I’m an Alraune, a plant monster girl.
And I’m so happy to be able to see my friends from the Forest Club again after so long.


Dozens of bee-type monsters, Zornbienes, had gathered in a swarm above the older Dryad sister.
They were my female knights, and farther behind them were the butterfly-type monsters, Lustschmetterlings.
It was Lady Butterfly and her butterfly companions.


It would be one thing if they were spider wasps, which specializes in hunting spiders, but for honeybees to attack a huntsman spider, I could only think of one reason why they would do that.

Everyone from the Forest Club had come to help me!


“What an aggravating bunch of pests. Don’t get in my way now.”


The older Dryad sister prepared to activate her spirit magic.

S-Stop!

If the bees or Lady Butterfly and the others get hit by a Dryad’s spirit magic, there’s no way they’ll come out of it unharmed.
I don’t want to put everyone in danger again for my sake.


Back when we were attacked by minotaurs from the Demon King’s army, so many of the bees and butterflies who fought for me died.
I never want to go through something like that ever again!


“Spirit Princess… if you’re going to… attack someone… attack me!”

“Could these pests be friends of yours, princess? Then that gives me even more reason to make them suffer!”


──No, stop!

But what do I do?
It’s too late for me to stop her now…

Just as I was about to generate my squirting cucumber machine gun, Nina’s mouth moved on its own.


“I can still keep going. One more shot. One more Glanzstrahl!”


It seems like Nina’s consciousness is starting to return.
And with it, I felt like I was now sharing a body with Nina.


So you’re still going to keep fighting, Nina.
I’m happy you feel that way.

All right. I know this must be painful, but I’ll rely on you a little longer.
I’ll make sure to fully heal you afterward, so just hang in there.


“Holy Rupture Beam—Glanzstrahl!”


Before the spirit magic could even activate, our light magic shot clean through the older Dryad sister.
Unlike before, this one hit her directly.


“Gwaaaaaaaaaah!!”


The older Dryad sister’s scream tore through the forest.
The attack must have been incredibly powerful, because the impact of the light magic sent the Hero’s Helmet flying.


“Grab that… helmet!”


Responding to my shout, one of my female knights caught the Hero’s Helmet.
The bees shouldn’t be able to understand my words, but somehow my feelings got through to her anyway.
It was as if I could see the bonds of the Forest Club before my eyes. As the club president, I couldn’t be prouder.



I put some nectar on one of my vines and beckoned the bees and the others over to me.
It would be dangerous for them to stay near the older Dryad sister, after all.


I gave the bee some nectar and received the Hero’s Helmet from her in exchange.
It was cracked and nearly broken, but there was still tons of light magic energy stored inside it.
In any case, at least now I don’t have to worry about the older Dryad sister putting up another barrier.


When I shifted my gaze over to see what had happened to the older Dryad sister, her battered spirit body had already regenerated.
The ancient tree, her true body, was still intact too.


“I never imagined I’d be pushed this far. How many years has it been since I last had to put my roots down in the ground instead of using a host?”


The older Dryad glared intensely at us as she drove the roots of her true body into the earth.
Unless we destroy her true body, it seems she can keep coming back to life as many times as she wants.


I would like to follow up with another attack, but Nina’s body is reaching its limit.
Repeatedly casting unfamiliar ultra-high-level light magic must’ve been more than what the body of a saint apprentice could withstand.


I slowly pulled the dodder out of Nina’s arm.
At the same time, I withered the blue forget-me-not and pulled it out as well.


Good work, Nina.

I bit down on one of my vines and coated it with nectar infused with recovery magic, using it to feed the nectar to Nina.


As Nina swallowed the nectar, light returned to her eyes.


“It tastes like Holy Honey…!”


Nina suddenly snapped back to consciousness.


“It’s too sweeeeeet!” Nina cried dramatically as she held her cheeks and started hopping up and down. She certainly seems energetic. I guess her body has recovered.


The older Dryad sister, who had been scrutinizing our exchange, spoke to me as though she had just witnessed something interesting.


“Princess Alraune, just what did you do there? It was almost like you were controlling that saint apprentice.”

“I’ll leave that… to your… imagination.”

“Imagination, huh… That saint apprentice shouldn’t have possessed that much power or skill. It was almost like that human saint the golden birdman was always bragging about whenever he got the chance… hmm, wait a minute?”


The older Dryad sister’s gaze locked onto my face.
She began studying it closely, as though examining every inch of it.


“I thought I’d seen your face somewhere before, princess. You look quite a lot like the portrait of that saint hanging in the lord’s manor in town.”


The lord’s manor?
What does that mean? Why would a portrait of me be hanging in the lord’s manor?

Though, that does remind me, when I met the lord of Tower City in the royal capital, I seem to remember his son staring at me a lot.
My cousin, who was part of the Hero’s party, told me I had plenty of fans among the nobility too, so maybe that’s why.


“The name of the woman in that portrait was… Saint Iris, if I remember correctly.”


When the older Dryad sister called the name I had back from when I was a saint, I couldn’t help but flinch.
I got a little worried that she might figure out my true identity.


“Could you perhaps have some connection to Saint Iris, princess?”

“I have no idea… what you’re… talking about.”


If she reports this to the Demon King’s army, my situation would no doubt become much worse.
If Fire Dragon-sama were to learn that my true identity was the saint who had fought against the Demon King’s army, he would surely try to kill me.

I can’t let that happen. I’m going to turn the older Dryad sister into nutrients for the forest right here, no matter what.


“Hmmm… I see. So that’s how it is. You really never stop surprising me, princess…”


As she said that, the older Dryad sister grabbed her eyepatch, revealing what was hidden beneath it.
Embedded beneath the eyepatch was a seed about the size of an eyeball.
She tore out the seed and brought it to her lips.


“I never imagined I’d be forced to use this in a place like this. I had intended to keep it as my trump card for when I eventually went against Lord Grüschwanz.”


Against Fire Dragon-sama?
I wonder if the older Dryad sister was planning something within the Demon King’s army?


“That’s an… Seed of Evolution… isn’t it?”

“Oh? You knew about this too? But no, that’s not it. This is nothing like that failed creation.”


The Seed of Evolution was a failure?
What does she mean by that?


“The Seeds of Evolution were merely accidental byproducts that happened to come about while I was creating this seed. All of my research until now has been for the sake of creating this fruit.”


The older Dryad sister swallowed the mysterious seed.
At that instant, her true body, the ancient tree, began creaking and cracking as it rapidly swelled in size.


“This is the Seed of the Divine Tree. Once I use it, there’s no going back. In exchange for taking a portion of the Goddess’s power into myself, I’ll gain power so immense that even I can’t control it.”


The ancient tree grew larger and larger before my very eyes.
Once it had grown as tall as the radio towers I had seen in my past life, a gigantic flower bud appeared near its summit.



The moment the mysterious bud appeared, Nina murmured, “This scent…” and collapsed on the spot.
Mr. Drink Station and the others followed, dropping one after another.


“Nina! Mr. Drink Station!”


It wasn’t only the humans who lost consciousness.
The bees, Lady Butterfly, and the others also began falling from the sky, lying unconscious where they landed.


“They’re already done for. Now that I’ve become a Divine Tree, there’s no way humans or monsters could remain conscious in my presence.”


The older Dryad sister’s upper body emerged from the enormous tree.
It looked as though she had completely fused with the tree.


“What did you… do to… everyone?”

“I didn’t do anything. All they did was breathe in the wooden scent coming from my body. I had them lose consciousness so they could serve as sacrifices to the Divine Tree.”


──No way.

Being able to knock someone out just by making them smell your scent is way too terrifying.
But I guess it didn’t work on me because I’m a plant.


“Ahh, I can feel the power surging through me.”


From the top of the Divine Tree, branches spread out widely to the sides, eventually covering the sky over the surrounding area completely.
Even Tower City and the Forest of Dryades seemed to have been shrouded under its canopy.


I didn’t expect she would have a trump card like this hidden away.
I guess her position as one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Demon King’s army isn’t just for show.
Her presence right now makes the Heavenly King I fought back when I was a saint, and even that golden birdman stalker of mine, seem insignificant by comparison.

I might have underestimated the older Dryad sister, the Spirit Princess Feagismeinnicht, a little.


“Now that I’ve become a Divine Tree, I can see it. Even though you’re a plant monster, princess, it seems you possess an aura of light magic resembling the Goddess’s.”


The older Dryad sister’s eyes had transformed into the same kind of special eyes as Nina’s.
I didn’t know how it worked, but it seemed she could now see the aura of light magic.


“I heard Saint Iris was dead, but could it be that you ate her and absorbed her power? That power of yours looks absolutely delicious.”


That explanation isn’t entirely wrong.
To be more precise, rather than absorbing her, I suppose it was more like I fused with a plant monster and took over its body.


“I’ve decided. I’ll absorb you into the Divine Tree, princess, and make both you and the saint’s power a part of me.”


The older Dryad sister licked her lips.
She looked down at me with the gaze of a predator eyeing its prey.


“It’s a shame, but this is the end for you. In the end, you’ll become one with me.”


Now transformed into an enormous Divine Tree, the older Dryad sister directed her hostility towards me.

It seems this long battle against the Spirit Princess is finally approaching its end.


The final battle is about to begin.

***

Author’s Note:

Thank you very much for your continued support.

Next Time: Letter; The Account of the Tower City Commotion from an Adventurer Working Far From Home (Part One)