Shortly after I began this journey, I saved a village of the Beast-ear Race.
At the time, the Beast-ear Race was being oppressed by a beastman squad led by Mantiger, a Beast Ogre of the Demon King Army.
In the end, I was the one who defeated that Beast Ogre, and the one who became my ally during that battle was this Bear Squad Leader.
The Bear Squad Leader, the new head of the beastman squad.
In appearance, he was a large bear who wore clothes and walked on two legs, though he wasn't quite as massive as Laubbeer, also known as Kuma-papa.
Even so, he resembled Kuma-papa enough that I felt a mysterious sense of familiarity with him. After all, they both absolutely loved my nectar.
But why were the Bear Squad Leader and a harpy together in a forest like this?
Could they be having secret trysts here...?
What if it was—heaven forbid—an interspecies romance?
And between a bear and a harpy, no less.
I was so... curious!
"Alraune."
As I watched the situation from up in a tree, Witch-ko, currently in her White Bird-san form, called out to me.
She raised a wing and pointed toward the clearing.
"There's someone behind that bear."
I hadn't noticed because of the shock of seeing the two of them together, but there were other presences in the forest.
Actually, thanks to being up in the tree, the situation became much clearer.
Behind them, several familiar beastmen were standing by.
Those were—the Bear Squad Leader’s beastman subordinates.
Even though they belonged to the Demon King Army, they were very friendly people now. I had given them plenty of nectar, after all.
That meant that while this was a meeting, it wasn't exactly a private one.
Looking closely, it seemed the Bear Squad Leader and the harpy were calmly discussing something.
It looked like a professional conversation, but they were too far away for me to hear what they were saying.
"Rufe, lower me to the ground."
Carried by White Bird-san, I touched down on the forest floor.
I thrust my vines into the earth.
I then extended my vines further and further through the soil, tunneling toward the Bear Squad Leader and the harpy.
—This should be about right.
Without letting the vines break the surface, I made a certain flower bloom underground.
It was the nostalgic Rhizanthella.
The Rhizanthella is a saprophyte that doesn't perform photosynthesis and instead gains nutrients from fungi; it is a rare plant that spends its entire life beneath the soil.
Because it blooms underground, one rarely gets the chance to see its wine-red flowers.
Back when I had just become an Alraune, Kuma-papa had attacked me and tried to pull up my roots.
At that time, the plant that had popped up from the ground was this Rhizanthella.
Thanks to that, I became able to obtain nutrients from underground fungi as well, so even now, it continued to play a humble but vital role as a behind-the-scenes supporter.
Using that Rhizanthella as a base, I used Plant Generation to create a Clone Alraune.
And just like that, presto!
A Rhizanthella Clone Alraune capable of surviving underground was complete!
—And so, Teleportation!
I transferred my consciousness into that Rhizanthella Clone Alraune.
I didn't have many chances to do this, but I could actually use other plants as a base to create Clone Alraunes or Child Alraunes.
Normally, I liked the red corolla I usually had, so I didn't often change into anything else.
That was why I’d almost never created an Alraune in this form before.
I suppose I had used it when I turned Teppou-uri Machine Gun seeds into Child Alraunes and fired them.
So, what would I do now that I’d become this rare Rhizanthella Alraune?
Scout the two of them, of course.
That said, since I was inside the earth, I couldn't see anything even if I opened my eyes. In fact, I couldn't even open them.
But that was fine.
What I was using this time wasn't my eyes, but my ears.
I poked a vine up to the surface and opened a tiny hole.
And then... look!
I could hear voices coming from above!
"I thought you had gone missing after failing to make your scheduled reports, but what are you doing in a place like this? It took me quite a while to find you. So, what happened to Lord Mantiger?"
I heard a woman's voice.
That must have been the harpy’s voice.
She was a beautiful harpy with blue feathers.
"Lord Mantiger has passed away, kuma. There were various accidents, kuma. Thanks to that, the whole squad got lost, and before we knew it, we were here, kuma."
This was the Bear Squad Leader’s voice.
It hadn't been that long since we last parted, but for some reason, it felt nostalgic.
Even so, hiding in the ground like this to do spy work made me feel a bit like a ninja.
I didn't know if ninjas actually hid underground, but doing this sort of thing every once in a while was fun.
After all, I didn't think there were many people who hid in the dirt to perform espionage.
Even if they wanted to, they couldn't because they’d run out of breath.
But I could do it.
Because I was a plant monster!
Being a plant wasn't just about photosynthesis.
There were plants in this world with all sorts of truly incredible abilities.
Plants are actually pretty amazing, you know?
"We tried to go to Edelweiss, but we couldn't get there, kuma. I am sorry, kuma."
"Good grief... but it is fortunate that the beastman squad survived. Our forces that had gathered at Edelweiss were completely wiped out..."
I believe I had asked the Bear Squad Leader to head toward Edelweiss.
But because they got lost, they couldn't make it.
Perhaps because they were a one-man squad led by the former leader, the Beast Ogre Mantiger, the rest of them were a bit lacking.
But that might have been for the best.
If the Bear Squad Leader and the others had arrived safely at Edelweiss, they likely would have been among the Demon King Army forces that attacked the city.
If that had happened, they undoubtedly would have been blown away by Witch-ko’s magic.
I had been worried about them, but it seemed they were safe. I was truly glad.
"So, what do you want with us, kuma? We have an important mission to find Lady Alraune, kuma."
"Lady Alraune...?"
"The Goddess who gives us sweet nectar, kuma. No... it's nothing, kuma. Please forget what I just said, kuma."
Hey, there was no way she could forget that!
Now she was going to find out that the Bear Squad Leader and his men had become my subordinates.
Besides, who exactly was this harpy?
"No matter if you are the leader of the beastman squad, as the Messenger entrusted with the Prime Minister's orders, I cannot simply overlook what you just said."
So that harpy really was a Messenger.
She could fly freely through the sky, so it was the perfect role for her.
In other words, it wasn't a case of two lovers from different races nurturing their affection for one another.
I would have supported them, though.
Even if the species are different, I think that kind of thing is nice.
"Lady Alraune is... the enemy who struck down Lord Mantiger, kuma! That is why we are all searching for her, kuma!"
Oh, Bear Squad Leader, not bad!
That gave the beastman squad a reason to be looking for me, so it wasn't strange.
However, adding "Lady" to the name of the "hateful enemy" you're looking for was incredibly weird, so I wished he’d correct that immediately.
"The rumored Crimson Flower Princess Alraune, is it...? A person of extreme interest who defeated three of the Four Heavenly Kings. If she was the opponent, I suppose even the great Lord Mantiger was no match for her."
"That is right, kuma! Lady Alraune was very strong and amazing, kuma!"
"Then why do you refer to this Alraune as 'Lady' and maintain such a respectful attitude?"
"Because Lady Alraune’s nectar was delicious, kuma. I cannot lie to nectar, kuma."
"...................."
As expected of the bear beastman who loved Saint Nectar.
His love for nectar was so deep that the harpy was speechless.
On the contrary, this might actually have prevented her from suspecting our true relationship.
"This is why bear beastmen are... well, fine. I shall relay the words from the Prime Minister."
"Understood, kuma."
This was where the real work began.
The original plan was for the Bear Squad Leader to tell me about the Demon King Army’s movements.
But the Bear Squad Leader was like this, so I’d been worried about whether I could actually get accurate information.
However, if I heard the Messenger’s words directly, there was no need to worry.
Thank you, Bear Squad Leader.
After the harpy leaves, I’ll give you some nectar as a thank-you gift.
"This is a message from the Prime Minister. The beastman squad is to immediately—"
"Wait a moment, kuma."
The Bear Squad Leader interrupted the Messenger.
I wondered what had happened so suddenly.
"I smell something like sweet nectar, kuma."
Eh!?
Wait, I heard thud, thud sounds from above.
Could it be—was the bear digging a hole??
It was highly likely—actually, I was certain he’d realized I was hiding in the ground.
But how!?
"I am not mistaken, kuma! There is a wonderful smell coming from this hole, kuma!"
He found the hole I dug with my vine!?
Wait, wait a minute?
Was this going where I thought it was...?
"I am in the middle of a message! And yet you suddenly start digging a hole? Are you out of your mind?"
"This is no time for that, kuma! Faced with this sweet scent, I cannot stop myself, kuma!"
—Dig, dig, dig.
"It is under here, kuma! There is something here, kuma!"
Why was my location while hiding underground discovered by the Bear Squad Leader?
The moment that question crossed my mind, I remembered something from a Plant Encyclopedia I’d read in my previous life.
Because the plant known as Rhizanthella blooms while hidden in the earth, it normally wouldn't be found from the surface.
The first time Rhizanthella was discovered by humanity, it was by pure accident.
Rhizanthella first appeared on a certain farm in Australia.
The catalyst for that was—the scent.
As a farmer was walking through his fields, a sweet smell wafted up from a hole.
When he dug into the ground, lo and behold—a mysterious flower was blooming beneath the surface.
That was the Rhizanthella.
In other words, the Rhizanthella sometimes lets its sweet scent leak out to the surface.
Come to think of it, I’d heard that Rhizanthella uses insects for pollination.
It emits a sweet fragrance to lure in ants, flies, and other bugs.
"The smell is getting stronger, kuma. Almost there, kuma."
—Dig, dig, dig.
Th-This was bad!
I had to escape somehow... wait, I couldn't.
Because I was a plant.
Ugh, how frustrating.
Plants are amazing, but the one thing they can't do is run away.
—Dig, dig—plop.
"I see something, kuma."
"Ah..."
It was bright.
Light poured in from above, and a large shadow looked down at me.
Sniff, sniff, sniff—something moved.
Even without looking, I knew it was the large, brown bear beastman, twitching his nose as he tried to savor the sweet fragrance.
As I looked up while shielding my eyes with a vine, I met his round, bead-like eyes.
They were the eyes of madness, reminding me of Kuma-papa when he’d attacked me for my nectar long ago.
"Hiiee."
"──Found you at last, kuma."
Rhizanthella: A saprophyte of the orchid family. Meaning "root flower," the Rhizanthella spends its entire life underground. Its discovery was surprisingly recent; an Australian farmer found it by chance in 1928. A sweet fragrance was coming from a hole on his farm, and when he dug it up, he found the Rhizanthella blooming inside the earth.