I’m an Alraune, a plant monster girl.
And just now, I witnessed a supernatural summer mystery—a glowing UFO had suddenly vanished.


I’d seen that unidentified flying object before.
It showed up at the beginning and end of last summer, shining like something on fire.


When that UFO came to the forest, a scorching heatwave followed, causing a drought.
Conversely, when it disappeared, summer would fade and the weather would cool down.

The UFO that brought summer had returned.


Just when I thought it was flying toward me, it burst into a blinding flash and vanished. What on earth was that light?


Maybe spring was already ending and summer was starting.
It still feels too early for that though.

But this heat felt like that of the summer.
It’s like summer came along with the UFO.


As I was wondering if any being could really control the weather, a thunderous explosion echoed from far away.


What was that!?

Did the UFO drop a bomb or something??
No, that kind of thing shouldn’t exist in this world.

Right after that, a shockwave ripped through the forest.
The forest thrashed and rustled under the fierce wind.


Smoke rose in the distance.
It looked just like a mushroom cloud.


What in the world happened?
That explosion had enough power to match—no, surpass a large-scale spell cast by multiple high-level mages.

Could the UFO be responsible?
The explosion came from the same direction I saw it before the flash.

If I remembered right, there was a village in that area where that nectar-obsessed boy was staying.
Something must have happened there.


One after another, more explosions echoed.
It sounded like a battle had broken out.

Maybe those kingdom soldiers were fighting someone.
Still… who in the world are they fighting? There shouldn’t be many enemies worth causing such an uproar over.


The fighting didn’t stop.
After a while, the smoke grew thicker.

Columns of smoke were rising everywhere until it covered everything in front of me.

It looked like the forest ahead was on fire…………


Yeah… um.
Isn’t the forest… burning?

No other explanation fits that much smoke.

Ah, look.

A pillar of fire was rising into the sky.
There aren’t many magic users who could produce fire on that level.

With someone like that running wild, of course the fire would spread into the woods.

So, that means… the forest really was burning, huh.


——Oh no. What should I do?

It’s still far away, but at this rate, the fire could spread across the entire forest.
This is bad! I need to escape!

…Except, wait.
I can’t escape. I’m a plant.

Why can’t plants move when there’s a fire right in front of them?
Hurry up and move already. I don’t want to burn!


No matter how much I tried, my roots refused to take a single step.

Evacuation is impossible.
Then that leaves only one option.


I decided to uproot every tree nearby.
If the fire reached those trees, the flames would jump straight to me.

So I pulled out as many trees as I could, clearing an open space around me.
If I can make a wide enough gap, maybe I could survive even if flames surrounded me.

Heave ho.

Oh, look.
There was a tree over there that was growing things that looked like corn.

With the trees in front gone, I could see things I never noticed before.
It felt strangely refreshing.


While I kept pulling up trees, something felt off.

That withered tree… wasn’t it closer before?

Yes, that withered tree that suddenly appeared.
I thought it had been growing fairly close until now, but once I pulled out some of the trees around it, I realized it was farther away than I remembered.

Maybe my sense of distance was getting weird.

Well, that withered tree was something I’d been a little curious about anyway, so it’s better to not pull it out.
It died so suddenly that taking anything more from it would feel cruel. As a fellow plant, I couldn’t help feel bad for it.


The smoke from the fire was creeping closer.
If this continued, the entire forest would burn down.

I wanted to put out the fire, but my circumstances didn’t allow me to do that.

Like a princess locked in a tower, all I can do is wait for a prince to come rescue me.


Ah… my forest is burning. And I finally became the forest’s ruler too.
Who on earth caused this fire?

Culprit, reveal yourself at once.
I’ll give you a very stern lecture.


As if answering my anger, a ball of light rose into the sky beyond the burning forest.

No, it wasn’t a ball.
A long, thick, rod-like thing was stretching straight up into the sky.

It burned with blistering heat and shone with an intense, blazing light.
Its shape looked a bit like a snake’s tail.


Could that be the UFO’s true form?
From what I could see, I couldn’t even guess what it was.


While I watched the mysterious tail from a distance, the light gathered into a single point.
A bright sphere swelled at the tip of the tail, expanding to its critical point before finally bursting.

From that tail-like shape, beams of light shot outward in every direction.

It looked just like a laser.
It was like a scene straight out of those kaiju movies I watched back when I was a high school girl.

Countless rays carved through the forest, blowing trees into the air.

The wood scorched by the beams turned into black ash and drifted away in the wind.



W- wha- wha- wha- what was thattttttttttttttttttttttttttt!?


I’d never seen anything like that!

A blast like that could easily wipe out an entire town.

Back when I was a saint, I fought all kinds of powerful beings in this world, but I’ve never seen or even heard of such an extraordinary attack.

It was a fierce yet majestic light, like something out of a myth passed down through legend.

Thank goodness.
Thank goodness that beam didn’t come my way.

Because of that beam, a huge swath of the forest must have been reduced to nothing but ashes and dust.

Even having just seen it with my own eyes, it still doesn’t feel real.
That one shot alone was already a complete disaster.


But unfortunately, the terror coming for me didn’t end there.

Next, a massive sphere of fire came hurtling toward me.

It looked like a monster’s fiery breath.
A sweeping wave of roaring flames crashed through the forest.


——Eek!?


What is that fire!?
Was it coming from the UFO?

It’s like the UFO was some kind of battlefield weapon.
At this rate I’m going to get scorched like a target marked for disposal.


S-stop it already!

Please, have mercy. Don’t bully me anymore.


No way.
I don’t want to burn.
I don’t want to be touched by something that terrifying.

So please… have mercy. Don’t come any closer.


As if ignoring my pleas, the flames of despair danced forwards, spreading like an invitation to a blazing ballroom where a single touch meant turning to ash.

There was no refusing the dance, and if it grabbed hold of me, there’d be no future left to live.
And of course, I had zero desire to join a dance that demanded my life.

No way. Being burned by the passion of love is more than enough

I have no desire to dance with the grim reaper’s flames of death.

So please.

Someone… please save me.

Take my hand and pull me out of here.

***

Author’s Note:

Thank you for reading.
Today will be a double update.

Next Time: A Prince on a White Horse, or Perhaps a Princess