

"It smells so sweet."

“Eh…”

Apart from the small steamed vegetable on each person's plate, the sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes were all sweet-tasting foods, which was totally unacceptable to Iris, who loved bitterness.

Of course, this was not a solution for Iris. She took out a very bitter powder from the storage item and sprinkled it carefully on her plate. Soon the bitterness covered the sweetness and spread.

Kiru was relieved by the reactions of the crowd, and then he sat down as well. Since Hildy was not there, he had to accompany the guests as the host, otherwise it would be impolite. However, after sitting down, he soon found something wrong - there was no bread as the staple food.

He frowned and looked at the two short-haired elf maids standing on the right side of the dining table. The two elf maids trembled suddenly and lowered their heads like little animals afraid of being beaten.

"What about the staple food?"

Mitis raised her head and asked the question that Kirugan had discovered. Influenced by the imperial lifestyle for a long time, Mitis must have staple food with her meals.

Mitis's question increased Jiru's dissatisfaction. The banquet was already very simple, but they even forgot the main course. If the maids didn't give a reason, Jiru would definitely fire them afterwards.

"Why is there no staple food?"

"Prime Minister... the trees in the forest are no longer bearing fruit..."

A slightly more mature maid said timidly. It was not until now that Ella realized that the two maids with short black hair should be twins.

"No fruit? Did you give it magic?"

“I gave it, but it didn’t work.”

"How is this possible? Mori Shu has never been in such a situation before!"

"But sir, what my sister said is true! My sister and I have used up all our magic power, but the forest tree still doesn't react. All the forest trees are like this."

The younger sister said anxiously, and her expression didn't seem like she was lying, which made Jiru's heart sink. The forest tree is a plant rooted in the roots of the World Tree. As long as magic power is injected into the tree, forest fruits the size of coconuts will grow within an hour. And as long as the green forest fruits are roasted and sliced, you can get forest tree bread that tastes exactly like bread and has a little bit of fruity aroma. The large number of forest trees growing around the World Tree are the source of 70% of the food in Hamil City.

Hearing the unfamiliar words, Ella couldn't help but ask.

"Mori tree? What is that?"

"Um, Your Majesty, it's a plant that produces fruit when injected with magical energy. The fruit can be roasted and eaten as bread."

"There's a plant like this. Can you take me to see it?"

It wasn't just out of curiosity, but she felt that the heavy atmosphere in the restaurant made it difficult for her to enjoy the food easily. She had seen the maid swallowing her saliva when she came, and she must be very hungry. Rather than eating in a restaurant with a gloomy atmosphere, Ella felt it would be better to go outside and get some fresh air.

"But Your Majesty, you haven't eaten yet..."

"It's okay. I already ate in the carriage before coming here."

This was of course a lie. As for the lack of dinner, there were many desserts in his warehouse, so he could just eat some to get by. If that didn't work, he could secretly take out some animal meat and ask the two maids in front of him to cook it - food tasted better when everyone ate it together.

"Please allow me to arrange for a servant to accompany you."

"No need, just the two of them are enough."

Ella stood up and pointed at the two maids behind her.

Character design: Angelina