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

“If Rifa hadn’t mentioned it, I would have completely forgotten about this kind of thing…” Nao also seemed quite interested. “What kind of thing will Little Ri conjure up?”

"Woo?"

Xiao, who was warming herself by the fire, looked up at that moment. Everyone else was looking at me, so she looked at me too. Wow, don't do that! That's too unfair!

Yes, that's true... I don't know if it's been activated yet...

I gave them evasive answers, hoping to get away with it. The second half of that was absolutely true! I had no idea what the Demon Eye was trying to tell me. Why couldn't it be more intelligent?

“I see, no wonder you said you were going out today…” The creditor, Raelfa, pretended to understand something. “So that’s what you were thinking about.”

The one thing I really don't want you to know, you pervert?!

Rielfa seems to know me quite well, as if she knows everything. I don't know if she gathered this information while following me, but it seems I can't hide it from her anymore. I'll ask her about me later... The slime probably knows too, but she always avoids me.

This is really strange... He was with me through thick and thin yesterday, but today he's acting like nothing happened. It's really suspicious...

"So this is ah."

Nao was misled by Lelfa in a strange direction, so that's not how it is!

“So you can rest assured and confirm here!” Rielfa made her decision. “We’re here, and I’m also quite curious about what you can come up with… If it’s something good, I’d be happy to take care of you.”

Do you think I'm a pet?! I don't need you to keep me!

Thanks to her, I've lost count of how many skeletons I've killed. Although each skeleton yields very little, the sheer number we've accumulated is considerable. We don't need to work any harder... I mean, I mean, just making ends meet.

For some reason, the slime is seriously considering something... I feel a chill down my spine.

In short, I gave up going to my original home and decided to check the status of the Treasure Gathering skill here. This requires me to vomit everything inside my body at once and then look for things among those things that look like they were produced by Treasure Gathering. So, I asked them to stand back a bit.

Because this place is bigger than my house, I'm not worried at all about filling it up... What's going on?!

"Wow...this is truly spectacular..." Rielfa exclaimed, looking at the props I spat out.

"Such a strong aura of curse..." Nao frowned as she looked at those things.

That's right... most of what I'm vomiting up now are those cursed items I got from the skeleton soldiers. These items exude a chilling aura that sends shivers down my spine; just looking at them gives me a sense of foreboding.

Akatsuki and the slime immediately moved away from these things. To be honest, I didn't want to see these things again either!

Chapter 14 Fishing

Ugh... Just looking at these things makes me feel disgusted...

The slime and I retreated far away, while Xiao only felt a little uncomfortable and took a few steps back. To be honest, I didn't even know I had this kind of thing inside me. Now I have an urge to vomit my insides out.

"That's quite a lot... It's clear you've put in a lot of effort."

Rielfa approached the pile of things, took out one or two items to look at, and the dark purple patterns attached to the props stirred for a moment, wanting to climb onto Rielfa's hand.

"what?"

Rielfa gave the black and purple patterned face a malicious smile. Just watching it made me feel cold all over. Was this pervert really this terrifying?

Threatened by her like that, the black and purple markings quieted down.

However, it was not entirely stable; like a venomous snake, it waited for an opportunity to strike back at any moment.

“These curses are very potent…” Lelfa frowned. “These won’t be easy to deal with, Nao…”

"These curses are deeply ingrained and difficult to break..." Nao said solemnly. "It would have been better when we were alive... but now..."

"Alright, that's enough." Rielfa tossed aside the props and turned to me. "These things all have very powerful curses, even stronger than the curses on you."

"I can see that. It's not a good situation for me either."

The slime uttered a rare statement; it seemed capable of breaking the curses, but it appeared somewhat reluctant.

Whether it can be dealt with or not doesn't matter anymore; what I'm more concerned about is where Jubao's things are. But right now, I don't want to get close to any of these things at all.

Speaking of which... can you lift the curse?

Listening to their conversation gave me the feeling that they could break the curse, so I asked them.

"For the time being..." the slime said, unsure.

Nao remained silent; I already understood her answer just now. But why she couldn't break the curse now, I wasn't quite sure.

“I don’t know how.” Rielfa shrugged. “I haven’t studied any related magic. Well, if you don’t want it, I do have some ways to deal with it.”

In other words, none of the people here can break these curses. Although the curses are troublesome, I can't bear to just throw this stuff away; it's all hard-earned money. I've fought so many monsters, and all I have left are gold coins and such—how can I accept that? Besides, hearing that Rielfa has some ideas gives me a bad feeling; it's best not to give it to her.

Nao suddenly asked, "Xiao Li, did you bring any wine?"

Huh? Alcohol? No, there isn't any...

As far as I can remember, I haven't collected any alcohol, and I only drank it once when I was still on Earth... The alcohol content was probably around 10%, and just one sip made me feel dizzy, and I had a headache for a whole day afterwards. So, I won't be touching anything like that for now.

"But I smell a very strong aroma of alcohol..." Nao looked at Rielfa, "Can you smell it?"

“Yes, it does. It has a very rich aroma,” Rielfa suddenly said, seemingly eager to try it. “This is a fine wine.”

"Remember to save some..." Nao could only manage a wry smile.

"It depends on my mood~"

After saying that, Raelfa actually rushed into the pile of cursed items and started rummaging through them, seemingly with a specific target in mind. But we, watching from the sidelines, couldn't get a word in edgewise. Why? There was an unapproachable atmosphere surrounding these two, and we felt guilty about abruptly interrupting…

I said... Nao? What is she doing?

"Ah... Xiao Li, you probably don't know this..."

"Some blessing rituals require alcohol, and there are records of such rituals in the methods of breaking curses. So, the Dragon King is probably looking for alcohol among these things."

"Yes, that's right. Slime-chan is truly knowledgeable."

For some reason, the slime explained the reason before Nao could, and Nao wasn't embarrassed at all; she just praised it. Speaking of which, why can alcohol break the curse? Is it some kind of ritual performed by Taoist priests on Earth? Hmm… I'm a little curious.

"Are you looking for something?" Xiao asked.

"Yes, I'm looking for 'alcohol,' a drink for adults. And there's also a kind for children," Nao patiently explained to Xiao.

Watching this scene, I felt completely helpless... Nao usually takes care of Akatsuki for me, and Reilfa has been doing things I don't know about but are very important. The slime doesn't need my help at all. Suddenly, I feel so superfluous... Should I do something?

But let's ask if there's anything we can help with... It's better to take action sooner rather than later than to be conflicted.

Rielfa glanced at Li, who was lost in thought, seemingly caught in some negative emotions. This wouldn't do; if she lost faith in life, she would have no future.

But as she was thinking this, Li seemed to suddenly understand, and then left her spot and walked to her side. Judging from her reaction just now, she was very resistant to these cursed things, so it was somewhat unexpected that she was now taking the initiative to approach them.

She pretended not to notice, burying herself in her search. She was looking for alcohol, as purifying the curse required it as a medium; she wasn't trying to purify the items themselves, but rather the curse on Ri and the slime. From the beginning, Rilfa had some interesting ideas about these items.

But there's no time for that now. Ah, she's getting closer. Let's activate telepathy now.

Telepathic magic isn't simply teleportation; it's relatively simple, so the activation conditions aren't as straightforward. To illustrate, imagine a walkie-talkie. A person with telepathic magic is essentially holding two connected walkie-talkies. When they use it, the designated target holds one of the walkie-talkies, and the telepathic communication is complete. However, when they turn it off, the walkie-talkie returns to its owner.

Because Ri can't speak, Rielfa has to maintain her speech if she wants to talk to her. She waits for Ri to speak.

"Hey... I mean, Rielfa. What can I do?"

The telepathic message from Rihanna carried a hint of confusion, just as Nao had when she was rescued, but recovered later. Therefore, Rihanna would repeat those words.

"What are you talking about?" Rielfa said, feigning seriousness. "Shouldn't you be asking others about this kind of thing? What you can do is your own business, isn't it?"

But I don't know...

“You know what I mean, you idiot.” Relfa had no intention of comforting her; that was Nao’s job. “Haven’t you been doing that all along? Or are you saying you don’t want to be human anymore?”

"Huh?! Wait a minute? You know?"

They've taken the bait...

Chapter 15 offers hope!

Regarding the matter of humanization, Raelfa naturally knew something about it. The Dragon King, being called the Dragon King, was originally not human; his ability to appear in human form now must involve some special method.

Since Rielfa has made such a statement, she must know something. This is an incredibly tempting target for her; in fact, it's more accurate to say that she originally intended to become human.

Leifa could vaguely sense a gaze from somewhere; that guy probably knew something too. It's just that I brought it up first, so why was his gaze so piercing?

Well, it's none of my business to comment on their relationship anyway, and I also have Nao to take care of... cough cough...

“I know you want to become human.” Raelfa picked up a prop and looked at it. “Nao told me about it, and she also told you it was possible, right? Because I’m a prime example.”

"Huh? So the Dragon King wasn't always like this?"

...Hey you over there who's secretly watching, take responsibility and teach this idiot some common sense!

Riri's common sense about this world is practically nonexistent; she only has some clear understanding of the aspects she has experienced. This is completely beyond Rielfa's control. How exactly is she planning to guide Akatsuki?

Leifa knew a little about Xiao, since he was sealed away in her house and was more like an intruder than a guest. So Leifa didn't intend to interfere, as the matter didn't involve her.

If I remember correctly, Li promised to take Xiao to find her father, but this is going to be difficult... Xiao's background is also very complicated.

“If you don’t understand, go ask the slime over there.” Rielfa waved him away. “It knows everything. I’m too busy with things here to do anything else.”

While Li was unconscious, the humans had already taken action. The Kingdom of Alyas was one of the main problems, because that idiot king wouldn't just ignore his son's situation, and the possibility of him sending a hero couldn't be ruled out. Moreover, that old geezer should be making some move soon.

The situation on the duchy's side is unclear, but they have indeed discovered people heading towards the labyrinth. The Demon King's territory isn't as arrogant as expected; they've also sent people here. Three forces—Leyfa doesn't want to provoke any of them.

More important than humanization right now is the alcohol. With the alcohol, a stable fighting force on Rielfa's side is almost guaranteed. Rin is not going to leave; the slimes are clearly accommodating her. As for Akatsuki, she understands nothing. If Rin can be kept here, all of this is possible.

This time, Rielfa wasn't going to let it slide. She'd ignored these guys all along, letting them do whatever they wanted in her house—she couldn't let that go unpunished. Rielfa was going to give them a good beating and show them that dragons weren't to be trifled with.

However, mixing this wine with these cursed substances is very troublesome. It's not that all curses are ineffective against Rielfa; it's just that we haven't encountered any yet. If we do encounter one, then we'll have a public enemy. A being of the Demon King's caliber isn't really a public enemy yet; it's just that humanity is fighting against them.

"……Um?"

While Rielfa was fiddling with these things, Ri joined in as well.

Not only did she carefully examine all the items, but she also put the cursed parts into her own body. Well, that's another world; things from there won't affect reality until they're taken out. But then again, how did she determine whether these things were cursed or not?

As far as I remember, Li seems to have some understanding of all the props. What kind of operation is this? Could it be that she knows some common sense? That doesn't make sense.

“Since you’ve come to help, you should do a good job,” Rielfa reminded her.

"...I will try my best."

Rihanna has learned the exact details about humanization from Rihanna! Rihanna has successfully taken the first step towards becoming human again!

Wow, I really didn't expect this to be the case! So that's how it is. No wonder Nao told me it was possible when we first met. Here's a living example! Rielfa, a dragon king... I see, she wasn't originally like this. Although I'm very curious about what she originally looked like, humanization is more important!

“If you don’t understand, go ask the slime over there.” Rielfa waved me away. “It knows everything. I’m too busy with things here to do anything else.”

Eh……

Lelfa seemed very impatient; I must have said something that upset her. Waaah… No, I can't let this happen. She's my only lead right now; I can't give up like this. Besides, what I do is up to me, that's what Lelfa told me.

How can I get information about humanization from her? I don't think I can hide my little schemes from her... Should I start with Nao? Ugh... that's difficult. Then the simplest way left is to earn what I want through labor... Wait... I think I'm the one in debt...

Ugh... I'll just do it first and then talk about it!

I cleared my mind of all distractions and approached the pile of cursed substances I had spat out. I could clearly see the curses clinging to it, writhing. Suddenly, the thought that I also had something like that on me made me feel uncomfortable. Calm down, reason, these things aren't scary at all. Don't you have many curses on you too?

Yeah, I have a lot of curses on me too, I'm not afraid of how many more I climb up there!

Ah… of course, I hypnotized myself. I don't know what happened after that; I instinctively refused to recall it. I only remember a brief conversation between me and Relfa, and nothing after that. It must be the curse…

"Alright, we've found the wine, and we've seen the strange things. This mission is a success."

As Raelfa announced the end of the work, Rypo collapsed to the ground as if paralyzed. Although it didn't seem very tired, the mental shock it had suffered was probably too intense. However, thanks to it, all the cursed items were retrieved, leaving only some things it cared about.

"Haha... You've worked hard, Xiao Li."

Nao's words of comfort didn't reach Li's ears, and she didn't know what happened afterward, but according to the slime, Rielfa went on a drunken rampage that day. But that's another matter.

Chapter 16 Take a nap

"Oh, this wine is really good..."

Rielfa swirled the liquid in the clear glass bottle; the pure white liquid looked incredibly tempting. Perhaps due to handling it too roughly, the container was slightly damaged, and some liquid had leaked out, giving it a very strong alcoholic aroma.

Just looking at it felt a little off, and the smell was intoxicating. Rielfa personally enjoyed drinking, and this unfamiliar liquor piqued her interest. However, before that, she had to suppress her urge to drink, because this liquor had other uses.

Rielfa shook her head to shake off the drunkenness, and once her mind was clear, she handed the wine to Nao.

"Here you are, the medium you requested."

"Thank you." Nao seemed to frown slightly as she took the drink. "What kind of drink is this?"

“I don’t know,” Rielfa shrugged. “I can only smell that it’s wine, but I’ve never seen this kind of wine before, and I can’t even understand the writing on the container.”

"...Is everything alright?" Nao's voice sounded a little uneasy.

“There shouldn’t be any problem,” Rielfa smiled. “How about I take a sip and try it?”

"Dream on. You'd be addicted to this kind of wine, wouldn't you?"