I’m an Alraune, the plant monster girl who ate Saint Iris alive.

Because of that misunderstanding, Nina now thinks I’m the monster that killed me, and she’s trying to avenge me by defeating me.


“I’m Nina, a saint apprentice. As Lady Iris’s junior, I will bring the man-eating Alraune who took her life to justice!”



Nina, stop!

I’m happy you’re trying to avenge me, but the monster you’re trying to kill is actually… me!


“Listen… to me… I didn’t kill… Iris.”

“Ugh… How vile. To think you would utter Lady Iris’s name with that face. This is beyond insulting.”


N-Noooo, that’s not iiiit!

Iris is my naaaame!


“Man-eating Alraune, don’t sully Lady Iris’s name any further!”


Ugh……
I never imagined I’d be hated this much just for saying my own name.


At this rate, Nina and I might end up fighting to the death.
I really don’t want to fight her if I can help it.
If it’s going to come to that, then maybe I should just tell her the truth.


──Yes, I’ve decided.
Even if Nina will hate me more, I’ll tell her the truth.


This decision might result in me being put through a terrible situation, but still, I won’t hate Nina for it.
And if she adores me this much, then she’ll maybe keep it a secret that I’m actually Saint Iris.


I’ll stake everything on that single hope.


“Nina… wait… This might surprise you… but… I’m Iris!”


Nina froze in place.
Good, this is working!


“Look… at this face… I was… absorbed by a plant monster… and this is what happened… to me!”

“I’m shocked…”


N-Nina!
You finally understand!


“I never knew Alraunes were capable of scheming this far…”

“Huh?”

“Did you really think I would believe a lie like that, man-eating Alraune? I already know full well that Alraunes are monsters who deceive humans and turn them into food!”


Aaaaaaah!

This is one of those situations where no matter what I say, she’s never going to believe meeeee!


“I always wanted to see Lady Iris again. I wanted to hear her call me Nina one more time. And to think that wish would come true like this…”


Nina glared at me with a piercing gaze, her face twisted with pure fury.


W-W-Wait!?


Telling her my true identity only seems to have made her angrier.
There’s no way she’s going to believe me now!


It’s true that Alraunes are monsters who lure people by taking on a human appearance. So she isn’t exactly wrong, but because of that, she’s suspicious of me even more.

What am I supposed to do? I finally told her the truth, and now she trusts me even less!


Ugh, stupid Alraune biology!!


As I was internally agonizing, one of the male adventurers standing behind Nina suddenly called out to her.


“Lady Nina, please wait!”

“Sir Franz, don’t stop me. This Alraune is my sworn enemy.”


Shaking off the adventurer behind her who tried to restrain her, Nina raised her staff like a bow and fired a light magic attack.

A rainbow-colored arrow of light flew toward me.

But I’m sorry, Nina.
Light magic doesn’t work on me. If anything, it makes me stronger.


“Regenbogen has no effect. In that case…!”


Mistaking the attack for having been deflected, Nina raised her staff again.


“Flash—Beleuchten.”


A powerful burst of light, like a camera flash, shot from her staff.
A blinding light spell, huh?



But even if I can’t see, I can still sense movement to some extent.

My vines are spread all throughout this ground.
So just by the sensations traveling along my vines, I can tell exactly where Nina is running.


Trying to capture Nina, I lashed out with my vines.
But Nina deftly dodged my assault, moving as if she had predicted my movements.


Ooh. That’s impressive, Nina!
I didn’t expect her movements to be this good.
She’s grown a lot, hasn’t she?


Transforming her staff into a spear of light with magic, Nina charged straight at me.
It seems she realized that long-range attacks don’t work on me, so she’s trying to take me down in close combat instead.


“Take this!”


But even if she has grown, Nina still has a long way to go.
She’s leaving herself wide open when she attacks.


See? Just by sprouting vines from underground like this, I can catch Nina easily.


“Ugh… l-let go of me, monster!”


Struggling so much is pointless.
There’s no way Nina’s strength can escape my vines.
Let’s toss that dangerous staff away, shall we?

Oh, right. Since we’re already here, let me get a closer look at her face.
I drew Nina, vines and all, right in front of me.

Ahh, it really is Nina.
Now that I can see her up close, there’s no mistaking it. This really brings back memories.


“…Man-eating Alraune, are you going to eat me too? Just like Lady Iris?”

“I would never… do that.”

“Don’t lie. Look at yourself, Alraune. Your face is just like Lady Iris’s. Your hair color might be different, but even your eyes are the same.”


Nina really did remember my appearance well even though it’s already been four years.
It made me happy.


“Just as I thought… This man-eating Alraune must have eaten Lady Iris and taken over her body. If that’s the case……”


Nina swallowed hard, as if preparing herself for a major decision.
Then, with the eyes of someone ready to die, she stared straight at me.

Slowly slipping her right hand into her robe, she began to speak in a gentle voice, almost like a prayer.


“Lady Iris, I’m coming to your side now. Please wait for me…”

“Eh!?”


Hearing Nina speak as if she was about to die made me panic so much that I nearly spat nectar out from the back of my throat.

But thanks to that, Nina’s movements stopped for just a moment.


“This scent… it’s that honey… why?”


Murmuring in confusion, Nina pulled something out from inside her robe.
In her hand was a bottle marked with the crest of fire magic.


“But honey doesn’t matter right now… Prepare yourself!”


With all her might, Nina moved to hurl the bottle at me.

──That’s when it happened.


“Ah…………”


A single piece of cloth fluttered out from Nina’s robe.

It must have slipped out together with the bottle by accident.


“This is……”


The white handkerchief landed on my bulb.

Both Nina and I froze, our eyes fixed on it.

It was a cute handkerchief trimmed with lace.
Embroidered onto it in golden thread was the name “Iris.”

I recognized this handkerchief.


“You still had… my handkerchief.”


Picking it up with my vines, memories of the first time I met Nina came flooding back.


Believe it or not, this handkerchief belonged to me.
I had forgotten until I saw the real thing, but this was the handkerchief I gave to Nina four years ago.

I’m surprised she’s kept it all this time.


But there was someone even more surprised than I was.


“……What did you just say?”


With the expression of someone staring at the impossible, Nina slowly shifted her gaze from the handkerchief to me.


“H-How does an Alraune know about the handkerchief…?”


Nina’s voice trembled as she spoke.


“N-No way… Are you really… Lady Iris…?”



And once again, Nina’s eyes met mine.

***

Author’s Note:

Thank you for reading.

Next Time: The Handkerchief from Back Then, and the Corporal from Back Then