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

"???? Giving up???"

“Yes, we gave up.” Li’s expression remained unchanged. “We have temporarily abandoned the development of some black technologies and started to use these powers elsewhere, preferably those magical technologies that can take effect immediately.”

"Phew...that scared me to death."

Celia wiped the cold sweat from her brow. To be honest, when Ri said she was giving up, she felt like the sky was falling. After all, Ri was the hope for this war, for this world.

If she gives up... she might really lose.

Chapter 2 'Project Black Knight'

"You mean... concentrate your forces?" Fino asked.

“Yes, these developments will be put on hold for now,” Li said. “We need to choose a more effective method now. I won’t go into detail about the other enhancements here; you’ll see them when we get on the battlefield.”

Li followed Negi towards the central area, and the developers they passed nodded and greeted them. They didn't go directly to the innermost studio, but instead entered an unused studio.

"come in."

Neki casually pushed open the door and went inside. Although it was said to be unused, the necessary equipment and materials had actually been prepared. It truly lived up to its name as Sanko Workshop.

“I just borrowed this from Her Highness the Princess,” Neki said, turning on the cotton lamp and making preparations. “What exactly do we need to do?”

"Can you upgrade your equipment?" Li looked at the three of them. "Besides, I think it's about time you guys changed your equipment."

The equipment and weapons on the three of them had been worn down considerably during the long battle, especially the black knight's armor, which was covered in scratches and cuts, making the already imposing black armor even more frightening.

"Hmm..." Li looked him up and down, then asked, "The Black Knights' equipment definitely needs to be changed. What about you two? Do you need to get new equipment?"

"Ugh, even if you suddenly say that," Seria said, exasperated, "we don't know what to do if you suddenly ask us to change to that level of equipment..."

"Rather, is it really okay for us to use equipment made by the Dragon King?" Wu Ke's expression was extremely frightened.

"And... why is it only me who has to change?" the Black Knight asked, as if it were a matter of course.

“Hmm… I understand what you mean in general.” Li nodded. “You’ll be our comrades-in-arms from now on, right? I don’t intend to let you all die like this. So it’s not bad to give you some means of self-defense… As for the Black Knight, I have a bold idea.”

Seria and the other two have helped Ri a lot now, although it was only to atone for the sins committed in the labyrinth, and Ri has already forgiven them. Besides... the future Akihabara needs them too.

“…Then, take a look at this for me.” Seria took out her dagger. “This is the dagger I use for casting spells. Considering the upcoming battles, I want to enhance it.”

This was the conclusion Seria reached after much deliberation. This dagger had been with her since she became an adventurer, and it would be a pity to replace it. She could only ask the Black Dragon King to help her strengthen it.

“Oh~ A mountain people’s dagger~” Neki took the dagger and looked at it as if it were a work of art. “The craftsmanship is not bad. It looks like there’s not much I can do with it~ Anyway, I’ll give it a try.”

“Then what about me!” Wu Ke stated his request, “I want a new weapon, preferably a hammer, and the heavier the better!”

Wu Ke's request was simple: he was a rough man who knew nothing but brutal fighting techniques, so only this way could he be at ease.

"Is that all?" Li looked surprised.

“Okay, that’s settled then.” Seria nodded. “There’s no point in cramming at the last minute. We can’t adapt to changing equipment so quickly if we suddenly switch to new gear. It’s better to just upgrade it directly.”

"Besides, there's not enough time, is there?" Wu Ke also knew the urgency of time. "The kingdom is on its way here, and we'd better get into battle as soon as possible."

“…I understand.” Rin indicated her understanding, then looked at the Black Knight. “Black Knight, although this is difficult for you, could you please cooperate?”

So far, in Li's eyes, among the people around her, the Black Knight is the most valuable for strengthening, because the Demon Eye has seen through everything and the Black Knight's true form.

"Do I have the right to refuse?" The Black Knight gave a wry smile. "Please tell me, what do you need me to do?"

"Yes, your cooperation has been a great help."

Li stepped aside and activated her powers, while Negi lowered her dagger, revealing a menacing expression. The Black Knight suddenly sensed something was wrong and was about to turn and run when the exit was blocked by Finoir.

"Then please take off your armor so we can measure your three limbs."

Li revealed a smile of triumph.

"Eh, no, no! Ahh ...

'Spatial fixed'.

With the Black Knight's body completely immobilized, Neki immediately pounced on him, skillfully tearing off his armor. The Black Knight let out a piercing scream as Neki attacked, leaving Wu Ke and Seria completely bewildered.

"Oh! I see, that's how it is..."

Negi nodded as she dismantled the armor, seemingly understanding something, and tossed the armor pieces aside. Like peeling a banana, she smoothly revealed the slender, snow-white girl inside.

Wait... a girl...?

"Eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh??!!"

Was the black knight in the black armor actually a girl?!

Wu Ke let out a strange cry, as if the system had overheated, and collapsed to the ground, his entire body turning red. Seria remained frozen in place, her expression one of utter disbelief. Finoer covered her mouth in surprise and looked at Li with a hint of reproach.

Miss "Black Knight," whose true identity had been exposed, was now sitting on the ground in a duck-like position, clutching her chest, with a tearful expression on her face. Indeed, it was truly aggrieved that she hadn't even gotten angry at being treated so roughly by an acquaintance.

That was a pure white girl, the complete opposite of the name "Black Knight," as pure and immaculate as snow, with slender, silver-gray eyes. She looked fragile, like a girl who had just recovered from a serious illness, or perhaps simply lacked exercise...?

“I said… Li, did you already know that?” Fino asked.

"Yes, I encountered them in the maze before, and I used the Mystic Eye on them at that time, but I didn't look at them closely."

Li picked up the armor pieces from the ground and handed them to Negi one by one. She reached into the alternate dimension and took out a white dress, handing it to the Black Knight. The Black Knight paused, blushed, and took the white dress, putting it on.

"Pfft!?"

Seria was stunned by the stunningly beautiful girl before her. The black knight in the white dress seemed to be shining all over. After making a strange noise, she collapsed.

Thinking about it this way, she's probably the person with the lowest status (in terms of looks) among these people. She's thin, dark-skinned, and has a terrible temper... *sobs*

Seria, deeply devastated, turned gray and curled up in a ball, staring blankly at the ceiling, utterly dejected.

“That’s too much…Rie.” Finoir patted Rie’s shoulder lightly and winked at her.

Li honestly came to the Black Knight's side and apologized to her: "I'm sorry, it's my fault, I was too hasty."

“…It’s alright.” The Black Knight nervously clutched at her skirt. “I understand. But why did you do that?”

“I don’t quite understand what you mean either,” Finoer looked at Ri, “Can you tell me?”

"Of course it is this one. That's why we did this."

Rie naturally picked up a piece of armor and showed them the inside of the armor. This was part of the Black Knight armor; the inside was just as black as the outside, but you could see some strange patterns and mechanisms. That was why Rie and Negi did this.

“I’ve felt something was off for a while now.” Li looked at the Black Knight. “He’s a very tall man, but I often hear an empty sound coming from inside his armor. So this is what happened.”

A simple comparison between the girl before her and the previous Black Knight reveals a clear sense of incongruity, as the girl's figure is far too small. So the question arises: how does she manage to move freely within this confines?

"Black Knight... no, I should call you Ist..."

Ist, that was the Black Knight's real name. Li felt he could no longer call her the Black Knight, so he addressed her that way.

"This armor is actually constructed similarly to a mecha dragon," Li explained. "It incorporates a series of mechanisms and magic arrays, allowing those inside to directly control the armor. It's even more advanced than a mecha dragon, so I'm truly sorry..."

“It’s alright…” East smiled wryly, “If it was something like that, you could have just told me directly…”

The Black Knight… no, Ister’s words made Li’s guilt even stronger. She kept apologizing to Ister, who kept accepting her apologies.

“So… what do we need to do now?” Easter asked.

“Neki is analyzing your armor,” Li said, waiting. “Once the analysis is complete, we’ll build you new armor, like the Mech Dragon’s.”

"Isn't the development of the Mecha Dragon still incomplete?" Celia asked, snapping out of her daze.

“It’s just like the Dragon,” Li explained. “We will modify and strengthen the original design, making it lighter, and that’s about it.”

Using the skills learned from Genze, Rika constructs three-dimensional images from magic lines. Beautiful girls wearing high-tech armor soar through the sky and fight. These are mecha girls, characters that also appear in some isekai games. As for their attributes, they are varied, but none of that matters here.

“What I want to build is ‘magical armor’,” Li said, revealing her idea. “I have to thank you for this, Ister. If it weren’t for you, I would have almost forgotten that this possibility existed.”

"Am I supposed to fight wearing that...?" Ister asked somewhat embarrassedly. "It's too revealing... Will it even be effective?"

"Well... we'll just have to see how it goes when the time comes..."

"Huh? There's no guarantee?"

"Science is not absolute."

Li made excuses to fob off East.

Chapter 3, Mecha Girl Version 1.0, is here! Black Technology Completion Count Increased by 1.

Project Black Knight.

An enhancement plan centered around Miss Ister, the true form of the Black Knight.

The goal is to extract and modify all the technology of the original armor, and then complete the Black Knight α Armor (tentative name) and put it into battle. The development funds and technology for this equipment will be provided by "Time and Space Dragon King" Li and "Black Dragon King" Negi.

Operator: 'Black Knight' Ist.

Note: At the request of the client, a tight-fitting protective suit and a mask with head armor were made for East.

After spending considerable time, the Black Knight α was finally completed. Rie and Negi immediately urged Ister to equip it, inquired about her feelings, and made final adjustments to the armor. Meanwhile, Finoer had already sent the data on this armor to Ning, and they believed the development of the Mech Dragon would soon be completed.

“So light…”

Ister was wearing a black, tight-fitting protective suit. The black armor was attached to her body by some unknown principle, but it was not reassuring compared to her original armor. The armor coverage was only about 60%, which was quite unsettling.

Although it feels like being forced into this situation, there's nothing I can do now...

With a "what's the worst that can happen?" attitude, East covered his head with the head armor that was connected to the armor.

“Ister, if you’re not satisfied, you can wear your original armor…” Li said apologetically.

"Haha, now that we've already made it, how can we waste it?"

East spoke in a manner befitting the composed image of the "Black Knight," focusing intently on adapting to the new equipment. Perhaps this kid is shy when naked; dressed like that, he seems like a completely different person…

"Try moving it first. The operation is the same as your previous armor," Negi instructed Ister, observing the armor's condition.

The mask is made of a metal similar to one-way glass. Due to time constraints, no unnecessary modifications were made, and it can only serve as goggles for now, but at least it won't have any effect on East.

Oh... the view is actually quite expansive...

East operated her armor as usual, taking a step with ease and moving nimbly after getting used to it. The new equipment was lighter and less strenuous than her old armor, but East wondered if she could still unleash the same attacks as before.

"The operation is fine... then let's try this."

Negi lifted a large steel plate with a strength beyond her petite frame, then tapped it, signaling to her with her eyes to hit it. East hesitated for a moment, steadied herself, and then threw a punch with all her might.

Bang-!

A hole was punched through the steel plate, and the expression under Esther's mask became quite interesting. This is too strong! If it were her previous armor, breaking the wooden board with her bare hands would have been the limit.

Negi looked at the large hole in the steel plate with satisfaction, repaired it with magic, and put it back in its original place.

"Overall, everything's fine." Negi dusted off her hands. "So, is there anything you don't like?"

"...It's that...can you make full-body armor...?"

"Hmm, no. It will affect the barrier. I see the chest area looks a bit tight. Take it off first, and I'll adjust it for you. There's still time."

"Ah good."

Ister's last struggle was also extinguished by Neki, who gave up on the matter. In short, apart from causing some unease, this new equipment had no major problems and even far exceeded Ister's expectations; it was excellent equipment.

After taking off her Black Knight Alpha suit, Esther waited on the side in her bodysuit. She didn't know how to face her friends, so she used work as an excuse to numb herself.

"The Black Knight... no, Ist!"

The resurrected Seria appeared behind Ister at some point and grabbed her, shamelessly kneading her large breasts.

"Ughhhh! I'm so angry! How come all of you are so big?! What did you eat?! You're so soft..."

"Eh?! Wait a minute!? Serlie... ouch!"

While doing her perverted things, Celia uttered lewd and obsessive questions, yet she exuded an aura of utter defeat. She skillfully kneaded Esther's large breasts, making Esther feel as if she were about to ascend to heaven—it was incredibly irritating, but Esther couldn't stop her, only able to moan softly.

Wu Ke pretended not to see her, keeping a safe distance from the pink-hued space, his heart filled with complicated emotions as he stood facing the wall. He had previously treated Esther like a brother, but now that he knew she was a girl, he couldn't look her in the eye properly.

"So, what are you worried about?" Celia said while rubbing her breasts. "There's absolutely nothing to worry about, okay? Although I'm very unhappy that you're keeping this from me, aren't you still the Black Knight? Ah~ these big breasts are really annoying!"

"That's too much! Don't rub it so roughly, okay?!"

Ister complained like a little girl, breaking free from Celia's clutches and hiding far away to protect herself. But now she seemed much more at ease... so they didn't care after all.

She smiled unconsciously.

“That’s good, Black Knight.” Celia had achieved her goal. “We’ll be fighting side by side from now on, and I’ll be in trouble if you don’t cooperate.”

“I apologize for the late introduction. I am ‘Black Knight’ Ist. Nice to meet you. For various reasons, I have always fought in that armor, please forgive me.”

"Hmm, not bad expression."

Seria nodded, forcefully pulled Wu Ke, who was awkwardly standing alone in the corner, over and pushed him in front of Easter. The two looked at each other, then blushed and looked away. It was hard to connect these two with the two once bold and forthright men, especially Easter.