I’m an Alraune, a plant monster girl.
And the Dryad from the Four Heavenly Kings, who arrived riding a giant land tortoise, suddenly asked if I had eaten the poison fairy Oin.


The blue vines covering the Dryad reminded me of the forget-me-nots that had been growing inside the golden birdman’s mouth.
Those forget-me-nots, capable of controlling others, grew blue flowers.
It matched the image of this older Dryad sister perfectly.

With her blue vine-like hair and blue eyes, she looked at me with unmistakable suspicion.


I hadn’t eaten the poison fairy, but I couldn’t exactly tell her that I knew anything about what happened either.


“…Who are you… talking about?”

“A little fairy who lived in the Forest of Dryades. You don’t happen to remember swallowing her whole with that big mouth of yours, do you?”

“I’ve never eaten… a fairy.”

“Oh? Is that so? Well, that’s fine then.”


It wasn’t a lie. I hadn’t eaten Oin.
After she transformed into a troll by consuming that strange seed, I defeated her with my burning vines.
So, strictly speaking, I hadn’t eaten her.

That said, if she had questioned me any further, she might have figured out that I was involved in Oin’s disappearance. That was a close one.


“So I hear you became friends with Barometz. I’m Feagismeinnicht. Believe it or not, I’m a Dryad. We’re similar kinds of creatures, so let’s get along, shall we?”

“Nice… to meet you.”

“They say you’re a rare kind of unique monster. Intelligent despite being a plant, and even capable of speech. No Alraune ever documented is like you. You’re definitely a new species. How fascinating.”


The fallen Dryad examined me as though she were savoring every detail.

Instead of reaching out with her hands, the blue vines that served as her hair slithered toward me like tentacles.
She gently cupped my face. Then, with an amused grin, she leaned closer and began reading the information on my sign.


“What a coincidence. I happen to have ties to the Forest of Dryades myself.”

“Is… that so…?”

“Hey. Weren’t humans calling you the Crimson Flower Princess?”


I’ve heard that name before.
The corporal called me that once.

I’m pretty sure I was a Named Monster in town, so perhaps “Crimson Flower Princess” had become my title.


“Or would Man-Eating Alraune ring more of a bell?”


No doubt about it.
This Dryad knew about what had happened in Tower City.
Otherwise, she would never have used those two names.


I didn’t know whether she had figured out that I was responsible for defeating Oin, but the fact that she knew details from Tower City from only a few days ago was astonishing.

Oin was gone. Yet information from the town had still reached the fallen Dryad. Which meant someone inside Tower City was feeding information to one of the Four Heavenly Kings.


“One of my fairies went missing in the forest, you see. And immediately afterwards, a so-called Crimson Flower Princess, a man-eating Alraune, suddenly appeared. Don’t you think the timing is a little too convenient?”

“I… don’t really know.”

“…Well, even so, Oin hasn’t fallen so low that she’d lose to an Alraune in a fight. It’s too favorable of a fight for her. She’s probably off somewhere slacking around.”


T-This Spirit Princess is terrifying!
Am I being interrogated or something?! I’m trembling inside.


If I could defeat this fallen Dryad here and now, the Forest of Dryades would finally be at peace.
The problem is that she’s being incredibly wary of me.

On top of that, I’m deep in enemy territory. If I attacked and she managed to escape, it would be game over for me.
A stationary plant like me had no future once my enemies knew I was a threat.

Looking at it that way, now isn’t the time to fight.
It would be better to lull her into lowering her guard and wait for a chance where I can take her down for certain.


“That aside, you really are fascinating. Say, how about we mate?”


──Huh?

Did she just ask me to mate with her…?


Wha… Whaaaaaaaaaaat!?
What is she suddenly talking about!??


“Well, we’re monsters, but we’re also plants. So rather than mating, it’s more like reproduction. All I need to do is pollinate you a little. It’ll be over quickly.”


W-W-W-What is this spirit saying!!?


No one has ever asked me to sleep with them so directly before!
Not when I was a high school girl, and not when I was a saint—Of course not!


Not even as an Alraune.
Though to be fair, since becoming an Alraune, plenty of insects, birds, and lizard monsters have tried to violate me without permission.

But I never imagined that the first person to say something like that to me would be a woman, a Dryad, and one of the Four Heavenly Kings at that.


“Ah, don’t misunderstand. I’m not suggesting that I’ll be the one to pollinate you. This is simply a bit of research.”

“…Research?”

“I adore research, you see. Even this tortoise monster was a new species I created through crossbreeding. Naturally, the thought of evolving a new species of Alraune like you even further has got me shaking in excitement.”


So she wants to conduct breeding experiments on me?
To improve my species through selective breeding?


“What should we cross an Alraune with to make it evolve further, I wonder? Though perhaps it would stop being an Alraune altogether and become some horrific plant monstrosity. That would be entertaining in its own way, so it’s no problem.”


There are problems with every part of that statement!

This fallen Dryad is too terrifying!


In hindsight, her younger sister, Lady Dryad of the eastern forest, did mention that her older sister loved research.
The Seed of Evolution that Oin ate and turned her into a troll may very well have been one of the products of her research.


But to think that one day I would become one of her research subjects.


I can practically picture it, me, locked away in some laboratory.

There, pollen from some unknown male flower is forced onto my stigma.
As the pistil, I would be pollinated, and the ovary within me would slowly begin to swell.
By the time I became a seed, I would no longer be myself.

Crossbred into a new species of Alraune, my consciousness I retained from my days as a saint would disappear.
What remains of my body would likely be made to submit to a partner I never chose.


Uwaaah… I don’t want to become a plaything for the fallen Dryad’s experiments!



This Dryad is dangerous.
Honestly, for my own safety, I kind of want to take her out as soon as possible.


W-Wait!
Maybe, even knowing the risks, I should attack her right now. Wouldn’t that solve all my problems?
I feel like I should stop worrying about the consequences and take down this mad scientist, even if it means going down with her.

Anything would be preferable to being forcibly pollinated for one of her experiments.


“But sadly, there’s nothing I can do. If this botanical garden was under direct control of the Demon King’s army, I’d have more freedom. But this is private property, so I can’t simply use the princess as a test subject.”


──Huh?
Private property?


“This isn’t… the Demon King’s army’s… botanical garden?”

“No. This botanical garden doesn’t belong to the Demon King’s Army. It’s the personal botanical garden of that person.”

“That person?”


It was surprising enough to learn that this wasn’t a botanical garden under the Demon King’s army’s direct control, but something else bothered me more.


After all, there aren’t many people a member of the Four Heavenly Kings would refer to as “that person.”

And yet… I know exactly one person important enough to fit that description.


What should I do?
I’m getting a very bad feeling about this.


Because there’s a chance… that this botanical garden belongs to someone I know.

***

Author’s Note:

Thank you for reading.

Next Time: The Name of “That Person”