This wasn’t fair. It was just too much.
Back in my past life as a high schooler, I was an otaku who had been single for as many years as I’d been alive. I never had a partner.
Even during my time as a Saint, I never had a boyfriend; instead, I had my fiancé, the Hero. I had decided then that I would save my first time for him.
But now, not only had my junior, that Apprentice Saint, stolen my fiancé, I was about to be overrun by a literal swarm of bee-type monsters.
To make matters worse, I was about to have the pollen of some unknown male flower smeared all over me, forced into my mouth until it reached the ovules in my belly. I would be pollinated. I would be forced to carry seeds for the next generation.
And just like that, my life as an Alraune would come to an end.
I absolutely, positively hated that idea!
When I was betrayed and killed by my junior and the Hero, I had managed to survive by becoming an Alraune. If I could handle that, I could handle this.
With that thought, I poured all my strength into my bulb.
I focused on my Recovery Magic, causing my vines to multiply and grow at an incredible rate. I wrapped the resulting growth around my body, guarding myself inside a thick Vine Cocoon.
My strategy was simple:
Preserve Life!
I was going to focus entirely on defense.
I didn't have much of a choice, really. No matter how many vines I produced, I didn't have the confidence to swat down that many bees if they all charged at once. I might have stood a chance against ten of them, but with a hundred? Anyone would give up.
So, defense it was.
As I expected, the swarm of Zornbiene clung to the Vine Cocoon. I could hear the wet, crunching sounds of them gnawing on the vines.
But this was all according to plan. Even if they chewed through, I could just grow more and seal the holes instantly. As long as I kept that up, I could prevent the bees from reaching my main body. I was ready for a war of attrition. I wasn't going to give up my chastity that easily.
Eventually, my throat began to feel parched.
It seemed that while my Alraune body couldn't use mana in the traditional sense, it consumed massive amounts of water instead. Every time I regenerated the vines, my thirst grew. I desperately wanted a drink.
I prayed for it to end soon.
"Wait a second," I thought. "Just how long do these bees plan on gnawing?"
By my internal clock, several hours must have passed. I wanted them to just give up and go home. Surely their master, the Queen Bee, was waiting for them back at the nest. They should just go home and have dinner with their families.
Then, things took a turn for the worse.
I was running out of water.
Compared to when I started, the vines were becoming limp and shriveled. My regeneration speed was gradually dropping. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the Vine Cocoon was breached.
What could I do? Even if I tried to fight back with the vines now, I didn't think I could win. If even one of them touched my body, it was game over. It was impossible to knock them all out of the sky.
So, how could I get them to leave without letting them touch me?
"Think, Iris, think!" I told myself.
In the first place, why were these bees here? That was it—they wanted my nectar. If that was the case, wouldn't they be satisfied if I just gave it to them?
Once I made up my mind, I bit down on a vine near my body. I used my tongue to thoroughly coat it in nectar. Then, I extended that nectar-slicked vine outside the cocoon.
The reaction was instantaneous. They swarmed it with even more ferocity than I had imagined. I felt the entire swarm shift toward the nectar-covered vine with a collective rustle. I was actually a little startled by how disciplined they were, moving with the coordination of a well-trained army.
"Good... this could work!"
I diligently licked and coated the vines, making them dripping wet with nectar. I pushed them out of the cocoon one after another. The bees fell upon each new offering like it was fresh prey.
I repeated the process over and over.
Just as the nectar and water in my body ran dry and my head began to spin from dehydration, I realized the presence of living things outside the cocoon had vanished.
I peeked out fearfully and saw that the sky was pitch black. Night had fallen while I was distracted.
The bees were nowhere to be seen.
I... I actually survived!
I had made it through that crisis without a single scratch on me. Of course, my vines were in tatters. They had been chewed, licked, and violated to an irreparable degree, but my main Alraune body was unharmed. It wasn't an exaggeration to call this a total victory.
Now that the adrenaline was fading, I felt incredibly sleepy. And more than anything, I was thirsty. I really hoped it would rain.
With those thoughts drifting through my mind, I closed my petals and prepared for bed. Safe at last, I fell into a deep sleep almost immediately.
However, the nightmare returned the moment I woke up.
The next morning, when I opened my bud, several Zornbiene were waiting for me.
"Ah... Mr. Bee. Good morning. It's been a while since yesterday..."
I never expected a reunion this soon. Had they liked my nectar so much they couldn't wait to see me again? While I was flattered, I really never wanted to see their faces again.
Was I truly destined to give my body to the bees and be pollinated?
In a final act of resistance, I smeared nectar on a vine and extended it toward them. I pressed my hands together in a silent prayer, begging them to just take it and go home.
Then, something strange happened.
The bees quietly began to harvest the nectar from my vines. Once they had taken every last drop, they hovered in the air, facing me.
"Gueeee!" one of the bees cried out.
I didn't know they could make sounds like that. I had no idea what it meant, but I had a feeling it was asking for more.
"I'm sorry," I thought, "but I'm completely exhausted."
I tried to show them how worn out I was. My beautiful petals were withered and dull. Even the bulb that made up my lower body was shriveled from a lack of water, its "mouth" turned down in a frown.
Whether my "critically wounded" act worked or not, the bees eventually flew off into the depths of the forest.
Wait. Was I saved?
Just as I was puzzling over why I hadn't been attacked, the bees came flying back.
"Already? That’s too fast! I haven't recovered yet! There’s no nectar!"
As I stood there with my eyes rolling back in my head, the bees dropped something. A heavy object hit the ground with a dull thud.
"Is that... a boar?"
The bees had brought me a Wahnschwein, a boar-type monster.
Did they give this to me? Was it a present?
I looked at the bees in confusion, and they bobbed up and down as if they were nodding.
"Are you telling me to eat this boar for nutrition so I can get better and make more nectar?"
I couldn't believe it. But looking at the situation, there was no other explanation. Though I worried it might be a trap, I gratefully accepted the meal.
Chomp.
Yeah, it tasted fine. No problems there.
After watching me swallow the boar, the bees flew off again, looking satisfied.
Come to think of it, I’d heard that flowers and bees have a symbiotic relationship in nature. The bees get nectar and pollen, and in exchange, they help the flowers pollinate. They were partners.
Apparently, that also applied to the Zornbiene and an Alraune.
The Zornbiene had provided me with food because they wanted my nectar. Instead of trying to squeeze it out of me as enemies, they chose to coexist and share. They had even taken my reluctance to be pollinated into consideration. I couldn't think of any other reason.
Was my nectar really that enticing? Was there something about it that could actually tame monster bees?
A few bees began to circle around me.
"Wait... are they protecting me?"
The bees looked like knights. They were like a loyal elite guard protecting their princess.
I remembered back in high school, there was a girl who ended up as the "Circle Princess" just because she was the only girl in her club. It felt a bit like that.
I didn't want to be a Circle Princess, but being a Forest Princess wasn't so bad. Besides, even if I looked like this now, I was born a Duke's daughter. I was a genuine princess.
"You there, buzzing around! Keep your heads down in my presence!"
And so, on the condition that I provided them with nectar, the bees and I became friends.
At the same time I realized the true power of an Alraune's nectar, I gained my first friends since becoming a plant. Even if they were just bees.