Chapter 50: Chapter 89 – A Tenant with a Surprise

I snapped awake in the middle of the night, following another one of Ange's romp cravings. I got dressed and went downstairs to find Cresta snoring face down in Irapesha's lap on the couch. The television was playing an animal documentary which she seemed mildly invested in.

"What time did you guys get back? Did you eat?" I asked, rubbing the crust from my eyes.

"We ate out," Irapesha answered. "Professor Markel had come by earlier in the evening. We thought to call for you, but it appears you were preoccupied."

My face turned red hot.

Irapesha shut off the television and threw Cresta onto her shoulder. She handed me a folder which Professor Markel had probably dropped off since I was busy.

"A new tenant?"

Flipping open the folder revealed a white-haired woman with pointy ears and a curious pendant that looked like a reptile's eyeball.

"So it seems. I haven't read it, merely kept it guarded for you until you received it," Irapesha said.

I blinked absentmindedly at her until it clicked in my head. "Have you been staying up this whole time, waiting to give it to me?"

"The professor said it was a matter of privacy, only the caretaker may read it and must not fall into another's hands. I convinced him that I would give it to you and not meet another's eyes. Although… keeping others away from it was trouble enough." She let out a low growl at the passed out assassin slung over her shoulder.

"You should have just slipped it under my door. I'm so sorry for making you stay up!" I apologized profusely, but she didn't seem to mind and put a hand to my shoulder.

"And risk other people chancing upon it? There is nothing to apologize for. I am used to staying up. If you will excuse me, I'm going to put this troublemaker to bed and head to sleep myself. There is left over barbecue in the fridge if you're hungry. Goodnight." The dragonewt nodded and went upstairs.

Cresta being nosey about tenants… That has definitely happened before.

I heated some spare ribs and briskets, then went back to my room to read about the new tenant. 

"The new tenant's name is Ivory, no family name. Her age was… unknown? Genderless, but preferred to take on the appearance of a four foot tall elven woman. She belonged to a race of living… MIMICS?!" Both hands went straight to cover my mouth. I glanced over my shoulder to see Ange stir, but fell right back to slumber. Breathing a sigh of relief, I returned to reading the documents.

Ivory was a living mimic. Her kind were created by the demon lord to fool and ensnare the unsuspecting as a way to strike paranoid fear into people. Ever since the war ended, the race faced trouble integrating into Weyeran society due to how hated they were. Only recently, thanks in large part to— as usual— High-King Tarcosa, had there been a push to grant living mimics their sovereignty as sentient and independent entities.

"Well… This is new and will most certainly come as a surprise to everyone in the dorm…" I rubbed my eyes, wondering if I was dreaming.

Somehow, the mimic's crooked smile gave me the impression that they weren't exactly the most behaving thing.

As I read on, it became clear that my hunch was correct.

Living mimics were natural-born pranksters. Most of their lives were spent in castles, dungeons, and tombs, lying in wait for the gullible to come near before springing into action. Since they could take the form of almost anything, it was nigh impossible to track one down without the risk of being caught in their jaws.

"Damn it all…" I groaned. "Why can't I just have cute, normal tenants like Tamara and Remmy?"

Once I finished up, I filed the folder away into a locked cabinet, emailed the professor that I received it from Irapesha, and finished the late night barbecue dinner that had gotten cold.

By now, it was two in the morning. I brushed my teeth and figured soaking in the communal bath would be nice for once. It's also been a while since I was up this late. With everyone asleep, I could enjoy the peace of a sento-like bath.

Morning arrived at last, and the doorbell rang as Ange and I were heading downstairs to make breakfast. I knew then that it was the new tenant.

Everyone came running out and crowding behind me.

When I opened the door, two soldiers in military fatigues were carrying a heavy, iron-banded chest up to us. Professor Markel was walking up from behind, glancing into the papers in his hand.

"Dropping off the new tenant?" I asked him.

He nodded. "You could say that. I hope you've read the documents, Akira."

"I have but…" I scanned the parking lot for my tenant, but they were nowhere to be seen. "Where are they? D-Don't tell me…"

The professor gestured to the chest brought forth.

That had to be Ivory… right?

I reached forward only for the chest to snap open, and the one from the pictures shot out like a jack in the box. Even though I knew the surprise was coming, I fell onto my ass and clutched my throbbing heart.

The living mimic flashed a wide, toothy grin at me. "Hi, hi! Name's Ivory. Nice ta meetcha!"

I knew right away Ivory was going to be a difficult tenant.

The living mimic skipped into the dormitory with spring in her step and humming delightfully. Aside from her own person, she had no suitcases or luggages to bring in. Professor Markel left after wishing me good luck, which made me realize that was the first time he said that.

"Ivory's fun! I like her!" Cresta exclaimed, helping me back onto my feet.

"Who don't you like?" I questioned in return.

We all headed back inside, and the tenants went back to doing their own things. Receiving new people at the dorm had become so normalized now that it wasn't much of a celebratory thing. Ines went back to her room to work, Remmy returned to her games, Tamara was in the backyard playing with Rakka, and so on and so forth.

Meanwhile, I was just standing around in the living room, scratching my head over where Ivory went. One side of me figured they would be exploring the place. The other, who knew beforehand the capriciousness of our new tenant, was on guard…

"Cresta, I don't suppose your nose can sniff out where Ivory is?" I asked the cardboard box resident.

"Oh, she went to your room!" Cresta answered as a matter of factly.

Why my room? Maybe Ivory needed to speak with me privately.

"I'll come with! I haven't said hi yet since she kinda just walked right past us earlier." She hopped out of her box to follow me upstairs.

When we got up there, I noticed the door to my room was shut. I didn't recall closing it earlier.

"That's weird. My nose is telling me Ivory's right in front of you. Maybe she's standing right behind the door?" Cresta scratched her head, wondering out loud.

"Ivory! If you need to talk with me, I'm coming in— eh?!" As soon as I opened the door, I became faced with a gaping chasm of darkness before my eyes instead of my room.

My entire consciousness drew a blank. I had no idea what I was looking at.

"What the hell is this?" I asked Cresta while waving an arm through it.

The door transformed into Ivory and shouted, "Boo!"

The sudden change freaked me out, and I leapt into Cresta's arms with a fright.

"Ahahaha! You fell for the oldest trick in the book. I haven't done a door mimic in such a long time!" Ivory fell to the ground, clutching her stomach and laughing.

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"You scared me half to death! C-Can you really change into anything?" I dared to ask.

"Got that right. You haven't seen it all yet. Just wait until I turn into a bed mimic! Those get people all the time," Ivory said.

Just kill me now.

My actual door was fine. It looked like she had superimposed herself onto it or something. A real mimic that could turn into literally any inanimate object. What a recipe for disaster.

They wore a simple, white one-piece. Including the hair, it was easy to tell what their favorite color was. The only thing out of the ordinary was the pendant.

"It's sooo cool that you can change into anything!" Cresta said with stars in her eyes. "Can you change into a cardboard box?"

"Dunno why you wanna see something boring like that, but sure. Watch." Ivory transformed into a cardboard box similar to the one downstairs.

Though a certain physical trait of the mimic stuck out to me. The reptilian-eyed pendant hadn't changed. It remained with Ivory on this form and on the chest they arrived in.

Right as the transformation completed, Cresta hopped right in.

"Oooh… so comfy and warm…" The cat girl rubbed her cheek against the rim of the box.

"Oi! You're getting fur in my mouth!"

Like someone had slapped on a pair of eyes on the box's side, they glared up at Cresta for diving in.

It seemed even in object form, Ivory could talk and see. Living mimics were something special. While having netherfolk tenants was crazy enough, I never in a million years expected to have a mimic of all things to live here. Especially when the perception of them as ambushing monsters from video games weren't so far from the truth…

"Alright, quit bothering your new dorm mate." I pulled the struggling Cresta out, who had become deadweight inside the box.

Ivory returned to the usual humanoid form which took the appearance of an elven child.

"Since you're going to be living here now, let's find you a room. The left wing's currently stacked, so I hope you don't mind a succubus, dark elf, and sheep as your neighbors," I said, directing them to the right wing of the dorm.

"Nah, don't mind me. Mimics don't need a room or anything, so save yourself the trouble," they said.

I tilted my head. "You sure?"

"How do I explain it? Mimics live in all sorts of places, right? We don't need a room, just any space with some objects around will do just fine. I'll make myself comfortable in the living room as an end table or something."

The three of them went down to the living room to find Ivory a suitable spot. As we were about to suggest some corners, the mimic plopped right down and transformed into a stool by the island.

"This will do!" they said.

Something told me this wasn't exactly the best place.

"Caretaker, I'm absolutely famished. Will you be a dear and prepare something? My palette is craving a sweet meal." Valeanor made strides as she entered the kitchen and unwittingly sat on top of Ivory.

"Ah—" Cresta and I were too late to stop her.

"Hm? What is it?" She noted our pause with confusion.

"This glorious plumpness… It's a dark elf, isn't it?" Ivory's voice came through muffled.

Valeanor glanced down to a pair of eyes meeting her gaze.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" The blood curdling scream was followed up by Valeanor launching off the seat and crashing into me. We tumbled hard into the floor while Cresta and Ivory's laughter assailed our ears.

"I think… we're going to need to set some more ground rules." I sighed.

After calming Valeanor down by promising to bake her a cake, Ivory and I have a serious discussion about housemate etiquette. Ange, having found a hobby in baking, asked Cresta to help her while we spoke.

"Ivory," I began, putting on my scolding voice. "I know being a mimic and shapeshifting is in your nature, but if the incident with Val was any indication, we can't have you changing into just anything. We're going to come up with a list of things right now."

They set a new record on how soon I needed to drop the caretaker hammer for misbehaving. Although, I should probably assume some responsibility for not warning Valeanor quicker.

"Fiiiiiiine. Guessing that means chairs are outta the picture? What next? Closets, doors, and toilets?" The mimic listed off enough things that proved they were pretty aware of what was unacceptable—

Wait.

"Toilets? You wouldn't… would you?" I narrowed my eyes on her.

Ivory glanced off to the side and started whistling.

As we were working together on a list, I noticed Remmy peeking in curiously from the foyer.

"Sorry, Remmy! We can take this somewhere else if you want to play on the consoles," I said.

The slime shook her head, fearful about having interrupted us.

"Oh, I thought I saw a slime when I came in earlier. Come here and lemme get a good look atcha!" Ivory shouted.

Surprisingly, Remmy found the courage to approach the new tenant.

"It's… nice to meet you. My name is… Remmy," she introduced herself with great effort.

"You know, the two of us are a lot alike. We can turn into the same things, can't we?" The mimic hopped off the couch and transformed into a vase.

Without a word, Remmy reshaped her slime body into the exact same vase and giggled.

"Ahaha! Nice! Color needs a little work, but we're practically twins!"

Both of them were having fun, changing into a bunch of inanimate objects together. A pillow cushion, a standing fan, a dinner plate, and then finally…

Much to my exasperation, Ivory turned into a dildo.

"You little shit, don't turn into sex toys! We're adding that to the list!" I yelled.

Ivory changed back, cackling.

On the other hand, Remmy returned to her humanoid form and blushed, both cheeks taking on a shade of red against the blue slime. She shook her head, refusing to follow suit, but was enjoying Ivory's antics nonetheless and laughing more than usual.

A slime and mimic, huh. Not a combination I'd ever expected to happen, but it seemed like they were quickly becoming fast friends.

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