From the boy’s perspective

***

My name is Armin.
I’m ten years old, an apprentice magician, and grandson of a great sage.

Traveling with my grandpa is nothing but grueling training.
But since grandpa is a famous magician, I guess it’s expected that he is strict with my training.

Still, I think he could be a bit easier on me sometimes.
Both my parents were killed by the Demon King’s army. To him, I’m the last remnant of his family.
That’s why I wished he’d ease up on my training. I don’t like being pushed too hard.

Anyway, during our travels, one of the villages we passed through asked us for help.
Apparently, a monkey-like monster, the barbaffe, had been causing trouble nearby.

The barbaffe is notorious for being intelligent monsters.
They would steal adventurers’ weapons and use them.
But it’s precisely because they’re clever that they don’t venture near human settlement.

Barbaffe monsters are unusual in that they care about their families.
They hate seeing their kin killed.
They know a human soldier can beat them in combat, but they’re confident they can defeat the monsters in the forest with their weapons.
Therefore, they rarely leave their territory.

But this one has left its forest. That’s a big deal.
The village chief said the forest ecosystem might be changing.
Perhaps a stronger monster appeared, driving out the other monsters.
To prevent its family from being killed, the barbaffe also left the forest.

And in turn, it killed a human family.
Both parents were killed, leaving only their child alive.
I saw the survivor at the village chief’s house. She was a quiet-looking girl with white hair. Judging by her stature, she was around 10 years old.
To have your family killed, how terrible indeed.

If the barbaffe thought this new monster was scarier than humans, it must be incredibly powerful.
A dangerous creature like that living nearby is definitely bad news.

Thinking he should deal with the monsters causing troubles for the villagers rather than the monster in the forest, grandpa went out alone to hunt monkeys.
He left me behind in the village to continue training.
Ha! As if I was going to listen.
Finally, I was free. The demonic old man can’t boss me around anymore.

I was confident I’ve gotten considerably stronger.
I had magical aptitude too.
There was no way I’d lose to some monster in a forest in the middle of nowhere.

With that decided, I slipped out of the village.
I was headed across the forest, aiming to escape from the kingdom to the empire.

But I was naive.

Almost immediately, I ran into a bee-like monster called a Zornbiene and was immobilized by its stinger.

The poison made my body burn like a sauna, sweat pouring from every inch of my body. Yet, my insides felt frozen. I felt like I was being wrapped in snow.
I couldn’t even open my eyes.

I resigned myself.
Either the poison would kill me or the bee would.
Then I lost consciousness.

***

When I woke, I was in the arms of a beautiful woman.

I expected death at the hands of the bee… but instead, this woman appeared.

And she was gorgeous.
Like a saint straight out of a palace painting.
Probably four or five years older than me.

“…Where am I?” I asked.

No answer.
She just gently stroked my head.

“Who are you, miss?”

Looking around, it was clearly a forest.

Whoa?!
Her lower body is a flower!

I got it. She’s a monster.
An Alraune, I think.
A dangerous creature known to lure humans in.

“Uwaaaaah!?”

I tried to run, but I was too slow.
Her vines snared me.

“…Are you going to eat me, monster?”

She looked shocked.
Wait, does this monster understand me?

She’s half-human in form, so I assume she’d be pretty smart.
But the next moment shocked me even more.

“Not… gonna eat… you…”

She spoke!?

No way. Unbelievable.
The old geezer said that despite being monsters, Alraunes were just plants with a human appearance. They shouldn’t be able to talk with humans.

Yet here she was, speaking fluent words. I couldn’t believe it.

“…I won’t eat you,” she repeated.

This is a new species. Definitely.
She even ordered me to call her “onee-san.”

What is this? Some kind of punishment game?
Why do I need to call a monster “onee-san”?
Am I… being seduced?
I remember reading that Alraunes lure human males.

Even if her chest is a bit big, I’m not falling for it that easily.
And it’s not like I’m turning my face away out of embarrassment. No way.
My face is flushed because of the poison, thank you very much.

Wait, why does she have vines wrapped around her chest?
You’re a plant, aren’t you? Why is a flower wearing a bra? I don’t get it!

But that wasn’t even the strangest thing…

She smelled amazing.
It was a strange scent, like nothing I’ve ever smelled before.

Soon I realized why.
It’s her nectar.

The nectar dripping from her mouth looked like drool and was kind of gross, but my mouth was filled with saliva looking at it.
My body was craving nectar.

So I decided to take a bite of the honey.

And that was it.
This was the moment that changed my life.

I tasted heaven in a mouthful.

I had fallen completely for the Alraune.

***

Author’s Note:
This has gotten rather long, so it will be split into two parts.
There will be two updates today

Next update: Do Nectar-Mad Boys Dream of Alraune? (Part 2)