It was impossible!
No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get both halves to appear as one. Not to say it couldn’t happen in the future, but it was totally impossible for now.
That put the kibosh on my whole “pretend to be human and have an easy journey” plan. Too bad.
The silver lining was—thanks to using my Mimicry skill to try and change over and over again—my transformations had gotten really smooth.
At the moment, I had four forms I could take. There was the standard Treasure Chest, and Treasure Chest remodeled—the one with just arms and legs. Then, I’d also gained Treasure Chest remodeled 2, which included a lower torso up to the belly button. The arms still came out of the sides of the treasure chest. Lastly, there was Treasure Chest remodeled 3, in which I grew a girl’s upper half from the inside of me. There was nothing attached to the chest on any side, so I couldn’t move effectively.
The other new form—Treasure Chest remodeled 2—had some perks, so I’d decided to use it as my main form from now on. My attack range had gotten a little longer. Also, thanks to my newly formed hips, I could now twist around and add a bit of force to my kicks too. I’d also gotten another equippable slot on my waist. This could be pretty advantageous, depending on the equipment.
As for the risks, I now had a larger body, which meant more surface area, which meant I was easier to hit. Then again, I probably didn’t need to worry all that much—thanks to Crimson Rose, my defenses were sky-high.
Luckily, I still had the clothes I’d bought for Peko. I was a monster, but I still didn’t like the idea of walking around with my butt exposed. I put on a pair of panties and a skirt.
I wonder how this looks. Does this make me...cuter? Man, I could really use a mirror right now! For this and other things...
I could change my point of view around my body, but I still couldn’t really get a full view of myself.
Anyway, let’s go to that village!
I started moving at considerable speed.
Ooohh, it’s kinda easier to move now!
Up until now I had no hips to twist around, but now I could walk and run much easier.
Oh man, it was worth getting this lower half mode just for this!
I quickly made it out of the forest, and from there it was a quick jaunt to the village. Though that was partially thanks to Crimson Rose for making my movement speed so fast.
The village was surrounded by a wood fence, but it didn’t seem to have had much of an effect against the bandits which were currently invading. Also, the village seemed to be in a tizzy...probably thanks to all the pillaging and rampaging around inside.
Hmmm, what should I do? Well, for now why not just go inside and figure out how I feel?
I heard a shout and noticed something approaching me.
*Thumpa, thumpa!*
Something’s running over.
I waited absentmindedly until I saw a girl run out of the village.
“S-Someone save—eep!”
Hey, come on! That kinda hurt. Why’re you scared of little ol’ me?
I mean, I was wearing a cute skirt and everything!
The girl, clearly upset, tripped over herself and fell.
Oh boy, she’s totally panicked. I bet she’s a simple village girl who’s being chased by bandits. And she managed to get away, only to run into a monster outside. She’s probably feeling hopeless now. I mean, I’m not really interested in some random bumpkin’s weak soul, but there’s no way she’d know that.
I trotted over to the village girl. Her legs had probably given out on her, since she didn’t even try to run.
“Hello!”
“Eeek! I-It talked?! D-Don’t eat me!”
“It’s fine, don’t worry. I don’t eat raw food. What’re you doing?”
“Ah, um... My village was attacked. My dad, my mom, and my little sister too! They—”
“Oh, there’s someone out here!”
I looked over to the source of the voice, only to see bandits swarming out of the village.
“N-Nooo! Stay away!”
“You an idjit? Whaddaya think would happen by shoutin’ that?”
“Ha ha, he’s right! C’mon, let’s all play together! Everyone’s waitin’ fer ya!”
“Yer friends, yer mama, and yer lil sister too!”
I stepped in front of the girl and faced the marauders.
“Uhh, excuse me. I was talking to her. Could you not interrupt me?”
“Huh?”
“The hell’s this?”
“A monster?”
“Whassit doing out here?”
“Eww, it’s creepy!”
“Probably jus’ some small fry, right?”
One of the ruffians raised his battle axe and swung it at me. I didn’t bother to dodge—there was no need to.
*Claaang!*
The axe shattered.
Hah! This is nothing!
The bandit was probably proud that he had the strength to swing such a weapon around, but he was still like a child compared to that musclebound asshole.
“Wha—?!”
“Okay... I can see you guys aren’t worth exploding, sooo...it’s time to test my level 100 strength!”
There was no way us girls would be able to relax and have a conversation with them around, and they were the perfect little guinea pigs. I decided to play with them a little.
By the way, this definitely wasn’t influenced by the fact that they called me creepy!
Anyway...
There were five of them in front of me.
Oh, that reminds me—I just assumed they were bandits, but I wonder if that’s true? Not that it matters. I designate thee bandits A through E, from left to right.
“Mimic Low Kick!”
My stunning leg slammed into bandit C’s knee—the one with the axe. My attack sent him spinning in his spot so that, when his head hit the ground, his neck bent in an unnatural direction.
Yep. Way too weak. This is barely even worth it as a test of my strength.
“Mimic High Kick!”
I moved to bandit A’s left side, got in front, shifted my body, extended my leg, and kicked him in the head. I twisted my pivot leg so that I could follow through with my kick ending diagonally downwards.
*Skwursh!*
The bandit’s head slammed into the ground, deforming it into an undefinable mess.
Ooohh, having long legs is nice! I can do high kicks easily, and they have a real snap to them now thanks to these new hips! But, um, there’s no way this was some rookie move, right? I can’t say for sure, but maybe I was some sort of beautiful martial artist or something?
“You bastaaarrd!” bandit B screamed as he sliced at me with his sword, but I ignored him.
*C-Claanng!*
It didn’t even itch, let alone hurt.
Was there anything else I wanted to try? Maybe a punch...?
My arms were kind of restricted because of their position, though. It was probably safe to assume they were just there for support.
Next...
“Mimic YAKUZA Kick!” It was just a normal front kick, but I was aiming at the knees.
*Bgwhyipe!*
Bandit B let out a strange noise as his knee snapped and his leg bent in a way it wasn’t meant to.
Well, the way my strength is now, I’d deal major damage no matter where I kicked. Still, isn’t it amazing that I can aim for the knee with perfect timing and precision?
There were only two bandits left, so...
“Mimic Whirlwind Kick!”
That descriptor probably wasn’t enough, so to elaborate: this was a move where I started with a spinning kick. I used the momentum from that attack to carry my right pivot foot into a kick as well. Simply put, I’d spin around once so that I could make a one-two combo with both feet.
Both bandits E and D went flying. Naturally, I landed clean hits, so their necks bent in weird directions when they landed.
Huh, I’m starting to notice a common trend. Oh, right—bandit B only has his leg broken, so he’s still alive.
I raised my leg up high. “Mimic Axe Kick!”
The bandit’s head was an easy target because he was crouching down.
*THUD!*
The end of my high heel buried itself into his skull with great force.
The outcome was never in question but, well, I guess it was good practice! Whew, that felt great! It was so easy and free compared to how I used to be!
“Now then, let’s continue our conversation.” I turned to face the village girl, my legs still dripping with blood.
“Yesh! H-Help me! Someone please help me!” the girl yelped, clearly terrified. She was shaking so hard while she crouched down, it almost looked like she was vibrating.
I guess I shouldn’t expect anything else. I’m a monster and I did go pretty ham back there. She probably thinks she’s up next.
“Calm down. I just want to talk. If you won’t, though, I can just kill you instead.”
I’d only approached her on a whim, so I really didn’t need to stick around if she was just going to be terrified. I waited a bit for her to settle down.
After a while, she’d collected herself enough to ask, “U-Umm...what did you need?”
Oh, that’s unexpected. She calmed down more than I thought she would. That’s definitely points in her favor.
“My name’s Harumi. What’s yours?”
“My name is Suama. Umm, what did you...”
“I only recently became able to speak human. I haven’t had much chance to use it, so I just wanted to try it out, to be honest. I don’t really care what we talk about.”
“I see... Why did you come here, Miss Harumi?”
“I don’t really have any business in this place in particular, but I was wondering if I could find a mirror. Maybe your village has one?”
“A...mirror? I have one.”
“Oh, that’s great! Gimme.”
Obviously worried about something, Suama paused, then pleaded, “Umm, I’ll give it to you, so could you help me?”
“Mmm? You mean like a trade?”
“Ah, ummm... Not anything that formal... The mirror’s in my house, and the bandits are still there... So maybe you could get rid of them while going to get it...”
Hm...what to do? I’m being bribed here, but part of me feels like doing a human’s bidding would impact the dignity of monsters as a whole... Still, ignoring Suama to go for another mirror somewhere seems like too much work.
“Sure. Lead me there.”
“O-Okay!”
So, in the end, I had her show me to her place.