I’m an Alraune, a little plant monster girl.
And right now, I’m fighting Drago, the Dragon Dryad, to protect the sanctuary.


After being struck by Drago’s water lasers, I used my plant abilities to fully heal myself.
Plants may not be able to move around.
But in exchange, we possess a regenerative power so potent that animals could never hope to match it!


“So… have you gained… a little more… respect for plants?”

“What… are you? Even for a plant monster, regenerating that fast is impossible.”


Well, you see, I used to be a saint.
When you combine a saint’s light magic with a plant’s regenerative abilities, doing something like this is easy.


“But in the end, you’re still just a monster. You can’t keep this up forever, can you now…? Double Ultra-High-Pressure Water Cannon—Zweifach Wasserschneidemesser!“


Two water lasers shot from the dragon’s mouth.
My body was severed once again.
But I immediately used recovery magic, restoring myself in an instant.


It’s no use.
As long as my roots remain, I can come back again and again.

That said, Drago was right. I can’t regenerate forever.
Thanks to the rain, I have more than enough water for me to grow. But in exchange, I’m hardly getting any sunlight.
If this keeps up, the light energy stored inside me may eventually run out.


To conserve as much strength as possible, I ate the remains of my own body.
That restored a bit of my energy.

Admittedly, it is a little off-putting to eat myself, but this isn’t the time to worry about things like that.
Maybe it’s because I’ve become a plant, but it doesn’t feel nearly as wrong as it would have back when I was human.



“Lady Alraune!”


I heard Kiri’s voice calling out from the sky.
When I looked up, I saw Kiri floating alongside the little witch, who had returned to her human form and was carrying a large sack.


“Who is that human…? How can she fly through the air when she’s only human?”


Drago muttered in confusion.
After a brief pause, the corners of her mouth curled into a crescent-shaped smile.


“So those two are your companions as well. Then there’s no reason to let them live. Ultra-High-Pressure Water Cannon—Wasserschneidemesser!“

“Little witch… dodge!”


The water laser hurtled straight towards her.
This is bad! If someone as small as the little witch gets hit by that attack, she won’t survive.
It’ll kill her in a single blow!


Reacting to my warning, the little witch’s form distorted.
She transformed from a human into a white bird.
With her body so much smaller now, she managed to narrowly evade the water laser.

──Thank goodness…
I thought my heart was going to stop.

Well, not that I actually have a heart anymore, since I’m a plant now.


“Alraune! I brought that thing you asked for!”


Since the little witch had transformed into a bird, the sack she’d been carrying just a moment ago fell to the ground.
Its contents spilled out, sending countless golden feathers drifting down like snow.


“What are those feathers?” Drago asked.

“They’re… my nourishment.”


Using more than a dozen vines, I gathered the feathers fluttering in the air.
These were the feathers of Garuda Hræsvelgr, the Radiant Crown, one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
After defeating him, I’d asked Kiri to pluck his feathers for me.

I’d been saving them, thinking I would sell them someday. Instead, I decided now was the time to use them.
After all, these feathers were infused with the aura of light magic.


Munch munch munch munch munch munch munch munch munch munch munch munch munch munch munch munch munch munch munch munch munch munch.


“Don’t get so full of yourself just because you ate a few feathers.”


Oh, Ms. Drago.
I’m absolutely going to get full.
Because right now, I’m overflowing with the aura of light magic.

With this much energy, I have more than enough to grow.
I’m in such a good mood that I can’t resist shouting a transformation line.

Honey Prism Power, Make Up¹!
It’s time for me to become an adult!


My roots thickened and stretched deeper into the earth.
Mirroring their growth, my bulb swelled larger, and my leaves flourished into a lush and vibrant green.
My crimson petals unfurled outward, blooming wider in brilliance.

The human part of me, my pistil, began to mature as well.
My body, which had been that of a little girl, gradually grew into that of an adolescent girl.

My chest began to fill out, becoming rounder as it slowly developed.
But then, unfortunately, it suddenly stopped.
What little growth it achieved was modest at best.
It was still the chest of a child.


“I guess… a little over ten years old?”


It looks like my body didn’t quite grow all the way into adulthood.
I would say I ended up around the beginning of puberty.


Compared to the last time, when I was struck by several of the golden birdman’s high-tier light magic spells, the amount of light energy I absorbed this time was much lower.
Because of that, I wasn’t able to grow to the same extent as before.
Even so, having grown from a little girl into an adolescent made my body much larger, and my roots could now extend far deeper into the earth.


I covered my barely budding chest with a vine bra.
At this age, staying completely naked would just be way too embarrassing.



Drago, who had been staring at my transformation in astonishment, finally spoke in a trembling voice.


“That growth rate… it isn’t something any monster should be capable of. Just what are you, Alraune?”

“I’m… just a flower.”


I’m not a saint anymore.
I’m just a plant monster.

Well then, now that my transformation is complete, I suppose it’s my turn to attack.

I may only be wearing a bra on top while wearing nothing below my waist, but in my heart, I’m wearing a sailor uniform.
I am the pretty guardian, Sailor Alraune¹!
And now in the name of nectar, I’ll punish you!


“Getting bigger won’t change anything. Double Ultra-High-Pressure Water Cannon—Zweifach Wasserschneidemesser!“


Before Drago could fire her water lasers, I created a squirting cucumber machine gun.
I had actually been secretly growing it while I was transforming.
Looks like I won the quick-draw contest.


Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop!


Countless seed bullets raced towards Drago.
A split second later, she fired her water lasers. Instead of aiming at me, she used her lasers to shoot down my seeds.

Even so, I had the advantage in sheer numbers.
More than a dozen seeds pierced the dragon’s tough scales.


“These tiny seeds don’t even hurt.”

“Don’t… get the… wrong idea. The real show… starts now.”


A pretty guardian never fights alone

All at once, the seeds sprouted.
Yellow haustoria burrowed into the dragon’s flesh through its wounds.
The bulbs swelled, and tiny flowers bloomed from them.

Baby Alraunes blossomed all over the dragon.


“Mama!”

“Good morning!”

“Where… are we? A dragon?”

“It’s blue!”

“It’s kind of… watery!”

“Let’s get… lots of nutrients from… the meat!”

“Dragon… tastes yummy!”


The haustoria of the dodder spread deeper into the dragon’s body.
I couldn’t do this against the golden birdman, but my baby Alraunes can even parasitize a dragon now!


“What is this?! Alraunes are sprouting all over us… What have you done to us, Alraune?!”

“I was thinking… I’d let you… become food for my… children.”


Drago’s face went stiff.
Does she really hate the idea of having her nutrients sucked out and being turned into food that much?


Just then, rustling came from the nearby bushes.

Drago and I both turned towards the source of the sound. Following our lead, the baby Alraunes all looked that way in unison as well.


A group of humans stepped out from behind the trees.
There were five of them. And for some reason, their faces looked familiar.

When my eyes fell on one particular girl, I cried out inwardly.


──Nina!

Nina, the saint apprentice, was standing right there.

***

Author’s Note:

Thank you for reading.

Next Time: The Battle for the Sanctuary (Part Three)


TL’s Note:

1. Sailor Moon references