This is the Little Witch's POV.
My name is Rufe.
I am a Witch who is raising the plant monster Alraune.
It has been quite a while since I started living with Alraune, who is like family to me.
She is a flower who takes a lot of effort, like having a clumsy younger sister, but she is also an amazing flower—one reliable enough to defeat the powerful demons known as the Four Heavenly Kings.
But you see, Alraune can't do anything without me.
After all, she is a plant.
That is why I go to the river to fetch water and water her many times every single day. I'm pretty impressive, right?
As for me, I was out walking around the city selling Alraune's Nectar again today.
"Little nectar-selling lady. If you don't mind, I would like to purchase all the Saint Nectar you have left."
While I was selling nectar in the usual city square, a man I didn't know spoke to me.
This person also called my nectar "Saint Nectar." It seemed that rumors had spread through the city under that name before I’d even realized it.
"I am the Head Cook at the Lord's Mansion. One of our young cooks took a great liking to your Saint Nectar, so I am thinking of using it in our cooking next time."
"Understood, I'll sell you everything."
The moment I answered, I spotted a familiar fairy flying behind the man.
──Wait, why is Kiri in the city?
"Hmm? Is something the matter?"
"No, it's nothing. Thank you for your purchase."
The Head Cook started walking away with a brisk pace.
Taking his place, Kiri called out to me as if she had been waiting for him to leave.
"Listen, Rufe, it's terrible!"
"For you to come all the way to the city, Kiri, it must be no ordinary matter."
"That's right! Alraune-sama has been kidnapped!"
My Alraune was kidnapped...?
"Kiri, we can't just stand here. We have to go help her, fast!"
I was about to ask where she had been taken when another stranger called out to me.
"Little lady."
Instinctively, Kiri dove into my hood to hide.
At the same time, a short man appeared before me.
He wasn't just a man; he was an old man. His hair was white, just like mine.
Plus, he was only slightly taller than I was. He was probably a member of the Dwarf race. It was the first time I’d ever seen one.
I just hoped he hadn't seen Kiri.
"Did a tiny human fly past here just now?"
"…What is that?"
"A fairy. It's rare for a forest fairy to be flying around the city… but more importantly, child… could it be that the hair under that hood of yours is white?"
──My heart hammered against my ribs.
I was many times more shaken by that question than I had been when he asked about the fairy.
"…………I have a burn on my head from a fire. So even if it's white, I'd want as much hair as I could get if I actually had any."
"Was that so? My apologies for asking something so insensitive."
The dwarf old man moved on and disappeared into the crowd.
Phew. That gave me a real scare.
There were many people who looked at my white hair with curious or judgmental eyes. Inwardly, I was always terrified that I might be found out as a witch.
Still hidden inside my hood, Kiri whispered to me.
"Rufe, that was amazing. How did you come up with a lie like that?"
"My late mother taught me to say that if I ever needed to hide my hair."
"I see… She must have been a good mother."
"She was………… That’s exactly why I don't want to lose anyone precious ever again. Kiri, let's go find Alraune."
"Right behind you!"
I hurried back to the forest with Kiri.
We decided to report our departure to the Dryades of the East Forest.
When I told her that Alraune had been snatched away, the Dryades told me the kidnapper had flown away from the forest riding a dragon. Apparently, she had seen the whole thing happen.
If you were watching, you could have at least tried to help!
She claimed she couldn't move freely, but even for a Lord of the Forest, the Dryades wasn't very useful, was she?
Still, thanks to her, I knew who the culprit was.
Apparently, it was a member of the Demon Race who had carried Alraune away.
So, there were still members of the Demon King's Army trying to attack this forest.
With that in mind, I asked the Dryades a question.
"If Alraune is gone, won't the forest be attacked? Is it going to be okay?"
"Please, rest easy. My elder sister is not in the West Forest right now."
"She isn't?"
"It seems she always left the management of the forest to the fairy Oin while she was away. Now that Oin is dead, even if they were to start something, there should still be a bit of a grace period."
"Do you know where the West Forest Dryades is now?"
"Yes. My elder sister is likely at the Demon King's Army Castle. Since her private castle is in the West Forest, it seems her residence within the army has become her base of operations."
"Wait, I thought Dryades couldn't move?"
"My sister loves her research. It seems she performed various experiments on herself and eventually obtained a way to move around."
With a serious expression, the Dryades made a request of me.
"If my sister realizes Oin is dead, she will surely attack the East Forest out of retaliation. It would be a great help if you could bring Alraune back before then."
"I understand."
It looked like I had to somehow bring Alraune home before the West Forest Dryades returned.
She had been acting as the Forest Bodyguard, so it couldn't be helped. I couldn't blame Alraune for getting caught; after all, she only became a bodyguard for my sake to cure my illness.
Since the sun was already setting, we spent the night in the Sanctuary.
The next day, Kiri and I finally set out.
After leaving the Dryades's Sanctuary, we returned to the spot where Alraune had been taken, hoping to find some kind of clue.
To my surprise, a familiar face was there—a lady who was a regular customer for the nectar.
Beside her was even the man who had helped me sell nectar the other day.
"Rufe? What are you doing here?"
The man stopped the surprised lady from coming closer.
"Fair—no, you're just the little lady. Do you know where Alraune went?"
It seemed the two of them were looking for my Alraune as well.
I wondered if they were companions of the adventurers who had attacked her.
"What are you going to do once you find her?"
"I want to talk. We aren't Alraune's enemies. In fact, we think we can become allies. We want to help."
They didn't seem like bad adventurers.
However, I had met humans before who lured me in with sweet words only to capture and torture me.
I couldn't trust humans that easily.
"Alraune isn't here. I'll find her myself, so just leave her alone!"
With that, I bolted deep into the woods.
Once I was sure I could hear their footsteps following me, I ducked behind a tree and performed my Bird Transformation.
With Kiri perched on my back, I took to the sky.
Humans couldn't follow me up here.
"Alright, Kiri. Do you actually know where Alraune was taken?"
"Of course! Just in case something like this happened, I placed a charm on Alraune-sama using Spirit Magic."
"The one you mentioned when those adventurers showed up?"
"That's the one. I hid a bit of my magic inside her body and cast a detection spell. As long as it's there, I can detect exactly where Alraune-sama is with my Spirit Magic."
"Why did you even cast a spell like that?"
"Because there were so many dangerous human adventurers coming to the forest. I figured if Alraune-sama's body was ever torn apart while I was away, my magic would react, and I could rush to her rescue."
"Kiri, you actually do something good every once in a while. If you know where she is, we have to fly there and save her right now!"
She was probably crying right now, not knowing what to do.
Being all alone is the loneliest thing in the world.
Wait for me, Alraune.
I'm coming to save you right now.
This chapter was from the Little Witch's point of view.
We got to see what Rufe and the others did immediately after Alraune was kidnapped.
Next time: Little Witch's First Alraune Search Activity - Latter Part.