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

Alice was furious about this; these people were really going too far. But if her anger had any effect, things wouldn't have turned out this way.

Xia Que agreed; she agreed to the kingdom and the church's request, in order to save humanity and such. Now, in Alice's eyes, the concept of a "hero" was more like a curse, an inescapable curse.

……

“You all know what happened after that.” Alice took a sip of the black tea on the table. “Am I right? The shopkeeper… no, the Dragon King of Time—Miss Li.”

"........."

The reason why Alice told Rin about all these things in detail was also because Rin was the Dragon King, the Time Dragon King who was being attacked in that labyrinth.

"I'm sorry, I investigated your affairs without my permission." Alice sincerely apologized. "Although I only know part of what happened to you, I would like to ask you not to be angry with Xia Que. She only... had no other choice."

The person who defeated the Dragon King of Time was Xia Que, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he was the one who caused them to fall into this predicament.

Although she knew it wasn't very convincing, Alice still wanted to try; she wanted to do something more for Summer Sparrow, who was fighting alone.

“…Ha, that’s impressive.” Ning suddenly sighed. “So that’s how it is. I was kept in the dark. Your intelligence network is quite impressive. It seems I’ve become a bit lazy; my life has become too comfortable. Li, what do you think?”

Her words paused for a moment in An Yi's ear, but Li could understand her meaning: this kind of life was probably coming to an end, and they had already touched upon the truth of this world.

Chapter 7 is left to reason.

“…Thank you for telling me all this.” Li simply nodded and thanked Alice. “To be honest, you’ve been a great help. Now we don’t have to hold back anymore.”

Li avoided that question and changed the subject. Now that both sides are clear about each other's identities, they don't need to worry about too many things.

“That’s all I know,” Alice added. “The rest is all speculation, so I haven’t told you.”

"Tell me about it." Ning knew the other person was a sensible person.

“Before that,” Alice paused, “I want to know which side you’re on? The Demon King, or the Hero?”

hum...

Alice had already prepared the spell. The "Miniature Garden" was an unknown entity to her, and the Dragon King's stance was still unclear. To protect herself, she had no choice but to do this. She needed to know which side reason was on.

Although this technique has no lethal power, it can help her escape quickly, reunite with her subordinates guarding outside, and flee this place swiftly.

Alice knew perfectly well what she was doing. It was unbelievable that she was trying to pull a trick in front of the Dragon King. It was like an ant showing off its power and threatening an elephant.

What's the point? It's just seeking comfort. What can one do in front of the Dragon King?

Ning didn't react much. As for Alice's little actions, she just saw something she couldn't see clearly. After she saw it clearly, she suddenly realized what it was, and then stood up with ease and poured herself a cup of black tea.

Li simply lowered his head and remained silent.

Alice seemed to be performing a one-woman show, doing something on her own. Ning certainly had the ability to subdue Alice, but she didn't; she understood the importance of knowing her limits.

"If... I were to side with the Demon King..." Rin looked up and asked, "What would you do then...?"

Her reason was also wavering; after hearing about this, she was shaken. She now didn't know how to face this situation, or what to do. She had taken many things too lightly.

“…There’s nothing I can do.” Alice lowered her hand from the spell. “There’s nothing I can do.”

“I see…” Li nodded. “Sorry, I’ll have to side with the Demon King.”

“It’s alright.” Alice sighed. “I had somewhat anticipated that things would turn out this way. I’ll tell you my predictions as well. I just hope you can help Xia Que.”

Even though it was just wishful thinking on her part, she still wanted to help no matter what.

“First, I investigated the matter concerning the earliest heroes.” Ignoring them, Alice continued, “Regarding those heroes, they are, of course, dead. Because it was an unprecedented situation, there is not much we can determine.”

First, regarding the cause of the hero's death, Alice investigated repeatedly without any clues, so she turned her attention to things other than the hero, such as the hero's companions.

Regarding the hero, because Alice was not a member of the church, and due to Seric's coldness, she had no way to obtain more information under such an information blockade.

However, this does not mean that she did not place her own people in the royal family and the church. In the church, she also had her close friend Nao.

She learned about the hero's companions from Nao. The hero's companions were arranged by the kingdom and the church. The people sent by the church were all wiped out, but the people sent by the kingdom were still alive.

That person was Hale.

Howl's background is shrouded in mystery; information about him seems to have been erased. But through Alice's efforts, she has managed to find some information about Howl.

"Ghost" Hale, a member of the "Ghost" special forces directly under the King, is known as a true ghost, an assassin who never misses. With someone of such skill by the hero's side, why does the hero still die?

Alice approached Xia Que with the intention of getting close to Hao Er. After she became friends with Xia Que, Hao Er's vigilance towards her obviously decreased, which allowed her to continuously extract information from him and Xia Que.

Hale joined the hero's party several times and survived each fierce battle. When Alice asked him for more details, he said that his memory was no longer very clear.

Xia Que tells Alice that the reason Hale became a priest in the church is because he was tired of that life and adventure and planned to retire. Then he happened to run into Xia Que, this unlucky guy, and the two people who could not and did not want to stand on the front line of humanity's fate ended up together, and they even got along quite well.

Although she didn't want to admit it, Alice suspected him. Howl's explanations of various key parts were very vague, but his performance was flawless, as if it were the truth.

But considering his past identity, this disguise is probably just the tip of the iceberg of his abilities. She believes that Hale knows about the cause of the hero's death.

“That’s my speculation,” Alice said. “So, be careful of this person. If you see Xia Que in the battle, please tell her to be careful of Hao Er.”

“…It might be too late,” Li said in a low voice.

“…? Did you say something?” Alice didn’t hear the whisper of reason.

"It's nothing." Li stood up. "Please return, Your Highness."

"...Goodbye then, shopkeeper."

Alice nodded gently and obediently left the "Little Garden." This was all she could do; after that, it was up to Xia Que to decide.

Only after Alice's figure disappeared into the streets of Akihabara was Ri able to release her pressure. Alice's prediction was probably correct.

“What should I do…” Li sat back down, a distressed look on her face.

After learning about Xia Que, she was unable to calm her heart. What exactly is a "hero"?

When Li first arrived in this world, she didn't have an easy time either, but she lived a carefree life. On the other hand, Xia Que, who was summoned to this world as a hero, was treated like this.

"What is this... what's going on... this world?"

She uttered a complaint tinged with anger and frustration, but still hadn't found an answer. She sympathized with Xia Que, but she couldn't forgive Xia Que for killing Lei Erfa and the others, even if it was out of necessity.

Chapter 8

In the afternoon, Negi pulled the tattered Salid back to the "Miniature Garden." She reminisced about what she had seen and heard in this strange neighborhood, and that meeting the newborn Dragon King had not been without its merits.

As for what exactly happened to Salid, let's just laugh it off. It's alright, he's the strongest dragon king after all.

As the Black Dragon King, she sensed a 'world' within Ri, not this world, but another. She felt that her choice was not wrong.

If those dragon kings found out, they'd probably be furious.

Besides them, there are four other Dragon Kings in other corners of the world, but they only know about the change of power in 'Time' and the emergence of new powers, and they know nothing about the new Dragon Kings themselves.

Potato chips, and those other strange things—no, in the original world of 'Time,' these should be very common things.

While the potato chips were good, Negi felt something was missing and wasn't as addicted as Salid. Salid described those potato chips as "gold coins among food."

That's true in appearance, but it's too thin and fragile. If we stay a while longer, 'Time' will probably come up with other novel things; these are the skills Negi wants to learn.

But before that, Li probably needs to deal with the problems of this world properly.

"Oh dear, what's wrong?"

When Negi entered the "miniature garden," she saw Rin looking distressed. Ning was sitting next to her reading a book, but didn't say anything.

“What happened?” Negi asked.

"It's nothing." Li stood up. "Let's go, it's time to go back."

She walked into the store and silently went up to the second floor. It seemed it was best to let her have some peace and quiet now. Niqi turned her gaze to Ning, who was packing up her things and preparing to close the store, and cast an inquiring look at her.

Ning closed the door and said calmly, "These matters have nothing to do with you neutral dragon kings, do they?"

“I’d be really bothered if ‘Time’ did something stupid because of something strange.” Negi smiled, not provoked by her. “So, what’s wrong with ‘Time’ now?”

“She’s having an internal struggle.” Ning glanced at her. “Right now, what she’s thinking about is very simple, but she’s overcomplicating it. Maybe it’s because I’m not really from that world, so I can’t understand her feelings.”

That's what she said, and she did harbor a slight hostility towards the hero, but none of that mattered as much as reason. For her, reason and understanding were her top priorities.

"Give her some time," Ning said. "We have to meet the Demon King tonight, so it's better to give her some time to calm down."

When the three of them returned home, Li had already gone back to her room.

“Miss Ning…” Xia Ling walked over and asked worriedly, “What’s wrong with Sister Li… She looks troubled and told me that we don’t need to invite her for dinner tonight.”

"Don't worry." Ning patted her head. "I'll go talk to her in a bit, and it'll be fine soon. Black Dragon King, Li and I won't have dinner tonight. Tell the Flame Dragon King that he can eat Li's and my portion."

She's been thinking about this alone for so long without coming to any conclusions, and she's probably on the verge of a breakdown. Now is the time when Ning is needed.

Ning went upstairs to the second floor, pushed open the door to Li's room, and tiptoed inside. Li was lying on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, completely lacking manners.

"Hey... Ning," Li asked, "what should I do?"

"Haa~" Ning paused for a moment, "What, what should we do?"

"You know perfectly well, don't you?" Li sat up, puffing out her cheeks as she glared at her. "I need your help now!"

Rather than being angry, she was now acting like a spoiled child with Ning, who climbed onto the bed and ruffled her hair as if she were a little child.

"Whoa! What are you doing?!" Li hurriedly ran to the bedside. "It's so hard to straighten it!"

“This is what you’re thinking right now,” Ning said, pointing to her hair. “There are too many things to consider, too many things to grasp. All these things are tangled together, and this is how it’s turned out. There’s no way to untangle it, and no way to get a result.”

"...Hmph, anyway, I am greedy, even the Dragon King is greedy, right?" Ry snorted unhappily, feeling that she had been caught out. "But that's no excuse for you to mess up my hair!"

Ning is right; Li is now caught in this contradiction.

After learning everything about the hero Xia Que, she began to worry that Xia Que would be killed by the priest Hao Er, because she was essentially still an Earthling, and there were only three Earthlings in this world. In such a world, the three of them were relatively lonely, and she wanted to help the other two: the Demon King Xuan Ze and the hero Xia Que.

However, from another perspective, Li didn't want to save Xia Que, because in the end, Xia Que was still her enemy, the enemy who killed Lei Erfa and the others.

How could Li possibly forget these things? It's just that because she's an Earthling, her mindset regarding revenge is rather indifferent. It's not that she doesn't care about these things. She doesn't even know how to face Xia Que right now.

Should we push her into the abyss, or pull her back to her original world?

At the same time, she also had to keep an eye on the Demon King Xuanze's movements. She knew very little about the Demon King Xuanze, but she knew that he was also a hero. Why would a hero like him lead the demon race to attack humans? This didn't make sense.

Right now, Xuanze is still holding a tactical meeting with his subordinates. Their face-to-face conversation is scheduled for tonight, which is two hours from now. She hasn't figured out what she should do yet.

“Your biggest problem right now is that you overthink things.” Ning gently pinched her little nose. “It’s actually a very simple thing. As Lelefa has told us before, if you want to do something, just do it. There’s no need to find a reason for yourself.”

"Isn't it too simplistic of you, Relfa?!" Li quickly retorted.

Raelfa does indeed act without thinking. Doing things first and then explaining them later is her consistent style. She will never explain why she is doing something, but will only reveal her reasons after she has finished or is halfway through doing it.

"In the end, the only reason I'm following you is because I think something interesting will happen with you." Ning revealed a delicate smile. "If you don't bring me any fun, I'll abandon you immediately. Right now, you don't even know what you're supposed to do, which is troubling me. It's not fun at all."

"Huh!?!?" Li looked at her in alarm.

“So.” Ning grabbed her shoulders, preventing her from escaping.

"Let's go, let's go see the Demon King together."

Even if I were to meet the Demon King in Chapter 9, I wouldn't feel nervous at all.

"In conclusion, Ning and I are going out tonight." Li announced to them, sitting at the head of the sofa and holding Ning. "So, the job of looking after the house tonight will be in your hands, Salid and Neki, please."

"Well, even though I'm not very reliable, I'll try my best if you're willing to trust me."

"I will protect this place."

Both women stood tall, indicating they would take good care of the house. Tonight, Li and Ning were going to the Demon King's stronghold, but she didn't specify where they were going, because there was someone at home who shouldn't be involved.

"I see..." Xia Ling clenched her fists in front of her chest. "Please be careful on your journey..."

"Don't worry." Ning pushed Li away. "I'll keep a close eye on this girl and make sure she doesn't do anything reckless."

"Ugh, do you really think I'm that much of a troublemaker?" Rin lay on the sofa as if she had been hit hard.

"Isn't that right?" Ning glanced at her meaningfully.

Unable to reason with Ning, he had no choice but to helplessly raise his hands in surrender. Thinking carefully about her recent behavior, there seemed to be nothing to refute, at least regarding the monster, or rather, the Dragon King.

As a mimic, Riku just recklessly ran into human-controlled territory, which was quite a reckless thing to do. Not only that, but he also established a base here, which really left Ning speechless.

As a dragon king, and one who should be neutral, Li actually went to the border between humans and demons to cause trouble, and now he even wants to go to the demon king's stronghold. This is really too much.

Although these things are all in line with reason and the trend, it has to be said that Ning should pull her back on the reins. Letting her run wild like this any longer will be terrible, unless she finds her own direction.

"Waaaaahh ...

For some reason, Xiao hugged Shuangyue and curled up on the sofa, her face puffed out in round cheeks, looking really cute... but it seemed like they were having a tiff.

Li moved closer to Xiao, gently picked her up, sat her on the sofa, and held her petite figure in his arms. Then he asked softly, "What's wrong? Xiao, why are you unhappy?"

"Because neither Sister Li nor Sister Ning are taking Xiao with them." Xiao looked up at her from below. "Xiao wants to go with you too."

"Huh...?" Li was a little confused. "Xiao, Ning and I aren't leaving you. We're just going out for a bit and will be back soon."