I’m an Alraune, a plant monster girl.
With the Demon King’s army gone, the forest has slipped back into its usual daily life.

Maybe it’s because spring is here, but the weather has been wonderful lately.
It’s hard to believe that a huge blizzard ever happened.

The sun looks brighter than usual.
Ahh, photosynthesis feels great.

Thanks to all the melted snow soaking into the ground, I don’t have to worry about running out of water.
Fresh water is the best.


But somehow… It feels a little boring.
I wished someone would come by.


Oh, I see something white.
Maybe the white bird came by. That would actually make me kind of happy.

——No, wait.
The color is white, but that isn’t a bird.
What is that?

It looks… like a white flower.

A bright, white blossom was growing in the bushes up ahead.

I’ve never seen such a conspicuous flower around here before.
And yesterday, that spot definitely didn’t have a flower.

Let’s go ahead and add this to the Seven Wonders of the Forest. It can sit right next to that withered tree that suddenly appeared overnight.


The sound of birds chirping reached my ears.
A small bird fluttered toward the white flower.

Not the white bird, just an ordinary green one.
Kinda like a Warbling white-eye. Cute little thing.

Looks like the bird wants to drink the nectar.

The bird perched in front of the white flower.
Then, astonishingly, in the next instant, the flower grabbed it.

Two vine-like appendages snapped around the bird and held it tight.

What in the world!?
Don’t tell me that flower is a carnivorous plant like me??

When I took a closer look at that white flower, for some reason it felt like our eyes met.
And not just that, it even had antennae.

Ah. I got it.

That wasn’t a plant.
It was an insect.

It’s a mantis-type monster.


Apparently, the mantis had disguised itself as a flower.
I knew a mantis like that back when I was a high school girl.

The name of the mantis, the one I saw in an insect encyclopedia, was the orchid mantis.

It’s famous for mimicking flowers with its appearance to lure in bugs and eat them.

Which means this creature’s true identity is an orchid mantis monster.
It had been pretending to be a flower.

The things grabbing the bird weren’t vines at all. They were its mantis claws.

I’d never seen anything like it.
I don’t even know its official monster name.

Not even the Royal Library’s monster index had anything like this.
So there are still monsters out there that haven’t been discovered yet.

It made me realize just how vast the world still is.


The mantis chomped away at the bird.

So that mantis must’ve moved here sometime after I went to sleep yesterday and before I opened my bud this morning.

Alright then. Since it’s here, I think I’ll stretch out a vine and say hello.


I reached my vine out to greet it.
The orchid mantis seemed sensitive to movement, because it immediately took a defensive stance against the approaching vine.

Unless I imagined it, the mantis even looked a little startled.

It seems it thought I was just an ordinary flower.
I’m sure it never imagined that a flower like me could actually attack.

Listen, unlike you, I’m not pretending to be something else.

Sure, my pistil looks like a human body, so people might mistake me for a girl, but I’m still proudly living life as a flower.

Which means I can do things like this, even when my prey doesn’t walk up to me.
I can just catch them with a vine.


Well then, hello there, orchid mantis.

It’s no use.
Your little claws can’t cut through my vines.

You really don’t have to thrash around like that.
Getting away is going to be tough, so I’ll let you inside me right away.

There’s nothing to worry about.
After all, you were doing the exact same thing to that green bird a minute ago.

This forest runs on survival of the fittest.
That’s the law of nature, right?.

Alright, chomp.

Munch, munch.

Hmm. Mimicry, huh.


Ever since I became an Alraune, most of my meals have been creatures drawn in by my sweet scent.

I’m almost like a carnivorous plant, luring prey in with nectar, then—chomp.

But unlike other carnivorous plants, I have one huge difference.
This pistil.

It looked human.

Appearance-wise, I look exactly like a human girl.
Mid-teens, probably.
Since that was about how I looked back when I was a saint.

I’ve only been able to really take advantage of this form once.
Just once, when I talked to that nectar-crazed boy.

But maybe, like the orchid mantis, I could put this body to better use.

Well, I suppose it’ll probably only work on humans.
But there aren’t any humans in this forest to begin with.

This is a dangerous forest overrun by monsters, so of course ordinary people wouldn’t come near.
Even if a human showed up, I wouldn’t eat them anyway, so it wouldn’t help fill my belly.

It doesn’t look like I’ll have a reason to use this form anytime soon.
Not that I need to. As long as I’ve got nectar and vines, I won’t have trouble getting nutrients.



Still, thinking that the white thing I saw was a bird only for it to turn out to be an orchid mantis disguised as a flower was surprising.

Speaking of which, I haven’t seen the white bird lately.

Even during that harsh winter, it showed up every two or three days. But it hasn’t come to see me in over a week now.

Did something happen?
I’m getting a little worried.


Not seeing it anymore made me realize something.
I actually liked that white bird quite a lot.

At first I thought it was an annoying little thing, but after spending time with it, I realized it’s actually a good bird.

We had our ups and downs, but I don’t think it ever acted out of malice.


I never expected I’d come to miss that white bird this much.
What should I do? My chest felt heavy. I really wanted to see it again.

I wanted to hear that clumsy little “cheep” again.

If it did, I’d cheer it on so it can get better.
Let’s practice together again.



But no matter how long I waited, the white bird never came.


Instead, I got a completely unexpected visitor.


Not birdsong, but a human voice drifted from deep within the forest.


A grown man’s voice, calling out like he was searching for someone.

And he wasn’t alone.
Several humans were approaching.

I was shocked.
No way. Humans actually came into this dangerous forest?

What could they possibly want here?
I couldn’t figure it out.

Their silhouettes came into view.

Humans.
Oh no. Actual humans were here.

The nectar-crazed boy had been a child the bees brought in, and since I saved his life, things went peacefully that time.

But what would ordinary humans think of me?

They might attack me instantly, thinking I’m a monster.

I really don’t want to fight people.
Especially as a former saint, it was something I felt strongly about.

But if I stay like this, they’ll walk straight up to me.

W-w-w-what should I do!?

Calm down, me.

That’s right. I can pretend to be human.

Just like the orchid mantis mimicked a flower, I’ll mimic a human.

It’s fine. My upper body passes well enough.
I look like a human girl, no matter how you look at it.

But I absolutely cannot show my lower half.
I have flowers blooming, and if they see this scary-looking bulb-mouth, I’d be instantly labelled a monster.


Ughh, I’m so nervous.
I used to be human, yet pretending to be human now is so much harder than I thought..

I guess I’m getting pretty used to being a plant.
Plants are lonely creatures, after all.

That’s why, unlike back when I was human, I’ve hardly spoken with anyone at all.
It’s been so long that I’m actually shaking.


I clutched my head with my vines.

Then I noticed something reflecting light from their direction.

Light was shining from the forest.
It was coming from the humans, but why would they be shining?

The answer came quickly.


The humans approaching were all wearing armor.
Fully armed.

They looked ready to march into a battlefield.

They held weapons in their hands.

Swords, spears, bows.

They moved in formation, alert and prepared for combat, closing in like hunters stalking prey.


Now that I think about it, I did hear them calling out earlier, like they were looking for someone.

Could it be… me?

Why?
Did that nectar-crazed boy betray my location?

And now the kingdom sent a unit to eliminate me?

Or maybe it’s the Demon King’s army from the other day?
No, that doesn’t fit.
If they were minotaurs instead of humans, maybe.


Either way, this is bad.
As soldiers of the kingdom, they’re trained to kill any monsters on sight.

Even if they aren’t here specifically for me, they might hunt me anyway.


Is fighting my only option?

I really want to avoid conflict with people if I can.

And if just one escapes, what then?
I’ll have to live in fear every day, waiting for revenge like with that minotaur last time.

Humans hate monsters more than the Demon King’s army ever did.
They’d form a proper extermination squad and take me out for sure.

If the soldiers get any closer, they’ll definitely find it suspicious that there’s a single huge flower growing all by itself. They might even come over to investigate, wondering what it is.

There’s only one thing to do.

I must mimic them, pretend to be human.

That’s the only way to politely send them on their way.

I used to be human. I was even a saint once. I can do this.

But… I’ve been a plant for so long that I’m a little worried.
Now that my body has become a plant, can I really pull this off?


——I can’t give up on myself, me.
If I’m worried, then I’ll become an actress.

I’ll put on an invisible mask and hide the plant inside me.
Then I’ll act like an ordinary girl.

If I mind control myself like that, maybe I can find my courage.

Come on, me!

You’re human!

You’re not an Alraune. You’re completely human!!


——Alright. I think I can do this.

I’m not an Alraune.
I’m just a normal girl who, for some reason, happens to live in the forest.

Yes. I think I can pull this off.
I’ll remember who I was when I was a saint.

And I’ll do everything I can to pass for a human girl so they don’t see me for the plant monster that I am.

***

Author’s Note:

Thank you for reading.
I plan to update once tomorrow.

If you enjoyed this story or thought, “They’re really trying,” giving it a bookmark or a ★★★★★ would make me very happy. Your support keeps me motivated to write.

Next Time: Believe Me, Even Though Flowers Are Blooming from My Lower Half, I’m a Normal Human

TL’s Note:

Happy Thanksgiving.