I was Alraune, a young plant monster girl.
At that very moment, a fairy’s upper body was shoved deep into my mouth.
The nectar-starved fairy had, of all things, decided to dive headfirst into my gullet. Thanks to her reckless plunge, I ended up with the upper half of her body clamped between my teeth.
If that had been the extent of it, it wouldn't have been a catastrophe. The problem, however, was that my mouth also functioned as my stigma. If pollen from a stamen ever entered my mouth, I would be pollinated.
This fairy had been flying all over the forest. The possibility that she had stamen pollen clinging to her body was definitely not zero. If there happened to be even a speck of it on her, it meant that right now, at this very second, I was in the middle of being pollinated.
S-stop it!
I finally just became a young girl; I don’t want to be pollinated yet!
Furthermore, if I were pollinated by foreign pollen, the spirit of the former Saint that I am might not be able to reincarnate as an Alraune again. I never imagined it would come to this...
Even though she wasn't an enemy, a terrifying ambush had been waiting right by my side! My life as an Alraune—no, my florid existence—was slated to end today.
I could already imagine my belly growing larger. A child from some random male flower, brought here by a fairy, would begin to develop within the ovules of my womb. My existence as an Alraune carrying the spirit of the former Saint could likely only be preserved through self-pollination. If this continued, my reincarnation life would reach its conclusion.
Resigned to the end of my world, I quietly let nectar weep from my eyes.
Ugh. I don't want to be pollinated...
Pollinated... wait, huh?
The sensation I’d felt during my previous pollination never came, no matter how long I waited. Which meant... could it be that I hadn't been pollinated after all?
Y-yes! Success!
There hadn't been any pollen on the fairy. Oh, thank goodness! I was truly, deeply relieved. The moment a fairy who might have been carrying pollen entered my mouth, I’d been forced to shoulder the risk of pregnancy. I’d had to wait for time to pass just to confirm whether the deed had been done.
In other words, my chastity as the young girl Alraune had been preserved.
Once I knew there was no pollen involved, the creature in my mouth was nothing more than a nectar-crazed fairy. I needed to get her out, and fast.
I timidly pulled the fairy out of my mouth. When she finally emerged, she was a sticky, gooey mess. Her hair, her wings, and even her clothes were coated in thick, yellow nectar. She looked like she had been drenched from head to toe in honey.
"Ahhh, the nectar is flowing into me! It’s sho good! It tastes amazing, I love it!"
What was I going to do? The fairy had become even weirder than I’d anticipated. I might have been imagining it, but her eyes seemed to have turned into literal hearts.
"I want more nectar! Give it to me, Alraune!"
"...Fine, but I have a condition. If you listen to my orders from now on, I might give you more."
"I'll do anything! I'll listen to any order! I’ll even become Alraune’s personal possession!"
"Uh..."
She was willing to go that far? "But Kiri, aren't you Lady Dryades’ exclusive fairy?"
"Lady Dryades is fine without me. So, I’m going to be Alraune's fairy!"
The fairy began nuzzling her body against my cheek. My face ended up covered in sticky nectar as well, which was far from pleasant.
"Are you not a forest fairy anymore?"
"That was me until yesterday. From today on, I’m a flower fairy!"
Kiri plopped down onto my corolla. I never expected her to love the nectar so much that she would switch masters on the spot. However, rather than feeling happy, I had a sinking suspicion that this was going to be a massive headache.
This fairy had been screaming "nectar, nectar, nectar" for a while now. She was already showing symptoms of being a nectar-junkie; she had the makings of a truly excellent perorist. If she became too much to handle, I figured I could always return her to Lady Dryades.
"From today, I'm the flower fairy Kiri. Nice to meet you!"
Well, it wasn't the scenario I’d envisioned, but I decided to roll with it. Kiri would likely be much more cooperative now. She seemed like she would be a handful to manage, but I supposed I had to endure it for the sake of my life with the Little Witch.
Still thrashing around for more nectar, the fairy tumbled from my corolla and fell toward the ground. With a wet thud, she stuck to the earth, pinned down by her own syrupy coating. As she writhed in the nectar covering her body, she continued to make ecstatic little noises to herself.
In that state, getting any useful information out of her seemed impossible. I decided to wait until she regained her senses to ask about the Hero’s Grave.
As I looked down at the fairy in silence, the Little Witch, who I thought was still resting, spoke up.
"Hey, Alraune."
It seemed she had woken up without me noticing. I greeted her with a "good morning."
"Actually... I heard what you and Lady Dryades were talking about."
"You were... awake then?"
Apparently, she had overheard our conversation as we were leaving the sanctuary. By that, she meant the part where Lady Dryades suggested she would be happier living in the city.
"I’m never going to live in a city," the Little Witch said, hugging me—bucket and all. "Because Alraune and I are going to be together forever."
She rubbed her cheek against mine. Unlike the sticky, gross sensation of the nectar-covered Kiri, the Little Witch’s cheek was soft and comforting. For some reason, her touch made me feel genuinely happy. Being with her like this was so calming. I wished this moment could last for eternity.
However, moments of bliss rarely do. A piercing scream suddenly erupted from behind us.
"GYAAAAAA!"
That was definitely the fairy. I wondered what was wrong now. I really wished she would stop interrupting my private time with the Little Witch.
With a heavy sigh, the Little Witch and I turned around together. There, we saw Kiri clamped firmly in the jaws of a green giant lizard.
What was going on? The fairy was about to be eaten!
The creature was a lizard-type monster known as a Kusuaidechse. However, it was slightly different from the ones I knew. It was roughly the size of a human adult, which was standard, but its entire body was a vibrant green with bumpy, textured skin.
I had seen a lizard similar to this one in my previous life. In an animal encyclopedia I’d read during my high school girl era, it was called a Giant Day Gecko—a species primarily found on the island of Madagascar.
Giant Day Geckos were omnivorous, eating insects but also possessing a strong affinity for fruit and flower nectar. They were known for extending their long tongues into blooms to lap up the sweet liquid. When they did so, pollen would often stick to their bodies. As they moved from flower to flower, they acted as pollinators, facilitating the plant's reproduction.
Hachi-san, my lady knight, and this green lizard were both categorized as pollinators. In other words, if that lizard licked me, I stood a very real chance of being pollinated.
"S-stop it!"
The fairy screamed, echoing my own internal panic. She was desperately fighting to avoid being devoured by the green giant. The lizard was undoubtedly after the nectar she was covered in, but since it was omnivorous, it probably didn't mind having a fairy as a side dish.
"So many lizards..." the Little Witch whispered, her voice trembling.
Before I knew it, drawn by the overwhelming scent of my nectar, the area had become infested. There were at least ten of those green giant lizards. I was worried about Kiri being eaten, but I was equally concerned about the threat to my own virtue. If even one of them managed to lick me, I risked being pollinated again.
I had already experienced self-pollination, but the idea of cross-pollination with a total stranger was repulsive. I had just barely escaped an accidental incident with the fairy; why did scoundrels keep lining up to impregnate me? Being pollinated by a fairy was bad enough, but a lizard was completely out of the question!
Flicking their long, slender tongues, the group of lizards began to close in. Every single one of them had the predatory, focused gaze of a nectar-seeking perorist.
In my current young girl form, my combat power was diminished. I couldn't brush off monsters as easily as I used to. If I were to be pollinated by a lizard, my spirit as a former Saint would never recover from the shame.
Ugh, why me? I worked so hard for the people of my kingdom as a Saint; why am I the one suffering like this? I was supposed to be a perfectly ordinary Saint. I couldn't understand why I was forced into a survival battle for my chastity against a pack of lizards in the middle of the woods.
This was all the fault of that shitty junior who stole my fiancé, the Hero, and then betrayed me. If I could, I’d throw that girl into this swarm of lizards myself. I’m sure she’d put on a wonderful dance for them.
In my heightened emotional state, nectar began to spill from the corners of my eyes. Reacting to the fresh scent on my cheeks, the lizards suddenly lunged toward me in unison.
They dashed forward with a frantic, rhythmic gait. It was the start of a maddening ball—one where a single lick from a raging lizard would mean the end of my purity.