I was an Alraune, a plant monster.
Standing before me was the strange clay figurine known as the Sphinx.
To my utter shock, this Sphinx actually spoke.
"The clay figurine... it talked!"
The words escaped my lips before I could stop them. I couldn't help it; the idea of a clay figurine speaking was simply beyond belief. For a fleeting second, I wondered if it might be a golem, but that didn't seem to be the case either.
Startled by my outburst, the Sphinx—or rather, the creature posing as the figurine—leaned back sharply. As she did, the surface of her body began to crumble. The clay-like exterior I had observed fell away in dry chunks, revealing fleshy animal skin beneath.
It seemed she had coated her body in earth to masquerade as a statue. It was likely a form of earth magic, though I had never seen anyone use it to transform into a clay figurine before.
The display of earth magic reminded me of the golem we had encountered before entering the city of Edelweiss—the one that had been pretending to be a bandit. That golem had also been made of earth. I couldn't help but wonder if there was a connection between it and this Sphinx.
As I pondered this, the Sphinx stared at me intently and muttered to herself.
"Wait, a person came out of a flower... What? Human on top and flower on the bottom... Are you an Alraune?! Why is there an Alraune at the Duke's mansion? And why are you growing in a flowerpot?!"
She was scrutinizing me so closely that I decided to observe her in return.
The Sphinx's upper body was that of a human woman. She was quite beautiful, with long black hair and a striking golden necklace around her throat. Her lower body, however, was that of a lion, and a pair of avian wings sprouted from her back. She looked remarkably like the Sphinxes from ancient Egypt.
One thing was certain: she definitely wasn't human. Unless she was a person committed to a very elaborate lion-themed cosplay, she had to be a monster, just like me.
I decided to try a tentative greeting. "H-Hello."
"............Hello," she replied.
I started to panic. What should I do? The Sphinx clearly found me suspicious! Then again, everything about her was suspicious, too. Why on earth was there a Sphinx in the Duke's garden?
In any case, I had to keep her talking. "Nice to meet you, Sphinx-san. It’s... lovely weather today, isn’t it?"
"It’s nice and warm, perfect for sunbathing... wait, that doesn't matter right now!" The Sphinx raised her front paws and glared at me intimidatingly. Then, she threw a difficult question my way. "Are you one of the flowers belonging to the mansion?"
"Ugh..." That was a hard one. I was certainly born in the House of Duke Edelweiss, but I wasn't exactly a "resident" flower. I was more of an "illegal intruder" flower.
However, I couldn't exactly tell her that. Not when she was just as suspicious as I was. Since I was technically a flower born here, I decided that a half-truth was my best bet.
"............Y-Yes. I am a flower of the Duke's mansion."
"............I knew it! Actually, I’m the same!"
"!?"
Did she mean she was a Sphinx belonging to the Duke? Had the Edelweiss family started keeping Sphinxes in their garden while I was gone? Was she a guard dog? Or some kind of living lawn ornament?
No, no, no. Even I wasn't that gullible. I knew she was the strange clay figurine brought in by the Pilz Trading Company; I had seen her being carried in from the outside.
Perhaps realizing her lie was failing, the Sphinx looked slightly sheepish. "Okay, okay, that was a joke. I’m not actually a clay figurine from the mansion."
"............I know."
"To be honest, some human merchants mistook me for a clay figurine and hauled me all the way here..."
"I-Is that... how it happened?"
Was that even possible? It seemed just as unlikely as a wild Alraune being mistaken for a normal plant and kidnapped by merchants. But if I pressed her on it, I’d be putting my own cover at risk. Even though her story was incredibly fishy, I couldn't dig any deeper.
Then, the Sphinx said something that made my heart drop. "Now that I think about it, I’m pretty sure I saw your face at the Pilz Trading Company."
She must have seen me when I visited the merchant guild. If that were the case, she already knew I wasn't a flower from the mansion. I had no choice but to double down on her own excuse.
"Actually... just like you, Sphinx-san, human merchants mistook me for a flower and carried me... all the way here against my will."
"!?"
"I don't even know where I am... sob... I just want to go back to the forest..." I feigned a cry, shielding my face with my vines as if I were weeping.
Seeing my apparent distress, the Sphinx began to fluster. "That’s just kidnapping! Snatching an Alraune from her forest... humans really are the worst!"
"Th-They really are... humans are so scary."
The Sphinx stood up and padded over to me. She used one of her human arms to gently pat my head.
Huh...? I wondered. Was this Sphinx actually... nice? She seemed surprisingly kind.
Still, one fact remained: having a mysterious Sphinx in the Duke's garden was far too dangerous. Even if she was just a "lost" Sphinx, she was still a powerful monster. The risk of leaving her here near my family was too high.
And seriously, why was she here? The merchants had mentioned a missing clay figurine and some missing urns. The figurine was this Sphinx, who had apparently walked into the courtyard on her own. Even if she was disguised with magic, how could anyone mistake her for a statue? And what about the missing newbie merchant? Was the Pilz Trading Company going to be okay?
"To think I'd meet a fellow monster in enemy territory," the Sphinx mused. "I wasn't assigned a mission to rescue a lost Alraune, but I'm glad I found you!"
"Enemy territory? And... a mission?"
"Since we met like this, it must be fate. I'll save you!"
"Save me? How?"
"I've got just the thing. Look over there!"
She pointed toward a corner of the garden. There, tucked away among the stone ornaments, was a familiar, strange urn. It was one of the ones the Pilz Trading Company had brought. Three had gone missing, and it appeared one had ended up here in the courtyard.
A moment later, the impossible happened. Arms and legs sprouted from the urn. It began to trot toward us at a brisk pace.
No way... that strange urn... just grew legs. Were urns nowadays supposed to have legs? Was I just out of the loop?
"Um, Sphinx-san... what exactly is that urn?"
"This? This is my golem!"
"What?! A golem?!"
"I'm actually a golem user. Pretty impressive, right?" she said proudly.
So the strange urn was actually a golem. But there had been dozens of those urns back at the company... were they all her golems? I felt a cold shiver of dread. The bandits we encountered outside the city had been golems, too. And Edelweiss was being targeted by the Demon King's Army. I had to know.
"Sphinx-san... are you, by any chance, a member of the Demon King's Army?"
"Eh? Yeah, that's right. How'd you guess? Is the Demon King's Army famous even among forest Alraunes? You're making me blush!" She let out a bashful giggle.
I felt like fainting. This Sphinx was actually an agent of the Demon King's Army! Which meant a high-ranking monster of the enemy was currently standing in the heart of the Edelweiss estate. This was bad. This was very, very bad.
"Hey, Alraune-chan," she said, leaning in. "Since you asked about us so quickly, does that mean you're interested in joining the Demon King's Army?"
"J-Just... a little?"
"I knew it! You're a very reasonable Alraune. I like you!" She gave me a wide, friendly smile. "I'll recruit you myself! From today on, we're comrades!"
"O-Okay..."
Somehow, things had spiraled completely out of control.
"Now that that’s settled, I need to finish my work quickly. Once I prove my worth with this job, it'll be much easier to recommend you for official membership."
"Um... what 'work' are you doing here?"
"Well, I'm not actually a lost Sphinx. I'm here on a mission."
"...A mission?"
"I'm looking for someone!"
A wave of apprehension washed over me. There was no way the Demon King's Army was looking for someone at the Duke's mansion for a good reason.
"The person I'm after is the Duke Edelweiss's Proxy!"
The Duke's Proxy—my older sister, Tulpe Edelweiss.
It seemed this Sphinx and I were looking for the exact same person. I was stunned by the sheer number of complications piling up. Regardless of how nice she seemed, this Sphinx was a threat. To protect the mansion and my sister, I had to stop her here—
"Alright, Alraune-chan! Let's go find the Duke's Proxy together! I'll bet she's the one who kidnapped you and brought you here!"
"Wait... even if you want me to go, I... I can't walk."
"Don't worry about that. My Urn Golem will carry you!"
The Sphinx snapped her fingers. The Urn Golem reached down and hoisted my flowerpot into the air. My perspective shifted as I was lifted high. From that height, I could see that the inside of the urn was completely empty.
"N-No way...!"
"The size looks perfect," the Sphinx noted.
The strange urn was just a bit larger than my flowerpot. In fact, it looked like it was designed to hold it perfectly. My heart hammered against my ribs. I had a very bad feeling about where this was going.
"W-Wait!"
"Go on, Golem-chan! Take good care of Alraune-chan!"
The golem's arms lowered me, and my flowerpot—along with my entire lower half—slid snugly into the interior of the strange urn.
Next time: The Sphinx, sent into enemy territory, protects the talking flower.