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

While she was still in a state of confusion, Ning had already unleashed countless magical circles behind her, creating a truly spectacular scene. These magical circles were operating with suppressed power; if Ning relaxed her control, all the magic would erupt at once.

She had heard her brother tell her that they were a family of extraordinary sisters, but she never imagined they would be this exceptional. She had only seen such scenes in fairy tales and legends, but she never thought she would have the chance to witness such a scene in real life. Even though her legs were already trembling.

"Wow! This!" The uninvited guest was so surprised that he couldn't speak.

Ning ignored her and simply set up a defensive barrier near his home. Just as he was about to unleash all his magic, Li suddenly ran out from a magic circle.

"Waaaaah! Stop! Stop! You've got a mistake, Ning!" Li stood between the two of them. "Undo the spell! She's a friend, a friend!"

“Friend…?” Ning tilted her head.

After weighing her options, she snapped her fingers and dispelled all the magic. She was still somewhat skeptical, but she chose to believe in reason.

"Haa..." Rin breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Ning dispel the spell. "Sorry, it was my fault this time."

"Oh? I see, I see..." The uninvited guest looked Li up and down and nodded. "You must be the newborn 'Shi'?"

“Uh… oh yes, it’s me.” Li nodded somewhat awkwardly. “Sorry, I forgot about that. Speaking of which… where’s Salid?”

"'Yan'? Hahaha, he's still on his way," the uninvited guest said with a laugh.

"...Li, come here for a second."

Without giving her a chance to explain, Ning pulled Li away and took her aside. She had many questions right now, but after thinking about it, she decided to ask this question instead.

“Li, who is that person?” Ning asked, pointing at the uninvited guest.

“Uh…ah, it’s a long story.” Li said with a wry smile, “That person is ‘Black Dragon King’ Negi.”

“…Huh?” Ning let out a strange sound.

Negi, the Black Dragon King?

Chapter 40

"Please enjoy your black tea."

"Thank you, mmm~ it smells really nice."

Xia Ling placed the black tea in front of Nie Qi, then walked away as if nothing had happened. Nie Qi picked up the teacup, savored it carefully, and gave it extremely high praise.

Xia Ling felt grateful for her gradually becoming more steadfast, and she was afraid of making a mistake at this time that would bring shame to her employer.

Now, nothing, no matter what terrible things happen, can shake her resolve anymore, because she has seen much more and more amazing things.

Now, as you can see, the "Black Dragon King" has come to visit the "Time Dragon King's" home. Negi is sitting on a single sofa, and the three sisters are sitting on the sofa. The atmosphere is quite subtle.

“Well then, please allow me to introduce myself first.” Neki put down her teacup and placed her hand on her flat chest. “I am Neki, the ‘Black Dragon King,’ and I am currently traveling the world to learn more interesting crafts.”

The Craftsman is the self-designation of the "Black Dragon King," whose real name is Negi. He is a rather unique figure among the Dragon Kings, and usually travels the world in a human form.

Her power is "alchemy," allowing her to perform various alchemical processes on all kinds of materials unconditionally. However, she is more skilled in dark magic, and upon closer inspection, it seems that apart from Salid, there is no other dragon king who specializes in their own power.

Ning didn't have a good impression of this Dragon King, not only because of the overlap in character attributes, but also because of other issues.

The sword used by the prince of the kingdom they encountered in the labyrinth was the "Black Calamity" made by the "Black Dragon King," which caused them a lot of trouble and even brought them to the brink of death.

"Well... Ning, they're here as guests, don't always have such a sour face," Li said with a wry smile, trying to smooth things over.

“Ha…” Ning sighed, “That kind of thing is fine no matter what. Compared to that, what are you doing here in black?”

"Hmm? Me?" Negi smiled. "Of course I'm here to learn interesting crafts. I've heard that new skills have emerged in this country, and I really want to learn them."

...Ah, she doesn't know yet, but we are the ones who brought these technologies and skills.

Feeling a slight pity for Negi, Ning regained some composure and looked at her with a smile.

"Oh, right, I just heard something really interesting!" Negi revealed a confident smile. "You're going to forge a sword, right? Heh~ I can't pretend I didn't hear that."

"Eh...?" Risa seemed a little surprised. "You want a knife made?"

"Yes, it's for Xiao's sword. She left her old sword in the maze." There was nothing to hide, so Ning readily admitted it.

"Since I'm already here, why don't I give it a try?" Negi said eagerly. "I have some experience in sword forging. What do you say?"

"...Well, please."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Hey, I never expected you to be so frank about asking for help."

"...You're so long-winded."

They are currently in the warehouse, and Ning has unexpectedly received help from Negi. Negi is now selecting materials to forge the knife she wants to make.

“Hey, what does it matter?” Li teased her, “because it’s really rare.”

"It seems like you don't care about what happened last night anymore?" Ning rolled her eyes at her.

"Ugh~ Don't mention that!"

Li puffed out her cheeks, trying hard to look angry, but the effect was the opposite—super cute. She couldn't dwell on what happened last night; it was just that other things had distracted her, leaving her with little energy to care about such things.

"I'm very angry right now!" Li put his hands on his hips.

"Okay, okay, I'll reflect on it, I'll reflect on it." Ning answered her perfunctorily, then skillfully changed the subject, "How did you tell at a glance that it was the 'Black Dragon King'?"

"Hmm, never mind, I'll settle the score with you later." Li felt that getting angry wouldn't help, so she answered her question first, "Actually, that voice last night came from Dragon King Network."

The Dragon King Network is a unique connection between Dragon Kings, a higher-level version of telepathy. The voice that Ri heard that night came from the Dragon King Network; Salid kept calling Ri's name, but she seemed to have forgotten about the Dragon King Network.

“Ha… I told Salid before that I would invite him over as a guest after things settled down…” Li slumped his shoulders in frustration.

She had made a promise to Salid after escaping the maze, saying that she would invite him to visit once the three of them had settled down. Now that someone had asked, Li felt a little guilty.

“And so,” Ning looked at Negi, “the ‘Black Dragon King’ followed us.”

“Yes, that’s what you think.” Li nodded. “But Negi seems to be much faster than Salid… Salid won’t be here for a while.”

"Yeah……"

The gathering of the three Dragon Kings is a first in thousands of years. Normally, the Dragon Kings are scattered all over the world and rarely communicate through the Dragon King Network. This is the first time in so long that the three Dragon Kings have come together like this.

With three Dragon Kings here, destroying the duchy wouldn't be a problem for them. If the country's higher-ups knew there were three Dragon Kings here, they'd probably be terrified.

Well, it's impossible for her to do such a thing; it goes against her bottom line. As for Negi, the "Black Dragon King," she probably wouldn't either. Rather, she would protect the country, because she hasn't learned what she needs to learn yet.

As for Salid, who will arrive in a little while... ha... we should be thankful he didn't trample the ground here.

Xiao and Shuangyue are currently circling around Neki, curious about what she's going to do next, watching intently.

Since Neki said it was okay and there was no danger, Li let them get a closer look; children's curiosity should always be satisfied.

Not only them, Ning felt the same way. She wanted to know how different she was from a true craftsman, and who was better.

"Alright, let's use these things."

After a period of selection, Negi finally decided on the materials she needed. She laid the materials on the ground and sat down in front of them, as if she were about to perform a solemn ceremony.

Caught up in the atmosphere, everyone present held their breath.

"Then... let's get started."

Chapter 41

Negi quickly got into the zone and then skillfully unleashed the magic circle.

Black patterns and runes unfolded from her palm onto the ground, and black flames burned along these black magic lines, causing the temperature in the warehouse to rise rapidly.

Ning snapped his fingers, creating a heat-insulating barrier to prevent unforeseen situations. Some of the materials in the warehouse were heat-sensitive, and because it was only a temporary structure, they hadn't yet undergone detailed categorization and storage.

The black flames scorched the materials Negi had chosen. She rolled up her sleeves and reached out to grab the scalding materials. The materials in her hand were still burning with black flames, but she seemed completely unconcerned.

"...Is that Soulwood?" Ning looked at the materials she had chosen. "And Soul Grass and Thousand-Faced Crystal."

Soulwood is a material comparable to steel, while Soulgrass is practically a useless material. Thousand-faced Crystal looks round, but it actually has over a thousand tiny facets. She couldn't figure out what the other person intended to do with these materials.

bake--!

The black fire suddenly blazed fiercely, and she took the opportunity to knead the Soul Wood and Soul Grass together. Both the Soul Wood and Soul Grass were burning. What was she doing...?

Neki collected all the ashes from the Soulwood and Soul Grass. Then she smashed the Thousand-Faced Crystal that was placed aside. The fragments miraculously turned into more than a thousand crystals, which then continuously reassembled, gradually taking the shape of a knife.

“Hmm…it seems like something’s missing…” Negi suddenly stopped forging the sword. “Eh…ah, I remember now, it’s this!”

She suddenly reached into her chest, then seemed to grab something and pull it out. The reaction was so strong that she collapsed to the ground, and the magic circle began to shake.

"Is this person alright...?" Li asked, somewhat dumbfounded.

"It should be fine." Ning remained noncommittal.

"Ouch...that hurts..." Negi gasped and got back up. "That was close."

She stabilized the magic circle and continued forging the knife. Ning suddenly noticed that she had a shimmering black crystal in her hand.

Hey...that's...the reverse scale, right?

How reckless must this person be... to rip off their own Achilles' heel on the spot... and still not faint? They must have done this many times before.

Yes, that's right, Negi immediately removed the scales that threatened her life.

The dragons in this world also have a reverse scale, but compared to the reverse scale of Earth dragons, the reverse scale here is not a fatal weakness, but a legendary material.

Not to mention the Dragon King's reverse scale, which even has all sorts of magical abilities, but so far there is no research on the abilities of the various Dragon Kings' reverse scales.

Ordinary humans cannot defeat the Dragon King, and heroes would not challenge him for no reason. Therefore, almost no one has ever seen the Dragon King's unyielding scales.

Well… last time, on a whim, Rielfa gave her Reverse Scale to Olitzo. Ning also knows about Rielfa's Reverse Scale ability, but it seems that Rielfa hasn't grown one yet, so she doesn't know what its effects are.

"That's it!"

Suddenly, the black scales burst forth with black light, enveloping and compressing the flames, eventually transforming them into a black sword. Neki then infused the ashes of Soul Wood and Soul Grass into the still-unformed sword, and it finally took shape—a very simple black katana.

It's black again...

Ning felt inexplicably resistant to this knife because the "Black Calamity Star" that caused trouble last time was also black. Are all of the "Black Dragon King's" works black?

“Li,” Ning tugged at Li, “use the Magic Eye to check that knife, lest it be something like the ‘Black Calamity Star’.”

"I'm a little worried too..." Rin was also a little uneasy, so she used her Mystic Eyes, and golden flames flowed from her right eye.

'The Nameless Blade of the Black Dragon King, Priority: Lv.70, Attack Power: 648 + User Level × 150%. This nameless blade, blessed by the Black Dragon King Negi, is capable of synchronizing with the user's soul and continuously adapting to the user.'

The remaining black flames transformed into black scabbards, which fell into Negi's hands. Negi nodded in satisfaction; she was very pleased with her creation.

“There’s nothing wrong with it…” Li didn’t know how to comment. “And it seems to be a very ordinary knife, it seems very hard… and sharp.”

The blade reflected a black light and had faint black and gold patterns. This unexpectedly simple katana was more powerful than I had imagined.

"Okay, that's it. Here you go." Negi sheathed the sword and handed it to Akatsuki, who was already wagging her tail impatiently to the side.

"Wow!"

Xiao immediately snatched the small katana from Neki's hand, then skillfully drew it out and swung it around rapidly like dancing before smoothly sheathing it.

"This is amazing!" Xiao exclaimed, gripping the knife and staring at it. "So amazing! So amazing! So amazing!"

"Haha... So you just described it like this because you lack adjectives?" Rin smiled wryly at her. "Very Akatsuki-esque. Thanks, Black... no, Negi."

"Haha, it's nothing, it's nothing," Neki said politely. "I usually like to do something, and I feel uncomfortable if I don't do something. Besides, this is only one, and I'll give the other one to that person."

Negi turned her gaze to Ning, who was observing the black knife from the side. She was looking forward to seeing what kind of skill that person would display. She always felt that there was something about Ning that she wanted to see.

“…There’s no other way,” Ning shrugged, “Then I’ll just make the other one too.”

To be honest, Ning was greatly shocked after watching Negi's sword-forging process; it was a technique she didn't know. It was a relatively traditional sword-forging method, simplified by the "Black Dragon King," but for Ning...

She doesn't even need these processes.

"It will be a little cold."

Ning gave them a brief reminder, then converted all the magic in her body into ice-attribute magic. Her originally light blue hair turned snow-white, and her eyes turned ice-blue. Centered on her, a cold atmosphere began to spread.

"You can even use this ability when you're in human form?" Li was slightly surprised.

She remembered that in the maze, the slime had the ability to change colors and gain different properties. She hadn't seen this ability for a long time and had almost forgotten about it.

Maybe... we've been living comfortably for too long.

While Ning was contemplating these trivial matters, he had already begun forging a sword.

"The Creator, Creation".

As the words fell, the chill drifted back from all directions, condensing into a slender, pale blue block of ice. The magic circle continuously pierced through this ice, shaping it into the form of a knife.

Li suddenly noticed that Ning's hair was constantly changing, and the world he saw with his magic eye was filled with all kinds of elemental magic. This magic was constantly flowing towards the ice, and the color of the ice was constantly changing.

The magic circle completed its final shaping, and the knife was fully formed, no longer changing color; it was a pale blue straight-bladed knife. This knife… felt familiar.