I’m an Alraune, a plant monster girl who absolutely loves water.
And that adventurer over there is a drink station.


He even came in that magnificent magical armor just to present me with such delicious water.

The leader of the Dragonwater Crystals, wrapped in a massive body of water, looked so fresh and tasty.


Good day, human water mage.
No, perhaps I should call you Mr. Drink Station.

Thank you very much for inviting me to this all-you-can-drink party.


And how kind of you to welcome me.
Using flowing currents beneath his feet to accelerate, Mr. Drink Station glided toward me like a stream.


Since Mr. Drink Station isn’t spraying any water at me, I guess this all-you-can-drink party is self-service.
If I wish to drink, I may simply take as much as I please. How thoughtful of you, Mr. Drink Station.


Very well, since I’m quite thirsty, shall I drink?


I directed about ten thorns towards Mr. Drink Station.
With a soft splash, I heard the sound of the thorns as they hit the water.
It seems the thick armor of water blocked them completely.


Inside the mass of water, my thorns wriggled uselessly as he cut them down one by one with his spear.
Lachrymal agents of onions dissolve in water.
Therefore, with that armor of water wrapped around him, my onion attack won’t be effective either.


His water armor really is troublesome.
As long as he’s protected by it, neither my vines, nor my onion, nor my sleeping powder will be able to reach Mr. Drink Station.


“Now it’s my turn!”


With his spear ready, the adventurer charged straight at me.
Because of the current beneath his feet, he was carried forward in one fluid motion.



If he’s coming closer, that works perfectly for me.
This time, I’ll properly drink my fill.


From beneath the earth, I summoned a thick, long root.

Yes, it’s my taproot!


Normally it stays hidden underground, so showing it off is a little embarrassing.
It’s like having what’s underneath my skirt exposed.


Ah… as I thought, this is embarrassing…


The part of my lower body that shouldn’t be seen has been exposed to a man.
And completely naked, no less.
I might never be able to get married now.

Look, even my flower has turned bright red from embarrassment.
Well, it was already red, but that’s beside the point.


I can’t take any more of this shame, so let’s finish this quickly.


I thrust my taproot into Mr. Drink Station’s water armor.


“The human half of an Alraune may be beautiful, but an attack that uses dirt-covered roots? That’s hardly elegant. It won’t work on me.”


Mr. Drink Station, please don’t misunderstand.
I’m not attacking you. I simply came to drink the juice from you.

The moment my taproot made contact, it began absorbing the water at an incredible rate.
The water vanished in the blink of an eye, like pulling the plug from a full bath.


I could feel the moisture being drawn up through my xylem, flowing into every part of me.
The water tastes so good!


“W-What the—!?”


The water-absorbing power of my roots, honed during last year’s drought, was no joke.

During that hellish heat, where I struggled to draw up even the slightest moisture from the dry earth, my roots had become masters of water absorption!

Because of that, Mr. Drink Station’s armor of water has completely disappeared.
Thanks for the meal.


“…I didn’t expect my water armor to be drained. But roots are still roots—I’ll just cut them down!”


Mr. Drink Station tried to pierce my taproot with his spear.
But it won’t be that easy!


Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop!

With his water armor gone, this was the perfect target practice.
Struck by my squirting cucumber machine gun, Mr. Drink Station was blown backward.

However, thanks to the earth support spell boosting his defense, the seeds didn’t pierce him.


Even so, with Mr. Drink Station reeling from that attack, this should be the perfect opportunity. But I don’t have the luxury to focus on that right now.



──Ugh.

I might’ve drunk too much water.

Feels like my roots are going to rot………


Despite being a plant monster my size, there’s a limit to how much water I can absorb at once.

I had way too much. I feel sick.
And if my roots start to rot from taking in too much water, I’ll wither away.
This is bad!


It’s an emergency!

I need to regulate the water inside me right away.

Which means… it’s time for transpiration.


Normally, I release the water inside my body through my leaves.
Plants expel moisture as vapor through tiny pores called stomata. This process is called transpiration.

It’s the same as the physiological process of sweating in humans.

By transpiring, I can get rid of excess water inside my body and that lets me draw up more water again through my roots.


I opened the stomata beneath my leaves and began releasing moisture.


Soon, something like water vapor started drifting out from them.

Looks like since I absorbed such an excessive amount of water, the amount being released through transpiration was just as extreme.

The moisture being expelled was so much that a thick, fog-like vapor spread from my body, blanketing the area.


“Fog… coming from the Alraune… what is this?”


Mr. Drink Station looked confused.
But the next moment, he clutched his eyes and collapsed.


“M-My eyesssss!!”


Just like the knights who’d been hit by onions earlier, Mr. Drink Station rolled around the ground in agony.

The thing is, while transpiring, I mixed in some of the onion’s lachrymal agents along with the moisture.
Because of that, it seems my water vapor has turned into something like tear gas.


Even the toughest armor won’t offer much protection against water vapor in the air.
It might have been different if he still had that water armor around him, but I already drank all of it, so there’s nothing he can do about it now.



“Leader, are you alright!?”

“I’ll help—agh, my eyes!?”

“What is this stuff!!?”


The three allies who rushed in to save Mr. Drink Station also suffered the same fate.

Now all four of them were writhing on the ground together.


“Losing… to a mere plant monster…!?”


As the members of the Dragonwater Crystals writhed about, I gave them each a little present, sleeping seeds.

A small token of appreciation for the all-you-can-drink party.
Please rest well.

With the sleeping seeds pierced in them, the four quietly drifted off into the land of dreams.


Now that I think about it, I kind of want to keep this drink station.
Compared to the flower arrangement earlier, Mr. Drink Station is far more practical and useful.


Maybe I should install him in the forest.

Don’t worry, Mr. Drink Station.
If you’re an open bar, then I’m the forest’s salad bar.

I can grow as many vegetables as I like, after all.
An open bar and a salad bar, it’s like we’re matching. So, let’s get along and work hard together from now on.



──Phew.

That should take care of things.

Subduing humans without killing them really is troublesome.


I suppose, since they were trying to kill me, it wouldn’t be wrong for me to do the same to them.

But if I were to eat a human right after being accused of being a “man-eating Alraune,” then that lie would become the truth.

So as always, I’ll politely return these humans back to the city.
…Though I might make an exception for Mr. Drink Station.


Alright then, that should be the entire subjugation force taken care of.


Just as I thought that, I felt someone’s gaze on me.


Looking closer, there were still two humans left standing.


One was a man who looked like an adventurer, and the other was a girl who seemed to be a saint apprentice.


Unlike the man, whose face was stiff with fear as he looked at me, the apprentice saint wore a troubled expression, as if she was confused by something.


As the tear gas mist cleared, the saint apprentice slowly stepped towards me.


When we were close enough for us to see each other clearly, she came to a sudden stop.


Then, we locked eyes, drawn together by a magnetic pull.



This girl… I knew I recognized her.

Those eyes were her most distinctive feature, holding a powerful aura of light.

There was something special about them, as if they’d been blessed by the Goddess of Light herself.


I’m sure her name was—


“…Lady Iris.”


The saint apprentice softly whispered the saint’s name.


That name… It used to be mine.
A name I hadn’t heard from anyone in a long time.


But the fact that she called me that means this girl knows who I am.


And hearing her voice… I remember now.
I remember a young saint apprentice with those special eyes.


That apprentice was Nina.


How nostalgic.
She’s grown quite a bit without me knowing.


But right now, something else is bothering me.
If she called me Iris, then Nina must have recognized me as the saint I once was.


“…Lady Iris… no. That can’t be possible…”


Nina’s expression hardened with resolve.

Then, in a firm tone, she raised her voice and spoke.


“An Alraune with Lady Iris’s face. What did you do to her?”

***

Author’s Note:

When a plant is put in a plastic bag, the inside of the bag fogs up with water vapor from transpiration. This allows for plant transpiration to be visually seen.

Next Time: The Saint-Devouring Alraune and the Vengeful Saint Apprentice


TL’s Note:

1. An open bar is a service at events where guests can get free drinks usually paid for by the host.