I’m an Alraune, a plant monster girl.
And after being kidnapped by Uncle Teddy, I’m now being flown through the air by a dragon.


Naturally, since I’m stuck inside a flowerpot, I have no means of transporting myself.

On top of that, the dragon was flying at a very high altitude.
There’s no way I can escape like this.


Kiri… Treant… little witch…

I miss everyone.
This is the first time I’ve been kidnapped since becoming an Alraune.
So I’m really anxious.
Back when I was still a saint, I could have escaped on my own with light magic. But I can’t do that now anymore.


Will I ever get to see the little witch again?
I don’t want to end up never being able to go home again……


Just as nectar started pooling at the corners of my eyes, a gigantic mountain came into view ahead.
The dragon flew towards the summit.


“Hey… where are we… going?”

“We are returning to the castle.”

“…………Whose castle?”

“The Demon King’s army’s castle, naturally.”


────No way.

W-Wait a second.
The Demon King’s army’s castle? That’s basically the most dangerous place possible.
If I were still human, this would be the kind of place where, at best, I’d end up a slave, and at worst, dead.



That said, this surely isn’t actually the Demon King’s own castle.
It’s just some outpost belonging to the Demon King’s army, right?

Perhaps sensing my distress, Uncle Teddy replied coldly.


“It would be troublesome if you started resisting. Let us put you back to sleep.”

“W-Wait… please… anything but tha—”

“Curtains Fall for Night the Bell Tolls—Zeitglocke Nacht. Oh dear, it seems night has already fallen.”


──Nngh

Good… night…


Zzz… zzz…

So sleepy………… huh!?


I-It’s so frustrating!

I got put to sleep again!?


Uncle Teddy, how dare you put me to sleep twice!
Next time we meet, I won’t let you off so easily.


Just as I was about to check my body to see whether anything had happened to me while I was defenseless, I realized I was surrounded by green objects.


There were plants growing on both sides of me.
And not just nearby, there were all sorts of plants growing everywhere.

As for myself, it seemed I’d somehow been replanted into the ground without me knowing.


There didn’t appear to be anyone around.
Uncle Teddy and the courier dragon must’ve gone somewhere else.


I took a better look at my surroundings.

A pathway, like a sidewalk, stretched across in front of me.
On the opposite side of the path stood another row of plants, lined up in the same way as the ones on my side.


Looking upward, I saw a transparent ceiling as clear as glass.
It seemed this place was indoors.
The walls were transparent too, making it possible to see outside.
It felt a little warm here. The whole place kind of reminded me of a greenhouse.



“Where… am I?”


I muttered the words to myself.
But to my surprise, someone actually answered my question.


“This is a botanical garden, newcomer.”


Eh, where did that voice come from!?


“There’s no need to look around so frantically. I am right here.”


The voice was coming from the plant directly in front of me.
Across the pathway stood nothing but a strange plant with five stems, each topped with a large, golden puffball of cotton.

But to my astonishment, the owner of the voice emerged from inside the golden cotton.


“Pleased to meet you, beautiful flower.”


Eeeehhhhh!?

A person just popped out of the cotton!?


A beautiful young girl wearing what looked like a coat of golden fluff emerged from the cotton.
The girl, with her gentle face and somewhat fragile air about her, smiled softly at me.


“There’s no need to be frightened. There are no enemies here who would seek to harm us.”


Who is this person?
No wait, is she even a person?
I mean, she has two sheep horns growing from her head.

Her upper body was human, but everything below her waist was covered in something resembling golden cotton bolls.
And those pods were supported by plant stems.


Somehow, her appearance reminded me of myself, an Alraune.
Not exactly the same, however. She looked like an Alraune with golden cotton puffballs instead of a flower.


“I am Barometz. Since we’re both plant monsters, I am on your side.”


──Barometz?

What was that again?
I feel like I’ve heard the name somewhere before, but I can’t remember where.


“You’re an Alraune, aren’t you? Where are you from? What kind of place did you grow in?”


W-Wait, asking me that many questions so suddenly is a little too much.
I’m not very good at talking…


“Could it be that you were a wild Alraune? If so, I am sorry. I suppose being asked where you’re from wouldn’t mean much to you. Let’s see, let’s see… ah, so you were born in the Forest of Dryades in the Kingdom of Gardenia.”

“……How… do you… know that?”

“Because it’s written on the sign right in front of you.”


Eh, a sign!?

I did notice a white wooden sign stuck nearby, but was there really something like that written on the back?
──No, wait.
Maybe the side facing me was the back, and the side facing the pathway was the front.


“If a forest is listed as your place of origin, then you really were a wild Alraune. Oh, those boards contain symbols called letters that transmit information, and yours contains an introduction about you.”


Barometz kindly explained everything to me in detail.
I turned my gaze toward her sign.

It read:


“Species Name: Golden Fleece Barometz”
“Place of Origin: Empire of Glanz, Imperial Capital Glanzweißheit, Courtyard of Herrlichkeit Palace”


T-The Empire!?
Does that mean Barometz was kidnapped here just like me!?


“I was brought here from the Empire. Since we’re both plant monsters, let’s get along well together.”


This Barometz was another plant monster just like me.
That made me feel a sense of kinship with her, however, there was something bothering me more right now.


I carefully examined the surrounding plants.
Just as I thought, none of them were ordinary.

There were rare magical flowers and trees, alongside plant-type monsters like man-eaters scattered throughout.

Every single one of them was a rare plant you’d never normally find growing nearby.
And since all of them had explanatory signs attached, I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of place this really was.


“Hey… where… exactly are we?”

“As I said earlier, this is a botanical garden.”


It seems I’d been transplanted into a botanical garden.


Looking back on it, back when I had just become an Alraune, I remembered wishing for something like this.
Rather than surviving in the law-of-the-jungle wilderness, I wanted to be sold to a botanical garden and live there peacefully.

I never would’ve thought that wish from back then would come true now of all times.


──But wait a second.

Uncle Teddy, the one who brought me here, was a demon.
And he said we were heading to a castle belonging to the Demon King’s army. Which means this probably isn’t an ordinary botanical garden.


“Is this… the Demon King Army’s… botanical garden?”

“Oh my, you already knew? The caretaker said this botanical garden is located within the grounds of the Demon King’s castle.”

“No way……”


This is the botanical garden of the Demon King’s castle!?


“It’s meticulously maintained, and they even water us every day. It’s such a luxurious place, almost like a royal palace. The Demon King’s army seems like a really wonderful organization.”


Well, from the perspective of plant monsters, the Demon King’s army probably isn’t an evil organization.


Thinking that, I shifted my gaze to the other side of the transparent wall.

Far off in the distance stood a sinister castle.
It was many times larger than the royal castle of the Kingdom of Gardenia, with a structure so ominous that a glance was enough to tell it was inhabited by demons.


“Is that… the Demon King’s… castle……?”


Back when I was still a saint, that had been the final destination our Hero’s Party aimed for.

And now it was standing so unbelievably close.


My body trembled.
I might have been brought somewhere truly outrageous.


W-What should I do?

This is a situation the old me as a saint never could have imagined.


I’ve been planted in the botanical garden of the Demon King’s castleeeeeee!!

***

Author’s Note:

Thank you for reading.

Next Time: Debut at My Dream Botanical Garden, Except the Demon King’s Castle Is Right Next Door


TL’s Note:

Partways through the chapter, the author changes from using “Demon King’s army’s castle” to “Demon King’s castle”. I’m not sure if this was a mistake on the author’s part but keep it in mind.