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

Indeed, this distance is no problem at all with 'time-space magic'. Therefore, Li Cai doesn't understand why Xiao is being difficult about this.

“Isn’t Li going to a very far place?” Xiao turned around and hugged Li. “Xiao doesn’t want to be home alone. Xiao wants to go too.”

“…Ah.” Li suddenly understood. “Alright then…I’ll take you there, but don’t cause any trouble.”

"really?"

"Ah."

If you think about how you felt when you were little, you'll understand why. Xiao probably felt left out, so she threw a tantrum. Think about how you felt when your family went out together as a child and didn't include you.

Uh... anyway, I'm really unhappy.

But Xiao actually thought it was a trip to have fun... I have to keep an eye on her.

“So…” Li looked at Xia Ling and said apologetically, “I’m sorry to leave you alone at home.”

"Ah, I, I'm fine..." Xia Ling waved her hand, "It's my duty to look after the house for my employer. Besides, aren't Salid and Neki here?"

No, I'm actually more worried that you'll be fooled by those two dragon kings...

Xia Ling is a kind-hearted person. If Salid said he wanted to eat potato chips, Xia Ling would probably make them for him... Wow, having three dragons (including myself) at home is really...

Li wouldn't say such things directly, but instead put Xiao down, pulled Xia Ling aside, and quietly instructed her on some things to pay attention to before preparing to leave.

"Well then, we should go." After giving the instructions, Li smiled and said, "Well, just wait a little while, we'll be back soon."

"Okay." Xia Ling nodded, then suddenly remembered something, "Oh, right..."

Xia Ling went into the storage room, then came out with a wooden basket. Inside the basket were the potato chips that had been stored at home today. Upon smelling the aroma, Salid's eyes widened, and he almost ran over to snatch them.

"Oh, I almost forgot to take it," Li said, taking the wooden basket and thanking her. "Thank you."

These potato chips are intended for the Demon King who is fighting on the front lines... Since they might be confused with the Hero Xia Que, let's just call him the Demon King. Anyway, his style is quite like that of a Demon King.

Considering he's survived all alone in this environment, it's best to reward him with something from Earth. Since it's unlikely we can reproduce many of Earth's culinary creations anytime soon, this is the only thing we can offer him. Thinking about it this way, it feels like we're sending tribute to the Demon King.

"Well then, we'll be going now."

Li led Ning and Xiao outside, and Xia Ling and the others followed, watching the three of them leave. A silver-white magic circle unfolded, using the emblem of the 'Dragon King of Time' as its base, constructing the magic circle Li needed, writing down the inscription, and completing the magic.

Teleport!

The silver light shimmered, and the scenery around them had changed completely. It was no longer the meadow surrounded by green forests, but the Demon King's stronghold.

"Ah, you're here." Li (the treasure chest) greeted him, tapping Li (the Dragon King) with his pliers. "I've been waiting for you! You bastard!"

"Waaaaah!? Calm down?! Calm down!? If you hit me, it will hurt too, right?!"

"Who cares about you?! I was almost crying, okay?!"

Bang!

It seems that Li (the treasure chest) had accumulated a lot of pressure here, and now it's backlashed because of Li (the Dragon King's) "tyranny." It suddenly jumped up and smacked Li (the Dragon King) on ​​the head, then neatly rolled on the ground clutching its head... What an idiot...

Fortunately, Xiao caught the wooden basket that was thrown into the air in time, otherwise all those potato chips would have been wasted. Ning pulled the two of them up with a headache.

"You two shut up for a bit," Ning said with a "friendly" smile. "You're here as the Dragon King to meet the Demon King, so can't you at least maintain some dignity?"

“I’m so sorry…” Mr. Li honestly admitted his mistake.

"Come this way," said Li (the treasure chest), pointing to a large tent. "The Demon King is waiting for us."

Chapter 10 Is this Demon King really alright...?

"Excuse me?"

Li greeted them briefly before slowly lifting the tent flap and peeking inside.

"Welcome, Miss Dragon King."

The blue-haired vampire girl, Aye… she's probably past her teenage years. Her appearance and demeanor exude a bewitching allure that shouldn't be present in a girl's life.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Li walked in with two other people. "These are my family members. Is it alright to bring them along?"

"Family...is the Dragon King?" Aye hesitated.

“Ah, no… the Dragon King only has me,” Li corrected her.

“Oh…I understand.” Aye nodded. “It’s alright, the Demon King won’t care about this kind of thing anyway.”

"This is Ning," Li introduced her. "This is Xiao, my little sister."

She pulled Ning and Xiao in front of her. Ning reluctantly gave a perfunctory smile, while Xiao gave a very charming smile.

“Then, I’ll take you to see the Demon King now.” Aye was about to lead them away when she remembered something, “Um… Miss Dragon King? Why are you in human form now?”

“Oh… that mimic is actually my clone,” Li explained to her. “This is my real body. I’ve sent the clone back to rest.”

It's also a kind of compensation for the other self. It's been in the enemy's stronghold for so long, and the pressure just exploded all at once. It's been alone in the enemy camp, living in fear for so long, so it needs to go back and rest.

Li has always felt that she might have been too abusive to her other self. She'll seriously consider whether to enable shared sensory consciousness later. She needs to regain the ability to think in parallel, otherwise things will fall apart here.

"Then let's go. The Demon King is inside."

Aye pulled back another curtain, went inside, and gestured for them to follow. Xiao, carrying the wooden basket, hopped in, followed a step behind Ning and Li.

"Zzzzz..."

The boy in the black coat fell asleep on the ground, while the little girl in black sat beside him reading a book, and fairies danced around him.

"~~~!" Sleina grabbed Xuanze by the collar. "Idiot, get up now! This isn't the time to sleep!"

Of course, Xuanze didn't react at all. No matter how much Silena pulled him, he didn't budge. Is this person really a demon king...? Although his true profession should be a hero.

Is it really a good thing to leave the world to someone like this...? Thinking this, Li suddenly felt that Xia Que was much better.

The group fell into an awkward silence. Ning looked at them expressionlessly, while Xiao tilted her head as if asking what they were doing. Aiye could only give an awkward but polite smile.

"Excuse me, please wait a moment."

Awkwardly, Aye left the three of them and went to Xuanze's side, shaking him gently.

"Demon King, wake up," Aye added. "There's jianbing guozi (Chinese savory crepe) to eat."

"You're overthinking it..." Xuanze slowly got up. "What kind of jianbing guozi can you get in a place like this?"

"Aren't you still awake?!" Serena snapped at him angrily.

"It's because you're too noisy..."

"Then get up!?"

"To be honest, I still want to sleep..."

"Don't sleep!?"

"The Demon King must follow his own desires..."

"Don't resort to the Demon King's style at times like this!!"

Here comes the Demon King and the fairy's吐槽 (tu cao, a Chinese internet slang term for sarcastic or witty remarks). If it weren't for this to ease the tension, Li (the treasure chest) would have already gone berserk here.

“…What a subtle demon king.” Ning squinted and uttered the expected words.

“I understand how you feel,” Li sighed, “but this is indeed the Demon King, and also the Hero.”

Haha, who would have thought the Demon King would be such a skinny guy, and a human at that? Despite his all-black outfit giving off a slightly chuunibyou (delusional) dark vibe, he surprisingly has a certain charm.

However, his strange behavior is a downside; he doesn't look like a demon king at all, though he is quite handsome when he's serious.

"You must be the Dragon King..." Xuanze looked over sleepily, "You really do have an otherworldly feel to you..."

"Even if you say that about me...aren't you pretty much the same?" Li rolled her eyes at him.

"Get your act together before you speak!" Serena pulled out a folding fan from somewhere and slammed it hard on Xuanze's head, making an unusually loud sound.

Aye could only watch the interaction between the two with a wry smile, making no move to intervene. So the Demon King couldn't even hold his head high in front of his subordinates after all...

"You're so annoying..."

"—!? Wait—%/@д~#"

Xuanze, annoyed by her noise, reached out and grabbed Silena, who was flying in mid-air, and quickly stuffed her into his pocket and sealed it.

"Brother~?" Xiao leaned closer without any nervousness. "What's that? Won't it suffocate?"

Indeed... if it stayed in your pocket for too long, you'd probably suffocate...

"It's nothing...fairies don't need to breathe..." Xuanze said indifferently. "Compared to that...this is potato chips, right..."

"Yes! Chips!" Xiao nodded and pushed the wooden basket containing potato chips to him.

Xuanze frowned, a look of surprise on his face, as if he had become a little more aware. He must have noticed it too, right? Although Xiao's pronunciation was a bit unclear, he should be able to understand it.

“Potato chips…” Xuanze’s gaze shifted to Li, “You, you really are an Earthling too, right?”

“Haha…though there are some subtle differences.” Li gave a subtle smile. “Unlike you, I was reincarnated into this world about half a year ago.”

"Reincarnation..." Xuanze stroked his chin. "That makes sense. Since there's such a thing as hero summoning, it wouldn't be strange if there were reincarnation. So, is that one over there also reincarnated?"

“No,” Ning answered herself, “I am a native of this world, an Earthling.”

"Hmph..." Xuanze twitched his fur and whistled, "It feels like being looked down upon."

“Haa… don’t mind her, that’s just how she is.” Rin slumped her shoulders helplessly. “Besides, maybe she really is above us.”

At least in terms of knowledge reserves, it can crush the two Earthlings present. This is a bug that is completely unlike a slime.

“Aye, Kuroba,” he called to his companions behind him, “Want to try some? Another kind of Earth snack… or rather, a treat to kill time and chatter.”

“…Interesting food.” Kuroba closed the black notebook. “Then I’ll give it a try.”

"Eh~ I'd like to give it a try." Aye didn't seem to mind.

"Please find a place to sit down; there are plenty of cushions here."

While issuing orders, Xuanze shared potato chips with his subordinates without any sense of authority, and Xiao also happily ate them without feeling out of place.

Is it really okay to leave this world to a hero/demon king like this...?

Chapter 11 Exchange of Information

"This is a food called Rosend, right?" Aye seemed to know what it was made of. "It's so delicious... It's a pity that there's no suitable place in the Demon Realm to grow this kind of crop on a large scale."

"Demon King, you must hand over all the knowledge about this food called Tree Chips." Kuroba kept pestering the Demon King for information about potato chips.

"Because these are potato chips made from an alien ingredient that's similar to potatoes," Li explained. "That ingredient is called Rosend, and apart from the red stuff inside, it's no different from a potato."

"Anyway, I'm very grateful that you brought me potato chips." Demon King Xuanze looked at Li with his familiar black eyes. "As a fellow countryman brought here from the same world, this is the first time I've seen anyone other than that fake hero. Although he's no longer an Earthling in essence, a monster."

"puff--!?"

Reason seemed to have been struck head-on, tilting backward. The facts Xuanze spoke of were somewhat disheartening. Even after striving to become human, he was still essentially a monster—a point that was impossible to refute.

"...You're overthinking it." Xuanze chuckled. "I didn't treat you like a monster or anything. You're still a perfectly normal human being, aren't you? Well... apart from your slightly pointed ears and the horns on your head, there's nothing else."

The Demon King looks much more energetic than before, but he still can't hide the fatigue on his face. Xuanze has been in meetings all day and must be very tired now.

"Well then, let's leave the small talk here." Xuanze suddenly seemed like a different person. "I don't think you guys came here just to deliver potato chips. You didn't come here just for this kind of thing, did you?"

"Brother! Your clothes are so big!"

"It's because you're too short."

The atmosphere, which had suddenly become serious, was broken by Xiao's voice. The petite Xiao was wearing a black coat by Xuanze. Because she was too short, the hem of the coat dragged on the ground, and her hands could not reach out from the sleeves. The coat, which was not properly worn, drooped on her shoulders.

My little sister's charm is indeed irresistible.

Even the Demon King couldn't resist Akatsuki's cuteness, although he only exchanged a few perfunctory words with her. However, it's clear he still likes Akatsuki quite a bit, since he didn't get angry despite her antics.

Incidentally, Xiao directly took off that coat. She only asked first, and Xuanze didn't say anything before she started taking off the clothes. The important thing is that Xuanze even cooperated by stretching out his arms so that she could easily take it off.

Then, Xiao accidentally opened the sealed bag, and Serena darted out, flying towards Xuanze and throwing her iron fist. Of course, Xuanze blocked it, and the outcome was obvious.

"What?! Is this a potato chip?"

"I saved this for you."

"……Fool."

Before Serena could even utter a curse, Xuanze shoved a potato chip into her hand, making her stop. After sniffing it, she blushed and took a small bite. Given her size, she'd probably be stuffed after eating the chip.

“Ha,” Xuanze sighed, “Alright, alright, let’s get down to business.”

Xuanze looked helpless as he kept getting interrupted. He couldn't help it; the atmosphere he had worked so hard to create had been ruined by someone he knew. He couldn't very well lose his temper in front of strangers.

“Don’t let his appearance fool you,” Aye whispered. “After all, he’s still the ‘Hero,’ even if he doesn’t usually seem very likable.”