The Corporal had requested my help in exterminating the monsters currently besieging Tower City.
I was to join forces with the city's adventurers to subjugate the threat!
I saw off the Corporal and his party from the forest as they headed to the site ahead of me. They were accompanied not only by Kiri and my "younger sister," the Amazoness Treant, but also by the Little Witch.
She seemed truly worried about me, appearing quite determined to slay the monsters in my stead.
Even if I did lose some vitality during the winter, it wasn't as if I was on the verge of withering like last year. I was perfectly fine.
If anything, I was more concerned that the Little Witch might collapse from the cold.
I wanted to wrap everything up myself before she was forced to fight.
According to the Corporal, the highway on the western side of Tower City was the primary defensive line against the monsters.
The location sat right between Tower City and the Dryades' Forest.
The problem, of course, was that I was a plant and couldn't simply walk there. Fortunately, that wasn't an issue.
I would just use Teleportation to move there in an instant!
In truth, while I had been extending my roots to expand the forest, I had secretly spread them near that area as well.
I had done so because I was curious about how Fair-chan, the Sapling Dryades born from me, was faring.
I hadn't established a full forest that far out yet, mind you; I had merely stretched my underground roots toward the Dryades' Forest.
As long as I had a root in place, I could use Teleportation to reach that spot. I had been quietly planning a trip to see her anyway.
With that, I generated an Avatar Alraune at the tip of the root and activated Teleportation!
The scenery shifted.
When I came to my senses, I found myself growing not in a lush forest, but in the middle of a vast snowfield.
The teleportation to the Avatar Alraune had been a success.
Looking around, the Dryades' Forest stretched out to my left, while the aforementioned snowfield expanded to my right.
Given that Tower City lay behind me, this was likely the highway connecting Tower City and Fortress City. It was buried so deep in snow that it was hard to be certain, though.
Across the snowfield, I saw several human silhouettes and a swarm of monsters.
The human side appeared to be a mixed unit of adventurers and the Knight Order. There were roughly thirty of them.
A wooden barricade had been erected further back, where I sensed more people. Perhaps a rear-guard support unit was stationed there.
The opposing monster army, however, was larger than I had imagined.
There had to be over a hundred of them.
What’s more, there were some familiar faces in the crowd.
Heavy hitters like Kriegtiger—the "War-loving Tiger"—and the anaconda Wahnschlange were among them.
Because of their presence, the monsters seemed to have a significant advantage.
It looked like it was only a matter of time before the defensive line was breached.
Since I had arrived instantly via teleportation, the Corporal and the others were still on their way by foot.
I couldn't just stand by and watch the slaughter, so I decided to lend a hand.
"Hey, there's something over there!" "A new monster!?" "I smell something sweet..." "It's the scent of Saint Nectar!"
The humans had noticed me.
To show them I wasn't an enemy, I decided to set upon the monster army immediately.
Good day, monsters.
It has been quite a while, hasn't it?
I wondered when the last time I had actually fought wild monsters was.
Probably before I reunited with Nina.
The last time might have been back when the adventurers were still trying to hunt me as the Man-eater Alraune.
It really had been a long time.
Strangely, my heart began to race.
Just looking at the monsters made something throb deep within me.
Oh, I simply couldn't hold back anymore!
Everyone, if you would be so kind, would you care to dance a tune with me?
I thrust the roots I had kept hidden underground up through the surface all at once.
Using Plant Generation, I transformed them into the Strangler Tree Gajumaru and coiled them around the monsters.
To start, I pinned the tiger's body with the Gajumaru's trunk. Then, I began a waltz with him.
Perhaps overstimulated by our dance, the tiger vomited blood in what I assumed was a fit of joy.
The boar-type monster, Waldschwein, must have been unable to bear watching us from the sidelines, as he came charging toward me.
Now, now, Mr. Boar, you have to wait your turn. Such a rowdy one.
I manifested a Poison Briar Wall and gave him a sharp "no-no." He would have to stay there and behave.
However, dancing with them one by one was going to take far too long.
I decided to take them all on at once.
I sprouted several giant Venus Flytraps from the earth, snapping up the deer monster Teruhilfe, the frog-type monster Furtfrosche, and several others in a single go.
Oh, one managed to escape.
I suppose I shall handle that lizard-type monster, Kusuaidechse, personally.
Using a vine, I escorted the lizard toward me.
Then, I opened my lower mouth wide and—chomp!
Munch, munch... thank you for the feast!
Wait, what?
Hold on a moment.
This meat... is actually delicious!
I felt a sudden surge of power.
Now that I thought about it, it had been a very long time since I’d had a proper meal.
The last time I ate anything was when the Beast King's group visited.
Even then, those individuals weren't particularly large, so I hadn't gained much nutrition from them.
In fact, since moving from the Dryades' Forest to the Alraune's Forest, I hadn't had a real meal at all.
My forest didn't have monsters or even wild animals yet, so I hadn't been able to prey on anything for nutrients.
Could it be that my lack of energy was due to that?
Come to think of it, before the previous winter, I had feasted on forest monsters until I was full.
My body had craved food to prepare for hibernation.
Back then, my appetite had been voracious. Thanks to that, I had stored enough nutrients to survive the winter.
And yet, this year, I hadn't eaten a single thing.
I had expanded my body into a forest, grown vegetables for the city, and sent massive quantities of Saint Nectar to Nina. Despite all that output, my only intake was photosynthesis from the weak winter sunlight. Malnourishment was inevitable.
I extended my vines toward the remaining lizards.
Chomp.
Yes, food really is the best!
Feeling my vitality return, I kept the momentum going and sent my dodder toward the anaconda.
I pierced Wahnschlange’s scales with the dodder and devoured him from the inside out.
And with that, the meal was finished!
Before I knew it, the monster army had completely vanished.
I did it!
I had successfully protected the city!
Still, those monsters were all very familiar.
They were the same types I used to encounter back when I lived in the Dryades' Forest to the west.
Could they have come from there?
Those monsters used to be subordinates of my Big Sister Dryades.
That would mean they were likely remnants left behind after I defeated her.
The heavy snow probably caused a food shortage, driving them to attack the city for prey. That would certainly explain things.
Still, they seemed a bit too well-organized for that. It was rare for monsters that had gone wild to move as a unified army to attack a human settlement...
As I stood there pondering the nature of the monsters, someone shouted from behind me.
"Are you... could you be the Man-eater Alraune!?"
I turned around to find a large human man in armor staring at me intensely.
This man... could he be?
"I've never forgotten the grudge of having those onions shoved into my mouth! You certainly made a fool of me that day!"
I knew it.
It was the Knight Commander of the city who had come to hunt me down back then!
How nostalgic, remembering how I turned him into a flower arrangement using onions.
The image of him weeping with joy at the honor of serving as my vase was still burned into my memory.
"Today is the day I finally slay the Man-eater Alraune!"
Brandishing his sword, the Knight Commander charged at me.
I had only just finished off the monster army, and here was an unexpected second round.
Despite the fact that I wasn't a Man-eater Alraune, he really was a man who never learned his lesson.
"Knight Commander, wait!" "Stop! The Alraune isn't an enemy!"
Adventurers I recognized came running to intercept the Knight Commander.
They were Drink Bar-san's companions, if I recalled correctly.
It seemed they were taking my side.
What was this feeling?
Back when the Knight Commander had first branded me a Man-eater Alraune, I hadn't had a single ally.
Seeing how many supporters I had now made me incredibly happy.
"Why are you adventurers interfering? You don't actually mean to protect a Man-eater Alraune, do you?"
"Knight Commander, you can't beat her. That Alraune is way too strong." "Besides, it'd be a disaster if we lost our supply of Saint Nectar." "Yeah, Saint Nectar is delicious!"
The other adventurers also joined in, trying to restrain the Knight Commander while speaking up for me.
I wondered if these were the members of the "Moderate Faction" Kiri had mentioned.
The people who had come to view me favorably because they enjoyed the Saint Nectar.
In that case, the "Radical Faction" that viewed all monsters as absolute evil had to be the Knight Commander.
If those two existed, the "Neutral Faction" had to be around somewhere as well.
I didn't particularly want to meet them, but there was likely a "Fanatic Faction" too...
"Cease this violence toward the Crimson Flower Princess!"
A Sister wearing a habit suddenly leaped in front of me, screaming at the top of her lungs.
"How dare you be so insolent to the Crimson Flower Princess, the Holy Alraune who provides us with Saint Nectar! Knight Commander, you've lost your mind!"
S-Sister?
I was certain this was our first time meeting.
And yet, is that really how I'm thought of in the city?
What on earth is a "Holy Alraune"?
T-There was no mistaking it.
This girl was definitely part of the Fanatic Faction!