I’m Alraune, a plant monster girl.
Ten days had passed since I arrived at the Demon King's Army Botanical Garden, and I was finally starting to settle into my new life.
I’d been keeping an eye out for any opportunity to escape, but such a chance was nowhere to be found. After all, my roots were firmly planted in the earth; I couldn’t walk even if I wanted to. I was a plant, first and foremost.
In fact, I was starting to lose sight of my goal entirely. Life here was far more comfortable than I’d ever imagined!
The staff spread fertilizer for me and even provided meat for my meals. I was watered three times a day, and the sunlight was more than sufficient. There were absolutely no natural enemies. If anything, the Manager worked tirelessly to maintain the peace of the Botanical Garden.
This place was a total paradise for a plant!
On top of that, I’d even made a fellow plant monster friend.
My daily routine was simple: I’d wake up in the morning, finish my watering, and then munch on the meat provided as bait. Once I was full and bored, I’d tell Barometz-san stories about my life in the forest. When I finished, she would regale me with tales of the Imperial Palace. When I grew drowsy, I’d take a nap while performing photosynthesis.
There were no forest monsters or human adventurers to attack me, so I could sleep in total peace. I may have been kidnapped, but I was living the most comfortable life I’d had since becoming an Alraune. I was leading a quiet, idyllic plant life. It was heaven; it was the absolute best!
My only lingering concern was the Little Witch and the others. I wondered if she was eating properly. It made me a bit anxious. Fairy Kiri was with her, though, so they could always seek protection from Lady Dryades if things went south. That thought gave me some peace of mind. Still, being separated from my companions—who were practically family—weighed on me.
I wondered how everyone was doing. Surprisingly, I was doing very well, so I hoped they weren't worrying too much.
Even so, I wanted to find a way back to that forest. No matter how comfortable life was here, I couldn't get the Little Witch out of my head. That was why I had to do what I could right now.
"Barometz-san, instead of, a story, can I do, the usual?"
"Of course, dear. I need only keep the secret of your snacking on the garden's flora, yes? For a precious friend, that is a small price to pay."
"Thank, you."
And so, I moved on to my Phantom Thief work.
I extended my vines into the distance. Then, I pulled a plant toward me—yes, I’d hit the jackpot! My vines were clutching a flower with thin, white, shaggy petals. This was a Snake Gourd. A member of the Cucurbitaceae family, it was famous for flowers that only bloomed at night. When the sun went down, it would produce beautiful white blossoms shaped like snowflakes.
With this, I could finally conquer the night!
—Chomp.
Munch, munch.
Thank you for the meal.
With that, I gained the ability to make my flowers bloom even after dark. Now, I wouldn't be forced into slumber by Uncle Teddy’s sleep magic anymore! I had officially conquered Uncle Teddy!
I wanted to keep eating other plants at this rate, but it wasn't that simple. Since I never knew when the Manager might return, I had to immediately replace whatever I ate.
Using Plant Generation, I forced the Snake Gourds—which usually only bloomed at night—to open so I could pollinate them and create seeds. After imbuing them with Light Magic and a surplus of nutrients, I planted them back in their original spots. The seeds sprouted and grew rapidly until, presto, everything was back to normal.
Evidence destroyed!
Because I had to perform these cover-up operations, the number of plants I could consume in a day was limited. Additionally, I couldn't exactly gorge myself here, so I couldn't store massive amounts of nutrients. There were no animals to serve as prey, after all. If I used Plant Generation too much at once, I risked being unable to recover my energy.
Taking that into account, I couldn't afford to push my luck. Furthermore, even when the Manager wasn't around, members of the Demon Race occasionally dropped by to look at the plants. That further limited the time I had for my Phantom Thief activities.
In fact, another member of the Demon Race was entering the Botanical Garden with the Manager right now. A one-horned Minotaur walked down the path, carrying a potted plant. The Manager and the Minotaur began planting it in the row right next to mine.
As they worked, the Minotaur spoke to the Manager.
"Did you hear? Apparently, Lord Galdofrazevelg of the Four Heavenly Kings has gone missing."
"Was he defeated by the human Hero?"
"It’s possible. To think he'd be taken out only four years after joining the Four Heavenly Kings... as expected, he really was the weakest of the lot."
"It couldn't be helped. There were specific reasons he was promoted to the Four Heavenly Kings, beyond just his talent for Light Magic."
Once the Manager and the Minotaur finished their work, they headed to the Manager's Hut to chat over drinks. Near evening, the two of them finally left the Botanical Garden.
As soon as I was sure the garden was empty, Barometz-san spoke to me in an exaggerated whisper.
"The Demon Race only see us as mere garden plants. That is why information is so surprisingly easy to gather here."
She was right. Just by being in this Botanical Garden, I was picking up all sorts of intelligence regarding the Demon King's Army. The garden was isolated and had very little foot traffic, making it the perfect spot for secret conversations. Thanks to that, I’d become quite the expert on Demon King's Army gossip.
The current hot topic was the disappearance of the Golden Birdman. Following that, the Fallen Spirit Princess—another member of the Four Heavenly Kings—had been granted full authority over the conquest of the Kingdom of Gardenia.
And then, the subject of those very rumors finally appeared before me.
The door to the Botanical Garden swung open with a bang.
Thump. Thump.
I heard the heavy, rhythmic footsteps of a four-legged creature. It didn't seem to be moving particularly fast. The slow, approaching steps eventually reached the path where I was located.
Upon seeing the massive figure, Barometz-san called out happily.
"Lady Vergissmeinnicht, it has been quite a while!"
I had that name memorized perfectly after the last ten days. After all, she was the Fallen Dryades of the Four Heavenly Kings who ruled the West Forest.
"It has been a long time, Barometz. I thought you’d be getting lonely, so I made a special trip to see you."
"Oh, I wasn't lonely at all this time! You see, I've made a new friend."
"Hoh? A friend, is it?"
As she spoke, the woman called Vergissmeinnicht looked in my direction.
"And that one... looks like an Alraune to me."
To my surprise, the creature that came down the path was a massive Land Tortoise Monster. But what truly shocked me was the beautiful woman sitting atop its shell. The tortoise's shell had become a miniature forest. In the center of that Shell Forest grew a low tree, and the woman stood leaning against it.
Her hair consisted of long, trailing blue vines. Much like Lady Dryades of the East Forest, branches grew from her head like hair ornaments. As expected of sisters, she looked remarkably like the younger Dryades.
The primary differences were her hair color—blue instead of green—and the fact that she wore a blue leaf eyepatch over her left eye.
"Staring with its mouth hanging open like an idiot... what is with this Alraune? Is my appearance really that unusual?"
Fairy Kiri had told me quite a bit about the Dryades. I knew their true forms were ancient trees and that they couldn't normally leave their main bodies. As tree spirits, they shouldn't have been able to walk. I’d been wondering how a Dryades of the West Forest could function as one of the Four Heavenly Kings if she was immobile.
Now, I finally understood. She had somehow transplanted her main body—the ancient tree—onto a Land Tortoise. By having the tortoise walk, she could move wherever she pleased. In other words, the Dryades was acting as a parasite on the tortoise.
I never would have dreamed such a method of travel existed. If I did the same thing, I could move too! I was actually a little jealous.
Perhaps noticing my gaze, the Land Tortoise carrying the Spirit Princess walked right up to us. Then, she suddenly asked me something entirely unexpected.
"Hey, you. Do you happen to know anything about a fairy named Oin?"
My heart gave a jolt of alarm. If I still had a human heart, my pulse would have been racing. There was no way I could forget that name—it belonged to the Poison Fairy who had tried to kill me.
Could she know that I’d fought the Poison Fairy? If so, this was going to be very bad.
The seductive Big Sister Dryades narrowed her eyes, her gaze piercing through me. Then, she spat out a question that made my blood run cold.
"You wouldn't happen to have eaten Oin with that lower mouth of yours, would you?"
Snake Gourd (Karasu-uri): A climbing vine of the Cucurbitaceae family that blooms exclusively at night.
Next time: The Alraune crossbreeding experiment is in crisis.