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

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No, don't come any closer!

Ning's actions were entirely due to genuine concern for her. Li was too embarrassed to push Ning away, and her heart was racing uncontrollably.

"Your face is getting redder and redder..." Ning looked at it, then sat back down. "Let's check again later. It seems like nothing's wrong yet."

"Waaah! I already told you I was fine!" Li could only yell at her in exasperation.

Of course, this didn't bother Ning at all. She opened the book she carried with her and started reading nonchalantly. Li really couldn't do anything about her.

"Are you really alright?" Alice asked with concern.

"No, no, you're overthinking it." Li waved his hand. "Let's get down to business. I called you here today to ask you about some things."

"...May I ask what it is about?" Alice asked calmly.

"Hmm..." After thinking for a moment, he said, "I just wanted to ask what you think of the current Kingdom of Alyas."

“…” Alice remained silent.

Li then realized her mistake; she shouldn't have asked Alice about the kingdom so directly, since that place was quite sensitive to her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't think it through." He apologized to her, feeling embarrassed. "I may not have considered your feelings... It's okay if you don't want to help me."

"It's nothing," Alice waved her hand. "I was just feeling sentimental. You want to ask about the kingdom, right? Where should we begin?"

“Let’s start from when you discovered there was something wrong with the kingdom,” Ning interjected, sitting down next to Li. “I’m also curious about these things.”

“Hmm… well…” Neki grabbed Salid by the back of his collar, “I’ll take ‘Flame’ out for a walk. We’ll be back before sunset.”

"Huh? Huh? Wait, I haven't..."

"Let's go, let's go!"

Salid was taken away by Negi without any explanation, even dragged away. Dragon Kings are all like that; Raelfa was right after all.

Well, this matter has nothing to do with the other dragon kings. Only Li got involved in this matter, so it's not without reason that they left on their own initiative.

“Speaking of which…” Alice’s gaze followed Negi’s retreating figure, “Who are those two children?”

"Well, we're relatives, I guess," Li stammered.

The Dragon Kings are related by blood; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they are relatives. It's just that this family seems to never get together. For the three Dragon Kings to gather together is truly unprecedented.

She neither lied nor told her the truth. She wasn't quite sure what stance the other dragon kings were on, but if she had to choose a side, they would probably side with humans.

Protecting humanity, that's the hero's job... but the heroes of today...

Rie looked at the sky outside the shop and fell into deep thought. Protecting humanity was just a side job, but fundamentally it was about protecting her own livelihood. If a country like this disappeared, Rie would probably feel a little lonely.

"What's wrong? Why are you asking this?" Li pulled her thoughts back.

“Hmm, it’s nothing, maybe I’m overthinking it.” Alice turned back as well. “That black-haired child, there’s a strong sense of déjà vu… how should I put it… he feels very familiar.”

"...Oh, really?"

"Ah, I'm sorry to have wasted your time." She smiled awkwardly. "Let's get down to business. Because I'm not very favored by my father, I've spent a lot of time abroad. I only returned to the country in recent years after achieving some success, but I haven't spent much time there, so there may have been some oversights. Please forgive me. At that time, the kingdom had already begun to change."

When Alice returned to the kingdom that year, she used her international standing and connections, as well as all her savings, to establish the Sangu Workshop and gather a group of capable craftsmen to work hard to improve the lives of the people.

During this time, many like-minded people joined this cause, each recognizing Alice and willing to contribute their own strength to her cause. Soon, Sanko Workshop became a neutral force in this world, belonging to no one.

Alice's position forced the kingdom to recall her, and that was the last time she saw her father, King Seric. Seric didn't give her a warm welcome either, exchanging only a few polite words before leaving everything to his glib-tongued prime minister.

Now that things had come to this, she had no intention of having much interaction with the kingdom anymore; the princess title was merely nominal, nothing more. But from that moment on, she began to notice the kingdom's unusual behavior.

The atmosphere in the country was very strange; the people seemed to only know how to enjoy themselves and were squandering money recklessly.

Soon after, the kingdom began the long-awaited hero summoning ceremony, summoning a hero. At that time, there were no major crises in the world.

Alice couldn't understand the church's thinking, and at that time she was not in the country because of work, so she had no way to obtain reliable information.

But she obtained the list of participants in the Hero Summoning Ritual, including Hale, Philip, and Axe, among others. Among these people, she saw the name of her best friend—Nao.

Chapter 5 Memories of That Time

"Nao".

"...? Ah, Ellie, it's been a long time."

Alice entered her best friend's room, and Nao saw her and got up to greet her.

"Long time no see." Alice hugged her. "How are you?"

"Yes, as you can see, I'm doing very well." Nao hugged her gently. "I'm a saint now... You've also achieved your goals."

“Yes, that’s right.” Alice nodded with a sigh.

Alice and Nao are childhood friends who have known each other since they were young. They are the kind of people who can talk about anything and there is nothing between them that they can hide from each other.

However, due to various reasons, Alice was later forced to study abroad, and the two could only communicate through letters.

They made a promise when they were young to achieve their respective goals, and now they have indeed done so.

Nao's goal is to become a saint in the church and redeem people.

Alice's goal is to use her power to silence those who oppose her, then return to the country and meet Nao.

They had a dream: to help those who were suffering.

Nao wasn't completely unaware; the church's so-called help could only benefit a select few. Alice wouldn't tell her these things, because both of them understood this in their hearts.

Such a dream... is very difficult to achieve.

"Let's not talk about that now," Alice said, ending the pleasantries. "I have something to ask you."

"Hmm... what is it?" Nao nodded in agreement.

"It's about the summoning of the hero." Alice went straight to the point. "If I remember correctly, this is the church's responsibility, right?"

"……Wait a mininute."

Nao stood up, left Alice's side, walked to the door of the room, quietly opened it a crack, looked outside, and then carefully closed the door to make sure it was secure.

Seeing her cautious demeanor, Alice understood her meaning and helped her set up a soundproof barrier.

"Ellie, have a seat." Nao pulled out a chair for her. "It might take a long time to talk."

“I think so too.” Alice sighed and then sat down.

"Where should I begin..." Nao hesitated for a moment, then said, "I only recently found out that the church was preparing for the hero summoning ritual. By the time I found out, they were already ready."

"Why was this matter communicated to the public?" Alice asked. "Why wasn't such an important matter as summoning the hero told to the public? Besides, there isn't any crisis in this world right now, is there?"

“That’s what I think too,” Nao said helplessly. “I asked His Holiness the Pope, and he said that this matter cannot be spread because the greatest human crisis in history has occurred. In order to avoid panic, the public has not been informed.”

“…But you didn’t believe it either, did you?” Alice looked at her.

“Hmm.” Nao nodded. “No matter what, it’s really not right to keep such a big thing from the public… But I don’t know if it’s true or not, so we can only wait and see for a while.”

"Where is the hero now?" Alice was more concerned about the hero's current whereabouts.

“In your homeland—the Kingdom of Alyas.” Nao lowered her head. “I’m sorry, it’s such a big matter, but I can’t help.”

"It's alright." Alice took her hand to comfort her. "This is enough. You've taken a great risk to help me, haven't you? Now, just stay the way you were before. I'll investigate the matter of the hero."

“Ellie…” Nao grasped her hand in return, “I… I have a restless feeling right now, like something is about to happen… it’s a terrible thing.”

“…Trust me.” Alice gripped her hand tightly. “I won’t let it happen.”

After that, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. Alice was unable to leave due to various reasons, and during this time, the first hero died in battle.

According to Nao, he died in battle against a powerful demon. Meanwhile, Alice also devoted her efforts to investigating the matter, but to no avail.

Perhaps some major crisis has indeed arisen. However, the fact that the cause of the hero's death remains unknown is something that Nao and Alice find hard to accept.

Soon after, in order to combat the crisis, the kingdom and the church joined forces again to carry out the hero summoning ritual, which summoned a second hero.

This time, Alice was also unable to participate directly. Her father, King Seric of the kingdom, summoned her back to visit her mother's grave.

However, she specifically asked Nao to tell the hero that if he found anything amiss, he should definitely seek help from the Sanko Workshop.

The hero laughed it off and left with the kingdom's prime minister. Alice rushed back, but ultimately couldn't catch up. By then, the hero had already departed, and soon after, Nao relayed her message…

The second hero... also died.

This time, he died while exploring the dungeon.

This is so strange...so strange it sends chills down my spine, it's downright eerie.

Both heroes died before they could even begin their mission. What exactly happened along the way? What could possibly cause legendary heroes to die in a place that isn't even a demon's territory?

At this time, the Sanko Workshop was suddenly attacked by an unknown force, and in order to deal with this attack, Alice had to temporarily withdraw.

A few days later, in order to reinforce the seal that sealed the monster in the labyrinth, Nao went to the labyrinth accompanied by many church followers and soldiers.

Several days later, on the day the team was supposed to return, they did not return. The team had vanished; not a single member returned. Some time later, a third hero was summoned. Meanwhile, adventurers discovered the team's remains in the labyrinth… meaning they had tragically perished.

Alice was filled with remorse; she had made a promise to Nao, but she couldn't keep it. She was deeply affected by her best friend's death and remained bedridden for a whole month.

During this time, the situation continued to deteriorate. After recovering, Alice emerged from the shadow of Nao's death and devoted herself fully to the investigation.

He gets up again after each failure, perseveres, and keeps searching. It's as if he's moving forward to atone for his sins.

Finally, she grasped that hope.

The twelfth hero – Xia Que.

Chapter 6: The Story of the Hero

Xia Que. A girl who could be described as a hero, yet not quite.

When she was summoned to this world, she didn't even receive the blessing of the hero's summoning ritual, and she couldn't even have the most basic conversation.

Unable to speak the language, she was suddenly summoned to this world all alone, without any power like a hero, just a girl dressed in strange clothes, nothing more.

The kingdom and the church abandoned her, believing there had been a problem with the hero summoning ritual, but they humanely took responsibility for the girl. They entrusted her to a priest, Hoel.

This time, Alice managed to capture the hero, even though she was just a girl caught in the crossfire. She still wanted to capture her and do something.

She made contact with Xia Que through Hao Er, but Xia Que was very scared and kept hiding, unable to have a normal conversation. The only person who could talk to Xia Que was Hao Er.

Hao explained to her that he had used a blessing similar to "understanding" to enable him to understand Xia Que's words and thus be able to have some simple conversations.

Xia Que is very dependent on Hao Er, and needs Hao Er's company almost all the time. Alice can understand that she is seeking a sense of security.

She came into this world alone and helpless, unable to communicate normally with anyone or understand what they were doing. She must have been terrified.

In this world, she clung tightly to her only lifeline—Haor. Haor cared for her like her only family member in this world, patiently teaching her some of its language.

Alice also got involved in the professor's work, spending some time teaching her the language of this world and staying by her side as Xia Que's only female friend in this world. This is how they established a relatively friendly relationship and eventually became friends.

She truly realized that Xia Que was just an ordinary person.

At the same time, she also discovered that the kingdom did not value Xia Que very much. After handing Xia Que over to Hao Er, they actively prepared for the thirteenth hero summoning ceremony.

Just when Alice thought things were temporarily over, Xia Que got into trouble.

When Hale was sent to work outside the city, Xia Que, who had finally opened up a little, was kidnapped.

Alice used her influence to investigate and find out who had kidnapped Xia Que. Her kidnapper was a nobleman of the kingdom, a nobleman involved in the slave trade. At that moment, Alice could picture Xia Que's ultimate fate.

Xia Que is not a hero, just an ordinary girl. Even if the matter were reported to the kingdom's higher-ups, no one would care. She is not a hero, and the kingdom has no obligation to pay attention to her.

At this moment, Alice was also angry at her own incompetence; she was merely a princess in name only.

She frantically searched for Xia Que's whereabouts, only to discover that Xia Que had been sold to an illegal underground arena, funded by some perverse nobles. The arena was used to pit unarmed people against monsters for the nobles' entertainment.

A fair-skinned and delicate girl like Xia Que was naturally the most sought-after commodity by these nobles. She was thus thrown into the arena to fight against ferocious monsters.

This time, Alice arrived in time, leading a group of knights to apprehend all those suspected. Or perhaps she missed it again; what she saw was a completely different Xia Que.

A summer sparrow stood in the cold, icy forest, clutching a straight, icy blade, her face filled with bewilderment and fear. She looked around in a daze, then collapsed.

Alice knew what it was... it was the power of the hero.

This girl, who should have had no power to begin with, unexpectedly gained power because of these scumbags. Alice was speechless; she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

After rescuing Xia Que, her dependency became even more severe; Hao Er could hardly leave her side. That day, Hao Er slapped himself and hugged Xia Que tightly.

Then, the kingdom suddenly revealed the matter of the heroes, including the fact that eleven heroes had already died. This was something Alice had not anticipated at all, and she was even more confused about what Seric was thinking.

The kingdom called upon its people to join them in resisting the unknown crisis, rallying them in the name of heroes, and revealing the truth about Xia Que. In an instant, the entire kingdom felt sympathy for the poor girl.

Faced with this sudden concern and sympathy, Xia Que hid in the church in fear and did not leave her room for a long time. Hao Er was busy dealing with all sorts of things, and the only person who could accompany her was Alice.

During that period, Xia Que was suspicious of everyone, and even towards Hao Er, she was aggressive. It was only after much persuasion from Alice that she somewhat emerged from the shadows.

But after that, the people from the kingdom and the church came to ask Xia Que for help as if nothing had happened. Hao Er remained silent and left the decision to Xia Que.