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

Bang.

It was the sound of flesh touching the table.

Then, with her head lowered and her expression invisible, Ella, trembling all over, lifted the seemingly heavy wooden table and turned around.

The long bangs blocked her eyes, so her expression couldn't be seen.

"You, you demons are truly hopeless!"

Then he threw the table hard towards the group of people who had been talking before.

What was completely unexpected for everyone present, except Camisia and the staff, was that the demons in the queue did not dodge at all, but instead had excited and fanatical expressions.

"Oh! Something the princess has touched herself! I'll take it!"

"This was given to me by the princess!"

“Tsk, then let’s use the labyrinth method to determine ownership! ○◆△——『Wind Blade』!”

"In that case, ○◆△■——『Lightning』!"

Colorful magic began to fly at the entrance, and the originally orderly team suddenly became chaotic.

Looking at the fighting crowd, Ella, who was originally ashamed and angry, showed a complex and profound expression.

"I feel like I've figured out the secret to ruling the demon clan..."

Nina, who had been standing nearby without saying anything, nodded in agreement.

"Probably... yes..."

Perhaps, all that was needed to rule the demons was for Ella to stand here.

Chapter 36: Adventurers in the Underground Labyrinth (Part 1)

After witnessing the hilarious farce at the maze activity registration location, Ella and the other four arrived at the entrance of the underground maze.

The underground maze itself is not entirely underground; part of it extends to the surface. And in the final analysis, whether it is a forest or the bottom of a lake, the word "maze" itself refers to a kind of copy, not the kind of complex and confusing road in the usual sense.

However, for safety reasons, Camisia had cleared the aboveground portion of the underground labyrinth, leaving only the subterranean area deep beneath the ground. Furthermore, to prevent the monsters from escaping to the capital and causing unrest, Camisia had built a castle filled with traps and mechanisms above the entrance to the underground labyrinth. The castle was not only guarded by resident soldiers, but also equipped with magical turrets, crossbows, and other large-scale equipment typically found on the walls of major cities. Of course, various magical barriers were also deployed, and magic casters from other races were hired to maintain them.

If Ella had to use one word to describe this castle, it would be "impregnable".

Under the guidance of Camisia, Ella and the others arrived inside the castle without going through any formalities.

The slightly dim stone castle gives people the illusion that it is going to swallow everything. The tapping sound of feet on the floor echoes in the passage that can accommodate five people walking side by side. Unlike what is imagined, it is very quiet here and there is no feeling of being crowded.

"I feel like if there were more moss and water droplets, this place would be no different from those gloomy castles in stories. It's one of only two labyrinths on the continent, and there were only five of us here."

Because Camisia and Luty were with her, Ella didn't feel scared. Instead, she ran around in the passage with great interest, observing the internal structure.

"This path is reserved for the nobility, so it's always carefully cleaned. Ordinary adventurers wouldn't be able to enter the maze from here, so it's normal that there are so few people here."

"Is the reason I don't see any turrets or crossbows because this is the Noble Passage?"

This time it was Lotte who asked the question. After entering the castle, in order to deal with monsters that might appear at any time, Lotte took Hela out of the dimensional backpack.

"No, although the noble passage and the common passage are clearly separated, the entrance to the final 'buffer gate' is also shared, and the turrets and crossbows are also located there."

"Buffer vent? Is that the kind where the entrance is deliberately designed to be wide at the inside and narrow at the outside to prevent too many monsters from pouring out at once?"

"Yes, it's a little different from what you said, Princess-sama, but that's basically what you meant. How did you know about this? You've probably never been to the labyrinth before, right?"

“Ahahaha… I saw this somewhere before…”

Feigning indifference, Ella took a few steps forward, avoiding Camisia's question, "Is there something like this elsewhere?" Of course, she couldn't answer. This was a practice she'd often seen in games—building entrances gradually smaller, which not only slowed down the enemy's movement but also limited the number of people allowed through at a time. If this passage were also designed with a certain slope, combined with rolling stones and hot oil, it could cause significant trouble for even low-level intruders.

Passing through a deep, dark passage, Ella and her companions arrived at a railingless spiral staircase. Looking down, they could see a faint flicker of fire at the bottom. The lack of railings was likely part of a mechanism to prevent monsters from running wild. Monsters rushing up the stairs would fall down the spiral staircase due to the crowding, slowing their movements.

While sizing up the structure, he walked down the stairs and soon arrived at the buffer entrance of the maze.

"A lot of people."

"These people are taking up the entire road like this, won't it be okay?"

Just as Luty had described, the torch-lit entrance hall, roughly the size of a football field, was filled with all sorts of people: weapons dealers leaning their swords and long axes against the wall, apothecaries with various bottles and jars spread out on the floor, and vendors selling what looked like food. Unlike other vendors, however, these people didn't shout, only approaching and speaking to passing adventurers if they showed interest.

Of course, in the entire entrance hall, the largest number of people are ordinary adventurers. Most of these adventurers travel in groups, and their weapons seem to be prepared in advance. It seems that the weapons sold by the weapon merchants in the maze should be provided to wealthy adventurers as backup weapons.

Just like the place where they signed up for the maze activity before, most of the people here were wearing protective gear that didn't perform very well. Some of them looked like they had just come out of the maze, with blood still on their bodies. However, judging from the grinning faces of those adventurers, they should be fine, and perhaps they had made a fortune.

After taking a quick look at the surroundings, Camisia sighed softly.

"There's nothing we can do about it. Where there's profit, there will be people willing to take risks. Rather than letting those merchants trade covertly, it's better to open this place up directly. This way, it's easier to manage. However, if the monsters in the maze go berserk, they'll probably be the first to die besides the soldiers."

"Lady Camisia, has there ever been a case of monsters going berserk in the labyrinth before?"

Perhaps the kind part of her heart was touched, and Menia looked at the merchants who were talking to the passing adventurers with some concern.

"The last time a monster went berserk? Hmm—it seems like a thousand years ago. Back then, students from the Holy Academy came here for training and went deep into the labyrinth, triggering a chain reaction of monsters. I remember even a level 40+ demon giant appeared."

"Magic Giant?! Is that the one that can rival a full-grown dragon?"

Menea clenched the staff in her hand and looked quite nervous. Kamisia took advantage of being much taller than Menea and patted Menea on the head.

"Yes, that's right, but don't worry, I cut that thing in two with one strike of my sword. Ahahaha—uh, Princess, what's wrong with you?"

"No, nothing."

Ella deliberately lagged behind by half a step and walked to Lotte's side.

I always feel that Camisia is much scarier than that demon giant. She can laugh about the bloody scene of someone being cut in two by a sword...

“Gu—”

Hearing the strange sound, Ella turned around and found Nina with her face red and her head lowered.

I must be hungry... It's almost noon, so I should eat first. It's a good opportunity to see what the maze is like.

Having made her plans, Ella asked Lotte to give her some of the silver coins in her dimensional backpack, then walked over to a nearby stall. It was a stove haphazardly built with stones, with an iron pancake pan on top. Several finished brown-gray pancakes were stacked in a wooden basket nearby.

"How much is this?"

"One copper coin each, huh? You don't look like an adventurer here to earn a living in the labyrinth, do you? Are you a noble? A demon in a priest's uniform... a healer? No, a magic caster just for fun, right?"

This man, who looked like he had just reached adulthood, looked a little confused when he saw Ella.

"But even if you're a magic caster, you can't venture into the labyrinth alone. It's best to find a partner."

"Uh, thank you for your kindness. I came here with my companions. Please give me five."

"Anyone coming with me? That should be fine. Okay, hold on to it and don't lose it, okay?"

After taking the paper bag and a few copper coins from the vendor, Ella turned and left the stall. As for the young man's words like "If my father hadn't stopped me from becoming an adventurer, I would have gone too—" she pretended not to hear them.

Chapter 37: Adventurers in the Underground Labyrinth (Part 2)

After returning from the vendor, Ella took out pancakes one by one from the paper bag and distributed them to the other four people.

"Princess, this is... what did you buy in the labyrinth just now?"

Camisia looked at the brown, almost gray pancake in her hand with a strange look in her eyes.

"What's wrong? It doesn't look very clean, but I saw other adventurers enjoying it so I bought it. Is this something that tastes terrible?"

"That's not what I meant. As long as it's something given by the princess—"

Here it comes again...

He quickly waved his hand to signal Camisia not to continue.

"Okay, okay, I get it. Let's try it first."

As she spoke, Ella took a bite, and then the biting action froze, and a complex expression that was difficult to describe in words appeared on Ella's face.

Sour, astringent, bitter, salty, and even a little bit spicy, this hodgepodge of flavors completely exceeded Ella's expectations for the pancake. Although she had guessed that the taste would not be very good before eating it, she had never expected it to be this bad. Ella could even say that this was definitely the most unpalatable thing she had ever eaten, even more unpalatable than what she had made when she tried to cook on her own before.

What kind of technology can make good food like this...

Completely unable to understand, Ella resisted the urge to spit out the pancake, closed her eyes and swallowed it down forcefully. Then she turned her eyes and looked at the reactions of the people around her - except for Menia who had a strange expression, no one else seemed to react.

"Eh?"

"Hmm? Miss Ella, what's wrong?"

"Um...don't you think it tastes bad?"

The thing she bought actually tasted like this. It seemed like she had deliberately bought such a disgusting thing to play a trick on everyone. This feeling made Ella feel a little guilty.

"It doesn't taste very good."

Sure enough...

Menea's words instantly made Ella's mood drop.

"But it's not inedible. It's a little better than what I ate before I became a saint. I'm not trying to comfort you, ba~ka, hum."

"Sorry, just give this to me and I'll take care of it. I'll try it before buying it next time."

After saying that, Ella started with Camisia, who was walking in front, and collected the pancakes, whose taste was indescribable, one by one. However, the plan was obstructed from the very beginning.

"How can you just throw away something the princess gave you? It would be better if you let me handle it."

"Don't worry! I'll buy you as much as you want later! Give it to me now!"

Because Camisia was half a body taller than Ella, Ella had to stretch her body to touch the paper bag in Camisia's hand - until Camisia raised her hand holding the paper bag.

"Each one is worth cherishing, and this is the first gift the princess has given me, so I must take extra care of it."

"Never mind! Give it to me now!"

Because she couldn't reach it, Ella simply jumped up. Of course, the warrior-type Camisia easily dodged her.

The farce-like scene seemed out of place among the group of adventurers, most of whom were men and had experienced life and death decisions. However, these adventurers had no intention of saying anything to stop this completely unserious interaction. Instead, they watched the scene with interest.

"Oh? Zack, you can actually laugh, huh?"

"What? I'm not expressionless, what's wrong with laughing?"

"Nothing, just rare."

This kind of conversation continued in the maze until a sharp-eyed adventurer appeared.

"That red-haired woman, could it be the Acting Demon Lord Camisia-sama? When I was signing up for the maze event earlier, I heard someone say that Camisia-sama brought the princess to the maze. Could it be this one?"

"But now, no matter how you look at it, Camisia-sama is treating the princess like a pet, right?"

"How could that be? We demons are not as scheming as your other races."

"But now..."

Perhaps having heard the conversation between the two adventurers, Ella stopped trying to snatch the thing from Camisia's hand. She lowered her head, her face flushed from her smooth neck to her ears, and followed Camisia silently. Camisia also looked a little embarrassed, and took the pancakes from others one by one, and reluctantly handed the paper bag to Lotte.

"Let's hurry to the maze."

This proposal was unanimously agreed.

Camisia led everyone out of the entrance quickly, passed through the isolation zone of magic cannons and crossbows guarded by soldiers, and arrived at the buffer zone.

Unlike the chaotic scene of vendors at the previous entrance, this one seemed more formal. The light source was no longer the casual torches hanging on the wall, but several huge magic lamps suspended from the ceiling. Since the area was not very large, the light was bright enough to rival daylight. A workbench for tax collection and certificate issuance stood on one side of the wall, while the narrowest part of the buffer zone was guarded by a stone door engraved with a sinister purple mark. Perhaps due to the passage of time, the mark on the cyan stone door had faded.

At the base of the buffer zone wall, there was a row of people squatting, not knowing what they were doing. Although most of them were young people, there were also a few children among them. The only thing they had in common was that they were not wearing decent protective gear, and there were also a few branches leaning against the wall that looked like weapons around them.

After taking a bite of the golden bread that Camisia had bought on the road, Ella noticed the group of people staring at her with longing eyes.

"Camisia, who are those people?"

Camisia paused in her conversation with the staff and answered Ella.

"Those are the ones who want to follow the adventurers and pick up the monster materials the adventurers discard. There are also porters who want to carry things for the adventurers. Although they seem to be in need of help, they are actually not as pitiful as you imagine, Princess. Most adventurers will deliberately leave some thoughts to protect these people, and almost all labyrinth adventurers have come from this step. They follow the adventurers not only to gain adventuring experience, but also to earn a living by picking up discarded monster materials or carrying monster corpses for adventurers. That's why they look at you, Princess."

"Is that so..."

The reason why those adventurers would deliberately pay attention to protecting the safety of these people was probably because they saw their former selves. Since it was not the dark industry they imagined, they felt relieved. At least, they would not feel uneasy because of their inner sympathy.

This was probably similar to how in games, when you team up with higher-level players, they'll often leave behind items they don't need for the weaker players to pick up. Unfortunately, my purpose this time wasn't adventure, but sightseeing, so even if I took these people along out of kindness, they wouldn't gain anything. Better to wait for another opportunity.

As Ella made her plans, Camisia also completed hers. She handed four crimson round cards to Ella and the other three, and explained.

"Although I'll be your escort, it's still wise to prepare some extra supplies. This is a labyrinth proof cast in crimson gold. Inside is a small teleportation magic circle. When faced with danger, inject magic power into it, and the teleportation magic will automatically transport the caster here. Princess, may we begin?"