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

"Yes, it's Master Lekrik!"

"Surprisingly... he's the eldest son of the Marquis of Ars."

As the crowd was filled with surprise and confusion, a passage was opened up in the originally dense wall of people, as if to make way for the man named Lekrik. Perhaps he was a noble of a very high status.

This was a tall and thin young nobleman with triangular eyes and good looks, with his blond hair combed back.

"I am Lecrick Ars, the eldest son of the Marquis of Ars. Could you please stop disturbing this priestess?"

Although there was a plea in his tone, Leklik did not make any gesture similar to a request - with his status, even if he directly told these nobles from remote areas to "get out", no one would hold him accountable. His current behavior was completely to give face to these people in front of him.

After hearing what Lekrik said, the five young nobles seemed like completely different people. Their faces instantly turned pale and they retreated while talking.

"Since we are friends of Lord Lekrik, we will take our leave. We apologize for our previous disrespectful behavior!"

In the end, he almost crawled out of the crowd.

The provocative little man left the stage, and the ordinary civilians who were the audience also left the alley one after another. People with titles like Leklik were mostly moody, and it was not a wise choice to stay around him.

Although Ella didn't know the man named Lekrik, since he helped her out, she had to thank him.

Ella bowed slightly to Lekrik, who was two heads taller than her.

"Thank you so much."

Leklik tilted his head with interest.

"No, I simply cannot tolerate you beautiful ladies being harassed by those scoundrels. From now on, if Miss Ella—if you may allow me to call her that—if you encounter any difficulties in the Kingdom of Paris, you can always come to the Marquis of Ars's mansion to find me. Simply mention Miss Ella's name, and the servants will not stop you."

Completely unable to understand why Lekrik would help her to this extent, Ella couldn't help but feel that Lekrik did this for a purpose - perhaps he had discovered her identity as a demon, so it would be better for her to leave quickly.

"I'll remember this, Mr. Leklik. See you again sometime."

"It is my honor to help Miss Ella."

Lekrik put his hands on his waist and bowed like a gentleman, then gave a stiff smile and watched Ella and the others leave.

Chapter 24 Dinner and Talks

*January 30, 6187, 5:34 PM, Jaos City, Kingdom of Baris

This is a spacious room similar to a reception room. Although some of the carvings on the dark red walls have fallen off and the floor is slightly decayed due to years of water immersion, the presence of the fireplace and the goose yellow crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling show that the person who decorated the room still has some understanding of aristocratic taste and is trying to move towards a luxurious style.

There was no other furniture in the room except for an oval long table in the middle that could accommodate ten people for dining. The table was decorated with flowers, necessary iron tableware, and a slowly burning white stone stove - this was a special prop for heating stews, and it was very popular in the Kingdom of Paris, a country where it was difficult to see sunlight in winter. The whole room showed the atmosphere of an upcoming dinner.

The gentle breathing sounds flowing in the room were interrupted by the sound of a door being pushed open.

Following the voice, I looked up and saw a girl with silky blonde hair and another with flaming red hair - judging by their development level, they were enough to be called women - walking into the room.

"Iris, you're so slow! It's already evening."

Ella complained as she kept rolling her iron fork until it jingled.

"We agreed to have lunch together."

The owner of the voice, Yili, who was wearing camouflage blonde hair, waved her hand nonchalantly and walked into the room with small steps that had become part of her bones and could not be found flawless.

"Well, didn't I tell the hotel staff to tell Aira-chan that I won't be back at noon? Could it be that you guys have been waiting for me, Aira-chan?"

"Even if you're narcissistic, you should be self-aware."

"Fukana-chan is still the same as always."

Facing Iris's almost teasing sigh, Shen Gan replied in an almost sarcastic tone.

"Do you want me to say 'Yeah, yes, I've been waiting for Iris-senpai to come back'—"

"Stop, stop, stop. Even Ella-chan wouldn't say something like that. If Fuka-chan comes, I'll die."

Despite saying such exaggerated words, Iris still found a seat closest to the door and sat down at a leisurely pace. She had been inquiring about information in the city of Jayos all day today and felt really exhausted. She couldn't even muster the energy for daily jokes.

As Iris sat down, Camisia, whom Iris had met on the road, also walked into the room and sat on the red oak chair that Lotte had dragged out in her place—next to Ella.

"I'm truly sorry to have kept you waiting, Princess."

"I didn't wait, and the hotel's dinner wasn't ready yet. Camisia arrived just in time."

Ella pointed to the table. Apart from the tableware and the white stone stove burning unknown fuel, there was only a vase that had obviously been replaced.

In stark contrast to Iris's casual sitting posture with one hand on the table and one leg crossed, Camisia sat upright and reported the information to Ella.

"In that case—well, let's report on our harvest first."

"What did you get? Was Camisia absent today because she was investigating Zeos City?"

Ella put down the cutlery she had been fiddling with and looked at Camisia with some surprise and helplessness.

Although Camisia did tell me that she wanted to do something before I left the hotel, I thought it was about the Holy Academy, not the spy-like intelligence gathering, so I was naturally surprised. However, when I thought about it carefully, with Camisia's serious personality, it seemed natural that the first thing she did after arriving in a strange city was to inquire about information.

"Yes, although most of the information is fragmentary and useless, there are two points worth noting. The first is the election of the princess."

"The princess election? Lotte and I went there today, huh? Could it be that Camisia has already found out that Princess Tifarian is Lotte's sister?"

The moment the second half of the sentence came out, everyone in the room focused their attention on Lotte, who was sitting next to Ella's other hand.

"I never thought... Lotte's sister would be that princess..."

"She is my sister, but she was kicked out of the house by my father a long time ago."

"Lotte-chan is already such a gentle person. I'm really curious what that princess will be like."

"Well, it was indeed a very unexpected thing."

"Wait, isn't that what you want to talk about, Camisia?"

In the afternoon, Lotte had already told me that it was okay to tell others about this, so it wasn't a foolish thing for me to say it just now. But from my perspective, regarding the princess election, apart from the fact that I am Lotte's sister, there doesn't seem to be anything worth mentioning.

"Hmm... I was just trying to talk about the fact that the princess was chosen through election."

"Isn't it because the king has always wanted a daughter but has none, and the other princes requested it, that he chose a princess without inheritance rights through election?"

Even if all this is just hearsay, it should still be generally credible.

After a slight yawn, Iris changed her casual sitting posture with one leg raised to a helpless posture with her elbows on the table and one eyebrow raised.

"It's not that serious. As a Demon Queen, Ella should have looked deeper, like a political tool. If they simply wanted a daughter, there would be no need to go through all the trouble of holding a public naming ceremony, right? This is obviously for the benefit of those with ulterior motives. They want to give this princess, Tifarian? I think that's the name. Never mind. Anyway, this is a ceremony to increase the reputation of Lotte's sister so that they can take action later."

"Iris-sama, are you saying that my sister is actually a victim of politics?"

Ruthie straightened her body slightly. Although she no longer had any relationship with her sister, and it might be more accurate to say that her sister changed her name to hide something - perhaps to start a new life - she still couldn't help but want to know what happened next, even if she could only sit by and watch.

“What the head maid said is correct. Normally, I wouldn’t have any objections to this, but—”

Dude, dunk, dunk.

"Excuse me, is it convenient for you now?"

There was a heavy knock on the door and the voice of the hotel waiter rang out one after another. The dinner that Ella had ordered was ready. Judging from the fact that they did not push the door open directly, the waiters in the city of Jeos, the capital of Baris, were very well-trained.

Bowing slightly in apology for interrupting Camisia's explanation, Ella stood up from her chair and shouted towards the wooden door.

"Sure, come in."

The wooden door was pushed open, and several male waiters entered the room carrying dinner on trays. The dinner was not particularly sumptuous. It consisted of white bread, pickled cabbage, unknown monster red meat, a purple fruit salad that looked like lettuce, and a thick soup with a lot of ingredients that was placed on a white stone stove and was constantly steaming. It sounded great, but when it was placed on a long table that could accommodate ten people, it looked a bit shabby.

After watching the waiter leave, Ella, who had taken the order, lowered her head, too embarrassed to look at anyone else.

"Well... since I didn't have time to exchange for gold coins... I only ordered these."

"It wouldn't be a problem if there were only six of us, but you're just being too proud."

Shen Gan was the first to use a knife and fork to cut the white bread into bite-sized pieces, and then he kicked off the dinner. The muffled sound of bubbles rolling when the thick soup boiled, the clinking of cutlery and the sticky sound of food being chewed mixed together, and the originally quiet room became lively.

After drinking the thick soup from the small bowl and swallowing the white bread, Ella looked at Camisia.

"Kamisia only mentioned one thing before, right? What about the other one?"

Ella's words made Camisia ready to put down the tableware, but then she remembered what Ella once said, that there was no need to be so serious when eating, and it was better to treat it as a casual chat between friends. Camisia paused for a second somewhat unnaturally, but no one except Lotte noticed this, so nothing unexpected happened that could become a topic of conversation.

"Regarding the second point, Princess-sama, my suggestion is that none of us, except Iris and I, should go out alone during this period."

"Eh? Why?"

"Teacher Camisia, are you saying that there will be cases of disrespectful nobles stealing magical weapons? Just like someone tried to steal my scythe today?"

Angeline was waving the spoon in one hand excitedly. If it weren't for the nobleman named Lekrik who suddenly came to help her today, she would definitely have beaten those people up.

Tearing open the soundproof scroll, Camisia frowned, her voice filled with disgust, aversion, and incomprehensible emotions.

"That's not the case, Angeline. It's a conflict among the upper class nobles. To be more precise, it's between Lecrick, the eldest son of the Marquis of Ars—"

Chapter 25 Potential Turmoil

"Eh? Lekrik?"

Ella looked at Angelique and Ruthie at the table with a surprised expression, and found that they were also looking at her with similar expressions. If she remembered correctly, the Lekrik that Camisia mentioned was the person who helped her out today.

Camisia nodded.

"Well, according to the memories stored within the Golden Cat's Eye, the Kingdom of Barris can be broadly divided into six major noble factions. Two of these are pro-king factions, three are aristocratic factions, and the Marquis of Ars belongs to the remaining neutral faction. Since the Marquis of Ars's territory is near the royal capital and his territory places a high emphasis on military development, his position is almost decisive. Judging by his past performance, the Marquis of Ars actually has the most influence in court meetings among all the nobles."

"Well, after all, if we offend him, Ars might side with the enemy, so that's only natural. But Ars has been stuck between both sides for so long, so he must have some powerful methods. He's a real monster."

Iris waved her hand casually and picked up the wine glass placed aside.

Although Camisia and Iris both acted as if they had finished talking, Ella still couldn't understand why this was related to not going out alone recently. Since it was very important information, she asked directly.

The person who answered the question was Lotte, who was also attending the class.

"Perhaps the nobles all want to win over the Marquis of Ars, but since the Marquis of Ars himself is difficult to negotiate with, they're starting with his offspring. If they can win over the eldest son, Lekrik—"

"Yes, the head maid is right. The reason I told you not to go out alone recently is because there seems to be some activity in the capital lately. The village conscription, the recent athletic competition, and the princess election—while each of these are normal activities, when combined together, there's a sense of urgency."

"The nobles want to...?"

Camisia's pensive expression made Ella feel that staying in the capital was very dangerous.

"You're overthinking it, Aira-chan. The nobles won't act rashly without absolute certainty. Even if they do, it'll be after King Tovarsaen decides on the successor to the throne. Well, it generally doesn't have much to do with us, but various factions are on the rise in the capital right now, so it's too dangerous to go out alone."

“…So that’s what you mean…”

Ella let out a long sigh. From this perspective, the other world wasn't such a barbaric place where wars would break out at will. As she came to this conclusion, she remembered what she had wanted to ask Camisia in the first place.

"Camisia, do you know of a place similar to a pawnshop in the royal capital?"

"A pawnshop? Princess, if you need gold, just let me know. The Demon Clan exists for this very moment, having accumulated six thousand years of wealth to recover the Demon King's wealth."

[Here it comes again...]

Ella couldn't help but feel the urge to slap her head. She had heard this kind of conversation countless times, but no matter how she asked, Camisia would always brush it off by saying, "This is a matter of principle for the demons." In the end, the only tacit understanding between the two sides was that Camisia could say it, but she would not accept it.

Although Camisia and the other demons had no objection and were rather happy to see their Demon King relying on them, if she really regarded herself as a demon queen and used other people's things blatantly - especially when she thought of the difficult situation of the demons, she would not be able to do it no matter what. To be precise, she would not even think about that aspect, after all, she already had more resources than she could spend.

"Wouldn't it be better to quietly transfer the unused resources to the Demon Clan's treasury afterward?... I don't have any ambitions to become the next Demon King, but I feel really bad for them for always being revered by them and doing nothing for them..."

"Oh, are you looking to sell something? You could go to an auction house. I'm kind of interested in that, too."

"Auction house? Sure, that's fine. Wanna go together tomorrow?"

Since there is also an auction house in the Holy Academy, Ella was not particularly surprised. In this case, the auction house might be more suitable for her. Although the auction house will charge a certain amount of handling fees and does not auction at all times, as long as there is no failure to sell, the profit will still be higher than the pawnshop. After all, the pawnshop can be redeemed, while the auction house cannot. For herself who wants to sell the ancient gold coins from the Demon God era, the auction house is a good choice.

After finishing the meal, Iris wiped the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief and completely relaxed, leaning back in her chair. Her lazy posture highlighted her perfect female curves.

There was a touch of casualness in the voice.

"No need to wait until tomorrow, we can do it now. The underground auction house in the royal capital is quite popular—although I got this information through trickery."

"Small tricks" meant bribery. This wasn't the first time Iris had done this, and Ella saw nothing wrong with it. After all, if Camisia had said the same thing, it would have been quite terrifying. She always subconsciously imagined Camisia pinching the local boss's neck, forcing him to reveal information. Perhaps this was the difference between a businessman and a politician? She didn't understand this aspect, so it was best not to pay attention to it.

Thinking of these unrelated things, Ella forced the corner of her mouth to move, trying hard to smile.

"Right now? The underground auction house...would it be chaotic?"

"Chaos is a relative term. Since there's still a trade going on, it means there's some order. At least if Aira-chan stays with me, there'll be no problem. Let's finish eating quickly and go. Anyone else want to come with us?"

Elise pretended to be indifferent and glanced at Lotte and Camisia who had also finished eating.

Tilting her head slightly, Lotte replied with a smile.

"I need to eliminate the possible surveillance magic in the room with Miss Camisia, so I won't be with you."