We decided to move from the snowfield on the outskirts of the city to the Dryades' Forest.
I had two goals in mind.
First, I wanted to ask Lady Dryades if she had noticed anything unusual in the forest regarding the monsters that had attacked the city.
And second, I wanted to see Fair-chan, the sapling Dryades!
I hadn't seen her face once since I'd moved, so I was starting to worry.
I wondered if she was doing well.
I really wanted to reunite with her as soon as possible.
The Little Witch, Kiri, and my younger sister figure, the Amazoness Treant, set off for the Dryades' Forest on foot.
Since I couldn't walk like the others, I planned to travel by teleporting through the root network.
If I could extend my roots to the vicinity of the Forest Sanctuary, I could grow a Clone Alraune there and teleport myself over!
As I spread my roots toward the Dryades' Forest, I felt them bump into another network.
Presumably, my roots had reached the area beneath the forest.
However, a problem arose at the same time.
"The forest's, roots are, in the way. What should I, do...?"
Many trees were already growing in the forest, which meant the ground beneath them was a dense thicket of roots. It was significantly hindering the progress of my own.
Now then, what was the best way to handle this?
If I tried to force my roots further, I would end up competing with the existing plants of the Dryades' Forest.
There was even a chance that pushing through would cause the local flora to wither. As a fellow plant, I really wanted to avoid that.
I could try to navigate around them, but that would take far too much time.
I didn't want to force my way through and hurt the other plants... oh, wait.
I could just connect the forest trees to myself!
Using the Christmas Tree's Parasitic Root ability—the scissors—I cut the roots of the forest trees.
Then, I simply connected them to my own.
By doing so, the trees that had been in my way became part of my own body.
Next, I used Plant Generation to transform those new parts of myself into Christmas Trees, which I then connected to the roots of other trees deeper in the forest.
By repeating that process and adding every tree in my path to my body... look at that!
My body spread further and further into the depths of the forest with incredible speed.
At this rate, I'd reach the Sanctuary where Lady Dryades lived in no time.
Just when I thought everything was going perfectly, a sensation like an electric current surged through my entire being.
"Hyah!?"
A strange feeling raced through my leaf veins.
It was as if someone else's consciousness was pouring into me.
I’d experienced this feeling before.
It was very similar to the time I’d used the Christmas Tree's Scissors to cut the roots of Fair-chan, the sapling Dryades, and accidentally connected our systems.
Just as that thought crossed my mind, it happened.
I suddenly understood.
Someone was using the Teleportation ability through my newly connected roots.
"It's you, isn't it? The insolent plant that forced its way inside me!"
Before I knew it, a young girl with Blue and Red Vine Hair appeared on the snowfield.
There was no mistaking her.
It was the sapling Dryades, Fair-chan.
Since she had appeared right here, did that mean I... had accidentally connected with her again?
It seemed that while I was merging with the forest plants, I had accidentally integrated with Fair-chan as well. Since I couldn't distinguish her from the others by roots alone, it was an honest mistake, but I still felt quite bad about it...
"A similar thing happened once before! A mysterious plant cut my roots and shamelessly crawled inside...!"
That mysterious plant was almost certainly me.
Back then, I had managed to trick her into thinking I wasn't the culprit, but it looked like she had proactively come out to find the perpetrator this time.
She must have used the Spirit Magic 'Teleportation' to travel all the way here.
Now that our roots were linked, it seemed possible to teleport freely to any location where either of our root systems existed.
"I've been practicing my teleportation so I could catch the culprit immediately the next time they tried to enter me. I kept wondering whose doing it was, but I'm shocked to find the offender was actually one of my sisters!"
—My sister?
Wait, did Fair-chan think I was just a Child Alraune?
Admittedly, my current appearance was that of the Young Girl Alraune.
I had teleported my consciousness from my main body into this Clone Alraune, after all.
It was probably unavoidable that she couldn't identify me.
"Even if we are sisters born of the same mother, I won't show any mercy to a flower that behaves so naughtily. As a Dryades, I shall educate my Younger Sister Alraune myself!"
"No, you've, got it... wrong. Fair-chan, it's, me!"
"Mother isn't as small as you! She is a much larger and more beautiful flower. Besides, she promised she would come to pick me up once she settled in after the move. I refuse to believe my Mother would suddenly attack me like this!"
I had indeed promised to come for her one day.
I hadn't forgotten, of course.
But between the move, growing vegetables for the city, being attacked by the Beast King, and building the treehouse, things had been anything but settled.
I mentally apologized for taking so long to visit, but I really wished she would stop pointing those vines at me.
"To think you would even try to pose as Mother... as your older sister, I am overcome with shame! As a Dryades, I am essentially the eldest daughter among Mother Alraune's children. As your big sister, I must properly discipline my ill-mannered little sister!"
Oh no, without me realizing it, Fair-chan had started viewing herself as the big sister!
I wondered who she took after...
Physically, she possessed both the blue leaf pigment of Big Sister Dryades and the red petal pigment from me.
That meant she likely took after Big Sister Dryades. I had been a younger sister back in my Saint Era, so I had never actually been a big sister myself.
"I am... not, Fair-chan's... younger sister, you know?"
"If you aren't the younger sister, are you trying to claim you really are Mother? That trick won't work on me! I have wished to see Mother for so long that I won't be fooled by a mere imitation...!"
Fair-chan...!
I had no idea you cared for me that much.
It made me so happy.
Come here, I'll use my vines to give you a proper hug!
"That is exactly why I cannot stand a younger sister imitating Mother! I, your older sister, shall give this naughty little sister a punishment!"
I'm telling you, I'm not the younger sister!
Well, my body was a Child Alraune, so technically she wasn't wrong, but the person inside was the main body!
Fair-chan refused to listen. She activated her magic: "Spirit Magic 'Property Change (Veränderung)'—Strangler Tree."
Immediately, she transformed a nearby plant into a Gajumaru.
The tree began stretching toward me.
It looked like she intended to constrict me.
Despite being under attack, however, I didn't feel any ill will at all.
In fact, I was overwhelmed with emotion. That tiny Fair-chan, who had been so small when she was born, had grown enough to wield Spirit Magic.
You've really grown...
Looking at her now, she even seemed taller than when we had last met.
I’d heard children grew up fast, but seeing her become so splendid made me genuinely happy.
I decided to handle things gently, as if I were soothing a small child.
I activated Plant Generation, effectively overwriting Fair-chan's Spirit Magic.
I transformed the Gajumaru into harmless lily flowers.
As I gently brushed the petals with my vines, I smiled at her.
"Thank you... for the... beautiful, flowers."
The plant Fair-chan had transformed into a Gajumaru was actually already connected to my root system. In other words, it was part of my body.
That was how I was able to use Plant Generation to forcibly cancel out her Spirit Magic.
"N-No... my Spirit Magic was broken so easily...?"
Fair-chan stared at me, looking completely shocked.
It seemed she had finally sensed the vast difference in our strength.
"A mere Child Alraune shouldn't be able to do this. C-Could it be... are you really Mother...?"
"That's... why I've... been saying, so... from the, beginning."
"M-Mother Alraune—!"
Fair-chan teleported directly in front of me.
She lunged forward and hugged my bulb.
In my current form as the Young Girl Alraune, Fair-chan was actually taller than me.
Because of that, at a glance, it was hard to tell which one of us was the parent.
I used my vines to pat her head, enjoying our reunion to the fullest.
"But Mother, why did you connect to me?"
"W-Well..."
I couldn't bring myself to admit it had happened by mistake.
"Actually, I've... also learned... how to, teleport. So, if I... connect with, Fair-chan... we can, see each other... anytime, from now on."
"That makes me so happy! Though, staying connected like this feels a bit strange and embarrassing..."
"I... understand. Let's... stop, keeping the, roots... connected."
I used the Christmas Tree's Scissors to sever the connection with Fair-chan's roots.
To be honest, I had found it a bit embarrassing too.
I had been nervous that my inner thoughts might leak directly into her mind.
Still, I’d managed to play with Fair-chan like this, so it wasn't all bad.
Just seeing how much she had grown made the whole ordeal worth it.
I explained to Fair-chan that I was now able to teleport into my Avatar Alraunes.
I told her I was using that power to head to the Dryades' Forest to see Lady Dryades.
"In that case, there is a Child Alraune growing right in front of the Sanctuary. Why don't you teleport into her?"
According to Fair-chan, there was indeed a Clone Alraune of mine in the Dryades' Forest.
I had given Lady Dryades one of my seeds when I moved, and it seemed it had sprouted into a Child Alraune.
The little one was apparently acting as a Forest Bodyguard for the Dryades' Forest in my stead.
What's more, she had even become Fair-chan's friend.
That meant a body I could use as an avatar was already waiting for me in the forest.
Well then, I suppose I'll borrow it for a while.
Using the Christmas Tree's parasitic ability, I cut the roots of the Clone Alraune with my scissors. Then, I inserted my own root and merged them into one.
I'll be borrowing this for a bit, my dear avatar.
With that, I activated Teleportation into the Clone Alraune.
My vision shifted.
In an instant, I moved from the snowy plains into the heart of a deep forest.
"That presence... Big Sister, is it you!?"
I heard a nostalgic voice.
Immediately after, a woman teleported directly in front of me.
A Dryades with Green Vine Hair appeared before my eyes.
For some reason, she looked utterly stunned.
"Big Sister... no, it's Alraune, isn't it? It has been a long time."
Lady Dryades looked at me, her voice trembling with even greater surprise.
"I felt the presence of such a powerful spirit that I was certain it was Big Sister... Even though she is no longer of this world, how rude of me."
It seemed Lady Dryades had immediately realized that the consciousness inside the Child Alraune was now mine.
She gave me a polite bow and continued.
"Alraune, you have drawn much closer to being a spirit than before. I can feel a massive power emanating from your body—one that rivals a true spirit."
Power on par with a spirit?
I knew my strength had increased since I became a Half-Spirit, but hearing it confirmed by someone else made it feel real.
It seemed I had powered up significantly without even realizing it.
Christmas Tree: A semi-parasitic plant that uses parasitic roots with the ability of scissors to drain nutrients from other plants. They are said to occasionally cut through not only other plants but even underground power lines.
Next time: Please Don't Fight for My Sake - Part 2.