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

Iron-armored monsters don't appear in this kind of area; these monsters prefer to stay in places with harder rocks because those places are suitable for sharpening their claws and teeth.

“Take a look…?” Leila asked.

"Proceed with caution."

Mo led the way inside. The entrance wasn't very big; Mo had to crouch to squeeze in. Peller followed, and Leila was the last to enter, glancing outside and setting something before finally going in. Once inside, she was astonished by the seemingly endless supply of materials.

The cave was larger than they had imagined; all five members of their team could enter without any problems. A bunch of soul grass was tied to the ceiling as a light source, and there were signs of life, but not signs of monsters. Things were scattered everywhere, but not in a mess; they had been carefully categorized and placed in an orderly manner.

"My God... what the hell is this place?" Mo's eyes widened, his jaw almost dropping.

Leila didn't answer him, seemingly stunned. Peller's reaction was indifferent; he was rummaging around for something interesting. These things weren't of much use to him, as he had various ways to obtain them if he wanted them, hence his calm reaction. Peller and Leila, being commoners from the lowest rungs of society, despite being adventurers and achieving some success, had never seen so many materials before.

"Are you two that surprised?" Peller picked up something and looked at them with a puzzled expression.

“You probably don’t realize the value of all this material to the average person, do you?” Mo also flipped through the things here. “A single pile of these is enough for a person to live a comfortable life for three months.”

"Oh? Really? I really don't know." Peller put down the materials in his hand and started looking around.

"No, don't rush to look at these things," Leila reminded him. "We still have important things to do."

“That’s right, let’s look around here. Slime.” Mo put down what he was holding and searched the cave for the slime’s figure, or rather, traces.

He had a feeling that the slime had lived here.

"Hey, are those books? There are so many!" Peller suddenly exclaimed.

"A book?" Mo walked over curiously.

“Yes, books.” Peller kicked aside a stack of books. “A whole bunch.”

"do not do that."

Leila picked up a book and flipped through it. There were notes inside, written with something she couldn't tell what, but it certainly wasn't ink; the handwriting was too fluid and didn't have a strong smell. The ink was black, and the strokes were very fine. To read and take notes in a place like this—what kind of creature lived here? She roughly counted about thirty books, more than half of which had notes, along with some strange, torn books. The writing on them was incomprehensible; perhaps it was monster writing, but could monsters possess such an ability to create writing?

"Knight would be overjoyed if he saw this." Leila smiled as she looked at the book, thinking of the magician who resembled her younger sister.

“Yeah…but Neko’s going to be in trouble.” Mode agreed with her and laughed along.

"Huh? So that guy likes these things?" Peller stroked his chin, deep in thought.

“Yes, I like it very much…” Leila’s eyes gradually darkened, then she put down the book and returned to her search work.

Something's not right. Something's not right in any way. That's what Leila's woman's intuition told her.

……

"Have you seen anything similar?" Mo asked the other two.

“No.” Leila shook her head.

"Forget about slimes, I can't even see a mouse." Peller didn't see anything like that either.

They didn't see any slimes, but they saw many other things, and all of them were incredibly powerful. A small metal box that could generate flames—it could produce flames out of thin air without any magic or spells. A very large, heavy, and transparent piece of glass—such glass didn't exist in this world. Most impressively, it was incredibly hard; Peller kicked it, and it didn't even break.

"I feel like we've encountered something just as powerful as that slime in every sense..." Mo sighed.

"It's pretty much like that..." Leila said, her feelings complicated.

“I wonder how things are going with Knightneco…” Mode walked toward the exit. “Let’s go back and meet up with them.”

“I say, if you’re so short of money, why don’t you take something with you?” Peller asked a very obvious question.

“We can’t take it with us,” Mo said as we walked. “We also need to consider whether we can take it out of the country. Taking too much will slow down our return journey, and we only have enough food for the last three days. It’s better to leave as soon as possible; we’ll have a chance to see these things again in the future.”

“That’s how it is.” Leila left Peller behind and followed him out.

Peller gave her a very cold look, a chill hidden deep in his pupils. Leila felt a chill run through her body; she knew Peller was getting desperate. But she couldn't do anything yet; she could only continue to restrain him. As she thought this, she bumped into Morde, who was walking in front of her. Morde had stopped for some reason, his hand already gripping the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it at any moment, and his aura became stronger.

Could it be that they're plotting to assassinate the prince...?

"Laila...looks like we've hit the jackpot..." Mo moved aside so that Laila could see what was in front of him.

A slime, yes, a slime, a light blue slime, almost identical to the one she had seen before, but now it possessed a seven-colored luster, seemingly stronger than the last time she had seen it. It was only ten steps away from the exit, the concentration of magic energy emanating from it almost suffocating the two of them, and it looked extremely angry. It was the slime specified in the quest; since it had come here, it proved that this was indeed its home.

When a ferocious beast's territory is invaded by another ferocious beast, it will do everything in its power to drive the intruder away or kill it. The same applies to monsters.

"Wow... is this the slime?"

Peller had appeared at some point, his beloved sword in hand, and approached the slime step by step, completely unaffected by the dense magical energy.

“I’m so lucky,” Peller laughed maniacally. “I never expected to encounter something so interesting, damn it, it actually exists! A slime this strong must be so much fun…”

So... don't let me down!

Chapter 59 is a traitor!

Influenced by Peller, Morde finally came to his senses and drew his sword. Leila took out a pair of daggers, gripped them with both hands, and stared intently at the slime.

To an ordinary person, this would be a huge joke: a B-rank adventurer actually taking such a slime seriously.

But those who have seen what's behind the slime will have a different opinion.

The Flame Mountain Elephant, the area boss, stood behind the slimes like a servant. This is no laughing matter; even if the slimes weren't strong, the Flame Mountain Elephant alone could easily crush them.

But looking at the human side, hey, there's Prince Pelle of the Kingdom, that's a sure thing now.

Prince Pelle, despite being a scoundrel, is incredibly powerful. Rumor has it that he once defeated a subspecies of dragon.

Although they are a subspecies, the average strength of dragons is still above that of humans, and it takes recruiting dozens of people to have a chance of winning each time a dragon is attacked.

"—!"

The Flaming Mountain Elephant roared and charged at the three of them. The three immediately jumped to the sides to avoid the elephant's charge.

The Flaming Mountain Elephant crashed into the cave entrance, causing a collapse. After it pulled its head out, the cave was completely sealed off by a giant boulder.

Did it deliberately crash there? What was the purpose of sealing off the cave?

He had no doubts, but remained vigilant. However, he forgot there was someone else behind him.

Om-!

"No! Get out of the way!" Leila cried out.

"Huh? Uh-oh?!"

The fireball struck Mord in the back and exploded, sending Mord flying towards the Flame Mountain Elephant. Peller, who was caught in the blast, was unharmed; instead, he used the force of the impact to propel himself toward the caster—the slime.

"So this guy really is a 'monster'!"

Peller shouted excitedly and swung his beloved sword at the slime. He didn't think it would work, and he didn't feel any impact.

bake--!

A magical circle suddenly appeared on the ground, and after unfolding the spell in just one second, it emitted a bright light and then spewed out a pillar of fire.

"Tsk!"

Left with no other choice, Peller withdrew his sword and retreated. Although he was strong, he had no resistance to the relevant magic and would still be burned if he were exposed to fire.

On the other side, Yan Shan Xiang Bu walked towards Mo De, who was still a little dizzy, and raised his foot to give him the final blow.

Leila quickly slid in and kicked Mo to the side, then rolled away from the feet of the Flame Mountain Elephant.

The broken volcano on the back of the Flame Mountain Elephant began to erupt. Because of its brokenness, the eruption spread even further. Leila felt a chill run down her spine as she watched this scene.

"Leila! Let's go!" Morde, barely able to stand, used his sword for support. "Your Highness! Let's go and meet up with Neko first! It's not the right time to fight!"

"Huh!?" Peller looked at him in surprise. "I just like it this way. Why would I go back to find those two good-for-nothings?"

"...!"

There was nothing to say. Given the current situation, reuniting with Nekonet wouldn't change much. To the princes, they were indeed useless, but since their strength was being denied, that was another matter.

A slime burst forth from the pillar of fire, turning red and wreathed in blue flames, before hurtling toward Peller at incredible speed.

The levels of fire in this world are simple, from weakest to strongest: red, blue, purple, white, and gold. It's practically impossible for a slime to unleash blue flames, because this race has almost no fire-attribute abilities; they would be vaporized in seconds.

But the slime didn't evaporate. Peller blocked the slime's impact with his sword, then deflected the force of the impact and bounced it to the other side. By this time, the part of his beloved sword that had been struck was already red.

"Wow... is it that terrifying?" Peller laughed as he looked at the reddening blade.

“Your Highness! Behind you!” Leila called out.

Suddenly, the Flame Mountain Elephant's magma projectiles shot towards Peller, who used his swordsmanship to cut them apart, his blade now completely red.

"Hey! You can't even handle the Flaming Mountain Elephant?!" Peller yelled angrily at them.

"It's really no use!" Leila said while dodging the lava projectiles. "We can't get close to it, and we can't deal any effective damage. If Knight were here, it would be fine, but she's not!"

"So! I suggest we meet up first!" Mo shouted.

"Tsk...!"

Peller looked at the slime stuck to the wall, which then turned white again. The slime then unfurled a white magic circle; Peller couldn't decipher the spell, and the text within it didn't even belong to this world.

What kind of magic is this guy going to use this time?

A sudden chill ran through his hand. When Peller looked over, he saw that the blade of his beloved sword was covered in frost, which had spread to his hand.

So that's how it is!

What happens to metal that has been rapidly heated and then rapidly cooled?

It definitely cracked.

Peller's beloved sword was shattered in an instant; this slime was truly a monster.

damn it!

Peller moved away from the slime and then approached Mord. Leila's eyes widened suddenly, as if she wanted to shout something, but the sound stopped in her throat.

"Please lend me your life first, leader!"

"Gurgle—?!"

At the time, Mo was facing away from Peller, focusing on dodging the lava projectiles from the Flame Mountain Elephant. He didn't have time to pay attention to what was behind him, and he thought Peller wouldn't do such a thing at this moment.

But Peller did it; the broken blade pierced Mord's left shoulder, not too deeply, and the cold blade jolted Mord awake in an instant.

Morde suddenly turned around and slashed at Peller, but Peller released his broken sword and dodged it. Morde, whose slash missed, immediately distanced himself from Peller and jumped toward Leila.

“I knew you were a piece of scum…!” Mode glared angrily at Peller, pointing his sword at him.

“Tch,” Peller said with a disdainful look, “The blade got dull, huh? Too short. Couldn’t it have been lethal?”

Faced with this situation, the slime seemed stunned, not giving chase, but simply remaining stuck to the wall and watching. It didn't seem intelligent enough to understand the situation, but cautiously unfolded another magical circle, ready to attack at any moment.

The Flame Mountain Elephant also stopped attacking at this point, probably because it was ordered to stop by the slime.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Mo roared. "You're in the same boat as us now! We're all in danger! And you turn around and stab your comrade in the back?!"

"Who's on the same boat as you?" Peller gave a dark, cold laugh.

Then, Mo's left chest was pierced by a dagger.

Huh? ...What happened...?

Mo's consciousness gradually blurred; he couldn't quite comprehend what had just happened, or rather, he couldn't believe it. Only after he collapsed did he become certain of it.

What he saw was someone stabbing him in the back...

Leila.

I don't know what title to use for Chapter 60.

“This human is really…” Raelfa looked at what these humans were doing and was somewhat angry.

However, as of now, Peller has not crossed her bottom line, so she will not intervene, but this matter is just too egregious.

She knew the origin of that sword; it was a failed creation of the Black Dragon King, the "Unending Serion".

Blessed by the Black Dragon King, Serion gained numerous unique properties, but due to the extremely poor quality of its constituent materials, the blessing was distorted, turning it into a cursed sword.

As long as people keep killing, this sword will never break; it will even become sharper. Later, the Black Dragon King irresponsibly threw it away. Rielfa wanted to retrieve it, but it had already spread to the kingdom.

This sword was perfect for Pelle, who could do almost anything in the kingdom—kill someone and have the royal family cover it up. But such things couldn't be kept secret, so in the end, they simply stopped interfering.

I don't know how many people this guy has killed. Now this sword is extremely sharp. Although it was just destroyed by a slime, it was restored to its original state after killing Mode.

"This slime is very strong... but that doesn't mean it can defeat this human," Raelfa stated an objective assessment.

She believed that the slime could not defeat Peller. While the slime was strong, Peller was stronger, and Peller was willing to use any means necessary to win, something the slime could not do.

"Let's wait and see... As long as he doesn't go to Nao's place, we'll ignore him." Rielfa chose to remain on the sidelines.

"It seems we don't have any spare clothes to change into..."