The following is still from Niece Alraune's POV.
My name is Mei Edelweiss.
I am a Plant Monster Alraune and the daughter of the Original, Iris.
That said, I am quite different from the countless other Child Alraunes Mama has birthed. I am a special existence who has been granted a name and a house—a Noble Alraune!
Yes, I am special.
Given that I possess the greatest power of all Mama’s daughters, there is no way I could lose to anyone. Or so I thought, until I encountered the world's most unusual Electric Shoulder-Carry Man.
This Suspicious Person had not only defeated a knight but had even gone so far as to provoke me into a fight.
"It seems I've been underestimated as well," I murmured.
I didn't care if he was an Electric Shoulder-Carry Man or one of the Twelve Sword Generals of the Empire; I couldn't simply leave such a dubious character to his own devices. For the sake of Big Sister Tulpe, who was waiting back in Edelweiss, I would see this enemy punished right here and now!
"Wait, we’re actually fighting here!?" the man on top cried.
"I’ve been waiting for a rematch for ages," the man on the bottom replied. "Since the Missy is actually motivated for once, we’ve gotta do this!"
The top and bottom halves of the Electric Shoulder-Carry Man were engaged in some sort of conversation. Because their hair and faces were pitch-black with soot, I couldn't quite tell who they were.
However, something had been bothering me for a moment. I felt as though I had heard those two voices somewhere before...
The flashy-looking one on the bottom pointed a finger at me and uttered a string of grating words. "Don't hold back. You can come at me with everything you've got."
This man clearly didn't know much about me—about an Alraune. That was the only reason he could spout such cocky lines. I was truly glad this Suspicious Person wasn't an acquaintance of mine. If someone this shady were a friend, I wouldn't have known what to do; I likely would have clutched my head with my vines in sheer embarrassment. Even if we had been acquainted, they were at a level where I would have pretended not to know them.
Readying my vines, I returned his declaration of war. "I shall stuff that noisy mouth of yours full of chili peppers."
"That’s the Alraune missy I know! Now, let’s go!"
"Wait, put me down first! Hieee!"
To start, I lashed out at the Electric Shoulder-Carry Man with my briars. Despite the strike moving at a speed the previous knight couldn't even react to, the Suspicious Person dodged my attack. Moreover, he evaded by leaping straight into the sky.
"He’s a human, yet he jumped into the air!?"
"I don't stand a chance against the Missy in a ground battle," he called down. "If we're doing this, it's in the air!"
"Hieeeeeee! We’re flying?! We’re actually flying?!"
That wasn't the jumping power of a human. What’s more, the man on the bottom was still carrying the one on top, who was making a terrible fuss with his "Hieee" screams. As expected of the world's rarest Electric Shoulder-Carry Man. He was like an aberration from an urban legend Mama used to talk about.
"But if I aim for where you land—"
"I ain't falling."
"Hieeeeeeeee! We’re floating in the sky?!"
In that moment, something incredible happened. The pitch-black soot covering the Electric Shoulder-Carry Man began to slough off his body in fine grains. That soot moved as if drawn to the man's feet, shifting its shape to form a solid scaffolding.
"N-No way...!"
A certain scene was triggered in my mind. Technically, it was Mama’s memory, but it allowed me to realize exactly what I was looking at.
"Could it be... that isn't soot, but Iron Sand!?"
"Oh, you finally noticed?"
The substance I had mistaken for black soot was actually all Iron Sand. It had solidified in mid-air to serve as a platform. He was generating an electromagnetic field to manipulate the sand and suspend himself.
It was an unbelievable sight, and it led me to a singular truth. However, if possible, I wanted to be wrong. I wanted them to be anyone else.
Actually, I had suspected it from the start. Even though Mama’s memories had been passed down to me, they weren't experiences I had lived through myself. That was why I hadn't realized it immediately—or rather, why I had been pretending not to notice.
But with all these conditions met, even I, a Child Alraune, was certain. I could no longer look away. I cast a quick glance at the duo floating in the air. Now that the Iron Sand that had been plastered to their hair and faces was gone, their true hair colors and features were exposed.
"Greetings, Flashy Man and First Prince."
"What’s this, Missy? Decided to be polite now?"
Preconceptions are truly terrifying things. I had been certain they were dangerous intruders, but these people were my acquaintances. To be precise, they were Mama’s acquaintances, but it wasn't an exaggeration to say they were friends of mine as well. In reality, this was our first meeting, though.
The man on the bottom, the Flashy Man, was named Kyle. He was a member of the Demon Race whom Mama had met in the Tower City. He looked like a human male, but his true identity was a dragon who manipulated lightning. Furthermore, he was the younger brother of the Flame Dragon Lord of the Demon King Army.
The man on top was First Prince Leonhardt. He was the prince of this country and the Blond-haired Gentle Man whom Mama had found in the Dryades' Forest. His life was being targeted by his younger brother, the Second Prince, and a witch. After a long series of events, he had apparently become our ally.
The Flashy Man and the First Prince had parted ways with Mama at the Tower City. Since then, they were supposed to have been traveling toward the Royal Capital along the same path we took. Encountering them near Edelweiss wasn't strange at all. The only strange part was why they were wearing a disguise and performing a Shoulder Carry.
"Why were you wearing such a disguise?" I asked.
"Apparently there's a bounty on Leonhardt's head, and the pursuers were relentless," Kyle explained. "But my disguise technique is pretty good, isn't it?"
"If your goal was to disguise yourselves as a suspicious person, I believe you succeeded perfectly."
"My, the Missy is sharper with her tongue than usual today."
Oh. It seemed the Flashy Man hadn't realized that I wasn't the Original, but a Child Alraune.
This... could this be a chance? I am a Noble Alraune. A special Alraune. To prove I stand on the same level as Mama, it might be interesting to try pretending to be her. If he didn't notice, perhaps I could continue acting as Mama. A normal Child Alraune couldn't pull it off, but I could.
Having made up my mind, I decided to defeat them and make them acknowledge my strength.
"Now that I know it is you, Flashy Man, I shall show no mercy."
Earlier, Kyle had said he had been "waiting for a chance for a rematch." Mama had fought him once before, and of course, Mama had been the winner. Even though neither had been truly serious, Mama’s strength had easily surpassed his. In that case, I should be able to do the same.
"I will be the winner this time as well."
"Nah, I'm the one winning today."
The Flashy Man pointed his palm toward me. The Iron Sand writhed like waves, shifting into the shape of an arrow. And then—it fired.
"Black Lightning Flying Dragon (Lindschlag)!"
The air vibrated as the arrow of Iron Sand flew toward me in a straight line. It was just like the Electromagnetic Projectile Cannon—the Railgun—depicted in the manga from Mama’s world. And it was impossible for me to dodge. Because I am a plant, I have my roots in the ground. Even if I wanted to move, I was stuck.
"Fugyah!"
The Railgun scored a direct hit, and my body burst apart. However, that body was a decoy. I knew he would use that attack because it was in Mama’s memories.
"Your back is wide open."
The moment the Flashy Man had pointed his palm, I had sprouted a palm tree behind him. I had grown the upper half of an Alraune body inside one of the coconuts on that tree in advance. At the moment my previous body burst, I shifted my consciousness to the new one.
It was a technique Mama had used to save the people of Edelweiss. By growing only the upper half of her body from a tree, she could perform high-speed Teleportation. All that was left was to pierce him with the Parasitic Root of the Dodder, and it would be over. With this, I would defeat the Flashy Man. Once I won, I would reach the same heights as Mama—
"Nope. I read that move."
The Iron Sand shifted. A massive wall of sand appeared, protecting the Flashy Man's back. The Dodder couldn't pierce through.
"The Missy wouldn't be caught by the same tactic twice. I figured you'd look for an opening to counterattack."
"Wait, you didn't read that! It's because I secretly told you!" the First Prince yelled.
Kyle looked disgruntled at Leonhardt's interruption. Apparently, the First Prince had simply seen the palm tree sprouting behind them. I thought I had the advantage because they were in a Shoulder Carry, but that position meant they had two sets of eyes.
H-How cowardly...!
While I was writhing in frustration, the Flashy Man flew even higher. He created an Iron Sand scaffolding above the palm tree and looked down at me. I felt incredibly vexed. For a moment, I considered throwing a Coconut Bomb at them.
As I swung my vine to hurl the fruit, the First Prince’s voice rang out. "Ah!"
I looked up. Leonhardt was pointing at me, and he uttered the words I most feared.
"The eyes are red!"
I gasped and immediately hid my eyes with my vines.
The one undeniable difference between me and Mama was the color of our eyes. Mama had nectar-colored eyes that shone like light. In contrast, the eyes of all us daughters were red. That was the one thing we could never change.
"Kyle, look!" the First Prince shouted. "That Alraune's eyes are red!"
"What about it? What's wrong with that?"
"Iris's eyes were golden. But this Alraune has the same red eyes as the clones we saw in the Alraune forest!"
"Does that mean...?"
"Yeah. She's not the real thing."
I felt the sound of something collapsing. It was my pride.
"The Alraune's child was pretending to be her!"
"No wonder something felt off," Kyle chuckled.
The two of them were laughing. How frustrating! I was sure I had been a perfect replacement for Mama, but I was found out so quickly.
"...Ah!"
Perhaps because I was shaken, my upper body detached from the palm tree. Since my lower half was currently a coconut, my entire body began to plummet toward the ground.
"Whoops, that’s dangerous."
I intended to use my vines to catch myself, but for some reason, I didn't hit the dirt. My body remained floating in the air. I gently moved the vines covering my face and saw that my lower half was encased in Iron Sand. Kyle had caught me.
"We were in the middle of a match," I said. "Why did you save me?"
"The one I want to fight is the Missy herself. Besides... if she found out I was bullying her daughter, she'd kill me later."
"But I can do the same things Mama can!"
"Nah, your specs are a bit lower," Kyle said bluntly. "The speed at which your plants grow is different, too. If it had been the real Missy, that yellow plant would've broken through my Iron Sand wall."
The Iron Sand platform lowered, and the Flashy Man and the First Prince slowly landed on the ground. They were still in their Shoulder Carry position.
"Well, I wouldn't have been able to finish you off either, so who knows how it would've ended," Kyle admitted.
"............"
"So, let's just call it a draw for today."
A draw? With someone in such a ridiculous pose? I was grateful for being saved, but I could have landed just fine on my own. And if we had kept fighting, I'm sure I would have won. I'm certain of it.
But... they had seen through the difference between Mama and me with a single glance.
"Anyway, should I call you 'Missy Junior'? Regardless, you came from Edelweiss, right? Give us a tour of the place!"
"............Understood."
Thus, my first battle ended rather anticlimactically. I am strong. However, it seems there are several opponents in this world who are just as strong as I am. And perhaps it is still too early for me to try to be Mama.
I wasn't as special as her yet.
Naturally, a sense of profound respect began to grow within me. The truly special Alraune was Mama, after all. She really is amazing. I understand that very well now.