I am Alraune, a plant monster girl.
I had just witnessed the familiar sight of the Flame Dragon Lord, the very same one who had burned me to a crisp several months ago.
He had come for revenge because I had devoured his subordinate, the Eyepatch Minotaur.
Last time, I only managed to survive by performing pollination and essentially transplanting my soul into a new body. But if he found me again, I might be incinerated so thoroughly that there would be nothing left to salvage.
The Flame Dragon Lord’s name was, if I recalled correctly, "Glühschwanz."
If the owner of this botanical garden shared that name, it meant I would inevitably be discovered by him. Normally, I would have wanted to run and hide, but that was an impossible feat for me.
After all, I was just a stationary flower growing in a garden. No matter how much I might want to, I couldn't simply uproot myself and escape.
That said, I had actually thought of one way to get out of this place and return to the Little Witch. However, it wasn't something I could pull off with my current abilities. If I could just find that specific plant somewhere in this garden, I might have a chance to make my getaway.
Until then, I decided the best course of action was to spend my time here as peacefully as possible.
"Barometz-san, look at this!"
I used my Plant Generation ability to create a branch shaped into a circular ring. I gave the branch a wave, its surface dripping with a viscous white liquid.
As I did, a stream of soap bubbles drifted lazily from the ring!
"Bubbles! Oh, Alraune-san, bubbles are coming out of you!"
Barometz-san looked on in genuine surprise.
I had tried my hand at producing soap bubbles using a plant I had recently predated. This was the Soap Bubble Tree—formally known as Jatropha curcas. It was a fascinating plant capable of creating actual bubbles.
When you snap a branch of the Soap Bubble Tree, it leaks a white sap containing the same components as soap. If you blow through the branch like a straw, it sends bubbles flying.
However, as a plant, I didn't have lungs to exhale air. To get around that, I generated the branch in the shape of a bubble wand. By waving the ring like a racket, I could create large, shimmering bubbles without needing to blow.
"It’s incredible that you can produce bubbles! Just how did you...?"
"This is... called a soap bubble... and the liquid... that makes them... comes from... the branch."
"To think you can do something like that... I truly cannot believe you are a mere plant, Alraune-san. What must I do to become a special plant like you?"
From my perspective, Barometz-san—who could produce golden cotton and wool—was by far the more extraordinary of the two of us.
"I want to try it as well!"
"Then... I’ll give... this branch... to you. Normally... you just blow... on it... and the bubbles... come out."
"Like this, then?"
Barometz-san pressed her lips to the Soap Bubble Tree branch and blew through it like a straw. Immediately, a shimmering cloud of bubbles erupted from the wood.
"This is wonderful fun!"
As I watched Barometz-san laughing and making bubbles, a strange realization dawned on me. To blow through a straw like that, Barometz-san had to have some kind of internal organ—a pump of sorts—to exhale breath.
Barometz-san, could you be...
"Are you... breathing with lungs?"
Barometz-san’s expression froze at my question. She slowly lowered the bubble straw.
"I have failed. I did not think such a small thing would give me away. And as I suspected, you don't have lungs at all, do you, Alraune-san?"
I did breathe, of course, but I did it through the stomata on the surface of my leaves. I didn't use this human-looking mouth for respiration. But Barometz-san was using lungs, just like a human or an animal.
Even though she was supposed to be a plant.
"I have been keeping a secret from you, Alraune-san."
As if steeling her resolve, Barometz-san took a long, deep breath. She looked at me with an apologetic expression as she began to speak.
"In this botanical garden, I am the odd one out. In the truest sense, I am not actually a plant monster."
"What... do you mean?"
"The truth is... a Barometz is a Half-Beastman, Half-Plant. While my lower half is a plant-based cotton ball, my upper half is made of flesh and bone, just like a human’s."
A Half-Beastman, Half-Plant.
Hearing that, everything finally clicked. I had always wondered how a plant monster could produce wool, which was an animal fiber. That was the secret.
"My upper body is that of an animal. That is why I felt I wasn't truly your comrade, Alraune-san..."
"Barometz-san..."
My human-looking body was entirely made of plant matter using mimicry. But Barometz-san wasn't mimicking; she was a hybrid of beastman and plant.
"I am not human, nor am I a true animal monster, and I cannot even be a complete plant. I am a half-baked existence. I am truly sorry for lying to you. If you despise me now, I will understand..."
"I... won't despise you."
"B-But I’m not entirely a plant! My lower half might be, but I have the same kind of flesh as the humans and monsters who attacked you in the forest. I'm just like the Demon Race!"
I remembered when the Dryades of the Four Heavenly Kings had been touching Barometz-san recently. She had said, "A Barometz is a perfect mixture of plant and animal parts."
At that moment, Barometz-san had looked at me and then guiltily lowered her eyes. She had been carrying that weight this whole time because she felt like she was deceiving me.
But, Barometz-san... I really didn't mind.
"Do you... remember... my story? About my family... the Witch... and the Fairy... in the forest?"
"Yes, I have heard it many times."
"So... even if... you are... half beastman... I don't care. I like... the Barometz-san... who isn't... a plant... too."
Besides, the truth was that I had once been a human Saint. The Alraune I was now was a fusion of that Saint and a plant monster. In that sense, we were quite alike.
Knowing her secret actually made me feel closer to her than before. I didn't know the specifics of how her two halves came to be joined, but she was still my plant monster friend.
"Alraune-san... oh, thank you so much!"
Barometz-san burst into a fit of happy wailing.
"Alraune-san, as a sign of our reconciliation, I want you to eat me!"
Wait, hold on a second. What was she saying all of a sudden?
"It is a return for when I accidentally ate your vine the other day. If you eat this golden cotton, I believe it will help give you strength, even if only a little."
Ah, she meant she wanted me to eat her cotton. For a second, I was worried she had developed some very strange tastes.
"If you absorb my cotton, you should be able to produce it yourself, right? It might come in handy someday, so please, eat me."
To be honest, her golden cotton was an ability I wanted so badly I could practically taste it. It was a bit of a weird dynamic for friends to eat each other, but I decided to accept her offer.
"Then... I’ll take... a little."
"Yes. But... it is my first time being eaten, so please... be gentle..."
I used my vines to pluck a tuft of the golden cotton from her body. The moment I pulled it away, I heard her let out a soft, sweet sigh.
I swallowed the pinch of golden cotton with my lower mouth.
Chomp.
With that, I gained the ability to produce Barometz-san’s golden cotton. I gave it a quick test, manifesting it on one of my vines. A small, delicate Golden Cotton Flower bloomed, producing soft, shimmering fibers.
However, creating even a tiny amount was surprisingly exhausting. Unlike Barometz-san, who was naturally suited for it, my body wasn't meant to produce gold-infused materials. It put a significant strain on my system.
I didn't ask to eat her wool, though. I had a feeling that even if I ate it, I wouldn't be able to reproduce it with Plant Generation. Wool was an animal fiber from her beastman half, not a part of the plant side. Plus, Barometz-san had quite a bit of trauma regarding her wool, so there was no need to push the issue if I couldn't even use the ability.
"I have been eaten by Alraune-san. That means the person who took my 'first time'... was you."
Barometz-san fidgeted bashfully, hiding her face behind a tuft of cotton. Her phrasing was definitely a bit suggestive, but I decided it was best to ignore it.
In any case, I could now grow golden cotton whenever I wished. I thought of the Little Witch, far away in our forest. If I could ever get back to her, we would never have to live in poverty again. With golden cotton, our money troubles would be over.
We might even become wealthy. If that happened, the Little Witch wouldn't have to work so hard selling nectar anymore. We could just spend our days relaxing together in the woods.
Oh, Little Witch... it feels like it’s been forever since I’ve seen your face.
I really want to see you again...
Jatropha curcas (Soap Bubble Tree): A member of the Euphorbiaceae family. While it can produce soap bubbles, it is also used as a raw material for soap and candles. However, the plant is toxic, particularly the seeds, which contain strong poisons.
Cotton: A member of the Malvaceae family. Cotton fibers are plucked from the seed pods, often referred to as tree-cotton. Among similar materials, silk cotton taken from silkworms is called silk floss (真綿), while fibers taken from sheep are referred to as wool floss (羊毛綿).
Next time: The Little Witch’s first Alraune Search Activity.