I was Alraune, a plant monster girl and former Saint.
However, as a former Saint, this might have been the very last time I introduced myself that way.
Between the forest fire and the Flame Dragon’s Blue Flame consuming my body, I was trapped. Fortunately, I had finally found a way to solve both problems at once.
The key was the Banksia Seed.
When a wildfire broke out, the Banksia released seeds from its fruit to ensure the survival of its species. Once the fire died down, it would be the first to sprout from the charred earth and bloom again.
Having consumed a Banksia Seed, I could now utilize its unique traits. If I could turn myself into a seed, I could fly to the safety of the nearby clearing. If I could then be reborn there with a new Alraune body, I would be saved.
That would allow me to escape the Flame Dragon’s Blue Flame. After all, the magical fire was currently burning my Alraune body; a seed ejected from that body should fall outside the flame's range. Furthermore, I could wait to sprout until the forest had finished burning and the fire had died out. That would eliminate the risk of being incinerated by the spreading wildfire.
With this, the two problems that had seemed like a "no-win game" would be solved simultaneously.
However, this plan presented two new complications.
The first was that I had to undergo pollination to become a seed.
I hated the idea of pollination. When Hachi-san had nearly forced the process upon me, I had felt like cursing everything in existence. But this time, the circumstances were different.
I had been thinking about this ever since I successfully generated an Apple's Male Flower and Female Flower, pollinated them, and produced an actual apple. I had wondered what would happen if I performed that same process on my own body—the Female Flower of an Alraune.
If I could create an Apple's Male Flower, I should be able to create one using Alraune DNA as well. Since I possessed the biological data for a male flower's stamen, I felt certain I could use Selective Breeding to produce a male flower that shared my genetic makeup.
But what would happen if I pollinated my female self with my own Alraune's Male Flower?
Perhaps because I had lived as a plant for a year, my perception of my own body had shifted. I had come to accept that I was a plant rather than a human, and that my fundamental ecology was entirely different. That said, I still absolutely refused to allow someone else’s male flower to touch me. That was a hard no.
However, if the pollen was my own, the situation changed.
If a Male Flower (someone else) pollinated a Female Flower (me), the resulting seed would contain foreign DNA, meaning it wouldn't truly be me. But if I pollinated a Female Flower (me) with a Male Flower (me), the seed would inherit only my own genes. I could even fine-tune the process through Selective Breeding.
Because of that, the sense of disgust wasn't nearly as strong as it would have been with another's pollen. Instead, the fear of what would happen next was what truly dominated my mind. My anxiety remained, but I reminded myself that this was simply Self-pollination—a standard part of floral ecology. It was a perfectly natural process for a plant to pollinate itself to produce seeds. It was nothing like the human version of reproduction.
Besides, this was an emergency. When weighing the choice between burning to death or pollinating, I didn't have a second to hesitate. Everything was for the sake of survival—so that I could eventually enjoy my plant-based slow life. For that dream, I was willing to go through with pollination.
Then there was the second problem: what would happen to my consciousness?
When the Alraune Seed born from me eventually sprouted and grew into a new Alraune, would "I" still be there? I was deeply worried. There was a chance the new Alraune would be a completely different person. If that happened, my consciousness—my soul as a former Saint and a Japanese High School Girl—might vanish the moment I pollinated.
That thought terrified me. However, I had formed a hypothesis.
As an Angiosperm, my seeds would form inside a fruit. Fruit developed from the growth of the Pistil's Ovary. My human Alraune body was the Pistil itself and contained an Ovary. In other words, the fruit was me, and the seed would grow from a part of my own being.
Even after pollination, the Bulb beneath the Corolla would remain as it was, but the human portion of my body would transform into the seed. I suspected that my consciousness as a former Saint resided within this Pistil, as I had always experienced the world through it.
If my Ovary—my very self—became the fruit and then the seed, there was a high probability that the sprout emerging from that seed would still be me. After all, I wasn't a human mother giving birth to a separate child; I was becoming the seed. Moreover, both "parents" of the seed were me.
If that were the case, I might be able to transfer my spirit into the newly generated seed. It was less like a transfer and more like my body simply changing its shape. Since I could use Plant Generation for Selective Breeding, I could likely manipulate the process during pollination to ensure my consciousness moved into the seed.
If my hypothesis was correct, I would be able to live on as the Alraune who was once a Saint. I wouldn't know for sure until I tried, but I was out of time. The Flame Dragon’s Blue Flame and the forest fire were seconds away from finishing me off.
I steeled my resolve. Even if the Alraune born from the seed wasn't me, it would still be my descendant. I would just have to trust it to live well in my stead. Still, it would be perfect if the new Alraune turned out to be me.
I brought my vines up to my face and concentrated with every fiber of my being. Then, I generated the Alraune's Male Flower.
It worked. It looked like a simple, small red flower. The stamen didn't have a human shape or anything strange like that, but it was undoubtedly a genuine Alraune's Male Flower.
Pollination would be complete once I attached the pollen from this male flower to the Pistil's Stigma. To be precise, I needed to put the pollen on the Stigma—which, in my Alraune form, was my mouth.
I gently plucked the Alraune's Male Flower I had created. Then, I brought it to my upper mouth. What I needed was the pollen produced in the Anther—the tiny, sac-like structures at the tip of the stamen.
I entwined my tongue around the pollen-packed Anthers, drawing them in. I sucked up every grain I could and swallowed.
In biological terms, pollination was complete the moment the pollen touched the Stigma. But for me, this was only the beginning.
Once pollinated, the pollen would begin extending a Pollen Tube toward the Ovule inside the Ovary. My Ovary was located at the base of the Pistil—my human body—roughly in the area of my stomach and waist. Inside my stomach, which served as the Ovary, sat the Ovule.
The pollen I had swallowed moved toward the Ovule. The Ovary would then grow into a fruit, and the Ovule would become a seed.
I felt the moment the pollen reached the Ovule. Textbooks might define pollination as the moment pollen touches the Pistil, but I felt like the true union happened at that very second.
My stomach, the Ovary, began to swell as it prepared to become a fruit. Inside that swelling was my seed—or rather, the seed that I was becoming.
I gently stroked my growing belly. Then, I cast Super Recovery Magic. This would cause the growth process to accelerate exponentially.
By now, the Blue Flame had already incinerated my Bulb. My leaves were catching fire, and the flames were about to reach the Corolla. My human body was seconds away from being engulfed. If that happened, I wouldn't be able to reincarnate.
I poured more and more Super Recovery Magic into my stomach. I needed to become a seed immediately to protect myself from the heat. I activated even more magic, storing it within the seed so it could survive the fire on the ground and sprout as quickly as possible.
Under the influence of the Super Recovery Magic, my plant body underwent a violent growth spurt. My stomach expanded like a balloon. My chest, neck, and then my face were slowly enveloped by the expanding Ovary.
My vision cut to black. My five senses vanished one by one. My consciousness began to drift as I felt my body and spirit being compressed into a single, tiny vessel.
This was the seed.
The Ovary had become the fruit, and within it, the seed was born.
Soon, the Blue Flame would consume my Corolla and reach the fruit. When it did, the Banksia’s trait would trigger. The fruit would snap open to escape the heat, and the seed would be ejected, falling to the ground. My original Alraune body would be reduced to ash, but the seed containing my new life would be safe.
I couldn't see any of it. I no longer had eyes, nor did I have any physical sensations. My consciousness was on the verge of blinking out entirely.
I was no longer a flower. I was just a seed. An Alraune Seed.
A world of absolute darkness wrapped around me, and my consciousness faded away completely.
I had become a seed.
Next time: I Became a Young Girl.