I was Alraune, a plant monster young girl.
At that moment, a flock of bird-type monsters known as Mejiro were on the verge of treating my nectar like a communal drink at a party.
Why was I constantly besieged by monsters trying to lick my nectar? The answer was simple: I was a flower that produced it. As long as I lived as an Alraune, I was destined to be targeted by an endless parade of Perorists.
Feeling a wave of melancholy, I checked the birds perched above me. Numerous bird-type monsters occupied the branches; these green creatures were Weissaugen. They looked exactly like Mejiro—Japanese white-eyes—only scaled up to the size of an adult human male.
Since they shared the same habits as the Mejiro, these Weissaugen were pollinators. In other words, they were terrifying beings intent on pollinating me. Every single one of them stared me down with the intensity of a hunter stalking its prey.
There was no doubt about it; I was the target.
I wondered how long they had been surrounding me. I had been so preoccupied with the Child Alraune that I hadn't noticed them at all. Birds possessed the freedom of flight, and I had learned firsthand how advantageous aerial superiority was during my recent lizard-hunting expedition. Back then, I’d had the Little Witch use levitation magic to carry me in a bucket, allowing us to wipe out the lizards from above.
This time, the roles were reversed. For a plant rooted in the ground, fighting a flock of birds dancing through the sky was nothing but a disadvantage. If even one Mejiro latched onto me, it would be a disaster. They would thrust their beaks into my mouth and use their tongues to lap up every drop of nectar inside.
As soon as they noticed my gaze, the Mejiros took flight simultaneously. These purebred Perorists swooped down to begin their assault.
I wasn't about to let a bunch of birds pass my nectar around!
I immediately blanketed the area in toxic pollen. However, the combined wingbeats of thirty birds blew the powder away with insulting ease. Left with no other choice, I wove my toxic briars into a cocoon for defense. I tried to lash out with the thorns to swat them down, but they dodged my strikes with frustrating agility.
Dealing with aerial enemies was a nightmare. With thirty of them attacking at once, I had my hands full just maintaining my guard. As a plant incapable of moving from the spot where I grew, I was at a total loss.
Suddenly, a sharp chirping sounded from behind me. A Mejiro had circled around to my blind spot. It dove toward my back at high speed. I tried to manifest a shield of toxic briars, but I knew I wouldn't be fast enough.
In that instant, a single withered tree stepped into the path of the charging bird. It was my younger sister-figure, the Treant.
Treant caught the Mejiro’s charge with her branches and slammed it into the dirt. Without a moment's hesitation, she snapped the creature's neck. Come to think of it, she had stayed by my side even after presenting her botanical tributes.
I felt a pang of guilt; I had completely forgotten she was there. Because she remained perfectly still, she looked like nothing more than a withered tree, making it easy for her to blend into the background.
But knowing I had an ally brought me a surge of relief. Judging by those practiced movements, Treant was surprisingly capable. I decided to leave my rear in her hands. I was counting on her, my little sister-figure.
I kept my toxic briars undulating around me to keep the flock at bay, but I knew this was a losing battle of attrition. If they overwhelmed me with numbers, I wouldn't last long. Neither Treant nor I had an effective way to deal with targets in the sky. If only I had a long-range attack...
Wait—that was it!
I recalled seeing something promising among the plants Treant had brought me. Using my vines, I rummaged through the pile of tributes. My vines coiled around a specimen that looked almost as rare as the Tahina—the Suicide Palm.
The plant had oblong fruits hanging from the ends of its vines. I remembered seeing it in a plant encyclopedia during my days as a high school girl. This plant was called a Teppou-uri.
As the name "Gun Melon" suggested, it was a plant that fired its own seeds. In English, this climbing vine was often called the "Exploding Cucumber." Its oblong fruits were packed to the bursting point with seeds and fluid, which would spray out from a hole like a machine gun.
I promptly predated the Teppou-uri with my lower mouth.
The ability to spray seeds became mine. If I could fire them like a Teppou-uri, I might actually be able to hit those birds in the sky!
I immediately manifested Teppou-uri fruits along my vines. The pods swelled like cannons at the tips of my appendages. If I used selective breeding to enlarge these seeds, they would surely serve as an effective weapon against the Mejiros.
I opened fire.
Spo-po-po-po-pon!
The seeds launched in a rapid-fire barrage, accompanied by a spray of sap. Caught off guard by the sudden projectile, a Mejiro took a direct hit.
I did it! I finally had a long-range attack!
However, the hit didn't seem fatal. Though the bird looked dazed, it continued to flap its wings. My current attack power was lacking; I needed to upgrade my ammunition.
I applied selective breeding to sharpen the seeds into points as lethal as briar thorns. For good measure, I mixed in the yellow pollen of numbing powder and the blue pollen of sleeping powder.
The Anesthetic Seed was complete.
Setting my sights once more, I unleashed the Teppou-uri Machine Gun. Several Mejiros, unable to dodge the entire volley, were pierced by the seeds. As the anesthesia took hold, they tumbled toward the earth.
The sensation of lead-trailing a moving target and shooting it down was exhilarating. It felt just like playing a shooting gallery game at an arcade in my previous life!
Caught up in the excitement, I decided to increase my firepower. I went with a four-gun style, growing Teppou-uri Machine Guns at the ends of four separate vines and aiming the muzzles skyward.
"Take this!"
Spo-po-po-po-pon!!
The Mejiros were utterly decimated by the rain of seeds from my four guns. The sheer volume of fire made it easy to land hits, and the feeling was magnificent.
The birds dropped like stones. Thanks to the Anesthetic Seeds, they couldn't move properly even after hitting the ground, despite their desperate attempts to flap their wings.
As they lay there in a daze, my younger sister-figure went on the offensive. Treant dashed gallantly toward the fallen Mejiros, pinning one to the ground with her weight.
Then, in a display of raw fury, Treant began tearing the bird’s wings and feathers off by hand. My little sister-figure was, quite unexpectedly, the owner of monstrous strength. I stared, eyes wide, at her sheer ferocity.
She didn't stop there. She reached out and uprooted a nearby tree in its entirety. She hefted the trunk and hurled it like a spear, striking a Mejiro right out of the sky. She was, quite frankly, incredible.
When I first accepted Treant as my sister-figure, I had performed a gesture like a knight’s oath. Normally, that would make her a "Lady Knight," but there was nothing "lady-like" about this barbaric display. She had moved far beyond the realm of a knight.
She was strong, she was fierce, and her wildness was overwhelming. I had never seen such a powerful girl in my life. She was more like a female berserker. When I thought of women from a forest combat tribe, one word came to mind: Amazoness.
I see. So Treant was an Amazoness. That certainly explained everything.
But really, what was I going to do? My little sister-figure turned out to be an Amazoness!
Next time: Forest Combat Plant Sisters.