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

"Um……"

Everyone nodded, trying to relax for the moment.

“So,” Leon asked, “what should we do next?”

“What should we do…” Olitto thought for a moment and said, “It’s probably pointless to go looking now, but I came here with this guy yesterday to do some tracking. We lost them in this area yesterday, so I think we might have found the vicinity of the stronghold.”

"Yesterday...?" Mori was surprised. "I remember you had a day off yesterday, right, Olito? Why would you be doing something like this on your day off...?"

Leon received this mission yesterday, and Olitto was forcibly "exiled" by Li yesterday. Did this person actually start investigating this matter last night? Did Li also tell him about this?

“Ah… this.” Olitto looked around. “Well, it’s a long story. I guess you could call this a vacation, since I’m doing my own thing in my free time.”

"No, I don't think this can even be called a holiday..." Shiokawa complained.

“Whatever you think is fine,” Olitto released Sonic’s grip. “Anyway, let’s look around and find some interesting places. Sonic, have you been around this area before?”

"Tsk," Sonic glared at him, "If it weren't for the young lady's safety, I wouldn't be working with you. I'd rather go it alone. If I mess around with you guys, it'll probably take months to resolve this mess."

"Speaking of which..."

The three of them focused their attention on Sonic.

"Who is this?" Shiokawa asked on behalf of everyone.

After the two groups gathered together, Shiokawa and the others subconsciously started talking to Olito, whom they knew. They had forgotten about the person next to Olito, but now that they remembered, they wanted to know who he was.

“Oh, you’re asking about this guy?” Olito explained. “This guy is Sonic, whom I met yesterday. He’s the leader of an underground organization.”

“No, I’m not the leader,” Sonic said. “The young lady will come back to lead us again sooner or later.”

"Yes, yes, whatever you say," Olitto replied dismissively.

Although there seems to be no problem now, Shiokawa and the others are very worried about Sonic's identity. First of all, he is the leader of an underground force, and at least for now, they don't have a good impression of the underground forces, so it's normal for them to find Sonic suspicious.

"I said..." Shiokawa asked, "President Olito, is this person really alright?"

“Of course, no problem.” Olitto said casually, “He’s just a stubborn, hot-headed young man. You don’t need to think too much about it. With his IQ, he can’t come up with anything. Just think of him as a powerful thug I hired.”

"Hey, what do you mean?!"

Sonic wasn't happy with Olito's explanation. However, he did seem plausible... The two of them tentatively believed Olito's story and stopped questioning Sonic. But then they wondered, what exactly had Olito gone through yesterday to get involved in this? It was intriguing.

“Anyway,” Olitto said, “let’s split into two groups. Searching like this isn’t going to work. Let’s spread out and look for anything that might catch our attention.”

"Ha! That's perfect." Sonic immediately pulled Sen away. "I, Sonic, would rather die here than find them today! Miss, please come with me!"

"Huh...? Uh... Oh, okay."

Since Sonic had so enthusiastically invited her, Mori felt it was difficult to refuse. After exchanging glances with Shiokawa, she agreed to Sonic's invitation, while also planning to observe Sonic herself.

“Oh, alright then.” Olitto walked over to Leon and Shiokawa as a matter of course. “Then let’s assign them this way. I think your name is Mori, right? Ms. Mori, I’ll leave it to you to control this Sonic Kid.”

"Huh? Huh?" Sen was completely confused.

"It's nothing. With your skills, you can definitely subdue him before he loses control. So, let's go this way, and you can handle the other side."

After skillfully passing the buck to Mori, Olitzo led Shiokawa and Leon away to their assigned area. It was truly unbelievable; despite being a complete novice, Shiokawa inexplicably found Olitzo's words incredibly persuasive, unconsciously following his lead. Truly, he was an extraordinary individual on par with Ritsu.

Although she had heard of Olitó's deeds back in the Principality, Shiokawa usually didn't pay much attention to such things because her profession was unrelated to it. However, after meeting Olitó today, she instinctively felt that this person was not simple.

Is he really just a businessman...?

Shiokawa asked himself this question.

In contrast, Leon kept casting envious, admiring, and respectful glances at Olito walking ahead, probably because he was impressed by Olito's series of decisive and clear decisions. Well, that's fine too, it's good to give him a role model to admire... But the other party is just a businessman... Never mind, let's not talk about this.

The three walked through the streets of the New Kingdom late at night. There was no one else on the streets except them. It was almost morning, the darkest time of day in the world. They could only see the road with the help of the faint moonlight. The moonlight shone into the empty houses, and the silence made them feel very uncomfortable, as if the temperature on their backs had dropped considerably.

As Olito walked, he would occasionally rub his arms to warm them up. Watching his retreating figure, Shiokawa had a new question in his mind.

“Speaking of which,” Shiokawa asked as they walked, “what could have gotten Mr. Olito involved in this? You don’t usually seem like the type to do this kind of thing…”

It was quite unusual for Olito, a businessman, to get involved in such an event. He usually did some behind-the-scenes work and rarely appeared in formal occasions, especially after he became adept at handling various jobs. Shiokawa was very curious about what had attracted Olito to get involved in this matter.

"I don't know how to explain this to you properly..." Olitto said perfunctorily, "Anyway, it's not a big deal, I just hope things can be peaceful for a while."

He said something that was completely out of character for him. As a businessman, his actions in this kind of situation should be more inclined towards profit, but Shiokawa couldn't see what was in this matter that would benefit him.

“To put it simply,” Olitto said, “this is merely a personal matter for me.”

Olitzo didn't bother the people of Akihabara. He learned about this incident from Sonic, who suddenly barged in, after discussing payment with Ms. Kanina that day. He then took Sonic away from the inn to investigate, continuing until they met these three tonight. Their meeting was truly a coincidence, and what Olitzo didn't expect was that this incident was directly related to the Ghost.

It was precisely because this matter involved Ghost that he became even more concerned about it. He had initially thought it was just a minor skirmish between underground forces, but who knew it was actually a major incident connected to Ghost. On the surface, he appeared calm, but in reality, he was extremely flustered and even had a stomachache.

But... for her, I will do everything I can.

However, that person didn't appreciate it at all...

Thinking of this, he gave a wry smile.

Tap...tap...tap...

"...Wait! Stop!"

Leon was the first to notice the unusual sound. Yes, the number of footsteps was wrong, and one footstep was clearly quite far away. After Leon stopped the other two, they also heard that clear footstep.

"Shh..."

Shiokawa gestured for the two to be quiet, then tiptoed towards the source of the footsteps. They then saw their target: a dancer dressed in a black veil, almost perfectly blending into the night. If Leon hadn't recognized her footsteps first, they probably would have been the ones discovered.

“Found it…” Leon said in a low voice.

"Hmm..." Shiokawa began to draw symbols using magic.

“But there’s only one person…” Olito frowned as he looked at the dancer.

They wondered if they had followed the wrong person, because they found someone who was alone. This puzzled the three of them. There were at least ten people when they came, but why were there so many people missing all of a sudden? Had they split up?

Putting everything else aside, this incident made Shiokawa feel a little uneasy. It was too quiet. Despite so many people taking action, they had hardly noticed a thing. Her contract partners were also constantly expressing their unease, but she couldn't find anything that could be described as strange. However, driven by her unease, she drew the symbol to summon Saber Arthur just in case.

“Leon,” Shiokawa said, “use your earpiece to contact Mori and tell her to come over as soon as possible.”

"OK, all right."

Leon took a few steps back, lowered his voice, and began to contact Mori, who was moving in another direction, through his earpiece. Shiokawa and Olitzo continued to observe the dancer, who was dressed in black gauze and simply dancing in the darkness. Her movements were alluring and ethereal, but in the darkness, they looked extremely eerie, sending chills down their spines.

The two watched the dancers finish their performance, then bowed towards the empty street.

clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap clap...

————?!

Loud applause echoed through the quiet street as men and women poured out, clapping and showering the dancers with praise. When had they arrived? Shiokawa hadn't even noticed them.

An ominous premonition gradually took shape in Shiokawa's mind.

Chapter 38 Disaster Strikes Again

"Hide it...!"

Shiokawa pulled the two of them back almost immediately. The eeriness she sensed from the atmosphere was more than just a little bit; she instinctively felt danger because the group of people had been able to approach them without the three of them noticing. Her instinctive alarm bells were ringing, and Shiokawa decided to take the two of them to a slightly safer place first.

however……

"...Is it too late...?"

However, their retreat route was blocked by men and women who appeared out of nowhere. If it were just Shiokawa alone, breaking through wouldn't be a problem, but she was with Leon and Olitzo. In this situation where they had been discovered and surrounded, it would be extremely difficult to escape to a safe place with the two of them without causing any casualties.

She couldn't be sure if these people were the ghost's minions, and given the unpredictable power of contract magic, using magic to break through here would likely cause heavy casualties. The Little Garden had finally managed to form an alliance with several other countries; if her actions caused tension within that alliance, she would have no face to return to face them.

“Calm down, Shiokawa.” Olito patted her shoulder. “If they wanted to do it, they would have done it already. Look closely at their expressions.”

"...It seems...they're not paying attention to us?"

The people's attention was completely focused on the dancer who had just performed, clapping incessantly and inching closer to her. It was as if they were being lured by something, their attention entirely elsewhere, which only made the situation more eerie, as if they were surrounded by a considerable number of puppets.

The group ignored the three of them and walked straight toward the dancer. The three of them stepped aside to make way for the crowd and began to discuss their next plans.

“I think we haven’t been discovered yet,” Olitto said. “Let’s blend in with them so we can get close to the woman.”

Olitzo was referring to the dancer in the center of the crowd. He could sense that they were approaching the epicenter of the incident, and that the woman was very likely the mastermind behind it all. He wanted to risk staying to obtain more useful information. Moreover, blending into the crowd would make them less likely to be discovered, which to some extent ensured their safety.

Seeing that Shiokawa was still hesitating, Olitto said again, "Since we can't leave now, why don't we sneak in and investigate? Don't you think so?"

“…Let’s do as you say.” Shiokawa finally nodded. “Leon, has Mori replied yet?”

“Got it,” Leon said. “They’re on their way. I told them to wait outside for backup.”

"Okay...we mustn't get separated."

"learn."

Shiokawa took a deep breath nervously and mustered all his courage to blend into the crowd. Olitto skillfully blended into the crowd; this was something he was very familiar with. Leon, on the other hand, blended into the crowd with a more spectator's mentality. The two of them seemed as natural as if they were just one of the people. The three of them stayed together to avoid being separated by the flow of people and slowly moved closer to the dancers.

Soon after, they successfully blended in and approached the dancers, at which point the flow of people came to a halt. Leon took this opportunity to survey the surroundings and roughly count the number of people – a staggering several hundred.

Unlike the other two, Olitto was pondering something at this moment: why did they choose to gather together at this time?

He took out his pocket watch, checked the time, and saw that it was still half an hour until six o'clock. Looking at the distant sky, he could already see some light, a sign that daytime was approaching. By this time, even the most diligent people should have already woken up. If they chose to do their work at this time for the sake of concealment, wouldn't that be going against the grain?

Like Shiokawa, Olitto was filled with a strange feeling, and they could only remain hidden in the crowd for the time being.

A short while later, the dancer spoke up: "My dear friends, we have gathered here once again for the same reason, but this is the last time. Today, let us do one last thing for our elder sister. Everyone, please take that with you?"

No one answered. They simply took something from their pockets: a wooden stick wrapped in oilcloth, a tinderbox, and a small bottle of black stuff. A look of profound relief crossed each of their faces. Olitto didn't know why they were relieved, but he knew what the black stuff was.

That's oil. It also contains some gunpowder.

He had seen weapons made from petroleum, incendiary bombs. The tragedy that had occurred then was still vivid in his mind; the pungent smell made Olitto momentarily dazed, and Leon beside him suddenly turned deathly pale.

"—Shiokawa!?" Leon said in a panic, "Mori said that she also has a group of people like that—! It seems that they also brought out the same thing—!"

"Varied……?!"

Shiokawa was taken aback. There was more than one group of people like this? And both sides had acted in unison?!

bake--!

In the center of the crowd, the veiled dancer lit her torch, tore off her veil to reveal a magnanimous smile beneath, and then shouted:

"Everyone! For our sister, give your lives!"

"Shiokawa—!"

Olitzo's shout immediately alerted Shiokawa, whose Saber symbol burst forth with intense light. A tall figure instantly appeared beside the three of them, using the invisible sword in his hand to plunge into the ground, forcing the wind wrapped around the sword to dissipate, and then forming a wind barrier to protect the three of them.

boom------!

The roar echoed throughout the New Kingdom. Saber and the three were engulfed by the sea of ​​fire and explosions. The scorching air filled their lungs, making their chests feel like they were on fire. Shiokawa covered his mouth and nose with a scarf, Leon pulled up his collar, and Olitzo took out a handkerchief. Only after the explosions subsided did Saber release the Wind Barrier.

"Cough cough..."

The thin air, thick with the smell of burning, filled his nostrils, making him cough uncomfortably. Leon coughed for a while, then stepped on something at his feet and heard a snap. He looked closely and saw it was a charred corpse.

"--!vomit……"

Seeing this scene for the first time, Leon couldn't help but vomit. Olito supported him, squinting at the horrific sight around them. Shiokawa was also speechless at the sight before him. The once beautiful streets were now charred black, with charred corpses lying everywhere, emitting the smell of burning fat and flesh—a scene resembling hell on earth.

"Huh~~ There are still people alive~~"

Suddenly, a leisurely voice echoed through hell. Saber, King Arthur, immediately drew his sword and stood before the three. An "alien" struggled to its feet from the scorched earth. Although it had a human appearance, its behavior was nothing like that of a human. Burning oil still clung to its body, and it grinned.

"Oh..." the alien laughed, "So that's how it is, you infiltrated among those children... Strange, then why are you all unharmed?"

"This is what I wanted to ask you..."

Saber raised her sword and pointed it at the alien in place of Shiokawa, who looked furious.

"What exactly are you...? Why are you alright?"

"Me?" the alien chuckled. "I'm nothing but a shadow. And who are you? Why are you here?"

“Saber,” Shiokawa coldly uttered the title of King Arthur.

“Contractor,” King Arthur said worriedly, “is it not appropriate to use such precious magic here?”

“I know,” Shiokawa pointed at the alien, “but I just can’t help it.”

King Arthur nodded, silently gathering magic power into his sword, then unleashed a powerful strike. A gust of wind swept across the alien's body, but caused it no harm. The alien's mocking smile vanished, replaced by a furrowed brow.

"Well~~" the alien sneered, "I'll deal with you guys after I've finished dealing with things over there."

Having finished speaking, the alien dissolved into a pool of black water and ceased its reply. At this very moment, the New Kingdom had awakened from the commotion, screams and cries of agony filling the air, and flames spreading throughout the city.

"Couldn't I have stopped it...?" Olitto murmured to himself.

In a sense, they seemed to have failed. They knew that someone was planning something behind this group, but it seemed too late now; the other side's scheme had probably already succeeded.