I was Alraune, a plant monster.
I was no longer human, but I realized once again that my heart hadn't changed at all. I was no longer a Saint, nor was I a Duke's daughter. Even so, just as I had when I was a Saint, I would protect this city.
"It looks like... I've finished off... all the enemies."
The Urn Golems that had been attacking the Pilz Trading Company had all been crushed by my Gajumaru. That said, since this was the source of the golems, the damage was severe. What had been a magnificent trading company only yesterday now looked like a pile of ruins.
Currently, the Pilz Trading Company was blanketed by the greenery I had grown, making it look like a forest. It was lush with foliage and teeming with trees. Rather than a destroyed building, it looked more like a merchant's guild swallowed by a forest—which, I suppose, was better than it being completely leveled.
Looking around, the people of the Pilz Trading Company seemed to be at a complete loss. Their own strange urns had suddenly turned into Urn Golems and gone on a rampage; the resulting chaos must have been horrific. Even so, thanks to the Knight Order dispatched from the Mansion of Duke Edelweiss, there appeared to be no fatalities.
As expected of the Edelweiss Knight Order, the pride of the House of Duke Edelweiss! As the former Duke's daughter, I felt a swell of pride.
However, there were plenty of injured people, so I set about treating them immediately.
"Here... please, drink this."
I bit into a vine and produced a thick flow of nectar, moving between the survivors collapsed across the grounds and making them drink.
"Wait, what is this...? Ah, it's sweet!"
"Could this be... Saint Nectar!?"
"Hey, it is! This is Saint Nectar! I once had a single drop as a sample—there's no mistake!"
"Look, my wounds are closing!"
"So this is... the power of Saint Nectar...!"
"Nectar... give me... more nectar..."
"If it's truly this incredible, those rumors about Saint Nectar generating mountains of gold must be true."
They had likely fought desperately to suppress the Urn Golems when the rampage first began. But as civilians, they stood no chance against such monsters, and many had been struck down. I moved through them like an assembly line, administering nectar to everyone.
I did a quick head count; there were over fifty people in this area alone who needed healing. I had traveled throughout the city, but the damage here was likely the worst of all.
Come to think of it, I didn't see Speck-san. He had just been with me at the Mansion of Duke Edelweiss, so perhaps he was still there. As that thought crossed my mind, I spotted a familiar face near some rubble.
"Ah, Trading Company President! You're safe!"
I gave a cheerful greeting, waving a vine. The President, still collapsed on the ground, looked up with a face full of bewilderment.
"Wh-Who are you? And that face... no, your body...!"
His gaze fixed on my waist. From my head to my waist, I looked almost entirely human, but from there down, I grew directly out of a Gajumaru Tree. My upper body was human, but my lower half was a plant. It was only natural for anyone to be shocked by such a sight.
I wondered how many times I had seen this exact reaction today. I was getting used to it, but it still forced me to realize that I truly wasn't human anymore.
"More importantly, Trading Company President... you're heavily injured!"
his right leg had been completely blown off. He must have been caught in an Urn Golem's explosion.
"Don't worry. I'll help you... right now."
"I don't know who you are, but my company is finished. And with a wound like this, I'm already..."
He didn't seem to recognize me. When we met yesterday, I had been introduced as the Little Witch’s younger sister, and I had been in the form of a child. Furthermore, my hair was currently white instead of its usual lime green. Combined with the fact that I was growing out of a tree, it was no wonder he couldn't make the connection.
"It will be fine, Trading Company President. I'm sure the company... can be rebuilt."
"No, it's impossible... I'll be dead soon from this blood loss. Even if a miracle saves me, I can't walk without a leg."
"That will be fine, too. Now, don't worry about it—just drink this, quickly."
"Wh-What are you—!? Mmph... Ah, it's sweet!"
"See? I told you... it would be all right."
"How... how is this possible? Not only are my wounds healed, but my leg grew back! That means the liquid you just gave me was...!"
I offered him another beaming smile. It seemed he had finally realized I was the Alraune of Alraune's Forest.
"Could it be... are you the Crimson Flower Princess Alraune that Rufe-san mentioned?"
"Something... like that. Rufe was... in your care yesterday. Thank you."
When I had infiltrated the Mansion of Duke Edelweiss, I had hitched a ride in a carriage belonging to the Pilz Trading Company. Thanks to that, I had made it inside successfully. I felt like I had finally repaid that debt.
"Crimson Flower Princess Alraune-dono, I cannot thank you enough for saving my life. But even so, my company is ruined. It was the urns we stocked that caused this catastrophe..."
The "strange urns" the Pilz Trading Company had procured were actually Kusukusu-san's Urn Golems. Even though they had been caught in the Demon King's Army's trap, the guild was still the catalyst. He was likely terrified of being held responsible by the Ducal House.
Still, the people of the Pilz Trading Company were acquaintances of mine, and it felt cruel to see them unilaterally condemned. The ones truly at fault were the Demon King's Army. Specifically, Kusukusu-san's superior—the one who planned this Edelweiss Invasion Operation. That person was the root of all evil.
I wondered if there was some way I could help the company. Since I'd gone to the effort of saving their lives, I wanted them to keep working hard for the sake of Edelweiss.
But before that...
"It seems... I have to deal with... you all first."
I turned around.
Standing behind me were knights clad in armor—the knights of the House of Duke Edelweiss who had been fighting the golems at the company. They leveled their swords at me, shouting in alarm.
"You! Who the hell are you!?"
"There's no mistake—that thing is growing right out of a tree!"
"She only has a torso! No matter how you look at it, that's a monster!"
"Then she must be an ally of the Demon King's Army!"
"So you're the culprit who turned the city into a forest!"
"But... wait, she was treating the wounded, wasn't she?"
"It looked like she was feeding them some suspicious nectar..."
"Wait, look at her face..."
"Is it just me, or does she look exactly like... her!?"
"What are you all idling for!? She's clearly the one who covered the city in trees! This is a Squad Leader's order—attack her immediately!"
In contrast to the confused knights, the body of the Squad Leader who gave the command was soaked in blood. He had clearly been caught in a golem's explosion. His face was stained a deep crimson, and his eyes couldn't seem to focus. He had led the charge and fought until he was broken just to protect everyone.
As expected of an Edelweiss knight. As a former member of the Ducal House, I felt proud of him. Furthermore, his readiness to ignore appearances and immediately engage a judged monster was exactly how a knight ought to behave.
Still... it had been a long time.
I had reunited with yet another face from my past.
The man who identified himself as the Squad Leader was one of the knights who had served as my personal guard when I was a child. Seeing that he had been promoted to Squad Leader after all these years meant he had followed through on his promise to become a magnificent knight. As his former master, my heart swelled.
But I needed him to wait, just for a moment. At this rate, he was going to die.
As he prepared to charge at me, I reached out a hand to stop him.
"Alex, please wait."
"......You! How do you know my name!?"
Oh no. Since he was an old friend, I'd accidentally called him by name!