A chance meeting, proclamation, and panic(EDITED)

'What do you mean 'Human' form not found?!'

Of course, my skill didn't answer. It was just a Skill with only two commands 'Imitate' and 'List'. And there was only 'Mouse' on the list to imitate.

I facepalmed inwardly after realizing my mistake.

…

There was nothing I could get from moping around the issue so I went back into the hole to think about how to proceed from now on.

There was no way I would manage to go across the street with so many people in it and I couldn't easily just walk up to anyone randomly and hope they won't notice me so that I could take the 'Human' form from them. I would probably end up dead faster than I could squeak.

With no different ideas, I went out of the hole once again to look around and almost got crushed by someone who tripped and stomped dangerously close to the wall. But before I hid I noticed that two wagons were going into opposite ways.

An idea popped into my mind so I went back through the hole and scaled the wall.

I ran on top of the wall for a few meters and jumped on top of the wagon passing by. The wall was quite high and the driveway was not far so the jump wasn't that hard. But I was honestly surprised how far I could jump as a mouse.

Unfortunately, the wagon I was on was moving away from the only one visible alleyway without many people in it so I had to change the wagons.

I took another running start and jumped. I landed on the roof of another wagon without a hitch. I was nearing the alleyway and noticed there weren't any convenient hay piles to land on. It was only around two meters heigh but for me right now it seemed like at least ten. I wasn't sure about mouses jumping two meters down without injuries.

But I had to get to that alleyway. There might be some drunk person that I can touch to acquire 'human' on my list.

I then went for another jump. I closed my eyes fearing the meeting with the cold pavement will be really painful but unexpectedly soon I hit something soft with my face and that slowed my descend while also acting as a cushion.

"Huh?" x2

I found myself surrounded from all sides with some dark fabric. I started to sweat profusely, thinking that someone had caught me.

"Who threw something at me and knocked away my hat?! Was it you?!"

"I haven't done anything, kid!"

"Me, a kid?! Take that back I am almost at marriable age!"

"Whatever, leave me alone."

"Hey, come back here!"

I heard a lot of people resuming their walking and the man talking with a girl went away while grumbling about 'rude kids'.

After a few seconds of me trying to escape, I suddenly felt a change in altitude but before I fell down I managed to stick to the side with my nails holding on to the fabric. According to what I've heard and judging by the pavement I saw below I seemed to be inside of the 'rude kid's' hat.

I felt someone patting the side of the fabric lightly and then the little bit of light that was present for a few seconds got cut off with the girl's head.

"Okay, clean. Let's go to the guild and earn money for food. It's been two days since I've eaten anything. Hmmm… autumn is right around the corner. Mice should start hiding for the winter. Maybe I will catch some and grill them? I am tired of breadcrumbs from that restaurant..."

I suddenly had a thought going in my mind 'What a cruel world! A young girl has to catch mice to feed herself! This is so sad!' which was immediately followed by "Wait, aren't in a pinch right now?! Wouldn't she eat me if she caught me?!'

I was clinging to the fabric of the hat for my dear life while I was thinking about plans to escape. Then I noticed the existence of my tail that was just hanging down calmly.

"If I were to touch this girl's hair with my tail would it count as physical contact?"

This seemed like a perfect opportunity to get my human form back. I moved carefully down to reach the girl's hair and then used the 'List' command.

>Mouse

>Crimson Demon(599:56)

'What the-?! She isn't a human? She was a crimson demon?! 600 minutes to imitate?!'

I went up to the top of the hat which seemed like the most secure place to think.

I remembered that the subordinate of the madwoman mentioned something about Crimson Demons.

'Maybe they are just another race in this city? But what's up with this long-time needed to imitate? Maybe it's because my strongest form is currently a Mouse. I must be very weak in comparison right now and that might be affecting the time.'

After coming to that conclusion another more depressing thought crept into my mind:

'How much will it take for me to 'Imitate' a human?'

Without anyone to answer my doubts I continued to hide quietly as the girl kept walking towards an unknown destination. I heard multiple people shouting about some items they were selling so I surmised that we were around some kind of market.

Before long though I heard a familiar sound of a doorknob being pulled and an entirely different palette of sounds entered my ears.

The sounds of a bustling street became the quieter sound of tableware clinging off the plates filled my ears. It seemed that she has entered some kind of restaurant.

But my speculation was quickly proven wrong when I heard a male voice speaking towards the girl.

"Hey, are you a mage by any chance? We need one more person for goblin's quest in the nearby forest. Want to team up with us?"

I felt the sudden shift in the girl's posture and the hat shook immensely.

"My name is…"

The girl started loudly but soon the sound of growling came out of her stomach. No one else seemed to hear it, besides me and the girl, because the other guy asked:

"What was that? What-"

"Yes, I am a mage. I'll happily join you in your quest."

The way she spoke changed from downright boisterous and loud to nice and quiet. I wondered what had happened.

"That's great! I am Dane and this is Karg..."

After introductions were over without the girl naming herself they seemed to have gone together deeper into the building because the sounds from the outside gradually disappeared. After a few seconds, I could hear Dane speak again.

"Receptionist-san, will you let us take that quest now? We've found the third person."

The female voice that supposedly belonged to 'Receptionist-san' answered:

"Just to make sure… do you want to go with these two on the quest?"

I felt the girl nodding her head and heard a confident, but silent "Yes" coming from her mouth. That was a real 180-degree change from the previous berserker-ish behavior she has had towards that random guy on the street. I wondered if she was hiding something.

"Then the quest is yours."

The woman then mentioned the details about the quest. Supposedly there was a small group of goblins prowling in the forest near the city and the job of Dane's party was to kill all of them. After the short description, the 'Receptionist-san' wished them luck and they quickly left the guild.

Afterward, the two tried talking to the girl but she answered quietly or just by nodding or shaking her head. Feeling awkward the guys went ahead and were talking among themselves a few meters in front of the girl.

Wondering when my chance to escape would appear I spent the time carefully touching the girl's hair to lower the counter towards gaining the Crimson Demon's form. If I got it before the starving, mouse-eating girl would find me it would be awesome.

The city's sounds started to fade out when I heard a deep male voice exclaim to ask the party about their IDs. It seemed to be some sort of city gate because the man also asked for the reason they were leaving. He quickly let the party through when he learned they were adventurers going out on a quest.

Very soon I could only hear nature sounds and the banter between Karg and Dane walking in front of the girl. After a few additional minutes of walking, Dane came up to the girl and asked:

"Hey, what type of magic do you use? We've been wondering about the plan and-"

To this question, the girl finally answered with a full sentence.

"I use Explosion Magic."

"E-Explosion… as in… THE Explosion Magic?"

The girl answered Dane's confusion with a nod and continued her speech.

"Just cover me while I cast the spell and I will take care of those little fries."

"H-how great. Then we will make sure to properly cover you."

Dane stuttered a little but quickly readied himself and went ahead again. There was some heated discussion in the front which I couldn't make out much from.

A few more minutes passed and I started to hear the rustling of leaves and many birds chirping around. The party seemed to enter the forest.

"I will scout on ahead." The other guy - Karg said before I heard him running ahead of the two.

After a few minutes of hearing two pairs of steps and birds chirping suddenly Dane let out a comment:

"He found them. How near do you need to be to cast your spell?"

"I just need to see them."

There were no more words coming from Dane as they kept moving forward for another few steps before Dane voiced worriedly:

"Wait. There's something wrong… Ummm… Too many goblins? Damn, he was spotted! Let's run!"

It seemed that he was communicating with Karg using some hand signs. I could hear the worry in his voice and I immediately heard him running straight back. The girl didn't move an inch though and after realizing this Dane shouted from behind:

"Hey, what are you waiting for?!"

But the girl didn't react. At this point, I could already hear more than a dozen creatures rushing through the forest towards the girl. Karg seemed to be running away from them because soon I could hear his voice in front of us.

"What are you doing?! Run!"

The girl stood in the same spot but I felt a sudden change in her posture as she shouted:

"Those are numbers worthy to see my ultimate skill! Rejoice to be obliterated by the most destructive magic!"

Then, out of the girl's mouth came a few lines that any person suffering from an eighth-grade syndrome* would be extremely proud of.

"Oh, blackness shrouded in light,

Frenzied blaze clad in the night,

In the name of the Crimson Demons,

let the collapse of thine origin manifest.

Summon before me the root of thy power hidden within the lands

of the kingdom of demise!

Explosion!"**

When the girl was done chanting after more than 10 seconds there was a momentary silence before I heard the loudest deafening boom in my life. It was so loud I thought my Mouse's ears would rupture so I stopped clinging to the inside of the girl's hat and tried shielding my ears.

As I fell down onto the girl's head she suddenly started tilting herself forwards. I sweated bullets thinking that she has discovered me but no hand wandered up to snatch me. Soon I realized that she was just falling down straight onto the ground.

"Owww…"

After I got thrown off the girl's head right back into her hat I heard her wince in pain. She seemed alive and well but I had no idea why she suddenly fell down.

"Hey Karg, you alive?!"

Dane's voice reached me after the noise of the explosion died down completely. It appeared that my ears still worked fine although I heard a weird ringing in my brain.

"Ugh... What the hell?! She almost got me too!"

"You are still alive, so stop complaining. Those goblins would've skewered us before we would get out of the forest!"

I hear Karg's grunt in dissatisfaction but he didn't press the issue any longer and instead asked:

"Where is she anyway?"

There were a quick pause and Dane answered confusedly:

"Hmmm? She was right there… Oh hell-!"

"Huh?! That's Rookie Killer! RUN!!!"

Suddenly I heard the duo scream in horror and then they both started running away towards the city. A loud tiger-like roar filled the area and I could hear a massive creature start running after them but it didn't seem to have noticed a girl lying on the ground.

Gradually the sounds of a creature following Karg and Dane vanished from the area and the only things that could be heard were rustling leaves.

After an additional thirty seconds of hiding inside of the hat, curiosity took better of me and I finally came out of it after a few hours of sitting there. What welcomed me was a pair of intense crimson eyes staring directly at me.

"Is it because of a Crimson Demon's curse? Is this my divine retribution for not introducing myself properly as a Crimson Demon should? Are gods dangling this tasty looking mouse in front of me just before I get eaten as punishment?"

The girl stared intensely at me standing still as if she wanted a mouse to answer. Without even blinking she started again:

"I shall never let it happen again. I should be proud of myself and of my skills! I will not fear rejection or fear being ridiculed for having a weird name! My name is Megumin! The Archmage of Axel, and one who walks the path of Explosions! Come at me Rookie Killer! I do not fear you!"

'What a weird introduction'

I thought to myself and saw that she started tearing up suddenly. I tensed up instantly thinking it was me that made her cry by saying my thoughts out loud. But I soon realized it wasn't my fault. I was a mouse and I couldn't talk.

It became more and more awkward as time passed but she kept looking at me with teary eyes.

"It's not the time for me yet, eh?"

'Don't try to act so cool now!'

I soon realized that Megumin couldn't even move her head so that's why she was staring at me and not doing anything although I saw a hunger in her eyes. I confirmed it by tickling her nose with my tail.

"What are you- Stop that!"

With that knowledge, power returned to the rest of my limbs and I started to look around. The thing called 'Rookie Killer' went after Dane and Karg but this is a forest in another world. What would I do if some other monster showed up?

'Do I need to do anything anyway? Of course!'

This seemed like a proper fantasy-like quest - defend a person from monsters. But there were a couple of things wrong with this situation as the one I am defending was planning on eating me after she got up and I wouldn't be able to do anything if a monster showed up! Talk about insane quests!

Nevertheless, I didn't feel like leaving the 'Megumin' girl alone in the wild so I climbed the tallest thing around - her head - and stood on my hind legs to peek above the moss that was filling the area. The moss was conveniently hiding her body so unless something came really close it wouldn't be able to see her.

I kept on surveying the area with some breaks to let my legs rest up. Around two hours, judging by the sun's position, passed by and Megumin finally moved her head around. It surprised me and I fell on the ground.

"What are you doing?"

She asked as we looked at each other.

"Are you keeping watch for me?"

I couldn't answer even if I wanted to so I tried to climb her head once again.

"If I haven't had familiar already I would make you my familiar. You look so cool with those scars on your face."

When I heard this I fell straight to the ground again.

'What? I had a scar on my face in mouse form too?'

I rolled from my back and started feeling the side of my face in panic. I could tell that I had a big scar on the left side of my Mouse's face too.

"You can understand me?"

Megumin asked surprised with my actions.

I was shocked so much by that revelation that I didn't pay attention to our surroundings. The thing that made me snap back to reality was the sound of footsteps accompanied by a burst of almost human-like laughter.

I saw a goblin that was looking hungrily at Megumin.

(A/N:

*Chūnibyō is a Japanese colloquial term that translates to "middle two disease", i.e. "middle-school second-year syndrome" or "eighth-grader syndrome", typically used to describe early teens who have delusions of grandeur, who so desperately want to stand out that they have convinced themselves they have hidden knowledge or secret powers.

** I allowed myself to copy one of Megumin's actual chants as this is something beyond whatever I can think of.)