I’m an Alraune, a little plant monster girl.
And having been moved from the kitchen to Fire Dragon-sama’s office, I was, as usual, listening in on a conversation between Fire Dragon-sama and Uncle Teddy


“Moving on, how is that internal investigation going?”

“Everything is going smoothly.”

“Good to hear. Now then, Alraune, what exactly is this?”

“It’s… bubble milk tea!”


It’s the masterpiece Ms. Scylla and I poured our hearts and souls into.
I honestly didn’t think we would be able to make it, but thanks to Ms. Scylla, we pulled it off.

I had just presented our pride and joy to Fire Dragon-sama a moment ago.


“This is quite the strange drink. There are all these little round objects sitting at the bottom of the glass.”

“Those… are… tapioca pearls.”


Fire Dragon-sama took a sip of the bubble milk tea, murmuring “Hmm.”


“Even though I’m drinking a beverage, I’m still able to enjoy the texture of food. How novel.”


Right? Right?
And it looks unusual too, so it was exactly the kind of unique food Fire Dragon-sama was looking for!


“And this milk… it’s remarkably rich. Or rather… how should I say it?”

“That’s… the milk… I produced.”

“……What… did you say?”


Fire Dragon-sama’s eyes met mine.
We silently stared at one another.

Um… it’s embarrassing when you look at me with such a serious expression…


“Alraune… when you say you produced milk, you don’t mean… breast milk, do you?”


──Breast milk?
What? There’s no way!


“No… that’s not… it!”


It would be way too embarrassing to be misunderstood like that.
I’m just a little girl. It’s not like I could produce it even if I wanted to.
I’d better clear things up quickly.


“This is the… milk.”


I made a coconut grow from one of my vines.
That’s right. There was actually a coconut palm growing in the botanical garden.


Coconut palms bear fruits called coconuts, and inside those fruits is coconut milk.

Sweet, creamy coconut milk comes from mature coconuts, while coconut juice comes from young coconuts.
The bubble milk tea I presented to Fire Dragon-sama was made by mixing tapioca with those two ingredients.


By the way, I gave up on making actual tea.
So, to be perfectly accurate, this is actually tapioca coconut milk juice.


“No wonder it tasted different from cow’s milk.”


Fire Dragon-sama murmured in relief.
There’s no way I could produce real dairy milk.
I made sure to keep every ingredient plant-based, after all.


“I haven’t been this surprised since the day I found you, Alraune. For a moment, I was at a loss for words, wondering what exactly I’d just been made to drink.”


I can’t produce milk from my breasts, but I can produce it from my fruits.
In exchange, though, something else comes out of my breasts……


“Honestly, the idea that an Alraune could produce milk surprised me more than the tapioca itself. But more than that, however, I must commend your ability to grow other plants from your vines.”


Huh? That’s strange.
Instead of focusing on the tapioca coconut milk juice itself, his attention had been drawn to somewhere else entirely.


“Just as I thought, you truly are an extraordinary Alraune. Making you my maid was the right decision.”


Wait… is he praising me?

Ahh, having Fire Dragon-sama pat me on the head isn’t so bad.
Compared to the soothing feeling I get when the little witch does it, this one makes me feel at ease.
Maybe it’s because his hands are so large. They give me a sense of security.


“As promised, I shall allow you to visit the botanical garden. I’ll have one of the maids carry you there.”


Yay!
Now, if I can just eat that plant in the botanical garden, I might finally be able to escape the Demon King’s castle!



While I was celebrating inwardly, Uncle Teddy, who had slipped out of the room without me noticing, opened the door and returned.


“Lord Grüsch, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Lady Feagismeinnicht, requests an audience.”

“The Spirit Princess…? Very well. Let her in.”


The older Dryad sister had come to see Fire Dragon-sama?
I wonder what she could want?


Riding atop her giant tortoise, the Dryad entered the office.
After offering her formal greetings to Fire Dragon-sama, she spoke, saying, “I have come today to bid you farewell before my departure.”


“Feagismeinnicht, are you setting out already?”

“At this very moment, a favorable wind is blowing from this mountain towards the Forest of Dryades in the Kingdom of Gardenia. If I travel with the wind atop a bird monster, I should be able to reach Tower City in no time.”

“I see… I have high hopes for you. Fulfill your duty as the successor to the vanished Garuda Hræsvelgr.”

“As you command.”


With a respectful bow, the Dryad left the room, but not before shooting me a brief glance.


So this means she’s going back to the Forest of Dryades, right?
She said she was “setting out,” which probably means she’s planning to attack both the forest and the town.


The Dryad has finally made her move.
I can’t afford to waste any more time. I have to get back to the forest as quickly as possible.
The little witch is in danger!


“Master… may I go… to the botanical… garden now?”

“Very well. Go fetch a maid.”


Uncle Teddy stepped into the hallway to call one.
Once we were alone, Fire Dragon-sama spoke to me again.


“Still, it’s difficult to believe that an Alraune only a few days old could create a drink I’ve never seen before.”

“You… flatter me.”

“It makes me suspect you’re actually an Alraune who has lived for many years and accumulated a wealth of knowledge. To draw an analogy, it’s almost as if the Alraune I thought I burned to ash is somehow still alive, standing before me in a different form.”

“……I don’t… understand… difficult things.”


Eeeeeek!
Fire Dragon-sama’s gaze is terrifying!

Maybe I overdid it a little, considering I’m supposed to be a newborn and all.
He’s on the verge of realizing I’m the very Alraune who killed his subordinate!
I’m in trouble!


“My apologies for the wait. I’ve brought a maid.”

“Yay! Uncle… hurry and… take me… into the hallway!”


Talk about perfect timing.
You came back just in time, Uncle Teddy!


“Then… Master… I’ll be going… now.”

“Take your time. This will be your first visit to the botanical garden.”


Indeed it shall, Fire Dragon-sama.
Ohohohoho…


Once we stepped out in the hallway, Uncle Teddy handed my flowerpot over to a maid.
And off I went, carried by the maid.

Today, the one serving as my legs was a devil maid.
She had devilish horns, wings, and even a tail.

She was also the same maid who had carried me from the older Dryad sister’s room back to Fire Dragon-sama’s room the other day.
Not only that, she was one of the maids who badmouthed me behind my back in the hallway, calling me a “vase.”


As for that incident, I put those gossiping maids in the hallway to sleep with sleeping powder, so I consider us even.
At this point, I have no intention of doing anything.

──Not on my end, at least.


“Excuse me… where… are we going?”


Instead of heading towards the castle exit, the devil maid seemed to be taking me somewhere else.


“This is the correct way.”


Maybe it’s just a shortcut outside?

I wouldn’t have any complaints if that were the case, but it seems I’ll have to file a complaint with this devil maid.

Because the room she carried me into was an empty room.


“…What… are you… planning?”


Could this be payback for putting her to sleep the other day?
Uncle Teddy had scolded her pretty thoroughly afterward, so maybe she wanted to settle the score.
These maids in the Demon King’s castle are terrible!


You little devil—oh right… she actually is a devil.

This is the Demon King’s castle, after all. Real devils work here, too.


“We’ve been expecting you.”


A voice suddenly called out from the back of the room.
Someone had been waiting for me.
Does that mean the devil maid was in cahoots with this person?


“What… do you… want… with me?”

“We only have one reason for coming to see you.”


The owner of the voice was much larger than I was. And unfortunately, it was someone I recognized.
In fact, she was just about the worst person it could’ve been.


“You’ll regret refusing to join us… when you’re in the afterlife.”


The one staring straight at me with both eyes…

It was the Dryad.

***

Author’s Note:

Coconut Palm: A member of the Arecaceae family. The coconut is the fruit of the coconut palm. Since these fruits float in seawater, coconuts that fall into the sea can drift across the ocean and sprout on the sandy shores of distant continents and islands, allowing the species to spread.

Next Time: The Attack of the Three Spirit Beasts and the Combat Maid