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

I think I understand now... You're the pervert who's been stalking me, aren't you?

"Huh?" Rielfa tilted her head. "Pervert? I may not understand what you're saying, but I can tell it's not a compliment. Is this how you treat your benefactor?"

That's two different things.

"Ha, you two have the nerve to criticize me after messing up my maze like that?" Rielfa sneered.

"Alright, alright, you two stop arguing." Nao intervened with a wry smile. "Li, you really need to thank Rielfa properly."

Okay. Thank you.

Although spending so much time in the labyrinth has somewhat blurred my sense of ethics, it doesn't mean I'm incapable of gratitude. Even if I were a monster, I'm still a reasonable person, okay?

"Hmm... I don't feel any sincerity." Rielfa grinned mischievously.

I won't say it a second time.

Although mimics are not supposed to talk anyway.

"Well, anyway, you owe me a favor now." Rielfa held up one finger. "How do you plan to repay me?"

You're bringing this up right away...

My impression of Rielfa has dropped even further, and I don't know how to repay her. I have no idea what to do now.

Let me organize the current intelligence.

I went back to get the clothes I was going to give to Xiao, and then I encountered a group of adventurers who had been wiped out. Then I encountered a defeated slime, and driven by my conscience, I went to save it.

Then we started fighting the guy who hurt the slime. This battle was full of twists and turns, and at the end we were defeated because of our misjudgment. I think my hands and feet were cut off the moment I was knocked down.

I have no idea what happened during that time, but according to Nao, I was saved by this Rielfa. How did she defeat that thing? That thing wasn't even human anymore, was it?

Now, I've been saved from the brink of death, but I've lost my limbs; I'm practically a useless box. No, a useless mimicry box.

Maybe the slime already guessed what was going to happen and ran away first? Wow, it has absolutely no sense of responsibility!

At least take me with you when you run away!

"Sister Li!"

The fox-eared girl, Xiao, suddenly appeared behind them and hugged them. Ah... why is she wearing underwear made of leaves... at least she's not someone you can't show your face to anymore.

It's more like a swimsuit than underwear... those children's two-piece swimsuits are actually made of leaves... do Perseus leaves glow even when picked?

"Sister Li, is it pretty?" Xiao asked.

Yes, it looks really good.

I absolutely hate being a mimic right now. If I were a human, I would have hugged it already, it's so cute!

"That outfit was made by the swordsman," Nao said, smiling at Xiao.

"Huh? That guy can make this kind of thing?" Rielfa asked in surprise.

Wow, Zhou Dong can make this kind of thing? Are guys who don't talk much usually really that amazing?!

"Laelfa, that's very rude of you," Nao said with a wry smile.

"It's okay, we've known each other for a while now anyway." Rielfa showed no remorse whatsoever.

It seems like Raelfa has known Zhou Dong and Nao for a long time. They seem to have a really good relationship. I'm so envious.

"What's wrong with Sister Li?" Xiao asked, tilting her head.

I got into a fight outside and now my arms and legs have been cut off.

"Does it hurt?"

It doesn't hurt anymore.

Actually, because my hands and feet were cut off so quickly, I didn't feel any pain at all, and I don't know how much time has passed since that day, so the wounds should have healed by now.

“Let’s wait a little longer,” Rielfa suddenly said. “We’ll wait for the slime to come back. Then I’ll explain what happened.”

Hmm... Will the slime come back?

“I sent it out to find something for me,” Rielfa smiled.

Wow, the slime actually listens to this guy! He basically never listens to me and only bosses others around, so why does he only listen to her?

After a while, the slime returned exhausted, dragging a treasure chest with it. Was this what Rielfa was talking about? How did the slime even manage to bring it back?

The slime dragged the box to my side, glanced at me wearily, and then collapsed to the ground, motionless. I checked its condition.

"Slime, LV.41, HP/MP: 375/23."

Wow, what on earth happened...? The slime leveled up so many times while I lost consciousness? And now its HP is a fifth of its total HP, several hundred more than mine, and its MP is practically nonexistent... That's terrifying.

"Hey, you're back alive! That's great!" Rielfa greeted it with a smile. "How was it? Was it fun?"

"Shut up..."

The slime's voice sounded very weak, probably because it was really exhausted, and it didn't move at all.

"Xiao Li, let's change the shell first." Nao opened the treasure chest for me.

Xiao watched me change shells with great interest, and after I was fully revived and stretched out my arms and legs, her eyes shone even brighter. Oh, I could hardly open them.

"Amazing!" Xiaotian clapped her hands and cheered.

I glanced at the old shell (Fel Iron Box). It was severely damaged and no longer useful. Wow, why do all my shells have such short lifespans? What about the other mimics?

"You seem to be mostly recovered," Rielfa said, looking at my restored pincers and crab legs. "You can move around on your own now, right?"

Of course... so what?

For some reason, the slime suddenly looked up at me with pity. Hey, don't look at me like that. I know you're smart.

"You probably don't know this yet, Little Li," Nao introduced her to me, "Laelfa is the master of this labyrinth, and also the Dragon King."

Eh...

Huh?!

And then... what is the Dragon King?

Chapter 2 Being Kept by the Dragon King

I said... what is the Dragon King...?

The slime rolled its eyes at me, looking utterly helpless. What could I do?! I genuinely didn't know anything about this stuff!

"Sigh...it's not your fault you didn't study much."

Am I just imagining things?! I have this feeling you're looking down on me! Or rather, why didn't you tell me?!

No, it's just my imagination.

The slime blatantly avoided looking at me; it was so obvious, did you think I wouldn't notice?

"Wow, that little guy over there seems to know a lot." Rielfa gave a playful smile. "Then tell me, what is a Dragon King?"

"Dragons born on dragon veins, dragons that grow within dragon veins, dragons that transform within dragon veins. Though they have wings, they cannot be called flying dragons, for mere flying dragons are no match for the Dragon King; those are monsters at the pinnacle of the dragon race." The slime glanced at Relfa. "Am I right?"

“Yes, that’s about it.” Relfa clapped her hands and said, “But there are some things that are not right, things that are recorded in the human literature you’ve read.”

"..." The slime remained silent.

If that's what they're saying, I can roughly understand what's going on. It means that the one in front of me, Raelfa, is a Dragon King, the most powerful dragon in the dragon race—that's truly formidable. Come to think of it, she seems to have said that this labyrinth is hers? But what does that have to do with whether I can act independently?

“Well, if you want to know about this later, just ask me, and I’ll tell you in detail.” Rielfa changed the subject. “Right now, you two have more important things to do.”

ha?

"I don't think you'll admit it, will you?"

Although Lelfa was smiling, there was no real joy in her smile. That smile looked so familiar; could it be something she learned from Nao? How terrifying! I have a bad feeling… I'm reminded of a recent meme: "The dragon has its eye on you."

This guy's a dragon too... I think I've really been targeted by a dragon... Should I grab the slime and Akatsuki and run away right away...?

“Let’s not talk about how I saved you two before.” Rielfa held me back as I tried to run away. “You know what that magic was, right? I saw that slime cast that magic very clearly. I’ve never seen that magic before. It blew up a whole area of ​​my maze.”

Hmm...is that so?

I pretended to be stupid to try and fool them. Is the slime's magic really that powerful?

I don't really believe that magic could be created like this in another world. A hydrogen bomb! That's a hydrogen bomb! This is breathtaking! And this magical slime can be created casually, right...? Is it really that terrifying?

I'm not sure how much magic the slime had left. This explosion used up all of its magic. Just how badly did it damage the dungeon?

Lelfa didn't seem too angry, and it didn't seem that serious, right?

"No...it's really serious..." The slime's somewhat resentful voice entered my mind, "That entire area has been blown up, I probably won't be using hydrogen bomb magic again..."

Eh……

“It was still conscious then, unlike you who were on the verge of death,” Rielfa said. “That area has been blown up, leaving a circular hole through which you can see the sky. And because of that sword, that area has now become a cursed zone, with a large number of undead monsters appearing. Although more monsters are a good thing, I don’t want it to turn out like this.”

Uh...

Wow! You can't blame me for this, can you? I'm one of the victims too, so shouldn't the blame be placed on that bastard Peller? Besides, I wasn't the one who blew up the maze! I didn't have any of those wide-area destruction weapons! Uh... well, you could say I did... but I didn't manage to destroy the terrain at all!

"Calm down, Lily," Nao reassured me with a wry smile. "Leelfa was just trying to scare you. She meant no harm; she just wanted to do something for you in this situation. Don't let her appearance fool you; she's a good person. Waaaaaah?!?!"

"Hey, you're really going to push yourself, aren't you!?"

Suddenly, Lelfa pounced on Nao and they wrestled together, her hands expertly slipping inside Nao's thin clothes. Ignoring Nao's resistance, she brazenly began to ravage her right in front of us. Ah, wait a minute, let me tell Xiao to close her eyes first…

"Wow! I was wrong, I was wrong!" Nao pleaded in a panic.

"Ah~ that's more like it."

Lelfa grinned triumphantly and let Nao go. Nao's disheveled appearance...emmmm, erotic...

"That's it anyway." Rielfa turned to face me. "You two have blown up my maze, shouldn't you do something about it?"

Uh……

“Let me make this clear first, I do not accept your apology,” Rielfa’s voice suddenly turned angry. “That kind of magic can be called strategic magic. Do you know that this kind of magic is only allowed to be used in war? Now that you have used it, someone will definitely come to investigate this matter. It wouldn’t be surprising if they directly attacked my labyrinth at some point.”

Eh?

“You probably don’t realize how serious this is,” Rielfa pointed in two directions. “My labyrinth is bordered by the Duchy of Astor to the east and the Kingdom of Alyas to the west. These two countries can’t possibly be unaware of the appearance of this magic. They certainly won’t stand idly by when magic threatens the survival of their nations. Although I don’t care about the labyrinth or anything like that, Nao is here too.”

? !

I was suddenly reminded by Rielfa. Yes, I had probably forgotten about this kind of thing after spending so much time in the maze.

Nobody likes having something that could destroy them wandering around nearby, something they know absolutely nothing about. Depending on the situation, it might even lead to war.

This place is a maze, which can be considered an enemy of humanity. They enter the maze and commit massacres without feeling any guilt, right?

Putting aside the fact that monsters can be killed, Nao is also in this labyrinth. Nao is now a living dead, a zombie, a being almost identical to a monster. Even if humans knew her, they wouldn't show mercy in killing her.

Although Raelfa is a dragon king, who knows what the human side is like? What if there's someone like Siegfried, the dragon slayer? Our dungeon wouldn't be able to handle that, would it?

Furthermore, if I remember correctly, heroes exist in this world. Heroes and demon kings are two equally overpowered beings. If we send a hero here, we'll be even less likely to win.

“Although I don’t know what you consider my labyrinth to be, I don’t want anything to threaten Nao.” Rielfa stared directly at me. “Right now, I need manpower, even if it’s just one or two. I need someone who can restrain the humans to help me. Nao can’t leave here; there are swordsmen protecting her, so I’m not worried about this place. But it’s different outside. I am the Dragon King, but I am only one person; I can’t possibly oversee every corner of the labyrinth.”

I understand what you mean. You want us to go to other parts of the maze to keep the humans occupied, right?

"Hmph, you understand pretty quickly. The slime even told me you were an idiot." Relfa chuckled. "These two countries have probably already started to act. It will take them some time to get here. In the meantime, I'm going to make you stronger. Go ahead and fight, I'll protect you."

Huh? So, does that mean we're being kept by the Dragon King? Hmmm, that doesn't feel so bad. Having a pro to help us level up makes things much better; we don't have to be on edge anymore.

But why does the slime look a little... scared?

Why did Chapter 3 turn out this way?

Why is this happening?

No, no, no, I'm not stating the title, because that's pretty much how I feel right now...

The slime and I were taken to the previous crime scene, ah, the enemy side where we fought Peller before. Back then, the slime used hydrogen bomb magic there, and now it has been blasted into something that looks like a meteorite crater.

And, it blew through the labyrinth's ceiling! Come to think of it, this is the first time I've ever seen the sky of another world. Why is there a moon in broad daylight? And two moons at that! Where is the sun?

The crater now contains a patch of blood-red soil—no, it can hardly be called soil anymore; the smell of blood is overwhelming. Why is there such a strong smell of blood?

I didn't encounter any monsters when I walked this road. The slime's hydrogen bomb shouldn't have killed so many monsters and caused so much blood, right? Where did it come from?

"See? It's a tough situation, isn't it?" Rielfa complained from the side. "This area is almost unrecognizable now, and I'm too lazy to bother with it anymore, but now..."

Before she could finish speaking, the slime jumped down on its own. "Eh? Why did you jump down? Whoa?!"

"Go down and practice for me first!"