I’m an Alraune, a plant monster child.
And this here is my little junior, the Treant who turned out to be an Amazon.


It seems the two of us are actually quite the fighting types.


A flock of bird-type monsters called Weiss-Augens, which looked like oversized Japanese white-eyes, attacked me and the Treant.
Two plants versus thirty birds, and the enemies controlled the skies. It was a completely unfavorable fight. But once I brought out the squirting cucumber machine guns, the tide began to turn.


Good day, little white-eyes.
We are truly grateful for your attendance at this lovely tea party, hosted by the forest’s plant sisters.

Now then, how do you find the taste of my sweets?

They’re the latest trend: tranquilizer seeds.
And thanks to my squirting cucumber machine guns, I’m able to provide generous servings of sweets swiftly and in great quantity to all you distinguished guests soaring through the air.
I do hope they are to your liking.


The white-eyes who sampled my sweets with their entire bodies descended, seemingly so delighted that their whole forms stiffened as they plummeted to the ground.

It seems that while you’re quite skilled at flying, you’re not nearly so adept at landing.
Because from where I’m standing, it looks less like a landing and more like a crash.
With such clumsy movements, you’ll never manage a proper dance with a lady.


Meanwhile, the white-eyes who had yet to receive their sweets gathered eagerly toward me.
It appears they intend to repay me for my generosity on behalf of their fallen companions.
How thoughtful of them. From the looks of it, they’re plotting to present me with pollen.


Your kindness is appreciated, but I must decline.
I have no intention of receiving pollen from gentlemen whose names I do not even know.
And truly, attempting to forcibly pollinate a lady at a tea party is hardly the conduct of a proper gentleman.

Such misbehavior simply will not do.
Allow me to correct that twisted nature of yours.


I raised four vines and aimed their muzzles at the white-eyes.
Now then, shall we?
Pop-pop-pop-pop!


Under the sweeping barrage of four squirting cucumber machine guns, the so-called gentlemen began dropping from the sky one after another.

Ah… how exhilarating.
I fear I might become addicted to this.


The white-eyes who had fallen to the ground lay stiff, as though striking apologetic poses.
If you’ve learned your lesson, that is well enough.
But what comes next is in my little junior’s hands.
My apologies, everyone.


My little junior, the Amazon Treant, showed no mercy to the fallen birds as she finished them off.
She tore off wings, snapped necks, even ripped whole trees from the ground and skewered the white-eyes on them like spears.

In no time at all, she had turned the flock into a blood-soaked spectacle.
My little junior is even stronger than I imagined.


Before I realized it, the white-eyes were gone.
It appears I shot them all down with the squirting cucumber machine guns.


On the ground lay the remains of about thirty bird monsters.
The forest floor was dyed red.
It was a truly horrific sight.

The Treant lived up to her name as a female berserker.
As expected of my Amazon.


The Amazon Treant and I.
With the two of us together, we could probably repel any monster that comes our way.
Ah… except for big shots like Papa Bear, of course.


Still… I’m exhausted.
After trying the squirting cucumber machine gun, I’ve realized something.

They’re incredibly powerful weapons.
But the price of using them is steep.

After all, the squirting cucumber machine gun, which shoots massive amounts of tranquilizer seeds and juice, consumes an insane amount of energy.


Before the white-eyes attacked, I had been busy pollinating my clone, the child Alraune, to create her. Both tasks take a tremendous toll on my stamina, so neither is something I can do lightly.

I’m seriously low on nutrients and water now.
I want water.


But first, let’s clean up this mess.
If the little witch comes back and sees this massacre, she’ll be shocked.
Normally, because I rely on poison, the area never ends up covered in blood, so this is a rare occasion.


I gathered the white-eyes into one pile with my vines.
And then, it’s time for some garbage collection.
The collection point, of course, is my lower mouth.
I’ll take as many as I can in one bite!



“Wow… is this some kind of battlefield?”

From behind a tree, the fairy Kiri appeared.
She surveyed the aftermath of the battle with an exasperated expression.
Seems she just got back from patrolling the forest.


“When I first saw you, Alraune, it was like this too. You’re always getting attacked by monsters.”

“The first time… you saw me?”

“You were being attacked by crocodiles in the pond, remember? I couldn’t stop laughing at how you got swept into the pond in that bucket.”

“Not… the night before… that?”

“Night? I found Alraune during the day. That pond and river incident was the first time.”


…Huh? That’s strange.

The night before I nearly drowned in the pond, I saw a small glowing light, like a firefly.
That tiny light sprinkled something like water over me as I slept, then drifted away somewhere.


I had assumed that light belonged to the fairy Kiri.
But apparently, it wasn’t.

Then what exactly was that light?
Was it just a dream?
Or was it something else entirely…?


──Ah, there she is.
I noticed a white bird flying over the forest.
Since we’d just been attacked by the flock of white-eyes, I was keeping watch on the skies, which is how I spotted her.


Wait.
Where is the little witch going?
She flew right past where we were and went off somewhere.

As I stared up at the sky, puzzled, a familiar voice whispered in my ear.


“Alraune, I’m back.”

“Wah!?”


Before I knew it, the little witch was standing right beside me in human form.


Huh? That was fast!
She was just flying up in the sky a moment ago. How did she get here so quickly?
It was definitely her usual bird form, so it couldn’t have been some other wild bird.
It was almost as if she had teleported.


When did she get so fast?
Did the dark magic of witches include some kind of teleportation spell?
Maybe it’s one of her secret techniques.


With the little witch back, the rest of the group dispersed.
Fairy-san apparently had business with Lady Dryad, so she headed for the sanctuary.
My little junior, the Amazon Treant, went off hunting somewhere.


That left just the little witch and me.
She grimaced at the blood-soaked scene around us while giving me the nectar sales report.

Amazingly—it sold out again today!

Apparently she ran into the same woman who bought nectar yesterday, and that woman purchased everything again.


I’m happy it sold out, but I’m also worried.

She bought a whole bucket of nectar just yesterday, and now she’s already bought more?
Is she okay?

She couldn’t have eaten it all in a single day, could she……?


Shivering at the thought that a new nectar addict may have been born in town, I had the little witch water me with her bucket.

Now that I’m rooted to the ground, the only way for me to get a large supply of water is for her to fetch it from the river.
Ahh… water is delicious!


Still, I can’t stop thinking about what the fairy Kiri said.

That tiny light that watered me while I slept in the western forest…
I had assumed it was her giving me a drink, but apparently, I was wrong.


Now that I think about it, in my dream the water tasted so good, yet by morning I was nearly withered.
At the time, I really was running dangerously low on water, so that part makes sense.

So what was that light that night, after all?
The mystery remains. But since I don’t know what it was, there’s no point worrying about it right now.



“Oh, right! I’ve got a souvenir for you today too!”

It seems the little witch brought something with the money from the nectar sales.
Surely it’s not fertilizer again.


“Tada! I bought some vegetables. You can eat vegetables too, right, Alraune?”

“Of course… I’ll eat it!”


The little witch bought two kinds of vegetables.
Vegetables are edible plants.
Which means that if I eat them, I’ll be able to produce those vegetables myself from now on.


Yes! With this, I can dramatically improve the little witch’s diet!

With that decided, I set about eating the vegetables.
Once I’ve eaten them, I’ll produce plenty from my vines.

Then I can serve the little witch a proper vegetable dish.


I’ve never cooked a day in my life, I was a duke’s daughter, after all, but as her older sister, I’ll give it my all!

***

Author’s Note:

Thank you for reading.

Next Time: Alraune-Style Vegetable Cuisine