Standing before me, after my unnatural escape from the river, was a large frog.


Before this, White Bird-san had saved my life more times than I could count.
And the true identity of that white bird had been a witch.


So maybe this frog wasn’t an ordinary frog either.
There was a chance he was actually a frog prince, transformed from a human by magic.

With that in mind, I decided to ask the frog.


“Did you… save me?”


In response to my question, the frog let out a loud “Ribbit.”

It wasn’t an awkward imitation like White Bird-san’s cries had been.
It was a perfect frog croak, unmistakably frog-like.


The frog then hopped away, croaking “ribbit, ribbit” as it disappeared into the depths of the forest.


Hmm. No matter how I looked at it, it really did seem like nothing more than an ordinary frog monster.
I couldn’t completely rule out the possibility that it was a person in disguise, but there was no way to know.


This is just my instincts, but I don’t think that frog was the one who saved me.

Its presence felt different from White Bird-san’s.
This was more like a wild frog that had just happened to pass by.

If that’s the case, then what exactly happened to me?
If someone really did save me, where did they go?

I have no idea.


Well, whatever.
I survived, and that’s what matters most.
Between dying senselessly and being saved by something mysterious, I’ll take the latter any day.
Having overcome so many brushes with death already, I can say this for sure.

Survival comes first!

The finer details can wait for another time.
If that frog really was a prince, I’m sure we’ll meet again someday.


In any case, the water from the pond and the river had restored my moisture.
I’m fully recovered!
On top of staying hydrated, I even managed to snack on dancing fish in the river, so my nutrition was taken care of too.


The real problem now is how to reunite with the little witch.
She’s probably still searching for me back at the crocodile pond.

──That’s it.
Time to use that trick again.


I stretched my vines high into the sky.

This was the same method I’d always used to summon Ms. Bee, the female knights.
And it was these vines that led White Bird-san to discover me for the first time.
So if the little witch sees them, she should realize that I’m here.


After continuing to stretch my vines upward for a while, I started to feel tired.
Just as I was thinking that this was probably my limit, I heard a sound coming from the bushes.


I shifted my gaze, wondering if the little witch had come, only to meet the eyes of a tiger.


It was a tiger-type monster, a Krieg Tiger.
It’s one of those war-loving tigers—the same kind I defeated once before in the forest.

However, this one was a bit bigger than the one I’d met back then.
It had the air of a tiger boss. Looks pretty strong.

Could it be that it followed my vines all the way here?
As I raised my vines and thought, “you weren’t invited,” another sound came from the bushes.


This time it was a boar-type monster, a Waldschwein.
But the guests didn’t stop there.


Even a Höllenwolf, a wolf-type monster, has shown up.
The hellwolf makes its entrance.

Just as I started to panic, thinking this was starting to feel like a reunion of all the carnivorous monsters I’d eaten so far, I heard something emerge from the river behind me.


A snake-type monster, a Varnschlange, leapt out of the water.
Now that I think about it, you did have moist skin, so you’re a snake that can live underwater too, huh?


Before I knew it, a ballroom was forming around me.
A dance of death, where carnivorous monsters gather……!


Huh, what is this!?

Why am I surrounded!?
I raised my vines to call the little witch, and instead the Four Heavenly Kings of my old forest have all gathered here!

Just how many carnivorous monsters are roaming around this forest anyway?

And every single one of them is bigger than the monsters from the forest I used to live in.
As expected of an ancient forest.

Wait, this isn’t the time to be impressed!


W-w-what should I do?
Since I’m a plant… maybe they’ll just let me go?

I don’t think I’m anyone’s favorite food here.
And you, Mr. Omnivorous Boar, please excuse yourself today as well.


But the carnivorous monsters kept closing in, one step at a time.
I’d hoped they’d start fighting each other, but for some reason, I’m the only thing they’re looking at.

It would’ve been nice if they’d fought over me like the crocodiles did.


If it comes to this, I guess I’ll have no choice but to fight.
But right now, I’m a child Alraune.

Compared to when I was an adult, my combat ability has clearly declined.
Fighting all of them at once would be more than I can handle.

Honestly… I’m completely out of options.

For a moment, I even hoped that the frog prince might come to save me.
But that, of course, didn’t happen.


Because my prince has already been decided.

For me, my prince is White Bird-san.


Just as the carnivorous monsters lunged at me, a tree came flying in from somewhere.

It landed between me and the monsters, as if to protect me.
Another tree followed, crashing down toward the river where the snake was.


Could it be!?


With hope swelling in my chest, I looked up at the sky and saw a white-haired girl floating there.

The little witch had thrown the trees to save me.
So by applying her levitation magic, she could even carry and throw trees. That’s amazing.


“Alraune, I finally found you!”

The little witch flew toward me, holding out her right hand as she approached.

Understanding what she meant, I stretched my vines up into the air.

But even as I did, the carnivorous monsters were closing in, leaping from tree to tree.

The fastest to reach me was the hellwolf.
Its claws were already right in front of my eyes.

They were almost within reach.

At that moment, my body was pulled up into the air.
The little witch had grabbed my vines!


Having escaped the hellwolf’s attack, I swung through the air like a pendulum, held by the little witch gripping my vines.

Below us, the carnivorous monsters looked up with frustrated expressions.
That was close.


If the little witch had arrived even a bit later, I might have been done for.

“Thank you… for saving me.”

When I thanked her, she blushed slightly and replied, “Of course, I’m your owner after all.”

The little witch really is my Prince Charming.
My dependable caretaker.
I’m truly glad we were able to reunite so quickly.


After our emotional reunion, we left the area right away.

Still, there was something we needed to do at the river.

Once we had put some distance between ourselves and that place, we landed upstream.
After confirming there was no danger, the little witch decided to bathe in the river.


She must have gotten completely covered in mud back at the pond, so she wanted to wash her body and clothes.
She also seemed really thirsty.

While the little witch rinsed herself off in the river, I kept watch over our surroundings.

That’s when her body entered my field of view.

The little witch stepped into the water in her natural state.
Like me, her chest hadn’t developed much yet.

I felt a small sense of relief, thinking that the little witch was one of my kind too, but then I noticed it.
On her beautiful white skin, there was something artificial.

A strange crest shimmered on her left shoulder.


It looked almost like a tattoo.
Some kind of mark, perhaps, but I had no idea what it meant.

The little witch had said she became a witch when she was six years old.
Maybe this mark had something to do with that.


Still, now wasn’t the time to ask.
After all, it had only been our second day traveling together.
If she hadn’t explained it during our flight through the sky, it probably meant she wasn’t ready to talk about it yet.

Everyone has one or two secrets they want to keep hidden.
And if it’s a witch, that’s all the more true.


I gently turned my gaze back to the surrounding scenery and quietly waited for the little witch to finish bathing.



Before I knew it, the sun had begun to set.

We searched for a place that looked relatively safe to make camp for the night.
In the end, we settled on making the base of a large tree trunk our sleeping spot.

“Alraune, I’m hungry.”

Now that she mentioned it, the little witch hadn’t eaten anything today.

I used Plant Generation to make an apple.
That alone didn’t seem like enough, so I gave her plenty of nectar too.

And that’s when I realized something.
Over the past two days, the only things the little witch had eaten were my nectar and apples.

For a growing child, it was a terribly unbalanced diet.

If this kept up, the little witch might end up collapsing from hunger.
I had to do something about it.

For the sake of the little witch, who wasn’t used to living in the wild, I’ll have to do my best starting tomorrow!


After catching our breath, darkness had completely fallen around us.

“Alraune… I’m cold…”

The little witch’s body began to shiver.

Now that I thought about it, she’d just bathed, her body had cooled down, and her clothes were soaking wet.
If we left things like this, she might catch a cold.

For now, I needed to do something about her clothes.
Using my vines, I helped the little witch take them off.

I hung her clothes on a nearby branch to let them dry.

That meant the little witch was now naked.
It didn’t look like she had any spare clothes, either.

But that’s fine. I’ll figure something out.
Leave it to your big sister!

I gently wrapped the little witch’s body in my vines.
Bundle her up like that, and she turns into a little vine bagworm!

This should keep her much warmer.


There’s just one thing, though…
My vines are also sensory organs.

So I can feel the texture of the little witch’s skin through them.
She doesn’t seem to realize it, but it makes me a bit embarrassed.

After all, I can feel every inch of her body as if I were holding it in my hands.

Even if I try not to think about it, I couldn’t help noticing.
And now that I could clearly sense her outline through my vines, I realized she was quite thin.

She said the village chief had let her stay at his house, and since she was just a guest, maybe she hadn’t been getting proper meals.
Being captured as a witch for several days, plus barely eating over the last two days, probably didn’t help either.

Starting tomorrow, I need to catch plenty of prey and make sure the little witch gets proper meals.


“Alraune, come here.”

The little witch held out both hands.
When I extended my vines, she grabbed them and pulled me close, wrapping her arms around me.

She curled up, holding my body close.

“Being alone is lonely. Let’s sleep together.”

As she held me, something dawned on me.

Camping alone in a dark forest—there was no way a ten-year-old girl wouldn’t feel scared.

I’d gotten so used to sleeping alone in the forest that I’d forgotten something so obvious.

The little witch’s body was still trembling.

Was it because she was cold?
Or because she felt lonely?

There’s nothing I can do to ease the little witch’s loneliness.
So at the very least, I have to do something about the cold.

Using the skunk cabbage’s ability, I generated heat from myself.
This should make me at least as good as a hot-water bottle.

“Alraune… you’re warm…”


The little witch murmured that, then slowly drifted off to sleep.

At the same time, she hugged me tightly.


For the past year, I’ve slept alone every night.
But sleeping together like this… it feels so warm and comforting.

No matter how cold the night, no matter how dark and empty the heart, we can keep each other warm.


“Good… night.”

I hugged the little witch back with my vines and gently closed my bud.

From tonight on, let’s sleep like this, together.

It’s warmer, both in body and heart, than when I’m alone.


So from now on… we’ll always be together.

***

Author’s Note:

Thank you for reading.

Next Time: All Tangled with the Little Witch