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

Tsk... I knew it...

Hao Er temporarily put aside his idea of ​​breaking through and observed the surrounding situation.

"Aaaaaaah! What is this?!"

"Ahhh! Help me! Please help me!"

Unbeknownst to them, the area outside the tent had transformed into a hellish place, with soldiers scattering and fleeing, only to be slain by ice blades.

This place has become a frigid hell...

"What...what happened?" Xia Que covered her mouth in disbelief. "It's too cruel..."

Hale found the culprit: a gigantic, icy-blue shadow that flew through the air and could be clearly seen even in the darkness of night—a symbol of terror.

Frost Dragon King, Finoir.

It seems the army inadvertently wandered into Finoir's territory, angering the Dragon King, who is second only to the strongest Dragon King, the "Flame Dragon King" Salid.

Finoel mercilessly ravaged the kingdom's soldiers who had invaded its territory. The enraged dragon king was like a natural disaster, but for Horr, this was the best opportunity.

"Xia Que! Let's go!"

"it is good!"

With a low shout, Hao Er led his beloved disciple Xia Que in a swift run through the crowd. Although Licia didn't react at first, she quickly caught up with them.

"Penetrating, sharp, unbreakable!"

Hale took out a small knife from inside his coat, applied triple protection to it, and then threw the gleaming golden knife at Finoir in the sky.

The dagger successfully pierced through the dragon scales and penetrated the dragon king's flesh, which enraged Finoir. It angrily searched for the person who had harmed it, and then it found Haul and Xiaque.

"—!"

The dragon's roar, filled with boundless rage, almost immobilized them. Finoer targeted the two and launched a frenzied attack, slashing their ice blades wildly.

"Xia Que! Speed ​​up! Be careful not to get hit! Even a slight touch will be fatal!"

"I know!"

Hao Er reminded Xia Que, and he picked up the relatively intact XX spear that the soldier had left on the ground. Xia Que also summoned the Great Xia Dragon Sparrow, and the two of them accelerated at the same time, rushing towards Finoer in one breath.

Seeing this, Lycia also drew his saber and sped up.

Under Fino's relentless onslaught, Hale and Xia Que continuously thwarted her attacks. Lycia seemed to be struggling, and then they found an opportunity.

Fino suddenly erupted, causing countless ice blades to fall. Lycia was entangled by these ice blades and could not escape. This was her only chance.

"Xia Que! Let's go!"

"Huh? Wait a minute?! Master?! Weren't we supposed to be fighting the Dragon King?!"

Without a word, Hao'er grabbed Xia Que and quickly changed course, heading straight for the jungle. Then, they quickly dropped their conspicuous clothes and disappeared into the jungle.

There was no time to explain to Xia Que. Hao Er understood this perfectly well. Even if it meant making Xia Que bear the pain of being unable to save the soldiers killed by the Dragon King, he would take Xia Que away now.

And so, Hao'er began his and Xia Que's escape, their future... shrouded in darkness.

Chapter 34 Departure

“Oh, you’ve come at the right time.” Olitto waved to the three sisters who had just returned to the Chamber of Commerce. “We’re all ready here and can leave at any time. Is there anything else you need to do?”

Thanks to Olitzo and Natsuki's efforts, they completed all preparations within a day. The caravan was ready and could depart at any time. Although they wouldn't be going far, they had prepared eight mercenaries, including Seria and her companions.

"Thank you both for your hard work," Li said, offering his words of comfort. "But before that, I have something I want to say to Xia Ling... so..."

“Sister Li, I’m here…” Xia Ling walked out from the crowd of people seeing off the Chamber of Commerce. “If there’s anything, just say it here.”

"Thank you for coming to see us off," Li said with a wry smile. "But we're not going anywhere far away... going home is just a matter of magic..."

“But this is dangerous, right?” Xia Ling countered.

"……Um."

There is no way to deny that going to the kingdom was, in a sense, a direct incursion into the enemy's stronghold. If they had already been aware of this, they would not have been unprepared.

The kingdom is now too mysterious to them; no one knows what awaits them there.

There's a possibility of conflict with those green-hatted, white-clad guys who invaded the maze last time; the danger is undeniable.

Xia Ling, who knew the whole story, was very worried about them. The reason she came to see them off was to give them something.

"Please take this..."

Xia Ling handed a light feather headdress to Li, and also took out two other different feather headdresses and gave them to Ning and Xiao.

“This is a custom of our clan to send blessings to their family.” Xia Ling held her hand tightly to her chest. “The feather symbolizes the bird and means that the holder can fly higher and farther… Although this is something I can’t help you with… please take this.”

"Thanks……"

The headdress in their hands represented Xia Ling's feelings, which Li and Ning accepted well. They helped each other put it on their heads, and then helped Xiao put it on as well.

"Do not worry."

At this moment, Salid and Neki also stepped out from the crowd.

“I will protect your lair,” Salid said, head held high.

“Ah, what he really means is that he’ll take good care of the house.” Negi translated to Salid on her own. “Anyway, do a good job~ Even though we’re just watching from the sidelines, I’ll definitely protect ‘Time’s’ house.”

"Wow, you guys, stop making such bold predictions..." Li said, slumping her shoulders helplessly. "Why are you making it sound like we're going to our deaths? Don't worry, don't worry, everything will be fine. We'll prepare a backup plan once we get there."

“Mmm,” Neki nodded, then looked at Ning, “You’d better keep a close eye on her, I’m smelling something a little off.”

As she spoke, Negi revealed a smile that Li found very annoying, and Li had a bad feeling.

"Haa... I know without you saying it." Ning suddenly glared at Li. "I'll keep a close eye on her to prevent her from causing me any more trouble."

"Huh? Wait a minute? Why me?" Li looked bewildered.

"Alright, alright," Ning waved her hand to dismiss her, "Hurry up and finish the teleportation spell, we should set off."

"...That's very suspicious."

Although Li harbored many grievances, she couldn't forget why she had come here. So she began to construct magic, encircling the caravan's wagons and everyone else in a magical circle that appeared on the ground.

“As expected of the Dragon King…” Celia, standing a little distance away from them, exclaimed in disbelief, “He even skipped the chanting… What kind of magic is this?”

The silver magical light was unlike anything humans had ever seen before, and its properties were unknown. This color was shrouded in mystery for them.

"Let's double-check, is everyone really here?" Li asked, just to be on the safe side.

“It’s all here,” Natsuki replied.

Ning grabbed Xiao and pulled her into his arms, indicating that everything was ready on their side as well. Li nodded in understanding, then released her magic, allowing the spell to fully activate.

As the silver light shone, everyone covered their eyes to avoid being hurt by the intense light, so they didn't notice that a red light, like a flame, forcefully broke through the silver light and rushed into the range of the teleportation magic.

The light gradually dimmed, and the caravan of the Borg Merchant Guild was no longer within the territory of the duchy.

……

"Phew..." Li breathed a sigh of relief, "It worked..."

The teleportation was successful without any unexpected incidents; they successfully used the power of reason to teleport directly outside the principality.

Although it was night, the moonlight from the two moons made it clear that they were in the outskirts of the country, on a vast, open grassland along the road to the kingdom. The reason the caravan was transported here was because the terrain was open and flat, posing no major problems, and it was also some distance from the kingdom's capital, ensuring this astonishing scene wouldn't be discovered.

"...What...what's going on?!" Seria's eyes widened in surprise. "How did we get here? Weren't we just in the backyard of the Borg Merchant Guild?"

“It’s ‘Spatial Magic’.” Mo Yueya stared at Li’s direction. “‘Spatial Magic’, hailed as the most mysterious magic, is truly amazing…”

"Is that so?" Seria looked at Li with awe. "The Dragon King... is truly powerful."

The other employees were also surprised to find themselves suddenly in the suburbs, but they were also people who had experienced many ups and downs, and they calmed down in no time.

Olitzo sent Natsuki to give them a large sum of hush money, telling them not to make a fuss. These adventurers, who were out in the game, knew some of the rules of the underworld, and nodded in understanding after taking the money.

"Everyone, get on the carriage," Olitto called out. "Although we are not far from the capital city, we will not be able to enter the city after midnight."

After listening to Olitto's words, the members of the merchant guild and the adventurers all got into the carriages and sat down. Some of them went to the front of the caravan, mounted their horses, and removed the burlap sacks that prevented the horses from being temporarily blinded.

As Li and Ning boarded the carriage prepared for them, they turned to face Seria and the others.

"You guys come up too," Li said calmly. "There are some things I want to tell you, but it's not convenient to do them outside."

The four exchanged glances. Mo Yueya walked over almost without hesitation, while the other three hesitated for a moment before following suit. The caravan finally began its journey; they needed to reach the royal city before midnight—time seemed very tight…

Chapter 35 Assigning tasks

"sit down."

Li found a place to sit in the spacious carriage, with Ning and Xiao naturally sitting next to her. Mo Yueya sat directly opposite them, while Seria and the others also sat down, but they seemed somewhat uneasy.

"I told Olito not to do this unnecessary special treatment..." Ryo rubbed his temples, looking very troubled.

"Even though it's only for a while, we still need a place to hold meetings discreetly." Ning patted her shoulder. "Didn't you have something to say?"

“Ah, that’s true…” Li nodded, looking at them. “You learned quite a bit from me yesterday, didn’t you? Now that you know all this, I’m not going to let you get away. I also need to cooperate with the Demon King.”

These four people in front of her are arguably the most unstable factors in Li's plan. She doesn't trust them yet, but she has no choice but to rely on their strength here.

"Don't worry!" Celia said confidently, "We will definitely cooperate with you, for the sake of Xia Que."

“Let it be that way,” Li said coldly. “I don’t expect you to work very hard, but I will definitely squeeze every last drop of strength out of you when necessary.”

“…Wow, how did you suddenly become like a dragon?” Celia looked at her, trembling slightly.

"Let's talk about our plans next." Ignoring their reactions, she moved on to the next topic, "Next, we're going to the royal city. You could say we've infiltrated the enemy's stronghold. First, we need to investigate the whereabouts of the hero."

Last time, Li saw the hero Xia Que on one of the battlefields, and then used magic to send her away. She should be with the kingdom's army now.

That being said, their goal was to rescue Xia Que and find out what the kingdom was up to. But right now, they didn't know where Xia Que was, so rescuing her was out of the question.

This is a difficult task in many ways. Although everyone knows the hero, it doesn't mean everyone knows where he is or what he's doing. Moreover, the kingdom is very secretive about the hero's whereabouts and doesn't follow the usual rules, which annoys Li.

“It depends,” Li said bluntly. “It wouldn’t be surprising if we directly invaded the inner castle.”

"There's no plan at all!?" Seria retorted. "Isn't this just acting on impulse?!"

“…! That’s not true!” Li retorted. “This isn’t a game! I didn’t do this based on bravado! Simple and direct is definitely the most effective solution!”

"Effective my foot!!"

Bang!

"Whoa!?" "Pfft?!"

To avoid a farcical argument like children arguing, Mo Yueya and Ning intervened in time, each giving their own idiot a chop to the neck and successfully stopping them. These two are actually quite similar...

Ning and Mo Yueya exchanged a glance, both feeling an indescribable resonance in their hearts.

"Ha, go play with Xiao for a while first." Ning patted Li on the shoulder. "I'll explain things here."

"Oh, oh..." Li nodded reluctantly, then obediently stepped aside to keep Xiao company.

"Sigh... I'm sorry, although I am a dragon king, I only act based on my momentum." Ning apologized to the four of them.

“I understand.” Mo Yueya nodded expressionlessly, indicating that he deeply agreed. “I also have a girl who only acts on impulse.”

An invisible arrow shot towards the two silent figures on the side, causing them significant mental damage. Although they wanted to refute it, it seemed impossible to do so in this atmosphere.

"Let's get down to business," Ning interrupted. "We're here to gather intelligence, not to cause trouble. We need to find out two things: first, the kingdom's purpose; second, the whereabouts of the hero, Xia Que. We'll be staying in the kingdom for a few days as members of a merchant caravan, and during that time we need to collect intelligence in various places. I think this is something you're good at, right?"

Ning's gaze lingered on Mo Yueya. She knew that this young man was the most powerful of the four adventurers. She had already discovered the Mo Yueya he had released last time; it was a familiar used for reconnaissance.

He seems capable of doing everything, but he's still far from being as good as Ning. However, we can rely on him for reconnaissance; Ning has other things to do.

"It's acceptable for now." Mo Yueya neither affirmed nor denied.

"Then this task will be assigned to you," Ning said. "Your job is to gather as much information as possible about the kingdom's strange behavior during this period, whether it's legends or rumors, write them all down. Every night we'll find a tavern to organize the information, understand?"

"Ah, I understand." Mo Yueya nodded on behalf of his companions.

"And what about the three of you?" the Black Knight asked.

“We’ll just wander around the royal city for a few days,” Ning said, adding a surprising statement. “Visiting the king’s castle is also on the itinerary.”

"The King's Castle?! You guys are actually going there?!" Wu Ke exclaimed in surprise, but after thinking about it, he felt there was no problem. "Yeah... the three of you are all ridiculously strong."

Ning was undoubtedly the strongest of the three sisters. Although she only caught a glimpse of her in the labyrinth at that time, the sheer scale of the magic shocked Seria and the others.

Someone capable of such a feat is formidable enough to demonstrate their strength without even facing them directly. Invading a castle might actually be within her capabilities.

Theoretically, it's the Dragon King. The Dragon King is another powerful figure in this world. Although not as powerful as Ning, he could still forcefully invade without any problem.

As for the seemingly harmless orc Xiao, nestled in his two older sisters' arms, he is also a formidable opponent. Wu Ke felt pain watching the Black Knight get hit yesterday, even though the impact only hit the shield.