Girl in the Box: Please tell me why I was reincarnated as a mimic monster!

"Thank you."

Ning retrieved the token, glanced at Li and Xiao, and then strode confidently into the church's territory. The weather was somewhat gloomy today, with dense clouds covering the sky above the church. A cool breeze blew through their clothes, bringing a chill. Although it was exactly the same scene as when they last came here, this time it looked inexplicably eerie and terrifying.

The gardens and courtyards outside the church had been neglected for some time, withered leaves falling to the ground, making a somewhat eerie crunching sound whenever they stepped on them. Because of the sealing off by Alice, there was no activity around or inside the church, and the lifeless church now exuded a sense of dread.

Ning walked briskly without hesitation. There was nothing here to frighten her; her purpose was clear. Li mustered her courage and followed behind Ning, while Xiao looked around curiously, seemingly unconcerned.

The three of them quickly arrived at the main building of the church. The doors were tightly closed, and a wisp of cold wind flowed out from the cracks. This was probably not one of those maps in a game that was deliberately set up to scare players. The atmosphere was extremely eerie. Li's powers had been activated subconsciously. She was now extremely nervous, and her Demon Eye had been fully activated.

"Is this where it is?"

“Wow!?”

"...Reason? What's wrong?"

"N-nothing!"

Because Xiao suddenly popped her head out from behind and said something, Li was so startled that she instinctively screamed. Now that she thought about it, there was nothing to be nervous about at all; she just felt extremely embarrassed. When Ning asked about it, she hurriedly turned her head away so Ning wouldn't see her blushing face. Seeing that she was alright, Ning turned her attention back to the door in front of her.

It doesn't look locked...

Suspecting the door wasn't locked, Ning reached out and tried to push it open. The seemingly heavy door opened with a jarring sound without much effort. A cloud of dust fell out, which Ning dispersed with wind magic, then transformed into a ball of light using a spell, illuminating the somewhat dim interior.

After opening the gate, one enters a spacious prayer hall. The long stone benches surrounding it are covered in dust, and the open space they enclosed should have been filled with people praying there, but now it's impossible to see that scene anymore. The statue of some deity, located in the very center, is somewhat blurry due to the dim lighting.

But when they opened the door, a beam of light shone on the statue's face. Its expressionless face now lacked any sense of holiness, only sending chills down one's spine. Ning glanced around, finding nothing amiss, and then walked deeper into the hall without hesitation. Seeing this, Li and Xiao quickly followed, walking all the way to the center of the hall.

“Li,” Ning commanded, “please use your magic eye to search this auditorium and don’t overlook any suspicious places.”

"Ah, okay."

Li agreed, tried to calm herself down, closed her eyes and took two deep breaths to relax her body and mind, then opened her eyes again. The magic eye was functioning normally, and she rewrote the search targets for the magic eye, allowing it to find relatively different places in this environment.

“Xiao…and the one who’s been residing in Xiao’s body all along.” Ning suddenly turned her attention to Xiao, “Could you two please lend a hand as well? Xiao’s intuition skill is at a very high level, and with your spiritual vision added to that, I think we shouldn’t miss anything.”

“~~~~~!”

Xiao seemed somewhat flustered by the sudden mention of her secret. Actually, Li and Ning had always known about Winsor; Li's Mystic Eyes possessed perhaps the most powerful abilities in the world, encompassing almost everything related to vision. She had seen Winsor back in the labyrinth, but out of consideration for Xiao's feelings, she hadn't mentioned it.

"Please," Ri also pleaded, "Miss Winsor, I hope you can help us look for it. We... we're family, right?"

Having gone through so much, Li and Ning had already accepted Winther as part of their family. They wouldn't reject Winther's presence, but rather choose to coexist with her, because since leaving the maze, Winther had always played the role of "older sister" for her two neglectful sisters, and Winther was worthy of their trust.

"Um... Sister Wense?" Xiao was at her wit's end.

Winsor didn't respond. After a long while, Xiao's eyes lit up with a faint blue light. This was a characteristic of spiritual vision, and Xiao had indeed seen something different. This wasn't Xiao's skill, but Winsor's. This meant that Winsor had decided to cooperate with the three sisters' investigation.

The three sisters exchanged a knowing smile.

"Let's get started. Although it's a lot of work, we can definitely finish it quickly if it's us."

A true reflection of Winsor's inner thoughts:

...? ———! ? !

~~~~~？！？！

What was the point of me hiding my existence all this time?! Wasn't it already exposed a long time ago...? Ugh, thinking about all the things I've done... I just want to be exorcised from this world... No, no, I really can't talk to those two directly now... These two are truly outsiders...

Chapter 43 The Traces of Seric

Why didn't Ning just glance at the church and draw a conclusion?

Because it concerns Seric, no opportunity is too great to overlook. After all, Seric is from Earth and has lived two lives; how could his meticulously constructed assassin organization not arouse suspicion?

Therefore, Ning wasn't as decisive or straightforward in this matter, as she had to handle it with extreme caution. She spared no effort in investigating the auditorium using various methods, hoping to find any trace of Seric and what he was hiding. The ghost's training facility was unsurprisingly located here, but the problem lay in where the alcohol was.

However, some time had passed since they entered the hall, and despite a thorough search, they found nothing. Perhaps the entrance to that place wasn't here...

While Ning was still pondering this matter, Alice walked in from outside the auditorium.

"Good morning, you three," Alice greeted them. "While I was right to say we should meet here this morning, I didn't say we should go to the church, did I?"

Alice's voice sounded somewhat bitter. After Ning told her about it, she quickly agreed and set a time. Since sealing off this place, Alice hadn't had any further thoughts about the church, because she instinctively felt it wasn't appropriate to deal with church matters now. However, since Li and the others had come and brought it up, she hoped to use the three sisters' strength to do something for the church.

However, it turned out that it was best not to expect the three sisters to act according to a set rhythm. Forcing their way through a certain step was a piece of cake for them, and these three could absolutely not be judged by common sense. Noticing Alice's appearance, the three of them stopped exploring, because there was nothing left to find; there was no trace of Seric.

"It's so late," Ning complained as she approached. "You're too slow, so we started exploring on our own."

"Well, we just wanted to find some clues as quickly as possible, so don't overthink it, Alice. You just like to talk nonsense."

Li quickly smoothed things over for Ning's complaint, because Ning's words had already attracted the attention of Alice's two accompanying guard knights. The two guard knights looked very angry, and it was impossible to expect Ning to smooth things over on her own. Li had no choice but to do it herself to avoid a conflict between the two sides... Of course, this was also for the safety of the two guard knights.

“It’s alright, I understand your thoughts.” Alice accepted with a wry smile.

Compared to the entourage Ellis brought last time, this time it was relatively low-key, with only two royal guards and Senno, who had always been by her side. Bringing those two royal guards here was probably out of necessity, since Ellis was already the queen, and they wouldn't allow Ellis to be without guards, would they?

“Then,” Ning pointed to the two royal guards, “what do you mean by this?”

Ning! !!! Don't cause any trouble! ?

Li's ominous premonition came true once again. Ning was trying to stir up trouble in a roundabout way.

"I'm sorry..." Alice was also confused, "I didn't understand what you were trying to say?"

"Well, it's my fault for not explaining things properly, but you'd better listen carefully to what I'm about to say," Ning said calmly. "Why did we bring these two guys along? We have too many burdens. If something unexpected happens, we won't be able to handle them."

"What do you mean?!" The two guard knights were instantly enraged. "What right do you have to call us a burden?"

"Qualified?" Ning said coldly. "In terms of combat strength, you two may be better than your Queen and the secretary over there, but you are of no help to what we are doing now. Let's assume you are in the know for now, but are you capable of doing what we are about to do well? If you want to use the excuse that you are Her Majesty's bodyguards, I advise you not to, unless you can do that."

Snapped!

A crisp snap of fingers echoed through the empty, silent hall, and numerous magical orbs appeared behind Ning. The terrifying surge of magical energy made it difficult for the two to breathe. Alice and Senno, being outside the range of the power's effect, were not significantly affected and did not speak up to stop it. When Ning felt it was enough, she snapped her fingers again to dispel the magic.

"Do you understand what I mean now?" Ning said calmly. "As for guards, the three of us are enough here. You can't help with anything else. There's no point in you coming here."

Both of them wore expressions of reluctance, because Ning was absolutely right; they probably wouldn't be of any use in the upcoming exploration. Although they were powerful guard knights, they might not be able to handle some of the tasks adventurers were supposed to do. Alice felt that was enough, so she walked over from behind and patted them both on the shoulder.

“It’s alright,” Alice said with a wry smile. “Those three are just the kind of people you can’t do anything about. You two have worked hard too. I’ll call you if I need any help. You two go out and keep watch at the door for us.”

The two guards exchanged a glance, bowed deeply to Alice, and obediently left. Alice understood Ning's intentions, so she didn't stop her. She knew that someone lacking forward-thinking abilities wouldn't be of much help at this time. Besides, some things couldn't be discussed in front of outsiders.

After the two guard knights left, Alice turned around and asked, "Alright, now that the outsiders are gone, do you have anything to say?"

"So that's what you were up to..." Li was so scared that her heart almost jumped out of her chest.

"Well, I was just planning to clean up anyway. In the end, it's still your problem, Alice."

As they talked, Ning shifted the blame to Alice again.

"Hahaha... there's nothing I can do about it..." Alice said with a wry smile. "I've emphasized this to them, but they just can't put their minds at ease..."

Alice had mentioned this several times before she arrived, but the guards responsible for protecting her wouldn't listen at all; they were all stubborn. Alice really hoped that these people could change in the future, but that would have to wait until later.

“Before that, let’s deal with things here first.” Ning withdrew her gaze and glanced at the statue. “Let me ask you, when did you seal off the church?”

“Ah… well,” Senno replied, “we only started locking down the church a week ago. Before that, we spent some time urgently dispersing the people inside the church.”

"I see..." Ning asked again, "How many days did it take to dispel the evil spirits?"

“Let me think…” Senno recalled.

“It took two days,” Alice replied. “To prevent them from having a chance, we had them dispersed urgently. That way, they wouldn’t have time to deal with anything shady. We used a bit of force to drive them away, and then had the Royal Guards guard this place, patrolling it regularly, and designating it as a key protected location.”

"Well done." Ning rarely gave his approval. "This way, we can protect the scene as much as possible... We've already searched this area, and there's nothing here. Let's go deeper in and look around."

"it is good."

The five pushed open the door leading deeper into the church and walked straight in. Senno explained the church's structure to everyone, pointing things out as he went. Meanwhile, Alice pointed out a few areas that were of concern. Li sent Xiao ahead to scout ahead; although Xiao wasn't suited for mentally taxing tasks, she could at least memorize some obvious details.

Li kept using her magic eye to search for strange places around them. They first focused on several possible locations, but found nothing. The church's layout was basically the same as before. In two days, even if there were still remnants of the old kingdom's power, they probably wouldn't be able to deal with these traces without alerting the Royal Guard.

"So," Ning asked the final, and most crucial question, "does the ghost still exist?"

The Ghosts, trained by Seric, were a special forces-like force. They were Seric's most loyal subordinates, possessing exceptional execution skills and formidable strength, and they put considerable pressure on the Allied Forces in that battle. Although some Ghosts were killed during the war, it was impossible to confirm exactly how many were killed or how many remained.

If these ghosts still exist, they will be the biggest obstacle to their rebuilding of the world. They are also an unstable force now, and without Seric's leadership, it is unimaginable what these people with their bizarre values ​​will do.

“…Actually, I found some documents about ghosts in the previous king’s office.” Alice thought for a moment, then added, “I couldn’t verify their authenticity, so I put them away for now, but I feel this matter isn’t so simple…”

"What are these documents about?" Li asked.

"Yes... it contains a list of Ghost members, and some other things."

Alice gestured to Senno with her eyes, and Senno nodded, took out a document from his bag, and handed it to Ning Heli for review.

“The Ghosts have 367 members listed in the files,” Alice said. “We don’t know how many Ghosts have died on the battlefield, but this number is enough to warrant our attention… There might be many Ghosts that have survived…”

Li and Ning's expressions were equally serious. Of the more than three hundred ghosts, how many died in that battle? How many remained? How many went missing? These were all concerns. They certainly couldn't do anything to Li and Ning, but if they were to recklessly cause destruction, it would be extremely deadly. After learning this number, they couldn't remain calm.

Besides the list of Ghost members, there were also some documents about the church. A large amount of resources and manpower had flowed to the church, which, from another perspective, also indicated that Seric had indeed done something to it. As he flipped through the documents, he saw a familiar name: Nao. Those were the documents that led Nao to the labyrinth, causing her to fall into a trap… Seric's name was signed on them.

"Li..." Ning patted her shoulder, "It's all in the past..."

"Ok, I know……"

Li forced a smile, then used fire magic to burn the document. She hadn't known about that matter before, but after seeing the document, somehow, related memories surfaced, and an inexplicable flame filled her chest—this was probably a memory from Rielfa…

To calm herself down and bury the incident deep in her memory, she burned the documents. Alice, too, looked at the ashes with mixed feelings. She must have already read them all; she was one of Nao's friends, and seeing these documents must have been painful for her as well…

"Alright." Ning handed the documents back. "Let's change the subject. The situation is indeed not very optimistic, but I've also found a few things that are quite concerning. Let's go check them out."

"Ah."

Both Li and Alice changed their mood to make themselves appear less strange.

The four continued deeper into the church. The further they went, the more complicated their feelings became. The church seemed to possess a great deal of wealth, and its internal facilities were even more luxurious and complete than those of the royal palace. It felt as if they had entered a five-star hotel. It was hard to imagine how the core figures of the church had lived not long ago.

Even more remarkably, under the scrutiny of Li's magical eyes, they found a large amount of gold and silver treasures in some people's rooms, as well as some incredibly valuable materials. To be on the safe side, Li called over the treasure chest and had all these things stored away.

“Senno…”

"S is... I'm here."

"When you get back, investigate the church's expenses thoroughly. Also, give me a list of the higher-ups; I want to give them a piece of my mind—"

"I understand!"

Watching Alice's trembling back in anger, Senno was quite frightened. Indeed, who knew the church was hiding so many things? This church is probably doomed... it was finished the moment it turned to corruption.

boom----!

"————!?"

"What's going on?!"

A loud bang suddenly erupted from somewhere within the church, followed by the entire building beginning to tremble violently. Rin immediately transformed into a half-dragon and rushed out of the room. Her Mystic Eyes marked Akatsuki's location; next to Akatsuki's magical energy reaction was another magical energy reaction.

"Rational!?" Before Alice could even react, Rational had already rushed out.

Chapter 44 The Ghost Guarding the Gate

The entire building suddenly shook violently, and a deafening roar echoed from the depths of the church. Before the three could react, Li activated her dragon form without hesitation and dashed out. By the time she realized what was happening, her figure had already disappeared outside the door—a truly astonishing speed.

After the loud noise and shaking, Rin's first thought was of Akatsuki, who was exploring alone. Akatsuki must be in danger at this time, but Rin couldn't immediately confirm her location. So she quickly transformed into a half-dragon, spread her dragon wings to enhance her physical abilities, and rushed out of the door. She jumped down from the height and brought the entire building into view. With her Mystic Eyes fully activated, she locked onto Akatsuki's location.

After finding Xiao's location, she went after him first, leaving Ning with Alice and the others.

"So fast?!" Senno exclaimed after seeing Li's actions.

"What happened?" Alice asked after grabbing something to steady herself.

"I don't know," Ning shook his head, "but I'm certain that its power is enough to destroy the church."

Based on the initial tremor alone, Ning was certain it was a man-made effect, and one with immense power. Although she didn't know who intended to do it, Ning wasn't about to let the church be destroyed; there were still some things she needed to confirm. So, she quickly constructed the magic she needed, layered it together, and then used her foot to strike the building itself.

Several magical circles with different functions instantly appeared beneath the church building. Such a commotion naturally alerted the guard knights watching nearby. The knights immediately turned around, deployed their forces, and quickly began their investigation. Ning's magic took a while to take effect, stabilizing the entire building and magically modifying its structure to make it more robust.

"We need to head towards Li now." Ning looked at the two of them. "Can you keep up?"

“We’ll try our best,” Alice said defiantly.

"Alright. Let's go."

Time was of the essence, and Ning didn't care whether the two could really keep up. She didn't even know what had happened; Li had rushed out on her own. If they couldn't quickly grasp the situation, they might miss something extremely important. Ning led the two out of the room, and after pinpointing Li's location by intuition, she followed after her.

If something like this has happened, it would be truly strange to say that the church has no problems.

After using her Mystic Eyes to locate Akatsuki, Rin decided that taking a detour would be too time-consuming. To save time, she used her dragon breath to clear a path and arrived at Akatsuki's side without any obstacles. After breaking through the last obstacle, she saw Akatsuki's figure, as well as a green-hatted, white-clad figure guarding an old door.

No matter how many times I watch it, I still think Serik's aesthetic sense is incredibly stupid!!!

That figure was instantly recognizable to Rin; the iconic green hat and white robes spoke volumes. The person standing there was likely one of the few surviving ghosts. Having confirmed this, Rin shifted her gaze to Akatsuki, using her Mystic Eyes to check Akatsuki's condition. Aside from a slight decrease in HP, Akatsuki seemed unharmed.

Li landed between the two, blocking Xiao's way, and glared at the ghost that was restraining his movements.

"Sister Li." Xiao drew her knife and stood beside her. "You came so fast."