I was Alraune, a little plant monster.
At that very moment, I was in the middle of sinking to the bottom of a pond infested with crocodiles.
I’d already been attacked once, but thanks to my toxic pollen, I’d managed to survive the initial encounter. The problem now was the simple fact that I was drowning.
Just a few feet away, two of the crocodiles were currently locked in a fierce struggle over me.
Stop! Don’t fight over me!
It was a line I’d always wanted to say at least once in my life, but this was definitely not the right situation for it. At the very least, you’re not supposed to say it to creatures that are trying to physically consume you.
I had to get out of here. I wanted to reunite with the Little Witch as soon as possible, but I had no idea what the situation was like back on the surface.
Still, when one door closes, another one opens—or in this case, when one god abandons you, another picks you up. By falling into this pond, I had essentially triggered an all-you-can-drink water event.
Recovery complete! Water is the best!
I’d regained my energy, but I still had to figure out my next move.
I was a plant. Unlike humans or other animals, I didn't breathe with lungs. That said, plants still perform respiration, taking in oxygen and releasing carbon dioxide. If I could manage to photosynthesize, I could produce oxygen from carbon dioxide and circulate it through my body to a degree, but I couldn't produce enough to sustain myself entirely. The lack of air was starting to make my chest—or rather, my bulb—tighten.
I wouldn't drown instantly, but since I wasn't an aquatic plant by nature, this was getting painful.
Wait, what was that?
The two rampaging crocodiles had stirred up the silt, and something was drifting toward me. It looked like an aquatic plant.
As the name suggests, aquatic plants make their homes underwater. They’re specialized for a life submerged. However, even they need to breathe. Land plants exchange gases through tiny holes in their leaves called stomata. But since aquatic plants don't have to worry about drying out, their skin is thin, and they generally don't have stomata at all. Instead, they absorb oxygen dissolved in the water through the entire surface of their leaves.
In other words, if I incorporated the traits of an aquatic plant, I should be able to breathe down here.
I extended a vine and snagged the plant, then promptly stuffed it into my lower mouth.
With that, I obtained the abilities of an aquatic plant. I no longer had to worry about drowning, but that still left the problem of my inability to swim. Even when I thrashed my vines desperately, they were too thin to provide any real propulsion; all I did was stir up the water.
I really couldn't swim. I suppose that’s what happens when your body is basically a potted plant...
As I continued to frantically spin my vines, a crocodile's tail came whipping through the water. I’d been caught in the crossfire of their brawl. The massive tail slammed into my small body with enough force to crush me.
I quickly formed a Vine Shield to guard myself, but the impact sent me tumbling through the depths. I felt so utterly helpless. In the water, there was nothing I could do. I was just a piece of flotsam.
As I sat there wallowing in my own powerlessness, I felt myself being pulled along. My body began to move rapidly, drawn by a powerful force. Before I knew it, I was swallowed by a massive current.
Flowing water... this was a river.
At some point, I must have been swept out of the pond and into a nearby river. To think I’d escaped that hopeless situation—it felt like a literal miracle. Maybe God hadn't abandoned me after all!
Regardless, I was just relieved to have escaped that Crocodile Panic. I might not have the best luck in general, but my survival instincts were top-tier.
Of course, being in a river didn't change the fact that I was still helpless. To make matters worse, my bucket was floating upside down on the surface. My bulb was so light that I’d ended up completely inverted.
Upside down and submerged, I was forced to surrender myself to the current. I tried reaching out with my vines to grab the riverbank, but a young girl’s vines didn't have nearly enough strength to gouge into the earth while being swept away by a river.
My only hope was for the Little Witch to find me. I just prayed she’d noticed I was being washed away...
However, I wasn't entirely alone in the river.
"Oh, good day to you. You are a fish, I presume?"
It had been a very long time since I’d had the pleasure of meeting a member of the finned species. It had been a year since I became an Alraune, and if we're counting my previous life, it had been four years since I’d last laid eyes on a fish.
Back when I was human, I quite liked fish. During my high school days, salt-grilled mackerel was a personal favorite. Or sashimi—nothing beats the combination of raw fish and soy sauce.
Basically, fish are delicious!
"Tell me, Mr. Fish. Would you care to dance with me?"
An underwater dance, if you will. This was my first time in the water, so I was a bit nervous, but I would have been delighted if one of them had taken my hand.
Unfortunately, the fish didn't even give me a second glance. It seemed they had no interest in a land plant. I wondered if they refused to accept me as a companion because I lacked gills. Or perhaps they were just wary of being snagged by my vines?
How rude. I was simply looking for a dance partner.
In that case, I decided to distribute my invitations more directly.
I scattered my toxic pollen into the water. While most of it was swept away, several fish were lucky enough to receive my "invitation." As expected, those who knew, knew. They were all handsome, fatty specimens.
They seemed so overcome with joy at my invitation that they began to writhe in ecstasy. As they fainted and bobbed to the surface, I held onto them with my vines. Since these handsome fish were so shy, I decided to take the lead.
The Underwater Ball had officially begun.
Chomp.
Mmm, fish is delicious! I couldn't technically taste it, but it was the first real nutrition I’d had in ages. Salt-grilled is great, but there’s really nothing like eating fish fresh and raw.
As I sat there snacking on my dance partners, the current suddenly grew violent.
"Wh-What is happening!?"
I wondered if there was a waterfall downstream or if the current was simply picking up speed. As I started to panic, I thought I saw a small light on the water's surface. Then, a moment later, my body lurched upward as if I’d hit something.
I thought I’d crashed into a rock, because my entire body—bucket and all—was launched into the air. I flew out of the water and toward the land.
I managed to use my vines to stick a safe landing on the riverbank. That was way too close. If my timing had been off by even a fraction of a second, I would have been slammed into the dirt.
Still, that was bizarre. I’d assumed I hit something and was thrown out by the momentum, but strangely, nothing hurt. It felt more like a mysterious jet of water had intentionally propelled me toward the shore.
I looked around to see what had happened and locked eyes with a frog.
It was a mottled frog, and it was absolutely massive—roughly the size of a car. It was a frog-type monster known as a Flurtfrosch.
Had that frog actually saved me? No, that was impossible. It was just a frog, after all. I hadn't felt its tongue or anything; it really had felt like a jet of water had launched me.
But still, being pulled out of the river so perfectly felt unnatural. I felt as though I’d been rescued by some kind of special power. A pillar of water rushing toward the sky doesn't just happen, and even my escape from the pond to the river felt suspiciously miraculous.
"Excuse me, Mr. Frog? Did you happen to save me?"
Had this frog used some kind of supernatural power to help me? If so, he couldn't be just any ordinary frog. Maybe he was a human who had been transformed by magic? The Little Witch could turn into a white bird, after all, so the possibility wasn't zero.
I remembered a fairy tale from Japan about a princess who was helped by a prince who had been turned into a frog. In a world where magic actually existed, such a story might be more than just fiction. I’d already seen the Little Witch do something similar, after all.
I couldn't tell if this frog was male or female, but I had a strong feeling that, like the white bird, it was no mere animal.
"Mr. Frog... are you perhaps a Frog Prince?"
I decided to ask him then and there.
Thank you for reading. Next time: Embraced by the Prince.