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

"Well, there's a dance being held by Uncle Wedgie tonight. Uncle Wedgie took care of me a lot when I was little, so I have to go. Senior, do you want to come with us? You still owe me a dance partner from the last dance, right?"

The last time Shen Gan mentioned was the dance party held by Wadong, where everyone danced with Ella, but by the time Shen Gan arrived, the dance was over.

"A ball... I always feel like I don't know what to do at such a grand occasion. And that Uncle Weeji that Fukagan mentioned is probably the manager of the branch island 'Brorrickz'. At a noble ball like that, the people who go must be celebrities. I definitely wouldn't be able to talk to anyone and would just stand there like an idiot."

"Yeah, that's true. I can imagine the socially awkward senior standing there like an idiot."

Although he was saying some malicious words, Shen Gan had no expression on his face at all, which made Ella admire him from the bottom of her heart.

"I've always felt like Fukamaru has become a bit mean lately. Well, never mind. As compensation, tomorrow, on the Solitary God's Christmas, I'll grant Fukamaru one request. Don't ask for anything too much, okay?"

"A request... well... dancing isn't that interesting, so maybe a picnic together would be more in line with Senpai's preferences. Do you want to go on a picnic together? If you don't like it, you can just refuse."

Shen Gan raised his head and looked up at Ella slightly. His blue-purple eyes could not reveal his current emotions.

"Picnic? Demons are disliked during the One God's Christmas. Even walking down the street would only lead to discrimination. Since I'm a noble, it might not be as intense, but it would have a negative impact on Tila, a fellow demon. If I can't go out and play, a picnic is surprisingly a good option. I've decided to go."

"Ha~ah, Senior is indeed a senior. Then, please come to the City Lord's Mansion to pick me up tomorrow morning. I will wait for you at the door."

Ella nodded.

"Well, it's settled. I'll prepare lunch."

"Anyway, it's definitely in Lotte-senpai's charge. Let's call Lotte-senpai and the others tomorrow. I don't want that girl—Elise-senpai—to call this a date between lovers."

Maybe it was because he had been well-educated since childhood, but the "that woman" that Fukagan originally wanted to talk about was forcibly changed to "Elise-senpai" in the middle.

——Fukan really does hate Iris...

Thinking back to how Iris always liked to go against Shen Gan, Ella could only hide her inner thoughts with a wry smile.

"Then it's settled. I'll take Lotte and the others with me to pick up Fukamaru. But what did Fukamaru mean when he first said, 'We didn't research our opponent beforehand'?"

Chapter 22: Provocation in Delusion

Looking at him as if he were an idiot, Shen Gan sighed helplessly.

"Senior, haven't you noticed the other merchants on the island? Another one is selling Gagami Melon and Buno Cabbage for four copper coins and five iron coins."

"Eh? Isn't the normal price three silver coins? We're only getting five copper coins now, which is pretty low, right? Why are there merchants offering lower prices than us... and even just by a fraction of five copper coins..."

After placing the dimensional backpack in a hidden place under the stall, Ella pulled Shen Gan to a place at the back where no one could hear them. Although Shen Gan was a little dissatisfied with this semi-forced pulling, he still followed Ella to the shade of the tree.

As for playing the role of a businessman, Ella had no intention of making a living from it. She just regarded it as one of the pleasures of life - although she only participated in a small part - so when setting the price, she just made up a number at random and covered it up with a temporary reason. As for the idea of ​​limiting the purchase quantity per person, it was added at Iris's suggestion afterwards.

——As long as I can experience the joy of playing the role of a businessman, that’s enough.

So Ella's original plan was to find local merchants to sell all the fruits and vegetables today, but after seeing the maids and Angelica's happy expressions when they were counting the coins last night, she abandoned this idea and decided to let the maids and Angelica sell all the fruits and vegetables.

So for now, the more people who come, the better. Although it is unfair to the local merchants, judging from the inventory, all the fruits and vegetables will be sold out in one day at most. In addition, the practice of limiting purchases per person will not actually cause much impact on local merchants. If you can catch the happiness, try to make the happiness last longer. This is Ella's idea.

After arriving under the shade of the tree, Shen Gan answered Ella's previous doubts.

"Senior, if you're so arbitrarily lowering the price, anyone would think it's malicious competition... The price is just five copper coins less than yours, so it's like you're deliberately provoking me. Well, doing this will only make you a loss. The local merchants' cost is definitely more than that."

"Eh, isn't that bad? They'll lure customers away with low prices, and I'll have less gagami and bueno to sell. Then they'll have to stay on the island for a few more days... and that means they'll have to keep selling at low prices longer, which means more losses. At this rate, we should be able to leave the island the day after tomorrow."

Ella couldn't help but feel sympathy for the local merchant. It didn't matter to her, but if things went on for too long, the local merchant might suffer a lot of losses. If this continued, in order to avoid anything strange happening, she had to sell all the remaining fruits and vegetables as soon as possible.

Besides, the purpose is to attract more people and make the maids and Angelina happier.

Shen Gan shrugged and looked away as if he was very uninterested in this matter.

"As for me, it doesn't matter whether I stay on the branch island or the main island. And since that merchant is using this method to attack you, wouldn't it be fine for you to just fight him off? Anyway, the people on the island have said that the merchant named Valais is unpleasant."

"Well, that being said, I don't intend to interfere with the island's affairs. And if there are fewer people, Nina and Tila will be unhappy, right? Although they won't say it..."

"Haha—senpai really loves to worry. Whatever you want, senpai. If you have any questions, just ask Iris-senpai and Lotte-senpai. Although Camisia-senpai is also an option, I have a feeling that she would use some cunning tactics of politicians—never mind, it doesn't matter who you choose. Time is almost up, I'm going to go say hello to Uncle Wedge first."

It seemed as if he wanted to say something, but Shen Gan only opened his mouth halfway and then immediately closed it, pretending nothing had happened. He casually fiddled with his long brown hair draped behind his back, waved to Ella, walked through the crowd, and headed towards the City Lord's Mansion.

Coming back to her senses from her thoughts, Ella stood on tiptoe and waved to Shen Gan who had already walked into the crowd.

"Eh? Oh, don't forget to go there tomorrow~"

"Senior, please don't oversleep."

Muttering in a low voice so that Ella wouldn't hear, Fukagan completely blended into the crowd.

After watching Shen Gan leave, Ella reached out and patted the side of her face. The crisp sound made her feel a little more energetic.

"Well then, next we'll start our campaign called 'Maids Are Happier'!"

If you want to finish your island trip quickly, lowering the price would be the quickest way. In addition, making icicles that provide a place for people to cool off can be considered an additional service that can increase popularity. However, if you want to increase it further, it would be better to do more publicity.

After telling Ruthie about this idea, she quickly decided to adjust the price to four copper coins each. Considering that this might make customers who had previously bought the Gagami melons for five copper coins dissatisfied, she added some extra small gifts at a very low cost as a reward - these small gifts seemed to be quite popular, and no resident was dissatisfied.

And now, Ella, Iris, and Nina were walking down the street doing something called "propaganda." Because Ella and Iris's appearances were too conspicuous, and Iris was wearing blonde hair as a disguise, Iris and Ella, who looked like sisters, attracted the attention of many people on the street. Many people stood in the distance and pointed at Ella and the other two.

"So why did you ask me to come along, Aira-chan? I'll charge you, okay?"

With her arms folded across her chest and her hair disguised as golden, Iris curled her lips in dissatisfaction.

"That's because Iris looks so bored. I made this decision out of kindness."

When Ella originally planned to take Nina with her, but she thought it would be pitiful for Iris to stay alone in the hotel to look after the sisters, so she asked Iris to come along as well.

Hearing Ella's answer, Iris bent down and stared into Ella's eyes with a suspicious look, "Is that really the case?"

"Hoho? You really didn't call me because you were the only one who was embarrassed? Ah~ah, this is pure unnecessary sympathy. Besides, why doesn't Ella-chan lift that thing herself?"

"That thing" refers to the cardboard with a slogan written on it that Nina is holding.

Unlike the expected reaction, Ella blinked and said with an expression that said so without avoiding Iris's gaze.

"It was originally in my hand. Nina said happily, 'Master, please let me try it,' so I gave it to her. Besides, I look like a villain who exploits maids."

"Ms. Iris, I asked Ms. Ella to give it to me..."

"Is that so? Let's just take it as it is."

With a casual wave of her hand, Iris stood up again and turned her gaze to the side.

Regardless of the process, at least judging from the current results, the publicity should have played a very good role. At least people walking on the street all focused their attention on the sign held by Nina at the front of the team.

"Hey, did you see that? There's actually such a cheap Gagami melon."

"Much better than that Valai."

"If we don't go now, it'll be gone, right? Tomorrow is the One and Only God's Christmas!"

Scenes like this kept appearing on the streets of Brorickz, a branch island. If a giant dragon flew across the sky at this time, one would be able to see that the flow of people on the streets was like ants flocking into a nest, gathering sparsely and then pouring into the stall set up by Ella in huge numbers.

Before they knew it, they arrived in front of another stall that looked quite impressive.

Although it was also made of wooden strips and linen, its area was exaggerated in every way - at least the size of seven or eight stalls combined, filled with all kinds of fruits and vegetables, cloth, wine and various daily necessities. Just from the layout, it could be seen that the owner was a very good manager, and these goods were all neatly arranged and not randomly mixed together.

The most eye-catching items in the middle are the Gagami Melons and Buno Cabbages that Ella is currently selling. The price tag next to them is four copper coins and five iron coins. There is a very long winding line there.

Ella accidentally saw the price and instantly understood that this was the shop of the merchant Valai that she had mentioned to Shen Gan before.

Noticing Ella's gaze, Valai, who was present today, raised his head and looked back from the pile of goods - and then caught a glimpse of the sign with the promotional slogan held up by Nina, who was standing in front of Ella.

As if seeing prey, Valai's pupils shrank instantly, then he narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Ella, muttering softly.

"Four copper coins?... Humph, you dare to challenge me in person."

Valai, who had been sitting in the chair, stood up, took the wooden sign with the price written on it from the subordinate who was in charge of collecting the money, picked up a pen and casually crossed out the words on it, changing it to a price of five iron coins less than Ella's current four copper coins.

Then he put on a sickeningly cold smile with his gloomy face with sunken eyes and prominent cheekbones, stuck the wooden sign in a conspicuous place on the stall and shouted.

"Gagamigua, three copper coins and five iron coins."

Naturally, this caused dissatisfaction among the residents of Long Island who had just purchased their properties and were preparing to leave.

"Hey, I just spent four copper coins and five iron coins on this, it's nothing. Give me back my copper coins!"

"You can only blame your bad luck. Once you've bought it, leave quickly. Next one!"

Valai curled his lips in dissatisfaction, then glanced at Ella out of the corner of his eye.

Ella, who had been looking at Valai's stall out of curiosity, felt as if she was suddenly being stared at by something. She felt a chill all over her body and subconsciously shrank back, bumping into Iris who was walking behind her.

"What's wrong?"

"Huh? It's nothing, it's just that this merchant named Valais seems very strict..."

"Isn't that normal? Merchants are cunning people. I wonder if Ella-chan doesn't know that."

"Hmm... Yeah, that's right. Now we should hurry back and tell Lotte to change the price. We want to get out of here and visit the main island as soon as possible."

"As long as Ella-chan thinks it's okay, that's fine. Honestly, due to my status as a princess of the God-man tribe, I usually can't go out to other places for fun. This time, my family only agreed to let me come to Dragon Island because of that little one, Fukagan, was with me."

Recalling the scene where the elders in the council quarreled over her trip, Iris showed a rare expression of distress.

"Didn't they stop me because of my identity as a demon queen?"

He waved his hand in disgust at Ella's words.

"Of course, but no one said anything after I showed them the brooch that Ella-chan gave me, which is resistant to all mental magic. If it were an enemy—no, if it weren't a close relationship, they wouldn't give such a precious item to someone, right?"

"Ahahaha... Let's go back quickly, Nina, let's go back."

"Yes~"

After nodding in agreement, Nina put down the cards and followed Ella and Iris back to the stall.

"Hmph, I won't let you ruin my plan."

Looking at the receding backs of Ella and the other two, Valai snorted coldly, slowly sat back in the wooden chair, and began to think about his next countermeasures.

Chapter 23 Christmas and Picnic

*创世纪6186年12月24日 晚11:21分 龙岛分岛『布洛里克兹』

In the room, which was only lit by a faint candlelight, Valai kept pacing in the simple room with a frown on his face. His face was so thin that only a layer of skin was left, and his facial features were twisted together. No matter who saw him, he would find it extremely hideous.

The constant pacing did not relieve his anxiety. Instead, he was sweating all over due to the hot weather and felt extremely uncomfortable. This feeling increased Valai's inner anger, and he kept gasping and cursing.

"Damn it, this is impossible! How could this happen!"

"Lord Valais..."

The confidant bent over and looked at Valais who was pacing around the room with a worried look on his face.

What Vale was talking about was the constant price competition between Vale and Ella during the day. After a series of price changes, the two finally won with Ella's price of one copper coin. Although the price could be lowered further, just when Vale was about to change to five iron coins, the remaining storage in the warehouse had been used up, and there was no room for price reduction.

"Are they planning to stay here permanently?! They've even lowered the price to just one copper coin... Absurd. Coming here when the plan is almost complete, it's like they're being sent by the Demon King to deal with us."

"...Lord Valais, what should we do next?"

After hearing his subordinates' words, Valai stopped, as if he suddenly remembered something, and slowly turned his head to look at his confidant.

"Hmm—did you do what I asked you to do to investigate their merchant ship? What was the result?"

"As a result... that large merchant ship had no cargo, and no sailors or other adventurers were seen. The cruise ship had a defensive barrier that prevented us from entering, but from what we saw outside..."

"Is there something unusual?"

Like a traveler about to die of thirst in the desert seeing an oasis, Valais's sunken eyes lit up instantly.

"Hmm...hmm...it should be considered an anomaly—there's no one on board. And, Lord Vale, according to our investigation, even though they sold so many Gagamigua, they never returned to the ship to restock. So I'm wondering if they've already transferred all the goods to their storage backpacks."

"Put it all in a storage backpack? Impossible. A storage backpack can only hold the contents of half a room at most. And even nobles of lower ranks can't afford one. How could they possibly have so many storage backpacks? But setting up a defensive barrier on a cruise ship? The secret must be on that ship. Come with me tomorrow."

After making the arrangements, Valais waved his hand and asked his subordinates to leave the room.

"But I heard they're going somewhere tomorrow. Could it be that they're going back to the cruise ship to do something?"

"Um?"

Valai, who had already turned around, turned back again.

"Did they anticipate our investigation? So, send people to the island to find those with carriages. Ideally, get the black market guys too. Have them block the nobles' route tomorrow to buy them time while we investigate on the cruise ship."

"Isn't this a bit too much trouble?"

"No, judging from the information we have now, the enemy might be a great noble from the Demon Territory. If we use force like before, we'll probably be caught. Let's make arrangements now and leave tomorrow morning."

"Yes."