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

"...Zhou Tai."

Xiao looked at the azure-blue knife and inadvertently uttered that familiar name.

Chapter 42

When I thought about it, I realized why that knife looked so familiar.

“As you can see,” Ning said, carefully holding the knife. “This knife was made based on Zhou Tai’s knife. I think that’s enough.”

Zhou Tai, the swordsman who guarded the labyrinth until his death, possessed unparalleled skill and mastery of his sword. Ning crafted this sword partly to commemorate the taciturn yet incredibly kind-hearted swordsman, and partly for Akatsuki.

Akatsuki also possesses Zhou Tai's skills, and if Akatsuki could perfectly reproduce those skills, ordinary swords simply couldn't achieve it. This is because those skills are imitations of Zhou Tai's, and their forms are more suited to the swords Zhou Tai used, but not to Akatsuki.

Therefore, Ning used his sword as a model to create this straight-bladed tachi. This way, Akatsuki can be reproduced even more perfectly.

After Ning made a special scabbard for the knife, she put the knife away, walked up to Xiao, knelt down, and handed it to her. She believed that she didn't need to say anything more.

Xiao didn't speak. She reached out her hand somewhat uneasily, then withdrew it with fear. Her face was filled with all sorts of emotions; her feelings must have been very complicated. Finally, she made up her mind and took the pale blue straight-bladed knife.

Xiao Xiangning nodded. She had already shown her gratitude through her actions.

“That’s an amazing sword…” Negi also showed a very complicated expression. “That’s something I, right now, can’t make. And that technique is just too overpowered! I didn’t even see any steps involved!!”

"Why did you suddenly start complaining..."

Ning's weapon is complete; the naming is up to her. For her, this is the most suitable weapon. Overly complex weapons would be less comfortable for her.

"I didn't mean to..."

"So I already said it's okay! Stop hiding in the corner drawing circles!"

Shortly after forging the sword, they returned to the house and chatted for a while. Then, Salid finally arrived. Just as Ning had predicted, his thoughtless landing created a crater five meters in radius and three meters deep in the courtyard.

Salid was now huddled in a corner, drawing circles because of guilt. He wished that Salid would come and help him more than anything else, because it really didn't matter.

"Oh wow~ As expected of 'Flame,' as extravagant as ever." Negi thought to herself as she looked at the huge crater.

"Stop talking... My head is killing me." Li was racking her brains to soothe Salid's feelings. "Why do I have to act like I'm taking care of a child... You dragon kings are all older than me, okay?"

As a newly appointed Dragon King, Rin is now expected to take care of Dragon Kings with far more seniority than her. Isn't that frustrating? And besides, it shouldn't be like this, taking care of children, right?

“Hehe, Little Sa is a bit special,” Neki explained. “Little Sa has the least contact with humans of all the dragon kings, so he’s not very mature and acts like a child. But don’t worry, Little Sa is very honest.”

"That's not what I meant," Li sighed. "Ning, help me out..."

"Aren't you supposed to be good at taking care of kids?" Ning shrugged. "I'm not good at it."

That's true... but I'm really not in the mood right now.

It has to be said that all sorts of things have happened today, and Li feels like her brain is about to stop working. Even Xia Ling is calmer than her now.

"Sigh... Couldn't you be a little more clever?" Ning sighed and said, "Isn't this just perfect? ​​If there's a pit like this, why not just plant Perseus in it?"

"Huh...? It seems... that's true."

Ning reminded her, which made her remember that incident. They had also used time-space magic to remove the area containing the Perseus Tree, and Li had originally planned to tidy it up again sometime and replant the Perseus Tree.

Now is the best opportunity, and there is also a way to comfort Salid.

"Sarid, come help me." Li forcefully pulled Sarid to the edge of the pit.

"...What's wrong?" Salid listened for the moment. "I'll do anything you want, just don't be angry, okay?"

"I'm not angry... Can you please stop saying such weird things? It feels so awkward."

Hmm... It looks and sounds really awkward for a young boy to be using words that only old people would use.

"Okay, come help me."

Li took out the magic ball containing the memories, broke the seal on the magic ball, and then the familiar tree reappeared in front of them.

"Ah! A tree that glows!" Xiao jumped up excitedly when she saw Yingxian.

The Perseus Tree, which could be considered the symbol of the first home. After Rielfa and the others left, the Perseus Tree rapidly weakened, and Riel stopped its time and took it with him.

Now, it's time to replant it.

The Perseus Tree and the soil that originally belonged to the labyrinth were restored to their original size, and then, under Li's control, they steadily fell into the pit.

However, there was clearly too much soil, and with such a large area around it, filling it in would be a hassle, so they needed help.

“Come on, Salid,” Li said, taking his hand. “Could you do me a favor and smooth out the dirt around the edges?”

Sarid hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"If this will make you less angry with me, I will do it now."

Salid dutifully leveled the soil around the edges, but of course, this task couldn't be left entirely to him; others also participated. After all, this Perseus Tree was their memory.

Finally, this matter has resolved Salid's dilemma. Li is now truly exhausted, both physically and mentally. Why are there so many troublesome things happening today?

Xia Ling is currently preparing dinner for six people, and Nie Qi is also enthusiastically helping her prepare, saying something about the dignity of a craftsman or something. Well, as long as she's happy.

Xia Ling didn't seem so nervous anymore, probably because she was used to it... but she hadn't gotten rid of her old habits.

Xiao and Shuangyue are playing with the toys that Neki made for Shuangyue. Now, not only Li, but even Neng is starting to doubt whether she is a fox or not.

“Hmm… I really like this thing called black tea.” Salid took a sip of black tea, his face flushed.

"If you're afraid of burning yourself, don't force yourself to drink it all in one go... By the way, aren't you the 'Flame Dragon King'?" Li sighed and poured him a glass of cold water. "Speaking of which, why are you so late? It's been too long since you and Negi met."

Li had been wondering about this. There was a two-hour gap between Negi's arrival and Salid's arrival. How could the Dragon King's movement ability possibly be like this?

“Hmm… I didn’t want this to happen either.” Salid lowered his head. “When I was crossing the border of the kingdom, I encountered a battle between humans and demons. It seems that a war has broken out, and I have been dragged into it as well.”

"Huh...? The war has started?"

Although Li had anticipated this situation, isn't starting a war a bit too early? Is the event already nearing its climax?

Chapter 43

Following the usual formula, this is usually the beginning of the story's ending. The Demon King and the Hero clash head-on, embarking on an epic battle that will be sung for generations to come—well, that's pretty much the ending.

Then the Demon King fell, the Heroes won, everyone was happy, congratulations!

No way, there are just too many suspicious points.

"Ning." Li looked at Ning.

"I know what you're trying to say." Ning closed the book. "Don't you think it's too strange?"

"Ah."

The new hero, Xia Que, recently arrived in this world to fight as a hero. Not long ago, she also fought against Li and the others, but she is still only a beginner in terms of both mental strength and combat experience.

That must be the true experience of a hero, going from ignorance to true heroism. But isn't this progress a bit too fast?

“I think…we should go and take a look,” Li suggested.

"Are you planning to go take a look?" Ning didn't object this time. "That's perfect, we should also investigate the kingdom's affairs, and the affairs of the hero."

They weren't there to help the hero; they simply wanted to investigate the kingdom. From the moment they made contact with it, the kingdom had been doing all sorts of incomprehensible things, and even before that.

Eleven heroes were summoned within a year, but all of them perished in battle. The kingdom failed before even encountering the Demon King. What is the kingdom doing? Is the Demon King really that powerful?

This is the twelfth hero, and after completing her first assigned task, the kingdom has already begun her battle against the Demon King. Is there really any chance of victory in a battle with such a vastly unequal power level?

On one side is a kingdom led by a newly initiated hero, and on the other side is a demon king's territory that defeated eleven heroes without even the demon king lifting a finger.

It's already quite clear which side is stronger.

However, you can't know this kind of thing unless you actually see it for yourself. Who knows what it will be like? So, Rin decided to go and see for herself. In fact, she had already sent the treasure chest out.

"Have you already sent another version of yourself?" Ning asked.

"Hmm... being a little cautious shouldn't be a problem." Rin gave a mischievous smile. "Well, I might as well go and cause some trouble for the hero. Meeting the Demon King is also a good option, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about?" Salid, who had been ignored, was full of questions.

"It's nothing," Ning replied dismissively, skillfully changing the subject. "After all, you're here as a guest, right? Didn't you plan to do anything? Or are you just here to drop by or something?"

“Hmm… there’s nothing in particular I want to do.” Salid looked up. “Is it not okay for me to be like this?”

"No, this is fine." Ning shook her head. "You don't have to do anything. If you have any problems, just go to our maid."

"Ah."

"It seems we didn't anticipate having guests staying here one day." Rie looked up at the ceiling. "We don't have enough beds... and there aren't any empty rooms. We didn't prepare any blankets or anything, did we? What should we do?"

Ning Heli seemed to have overlooked the possibility of needing to entertain guests in the future, so he hadn't reserved any rooms. Besides, the villa itself had very few rooms, only suitable for a small number of people. But now that two dragon kings had come to the house, it seemed like there weren't enough rooms.

"Ah, I'm fine." Neki poked her head out of the kitchen. "Just lend me the warehouse, I can sleep there."

"...No, that would be too impolite." After thinking it over, he refused her.

“I can rest anywhere,” Salid interjected.

“There’s no other way…” Ning stood up. “Li, let’s open a ‘door’ connecting to the shop. There’s a bed there too, right?”

"Ah...that's exactly how it is."

The "small garden" has basic living facilities, including a bed, though there's only one. We'll just have to make do with these two dragon kings for now; I wonder if it's alright to let them share a bed.

"Hey, you guys still run a shop here?" Negi asked in surprise. "I thought I was the only Dragon King who had close ties with humans. It seems you guys are closer to humans."

“Oh dear… how should I put it…” Rie carefully selected her words and organized her thoughts, “Our relationship with humans isn’t that close, it’s just that our mentality and behavior are more like humans. I think Negi is just like an ordinary girl.”

"Oh, that's a very pleasant compliment." Negi accepted the compliment readily. "Your shop is in the city, right? Then I'll go check it out tomorrow."

As a craftswoman, Negi can never tolerate being idle. She probably spends all her time, apart from necessary rest and meals, looking for things to do. Of course, she's probably looking for some interesting skill.

Speaking of which... do dragons eat three meals a day?

Ha...who knows? Let's just leave it alone.

After a sumptuous, exquisite, and delicious dinner, they went to the warehouse and asked Nege to make a door, which they placed in a corner of the warehouse.

Li once again cast the 'Portal' spell, connecting the portal to the 'Miniature Garden', and then infused it with enough magic power to operate for a long time, thus completing the process.

I pushed the door open to confirm, and it was indeed the door to the store. This door seemed to lead to the roof, but it didn't matter, since I wasn't going to the roof anyway.

"Okay, no problem, come on over." Li waved and went inside first.

"Hey, so this is the new 'time' power?" Negi walked into the room. "It's not just the power of time, but also the power of space."

“Well… this was originally my own magic,” Li explained to her, “but now it’s merged with Rielfa’s power.”

"Isn't this convenient? If I had such power, it would be much easier for me to travel the world."

"There are also all sorts of restrictions."

Li led Negi and Salid downstairs, then casually turned on the cotton lamp to light up the shop.

"Oh! This is amazing!" Negi exclaimed in surprise. "What is this? Wait! Good heavens, what are these things...?"

Haha... This is a much bigger reaction than the two people who came here last time.

She and Ning had long anticipated Nieqi's reaction, after all, she was a craftswoman, and it was inevitable that she would be curious about such novel things.

I'll probably be asked a lot of questions... I'll talk about those tomorrow.

Chapter 44

Ah...it's so far, how much longer until we get there?

Oh, I forgot to mention, I am Treasure Chest Ritsu. As the name suggests, I am Ritsu as a Treasure Chest Monster, um... like a clone.

It's not schizophrenia, it's just a capacity for parallel thinking, with the dominant force being the Dragon King's logic.

Well, all sorts of things have happened on Dragon King's side that need to be dealt with.

As for me, I'm usually quite relaxed. I'm only asked to do some miscellaneous tasks or things I've forgotten; most of the important work is left to Long Wangli.

Because the human body is really more convenient, oh dear, I'm not jealous, I can relate to what she went through.

Well, right now, I'm within the kingdom's borders.

After the two dragon kings, Salid and Neki, came to visit, they dropped a bombshell: the kingdom and the demon king have gone to war. Now, I'm going to check it out and maybe cause some trouble while I'm at it.

What? You're saying I'm just a treasure chest monster, and very weak? Huh? No, I'm saying, you see, now I'm also part of the 'Time-Space Dragon King,' and I also have some of the Dragon King's abilities.

Look at this, my shell has very smooth scales, right? These are dragon scales, you know?

Ugh... I really want to know where the reverse scale is.

Ah, let's not talk about that now. I think I'm lost... After I teleported to the maze, I left the maze and headed towards the kingdom, but it seems like I'm not going in the right direction no matter which way I go.

Raelfa's memories seem a bit unreliable...