I was just an ordinary girl who, for some reason, lived in the forest.
I certainly wasn't an Alraune, that Plant Monster girl.
Suddenly, humans appeared from deep within the woods. Moreover, they were several soldiers in full armor.
This was bad. At this rate, they were going to subjugate me as a monster. To keep them from realizing I was a Plant Monster, I had no choice but to pretend to be human and politely ask them to leave.
Since such a massive flower was blooming here, it was only natural for them to be suspicious. I didn't think I could wait them out by closing my petals, either. Even just the Bulb below looked malevolent.
Still, it would have been best if we hadn't met at all. For the sake of my mental health, it was better to pass myself off as a flower than to try pretending to be human.
The moment I spotted the humans, I covered my entire body in vines. The Vine Cocoon was complete.
From the outside, I should have looked like nothing more than a tangled mass of vines. Of course, I hid my human body as well. This way, my presence shouldn't have been obvious at a glance.
Instead, I felt like the mass itself would look quite suspicious, but it was better than being discovered as a monster in plain sight. That said, I was far too large compared to an ordinary flower. Even if I pretended to be one, they might still investigate me. Even hidden by vines, there was a high possibility I would be viewed as objectively suspicious.
I wondered if this would be okay. I was getting worried.
From over there, I could hear men's voices calling out. "Is it here?" "Nothing over here!" "Maybe it’s over that way!"
As I thought, they were looking for someone. I wondered if it was me. If so, combat might already be unavoidable, even though I wanted to avoid conflict with humans as much as possible.
The soldiers' footsteps drew closer, entering the range of my vines. They began to murmur among themselves.
"What's with those vines?"
"It's unnatural for them to just be sitting there like that."
Ugh, they were already suspicious. Please, don't come this way. Just walk on past.
"Something's fishy. Maybe our target is hiding in there. Let's check it out."
Wait, they were coming here? What should I do? It was terrifying to be surrounded by a large group. Just how many guests were there?
I stealthily moved a vine and peeked through a gap. Five in total. As expected, they were all armed. They weren't dressed for a simple hunt; they looked ready for war. Since they’d mentioned a target hiding, they really had come to subjugate me after all...
I hadn't even done anything wrong. To be killed just because I’d turned into a monster was just too much. Even though I was a Former Saint.
I used to be human, just like them. Just like these soldiers, I had once staked my life to work for the sake of the kingdom. I wondered if they would overlook me for that. Not that I thought they would believe my life story even if I told it.
"Hey, did those vines just move?"
"A hit! Looks like someone's inside."
Uwaah! I messed up. Because I peeked at the soldiers, they realized I was hiding here. I could no longer wait it out in secret.
Steel yourself, me. Even so, I was originally a Saint who carried the weight of a nation. I just had to be as dignified as an Actress. Yes, I was human—just an ordinary girl living in the forest.
Alright, the backstory was a bit shaky, but I felt like I could somehow pull off the performance. I would perform a successful Mimicry of a human. I could do this! Ready, set, go!
Timidly, I poked my body out from between the vines. Of course, it was only my face. Naturally, my upper body and everything from the waist down remained hidden.
"Hel... lo."
For now, a greeting was the basic first step. I had to show them that I was a harmless human.
"There's someone there!" "Why did a girl come out of the vines?" "A beautiful girl just appeared!" "She’s gorgeous!"
The soldiers raised voices of surprise.
"It seems she isn't our target," the man standing in the center muttered.
They weren't looking for me! That was a relief. If they had come to hunt an Alraune from the start, my Mimicry would have been pointless. Now, there was hope I could get them to leave.
"Young lady, don't be afraid. We are Kingdom's Soldiers. Don't stay in a place like that; please, come over here."
The soldier gestured for me to join them. But I couldn't. Even if I wanted to go, I couldn't, because I wasn't just a young lady. I was a Plant Monster.
"I cannot... go there."
I had no choice but to answer like this.
"Maybe she's tangled in the vines and can't get out?" "Alright, we'll save you!" "Don't worry, we're stronger than we look." "We're lucky guys, getting to rescue such a beautiful girl!"
Eeeeh!? No, you're wrong! Don't come any closer!
If they came over here, they'd find out I wasn't human. Beneath my body was the mouth of a malevolent Bulb that could easily swallow a human whole. If they saw my body was connected to that, they'd surely mistake me for a carnivorous plant monster waiting for prey.
I had no intention of eating or attacking them. As a former human, I wanted to avoid conflict as much as possible.
"Don't... come here."
I waved my hand to ask them to leave, but in doing so, my upper body slipped out of the vines.
"Hey, why is she dressed like that?" "It's true, she's practically half-naked!" "How indecent." "Could she be some kind of Forest Pervert?"
None of your business! Now that I thought about it, because my time as a plant loner had been so long, I had completely forgotten that this outfit was impossible for a normal woman. My upper body was almost naked, with only vines hiding my chest.
Almost no woman in town dressed like this. Even if they did, they would be dancers or people in specialized professions. A normal village girl wouldn't wear such light clothing outside, let alone being tangled in vines, half-naked, in a dangerous forest. That was far from sane.
But it wasn't like I dressed like this because I wanted to! And to the soldier who called me a "Forest Pervert"—come see me alone later. We need to have a "talk."
"Young lady, are you perhaps a girl from the village nearby?"
"...No. I live... alone."
I wanted to say I was a village girl, but if I were asked questions about the village, I wouldn't be able to answer. If they were going to find out I was lying, it was better to claim I’d lived in the forest from the start. This was difficult; I didn't know which answer would have been better.
The Corporal began to observe me suspiciously. As I thought, I was being doubted.
"Why are you in a place like that? Come out at once."
"The vines... are tangled. I cannot... get out."
I was sorry for lying, but it was true that I couldn't move. I was a plant, after all.
"I will... get out... on my own. So... please do not... trouble yourselves, Knights."
So please just go home. Find whoever you're looking for and leave the forest.
"We can't just leave such a beautiful young lady alone in the woods. Wait there, we'll help you right away."
What should I do? This man was a good person! No, that wasn't it! Please just leave me alone. As a human, I would have been happy to hear that and would have wanted to follow them, but as a Plant Monster, it was a disaster if they approached.
Stop!
"Corporal, wait a moment."
The man the soldiers called Corporal stopped in his tracks.
"I remember now. In my hometown, there's a legend. If you meet a beautiful woman in the forest and she invites you, never follow her. She is surely a monster called an Alraune."
"An Alraune?"
That soldier seemed to be from the south, where Alraunes apparently lived. He began to explain how an Alraune was a malevolent monster that used a woman's body to lure humans in before capturing them.
What should I do? His explanation was mostly correct. Moreover, this situation looked exactly like me, an Alraune, luring men in while pretending to be a girl. This was bad. I had fallen into a quagmire.
"Young lady, would you mind showing us your legs for a moment?"
See? They suspected me immensely.
"Knight, I am... not... an Alraune. I am... human. Please... believe me."
"Certainly, your appearance looks like nothing but a person. But that's only your upper body. Could it be that a flower is blooming from your lower body?"
...Yes, it was exactly as he said. Not only was a flower blooming, there was a Bulb too.
"Even if you're tangled in vines, you should be able to move a bit. If you want us to believe you, show us your legs—or even just a part of your lower body."
I was being looked at with eyes full of suspicion. If they thought I was a person, they wouldn't say such things. Besides, this was the first time I'd ever been asked to show my legs. It hadn't happened in my previous life, either. Moreover, to tell me to expose my lower body was too indecent.
What should I do? I didn't have legs. I wondered if they would settle for roots. No, that was the same as confessing. I would have to stick to the excuse that the vines were tangled and I couldn't move.
When I gave that answer to the soldiers, voices of suspicion rose, as expected.
"I knew it was fishy." "I bet she doesn't have legs, and her lower body is a plant!" "I thought it was strange; I've never seen a woman with vines wrapped around her chest before."
I'd never seen a woman like that either, except for me...
It seemed that as long as I didn't show my legs, I wouldn't be believed. They were convinced that everything I’d said so far was a trap to lure them closer. It was true that I acted like a carnivorous plant year-round, but I was taking the day off! I wanted them to feel safe.
"Young lady, would you please stay still right there?"
"...I understand."
Suddenly, the Corporal raised his spear. Wait a minute. Was he going to throw that? Was he planning to stab me?!
Without knowing my confusion, the Corporal threw the spear.
Hiii!
I wanted to defend with vines, but if I did that, it would prove I was a plant. I guarded my face with my thin human arms. If he targeted my human half—the Pistil—I couldn't defend myself with such thin arms. I might be killed.
But he hadn't fully realized yet. He must have thrown it at a different spot. The spear was sucked in and pierced slightly below me. It didn't hit the Pistil, but the Bulb wrapped in vines.
Ugh, i-it hurt... It went through the vines and into the Bulb.
"Just as I thought."
The Corporal ordered his men to take a combat stance.
"This thing is a plant monster. That girl is just part of its body."
Wait, did I get exposed just now? Why?!
"The moment the spear struck, the vines moved for an instant to protect the lady. Also, when the spear hit, the girl reacted with a start, and she had a very pained expression on her face."
Ehh, he figured it out from just that? This Corporal had way too much insight.
"I am... not... an Alraune. I am... human. Please... believe... me!"
I desperately struggled to speak. I wasn't good at it, but I had to try my best.
"Even if your appearance is exactly like a human's, you don't seem much for conversation. Excuses are useless, Plant Monster."
The soldiers all pointed their weapons at me at once.
Haa, if I'd been found out, it couldn't be helped. Since he threw a spear, he must have been certain. I would stop pretending to be human as well.
I used my vines to pull out the spear and used Regeneration to close the wound. My body could now be seen clearly blooming from the flower, and the Bulb below revealed itself.
The soldiers uttered words of amazement.
"A human really is growing from a flower!" "Moreover, the lower body is a plant!" "What is that mouth? It's completely a Carnivorous Monster."
The Corporal also held his head while blinking. "Well, that's a surprise. It really was a monster."
He whistled while glaring at me. Uwa. Could it be I was being baited?!
Gunu-nu.
Ugh, the opponent was one step ahead. Even though they suspected me, because it was dangerous to approach, they might have lacked the decisive factor to conclude I was a monster. They couldn't just try stabbing a human body with a spear; if I’d been a real person, I would have died.
The soldiers showered me with condemnation.
"We were almost tricked!" "She was planning to lure us out and eat us!" "Cowardly monster, I'll tear you to pieces!"
You're wrong! Believe me, even though I'm growing out of a flower, I am human. My lower body is a Bulb and it has a scary big mouth, but I'm not a terrifying monster. I'm harmless!
I'm just a flower. So please don't attack. Don't be hostile.
"O beautiful flower monster. Prepare to be subjugated by the Kingdom's Soldiers."
The soldiers approached, brandishing their weapons. I was completely exposed.
What should I do? It seemed I really didn't look like a human anymore.
Thank you for reading.
Next time: Come to think of it, it's incredibly embarrassing to be seen in this form by humans.