I’m an Alraune, a plant monster child.
After defeating the frog monster, a fairy popped out of its mouth.


Why would a fairy be inside a frog…?

Maybe she got eaten by it.


Seeing a tiny girl come out of a frog, I was reminded of the fairy tale I’d read in my past life in Japan, Thumbelina.

Thumbelina was a tiny girl born from a tulip.
But she got kidnapped by a frog and was almost forced to marry him.

If things play out the same way as the fairy tale, then I’ve basically saved Fairy-san from her kidnapper.
Wait, if Thumbelina was born from a tulip, does that mean she was a flower girl?

For some reason, she reminded me of myself, an Alraune.
I couldn’t help but feel a bit of kinship.


Anyway, this fairy, like Thumbelina, must be a victim of the frog.

She was completely sticky from being covered in frog saliva.
Is she going to be okay?


“Ugh…”

Fairy-san let out a groan and collapsed onto the ground.
It looks like there was foam coming out of her mouth.


Um, wait… If she’s foaming at the mouth, doesn’t that mean she’s on the verge of death?
Don’t tell me… she inhaled my poison too…?


Wh-what do I do?
I might have poisoned an innocent fairy along with the frog!


I never meant to kill some fairy I’ve never even met.
I have to save her!

Grabbing Fairy-san with my vines, I pulled her closer to me.
At the same time, I bit into another vine and coated it with nectar.

My nectar, infused with healing potion, should also have a detoxifying effect.
If I can get her to drink this, her life should be saved.

But with Fairy-san still collapsed, it doesn’t look like she can lick the nectar herself.
Well… yeah, obviously.

There’s got to be some way to get this nectar into her…


The first thing that came to mind was mouth-to-mouth.
If I use artificial respiration to pass the nectar to her, it might work.

Luckily, I’m a little girl right now.
I should be able to press my lips to hers, since she’s as tiny as a doll.

As I brought Fairy-san closer to my face, the little witch asked, “What are you doing?”

“I’ll… give her the detox nectar… mouth-to-mouth.”

“……No. I’ll do it. Give me the nectar.”


The little witch snatched Fairy-san away from me.
I decided to do as she said and dripped plenty of nectar into her hand.


Using her fingers, she gently pried the fairy’s mouth open.
Then she poured the nectar I’d gathered in her palm deep into the fairy’s throat.
It seems the fairy wasn’t completely unconscious, because she started gulping it down.


After a short while, she coughed, “Keh!”
Looks like the antidote worked in time.


Fairy-san opened her eyes and looked back and forth between me and the little witch.


“Why is the Alraune… in front of me…?”


From the way she said that, it sounds like she knew me somehow.
But I’ve never met a fairy before, nor have I ever even seen one before.

Gradually, it seemed her consciousness returned, and Fairy-san recovered enough to speak again.


“You two saved me…?”

“That’s right. Who are… you?”

“I’m exactly what you see. A beautiful fairy of the forest.”


As I thought, this Thumbelina really was a fairy after all.
Amazing. This is my first time ever seeing a fairy!

But then, why was a fairy inside a frog?
Was she really kidnapped, just like in the fairy tale?


“Why… were you… inside the frog?”

“That’s because I got eaten when I was trying to save you.”

When she was trying to save me?
What does that mean?


“I’ve been watching you two since yesterday. A talking Alraune and a flying human are just way too interesting… I mean, suspicious.”

As she said this, Fairy-san spread her wings and lifted into the air.
Her tiny body began to glow.

I recognized that light.


I had thought the fireflies I saw last night were just a dream.
And the small glow I spotted in the river earlier…
So that faint light, its true identity was this fairy all along.


“I’ve never seen a talking Alraune before, you know. I couldn’t just ignore that, so I used magic to guide the water flow, steering you from the pond into the river, then pulling you back out again. So you better be grateful to me!”

Fairy-san puffed out her chest proudly.
She might be small, but her attitude was anything but.


“But while I was focused on saving you from the river, I got careless and ended up being eaten by a nearby monster frog. Honestly, I thought it was over for me. But the fact that you two ended up rescuing me… that just proves I have a good eye for people, doesn’t it?”


So the one who had been helping me wasn’t the frog at all. It was this fairy.
If she really was the one who pulled me out of the river, then I needed to thank her properly.

“Thank you… for helping me.”

“It’s fine, we’re even. No debts between us now.”


Waving her hand dismissively, Fairy-san continued.

“And I appreciate you saving me too.”

“I’m Kiri, the fairy. So, what are you two doing all the way out here in the middle of the forest?”


I explained to her that we’d lost our home and decided to relocate to this forest together.
But as I spoke, I suddenly noticed something.
The little witch hadn’t said a single word this whole time.
She’s been silently watching the fairy from right behind me the whole time.


Maybe she’s shy around strangers?
She did say she didn’t like people much, so that might be it.

In contrast to the silent little witch, the fairy was incredibly talkative.


“Living in a place this dangerous, are you crazy?! You’ll get eaten by monsters any day now!”

According to her, this area was practically a nest of violent monsters.
No wonder we kept running into such powerful carnivorous ones.


“If you’re going to live in the forest, the eastern side is much better. That’s where I usually stay. It’s a lot safer compared to here, I can guarantee that.”


The eastern side. That would be toward the Tower City, right?
We’d be more likely to run into humans, but I couldn’t keep putting the little witch in danger either.


“Unfortunately, I’ve got things to do, so I can’t take you there myself. I’d like to look after you since you’re here, but sorry about that. You’ll just have to do your best on your own. Good luck!”

She declared this bluntly, as if pushing us away.

Well, that’s fine.
We may have saved each other’s lives, but the debt’s paid. From here on, we were just strangers.


What should we do?
Should we take Fairy-san’s advice and move to the eastern part of the forest?

As I pondered this, the little witch gently tugged at my petals.


“I agree that this place is dangerous. For now, I think we should move.”


It seemed the little witch had felt this part of the forest was dangerous too.
That said, we’d only just arrived here ourselves.
Without any sense of the terrain, making a long trek all the way to the east side of the forest would be exhausting.

As I groaned in thought, Fairy-san flew right up in front of my face.
She hovered there, staring intently at my eyes.


“I don’t know why, but when I look into the Alraune’s eyes, my body starts to feel all tingly.”


Holding herself back, the fairy hugged her own arms.

Come to think of it, the little witch sometimes asked for my nectar while looking straight into my eyes too.
Was there something about my eyes that made people crave nectar?
Without a mirror, I had no idea what my own eyes even looked like.


Then again, this fairy did drink my nectar earlier.
She was unconscious at the time because of the poison, but maybe her body still remembers the taste.

Either way, this was an opportunity.

I bit into my vine, letting it become coated with nectar.
When she caught sight of my golden, gleaming nectar, I heard her swallow hard.


“Fairy-san… if I give you this nectar… will you listen… to my request?”


In exchange for the nectar, I wanted her to guide us to the eastern forest.

She definitely seemed to have a sweet tooth.
I could practically hear her desire to taste it already.
After all, she’s actually drooling.


“What’s wrong with me? Ever since I saw that nectar, my body’s been achings to lick it.”

“You want… nectar?”

“I-I don’t know… but… I think I do!”


I could tell she’d taken the bait.


“Then… It’s a deal. Take us to the… eastern forest.”

“That’s all?”

“All we need is for you to tell us… a place that’s easy to live in. That’ll do.”

“Deal!”


I tapped Fairy-san’s hand with one of my vines.
Negotiation complete!

I held out the nectar-coated vine towards her.

The fairy licked it once.
Then right away, a second. A third. She kept licking without pause.


For such a small fairy, licking nectar off a thick, round vine looked like hard work, but she managed to drink it all effortlessly.

She really seemed to like the nectar.
Or maybe she’d always been a fairy with a sweet tooth.


After that, she kept sneaking glances at my eyes.

She was like a girl with her first crush, stealing glances at the person she couldn’t stop noticing.


In any case, she’d agreed to guide us now.
I’m awesome!

“Then please… guide us to a safe place.”

“Leave it to me! I know everything there is to know about this forest!”

The fairy puffed out her tiny chest proudly.


“But I’ve got one more condition. When we safely reach the eastern forest, you’ll give me some more of your nectar.”

“……Alright.”


What is this?
I had a feeling I’d done something reckless again.

Looks like I’ve gone and created another nectar-lover……


“Alraune, I want nectar too.”

Inspired by Fairy-san, the little witch asked for some as well.

Now I have to provide nectar for two people.

I’m not a nectar-producing machine, you know!
It’s getting ridiculous.

If the number of people asking for my nectar keeps increasing like this, wouldn’t I eventually dry up?

That’s a little terrifying.


Feeling a bad premonition, I bit into my vine and coated it thickly with nectar.

***

Author’s Note:

Thank you for reading.

Next Time: From the Western Forest to the Eastern Forest