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

-

"No, no, let me rest for a while."

Walking to a relatively open area, Ella found a protruding rock to sit on and sighed deeply.

——Why don’t we sleep here tonight? Maybe when we wake up tomorrow, Lotte will have forgotten the way here.——After all, this doesn’t work... Lotte is not that natural type.

"Don't sigh, okay? Sighing will make happiness slip away."

Lotte spoke as if she were speaking common language while sitting across from Ella.

"Hmm? Where did you hear that, Lotte? Is it actually a common saying here?"

Attention was drawn to Luti's speech.

The idea that sighing makes happiness slip away should only exist in my original world. I had felt strange since I saw the bathroom in the hotel earlier. The culture of this world is, in a way, very similar to my original world. No, it's not just similar, it should be said that they are exactly the same.

"Is it the saying 'Sighing makes happiness slip away'? Isn't that a common saying? I saw it in a book, and it says it's a common saying among elves. I thought it was appropriate to say here, so I used it. Is there anything wrong, Miss Ella?"

The elves... I must go and see them if I have the chance.

"It's not a problem. Come to think of it, I've never seen Lotte's slave collar appear in all this time."

I have been living with Ruthie for a month now, and I feel that even if I talk about this kind of topic, it won't hurt Ruthie, and Ruthie will definitely not care.

Just as Ella expected, Lotte didn't seem to care at all. Instead, she pointed at her neck with a half-smile in the moonlight.

"This? As long as I don't disobey Miss Ella's 'orders' or have no thoughts of escaping, it won't happen. Miss Ella treats her slaves better than she treats herself. No intelligent being would want to leave, right..."

Ella felt a little embarrassed to accept the compliment. She and the people in this world only lived in different environments, and there was no essential difference between them. She also felt that if she had been born and educated in this world, she would definitely have the same ideas as others, such as "slaves are not equal to humans" and "non-human races should die"... She really couldn't accept such praise for her kindness.

Was my treatment of Lotte more like a man's treatment of a woman? Perhaps a more intimate feeling, like treating Lotte like a younger sister? It was a bit hard to grasp… The maid was just a whim of mine. I wasn't born into a wealthy family, so I had no experience of being served. Rather, if I suddenly felt that way, I'd probably feel uneasy and uncomfortable.

Although Luti immersed herself in the role, she didn't have much to ask for. Shouldn't the two of them be more like friends now? I don't know what Luti is thinking, but I always have this feeling.

Bringing her mind back to reality, Ella stretched her body.

"But when I asked Lotte to go to the academy with me earlier, she didn't do it and the collar didn't appear."

"Are you talking about that magic experiment in the coastal forest? As long as Miss Ella doesn't emphasize that it's an 'order' when giving an order, the collar won't have any binding force."

"If that's the case, then I'll never see what the collar looks like. Well—it's not that I want to see it, but I want to see if there's a way to remove it. I don't want Lotte to live as a slave forever."

"Eh? Remove the collar? Impossible. But if Miss Ella wants to see it, all she has to do is give me a command, and I'll be able to see it."

Lotte stood up, walked to Ella, squatted down and smiled, as if what she was talking about was not her own business.

Uh… I feel like Lotte has been acting strange lately… I wonder if she’s really into masochism—she seems rather lewd…

Ella subconsciously leaned back a little and quickly waved her hands.

"Uh, no no no, that's not necessary. Let's continue on our way. This time we should just fly over directly."

『Change level to 50』

Wings of Hermes

"Give me your hand. I'll take Lotte with me."

He extended a hand to Ruthie and turned his face away, deliberately avoiding looking at her.

In the deep woods, Luty, illuminated by the moonlight, was like an elf. She gently placed her left hand on Ella's outstretched right hand.

"Yes, with great pleasure, Miss Ella."

Chapter 4: The Seasoning of Loneliness

"It feels so desolate here..."

"Does Miss Ella feel the same?"

Because she didn't want others to see that she actually possessed great strength, Ella landed a few kilometers in front of the village in advance.

Walking along the country road illuminated by the moonlight, I didn't see any plants at all, not even a few wild grasses. Large areas of yellow soil were exposed without any cover. If I had to use one word to describe it, it would be desolate.

"Are all villages in the Kingdom of Barris like this?"

"It's probably the fault of this region's lord. When I was a noble, the people in the territory weren't like this. It seems the lord here is inhumane."

Ella could vaguely see Lotte's reluctant expression. She didn't know what to say. She took a deep breath of the slightly cool and moist air and continued walking towards the village.

In front of me was a village with only a dozen or so mud houses, several of which had collapsed. None of the houses had lights on, and it looked like an abandoned site with no one living there. If I hadn't seen a few farm tools leaning against the walls of some houses, I might have really thought that no one lived here.

"At this hour... they shouldn't all be asleep. Could they have been attacked by a monster?"

Lotte frowned, pulled out the magic gun on her thigh, injected magic power into it, and was ready to fire at any time.

『Iron Wall Strengthening』

After grabbing Lotte who was about to go ahead and casting defensive magic on both of them, Ella spoke.

"Wait, let me check 'Terrain Search - Human' first."

His pupils turned light blue and scanned the village.

Huh? Are there only two rooms occupied? What's the point of six or seven people crammed into one room... and there's no sound at all.

Intermediate Identification Technique

Their status is... starvation? Only one of them is in a normal state, and no one is showing signs of dying yet. This should be considered a relatively good outcome. Thinking of the stories where people died from starvation, Ella found it hard to accept. The pale blue light slowly dissipated, and his pupils returned to their original color. He nodded, indicating that Lotte could be released from combat mode.

"There are no monsters. There are only humans in the village. However, they are all starving, and all of them are now concentrated in two houses."

"In that case——I can't relax any more."

Ruthie's eyes became a little sharp, completely lacking the previous sympathy and worry about the villagers' feelings.

"What's wrong? If it's just humans, there's nothing to be afraid of."

"In this situation... with so many people gathered in one room, there's only one possible outcome. Humans are incredibly hungry, but they're capable of anything. Miss Ella is still too naive."

A complex expression that had never been seen before appeared on Ruthie's face.

Ella thought of something that would only happen in the indigenous tribes on Earth - she felt like she didn't want to get close to this village, but now that she knew such a thing was happening here, if she didn't stop it, she would be uneasy about it for the rest of her life.

"Be careful. I'll go ahead. If there's anything unusual, I'll be the first to make the judgment."

With Lotte's confirmation, Ella untied her sword from her belt and took it in her own hand, carefully walking ahead. The village, shrouded in darkness, was unusually quiet, with only the clacking of their footsteps on the ground. The complete absence of human presence made it feel as if ghosts were haunting. Ella was certain that if she were alone here, she would be terrified and would use light magic to illuminate the place as bright as day.

I passed by the few uninhabited houses at the village gate that I had checked in advance, and walked to the house at the innermost part of the path. Here was the only person who was not in a "hungry" state. Thinking that this would make communication easier, I prepared to knock on the slightly broken wooden door.

He had Lotte hide by the door in advance to be ready to deal with any situation that might arise. He glanced at Lotte and switched the sword to his left hand.

"Tap, tap, tap."

The knock on the door seemed extremely harsh in the silent night.

——No one responded, but a very faint rustling sound could be heard coming from inside the house.

There definitely is someone there.

Keep knocking on the door.

"Tap, tap, tap."

There was still no response, and this time there was not even the rustling sound of people moving, as if it really was an empty house with no one living in it.

Is it because he knows he's done something he shouldn't have done, and because he feels guilty, he doesn't dare to open the door? If he opens the door and sees the body parts inside, will he scream out in fear?

She shook her head to get rid of the thought, resisted the urge to run away, and knocked on the door again. This time, she chose to try to communicate through words, and a slightly childish girl's voice sounded.

"Excuse me, is anyone here? We're travelers looking to stay the night."

The rustling sound from inside the door was heard again, and after a moment, footsteps were heard heading towards the door.

"N-No, a robber?"

Judging from the voice, it seems to be that of an old man, and there is obvious vigilance in his tone.

Robber? What kind of robber would admit to being a robber? Aren't the people here doing something inhumane... just afraid that the one knocking on the door is a robber?

Seeing that Ella didn't seem to want to respond, Lotte walked out from the door and stood beside Ella, speaking in a gentle tone with a hint of advice.

"My master and I are not robbers. We are just passing through here and would like to stay for one night. We will pay the corresponding amount. Can you please open the door and let us in?"

As if still in a state of doubt, the door slowly opened a crack, and an eye could be seen from the crack, glancing left and right at Ella and Lotte.

"Okay, alright."

As the old man finished speaking, the door opened with a creaking sound of wood rubbing against each other.

Ella gripped the scabbard tightly, ready to draw the "black and white wings" at any time. Then, a long-unwashed stench accompanied by a strong musty smell hit her face. She couldn't help but hold her breath, stopped her steps that were about to step into the door, and peeked inside. She could only vaguely see the room full of debris and a few people who looked like children huddled in the corner of the wall in the moonlight.

There was no scene of broken limbs as imagined before, it was just a simple family.

Perhaps noticing Ella's hesitation, Lotte went around to the front to communicate with the old man while pushing Ella a step toward the door.

I couldn't help but take a long breath. The feeling that the smell brought to me was too shocking, and it was a little difficult to accept for a moment. Should I be glad that I didn't show this feeling to others, and thank Ruthie for her - sacrifice, right?

Maybe it was because of her previous experience, but from the way Luti negotiated with the old man, it seemed that Luti didn't care about the smell at all. And from her tone, Luti didn't seem to have the cold attitude she had towards the slaves on the streets of Ryan Town before, but was talking to the old man with great sympathy.

The negotiations didn't seem to be ending any time soon, so Ella took a step back and began walking along the village path.

I was the only one wandering in the desolate village under the night sky. My clothes and appearance were out of tune with the surroundings, as if I was not from this world. Although, I was indeed not from this world, but because I had always been with Ruthie before, I didn't feel any sense of reality. Only when I was alone like this did I feel like a stranger.

Looking up at the hills in the distance shrouded in darkness, the huge black shadow looked like a giant beast crawling on the ground, and the clattering sound of its feet on the soil became the only background sound in the night world.

Is this what loneliness is? No wonder the protagonists in stories used to yearn for home. It's a truly unbearable feeling. Well, there's nothing we can do about it, right? We can't go back, and life is so much more fun now. Thinking about returning to those days would be considered unrewarding, right?

Hearing Lotte's voice calling her from afar, Ella let out a long sigh and shook her head.

"Well, this is what life is all about now, isn't it?"

As if venting her frustration, Ella kicked the ground hard, raising a cloud of dust. Then she turned around nonchalantly and trotted back at Lotte.

Chapter 5: A Trick Called Punishment

*创世纪6185年9月11日 22：26分 巴里斯王国与布鲁泽亚帝国边境

In front of him was a place that looked like a gathering place and was several times larger than an ordinary house. Just from the degree of corrosion on the wooden door, it was clear that this was a house that had been in disrepair and had not been used for a long time.

"This is currently the cleanest place in the village."

The old man in tattered clothes stood next to the venue and took a long time to open the door. Dust was shaken off by the vibration of the door.

Luti nodded to the old man.

"Thank you. This is the payment we agreed on."

Lotte took out a paper bag from her dimensional backpack and handed it to the old man. After the old man took it, his gesture sank, and he almost felt like he couldn't hold it.

“Um…are there so many…?”

"Well, this was agreed upon beforehand, so please accept it."

Lotte said this in a Yamato Nadeshiko-like tone, while glancing at Ella as if pretending to be indifferent.

"Thank you very much. This will help us last a few more days."

"Don't thank me, thank my master instead."

The old man turned to Ella who was looking at the night view beside him, bowed again to thank her, and then walked quickly towards the mud house where they had lived together before, holding the paper bag in his trembling hands.

After watching the old man leave, Luti hurried into the venue first.

"Ms. Ella, please wait a moment. I'll go clean up first and then invite you in."

"Let's clean together—"

"I know what Miss Ella means, but this is in front of others. I can't let Miss Ella clean it herself."

"Hmm...but I always feel lonely being out here alone."

Ruthie seemed to want to continue to refuse, but after hearing Ella's last words, she didn't know what to say. She reluctantly agreed to Ella, and the two walked into the room.

This is a meeting room about three meters high and about the size of a basketball court. There are no chairs left in the venue. There is only a small table that is so rotten that it cannot be used. The chairs were probably taken by the villagers as firewood.

Because the venue was too large, Ruthie and I only needed a small place to lie down and sleep. After communicating with Ruthie, we chose to sleep in a corner. Although Ruthie kept emphasizing that it was better to sleep in the middle so that it would not be easily contaminated by dust, I always felt that I would be restless and unable to fall asleep if I slept in an open place, so I refused.

"That's all."