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

The bravery is merely a facade; once it's no longer needed, it will naturally be discarded. Therefore, before being exposed, we must quickly take Xia Que and leave this place.

The sooner the better.

“We’re leaving tonight,” Hale said in a low voice. “We can’t let anyone know. This is something only we can do.”

"……I see."

Xia Que nodded knowingly. She felt there must be some special reason for doing this, but it was just a lie told by Hao Er to take her away.

"excuse me."

A stern female voice came from outside the tent, and then Lycia walked in expressionlessly, carrying some food and water, as well as a brazier filled with charcoal.

“I heard that His Highness Xia Que hasn’t had dinner yet, so I brought it along.” Licia shook the handle of the brazier. “It will be very cold tonight, so please use this. This brazier has a magic circle that isolates the flames.”

"Ah, thank you, Miss Lycia." Xia Que took the brazier and placed it a little away from flammable materials. "Haa~ It's true that you need fire when it's cold, so you don't have to worry about problems."

Although the brazier had a magic circle that isolated the flames, Xia Que couldn't help but worry that it might cause a fire, so she moved it a little further away.

Lycia put down the wooden basket containing the food expressionlessly, then sat on the floor mat, seemingly with no intention of leaving.

Her gaze remained fixed on Hao Er, and that burning gaze made Hao Er break out in a cold sweat, as if his whole body had fallen into a cold lake.

Damn it...did she catch up with her...?

Hale left the dilapidated hunter's hut overnight to avoid Lycia, who knew the truth, and to take Xia Que away as soon as possible.

Because of his injuries, he felt it necessary to stay here for a while, but now it seems that his decision was wrong.

Lycia is the king's loyal dog and would do anything for him. She probably already knows what Horror is thinking and has come here to keep an eye on him.

This prevents them from making any rash moves.

"I won't let you go... Haul..."

Lycia's eyes gradually turned cold, and her tone became unfriendly as she lowered her voice and declared.

"You...you have to stay by my side forever..."

Nalicia's almost pathological fanaticism for Hale had transformed into a raging demonic flame. This morbid and twisted love had entered a bottomless abyss of darkness. Hale was plunged into complete darkness.

Chapter 17 Idiots should do what idiots do.

“Now you understand, right?” Xuanze continued to press the stunned Li. “You should say you already understood when the labyrinth was attacked. This world is not like those lukewarm novels; the real situation is far more complicated than you imagined.”

Ning did not stop Xuanze from pursuing him. She felt that this was also an opportunity. If Li was to grow a little more, she had to make her see reality clearly.

But is it really that simple...? (laughs)

Even Ning herself found it unbelievable. She may have inadvertently revealed a subtle smile, which was almost imperceptible to others, but the aura she exuded softened and became less confrontational.

She knew that if it were reasonable, if it were that idiot, things wouldn't be so simple. Although it was troublesome, she found it genuinely interesting and looked forward to how things would develop.

"Xuanze," Li asked after a long silence, "is this your statement as the Demon King, or as the Hero? Or perhaps... the statement of 'Xuanze' himself?"

"..." Xuanze remained silent.

“As a ‘Demon King’ or a ‘Hero’, you should be fighting for the world, right?” Rin’s eyes were filled with unwavering determination. “I don’t care what you’re doing or thinking right now.”

Li suddenly grabbed Xuanze by the collar and pulled him close, then stared intently at him with her wine-red eyes. Xuanze's face was clearly reflected in her eyes, somewhat transparent, and tinged with the color of his pupils.

It was as if I had been completely seen through.

“But I’m telling you,” Li stared at him, “I must save this person, no matter how difficult it is, I will save him.”

"Wow, that's something to look forward to." Xuanze maintained his sarcastic attitude. "Is this bravery or recklessness? Who knows what will happen next? You can't escape it now; everyone here is already deeply caught in the vortex of this world."

"Humph!"

Li let go of his hand, gave him a push, then grabbed Xiao back and casually tossed the black coat onto Xuanze. Then, with a flash of silver light, the three of them, along with Ning, disappeared into the tent.

"Haa..." Xuanze silently took off his coat and yawned.

"Are you alright? Why did you do that?" Aye asked with concern. "Those two are, after all, your compatriots, aren't they?"

“Then we need to distinguish between what we should do and what we shouldn’t do.” Xuanze shook his coat to make it look less bad. “Right now, I have the will but not the ability. If I try to do many things beyond my capabilities, failure is inevitable.”

“Well, I’m also concerned about what the Dragon King said earlier,” Aye said absentmindedly. “What do you think, Xuanze?”

Xuanze paused. Aiye looked at his profile curiously. He didn't seem to be moved much, just like a robot, simply searching for the answer to a question.

"I guess... he wanted to save them." He gave this answer. "I'm tired... I'm going to rest now."

"Thank you for your hard work." Aye nodded without asking any further questions.

Xuanze must be exhausted, both mentally and physically. He has to bear all kinds of pressure on his own, while constantly fighting and guiding the demons to victory.

Now that we've finally met with our compatriots, the touching scenes we expected didn't happen, which is a little disappointing and makes us feel a bit sorry for them.

Xuanze probably didn't want things to turn out this way either, after all, he's a person, and a hero at that. He must have wanted to save that fake hero.

However, he was considering the bigger picture, trying to restore the world to its original balance. All Aye could say to him now was a simple "Thank you for your hard work."

"They're all still just kids," Aye said as she stepped out of the tent. "They all want to do things that adults do. Ha, I think I'll go find something that only adults can do."

"I'm furious!"

bump!

This is the umpteenth time tonight. Li has been venting her anger on the table ever since she came back. Fortunately, Ning had reinforced the table with magic before she hit it.

"Super angry!" *Bang!*

one more time.

"Alright, alright, calm down." Ning picked her up from the side. "Xia Ling is terrified, and Xiao is watching."

"But that guy is really infuriating, okay?" Li said indignantly. "How could he make something like this sound so simple? How could anyone bring themselves to do it!"

"I think you're just so-so in this aspect too," Ning said bluntly, averting her gaze.

To be honest, Ning thought that Li's boast was even more difficult than Xuanze's, but she just said it so easily. She really didn't think before she spoke. Ning should just figure it out herself.

"Um... Miss Ning?" Xia Ling asked somewhat fearfully, "Miss Li... what's wrong?"

"Don't worry about her. She'll probably go crazy once she calms down." Ning knew her partner well. "Right now, she's still furious."

"Looks like you two can't get along with the Demon King?" Negi lay on the sofa, looking at the women behind her. "So? What happened?"

"The Demon King?" Xia Ling looked surprised.

"Oh dear~" Negi covered her mouth and gave a cute smile, but no matter how cute she was, it couldn't change the past.

"Miss Li...did you see the Demon King?" Xia Ling looked at Li in search of the truth.

"Uh..." Rin tried to brush it off, but it clearly wouldn't work. "So... that's how it is... right? That guy didn't seem like a demon king..."

"Although... I knew everyone was very capable..." Xia Ling said with a wry smile, "I didn't expect them to be this capable..."

Xia Ling had imagined countless times what they did and what kind of people they were, but she never imagined that they would be able to stand in front of the Demon King.

"Um... Xia Ling?" Li asked with some concern, "Don't you have any thoughts... about the Demon King?"

In any case, the Demon King's evil image is probably deeply ingrained in everyone's mind in this world. If Li suddenly told Xia Ling that the Demon King was on the side of justice, it probably wouldn't make much sense...

"N-no, no." Xia Ling waved her hand. "I don't have any particular thoughts about the Demon King. I just feel that Miss Li, you must have a reason for doing this... Can you tell me?"

"...Ning?" Li asked Ning for her opinion.

"Don't ask me about such trivial matters, you idiot," Ning coldly scolded her.

Chapter 18 Plan

"Haha, I didn't know such a thing happened."

Negi sat on the sofa, eating potato chips, seemingly unconcerned. For them, who were neutral parties, this was just a trivial story to pass the time.

"This is the first time I've ever heard of something like this."

Salid stuffed his stomach full of potato chips before swallowing them and saying those words. More important than that…

“Xia Ling…” Li looked at her helplessly.

"I'm sorry, um... I can't refuse..." Xia Ling could only lower her head and keep apologizing.

I had emphasized to her before we left not to give them too many potato chips, but it seems that Xia Ling's resistance failed... or maybe she was just too soft-hearted.

"No, I didn't mean to blame you." Li could only laugh it off. "It's just that we should make fewer snacks these next two months."

“Okay…” Xia Ling nodded.

Although the debt has been paid off with some electrical boxes and cotton lamps, the business is not yet on track, and there is not much extra money at home. Considering that there are two more "dragon kings" in the family who can eat a lot, we have to cut back on some unimportant expenses.

Eating too much fried food is bad for your health, it's a woman's worst enemy... Waaah, I think I've gained a little weight lately, and suddenly I realize that the human body isn't so convenient after all...

"Eh~"

Neki and Akatsuki were making a fuss like little kids. Salid had already turned gray... Did potato chips really matter that much to him? This reaction was like the end of the world.

"In short, we should make less of this kind of thing in the future." Li reasoned with them, "Potato chips are delicious, that's true, but they can't be eaten as a meal. Eating too much will harm your health and make you fat."

"...Is it poisonous?" Salid asked timidly.

"No... it's just that eating too much is bad for your health. Eating a little bit now and then is fine, but you can't eat it often," Li patiently explained to him.

"Hmm... I understand." Salid nodded, accepting the fact obediently.

"Hey, more than that," Negi asked, "you guys are on the Demon King's side, aren't you?"

“Hmm,” Ning nodded, answering for Li who was being educated, “It seems that the Demon King’s side has never had a Demon King since the first Demon King. Under such circumstances, the Demon race could not unite and was eventually devoured by humans relying on the power of heroes.”

It has to be said that the situation of the demon race before Xuanze became the 'Demon King' was truly appalling. If it had been a few years later, or if something had happened to Xuanze, it would have been quite embarrassing.

"...So we've been doing this all along..." Xia Ling lowered her head in shame. "We accepted the hero's help as a matter of course, yet we did such things..."

“This is not your problem,” Ning comforted her. “No matter what era, power can make people lose themselves. Such things are not surprising.”

Power is a very vague concept; it can take on all sorts of forms under various circumstances, such as authority, wealth, connections, and so on.

When a person possesses an overwhelming amount of power, they will more or less lose themselves. Those who do not lose themselves are either fools or wise people.

The most typical example of a fool is Li, that silly guy who's already the Dragon King but is still the same old Li. The example of a smart person is Ning, though we still don't understand what she's thinking.

"So, the kingdom is now lost because of this power, isn't it?" Negi licked her lips. "What exactly does the kingdom want to do? Slaughtering heroes, defeating the Dragon King, driving out the demons—what is the purpose of all this?"

"Regarding that, it's still an unknown," Ning shrugged. "At least for now. With an overwhelming lack of information, I can't make any speculations."

The information obtained from the Demon King and Ellisde was only about the kingdom's crimes and some truths about the hero's incident, but some things were still shrouded in mystery. What exactly did the kingdom want to do?

“So, the next step is to gather information~” Negi smiled happily. “This is getting more and more interesting.”

"Are you here for sightseeing or to cause trouble..." Ning suddenly became wary of Nieqi.

"Oh, don't worry, don't worry." Neki patted her flat chest. "I would never harm my own comrade. Besides, there's still a lot I haven't seen on her~"

Negi turned her gaze to Ri, who was educating the two children. During this period of observation, she had become increasingly interested in this newborn dragon king, and Ning was slightly worried that she might do something outrageous.

“So, we’re going to see Olitto tomorrow,” Ning said casually. “I think he should be getting ready to go to other countries to promote his products, so we can hitch a ride to the Kingdom.”

Knowing there are tigers in the mountains, yet still venturing into the tiger's den. In any case, the kingdom's current facade is so flawless that not a single flaw can be found. If one wants to know more, the only option is to go and see for oneself.

"Huh?" Li suddenly interrupted, "Why are we going to the kingdom? We should be rescuing people first."

“Before that, we need to know what the kingdom wants the hero for.” Ning grabbed her face and pulled it to both sides. “I know you’re an idiot and you’re probably planning to go and rescue him or something, but I’m telling you that’s impossible. First, we have no idea where the hero is right now. Second, the one who’s been placed next to the hero, Hoel, is the most dangerous. If we act rashly, there’s a possibility that the kingdom might kill the hero in a fit of rage.”

"Waaah! Don't pull it! Your face will get long!"

"Really? I think it looks better this way."

"It's not good at all!" Li struggled to break free from Ning's grasp. "Then why are we going to the kingdom? What's the use of knowing all this?"

"Oh! I know, I know!" Negi raised her hand and answered quickly, "Find the root cause of the kingdom's series of actions, and then address the root cause to render the hero useless to the kingdom, right?"

“No, I just want to know.” Ning shook his head. “This won’t actually help rescue the hero. I just want to figure out what the kingdom is up to. Besides, I think if we stop fighting for now, the hero will return to the kingdom. It’s better to wait until we’re all ready before we make our move.”

The Demon King will not attack for the time being. Before returning, Ning also used a clone to investigate. The slime created by this clone successfully slipped to the Kingdom's army and found the hero. Judging from their conversation, they were probably preparing to return to the Kingdom.

Somewhat annoyingly, a "ghost" appeared at this time. This woman discovered Ning's clone, and then coldly killed Ning's clone, and the connection was severed at this time.

"What we need to do now is to get to the kingdom as soon as possible to prepare, and find out what the kingdom is planning. I don't rule out the possibility of causing a big scene and forcibly taking the hero away."

"…………" Li looked at her quietly.

"...Why are you staring at me?" Ning felt a little flustered.

"Ah, it's nothing." Li smiled. "It's just that I feel like we're gradually turning into villains... It's really unlike you to suggest a plan to cause a huge scene."

"Haa... I don't want to waste time on this kind of thing either," Ning said affectionately, tapping her head. "I'll play along with you this time and snatch him away in one go."