Emergency situation.

This is a full-blown emergency that rivals the time I was betrayed by my comrades back when I was a saint.

I’m an Alraune, a female flower monster whose upper body is literally her pistil.
And over there is a bee-like monster, its body covered in pollen from some male flower.

If that pollen touches me, I’ll be pollinated.
In human terms, it’s like pregnancy.

If this keeps up, that bee’s going to violate me.
This is way too terrifying!

There must be something wrong with plants, trying to reproduce so easily.
Where’s the love?
Don’t you fall in love first and pick someone you actually like?
Yeah, yeah, I know. Plants don’t work that way.

Nature is harsh. If you can’t easily pass on your genes, you’ll just go extinct. But I wish I could’ve been an exception.
I don’t need seeds or anything like that. I just want to stay a single, independent flower forever.

If I get pollinated, I’ll turn into a fruit, and eventually into seeds. At that point, keeping my self-awareness would be impossible.
Then my life as an Alraune would end, which would be tantamount to death in a sense.

And being pollinated by some random flower from who knows where? No way.

I’m not that kind of cheap flower, thank you very much.
After all, I’m an Alraune!

Hey, you nameless male flower out there, at least introduce yourself by sending your picture and profile before coming over.
I might consider scheduling a formal meeting if you’re polite about it.

Okay, calm down.
Normally, when pollen from the stamen lands on the stigma of a pistil, it travels down inside and fertilizes the ovule.

But where’s the stigma, anyway?
My head?
My hair?

No, if pollen goes from the stigma down into the pistil’s interior, then maybe it’s… my mouth?
Wait, is my mouth the stigma?!
That’s not just scientifically bad but also visually bad. Personally, I decline…

Well, I guess just inhaling it wouldn’t look all that weird; in reality, it’ll probably just end up sticking to my face.

Still, whether it’s my face, head, hair, or mouth, it’s all equally terrifying.
One thing’s for sure: that bee cannot get anywhere near me.
This is a threat to my purity! I refuse!

I don’t ever want to say to my future child, “Your father was… uh, some random flower I never met.”
Or rather, since I’d become the seed itself, I couldn’t say anything anyways.

To protect my chastity, I’ll fight!

I focused all my nerves and lashed out at the approaching bee monster with my vines.
Missed.
Well, as expected of a bee’s speed.

Still, this one’s a monster bee, not your garden variety honeybee.
It’s about human-sized, so it’s an easier target.

But that also means it works both ways.
It bit right through my vine.

I never expected to get bitten by a bee instead of stung!
The pain, the frustration, and the fear for my virtue all hit at once, causing nectar to drip from my eyes where tears used to be.

The nectar seems to excite the bee as it lets out a buzzing cry, sounding eager.

Eek!
Stop! Don’t come any closer!
Take this!

I released my ultimate weapon, a cloud of poisonous pollen, capable of sending even that pervert bear from before straight to the afterlife in one hit.

But it didn’t work.
Of course it didn’t. The Zornbiene is a bee monster, so it must have poison resistance. How annoying.

Perhaps staying cautious, the bee started to hover from a distance that’s just outside my range.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              
Tearfully, I gently stroke my bitten vine.

If I were still a saint, I’d just cast a healing spell right now.
Speaking of which, can I still use magic in this form?

I tried firing a light arrow at the Zornbiene with light magic.

…No reaction.

The spell doesn’t activate.
Guess magic doesn’t work for plant monsters. Makes sense.

So no healing magic either? But when I tried using it, my vine reacted to my use of magic and began to grow rapidly, sprouting out fresh and healthy.
Before I knew it, my vines had returned to the way they looked before being chewed up by the bee.

Maybe instead of healing, my magic now promotes plant growth!
After all, my healing magic was technically Light Recovery Magic.

Light is crucial for plants, and one of my top three desires right now.
So it makes sense that my body and my magic would match perfectly.

Curious, I tried it on my other vines too.
They started stretching rapidly, doubling in length and even multiplying!

So my healing magic has become a growth acceleration ability.
Perfect. Maybe now I have what I need to bring that bee down.

I extend my vines toward the hovering Zornbine, stopping just short of reaching.

The bee buzzes mockingly.
Don’t get cocky now.

I channel my magic again, forcing my vines to surge outward in a sudden burst of growth.
Caught off guard, the bee’s wings get snagged.

As it loses balance, I send all my vines whipping forward, striking and wrapping around it, then slamming it to the ground.

It screeches, thrashing and stinging and biting, but my vines hold firm.

“This is the end,” I say, crushing its body as it lets out its final screech.

That’s what you get for trying to violate me. No mercy.

I did it…

I won!
My purity is safe!

Or so I thought, but my peace lasted only a moment.
A deep roar rolled through the forest, like a squadron of helicopters approaching.

I recall hearing that bees send a distress signal to their hive when they’re about to die. So that last cry must’ve been just that.

And sure enough, I stare blankly as my merciless reality sets in.

The sky has turned yellow.
An entire swarm of bee monsters filled the air.

Countless compound eyes fix on me.

What should I do?
After I defeated the bee that tried to pollinate me, it called for reinforcements.

And they’re all carrying pollen, aren’t they?

This isn’t an emergency anymore.
It’s hopeless.
My purity’s doomed. I’m going to get covered in pollen from who-knows-what flowers.

No way…
There’s no way I can win against that many.

I… I might really get pollinated…

***

Author’s Note
Next time: “It’s My First Pollination, So Be Gentle, Okay.”