I’m an Alraune, a plant monster child.
My new life with the little witch in the eastern forest has begun.


Morning came.
When I opened my bud, the little witch’s face filled my vision.


“Good morning, Alraune.”

After greeting me like that, the little witch was, as usual, sucking on her finger again.

That kind of childish habit isn’t very good if it becomes a routine.
As the older sister here, I have to warn her next time.


“It’s not good… to suck on your fingers… like that… it’s childish.”


The little witch reacted to my words, staring back at me with a puzzled look on her face.

“You know, I’m ten years old now.”

Little witch-san.
Even if you say that so proudly, I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do with it.

Ten years old is still a child.
That’s not really something to brag about.


“You still don’t get it. Do you know how old you are right now, Alraune?”

──Huh, my age?

Now that she mentions it, how old am I?

If you include my past lives, it’s quite a lot.
Seventeen as a saint, and about the same back when I was a Japanese high school girl.

But that’s mental age.
Answering with my past-life age wouldn’t make sense here.


I’d like to say that asking a woman her age is rude, but I don’t think I’m old enough for that excuse anyway.
As an Alraune, I’m probably around one year old.

It’s only been a few days since I was reborn into this little girl’s body, but that’s obviously not what she meant.


“About one year old.”

“Alraune is one. But I’m ten. Do you understand what that means?”

Hmm. That we’re both children?

“I’ve lived ten times longer than you. That makes me your senior in life, so you should show some respect to your older sister.”

As she said that, the little witch scooped up some nectar that had gathered near my mouth with her finger. Then she popped it straight into her mouth.

Looks like I drooled again this morning.

Sleeping together with her must have made me too relaxed.

I was just scolding her for acting childish, yet here I am behaving childishly myself. This is embarrassing for someone who’s supposed to be the older sister.


“One year old is basically a baby by human standards. So you can take your time growing up. I’ll raise you properly as your big sister, so don’t worry Alraune.”


The little witch started patting my head.
It feels kind of nice……

Wait, this isn’t the time to be happy!

Grrr.
As an Alraune, my actual age is one, and on top of that I look like a little girl.
Because of that, I’ve been completely pushed into the little sister role.

But I’m supposed to be the older sister here!


But when it comes to the years I’ve lived as an Alraune, there’s no way I can compete with the little witch’s ten years.

S-so frustrating!
I need to make her acknowledge that I’m the older sister somehow.


That’s it.
If I show her what I can do as an Alraune, maybe she’ll be convinced.


If I can secure food, clothing, and shelter for her, she’ll definitely respect me!

First, I’ll deal with our most immediate problem: improving her meals.
If she sees me bringing back a huge amount of food, she’s sure to be impressed!


“Let’s go… to the river and… catch some fish.”

“Fish once in a while sounds nice. Okay.”

Together with the little witch, who transformed into White Bird-san, we headed for the river.



We arrived at a beautiful, pristine river, full of natural charm.

Yeah, there should be plenty of fish swimming around here.

Time to show off my skills.
I’ll prove to the little witch that I’m the real big sister!


I had the little witch return to human form and hold onto one of my vines.
Then she tosses me straight into the river!


Once underwater, I scattered my poisonous pollen through the water.

The river fish that had inhaled it started floating up to the surface.
I swiftly snatched them up with my vines!

I did it! What a haul!
I caught more than ten fish.


“Here… fish for you.”

In a great mood, I handed the fish to the little witch girl.
But, for some reason, she gave me a displeased look.


“These fish aren’t poisoned, are they…………?”


────Ah.

They probably are.


I caught all of these fish by poisoning them.

Even though the prey was contaminated with poison, it didn’t affect me since it was mine, so I had completely forgotten.
When I take things down with toxic pollen, they end up soaked in poison, which means ordinary people can’t eat them.


Oh well.
Since it’d be a waste, I’ll eat the poisoned fish myself.


After that, I tried fishing normally with my vines, but it didn’t go well.
Catching fish really isn’t that easy.



If the river won’t work, then I’ll go after land animals.
This time, I’ll catch them without poison!


Drawn in by the scent of my nectar, lots of small animals gathered around.

Mice, squirrels, deer, and even bears.

I caught them one by one with my vines.

As they struggled, I snapped their neck bones with my vines in quick succession.
Now they’ll all stay nice and still.


“All the meat… you want… Here… take it all!”

Smiling brightly, I presented the animals to the little witch.
I already ate fish earlier, so she can eat as much of this as she likes!


But as I happily offered up the animals, the little witch turned her face away apologetically.

“Raw meat is a bit…”

────Raw meat.


I’d been non-human for so long that I completely forgot.

Normal people can’t eat raw meat.

Come to think of it, I’ve never seen a human gnawing on a whole mouse before.
Even in my days as a saint, I never got that wild, so even if someone told me to eat it, there’s no way I could.


If only we had fire, we could at least grill it, but unfortunately, we didn’t have any.

The little witch fled from the village, so she has no belongings at all.
And as for me, the only thing I owned was a bucket.


I tried starting a fire using a nearby tree, but it didn’t work.

Of course it didn’t. I’ve never started a fire before.

A duke’s daughter doesn’t light fires herself.
Even as a high school girl, I only ever used lighters or matches.


“You can have the animals, Alraune.”

“Th-thank you…”


Chomp.

I invited the little animals into my lower mouth one after another.


The little witch watched quietly as I nourished myself with raw meat.


What should I do?
The little witch and I eat completely different things!

I was painfully reminded of the difference between plant monsters and humans.

If we can’t even eat the same food, how are we supposed to live together?!


For now, I gave the little witch the usual apples and nectar instead of meat.

At things stand, all she can eat is my nectar and my apples.
Can the little witch get enough to grow properly if all she eats are those two things?



Maybe it was unreasonable for me, having become a plant monster, to live together with a human after all.


Normally, plants live in forests, and people live in towns.

Perhaps the two of us were never meant to be together.


If things continue like this, the little witch might collapse.

I have to find new food in the forest that she can eat.
Or maybe I should move closer to human settlements to accommodate her needs.


Either way, I’ve realized that living normally like this just isn’t possible.
If we’re going to stay together, I’ll just have to do my best!



And then the next day.
What I had been dreading finally happened.

The little witch suddenly collapsed.


“Alraune… I’m hungry…”

“I’ll give you nectar… so cheer up… okay?”


Before I could say anything, the little witch shoved her finger into my mouth.

She stirred around inside, scooped up some nectar, and brought it to her own mouth.

It’s strange. I should have hated having fingers shoved into my mouth, but right now it doesn’t feel that unpleasant.

If anything, it makes me feel a little relieved.

For some reason, it feels natural for the little witch’s finger to be inside my mouth.
This is only the second time she’s taken nectar from my mouth like this, yet it already feels oddly familiar.


The little witch kept licking my nectar.
Even so, nectar alone wasn’t enough to give her strength, and she remained lying on the ground.


“No good. I’ve got the energy to lick nectar, but my body won’t move…”

Her arm, which had been licking the nectar, flopped limply to the ground.


Little witchhhhh!!
Supporting her with my vines, I cried out.


Her body felt unusually warm.
Maybe she’s caught a cold.

The little witch had gotten wet so many times—covered in slime, bathing in the river…
It wouldn’t be strange if that made her sick.


Not only that, her body feels frighteningly light.

Before meeting me, she’d been bound by villagers as a witch.
She probably hadn’t eaten properly for days even then, so she may have already been malnourished.


I want to help her immediately, but I can’t move while holding her.
I’m a plant, after all.


Even if I could move, where would I go?

The little witch may be a witch, but she’s still human.
Maybe it really would be better to take her to town.

But unlike her, I’m a monster.
The moment I set foot in a town, I’d surely be hunted down.


Then I have no choice but to manage somehow in this forest, but the only one I can rely on here is that fairy.
And really, she’s the only acquaintance I have.

Honestly—anyone—even a kind monster passing by would be fine. I just want someone to help the little witch.


“Someone… help!”

“……Zzz~”

In response to my desperate cry, I heard a small, gentle breathing nearby.

“She’s just… sleeping?”


It seems the little witch had simply fallen asleep.

Oh, she was just sleeping.
I thought this was the end and completely panicked.


Still, the fact that she collapsed from malnutrition hasn’t changed.
She still has a fever, so I need to treat her quickly.



As I pondered on what to do for the little witch, I heard footsteps coming from a nearby thicket.


Turning toward the sound, I saw a single dead tree standing there.


Its shape was very familiar.
It looked remarkably like that dead tree I’d seen countless times over the past year, the one that used to be my neighbor.

As it turned out, that dead tree was actually a tree-type monster, a Treant.
I never thought I’d end up neighbors with a dead tree again.

But I don’t have the luxury to dwell on that right now.

I need to figure out what’s making those footsteps.


If Fairy-san comes back, I’ll ask for help
But if a monster is approaching, then I must fight to protect the little witch.


Staying on guard, I scanned my surroundings. Then the dead tree started slowly lumbering forward.

The source of the footsteps.
It was the sound of the dead tree walking.

Normal dead trees don’t walk.
Which means its true identity is a tree-type monster, a Treant.


Could it be…?
Just to check, I waved one of my vines in greeting toward the Treant.

The Treant waved its branches back.
It wasn’t hostile. If anything, it felt oddly friendly.


And then, in an instant, the Treant broke into a sprint toward me, moving with a sharp, refined form.


The swift, dashing way it runs.
There aren’t many Treants that can move that fast.


That settles it.
You’re that Treant from before, aren’t you?!

This dead tree is definitely the same Treant that abandoned me during the forest fire and ran off on its own!


As I stood there, stunned by this unexpected turn of events, the Treant came charging toward me at full speed.
Just like during the fire, all I could do was watch it run.


──No way

In this new forest we traveled so far to reach, I’ve run into an acquaintance I never expected.


I’ve reunited with the Treant that left me behind.

***

Author’s Note:

Thank you very much for reading.
If you found this story interesting or felt that it’s doing its best, I’d be very happy if you supported it with a bookmark or ★★★★★. Your support is a huge motivation for writing.

Next Time: If It’s the Dead Tree That Abandoned Me, Then I’m Fine to Eat It, Right?