This is from Uncle Teddy’s perspective.

***

My name is Polarstern.

I serve as Lord Grüschwanz’s butler in the Demon King’s castle.

Many underestimate me because I look like a stuffed bear, but I am, in fact, a former warrior who fought alongside my master, Lord Grüschwanz, on countless battlefields.


I have served Lord Grüsch for so long that I’ve long since lost count of the years, but recently, I’ve noticed a change in my master.



Every summer, Lord Grüsch is ordered to take a vacation by his elder sister, the Chancellor.
For my workaholic master, it’s the only break he ever gets.

The truth is, Lord Grüsch is a Fire Dragon whose extraordinary power causes his body temperature to soar every summer.
The heat radiating from him is so intense that everything around him is scorched.

For that reason, it has become an annual tradition to send him away from the Demon King’s castle under the pretense of a vacation. Otherwise, the entire castle would have to suffer an unbearable midsummer heat.

During his time off, Lord Grüsch would travel to some forest to indulge in his favorite pastime of bear hunting.
You could say it’s my master’s only real hobby.



The change in Lord Grüsch began in the spring of this year.
After returning from avenging Dickkopf, the minotaur who had died in the line of duty in a forest near the border of the Kingdom of Gardenia, he started behaving strangely.
Out of nowhere, he began decorating his bedroom with flowers.

Even stranger, every morning he would sip the nectar from those flowers, only to sigh sadly and mutter, “This isn’t it.”
Whatever could have happened to Lord Grüsch?


The forest where Lord Grüsch avenged Dickkopf and encountered the white-haired witch, who had been reported missing by the Witches’ Village, was the same forest where he’d spent last summer escaping the heat while hunting bears.
There, he said, he’d met an Alraune whose nectar was unbelievably sweet.

He couldn’t forget the taste of that Alraune’s nectar, the very one that had devoured the minotaur.
Unfortunately, however, that Alraune was burned to ashes by Lord Grüsch himself.


He tried substituting the Alraune’s nectar with honey from the Demon King’s castle and nectar gathered from other flowers, but all of them fell far short of the taste he remembered.


“Polar, if you find any fine nectar, bring it to me.”

“As you wish.”


I gathered every last drop of honey to be found throughout the Demon King’s realm.
At the same time, I collected flowers and plant monsters as well, yet none of them were enough to satisfy Lord Grüsch’s palate.


If nothing within our borders was good enough, then I’ll simply have to search beyond them.
After all, it is a butler’s duty to fulfill his master’s wishes.



I gathered rare flowers and plant monsters from across the continent for Lord Grüsch’s private botanical garden in the Demon King’s castle.
Looking back, among all my discoveries, obtaining the Golden Fleece Barometz from the Empire was perhaps my greatest achievement.


Then, while speaking with one of our spies hidden in a certain town, I received word of a plant monster rumored to be exceptionally powerful.


Upon arriving in Tower City of the Kingdom of Gardenia, I learned about the existence of a unique monster, an Alraune known as the Crimson Flower Princess.
As fate would have it, that Alraune was seemingly about to be hunted down by humans.

While examining the wanted poster in the Adventurer’s Guild, a thought occurred to me.
Lord Grüsch had encountered the Alraune in a nearby forest.
Which means, since this Alraune came from the same region, perhaps her nectar would be capable of satisfying Lord Grüsch.

And so, at that moment, I decided to protect the Alraune and bring her back to the Demon King’s castle.



A few days later.

Doing as I have always done, I blended in among the human adventurers, and together, the subjugation force headed into the forest.


To my surprise, the Alraune from the wanted poster proved far stronger than I had imagined.
She easily defeated the members of the subjugation force.
And yet, she didn’t seem to have any intention of killing them.

I had heard she was a man-eating Alraune, but apparently that wasn’t the case.
Even as the humans hurled abuse at her, she still showed signs of concern for them. Could she have some kind of attachment to humans?
Personally, I think it would have been much simpler if she had just eaten them all.


In any case, she was a monster whose strength exceeded the rumors.
Fighting her head-on looked like it would be a real hassle, so I put the Alraune to sleep with hypnosis magic.
I then transplanted her into a flowerpot and brought her back to the Demon King’s castle.



A little over ten days later, Lord Grüsch returned from his summer vacation.
When I collected nectar from the Alraune planted in the botanical garden and presented it to him, he was overjoyed, exclaiming, “This taste… It’s exactly the same as the nectar from back then!”

When Lord Grüsch went to visit the botanical garden incognito to see the Alraune for himself, he came back only to mutter in confusion.


“What’s going on? Why does she look exactly like the Alraune from before…?”


Perhaps they were simply the same species of Alraune. Such coincidences do happen.
He immediately ordered for the Alraune to be placed in his bedroom.



Just by bringing the beautiful Alraune inside, she transformed the entire room into a more vibrant space.
She was so breathtakingly stunning that no one in the Demon King’s Castle would’ve questioned it if we had introduced her as a plant princess.
Moreover, her crimson flower also matched the color of Lord Grüsch’s flames, so she blended into the room with surprising ease.

However, we soon discovered that she was the same Alraune as the one who had killed the minotaur.

At that moment, the Alraune said something astonishing.


“No… I like bear meat the best…”

“Hoh?”


Lord Grüsch said with a smile as he looked at the Alraune.

To anyone else, it might have seemed as though he was angry.
In truth, however, that was just the expression he wore whenever he found something amusing.

Lord Grüsch’s favorite food is bear meat.
My master, whose hobby is hunting bears, and this Alraune happened to share the same hobby.
I believe it was at this moment that Lord Grüsch began liking her for reasons beyond the taste of her nectar and her beautiful appearance.


But then the Alraune withered away.

And in her place, a young Alraune sprout emerged from her flowerpot.

I held my head in despair, wondering if moving her from the botanical garden into a pot had caused it.
I was unfit to call myself a butler. After all, I had allowed my master’s precious Alraune to wither.


Fortunately, the young Alraune could also produce nectar.
Satisfied with its taste, Lord Grüsch seemed to have decided to raise her.


That said, the young Alraune was terribly impudent.
Not only did she interfere with my cleaning, but she also attacked me with red bubbles that were unbearably spicy.

Nevertheless, I had now seen what she was capable of.
It appeared she had what it took to serve Lord Grüsch after all.
That incident was what led me to acknowledge the Alraune as well.

Lord Grüsch must have felt the same way, as it was decided that the Alraune would be appointed as a maid.

One day, I asked Lord Grüsch a question.


“Why did you make the Alraune a maid?”

“Think of it as an investment. I wanted to keep her within my reach.”

“I understand that, but was it truly necessary to go that far?”

“Indeed. After all, there are few who’ve managed to survive after I’ve decided to kill them.”



A few days later, the Alraune came in to report that she had been attacked by Feagismeinnicht, one of the Four Heavenly Kings.

To tell the truth, I had suspected that the Alraune and the Spirit Princess were secretly working together.
She was just that unique of an existence.

If the Alraune’s account is to be believed, though, Feagismeinnicht had nothing to do with her.
Even so, we managed to obtain a very interesting piece of information.

I have a feeling my duties as a butler are about to become much busier.


After hearing the testimonies of both the Alraune and the maid, I immediately gathered all of the maids under my command in the main hall.
I then put all of them under an illusion spell.

I reasoned that in this situation, If any of them were being controlled, this would prevent whoever was pulling the strings from noticing.
And sure enough, I found suspicious blue flowers growing inside the mouths of several maids.


I reported the discovery to Lord Grüsch at once and had him examine the maids.


“It would seem the Alraune was telling the truth. To think they were using such a method…”


To question the Alraune further, we returned to Lord Grüsch’s bedroom, only for us to be met by a shocking sight.

The Alraune by the window was burning.
Unbelievably, she was dead.


“Surely this wasn’t… Lord Grüsch…?”

“No. These flames belong to the Alraune herself. You received the report that she demonstrated the ability to start fires in the kitchen, did you not?”


Lord Grüsch reached down and picked up the Alraune’s remains with his bare hands.
As a Fire Dragon, flames could not harm him, so he could handle the burning body without any issues.


“How many centuries has it been? To encounter someone who has escaped me not once… but twice…? And for that someone to be a plant monster incapable of even walking? I can’t remember the last time I’ve been so amused.”


Lord Grüsch’s face twisted into a frightening expression.
But If you ask me, he looked as though he was genuinely enjoying the situation.


“Polar, there is somewhere I need you to go.”

“If it is my master’s wish, I will go anywhere.”


For Lord Grüsch, I would do anything.

All who stand in the way of my master’s path to domination shall be buried, and all who stand with him shall receive my aid.
That is my duty as the head butler.


The next day.

To carry out Lord Grüsch’s secret orders, I departed from the Demon King’s castle.


All for the sake of my master.

***

Author’s Note:

And so, that concludes the perspective of Uncle Teddy, the butler.

Earlier, the reason the Alraune was struck by a drought in the forest was because Fire Dragon-sama had come there to prevent the summer heat. If the Alraune and Fire Dragon-sama had met back then, the story might have unfolded very differently.

Next Time: Where in the World Am I?