I’m Alraune, a plant monster young girl.
Currently, I’m snagged by a frog’s tongue and getting absolutely drenched in slime alongside the Little Witch.
Apparently, this frog is a herbivore. I know this because I could see blue flowers deep inside its gullet.
Which means that at this rate, I’m about to be its next meal!
Since I’d been caught along with the bucket I’m planted in, I was stuck. For now, the worst-case scenario would be getting dragged into its mouth and swallowed whole.
Acting on instinct, I shot my vines toward a nearby tree trunk. I wrapped them around a sturdy-looking tree over and over again, anchoring myself.
There. Now even if the frog pulled, I’d be fine. It had turned into a literal game of tug-of-war between my vines and the frog’s tongue.
I really do need to keep my roots in the ground; otherwise, it's such a pain when my flowerpot body gets moved around like this.
At any rate, I no longer had to worry about being eaten immediately.
I shifted my gaze to the spotted frog monster. My intuition had been spot on—this frog wasn't a prince or anything of the sort. It was just a wild monster.
Princes like the White Bird don’t just fall from the sky every day. Besides, witches are probably the only ones who can transform into animals. I’d be shocked if a whole parade of witches started showing up within the span of a few days.
The white-haired girl—the Little Witch—looked like she was panicking, unsure of what to do.
If I sprayed my toxic pollen while she was still entangled in my vines, she’d end up inhaling the poison right along with the frog. Plus, she has absolutely zero combat experience. I couldn't expose her to any more danger.
As the big sister in this duo, I had to step up!
──Wait, I’ve got it!
I could use the traits of that sundew relative I got from the Little Witch earlier. Let’s give that ability a test run.
According to my knowledge from my high school girl days, a sundew is basically a "birdlime-style" insectivorous plant. It has the ability to secrete a sticky mucus from the tips of the glandular hairs on its leaves to ensnare insects.
What if I grew those glandular hairs on my vines and produced that same sticky slime? If I attached a newly created sticky vine to the frog’s tongue and pulled, I might be able to break its grip.
Having made up my mind, I used Plant Generation to sprout glandular hairs all over my vines.
But in that moment, I completely forgot one crucial detail.
Namely, that the Little Witch was currently tangled up in those same vines.
Which meant her body was effectively wrapped in them.
Tragically, I ended up growing glandular hairs on the vines wrapped around her, too. Since it was the first time I'd used the ability, I couldn't control it properly.
A thick, gooey slime began to ooze from the glandular hairs, coating the Little Witch’s body in an instant.
"What is this? It’s so sticky..."
When the Little Witch moved her arm to try and push the vine away, the slime stretched out in long, viscous threads. It looked like she was completely fused to the vine now.
She was now a total mess, covered in both frog drool and my own plant slime.
Gyaaaaaah!
Little Witch, I’m so sorrrryyyyy!!
Her beautiful white hair and adorable face were a disaster. Ugh, no, this wasn't on purpose! Um, how should I put this... I am incredibly sorry...
"That... didn't happen. I... failed."
This ability is useless! My judgment was completely off!!
I used Plant Generation again to overwrite the vines. The glandular hairs disappeared, and they returned to being ordinary vines.
That said, the slime already on her didn't just vanish. Thin threads of mucus still stretched from her arms, and the slime on her head was a lost cause. I couldn't get it off, but at least she could move a little better now.
Perhaps the frog was as confused by the slime commotion as we were, because its grip on me loosened. Now was the time to escape!
"Little Witch, run!"
"B-But!"
"While you can... get out... of the vines and the tongue."
"...Understood."
The next moment, her body began to distort. She transformed back into the White Bird.
Now a bird, the Little Witch fluttered through the gaps in my vines and into the sky. She managed to slip free from both my slime and the frog’s tongue, regaining her freedom. It seems that because she’d been in her human form, she was snagged by the vines, but a small bird could slip out in an instant.
──Wait, hold on a second.
If she could have just turned into a bird from the beginning, did she even need to be stuck in my vines at all...?
Hey! Why didn't you do that earlier?!
W-Well, as long as she’s safe, I guess it’s fine. Besides, if she’d stayed in her human form, that slime situation was heading toward a scene that definitely wasn't "all-ages." At least as the White Bird, it wasn't a problem. A wet bird is just a little cute, right? This is fine!
Alright, now for the frog.
"Let... go."
I tried talking to it on the off-chance it would listen, but my words didn't reach it. There was no reaction at all. As I thought, it was just a mindless monster.
The frog let out a loud "geko geko" and put more strength into its tongue.
My... my vines are going to snap...!
For a giant frog monster, it sure had a lot of power. If this stayed a simple contest of strength, I was going to lose.
I extended my briars and wrapped them around the frog’s front legs. Even with the thick slime, my thorns were sharp enough to pierce its skin. I injected a paralysis potion through the briars, and the frog’s movements instantly grew sluggish.
Its pull weakened. This was my chance!
Since its tongue was still out, its mouth was wide open. Blame yourself for having such a big mouth.
I sprayed a cloud of toxic pollen directly into its gullet. Without the Little Witch nearby, I could scatter as much poison as I wanted.
Granted, since I’m currently "Young Girl Alraune," the volume of poison is much lower than it used to be. But the quality should be just as potent.
Attempting to close its mouth, the frog finally released me. But I wasn't letting it go that easily.
I wrapped my vines around the retracting tongue. However, it was so slimy that they kept slipping.
Fine then! I created vines with sundew glandular hairs again and lashed them around the tongue. The sticky vines stuck fast. Now it couldn't shake me off.
Back to our game of tug-of-war! While the frog sat there with its mouth agape, I kept pumping in more and more toxic pollen.
After a few moments, the frog began foaming at the mouth and its eyes rolled back. It seemed it had finally given up on the idea of eating me.
Th-Thank goodness. My first real battle since becoming a young girl was a success... mostly.
"Alraune!"
The Little Witch rushed over to me. Somewhere along the way, she’d turned back into a human. She was properly dressed, too.
She gave me and my bucket—still covered in frog slime—a tight hug. Her hair was still matted with saliva and my plant mucus. I felt terrible about it.
I used my vines to gently comb through her hair as I apologized.
"I’m... sorry..."
"You don't have to apologize for anything, Alraune. If anything, thank you for defeating that frog."
She held me even tighter. She really is such a good girl. Her kindness was overwhelming; it really hit the tear ducts of someone who’d spent as much time as a loner as I have. I felt like nectar was about to leak from my eyes.
As we stood there hugging, covered in frog drool, a faint groan echoed from somewhere.
What was that?
I looked around, but I couldn't sense any other creatures nearby. Then, a wet "squelch" came from inside the frog’s mouth.
Don't tell me it’s still alive?!
"Get back."
I put the Little Witch behind me and faced the frog. As I stood on guard, I saw something moving deep inside its maw.
A moment later, something small slid down from the back of the frog’s throat and onto its tongue.
I stared, completely stunned.
The object that had come out of the frog’s mouth... was a tiny girl, no bigger than the palm of my hand.
On her back were wings like an insect's. She had long, beautiful blonde hair and a face as perfectly defined as a doll's. She was drenched in frog saliva and seemed to have fainted, her head probably spinning.
Wait... could it be?
There’s only one thing I can think of that looks like a tiny person with wings. It was the spitting image of a fairy—something I’d only ever seen in storybooks.
The girl who had been inside the frog... was a little fairy.