I’m an Alraune, a little plant monster girl.

That thing flying over there is the Begia Adler, a monstrous bird of the Demon King’s army.
A gigantic eagle that makes me think of the passenger planes I saw in my previous life.



And right beside it, the poison fairy Oin cackled with delight, looking utterly pleased with herself as she called over her giant eagle ally.


That poison fairy is such a coward!
When it really counts, she just leaves it all to some powerful monster!


The poison fairy of the Demon King’s army is trying to wipe us all out.
Since they’re the ones attacking us, we have no choice but to fight.

Besides, I’m the guard of this forest.

It turns out the Lady Dryad I knew wasn’t actually a bad spirit. And since she saved the little witch, I have to work hard and repay that kindness too.



The problem is how to fight the Begia Adler while it’s flying high in the sky.


I looked up. The giant eagle raised its wings and beat them down violently.
A powerful gust of wind crashed into us.


Since I was rooted to the ground, I was fine, but the little witch and the fairy Kiri were blown away by the wind.

I watched as their bodies crashed into a nearby bush. Thankfully, they seemed to be alright.


At this rate, it looks like I’ll have to be the one to fight.


But my vines won’t be able to reach the giant eagle flying up in the sky.
My poisonous pollen won’t reach either.


Which leaves only one option.

I generated the squirting cucumber machine gun.
Holding four machine guns at once, I aimed straight at the giant eagle.


Well then, excuse me.

Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop!


I fired a rapid barrage of thorn-shaped tranquilizer seeds.
The giant eagle was just barely within range, and the seeds stabbed into its belly.


But the giant eagle showed no reaction at all.

Its feathers must be getting in the way, preventing the anesthetic from being properly injected into its body.
And since the Begia Adler is massive to begin with, a small amount of anesthetic probably wouldn’t affect it anyway.



Uh… what do I do now?
I don’t have any other tricks left.


“There’s no way the Begia Adler would lose to some Alraune!”


I heard the poison fairy laughing mockingly.


You don’t have to tell me.
I already know that at this rate, there’s no way I can beat the giant eagle.


The Begia Adler dove down with tremendous speed.
Its enormous talons lunged towards me.


They were several times my size. If those talons tear into me, my tiny Alraune body won’t stand a chance.


I formed a shield of vines above my head, but against those talons they’re no sturdier than paper.


Th-this is bad!
At this rate I’m going to get ripped apart!

The seeds didn’t work, and the only weapon I have that can reach a flying eagle is fire—no, smoke!

I quickly grew eucalyptus leaves along my vines and ignited them.


Eucalyptus contains poison.
But when the leaves are burned, the smoke only works about as well as an insect repellent.
So I tried improving the variety to make the poison much stronger.
I usually only use eucalyptus as tinder, but this time I’m going all out with the poison.


If the Begia Adler breathes in this poisonous smoke, it should at least make it flinch.

But things didn’t go so conveniently.
The smoke wasn’t drifting toward the eagle at all.


“Lady Alraune, leave it to me!”

I heard Kiri’s voice.
Sounds like she’s casting spirit magic.

Thanks to Kiri’s magic, the smoke rose and began drifting toward the Begia Adler.


“My spirit magic can control the flow of nature! So you can count on me a little too, Lady Alraune!


Back then, it was the fairy Kiri who saved me when I was drowning in the river.
I see. So she must have used the same ability to control the current and move me out of the water.


The poisonous smoke enveloped the Begia Adler’s head.
Startled, the eagle shot back into the sky.

Phew… it looks like I managed to survive.



But if it dives again, there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to avoid the attack the same way.
If only I could knock the Begia Adler down to the ground…


Just as I was thinking that, I heard the poison fairy muttering suspiciously.


“What a sneaky little Alraune… Huh? What’s that? Why is a dead tree running over here so quickly…?”


When I turned around, I saw the figure of a withered tree sprinting toward us with sharp, powerful strides.
It was my little junior, the Amazon Treant.


Yes! My little junior came to help me!
But even if the Treant is a female berserker, she still can’t compete with the Begia Adler while it’s flying in the sky.



The Treant placed a bundle of plants in front of me.

She had gathered more rare plants for me again.
Perfect timing, my little junior!
There might be a plant here that can turn the tide of this battle.


While the Amazon Treant uprooted trees and hurled them at the flying Begia Adler to keep it occupied, I rummaged through the plants she had brought.


A plant that could work as a weapon… there it is!


I grabbed a plant with my vines that looked like it had a wide-open mouth.
Its two jaw-like leaves were lined with spines that looked like fangs.

I had seen this in a plant encyclopedia back when I was a high school girl.


This is a Venus flytrap.
A carnivorous plant that eats flies that wander into its two open, mouth-like leaves.


Among carnivorous plants, it’s quite unusual because it actively captures its prey.
Most carnivorous plants are passive hunters.
That’s why I’ve always wanted an aggressive carnivorous plant like the Venus flytrap.


I consumed the flytrap with my lower mouth.
Then I sprouted Venus flytraps from the vines hidden beneath the ground.


The flytraps burst out of the ground.
They stretched upward toward the flying Begia Adler.

Go on—just like you catch flies—eat that giant eagle!


“…No… it can’t reach.”


The Venus flytrap grew until it was about as tall as a nearby small tree, then suddenly stopped.
They won’t extend any farther.


You’ve got to be kidding me.
The Venus flytrap is completely useless!


While I was clutching my head with my vines, a strange shadow appeared on the ground.

When I looked up, I saw the little witch and the Treant in the sky.


Amazingly, the little witch was flying through the air with the Treant in her hands, using levitation magic.

It’s true that with a witch’s levitation magic she could carry a Treant, who’s bigger than she is, up into the air. But what in the world are the two of them trying to do?


The little witch threw the Treant at the giant eagle.

The Treant shot forward like a missile and latched onto the Begia Adler.
It looks like she’s trying to engage it in close combat.


But it’s hard to fight while clinging to a giant eagle flying through the sky.
After landing a few punches, the Treant fell back down into the forest.



I see, of course, that’s the trick!
If attacks from the ground don’t work, then you just have to stick to the enemy and attack up close.


But I’m a plant rooted in the ground.
Since I’ve grown much bigger than when I was a potted Alraune, I can’t go back into the bucket again.
So the little witch can’t toss me up there.


Getting close to the flying Begia Adler should be impossible…
…Or maybe not.


Yes, there is one way.
A method for a plant like me—rooted in the ground—to reach a monster flying in the sky.


I just have to launch myself!

And if one of me isn’t enough, then we’ll just fight together.


With that decided, I created male and female Alraune flowers along my vines.
To defeat the giant eagle, I’ll pollinate them and create clones.


We’re in the middle of a battle, but…

I’m going to make children.

***

Author’s Note:

Thank you very much for reading.

Next Time: Giant Bird Begia Adler vs. the Little Plant Monster Girl