Nina, the saint apprentice, woke up.
Her hazy eyes looked up at my face.


“Iri—”


Just as Nina was about to call out my name, I quickly covered her mouth with one of my vines.
Lady Dryad and Kiri were nearby, so I couldn’t let her say that.
I gave Nina a wink, trying to convey that she must keep it a secret that I was Iris.

Nina nodded vigorously.
Looks like she remembered that my true identity is supposed to stay secret.


“I’m glad… you’re safe… Nina,” I said, gently stroking her head.


Perhaps still a little dazed, Nina quietly let me pet her head with my vine.
Then, seemingly remembering why she had fallen asleep in the first place, she rushed up to me in alarm.


“I remember the Dryad from the Four Heavenly Kings growing massive… what happened to the battle?!”

“We defeated her. We… won.”

“Really?!” Nina cried.


Then Mr. Drink Station and the other adventurers, who had apparently woken up at some point, began making a commotion too.


“You defeated one of the Four Heavenly Kings?”

“I can’t believe it.”


“Iri… um, was it you, Crimson Flower Princess, who defeated her?”

“That’s right… I… did it.”


After hearing my answer, Nina paused for a moment. Then, with a face on the verge of tears, she said, “As expected of you,” and threw her arms around me.
She leaned close to my ear and whispered so that no one else could hear.


“I’m so happy that you’re alive, Lady Iris…”


The moment I heard those words, something clicked into place inside my heart.
Memories of the person I had once been as a saint, memories I had long since forgotten.
Scenes from my days as a saint raced through my mind, followed by all the days I had spent living as an Alraune.


Since becoming an Alraune, this was only the third time Nina and I had spoken.
The first time, Nina came as a member of the Alraune subjugation party, and the two of us tried to kill each other.
The second time was during the battles against the Dragon Dryad and the older Dryad sister, but even in the middle of all that fighting, we managed to connect emotionally.

And now, this was the third.
At last, I was finally able to have a quiet, leisurely conversation with Nina.


“I’m happy… that I could… see you again too… Nina.”


This time, I gently cradled Nina’s head with my human hands.
But I could no longer give her the warmth of human skin the way I once had.
I am no longer human, and I am no longer a saint.


Even so, as Nina’s senior, I praised her, saying, “You did… very well.”
Just for now, I wanted to commend the bravery of this girl, who had been so little back when I was a saint.

As we enjoyed our reunion after several years apart, Kiri flitted circles around Nina and me.


“Lady Alraune, when did you become so friendly with that human?”


Until now, there hadn’t been a single friendly interaction between Nina’s group and me.
So it must’ve looked suspicious that I had abruptly started acting friendly with a human.

Mr. Drink Station and the others seemed to feel the same way.


“That’s right, Nina. We didn’t ask too much earlier because we were in the middle of a battle, but you’re a saint apprentice, right? Why exactly are you working together with a monster?”

“Though it seems we were mistaken about her being a man-eating Alraune,” one of Mr. Drink Station’s companions added.


The misunderstanding about me being a man-eating Alraune has been cleared up, but I have no intention of revealing the fact that I used to be a saint here.
I want to minimize the chances of the Hero or that trashy junior saint apprentice finding out that I’m still alive.
Nina is the exception, since I decided she can be trusted.

So I have to bluff my way through this!


“Through battle… a friendship… blossomed between us.”


Nina followed my lead and explained to Mr. Drink Station and the others.


“After fighting alongside her, I became convinced that she is someone we can trust.”

“But she’s still a monster. There’s no way we can trust her,” one of Mr. Drink Station’s companions said, glaring at me with hostility.

“Mr. Adventurer… I have never… eaten a human… not even once.”


Nina immediately backed me up.


“And not only that, she defeated one of the Four Heavenly Kings who attacked Tower City. This person is not our enemy.”


However, I still wasn’t able to convince the adventurers, who made their living exterminating monsters, that I wasn’t an enemy.
But then, surprisingly, it was Mr. Drink Station who spoke up and settled the matter.


“Come on, you guys. This Alraune saved the townspeople after they were turned into trolls and restored them back. And that’s not all. She protected us from one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Nina isn’t the only one. After fighting alongside her, I’ve started feeling pretty friendly towards her too.”


Mr. Drink Station…!
You’re actually a good person.
You weren’t just the adventurer with unlimited free water after all.


“The leader has a point.”

“If anything, she might have saved our lives.”

“She may be a monster, but maybe this Alraune is different from ordinary monsters.”


The adventurers’ expressions gradually softened.

While I was making peace with Mr. Drink Station and the others, the bees, my female knight, and Lady Butterfly and the other butterflies began waking up as well.
They were probably hungry and exhausted by the battle, because they immediately tried to charge at Nina and the other humans.


“Everyone… no!”


I smeared my vines in nectar and used them to lure the bees and the others away from the humans.
Those people aren’t food.
They’re my new friends.
So everyone in the Forest Club, please be nice to them too, okay?

Maybe because we’ve known each other for so long, they understood what I was trying to tell them.
Seeing the insect-type monsters calm down, Mr. Drink Station murmured in surprise.


“Even though she’s a monster, she really isn’t our enemy…”


As I kept the bees and Lady Butterfly’s group under control, Mr. Drink Station, who had been observing everything carefully, addressed me again in a more serious tone.


“Alraune, you’re a rare kind of monster, one capable of living peacefully alongside humans. Please forgive us for how rudely we’ve treated you until now.”


Mr. Drink Station and his companions apologized to me.


“No… as long as… you understand now… that’s enough.”


I’ve already resigned myself to being treated as an enemy whenever I meet humans for the first time.
But now, at long last, I’ve actually managed to reconcile with them.
Compared to how things were before, that alone was enormous progress.


“Mr. Drink Station… I’d be happy… if we could get along… from now on.”

“Of course. But my name isn’t Drink Station, it’s—”

Just then, Nina shouted, “Me too!” loudly enough to drown out the rest of Mr. Drink Station’s sentence.


“Even though I didn’t know the truth, I treated you with such terrible disrespect…”

“Nina… I don’t… mind at all.”


Making sure no one else could hear, I quietly whispered into Nina’s ear.


“Thank you… for calling me… Iris.”


I thought no one would ever call me by that name again.
My stalker, the golden birdman, and the older Dryad sister had both figured it out, but those two were enemies, so they didn’t count.
Having Nina, a saint apprentice whom I’d known since I was still human, call me by that name made me incredibly happy.


I may have turned into a plant monster, but there was still a tiny thread connecting me to humanity.

A thread called bond.

I had fought humans time and time again, but I had never killed one, nor eaten one.
That was because I had always believed that someday, I’d be able to interact peacefully alongside humans again, just as I had when I was one of them.

And now, that wish had finally come true.



I still wasn’t quite there yet in achieving my dream of living a quiet plant life, but from now on, things will be all right.
Because I was closer to that dream than I had ever been before.

Little by little, I was growing.
Step by step, I was moving closer to my dream.


Nectar ran down my cheeks.

So much had happened along the way to get here.

──It had been a long journey.
It really had been a long journey.


I almost gave up on believing this day would ever come again. But in the end, the Goddess of Fate smiled upon me.


And so, on that day, I was finally able to make peace with the humans.

***

Author’s Note:

It really did take a long time to get here.

Next Time: The Corporal and the Lord of Tower City