I’m an Alraune, a little plant monster girl.
It’s the middle of a battle, and it’s embarrassing, but I’m about to make children right in front of a gentleman.


In order to fight the giant eagle-type monster, the Begia Adler, flying in the sky, I decided to send my own clones up there.


Making children in front of the enemy… as a former saint, and as a duke’s daughter, it’s incredibly humiliating.

But even if someone were to say it’s unladylike, I won’t survive unless I pollinate.
If the alternative is being killed by that giant eagle, then showing pollination in public is clearly the better option!


That said, since my main body isn’t actually doing the pollinating, I’m not really embarrassed at all.

It’s more like conducting a biological experiment. I simply have the male and female flowers bloom along my vines, then pollinate them to produce Alraune seeds.


Once the Alraune seeds were produced, I generated squirting cucumber machine guns around them.


And with that, the squirting cucumber machine guns loaded with Alraune seeds were complete.


If I can’t reach the Begia Adler in the sky because my roots are planted in the ground, then I just need to launch my seeds up there.
If I can get them to stick into that giant eagle, I can force them to sprout on the spot and latch onto its body.


Honestly, I can’t think of any other way to attack the Begia Adler!
So I’m going through with it.


Good day to you, Mr. Eagle.

Please wait for me up in the sky.
I shall be coming to meet you now.

I fired a rapid barrage of Alraune seeds toward the flying Begia Adler.


It must be tough being launched into the air for a suicide attack, but my clones can do it.
My dear clones, I leave the rest to you.

I saluted them off with my vines as I sent my seeds off.
Everyone… come back safely, all right?


The Alraune seeds pierced into the Begia Adler’s belly and wings.


Because I packed them full of light recovery magic, they sprouted almost immediately.
In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen baby Alraunes grew from the giant eagle’s body.


Yes, this is Operation Mistletoe.

Mistletoes are parasitic plants that grow by driving its roots into the trunks and branches of other trees.

Just like a mistletoe, I’m trying to have the Alraune seeds parasitize the Begia Adler.

I wasn’t sure if it would actually work, but it’s going even better than expected.
Maybe at some point I unknowingly consumed a mistletoe plant. It was probably among the plants my little junior, the Treant, brought me as a gift.



Since there was no soil where they sprouted, the baby Alraunes seemed to be pushing their roots directly into the giant eagle’s wounds.
Thanks to that, they weren’t being shaken off.


If anything, the giant eagle’s body was now being gouged open everywhere by Alraunes rooting into its flesh, so that alone counts as an attack.

They’re probably absorbing nutrients from the giant eagle’s body. That’s how they’re managing to sustain themselves.


And just like that, a whole field of baby Alraunes had formed across its belly.
All the baby Alraunes waved their vines toward me.


“Mama!”

“I’ll do my best!”

“Watch me from there!”


M-my childrennnnn!


Even if they’re clone Alraunes, they’re still Alraunes born from me.
Seeing them fighting the giant eagle for my sake…
It honestly… a little moving.


Feeling like a parent who had come to watch a school sports day, I quietly observed the baby Alraunes at work.


Look, ma’am, please take a look.
All those little Alraune girls over there? They’re all my children.

What’s that? I’m awfully young to have so many children?
Yes, even though I’m technically only a one-year-old little girl, I’ve become a single mother with children.


You’re asking if there is no father?

Well, you see… I’m their real father.
And their real mother too.
Yes, it’s a rather complicated family situation.


Even so, the bond between parent and child is perfectly in sync.
Since they’re my clones, I can easily tell what the baby Alraunes are about to do.


“Everyone… ready?”

“Leave it to us!”

“Let’s do it!”


The baby Alraunes invited the Begia Adler to dance with their anesthetic thorns.
Perhaps being embraced and surrounded by so many little girls made the gentleman nervous, because its movements slowed slightly.

But that alone wasn’t enough to stop the rampaging giant eagle.
For a large male bird like him, being tangled up by a few little girls doesn’t seem to be much of a burden.


“Next move!”

“Got it!”

“Let’s go!”


The baby Alraunes sprouted vines of sundew plants.
They connected the sundew vines together between them.


Before long, the Begia Adler’s wings were wrapped in a mass of sundew.
The viscous, sticky mucus overflowing from the fine hairs made it look almost like they were giving the giant eagle a massage.


The sticky, clinging sensation must’ve felt pleasant, because the Begia Adler’s wings gradually lost the ability to move.
It seems the devoted massage from the baby Alraunes has left it completely limp.

The sundew vines, sticky enough to stretch into threads, successfully bounded the eagle’s wings.


With anesthetic thorns eating away at its body, and those sticky vines stealing the freedom of its wings, the giant eagle’s movements finally stopped completely.
Unable to move its wings, the giant eagle fell straight down toward the ground.



With a heavy thud, the Begia Adler crashed into the earth near me.
Fortunately, since it landed on its back, the little Alraunes parasitizing its belly were unharmed. Thank goodness.


“Mama… hurry… finish it.”


Yes, I can’t let everyone’s hard work go to waste.
Good job with the aerial dance and massage, everyone.

Now that my daughters have finished, it is my turn—as their mother—to serve.


Good day once again, Mr. Eagle.


Thank you very much for taking care of my children.


I am most delighted that you played along with them.
As a token of my appreciation, I would like to invite you to my tea party.


Don’t worry. Even if both of your wings are tied up, I’ll feed you myself.

Now then, please open wide, all right?

Using my vines, I pried open the giant eagle’s beak and treated it to some homemade sweets.
I generate a squirting cucumber machine gun, and fire a rapid barrage of poisonous seeds straight into its mouth.


Pop-pop-pop-pop-pop!


Countless poisonous seeds poured deep into the Begia Adler’s throat.


How do you like the taste of my pride and joy, my special seeds?

Once you’ve had your fill, do close your beak to let me know.
Until then, I shall continue feeding you as many poisonous seeds as you like.


Oh my, do you want seconds?
Opening your beak so wide… you must have been terribly hungry
Very well. Here is another serving, courtesy of my machine gun.


Oh my, Mr. Eagle, are you getting thirsty as well?
Then allow me to pour you some tea.


Here, say “ah.”
Mr. Eagle gulped down my poisonous pollen.
Foaming at the beak, it was as if the giant eagle was expressing how delicious the tea was.


It appears to have suited its taste.
With its eyes rolled back, Mr. Eagle finally dropped its face to the ground, completely full.
It has finished its meal.


As if to thank me for the tea party, a blue flower suddenly popped out of the giant eagle’s mouth.
Almost like a magic trick.

──Hmm… what is that?

Why is there a flower growing inside a bird’s mouth?
And somehow… I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before…


“The Begia Adler was defeated!? Th-that’s impossible…”


The poison fairy panicked.
She clearly hadn’t expected me to win at all.


“You’re… next.”

“H-help!”


The poison fairy tried to flee.
But with only one wing left, she couldn’t fly properly.
At that speed, there was no way she could escape.


I sprouted a Venus flytrap from the ground.
Then, like catching a fly, I snapped the two lobed trap leaves shut on the poison fairy.


“Gugyaaah!”


The poison fairy was captured by the Venus flytrap.

Now… what should I do with her?
I could always just eat her.


“Th-this isn’t over! Once reinforcements arrive, the tide will turn in no time!”


Is that just the poison fairy refusing to admit defeat?


…That’s what I thought at first.
But in the next moment, a strange premonition washed over me. It might not be a bluff after all.

I sensed something.


Something was approaching from beyond the sky.
Whatever it was, it possessed a power similar to what I once had when I was a saint.
And it was flying toward us at incredible speed.


But a saint shouldn’t be able to fly.
So what could it be?


All I could feel was the presence of something unknown, drawing closer and closer.


And then I realized. That presence carried the same light magic as a saint.

***

Author’s Note:

Thank you very much for reading.

Next Time: The Four Heavenly Kings Arrive