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

As a sinner, Hale definitely deserves punishment, but since they've been keeping an eye on him in the Little Garden and haven't been able to handle various matters, the matter has been temporarily put on hold. Frankly, Ri doesn't have any particular ideas about how to deal with Hale, as she's not capable of doing such a thing, and intends to leave the decision to the others.

But things are different now. Because of the matter between Xia Que and Hao Er, Li is now in a dilemma, wondering how she should decide. While she was still struggling with this, Ning's telepathic message from a great distance was transmitted directly into her mind.

"Li, there's something I want to talk to you about. Are you awake right now?"

"Yes, I'm awake," Riya replied telepathically. "Is there something you need?"

"It's about Xia Que." Ning paused. "I heard from others that she's pleading for Hao Er everywhere. Old Man Evan at the workshop told me about it, and Olito and the captain just told me about it too. I think there's something wrong."

"Oh...what a coincidence," Li said with a wry smile. "Haor just left."

[Hao'er?] Ning's tone changed abruptly. [He came to see you?]

“Yes,” Li explained, “he came to ask me about time travel.”

"You just woke up, right?" Ning asked.

"Uh..." Li seemed to already know what was going to happen next. "Well... besides just waking up, there doesn't seem to be any other explanation... right?"

【………………】

Ning stopped talking. Li could almost see the "kind" smile on Ning's face, and cold sweat began to break out on her back. This was bad. But no matter how she lied, her thoughts would be conveyed through her words. There was no other choice. Li was prepared to accept whatever treatment she might receive tonight.

"Let's talk about this when we get back." Ning changed the subject. "I think you're probably thinking the same thing as me, right? These two are both busy with the same thing right now. What are your thoughts?"

“Uh…” Li hesitated, “I don’t know, but I’m a little worried that Xia Que might do something reckless.”

The events that occurred in the labyrinth were still vivid in Li's mind. She still remembered the consequences of Xia Que's sudden outburst after Hao Er was cornered. If Xia Que were to lose control again this time because of Hao Er, causing the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow to go berserk, Li would not be able to handle it.

I actually think... nothing much happened back then, because... he'd be back soon...

"Huh?" Li was momentarily confused. "Him?"

In short, we probably need to deal with these two people first.

Ning avoided the topic and did not continue.

Chapter 10 The Demon King's View

"Demon King? Are you there?"

"Speak your mind, or shut up. I don't have time right now."

"Wow, you're still as sharp-tongued as ever."

"Is that all your last words? Then I'm hanging up."

"Hey, wait! We haven't gotten to the important stuff yet!"

That evening, Li immediately contacted the Demon King Xuanze, intending to discuss Xia Que with him. The Demon King immediately uttered incredibly vicious words, but Li was already used to it.

Besides, that's part of the Demon King's character design, right? I always feel that Xuanze seems to be intentionally catering to the image of the Demon King, and I think it's pretty much the same.

Although it lacked the majesty one would expect from a dragon king.

Before Xuanze could disconnect the headphones, Li quickly said, "I want to tell you about Xia Que."

……

The other end suddenly fell silent.

"Why aren't you saying anything...?" Li asked from the other end of the earpiece.

"Because I don't think it's necessary to discuss this."

"Why are you here!?"

One second they were having a conversation through headphones, and the next second the Demon King was suddenly right next to them. Could this person have learned teleportation?

The uninvited Demon King Xuanze lay leisurely on the sofa and said, "Xia Que, to put it simply, is a fence-sitter. She has no opinions of her own and is very passive in her actions. People like her are the most easily influenced by their surroundings. And I guess you came to me mostly to talk about the girl's problems with time travel, right?"

"...Did you anticipate this problem would arise?"

Li felt that this person seemed to have known about this problem all along, but simply hadn't said anything.

“No, that’s not it.” Xuanze sat up. “Because I have the same problem.”

"You have one too?" Li's eyes widened in surprise.

"What's with that expression?" Xuanze rolled his eyes at her.

“No,” Li explained, “I just think you’re not the kind of person who would have doubts about something like this.”

"Heh? What do you take me for?" Xuanze sneered. "A cold-blooded demon king? Or a heartless human? In the end, I'm still a human being, just a little different from you."

Is this really just a special case?

Li muttered a complaint to himself.

Let's sort out the situation first. After being woken up by Hao'er, Li learned about Xia Que from Ning. Xia Que was pleading for Hao'er everywhere, so she planned to ask the Demon King Xuanze for his opinion.

Here's what happened: Yesterday, Li mentioned the possibility of traveling back to Earth through time to Xia Que and Xuan Ze, and gave them a week to consider it or do what they wanted to do.

The current situation arose because Li hadn't considered the special bond between Xia Que and Hao Er. Hao Er, as the assassin who killed nine heroes and a traitor to humanity, would inevitably be judged after everything was over. His crimes were serious enough to warrant the death penalty, or even more. However, Xia Que and Hao Er, as master and disciple, shared a unique and difficult bond, which put Xia Que in a dilemma.

This feeling is the love that Rie has only recently experienced. As a novice in love, Rie only has a superficial understanding of this relationship, but even she can already see the feelings between the two of them, so she is still wondering why the two of them don't seem to have come clean.

No... logically, I can somewhat understand the reason for not confronting them directly...

The problem lies with Hao'er. He seems to be trying to distance himself from Xia Que and prevent her from being implicated in his affairs. So, although he's been concerned about Xia Que's situation lately, he's maintained a certain distance. Li hasn't been paying much attention to the situation between the two recently, so it's too early to say anything about it.

"What's that guy Hao'er doing, minding his own business..." Li bit her nails angrily, then turned around and said, "Speaking of which! Why are you here!?"

It's truly unbelievable that the Demon King would suddenly appear in her house. Rin didn't even realize that Genze had invaded her home. Fortunately, because of the awkward situation she had with Haor earlier, Rin had changed into her home clothes this time, so there wouldn't be any awkwardness.

“I was summoned here by Ning,” Xuanze said.

"Ning? Why did she call you over?" Li tilted her head, Ning hadn't told her about this.

"Well... I'm just looking at some things."

Xuanze's gaze shifted to the window, beyond which lay the Perseus Tree. This was one of the unusual things Li had noticed after waking up; Ning had probably noticed it even earlier, but why had she called Xuanze over? Li wasn't entirely sure, but Ning likely had her own reasons, so Li didn't press the matter further.

"Is there a problem with that place?" Li asked.

"A problem..." Xuanze narrowed his eyes. "Well, that's how it is. Anyway, that thing won't cause any harm for the time being, so let's just leave it there."

"What are you talking about???" Li couldn't understand what Xuanze was trying to confirm.

“Don’t ask me about things like that.” Xuanze stood up. “I think you should know what it is better than I do. I thought it was something important, but it turns out it’s just this.”

"speak English!"

Li's patience was almost exhausted by Xuanze.

"Wait until Ning comes back before asking her," Xuanze waved his hand. "I'm not in the mood to waste time with you right now. As I said before, I have some things to take care of."

"Ah..." Li then remembered.

Among the topics they were discussing was the dilemma of returning to Earth. Xuanze himself said that this matter had also affected him to some extent, causing him to struggle with it. However, he did not say it explicitly, and it did not seem like that at all. So, it was natural to assume that nothing had happened to him.

Demon King Xuanze has always been straightforward and decisive, never procrastinating. When faced with trouble, he simply charges straight through. From a personal perspective, the Demon King has never been confused, which is quite enviable. Even if one only had half of the Demon King's straightforwardness, none of these problems would have arisen.

"I'm sorry," Li said apologetically, "um... have you made up your mind...?"

“Of course I’ll go back,” Xuanze said calmly. “But I won’t stay there. Do you understand?”

"Eh... umm..."

Afterwards, Xuanze didn't say anything more, turned around, pushed open the door, and left. The house was empty again. In the end, Li still couldn't figure out how Xuanze had suddenly appeared. Oh well, he was an acquaintance anyway, so Li didn't plan to pursue it. However, she might need to change the house key... no, most of her friends were capable of breaking and entering, so a key might not be practical.

Rather, it would be a miracle if simply changing the key could stop these people, but that's impossible, especially since the Black Dragon King Negi has such special powers.

After watching the Demon King disappear, Li sat on the sofa again, doing nothing, and her mind unconsciously became immersed in thinking.

Unlike Xia Que, Xuan Ze, though saying he was still hesitant, had already decided where to go. Like Li, he planned to return to Earth for a visit before coming back. Xuan Ze had probably decided to settle down here and become a true Demon King... As for Xia Que, Xuan Ze's statement wasn't an exaggeration at all. Right now, she was like a fragile straw, easily swayed by the tide.

No one knew what Xia Que would do next. Although Li thought it was understandable that she would plead for Hao Er, she really didn't expect that someone as introverted as Xia Que would do something so bold. After all, she had even met Olito and the captain.

Olitzo is a true money-grubber. He only knows how to drown himself in piles of money and doesn't care about anything else. If an ordinary person were to meet him, they might be stripped naked on the spot. No, don't get me wrong, I mean he'd put all the valuables on the person into his own pocket. Yes, that's right, I'm not joking, and I'm not trying to make fun of him. This guy is really that terrifying.

Then there's the captain. To put it bluntly, he's extremely strange. Although he seems to be fine in his daily life, he becomes very odd when you ask him for help. Well... he's not as scary as Olito, but he's pretty much the same.

It's truly amazing that Xia Que was able to escape unscathed from those two. I even wondered if they were sick. Cough cough cough, I've gotten a bit off-topic.

Xia Que's actions have already attracted everyone's attention. Li has heard about these things from different people, and there's even information from Senno that she's gone all the way to the Alyas Elf Kingdom. It seems Xia Que is no longer in the Little Garden but has gone somewhere outside of it, which is truly beyond imagination. In short, we need to find her and bring her back first.

Xia Que is being treated like a highly flammable and explosive substance, a situation born of necessity. If she loses control and the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow goes berserk, things will become far more complicated. But…

"I just feel... this isn't quite right..." Li stared at the ceiling, looking on with a headache.

Xia Que was clearly a victim caught up in this incident, but after this series of events, Xia Que's position and situation have obviously changed. It makes sense; she has ultimately become the kind of person she didn't want to be. Although she still retains most of her freedom, her consideration of various things has been filtered through an invisible and intangible lens.

Her thinking stemmed from a humanitarian perspective. If it were Xuanze, he would have said to simply throw Xia Que back to her original world, and that would be the end of it. Simple and brutal, very much in the style of a demon king, but that's not what Ideal wanted. Ideal handled this matter much more tactfully.

"Then we'll have to start with Hale..."

Ultimately, the reason lies with Hao'er. Xia Que's unusual actions were all for Hao'er's sake, but from a rational standpoint, it wasn't appropriate for her to make the decision on her own. Ultimately, what to do with Hao'er required consulting others. First, she had to summon the heads or leaders of the various factions in the alliance to discuss the matter.

We've left this matter unresolved for so long; it's time to bring it up and put an end to it...

"...Why...suddenly...so sleepy..."

At that moment, for some reason, sleepiness overwhelmed Li's consciousness, instantly overwhelming her still-thinking brain and leaving it blank. She had slept for a long time today, she should have slept enough, but why...?

Li's consciousness gradually faded, and he finally collapsed on the sofa and fell asleep.

It was that pure white space again. Rin already knew what was going to happen. She silently counted to three in her mind, then turned and delivered a karate chop to the person behind her. The chop landed precisely on the person trying to suddenly appear from behind. Rin wasn't going to be fooled by that guy again; this time, he had truly angered her.

"So..." Rin tried hard to suppress her dissatisfaction, "Can you please stop dragging me here in this strange way all the time?! I have things to do too! I won't say anything about you taking up my rest time at night to send me information, but at least don't do it again at a time like this, okay?!"

"Hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs, hugs! I'm so sorry!!!"

"Eh……?"

The voice... seems a little different...?

Upon closer inspection, Li realized that she seemed to have hit someone unrelated to her. Although this was indeed the pure white space where the goddess and Li usually talked, this time was a little different. If there was anything different, it was that the goddess was gone, and there was someone else here now.

The person here wasn't a goddess, but a young girl in a light blue dress with long, light blue hair. Having just been struck on the head with a karate chop by Li, she was now cowering to one side, tears welling in her eyes, covering her head in fear. Li then realized she seemed to have gotten into trouble. Wait, this person's appearance...it looked vaguely familiar...

what……

After some thought, she came to a possibility, the only possibility, but she didn't want to admit it. The key was that she had just hit the other person, and it seemed pointless to rush up and fawn over them now...

"Um..." Anyway, Li decided to apologize first, "I'm so sorry I hit you earlier, but, um, I thought you were my goddess from my world, that's why I hit you. It was all a misunderstanding! Really! Please don't be angry! And, please don't cry!"

If this person in front of me were to actually cry or get angry, that would be a real problem. One person alone probably couldn't handle it, because this person is most likely the god the goddess spoke of earlier, the one who governs other worlds. And this blue-haired girl in a green dress is probably the god of Earth…

To be honest, Earthlings have always referred to Earth as Mother Earth, and in some ways that seems to be true. However, there's a slight discrepancy, because this person isn't a mother at all! She's clearly just a girl around fifteen years old! What's wrong with this world?!

The goddess had said that evening that she would try to contact the goddess on Earth as soon as possible, but she really didn't expect this to happen. This meeting was too fast and too sudden!

Faced with her former "mother," Li was momentarily at a loss for words. She had just hit her on the head, and now the woman was hiding from Li with teary eyes. Ah, this was too much! Was she really that cute? In short, the current situation left Li feeling somewhat at a loss. She was completely unprepared for this sudden meeting and had even bullied the Earth God.

Oh no... this is giving me a headache. What if she won't let me go back to Earth?

Chapter 11 A glance was enough to confirm, this is the true "goddess".

Earth is one of the eight planets in our solar system, the third planet from the Sun. It is the largest terrestrial planet in the solar system in terms of diameter, mass, and density. It is 1.5 million kilometers from the Sun and is 40 to 46 billion years old. It is the only planet in the solar system that can support human life and was once our home planet. It is a planet composed of seven parts ocean and three parts land.

If this planet were personified as a young girl, with a character age that is 1:3 the actual age, she would be around fifteen years old. Her exceptionally long, light blue hair and the cyan dress she wears would give an estimated ratio of 7:3. The final result would be the image standing in front of Rin. This isn't something that's particularly hard to accept, because people on Earth often compare the planet to their mother, and Rin subconsciously also sees the planet as a female figure.

Who knew it was actually a woman, and a girl of about fifteen years old at that? This was far beyond what I had expected. According to the goddess, the world and the god who governs it influence each other, so this Earth Goddess before me is actually a being similar to Earth itself. Calling her Mother Earth… wait, that seems a bit much. She hardly looks like a mother…

Don't bring up those immature underage couples on Earth; I'm serious!

In short, Li was at a loss when faced with the Earth God who looked like he was about to cry at any moment, because this was really a difficult situation in every sense of the word. In addition, Li had just done that kind of thing, and she was a little embarrassed to take the initiative to ask for his forgiveness.

Moreover, that appearance really left people at a loss.

The image of the Earth Goddess is completely different from that of the useless goddess. Although she looks somewhat immature, she already possesses all the qualities a mother should have.

Her aura wasn't particularly strong, but she constantly radiated a reassuring maternal glow. She appeared gentle, delicate, and endearing, but Li could sense that she possessed a strong heart. However, this timid and weak-willed image was truly perplexing. The guilt of having hit her earlier hadn't yet dissipated, and Li was genuinely embarrassed to look her in the eye.

"Don't you hate me?" the god of Earth suddenly asked a nonsensical question.

"Eh?"

Because the question was so complex, it took Li a while to process it: "Wait, wait, wait? Why should I hate you?"

"You're one of those people who went to that world too, aren't you?" the Earth God asked timidly. "I'm really sorry for sending you to that world without asking your opinion."

"Huh? Wait a minute," Li quickly explained, "Um! I never hated you, that's true! Although I still don't understand what's going on, I'm so happy to be able to go to that world, really happy. I found the feeling of being alive there. So, you really don't need to apologize!"

The Earth God's sudden apology caught Li off guard, as it was so unexpected. After sorting out the gist of it, she blurted out everything she wanted to say. What she wanted to express was that she was having a great time in the other world and did not hold a grudge against the Earth God.

Then again, she really is portrayed as a timid and weak girl... but...