This is the perspective of the Little Witch, also known as White Bird-san.
My name is Rufe.
I am a ten-year-old witch.
Recently, I decided to start growing a new flower.
I first found this Talking Flower about a year ago.
It was the end of spring, right as the seasons were shifting into summer.
I was originally born in the Empire, the country neighboring this Kingdom. I lived there in a small household of three with my parents.
However, when I was six years old, everything changed. I was turned into a witch. My hair turned pure white, and in exchange, I gained the ability to use a special kind of magic called Black Magic.
I became capable of Levitation and Animal Transformation.
In response, the other villagers denounced me as a witch. My family and I fled from the Witch Hunt Squad, drifting from one village to another until we finally reached this Border Village in the Kingdom. My parents continued to shower me with love, even though I had become a witch.
But that life ended on that day.
A pack of monkey monsters killed my father and my mother. I lost the only two people in the world who loved me unconditionally, even after I became a witch, and I lost them both at once.
Those monkey monsters. How dare they do that to my parents. I'll never forgive them.
I wanted revenge. I wanted those monkeys to suffer the exact same fate they inflicted on my father and mother.
Without my parents, I couldn't survive in this world. Every human around me was an enemy trying to hunt me down for being a witch. I decided I would find the monkeys that had left me all alone and give them a taste of their own medicine.
To search for the monkeys, I used my Black Magic to perform a Bird Transformation. For some reason, I always turn white when I transform. I wonder if it’s an influence of my white hair.
The monkey monsters reportedly lived in the forest. Despite being monkeys, they carried human swords and spears, so I knew I would recognize them instantly.
After flying through the sky for a while, I spotted something strange: a Vine stretching vertically into the air from a certain spot in the woods. It looked suspicious, so I drew closer.
As I approached, I found a small clearing. There, I witnessed something unbelievable.
A human woman and several giant bees were slaughtering the monkeys. I was shocked to see a woman defeating monsters so deep in the forest. Moreover, she was incredibly beautiful—the most beautiful person I had ever seen.
However, I soon realized I had been mistaken.
I thought she was a human woman, but that was only true from the waist up. A large red flower grew from her middle, and beneath that was a bulbous shape with a large, ferocious-looking mouth.
The beautiful woman’s lower body was a plant. She wasn't human at all.
I was stunned that such a mysterious creature existed. Was she a Plant Monster? While I stood there blinking in surprise at the existence of such a beautiful Flower Monster, the last of the monkeys was struck down.
The monsters that killed my parents had been defeated by this flower person.
I’m sorry, Father, Mother. I wasn't able to take revenge with my own hands. But realistically, I was no match for those monkeys anyway. Even with my Black Magic, I wasn't strong. All I could really do was fly and turn into small animals.
Still, I couldn't just leave without doing anything. I wanted to strike at least one blow, so I flew down to the monkeys' corpses in my Bird Form. Fueled by a desire for vengeance for my family, I attacked. I pecked at the unmoving monkeys with my beak.
...Yes, that made me feel a little better.
I hadn't taken revenge personally, but divine punishment had fallen upon the monkeys regardless. This beautiful Flower Monster had exterminated them for me. Perhaps she was a good flower. She was, in a way, my benefactor for avenging my parents.
But then, she surprised me again.
Without warning, the Flower Monster began eating the monkeys. It was so sudden it terrified me. No matter how beautiful she looked on the outside, she was still a monster on the inside. To prey on monkey monsters... she must have had a truly ferocious personality.
Still, even for a monster, I couldn't believe a plant was stronger than those monkeys. Perhaps this was a truly incredible creature.
At one point, I thought the flower was going to eat me, too. I felt like one of her Vines was targeting me. Since I was a bird, I was able to fly away immediately, but I might have been easily caught if I’d been in my human form. If that had happened, I might have ended up just like those monkeys.
She wasn't just amazing; she was dangerous. I decided right then and there that I wouldn't approach her in my human form.
That was how I met the Flower Monster who looked like a woman. The beautiful Plant Monster who avenged my parents.
I found myself drawn to her. From then on, whenever I had free time, I would go to see her in my Bird Form. I didn't do anything in particular; I just observed her from a distance while transformed into a bird.
Looking at her again, her appearance really was striking. A woman growing out of a flower. The red petals were vivid, and the woman herself was gorgeous. Physically, she looked like an older sister, maybe five or six years older than me. Despite being a flower, she had very refined human features.
And yet, it was a bit of a shame. Her "outfit" was unbelievable. She only had a few Vines wrapped around her chest, leaving her almost entirely naked.
That’s when it hit me. Because she was a flower, she didn't understand how embarrassing her outfit was. Poor thing. If she were human, she would be mortified to be dressed like that in the middle of the forest.
Aside from her embarrassing lack of clothes, her other traits included using Vines to catch prey, releasing Poison Pollen, and the sweet-looking Nectar that came from her mouth. She definitely wasn't human. Even if she looked like one, her body was a plant. She was a Plant Monster.
And yet, I was captivated by her. I decided to keep watching for a while longer.
Eventually, the season turned to summer. This year was exceptionally hot. Likely due to the heatwave, it hadn't rained for days. Because of the drought, the Flower Monster looked completely exhausted. She seemed to have no energy left, as if she might wither at any moment.
It would be such a waste if she withered. She was the benefactor who avenged my parents, after all. Besides, I couldn't bear to see such a beautiful flower shrivel up.
So, I decided to water her. I had seen the Village Chief watering the flowerbeds to keep his plants healthy. Surely, flowers were meant to be raised by people.
The difficult part was that I still couldn't take my human form. Based on a month of observation, I knew the Flower Monster was carnivorous. She would catch and swallow animals and monsters without hesitation. I would surely be eaten if I got too close. In my human form, I wouldn't be able to fly away if something went wrong.
That meant I couldn't just carry a bucket over to her. I could have used Levitation magic to carry a bucket as a bird, but I felt like that would make her suspicious. Normal birds don't carry buckets. If such a dangerous flower started seeing me as a threat, my life would be in danger.
After considering my options, I decided to water her while remaining a bird. I would dive into the river to soak my feathers, then hurry straight back to the Flower Monster. Once there, I would shake the water from my feathers onto her.
It wasn't a lot of water, but I was still able to give her some relief.
Yes, I did a good job. I’d successfully given her water for the first time. The Flower Monster actually looked happy about it. Seeing her expression made me feel happy, too. My efforts had been worth it.
From that day on, I decided I would help the Flower Monster whenever she was in trouble.
My observations continued. Once the heatwave ended, two travelers arrived at the village: an old man and a boy. Apparently, the old man was a very famous person known as the Great Sage. The Village Chief asked him to exterminate the monkey monsters.
But that was a waste of time. The Flower Monster had already killed them all.
I kept that a secret, though. If the villagers found out about her, they might try to kill her, and that would be pitiful. I knew better than anyone how terrifying it was to have people hunting you.
When I went to check on the Flower Monster, I saw that the boy had been caught. He was the Great Sage’s grandson, wasn't he? Why was he being held by her?
Moreover, the Flower Monster was speaking! She was actually using human words. I had never heard her speak before. She really was a Talking Flower. It was amazing; I had never seen a flower like that before.
The Talking Flower was chatting happily with the boy while keeping him entangled in her Vines. Since she was such a glutton, I had assumed she ate humans too, but it seemed she didn't. In fact, she was even letting the boy lick her Nectar.
Based on that, maybe I could talk to her, too. They looked like they were having so much fun. I was jealous!
Still, I decided to observe a bit longer. She might just be waiting for the conversation to end before eating him. Depending on how things went, I planned to go to the forest in my human form in a few days to talk with her. I was really looking forward to it.
Three days later, the boy returned to the village. But he was acting strange. He looked like his soul had left his body, and he kept muttering "Nectar, nectar, nectar..."
It was scary. Maybe the Flower Monster had brainwashed him. Even if she looked beautiful, she was still a monster—a dangerous entity. I decided it was best to avoid approaching her as a human after all.
The boy had gone strange, but his capture hadn't been entirely useless. I had taken the opportunity to ask the Great Sage if there were any flower monsters with human appearances.
That was how I learned the truth. He told me about a Plant Monster called an "Alraune" that had the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a flower.
So, the Talking Flower's name was Alraune.
The Great Sage said that Alraunes usually couldn't speak. Even if they looked human, they were ultimately just plants. That meant my Talking Flower was a special Alraune!
I had found a one-of-a-kind Alraune. I had given her water. She was the benefactor who avenged my parents. Even though it had nothing to do with my own strength, I felt a sense of pride.
However, the Talking Flower couldn't move from that spot. She was a plant. If I took my eyes off her, she might wither away like she almost did during the drought. She was such a precarious existence. If I didn't watch over her, I’d never stop worrying.
That was when I had an idea. To make sure the Talking Flower never withered, I would take care of her myself! I was sure she needed me.
And so, from that day forward, I decided that I would be the one to raise that Alraune.
Thank you for reading. This story reached 19th place in the daily rankings for "Another World Reincarnation/Transfer." Thank you all so much! This chapter focused on the perspective of the Little Witch, also known as the white bird. Now you know why the white bird was appearing before our protagonist, the Alraune. Next time: Little Witch's First Plant Nurturing Activities: Autumn.