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

Li came back yesterday and said that he had summoned Xia Que and the Demon King and discussed returning to Earth. If we take this event as a dividing line, Ning might have some clues now. However, Ning doesn't have time to worry about that now; first, she needs to deal with her immediate problems.

…………

"President, you seem to be in a good mood these past few days," Xia Shu said to her boss at work.

"Hmm? Really?" Olitto took a sip of coffee.

"Did something good happen?" Xia Shu tidied up the files and placed them on the corner of the table. "You've been so happy these past few days that you've been humming."

"Hmm... I really can't think of anything good." Olitto put down his cup. "But you, I heard your younger sister Xia Ling is better now, right?"

“Thanks to Tori and Ning,” Natsuki said with a smile, “she recovered from her illness and became a capable person.”

Putting aside Olito, Natsuki herself was quite happy. Natsuki was happy for her sister's recovery, while Olito was happy because Miss Kanina had become a diplomat for the Alyas Elf Kingdom. Now he could deal with her in the workplace and could legitimately invite her to dinner under the guise of work.

Oh, I forgot to mention, Miss Kanina is the innkeeper. Because she's quite adept at dealing with people, and given her status and background, she was hired by Alice. Of course, she's no ordinary diplomat either; everything Miss Kanina displayed that night was observed by Olitto, but he didn't care.

Well... Natsuki didn't want to say anything about Olito's love life, he could only wish Olito all the best.

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Olito said with a smile. “I’ll have a couple of drinks with you tonight to celebrate.”

"Let's not," Xia Shu said with a wry smile. "It's better to drink less alcohol. Besides, President, don't you also have a lot of social engagements that require drinking?"

As the two were talking, there was a knock on the door. The two, who had been chatting and laughing, immediately switched to work mode. Olito coughed twice and gestured to Natsuki to open the door. When the door opened, a rare guest walked in: Natsuki Suzume.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Olito."

"Yes, good afternoon to you too, Lord Xia Que."

Xia Que greeted Olitto stiffly, then nervously sat down in the chair Xia Shu had pulled out for her. Meanwhile, Olitto was also pondering why Xia Que had come to meet him. He didn't usually interact with Xia Que, and his knowledge of her came only from conversations with Li and Ning. Although he had investigated her in detail, there wasn't much to investigate.

Xia Que was a straightforward and honest person, even more so than Li. The investigation into her ended quickly without yielding any useful information. Olito thought to himself that he should have absolutely no connection with Xia Que, so why would she come to see him today? Olito couldn't figure it out, and then he decided to speak first.

"What a rare guest!" Olitto said with a smile. "I really didn't expect Miss Xia Que to come here. So, may I ask what brings you here today?"

“Um… well,” Xia Que took a deep breath and said, “Do you know anything about Priest Hao’er?”

“Priest Hoel…” Olitto recalled for a moment, “You mean, that accomplice of King Aljaz, right?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Xia Que said. “But I want to say that wasn’t Hao’er’s intention. I know he did something unforgivable, but I want to say that he’s not that kind of person. That…that…”

As she finished speaking, Xia Que gradually became incoherent and her words became unclear, making it impossible for Olitto to understand what she was trying to say.

“No rush,” Olitto said. “There’s plenty of time. You can take your time.”

“Uh…” Xia Que suddenly stood up. “Well, I’m very sorry to have wasted your time. Goodbye.”

She bowed, then hurriedly pushed open the door and left, leaving Olitto and Natsuki bewildered.

What is she doing?

This is a question that Olitó and Natsuki both have.

“Natsuki,” Olitó asked, “did you understand what she just said?”

“Hmm…” Natsuki hesitated for a moment, “Although I took notes, I really don’t understand what she was trying to express.”

“I see…” Olitto sighed, “But I have to say it’s really something to worry about…”

Xia Que was a victim of this incident, and her experience evoked sympathy. No one would point the finger at her, an innocent girl caught in the turmoil. To this day, no one has been able to properly compensate her, until recently, when Li revealed the possibility of sending her and the Demon King back to their homeland. Olito wasn't a cold-blooded person; he sympathized with Xia Que's situation. She was a pitiful girl, and her strange behavior caught his attention.

“Natsuki,” Olitto said, “go go and see what happens, then come back and report back to me.”

"Ok."

Xia Shu nodded and followed Xia Que out of the office. Olito sighed, stood up, and wandered around the office, carefully recalling what Xia Que had just said.

Xia Que's words undoubtedly targeted the priest, Hao'er. Hao'er was one of King Alyas's henchmen and the murderer of nine heroes—a crime deserving of death. However, Xia Que's words just now seemed to be pleading for Hao'er's life. Why would Xia Que come to him to plead for Hao'er?

“Haor…” Olitto pondered, “I remember he was Xia Que’s master, wasn’t he…”

Olitto put the matter aside for the time being, making a note of it and deciding to discuss it with Li and Ning later. The relationship between Xia Que and Hao Er seemed to have evolved beyond that of master and apprentice. Olitto had no opinion on Xia Que pleading for Hao Er; he simply considered it a matter of course…

"Priest Hoel..."

Olitto's feelings towards Hale stopped at the level of seeing him as a major sinner; as a businessman, he could only feel anger at the man's actions, nothing more. However, the fact that Xia Que pleaded for Hale's life suggested there might be some hidden story. Olitto could only remain cautious, hoping Xia Shu could bring him back some useful information.

……

"What am I doing...?"

After leaving the Borg Chamber of Commerce, Xia Que walked down the street, clutching the hem of her clothes in regret. This time, she still hadn't accomplished anything.

She had originally intended to speak properly with Olitto and plead for Hale, but unfortunately, she was tongue-tied and not very bright. As she spoke, her mind went blank, and she uttered a bunch of things that even she herself couldn't understand. In the end, she gave up and ran away. In the end, she accomplished nothing this time. Time was ticking away, and Xia Que didn't have much time left.

She walked dejectedly down the street, feeling deeply troubled. This was the fifth time she had tried to do this, but each time she had failed to convey her meaning properly. She knew that nothing she did would be effective, and she was now reflecting on her problems.

“It’s so difficult…” Xia Que sighed, “But… if I don’t do this, nothing will change…”

If she hadn't accomplished anything before everything was over, she didn't know how she would manage when she got back.

First, she had to overcome this hurdle. She took a deep breath and thought about who she should talk to next. She made up her mind that this time she had to convey her meaning properly, even if it was just to put her mind at ease and didn't change Hao'er's final fate. That was all she could do.

This was the last thing she could do in this world.

Chapter 9 Conversation with the Priest

dong dong dong...

The knocking woke Li from her rest. She sat groggily on the bed, and after a while, her blank mind began to function normally. She remained on the bed for a while, only reacting when the second knock came.

"Is someone knocking on the door...?"

Li rubbed her eyes and got out of bed. Judging from the sound, someone was probably downstairs. She struggled to open her eyes, activating her magic eye, and then unfolded the mini-map. Indeed, besides herself, there was another magical reaction near her house, right at her doorstep. That must be a guest.

"...? What is that?"

At this moment, Rie noticed something strange again. There wasn't just one magical reaction; there was another, faint one, indicating the target's magical power was extremely weak. That magical reaction was located at the site of the Perseus Tree. Thinking of the person buried beneath the Perseus Tree, Rie felt uneasy. She walked to the window; the room's window faced directly towards the Perseus Tree, so she could see it clearly.

However, Li did not see anything under the Perseus Tree; there were only swaying leaves of the Book of Light.

"Is it an illusion..."

Li muttered to himself.

She glanced at the minimap again; the faint magical reaction was still visible, but after checking several times, she still couldn't see the corresponding object. How strange, the Magic Eye shouldn't be faulty…

dong dong dong...

"what……"

Dazzled by the strange magical reaction, Ri almost forgot about the guest waiting for her at the door. She would have completely forgotten if she hadn't heard the third knock. Who on earth was so persistently knocking on her door? Ri put on a coat, went downstairs, and opened the door…

"Who..."

"Excuse me, it's me, Haul."

"Eh……"

Rie opened the door and paused, looking at Hoel standing in her doorway. Hoel was also taken aback, staring at Rie who hadn't moved after opening the door. The atmosphere suddenly became awkward. On one hand, Rie hadn't expected Hoel to come looking for her, so she had unsuspectingly thrown on a coat over her thin pajamas before opening the door for Hoel. Hoel also realized that he seemed to have come at an inopportune time, and that he might have seen something he shouldn't have.

"S-Sorry!"

Hao'er hurriedly apologized, but apart from his face turning redder, his expression remained unchanged, so the "expressionless" thing was probably true.

After calming her inner turmoil as much as possible, she pretended to be calm and said, "It's you. Whatever it is, come in and sit down. It's not very convenient to talk standing at the door."

"Then... excuse me for bothering you."

Li led Hao'er into the house and to the living room. She poured him and herself a cup of tea, and the two of them drank silently, creating an extremely awkward atmosphere. Li was too embarrassed to look Hao'er in the eye; who knew what kind of expression he was giving her? In short, Li had never seen anything like this before, and she never imagined that Hao'er would come back to her after all this.

She and Hao Er should have no connection whatsoever, but faced with this situation, she didn't know what to say. She really didn't expect Hao Er to suddenly come over at this time, and the key point was that she appeared in front of him without any warning. If Ning saw this, she really didn't know what she would think.

Moreover, this scene looks exactly like an affair!

Rin couldn't help but overthink things, because her current appearance was quite indecent, not at all presentable to others. Although it wasn't that serious, Rin still had a basic sense of shame and wanted to resolve the issue as soon as possible.

“So,” Li asked, “what brings you here? This is the first time I’ve ever seen you come to me on your own initiative.”

"Yes, that's true." Hao Er nodded. "I came here today because I wanted to ask you about something."

"Is there something you want to ask me?" Li asked. "What is it? If I know the answer, I can tell you."

“I think Miss Li should know this all too well,” Hao’er said, getting straight to the point. “I want to know about time travel.”

“She told you…” Li wasn’t very surprised.

When Li told Xia Que and Xuan Ze, she had already considered who they would talk to about this. As for Xia Que, although she didn't know her very well, Li knew that she would definitely talk to Hao Er about it when she got back. Because Hao Er was the only person who had always been by her side, there was no other person she could discuss this with. Well... the original adventurer trio could also be considered as someone to discuss this with, but Xia Que seemed to be very bothered by certain things, so she didn't seem to have contacted those three during this period.

The topic has strayed from the point. In short, Li wasn't too surprised that Hao'er knew about this, but she was rather surprised that he would come all the way here to meet with her about it. In any case, she decided to first hear what Hao'er wanted to know, since as Xia Que's only guardian at the moment, he probably wanted to understand these things.

“Yes, Xia Que told me,” Hao Er said calmly. “So, I want to know some things about it. If possible, I hope you can explain it to me from the beginning.”

“Let me explain from the beginning…” Li started to feel a headache coming on. “Well, first of all, I want to explain the current situation to you. Time travel is definitely something that I can do based on my powers. However, I can’t explain the details to you right now.”

"What's wrong?" Hale asked.

“We haven’t done any more detailed experiments yet,” Li explained. “Right now, Ning and I have only confirmed that there is a possibility, and we plan to complete this time travel technique within a week, and also solve any problems that may arise from this technique. I will also talk to those two about any unresolved issues and ask them to pay attention. But as of now, there is no progress.”

"No progress...?" Hale seemed thoughtful. "I see..."

“The original plan for today was to conduct the relevant experiments,” Li sighed, leaning back on the sofa, “but a problem arose, so it has been temporarily suspended.”

“Is it a big problem?” Hale asked.

“It’s not a big problem.” Li thought for a moment and then realized that it might be considered a big problem. Because we’ll have to wait a while before we can conduct experiments on this. But it won’t really hinder the progress of the subsequent plans. Personally, I think it won’t affect the final goal. However, our understanding of time travel is limited to this at the moment, and time travel is not such a simple matter… That’s all I can tell you for now.”

The idea of ​​time travel is valid; the examples of heroes are enough to prove it. Therefore, Hao'er has no doubt that Kaoli can do it. Moreover, she is the Dragon King of Time and Space, the Dragon King who controls time and space in this world. If she can't do it, then who can?

“I see…” Hao’er thought for a moment, then stood up. “Sorry to bother you. I’ve had enough to know. Thank you.”

"Huh? They're leaving already?"

"Yes, because I've learned everything I need to know."

Hao'er bowed to Li, then turned to leave. Hao'er knew that continuing to ask wouldn't yield any further progress, as Li's investigation had only gone this far. However, not knowing anything more crucial made him uneasy about Xia Que's journey home; just as Li had said, time travel wasn't such a simple matter.

The hero can only be summoned to this world with the help of the goddess and the magic circle left by the predecessors. However, considering various issues, the magic power required for the hero's summoning is not something that the people of this world can provide. Without the goddess's assistance, it would probably not be so easy to summon the hero.

Now, Li is going to do the opposite. Putting everything else aside, Hale knows that this time-traveling magic, starting from scratch, is definitely more difficult to achieve than summoning a hero. Li and Ning can be considered the creators of miracles in this world, but Hale still feels it's somewhat unattainable. He's still wondering, is it really possible?

"Wait a moment before you go," Li called out to him. "I want to know why you suddenly want to know these things."

There must be a reason why Hale suddenly wanted to learn about these things; Ideal knew why Hale suddenly had this idea.

"The reason..." Hao'er stopped and turned around again, "It's just that I'm worried about Xia Que."

"Worried about Xia Que?" Li felt it wasn't that simple...

“Hmm,” Hao’er nodded, “I just feel that time travel is something that’s too far-fetched to be understood, and it’s even beyond my comprehension. So I have a feeling that Xia Que will leave me and go to a very, very far place. I… am very worried about her safety.”

"I'm worried about her safety..."

Li lowered her eyes and thought for a while.

Even Li felt that the relationship between Hao'er and Xia Que was unusual. It seemed to have transcended a simple master-disciple relationship, resembling something else entirely. Li felt the answer was obvious, yet something still felt off. But she seemed to understand Hao'er's feelings. If Li and Hao'er were in each other's shoes, Li would probably make the same decision...

No, Li probably couldn't do it. Because the story between these two was completely different from what Li had imagined; it was the exact opposite of her own experience, an experience she didn't want to recall. Li felt that her previous thoughts were somewhat inappropriate.

As Li reflected on his somewhat inappropriate thought, Hao'er continued speaking.

“I’ve done many dirty things, the dirtiest of which was assassinating heroes. I killed nine heroes, but I failed on the tenth. By then, I was probably numb, until she appeared.” Hao’er began his monologue. “From the moment I met her, I realized I was changing. It was because of Xia Que that I stopped making one mistake after another. So, even if many people don’t trust me, I hope that at least I can be worthy of her.”

"You..." He thought of something, but didn't say it in the end. "I understand. I have nothing more to ask."

"Then I'll head back now." Hao'er bowed again.

"Ah," Li reminded her, "remember to take good care of Xia Que."

"???" A question mark appeared above Hao'er's head. "Okay, I'll be careful."

I don't know if talking to him like this will work, but anyway, I reminded him to be careful. Watching Hao'er leave, I felt a bit of a headache. The two of them's clumsy way of expressing their feelings was really worrying. Although their intentions were good, the process was too worrying, and they couldn't even properly convey their feelings to each other. It was really a headache.

Even if Li is incredibly stupid, she can already see the situation clearly, but for some reason, these two still haven't figured out what's going on, which is really worrying.

"Did I do something wrong...?" Li began to consider the inappropriate aspects of her previous behavior.

Hao'er's visit this time was most likely because Li had talked to Xia Que about time travel. Xia Que would be returning in less than a week, and what would Hao'er think then? If Xia Que felt the same way as Hao'er, what would she think? Li began to wonder if she was the reason why the two of them were feeling so lost.

Hao'er probably wanted to do something for Xia Que in the last week or so. Li's sudden announcement probably made both of them panic. What's the situation with the Demon King...? Li didn't know, but she knew that she seemed to have been too hasty this time.

Speaking of which...

I've come to realize something.

"I almost forgot about this..."

Regarding the handling of Haer.