So now I had a pair of beautiful snow-white human legs coming out from under my treasure-chest body. They started from the base of the thighs. And, just to make matters worse, I also had an arm coming out from my sides. They started from the shoulders.
In other words, my skill had been a success—my freshly sprouted legs had launched me into the wall.
My sudden change seemed to have perplexed the warrior. “Huh? Are mimics supposed to be like this?”
“Monsters vary wildly, both in terms of strength and movement, depending on the level. On top of that, there’s subspecies and many other variations to consider, as well. Still, this is...” the priest said, tilting his head in confusion.
They’re bewildered, now’s my chance! “Heh... HE HA HA HA HA! If I can move, I can do anything!”
Using both hands to push myself up, I readied myself and dashed for the closed door. I wasn’t worried—I had hands now, which meant I could just grab the knob and open the door!
*Fwump!*
But the next thing I knew, I’d fallen face-first—oh, uh, I mean the front side of the treasure chest first—on the ground. I looked behind me and immediately figured out what happened. The mage had tripped me with her staff.
“Is this thing trying to run away? Oh well, it doesn’t matter. It’s so weak that even I can deal with it,” she said.
Goddammit! I tried getting up again, praying that there was something I could do. Unfortunately, the mage was barring my only means of escape.
Crap!
Odds were that she was physically the weakest of the party, but even then, I didn’t feel like I could win against her.
“Oh, wait—is there some sort of special requirement for the mimic’s rare drop? Like destroying specific parts or defeating it with a certain element? That sort of thing’s common, right?”
I was facing the mage, but I sensed the warrior approaching me from behind. And, at some point, the priest and thief had flanked my sides. I was surrounded.
“There is,” the thief said.
I couldn’t believe it. No way, really?! I have some kinda special requirement? I didn’t even know myself!
“Ohh! Then tell us!”
“Right. Well, it’s a pretty troublesome method, but...”
Mm? What could it be? How do I have to be killed to drop an item? I was totally engrossed in the conversation. Likewise, the adventurers were all giving him their undivided attention. Could this be my chance to run? No, it’s impossible. The mage’s completely blocking that door. I have to do something about her first.
The thief walked up to the warrior and got behind him.
Huh? Why’s that necessary?
The warrior also seemed to be wondering the same thing, but he didn’t do anything. He must’ve thought it was all part of the troublesome method.
Suddenly...
*Pfshhh!*
Eek!!! Whaaa?!
The thief slit open the warrior’s neck with his knife. Blood gushed out, dyeing everything in the near vicinity crimson. Yep, me included.
What’s going on? Why’re they having a falling out?
The thief let the warrior drop to the ground, then attacked the priest. He decapitated his former teammate boldly from the front, killing him in a single hit. Then, in one fluid movement, he even managed to leap at the mage. He made short work of her.
Wh-What?! What the hell is going on?! What kind of method is this supposed to be?!
The thief now approached me, cleaning his knife with a cloth he produced from who-knows-where. I couldn’t understand why he seemed to be having fun, but he wore a wan smile as he got closer.
Gah, freaky! What the hell is up with you?! You’re scarier than any monster!
Even if I wanted to run at this point, I was paralyzed. My legs had given out from under me.
The thief stopped in front of me and knelt down. He was staring me up and down hungrily, looking like he was about to start licking me all over.
Oh god, I don’t stand a chance... This guy’s gonna do something weird to me, then kill me. All for some rare drop.
“Wonderful.”
Whaaa? The hell did he just say?!
The thief took his cloth and began to wipe my legs, taking painstaking care to clean everything from the ends of my feet to the base of my thighs. He slowly and thoroughly made sure to get every nook and cranny.
“The mage had some nice curves as well, but they were nothing compared to these.”
*Rub, rub!*
The thief stroked my legs lovingly.
Hey! W-Wait a sec! What do you think you’re doing?!
The fear of imminent death left me, but it had been immediately replaced by a completely different chill that ran down my spine. Oh, wait, I meant the back of the treasure chest.
“I just want to bring you home...” the thief said with a sigh.
Eurrgghh! The hell?! Scary!
“But apparently monsters born in dungeons disappear if you try to take them out of it...”
Huh? Really? That’s terrifying too! I didn’t know that, though!
“But there’re also monsters that manage to get into dungeons, so maybe something could be done about that. Maybe with a higher level... I’ll need to look into it.”
The thief was lost in thought, but I was already majorly creeped out.
If you’re gonna kill me, just do it already!
“But if I leave you like this, then you’ll definitely die while I’m off doing research. That’d be such a waste.”
Yeah, I agree. Waste or not, I’m pretty sure that I’m screwed the moment I encounter something.
“I’d be fine with protecting you, but monsters can’t raise their level that way. Not to mention there’d be a limit to the amount of adventurers I can just kill off. I do have my reputation to think of...”
Yeah, uhh... It’s fine to think things over, but could you maybe stop stroking my legs while you do that?!
I tried to escape, but no matter how much I struggled, it was futile. The thief was a much higher level than me, and he’d stuck to me like glue. In other words, my life was at the mercy of this creep.
“Oh! Why don’t we try this?” he exclaimed with a bright smile. It seemed he’d hit upon an idea.
The thief produced something from a small pouch at his waist—a pair of high heels.
Huh? I’m pretty sure that pouch’s way too small to be holding those heels.
While I was distracted by the mystery in front of me, the thief slipped the shoes onto my feet.
✦ ✦ ✦
“Great!” The thief nodded, satisfied.
Don’t “great” me! This doesn’t solve anything!
“This is a legendary pair of foot equipment named the ‘Crimson Rose.’”
As the title suggested, they were a beautiful pair of red high heels decorated with roses. For some reason, they fit my feet perfectly.
“Normally a level 1 can’t equip legendary items, but I figured something like this would happen, so I had the level requirement removed ahead of time.”
What do you mean, “something like this”? What did you think would happen?! Wait, actually, hasn’t this guy been talking to me this whole time?
“Well, it’s about time for me to leave. We were originally called to help defeat the boss on the eighth underground floor. I can make excuses for the other three not being there, but it’d be weird if no one showed up.”
The thief nonchalantly waved goodbye as he left the room.
Huh? I’m alive?
I couldn’t quite believe it at first, so I just sat there in a daze for a while.
“Ummm... Does that mean I can just leave?”
With eight corpses—five wardogs and three adventurers—the room was practically drowning in blood. I didn’t want to just sit in it forever, obviously, but it could be bad news if I just left without a second thought. I looked over my status one more time.
Name: Harumi
Race: Mimic
Gender: Female
Level: 1
Gift: The Beautiful Die Young
Divine Protection: None
Skills: Mimic (Treasure Chest, Treasure Chest remodeled), Languages (Inorganics +2, Human), Storage, Explosive Legs (*Only when equipped with Crimson Rose)
Equipped Items: Feet: Crimson Rose
So Treasure Chest remodeled means this form with limbs?
It seemed to me that the parts in parentheses were what I could mimic into, so I could probably return to being a normal treasure chest. Also, apparently skills could be gained by putting on equipment, since I now had the Explosive Legs skill.
“So I’ve gotten stronger by putting on some high heels...?”
They were a pair of stilettos, to be precise, so it probably would hurt if I were to stomp on someone with them. Still, I didn’t have any concrete proof, and nothing would happen if I just sat in this room and worried about things.
Yeah, let’s leave.
With my mind made up, I turned to the door. That was the same time it swung open with a noise.
Did the thief come back? Or is it another group of adventurers?
A demonic-looking statue walked in noisily. It had wings sprouting from its back, so I recognized it as a gargoyle. It was holding a jar.
A beautiful woman followed the gargoyle in. She wore priest’s clothes, but her skin tone was earthen brown.
An undead priest?
Lastly, a young girl entered. She was semi-transparent and seemed to be made of liquid. I guessed that she was a water spirit.
“Umm, hello.”
I tried talking to them, but I got no reply.
What is wrong with you guys?!