This is from the perspective of the former corporal turned adventurer.

***

My name is Franz.

I used to be a soldier and even held the rank of corporal, but now I make a living as an adventurer in Tower City.


And right now, I found myself staring at something I just can’t make sense of.

Why is a forest fairy selling honey in the town square?


There’s no mistaking it. The one over there is the hooded girl I met a few days ago in the Forest of Dryades.
Despite looking like a young girl, her true identity is the fairy who gave me advice back then.

Still… a fairy selling honey? I just can’t wrap my head around it.

Curious about why she was here in town, I decided to call out to her.


“Fairy-sama, it’s been a while. Thanks for your help the other day.”

“…Fairy? I’m not a fairy.”


I see. We’re in the middle of town where everyone can see us.
So she doesn’t want people knowing she’s a fairy.


“Got it. Then I’ll just call you young lady here. So, why are you selling honey?”

“I want to try giving out free samples, but I don’t know how to call out to people…”

“I don’t really get it, but you want to call out and draw in customers, right? If that’s all…”


Scanning the square, I spotted a couple of familiar faces.

“Hey, you two over there!” I called out, waving two adventurers over.


“Where are you guys headed?”

“Where else? Some rookie adventurers got attacked by a plant monster in the forest yesterday. Apparently their weapons got taken, so we’re going to get them back.”

“Perfect timing then. Want to try a bite of this honey? Just think of it as a pre-job meal.”

“There’s no way some honey is going to fill us up—what the hell is this!?”


The moment they took a lick, the two adventurers’ expressions changed completely.
What is this reaction?


“It’s so good it feels like my brain’s melting!!”

“Got any more of this nectar!?”

“Uh… yeah. You can buy it from this young lady here.”

“Gladly!!”


It’s a little concerning how they suddenly went from acting like complete strangers to shouting about how much they love honey, but at least I managed to sell some for the forest fairy.
Maybe this repays some of what I owe her from the forest.


“That’s about how you do it. Easy, right?”

“Okay…”


The forest fairy swallowed nervously, bracing herself.


“H-Hey… you there… h-honey…”


She lowered her gaze and fell silent immediately.
Seems she’s not great with words.
Oh well, guess I’ll help her a bit more.



A short while after we started calling out together, a familiar-looking girl approached.

She was wearing an expensive-looking white outfit with golden embroidery.
That’s the saint apprentice who was stuffing herself with honey straight from the jar the other day. No doubt about it.

The saint apprentice started chatting with the honey-selling fairy like they knew each other, then bought some honey.

Then, as if just noticing me, she turned and spoke.

“Are you perhaps… Rufé-chan’s father?”

“No, I’m just a passing adventurer. I owe this young lady a bit, so I’m helping out.”

“Oh my… I completely misunderstood… my apologies.”


It seems this saint apprentice is a regular customer of the honey-selling fairy.
Well, judging from how she was devouring honey like crazy before, it’s not exactly surprising.


A saint once saved my hometown village.
Since this girl is a fellow saint apprentice, I might as well give her a heads-up.


“Miss Saint, it looks like that man’s been following you. Do you have any idea who he is?”


From across the square, a suspicious-looking man was staring right at her.
Since I can spot him from this distance, he’s probably just an amateur.


“Oh, that must be the trainee cook. He’s apparently a fan of mine, and we often happen to run into each other in town.”


That doesn’t sound like coincidence. More like he’s stalking her…


“If anything happens, just let me know. I owe a debt to a saint.”

“You’re too kind. Well then, if you’ll excuse me…”


Just as the saint apprentice left, the man, her so-called fan, came up next to buy some honey.
To be safe, I should gather a bit of information out of him.


“You’re a cook, right? Where do you work?”

“…You figured that out, huh. I work at the lord’s manor.”

“That’s impressive. Sorry for stopping you.”


He doesn’t seem like the bad sort of guy.
Maybe he’s just here to buy ingredients, or maybe he just wants to buy the same thing because he likes the saint apprentice.

To get more information, I decided to ask the honey-selling fairy about him as well.


“That guy, does he come around often?”

“Yeah. He always comes by after the lady in white buys some. And he was the first man to ever buy honey, so I remember him well.”


That really does sound like a stalker though…



By the time evening rolled around, thanks to me teaching her how to call out to customers, the honey-selling fairy had started to call out to people in the square all on her own.

At this point, she should be fine by herself.


“Alright then, I’ll be heading out.”

“W-Wait. As thanks… some honey…”

“No need. If anything, I’d be happy if you give me advice again like you did back in the forest.”

“…Okay.”



Leaving the nectar-selling fairy behind, I thought about what to do next.

Yeah… I’ll swing by the Adventurer’s Guild for a bit.
I spent the whole day helping out in the square. I need to pick up some work and earn something.



However, when I arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild, the place was unusually noisy.
Apparently, the two adventurers from earlier had been beaten back by a plant monster in the forest.

But that wasn’t all.
A total of four parties had been defeated by that same monster, losing their weapons and gear in the process.


From what I could gather from the chatter, the location of that monster was right around where the forest fairy warned me not to go.

If the fairy was warning me about it, then it must be a pretty dangerous monster.
I just hope this doesn’t turn into something serious…


But as I feared, my concerns were right on the mark.



Three days have passed since then.
In that time, both good news and bad news have surfaced.


The good news is that the honey-selling fairy I helped out seems to be doing really well.
Lately, I’ve been seeing more and more people walking around with wooden tubes filled with honey. It looks like it’s been selling to quite a lot of people. For some reason, it doesn’t feel like someone else’s success, and I can’t help but feel proud about it too.


As for the bad news, more than thirty adventuring parties have already been defeated by that plant monster.
At first, it was just rookie adventurers getting beaten. But recently, even seasoned adventurers have lost to it.


What’s more, according to the rumors, several adventurers have already gone missing.

The monster had been caught devouring large numbers of bird-type monsters, so it’s common knowledge that it’s a gluttonous carnivore.

Which means, some of those adventurers have already become its prey.



The plant monster has now been designated as a dangerous named monster after defeating so many adventurers, and a wanted poster has been issued.
Anyone who defeats it will receive a substantial reward from the Adventurer’s Guild.


I decided to head to the guild to take a look at the notice myself, when a rather unusual man caught my eye.


He was an elderly gentleman wearing a top hat and a monocle. Lingering by the wall, he studied one of the wanted posters pinned to it.

When I stepped up beside him, he simply said, “Excuse me,” before walking out.
I didn’t recognize him. He’s probably a traveling adventurer.


I turned my attention to the poster the man in the top hat had been examining.

Sure enough, it was the one about the rumored plant monster.

On the poster, next to the words “Man-Eating Alraune in the Forest of Dryades,” there was a name written: “Crimson Flower Princess.”
That must be the Alruane’s title.


In addition to the description, the wanted poster also featured an illustration.

A grotesque bulb with a gaping mouth…
From it bloomed a vivid crimson flower…
And from that flower, the form of a beautiful girl emerging.

It depicted an Alraune that was both terrifying and beautiful.


Wait. This illustration of the plant monster…
It looks a lot like the Alraune I saw in that forest during the witch hunt.


No, it doesn’t just look like her.
No doubt about it, it’s definitely the same Alraune that was in that forest.

Through this wanted poster, I’d, by sheer chance, crossed paths with that Alraune once again.

But at that moment, I still had no idea, not even a glimpse of just how extraordinary she truly was.

And so, my life would once again be thrown into chaos by that Alraune.

***

Author’s Note:

This time, the story was told from the adventurer’s perspective.
It gives us a small glimpse of what was happening in Tower City, something the protagonist living in the forest never knew.

As it turns out, because the little witch spent an entire day alongside a strong-looking adventurer, the townspeople began mistaking him for her guardian.
Thanks to that misunderstanding, she’s been less likely to get caught up in trouble.
Completely unaware of all this, he would soon find himself crossing paths once more with the Alraune, the little witch’s true guardian (and houseplant).

Next time: Letter; The Named Monster Hunt of an Adventurer Working Far From Home (Part Two)