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

After completing the portal setup and holding the alliance meeting, the three sisters returned to the Little Garden from the New Kingdom and enjoyed a very fulfilling work life. Akatsuki returned to her daily patrols, while Rin and Ning devoted themselves to researching the Goddess Substitute Skill and restoring the labyrinth's functions. They had previously speculated that the labyrinth had something similar to a core that controlled some of the labyrinth's functions.

If they could restore these functions, the two would be able to control the labyrinth and truly make it their own. However, there has been no progress so far. They have done their best to search the labyrinth, but still haven't found a suitable place. Then, there are some things regarding the Goddess's Proxy skill.

After a series of studies and practices, the two determined the fundamental nature of this skill. That's right, it's a cheat skill that can grant the skill holder a level of authority relative to the goddess herself. This authority refers to the authority to interfere with the world. Power is one type of power, but the power's interference authority is still below that of this skill.

For example, the power of the Time-Space Dragon King is to interfere with the spacetime of this world. After possessing the Goddess's Proxy skill, the scope of his power will extend to places outside the world. As for what those places are, the two of them have not yet verified them. However, once they knew, they threw all ten holy swords into the spacetime turbulence, so that they would no longer appear in this world.

Regardless, it's too dangerous to hold these ten holy swords; it's dangerous in every sense of the word. Li is no longer a free person, and she has to consider the situation of the Little Garden. If she keeps these ten holy swords, their power will be excessive.

The Little Garden boasts five Dragon Kings, including herself, along with various geniuses, elites, and wondrous magical artifacts. This nation is shamelessly powerful; in this world, only the elves can rival this immense force, and even Xuanze dares not easily intervene. If these ten holy swords were added, some people might lose their composure.

So, she disposed of the ten holy swords without hesitation. Whether they were lost in the temporal turbulence, went to another world, or were destroyed in the turbulence, it didn't matter anymore; that was all she could do. She didn't know where the ten holy swords would ultimately end up, but she optimistically thought that her actions might perhaps create a new hero.

Of course, this is just her imagination. Who knows what kind of story those ten holy swords will give rise to?

"Phew...it's finally over..." Li leaned back in her chair, feeling utterly exhausted.

“It’s still early, little girl.” Olito placed another stack of documents on the table. “Thanks to you, our Little Garden is currently doing a lot of coordination with several other countries. The workload is already ten times what it used to be… I thought we could finally take a break after we finished things in Akihabara…”

This young businessman is Olito, the one who helped Rielfa and the others after they left. He is now the Finance Minister of the Little Garden. He used to be such an energetic, vibrant, and enthusiastic person, but he has become very slovenly. His hair is messy and he doesn't bother to fix it. He just puts a hair clip on his head. You can tell from his long stubble that he hasn't had a proper rest in a long time and doesn't even have time to take care of his appearance.

"You've worked hard." I said, offering my thanks as I began to look through the documents.

Practice makes perfect, and Li proved the truth of this saying with her actions. She had done a lot of work during this period, and through repeated practice, her skill levels had increased significantly. She had become much more proficient at these tasks, at least not as strenuous as before. Once her skills reached a certain level, Li could handle these tasks with ease.

Of course, this is also thanks to the skill system of this world... Well, we'll still leave the more complicated things to others to do.

"It's not hard work..." Olitto pulled up a chair and sat down. "It's just that I never imagined that I, a businessman, would unknowingly become the finance minister of a country."

"Hmm..." Li looked up at him. "Don't you dare try to take advantage of our national treasury. Besides, in this world right now, gold coins and such are not of any use, are they?"

“What are you worried about…” Olito rolled his eyes at her. “I don’t have such thoughts, I just find it a little strange. With you, all sorts of things always happen…”

"Oh, right," I suddenly remembered something, "Olitico, are you going on vacation?"

"A vacation?" Olitto was taken aback. "Why?"

"Do I need a reason to give you a vacation?" Li said with a wry smile. "Don't you want to go for a walk? Use the portal to go see other places or something?"

Li was implying to Olitzo that he should go to the New Kingdom to see Miss Kanina. Now that Li was able to share some of the pressure with the others, it was time for them to take a break. Constantly burying themselves in work was not a healthy behavior.

After returning, Rin and Ning held a short meeting with the key figures in the Little Garden to discuss the situation in the new kingdom and the spirits. But as expected, Olittus would still be concerned about what was happening there, especially about Miss Kanina. Rin felt it would be better for him to go and see for himself than to simply relay information verbally. Let's start with him, and then gradually give everyone else a break…

“Should we go take a look…” Olitto waved his hand, “Let’s forget it. The situation is basically the same everywhere. There’s no money to be made and nothing fun to do.”

"You're still thinking about money at a time like this..." Li was dumbfounded.

Using such a pointless excuse probably won't get Olyto away, so let's try a different approach.

“Well… let’s put it another way.” Li gave a mysterious smile. “Could you please investigate what places in other countries are good for making money? Although gold coins aren’t very useful right now, they’re still very important to me. If you can find a way to investigate and come up with some ideas on how to make money, that would be great.”

Although the value of gold coins has decreased significantly in this era, they remain a very important food source for Rin. Currently, the core of life in the Little Garden is still Rin's Treasure Bowl skill. The crops they grow can't solve many immediate problems, so Rin's Treasure Bowl is still needed to address these issues.

As a result, Ri has been needing to eat gold coins frequently lately, at least a small bag of them every day. Since it's a bit too much to eat them all at once, she usually eats them as snacks, one gold coin at a time, like eating potato chips. When she eats them at home, other people sometimes mistake them for potato chips and eat them. Ri remembers when Sanko Workshop came to visit, Kana, who was greedy, got into trouble. Ri still remembers that crisp sound.

Therefore, gold coins are necessary to maintain the status quo, and more gold coins are needed for future development. Li is currently thankful that eating gold coins doesn't make her fat. However, that's beside the point. Not long ago, to support several other countries, Li ate a considerable amount of gold coins. Treasure Chest Li is currently recovering from digestive problems due to overeating, and Dragon King Li is also getting tired of this stuff…

However, it's not to the point where she feels nauseous just looking at it. To avoid experiencing the same state as Treasure Chest Rin again, she's currently just eating snacks.

Even so, the gold coin inventory is running low, and we need to collect some more as soon as possible. Of course, that's secondary; the most important thing is to get rid of this guy and send him somewhere else. It would be even better if he would obediently go and see Miss Kanina. At this moment, Li had another mischievous idea and immediately took out a piece of paper and a pen from the treasure chest space and began to write furiously.

"Also," Li handed the letter to Olitto immediately after finishing writing, "take this letter to Miss Kanina of the New Kingdom. I think you should still remember the location. While you're at it, go and investigate the things I just mentioned. You should know that we urgently need money right now. Oh, right, this letter must be delivered to Miss Kanina personally. Because I did something a bit excessive when I borrowed her inn last time, I need to discuss compensation and payment with her in detail. So, I'm leaving this task to you."

“…You did this on purpose, didn’t you?” Olito rolled his eyes at him.

Such a matter naturally required a shrewd businessman, so it was only logical to approach Olito. There was no better candidate, and the fact that he was given a job made the implications quite clear. He looked helplessly at the smiling girl and nodded.

“Okay, I guess no one else can handle this kind of thing except me…” Olitto stood up and stretched. “And then, could you tell me the details… eh!?”

Have a wonderful holiday!

Before he could even finish speaking, Ri used time-space magic to send him to the New Kingdom. If she dragged things out with Olitzo, they might not have set off until nightfall, so she decided to act first and inform him later. As for the luggage and gold coins, she could have Natsuki deliver them later; the important thing was for him to meet Miss Kanina first. After seeing Olitzo off, Ri returned to her work.

"Uh, uh... how do we deal with this..."

After sending Olitzo away, Li immediately found herself in a dilemma. She suddenly regretted sending Olitzo to the New Kingdom. However, bringing him back wouldn't be ideal. She stood up and decided to temporarily put aside her work to find Ning, who was directing development at the Sangu Workshop. Leaving the office temporarily set up at the Borg Chamber of Commerce, Li stepped out the door and saw a bustling scene. The appearance of the teleportation portal had made the flow of people more frequent, and several cities were gradually regaining their vitality.

“Speaking of which…” Li frowned, “there seem to be more and more women these days…”

Li's gaze lingered on a group of scantily clad women. Since the portal opened, it seemed there were more and more women from other cities. He'd have to keep an eye on the flow of people in a few days… He needed to talk to the guild leader about it.

Chapter 30 The President's Advice

"...There are so many women performing for money."

Rin noticed that wherever she went during this period, she saw similar women, dressed provocatively and displaying their charms without reservation. Although it was their personal freedom, and the Little Garden was a country that advocated freedom, she still hoped that they could do this in inconspicuous places if possible, because it was a matter of education.

"Ah... speaking of which... the school hasn't been set up yet..."

Li then remembered the long-delayed school plan. They had been planning this since the founding of the nation, but unexpectedly, various things in between had distracted them, so the plan had been put on hold until now.

"Ugh... my head hurts..." Li said, rubbing his head. "After that, I still have to draft documents and discuss them with other people before I can even start doing this..."

Discussing it with others isn't a big problem, it's just that drafting documents is a bit troublesome, then there's choosing a location, preparing teaching materials, etc. In short, starting a school seems a bit difficult... I do have some ideas about the location, but as for the teaching materials...

"What's wrong? I could see you looking worried from afar."

“Sister Fino Er…”

The person walking towards Rin was the eldest sister among the current Dragon Kings. She didn't have a fixed job in Akihabara; she just wandered around helping out. She was very popular and loved by the residents. It was said that the female Dragon Kings all had organizations like fan clubs behind them. Rin just hoped that these organizations wouldn't turn into brainless fan groups.

But so far, they seem to be behaving themselves, and compared to the dangerous ghosts, they are actually very safe.

“Li, if you have anything bothering you, just tell me,” Finor said considerately. “If there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know.”

"Well... anyway, there's nothing to hide from everyone." Riri simply said it, "It's that school project that's been on hold for a while, and the educational issues that came to mind after seeing those street performers."

“The school…” Finoer had heard about this before, “You mean that institution that teaches and nurtures people? Is there a problem?”

“Ah… I’m having a bit of a headache,” Li said with a wry smile. “I’ve been saying I’d do this, but I didn’t expect it to drag on until now. The flow of people around these past few days hasn’t been very good… because… I keep seeing those kinds of people.”

To avoid suspicion, Li didn't say it explicitly, but just gestured with his eyes. Fino glanced at it and saw the half-naked women walking around the town. At that moment, she realized the problem Li was talking about, which was the problem of social atmosphere.

“I understand what you mean…” Finoer withdrew her gaze. “Indeed, this is quite indecent. These people are probably from other countries. In my personal opinion, they have gone too far. This is not good for children’s education…it affects their values.”

"I'll hold a meeting to discuss this properly later, because if it's left unresolved for too long, we might not be able to eradicate it." Li displayed this matter in the vision of the magic eye to prevent forgetting it. "Then there's the matter of schools... Whether the children are willing to learn is one thing, whether the residents agree is another, and in addition, we also need to prepare suitable teaching materials and teachers."

“Won’t the children be willing to learn?” Fino asked.

“I’m not entirely sure either…” Li sighed. “If it were my previous world, most children probably wouldn’t like studying, because the dry content in books wouldn’t bring them as much joy as going out to play. It’s normal for them to have a resistance to studying. Oh… by the way, sis, you used to take care of Salid and the others, right?”

“Hmm…I’ve been raising them to adulthood since they were born.” Finoer nodded.

“When you teach them some knowledge, sometimes they are not willing to learn, right?” Li said. “That’s roughly how it is. Take the Dragon Kings as an example.”

“I see…” Finoer nodded. “Playing is children’s nature.”

“That’s why this is such a headache,” Li said with a wry smile. “If we want to create a society with a good atmosphere, we have to get through this. The purpose of schools is to educate and nurture people so that they become qualified individuals, people with skills, people who can help the country. But if they are not willing to learn, then it’s all meaningless. Even if the textbooks are compiled, we still need to find suitable people to teach them… Teaching children requires patience… and a certain amount of knowledge… Sigh, there are just too many things to worry about…”

Speaking of teachers, Li thought back to when those three were still around. Nao was definitely the best choice; although Lelefa did things eccentrically, she was definitely the nemesis of unruly children; Zhou Dong wasn't good with words, but if you asked him, he would always take action or give an answer, setting a good example for the children. But all three of them are gone now…

“Speaking of which,” Finoir suddenly smiled, “why are you worried about such things? There’s clearly a perfect candidate right in front of you, isn’t there?”

"Eh?"

After hearing Finoir's words, Li raised her head and looked around but did not see the person she was talking about. Then, her gaze settled on her older sister, who was standing tall and proud.

"Sister?" Li was somewhat surprised.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Finoer was somewhat displeased by her reaction. "Am I not suitable?"

"Uh, no, that's not it..." Li quickly explained, "I just didn't expect... that my sister would volunteer herself..."

Finoir would certainly be a good choice, as she is popular among the children, knows a lot, has raised several dragon kings, and is patient—she's practically perfect... However, considering some factors, she has temporarily excluded her from the list, so she didn't expect Finoir to volunteer herself.

"Why?" Fino asked, a question mark appearing above her head. "Did I give you a bad impression, sister?"

Finoer had only spent less than a year with this newly born Time-Space Dragon King, and compared to the other Dragon Kings, they knew each other less, so she was worried that she might have given Li some strange impressions.

"No, no, really no." Li panicked. "I was just thinking, maybe I'm troubling you too much..."

"What's the trouble?" Finoer suddenly moved closer to Ri. "I'm going to get angry, you know? I usually help out in the Little Garden, and seeing my other siblings all have their own jobs makes me a little resentful."

"what……"

Rin was then surprised to realize that of the five Dragon Kings residing in the Little Garden, the other four, besides Finoir, all had their own jobs. She hadn't expected Finoir to be so upset about something so trivial. Was it because she felt excluded and was therefore resentful...?

“Alright then…” Li nodded. “However, I’m worried that there are too many children, and Sister Finoer might not be able to handle it. Let’s go to the Adventurers’ Guild later to post a request and see if there are any suitable people who can help.”

Even if the school is only open to children from the Little Garden, the number of children here is still quite large, at least enough for one person to take care of. Therefore, Ri plans to find some help for Finoer. On the way to the Adventurers' Guild, Ri discussed some details with Finoer.

For example, they plan to understand the children's thoughts, then consult the adults, and finally make a decision. Also, this is a trial run of creating a school, offering it free of charge for a period to allow interested children to try it out, and then observing the feedback. Because the sandbox is still under construction, and the adults have heavy workloads, they generally don't have much time to care for the children.

Once the school is established, these children who have no one to care for them can be placed there, eliminating concerns about childcare. Furthermore, this is a temporary, free trial operation, including three meals and education. These conditions seem incredibly attractive. As for how well it will ultimately be implemented, we'll have to wait and see.

Soon after, they arrived at the Adventurers' Guild headquarters, which had moved to the Little Garden. The reason... was that Guild Master Coster had predicted that the Little Garden would become a transit point for this world, and the guild had moved there to facilitate the adventurers' activities. Even after experiencing unimaginable disasters, the Adventurers' Guild was still bustling with activity. The arrival of the two of them seemed to freeze the adventurers, all their eyes fixed on them.

Li and Finoel didn't linger and went straight into the guild hall. Someone came out to greet them and led them to the guild's office on the second floor. Pushing open the office door, they saw an old man sitting behind his desk, a kind smile on his face.

"Oh my, seeing these guys outside stunned, I knew it was one of you," Koster laughed. "But I didn't expect it to be two people, and rare guests at that."

"Long time no see," Li greeted Guild Master Koster. "Guild Master, you look as energetic as ever. How have you been lately?"

"Mmm, it's wonderful!" Koster laughed heartily. "The living environment here in your Little Garden is truly excellent. I was initially thinking that setting up a base in the labyrinth was a sign of my madness, but after coming here, I realize I'm just getting old. Sigh, if it weren't for that guy Seric, I wouldn't have suddenly returned to do such troublesome things. Once I've trained a successor, this old man will retire and live out his days here."

After this incident, Koster's hair turned even whiter, showing how much he had worried about it. All I can do is silently pray that he can find and train a successor as soon as possible so he can retire early.

“Oh, by the way,” Coster said, “what brings the two Dragon Kings here?”

"Here's the thing..." Li explained, "We have a plan that requires recruiting some people to help us, so we'd like to post a request through the guild."

In fact, the Adventurers' Guild's quests are not only for adventurers to accept. Even ordinary people can accept quests if they see a suitable one. The original reason for the establishment of the Adventurers' Guild was to provide solutions for those in need. If someone accepts a quest, it means there is a possibility of a solution. Therefore, it is not unreasonable to make such a request.

In short, the Adventurers' Guild is basically a platform for introducing temporary workers...emmmm, that's probably not wrong.

"Want to post a commission..." Koster stroked his stubble, thought for a moment, and asked, "If it's convenient, could you tell me what kind of commission it is?"

"no problem."

Thinking it wasn't anything shameful, Li explained everything that had happened at school to Koster. After listening, Koster thought about it for a moment, then gave Li a thumbs up.

“Excellent, that’s a good idea,” Koster praised. “I will personally issue the commission. Please make sure our Adventurers’ Guild helps you with this. The reward will also be covered by our Adventurers’ Guild. Consider it a small contribution to your cause.”

"Thank you so much for your help," Finoer said to Coster.

“Oh, how could I possibly accept your thanks?” Koster said politely. “How could I possibly deserve the Dragon King’s gratitude? Besides, without you all, this old man of mine would have been long gone. Oh, by the way…”

Koster abruptly changed the subject, his gaze suddenly sharpening. Upon noticing this, Li immediately used his powers to separate the room from the world.

"Oh...!" Koster's eyes lit up when he noticed the sudden change in the scenery outside the window. "This is amazing..."

“So,” Li asked, “is there anything the chairman wants to tell us?”

“Oh, right, right, let’s get down to business.” Koster immediately returned to the main topic, “I think you’ve all probably noticed by now that there are suddenly a lot more prostitutes in the city.”

"Well……"

Koster's directness made Li and Finoer feel a little uneasy.

“I know where those prostitutes came from,” Coster said.

"—?!"

Li was taken aback, but then he thought, since he was the president of the Adventurers' Guild and had a wide intelligence network, it wasn't surprising that he knew about this. Compared to that…

“These prostitutes are part of the kingdom’s underground forces,” Koster explained. “As an underground force, they are clearly lacking in combat capabilities, and their objectives are unclear. The leader behind them is also unknown. However, they seem to be gathering some intelligence. I suggest you be careful.”

Chapter 31 is about time.

"So it's an underground force..." Li noticed something subtle.

First, these underground forces likely originated from the New Kingdom. Li hadn't encountered any such forces during her time in the Duchy, and such organizations certainly wouldn't exist among the Demon Clan. Therefore, the only explanation is that the New Kingdom is to blame. Li isn't intentionally trying to pin the problem on the New Kingdom; she's simply making an objective assessment of the organizations' origins.

But at this time, even though the population of the New Kingdom had been reduced to very few after the elven attack, and the major powers within the kingdom had been reshuffled, and most of the underground forces had undoubtedly been greatly weakened, why would this group of people appear in large numbers?

This is what Li finds strange. Only a week has passed, so how could this underground force be able to regroup and gather so many people in such a short time? No force should have known about the elf attack beforehand. If they didn't know, they were very likely involved in the attack as well. Why is this? This number doesn't seem like the number after they were weakened.

“It’s not just in the Little Garden,” Coster said. “I’ve also learned from other adventurers that it exists in the Duchy and the New Kingdom, and in considerable numbers.”

“Are there so many?”

Even Finoir has realized that this is no longer just a simple issue of social morality.

"Ugh... This is really a headache..." Rin could already vaguely sense the problem.

The only thing that could cause this anomaly, besides a ghost, is unimaginable. Had this problem developed into such a major issue without them noticing? Had even Ning not noticed? Li was now feeling a real headache, which meant it was time for them to intervene, but it wasn't convenient for them to get involved.

First, they couldn't condemn everyone indiscriminately, and under these circumstances, it wouldn't be convenient for them to suddenly drive these people away. If a thorough investigation were needed, the two of them would be too conspicuous. If the mastermind behind these women was Ghost, that person would definitely be on guard. Second, Li and Ning have been in the limelight far too much lately, making it difficult to operate discreetly.