The little children came running over. The old man, who was sitting in front of the fountain in the village square, chuckled. He was the grandfather of the village chief and the oldest person in the village.
"What? What story?"
The old man cupped his hand to his ear and asked again. Despite being very wise, kind, and intelligent, the old man had one problem: he was hard of hearing.
The leader of the little children shouted again, louder this time.
"Hero! Story! Please!"
"Ah, the hero's story?"
"Yes!"
The little children gathered around the old man. Not only was he very smart, but he also had a talent for telling stories in a very engaging way.
"That was not so long ago."
"Grandpa, you've lived for so long! Mom said you were once a wizard!"
The old man knew it was just a story from the day before, but the children thought it was an ancient tale.
The old man either didn't hear or pretended not to, and continued his story.
"When I was a little younger than you, the village was very peaceful. It was a very peaceful village where monsters hadn't appeared for years."
The old man was lost in his old memories.
"One day, when I was playing in the nearby forest, I found a small wooden box under a tree. I thought it was very pretty, so I quickly brought it back to the village. The villagers also thought it was a very pretty and curious box, so they gathered around to look at it. But then, the box suddenly opened with a loud creak."
It was a monster, a mimic.
"But the villagers didn't know what it was. Inside the open box were small teeth and a tongue about a foot long, and two round eyes on the lid. The people wondered what it could be. Then, a rumbling sound came from the wooden box. I quickly went to get my snack and gave it to the box."
After that, the wooden box started living in the village under the name Miming.
At first, people gave it the food they ate, but soon they started giving it the food they couldn't eat and would otherwise bury in the ground. Miming ate it very happily.
"Sometimes, when Miming pretended to be a box, I really wanted to open it. I was so curious about what was inside and wanted to have it."
"But that's Miming!"
"Yes, whenever I opened the lid, it was always Miming. Sometimes it even pretended to be a birthday gift. It was a very fun prank."
The old man laughed happily. Then he lowered his voice.
"And a few years later, a very scary monster appeared."
The old man still couldn't say the name of that monster. He was the only person alive who had experienced that event.
The old man remembered it very clearly. It was a very high-ranking demon.
Why such a terrifying demon appeared in this small village, a mere village elder couldn't understand.
A hero, covered in blood, chased the demon, which was laughing maniacally. Even the great hero couldn't defeat the demon.
Fortunately, it was daylight, so the demon hid in the darkness, and the hero was treated by the villagers.
"What kind of monster? An orc? A troll?"
"Werewolf!"
"I don't know. It was a very scary monster."
The old man never revealed the identity of the monster over the years. He was afraid of being disbelieved, so he never spoke about it. The children, though curious, soon gave up.
"The hero said, 'Please help. We must get rid of the monster immediately.'"
But what could the village children do?
The only thing the villagers could do was to treat the hero. That's when it happened.
"Mimic! Mimic!"
It was Miming. The surprised hero shouted.
"Mimic?! Why is a mimic here!"
The villagers were puzzled. To them, Miming was just a wooden box used for food waste. The hero, drawing his holy sword, explained.
"That's a monster. It lives only in the deepest parts of the demon's dungeon! How did it get here?!"
"No! Miming is very kind!"
The young old man shouted, quickly hugging Miming. The hero shouted.
"Put it down quickly! It's a very dangerous monster!"
"No! Miming! Miming!"
The villagers stepped in front of the child. The village chief, the old man's grandfather, said.
"Hero, the important thing now is not this child."
The hero, who had frowned at the village chief's words, sighed.
"You're right. I understand."
The hero sheathed his holy sword and nodded. He could deal with the mimic anytime. The current problem was the viscount-level demon.
At that moment, Miming, who had jumped out of the child's arms, hopped in front of the hero.
"Mimic! Mimic!"
"What is it?"
Miming closed the lid and turned back into a wooden box.
The hero, who had a life dedicated to defeating the demon king, felt something.
Why is this... so beautiful?
The small box was very shiny and smooth.
What was inside? What could be in such a beautiful box? He wanted to open it.
The hero, entranced by the box, reached out his hand.
"Hero!"
"…!?"
The hero snapped out of it at the village chief's call. The hero was flabbergasted. His fingers trembled as he pointed at Miming.
"What is that!"
Despite destroying many dungeons and eliminating all kinds of mimics, no mimic had ever tempted the hero to this extent.
As if understanding the hero's thoughts, Miming opened and closed the lid, bustling about.
"Mimic! Mimic!"
"But why has Miming been acting like this?"
"That's true. Usually, it's very well-behaved…"
Miming jumped and turned back into a box in front of the hero. Despite knowing the mimic's allure, the hero couldn't resist. After being tempted three times, the hero realized.
"That's it. This mimic is…"
"The hero proposed to the villagers. Use Miming to lure the monster, and while the monster is distracted, the hero would eliminate it."
"Miming is in danger!"
"Monsters are scary!"
Though they knew the story, the children shouted. People passing by smiled at the children, remembering their own childhoods.
"The villagers loved Miming so much that they didn't like the plan. But the brave Miming sided with the hero."
In the end, the villagers entrusted Miming to the hero.
The hero placed the small box on a table and said.
"…I don't know if you can understand me, but I think you came to me for this reason. I will bring the viscount here. I want you to use your skills to tempt the viscount. I will eliminate the viscount while you do this."
The hero hesitated a bit before continuing.
"I'll do it quickly to avoid danger. Be careful."
"Mimic!"
"When the sun set, the hero lured the monster to the village. Miming was on a table in the center of the village. The monster, chasing the hero, saw Miming."
"Miming! Hang in there!"
The hero and Miming's prediction was spot on.
"Oh, what is this?"
The viscount-level demon was entranced by Miming. In hundreds of years, he had never seen such a box. He wanted to open it immediately to see what was inside. He wanted the item inside the box.
"Ahahaha! These bugs are offering me such a treasure! Good! I'll give you a very comfortable death!!"
The demon shouted. People trembled in their homes. The demon was even more terrifying than they had imagined.
The demon picked up the box with both hands. With his large, sharp hands, he carefully opened the box.
At that moment.
Something sprang out of the demon's chest. It was a white holy sword. A crack appeared in the demon's core, which was shining in the center of his chest.
"Die! Viscount!"
The hero put strength into the holy sword.
Crack.
The crack became more prominent.
The demon's head tilted back. The sharp eyes of the viscount and the hero met.
"Is… is this a trap…?"
The viscount, feeling his vision blurring, straightened his head. He looked at the box in his hand.
"This…"
Even as he was dying, the viscount wanted the item inside the box. He knew it was a trap, but he was curious. What could be inside to tempt him so much?
The viscount tightened his grip. The box didn't matter; the contents were what mattered.
Crack!
"Mimic!"
Miming. Miming was screaming in pain. The viscount laughed bitterly.
Just a mimic. A lowly monster, not even a noble or a knight, had tempted him. The viscount, feeling ashamed, tightened his grip even more.
I'll kill you too!
The hero swung the holy sword upward. The viscount's head split in two.
The viscount's grip loosened, and Miming fell to the ground.
The young old man, who had come out of his house, quickly ran over and caught the falling Miming.
"Miming!"
The villagers also rushed out.
Miming's body was tattered. It looked like it would break at the slightest touch. Both children and adults cried.
The hero, who had completely dealt with the viscount, walked over and knelt in front of the young old man holding Miming.
Miming's eyes turned to the hero. The hero nodded at the low sobs.
"Mim-ic…"
"Yes. I've completely eliminated it. I made sure to leave no trace, burning it with holy power."
Miming's lid creaked. The hero and the villagers thought Miming was smiling.
The young old man, who had first met Miming and brought it to the village, continued to cry.
"Good job. Thanks to you, the villagers are safe. Thanks to you, I could deal with the viscount. Thank you."
"Mimic…"
The hero, unlike other monsters, knew this small monster was special.
In the hero's life, this mimic was the first and last kind monster.
Miming's breathing slowed. Something rolled out from the cracks in Miming's dead body.
Seeing it, a child burst into tears. It was the small, round stone the child had given Miming as a gift.
"That's how Miming died at the hands of the monster. The hero and the villagers built a fountain and a statue in the place where Miming was, to express their gratitude."
"Miming, thank you!"
"Poor Miming!"
The children sobbed. The old man, recalling a long-lost childhood friend, smiled.
Behind the old man, a statue stood on a fountain that beautifully spouted water.
It was a statue of Miming, opening the wooden lid and smiling brightly.
The small village grew much larger after the hero defeated the demon king and settled in the village.
The hero received a title and a large land that included this village. He ruled the land peacefully thereafter.
"It's Lady Elizabeth!"
The children jumped up and ran toward a carriage with a wooden box emblem.
To see Elizabeth, the hero's great-granddaughter.
The carriage window opened, and a girl's face peeked out.
Seeing the girl's face, the old man chuckled, remembering the hero's face.
Then, someone sat next to the old man.
"It's been a while."
"Yes."
"You always come here. Every year on this day."
A middle-aged man with white hair smiled gently. He felt his heart lighten whenever he came to this village, this place.
"Today is the day Miming died, isn't it?"
The middle-aged man, the hero, looked at the old man. The small child had grown so old.
Aging very slowly due to divine power, the hero had been visiting this village every year on this day, hiding his true identity.
"Yes. It's already been so long. As I get older, I don't know how the days pass."
The old man laughed. The hero's gaze turned to his great-granddaughter's carriage. Seeing the wooden box emblem, he felt proud.
The king asked, "What emblem do you want?"
The hero said, "I want a wooden box."
After that, unable to say "mimic," the wooden box surrounded by laurel leaves became the hero's emblem.
"That guy was a very special one."
"Yes, a very kind and good friend."
The hero looked at the sky. The clear blue sky made him feel good.
"God must have given him a new life. What do you think he's doing now?"
"That's right. A new life…"
The old man chuckled.
"Isn't he tempting other people somewhere?"
"Yes, that's probably it."
Thinking of Miming, a precious connection from a short encounter, the hero smiled.
* * *
Mimic, who tempted both the hero and the viscount, is now preparing to tempt again!
"Seojun will prepare for the shoot!"
Seojun clenched his tiny hands and vowed to make a hit.