This story is told from the perspective of the elf, Mercurée.
My name was Mercurée.
I was a traveler of the proud Elf race.
The world was overflowing with greenery.
However, beyond the Elf village where I had been confined for centuries, a vast, unknown world stretched out before me.
The Spirit Queen, who could not leave the forest herself, asked me to investigate the current state of the world on her behalf.
Since I had been looking for a way to slip out of the village anyway, it was a godsend, and I decided to take my first steps into the outside world.
Once I left the forest, things I had never seen before began to unfold.
There were solemn stone buildings, churches where humans worshipped the Goddess of Light, livestock raised for food, countless humans dressed in colorful clothing, and mysterious gadgets born of technologies that didn't exist in the forest...
In massive cities like the Royal Capital, the sheer volume of information was so overwhelming that it made me dizzy at first.
Strangely, I even encountered plants I had never seen in our village.
Apparently, due to the influence of the Dryades living in those regions, many plants had undergone mutations and evolved.
Thinking these would make wonderful souvenirs for the Spirit Queen, I continued my journey, collecting the seeds of rare plants along the way.
Though I might have seemed to be traveling on a whim, there was one rule that an Elf wandering the world had to follow above all else.
For the Elves, there was the Law of Absolute Observance.
──It dictated that one must not involve oneself too deeply with humans or the Demon Race.
Because of that, I never stayed in places outside the forest for very long.
Humans died quickly anyway.
Aside from the Law, I never had much of a desire to actively engage with them.
I continued my wanderings for several decades, maintaining only the bare minimum of interaction.
It was during my visit to an ancient land called the Kingdom of Gardenia that I met that child.
This country had been founded a thousand years ago by the First Saint Nemea.
According to my brother, the head of our village, Nemea had been an extraordinary human.
Possessing power that transcended the human framework, she had once fought life-and-death battles against the Demon King and the Witch Queen.
I never met Nemea myself, but it meant this country had been built by an acquaintance of my brother’s.
Hehe, that made things a little more interesting.
Upon arriving at the Royal Capital, I became acquainted with a human child who possessed power rivaling that of the First Saint Nemea.
Her name was Iris.
She was a tiny human girl, only six years old.
She was so talented that people whispered she was the reincarnation of the First Saint.
"Hello, cute Apprentice Saint."
When I spoke to her, the small child stared back at me with golden eyes.
In the past, I had met several humans who called themselves Saints.
But from the little girl before me, I felt something far more unfathomable than any of them.
To my surprise, she saw through my true strength with a single glance.
"I feel a mysterious presence coming from you, big sister."
"...That is because I am a High Elf."
As a higher species of Elf, I was different from the ordinary members of my race.
Having inherited the blood of the Spirit Queen so strongly, I possessed several unique powers.
Since this child had inherited the power of the Goddess of Light so deeply, she likely sensed a similar aura coming from me.
The fact that she could see through my power meant she possessed a strength close to that of the Goddess.
Even though she looked like a simple human child, it was hard to believe.
Perhaps she truly was beloved by the Goddess.
──How intriguing.
I found myself taking an interest in this tiny human.
"Cute Apprentice Saint, let’s be friends from now on."
I shook hands with the girl named Iris.
Ten years passed after that.
I lived in the Royal Capital while working as an adventurer.
It was the first time I had ever stayed in a human settlement for so long.
Before I knew it, I had become an S-Class Adventurer and a celebrity in the capital.
Since I had been granted various convenient special rights, I maintained a mutually beneficial relationship with the Adventurer Guild.
While carrying out my work, I went to see Iris many times.
At first, Iris was interested in me simply because I was a rare Elf, but eventually, it seemed she wanted to get to know me as an individual.
As we spent more time together, Iris gradually began coming to see me on her own.
"Merk, listen to this! The Hero was talking happily with Zelma again."
Iris and I became friends.
For me, she was my first human friend.
"Don't you think it's cruel of him to ignore me, his own fiancée?"
By that time, Iris had become a Saint.
And not just any Saint—the Greatest Saint of the Era.
She possessed such terrifying power that she could have crushed the Saint of the Kingdom of Myrte Holy Light—the headquarters of the Church—with a single hand.
Her fame spread across the entire continent.
In truth, she was so feared by the Demon Race that I once saw a demon scream and flee just from the sight of her face.
I kept that a secret from her, though, because it would have shocked her.
Before I knew it, her reputation had swelled to the point where she was called the Strongest Saint in History.
People said only the First Saint Nemea could ever hope to stand beside her.
That was likely why Iris was eventually conscripted into the Hero's party to defeat the Demon King.
As the Hero's fiancée and a noble, she had no choice but to go.
For the past thousand years, humanity had attempted to slay the Demon King many times.
But even in eras when the strongest heroes appeared, they were never able to succeed.
The Hero's party was likely to be defeated, just like all those who came before.
If that happened, Iris would die.
Iris had already become a special existence to me.
I had decided to stay by her side as a friend until her short human lifespan reached its end.
And so, I chose to support her.
However, for Elves, there was the Law of Absolute Observance.
──A firm, unyielding rule that one must not become deeply involved with humans or the Demon Race.
We were meant to be strictly neutral.
The Spirit Queen had established the Law so that we would not side with either camp in the thousand-year conflict between humans and demons.
And I chose to break it!
I chose to help my friend, even if it meant violating the Law.
By breaking the Elf's Law, I knew I might never be able to return home.
But I didn't care.
Human lifespans were not long like ours.
I wanted my tiny human friend to live for as long as possible.
For the sake of the first friend I ever made in this long life, I was happy to throw away my home.
──And yet, Iris died so soon............
It happened while we were traveling through the southern part of the Dryades' Forest.
On that day, the Hero, the Apprentice Saint, and Iris suddenly vanished from our sight.
It seemed the three of them had gone somewhere together.
No matter how long we waited, they didn't return, so I prepared to search for them using White Magic.
At that moment, the battered Hero and Apprentice Saint returned.
Then, the Apprentice Saint uttered words that shook me to my core.
"Please, listen. Lady Iris... has betrayed us."
I couldn't believe it.
That Iris would ever betray us...
She was adored by her people and gave more of her mercy to others than anyone else.
I couldn't fathom that she would betray her own homeland.
But the Hero and the Apprentice Saint insisted she was a traitor.
As proof, they produced fragments of the clothes Iris had been wearing.
They claimed that once her betrayal was discovered, she was cornered after a life-and-death struggle.
Realizing she couldn't escape, she supposedly used Light Magic to self-destruct.
The cloth the Apprentice Saint held was a piece of her clothing from that moment.
In other words, Iris was no longer of this world.
Upon hearing this, I collapsed to my knees.
What was the point of breaking the Law to follow her?
I hadn't known because I had avoided humans for so long.
──That humans were such fragile things.
I didn't know why Iris would have betrayed us.
But as her only friend, I was filled with regret that I hadn't been able to help her.
However, one thing bothered me.
──Was Iris really a traitor?
The possibility remained that the Hero and the Apprentice Saint had conspired to kill her.
Iris hadn't seemed to notice, but I felt the Hero and the Apprentice Saint shared a relationship that was anything but normal.
Despite being engaged to Iris, the Hero was far too obsessed with that Apprentice Saint.
I didn't want to see Iris sad.
Because of that, I never had any good feelings toward those two.
In the first place, I didn't trust any human besides Iris.
I had no intention of taking the Hero's words at face value.
I withdrew from the Hero's party as they prepared to move to their next destination.
Then, I traveled to the place where the Hero said Iris had died.
"So this is where she spent her final moments..."
The ground was gouged out in a massive crater; if someone told you a Saint had self-destructed there, it certainly looked the part.
I placed my hand on a nearby tree and asked softly.
"Cute little tree, tell me. What happened here?"
[Humans came. Made hole in ground.]
Through my palm, I heard the voice of the tree.
As a High Elf, I have the special power to hear the voices of plants.
Ordinary Elves cannot use this ability.
Because of that, almost no one besides High Elves knows this power exists.
Naturally, I never told the humans.
I had even kept it a secret from my friend Iris.
"Three humans should have come here. Tell me what happened, in order."
[Two humans came. One made hole. Then the two went back.]
Because it was a young plant only a few decades old, its intelligence was limited.
It was frustrating to only be able to read fragments of the truth.
Nevertheless, I understood enough.
Those "two" were likely the Hero and the Apprentice Saint.
According to the tree, those two had created the crater and simply returned.
In other words, Iris had never been here.
Why had the Hero and the Apprentice Saint lied to me?
As I suspected, there was more to Iris's death than they let on.
Perhaps those two were the ones who actually killed her.
That said, I had no intention of returning to them.
Without Iris, I had no reason to stay in human society.
Furthermore, I couldn't take revenge because of the Elf's Law.
Even I understood that killing the Hero would be taking things too far.
Still, I wanted to know what had happened.
Just as I resolved to search for the truth of Iris's death on my own, I received a summons from my brother back in the village.
He was furious, demanding that I apologize to the Spirit Queen for breaking the Law.
Since Iris was gone, I had no more business in human lands.
I returned home and was sentenced to one hundred years of confinement.
I had assumed I would never be allowed back at all, so it felt like a light punishment.
My brother had likely pleaded with the Spirit Queen for mercy.
Even so, I couldn't bear it for more than a few years before I escaped the village again.
I felt that as time passed, every trace of Iris would disappear.
A hundred years later, there might be nothing left in that country to remember her by.
I couldn't stand the thought.
And so, I headed back toward the Dryades' Forest, the place where Iris had reportedly died.
On the way, in Tower City, I nearly got caught up in a mess involving Witches.
Since I had just broken the Law again, I wanted to avoid Witches and humans as much as possible.
I happened to run into a forest fairy, and in exchange for some rare seeds, she helped me escape the city safely.
That fairy's name was Kiri.
I believe she was an acquaintance of my brother.
She was an Ancient Great Fairy who had left the Goddess's Forest centuries ago alongside the Dryades sisters.
Since she seemed to be serving the Dryades of this forest, I figured she was in town on an errand for her master.
After leaving the city, I headed for the southern part of the Dryades' Forest.
To be honest, I wanted to go see the monster called the Crimson Flower Princess Alraune that I'd heard about at the guild, but I restrained myself.
That Alraune was said to look exactly like Iris.
I wanted to see that face, just once.
However, a group of Witches had gathered in the Alraune's Forest for some reason.
To uphold the Law, I gave up on meeting her.
I tried listening to the plants along the forest path.
But something was wrong.
[Photosynthesis is yummy] [I want more water]
The plants in this forest were all thinking the same thing.
In fact, they were whispering the exact same thoughts as the plants back in Tower City.
"This is a first."
It was as if every plant shared a single consciousness.
Even though such a thing should be impossible.
Eventually, I arrived back at the forest where Iris was said to have died.
Unlike five years ago, part of the forest had been transformed into a blackened, scorched land.
The forest had burned.
The plants that had witnessed Iris's end were likely gone as well.
I no longer knew exactly where she had died.
I had reached a complete dead end.
So, I decided to fulfill my other purpose.
I built a small hut near a deserted village and erected a grave for Iris.
I would mourn my friend's soul here.
For someone who could do nothing for her, this was the only atonement I could offer.
A few months later, a human child arrived.
The boy, Armin, seemed to have come looking for an Alraune.
I thought he meant the Crimson Flower Princess from the other forest, but apparently, an Alraune used to grow right here.
In that case, it must have been a different one.
There are many dangerous monsters in the forest.
It would have been easy to leave the boy to his fate, but I felt like Iris would be cross with me if I did.
I decided to take the child in and let him live in the hut.
It was some time later that I reunited with the demon I'd seen in Tower City.
That demon, working as a receptionist for the Adventurer Guild, was named Yasmin.
She had been dispatched to investigate this forest.
That was fine.
The problem was the man with her.
The blonde man accompanying the demon looked human, but the power hidden within him felt like that of the Demon Race.
──But he was still young.
Likely younger than me.
A hundred years old at most, I'd say.
At that level, caution was necessary, but I didn't need to be afraid.
The truly terrifying ones among the Demon Race were the Great Demon Races who had survived for centuries.
Above all, one must never meddle with the Primordial Demon Race, those who had lived for a millennium.
Fortunately, the Demon King and his subordinates had been holed up in their castle for the past few centuries.
Encounters were rare, but for someone like me who had witnessed the ancient Great Calamity, they were impossible to forget.
This blackened land in particular reminded me of that disaster.
I suppose it couldn't be helped.
And then, I met her.
With Armin were a white-haired child and a tiny Alraune in a bucket.
From the white-haired child, I sensed the unmistakable aura of a Witch.
She was likely one of them.
I wanted to avoid getting involved if possible, but the Alraune caught my attention far more!
──Because that face was the spitting image of Iris when she was a child.
"I recognize that cute face."
──How nostalgic.
The innocent expression Iris had before she knew anything of the outside world.
It took me right back to the days when we first met.
"You have the same face she did when she was little."
I couldn't believe it.
No, it wasn't just that.
I sensed the presence of a spirit from this Alraune.
It was a staggering power that surpassed even a Dryad.
Almost like... the Spirit Queen herself.
"For an Alraune, you have a remarkably human-like expression."
The way it moved and gestured like a human was also suspicious.
I couldn't believe it was just a simple monster.
Now then, why don't you tell me who you really are?
I gripped the Alraune's vine.
When the opponent is a plant, they cannot hide their secrets from a High Elf.
"Tell me, cute little Alraune. What is your name?"
Through the vine, the Alraune's inner voice came flooding into my mind.
[──My name?! If I say I'm Iris, I'll be blowing my cover! Absolute silence. No matter what, I can't let her find out!]
──This girl is Iris!!!!
There was no mistake.
She called herself Iris in her own head, and she was trying to hide things from me.
Unbelievable...
I had never heard of a human turning into an Alraune.
But perhaps this was a coincidence, and she was just an Alraune who happened to have the same name.
I decided to listen to her voice a little longer.
[Anyway, that performance was perfect, a real Oscar-winner! For a former Saint, this kind of acting is a piece of cake. I just hope she falls for it.]
Yes, that settled it.
This Alraune was definitely Saint Iris.
In other words, she was my friend.
"Hehe... you really are cute."
She was the same lovely Iris I remembered.
There was no way a girl like her would ever have betrayed us.
I felt a wave of relief.
──But, isn't this delightful?
As an Elf with such a long life, I was always starved for entertainment.
An amusing situation like this wouldn't come around again for another hundred years.
So, I decided to enjoy this game just a little longer.
"I look forward to our time together, cute Alraune."
There was no rush.
From today on, I could be with Iris forever.
Once I grew tired of this little game, I would give her my proper greetings.
I couldn't do anything major anyway, thanks to the Elf's Law.
Asking for the truth about her "death" could wait.
After all, for an Elf like me and an Iris who had become a plant, we had all the time in the world.
Thank you all for reading!
Thanks to your support, the 4th volume of the manga adaptation of "Plant Monster Girl Diary" was released today! (ノ*>∀<)ノ Yay! ♪
In the manga, the Alraune and the Little Witch have begun their new lives in a new land.
Familiar characters from the web version also make appearances, so I’d be delighted if you could pick up a copy. (ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)ꕤ.
The fact that I can share such happy news is entirely thanks to your continued support.
Thank you so much!
Next time: The family bond between the Witch and the Alraune, and an unexpected intruder.