We had arrived at the New Land.
This forest would become the new home for me and the Little Witch from today onward.
It was a very ancient forest, one that had existed even before the kingdom was born.
Perhaps because of that, it dwarfed the forest I'd lived in before, on an entirely grander scale.
Every tree was incredibly thick and towering.
From my Previous Life High School Girl's perspective, plenty of them could qualify as a National Natural Monument.
It brimmed with such wild nature that you could easily picture a Mononoke-style Princess dwelling here.
I scanned our surroundings alongside the White Bird-san after she touched down.
It felt dim somehow.
The trees grew thick overhead, but there was also an eerie edge to it.
Maybe it was just because this was my first time stepping into the forest. Not that I had feet, being a plant and all.
"No good... I'm really tired."
The White Bird-san shifted back to her human form.
The Little Witch carried me to the trunk of a nearby tree.
She cradled me close, holding me tight.
"I'm tired, and now my stomach's empty. It's dinnertime, right?"
Hey, Little Witch-san.
Why are you staring so intently at my eyes for dinner?
I didn't remember becoming her meal.
She wasn't a herbivore or anything, was she?
If she confessed to being a vegetarian, I'd be in real trouble.
"Alraune, nectar please."
Yup, called it!
I knew the Little Witch was hungry.
You're just a 10-Year-Old Child, after all.
You're still growing, and today you'd only had a few sips of my nectar.
But truth be told, I was at my limit too.
Water and nutrients were running so low I felt like crying.
I barely had any nectar to spare.
"I flew through the sky all day holding the Alraune—I can't move anymore. It was so tough."
Ugh.
That made me feel awful.
I'm a plant.
A Potted Alraune, no less.
Without the Little Witch, I couldn't take a single step.
No helping it.
I'd give her some nectar.
But before I could say "okay," the Little Witch was already moving.
"I'm just gonna take some nectar."
With that, she suddenly shoved her finger into my mouth!
Her index finger stirred up the inside wildly.
Wh-what the heck is this!?
The weird sensation of someone else's finger in my mouth.
It tickled.
And felt kinda... off, too.
My tongue and intraoral mucilage clashed fiercely against her finger.
I had no choice but to let the Little Witch's finger invade.
After a moment, she withdrew it.
Her finger glistened, thickly coated in nectar.
"Alraune's Nectar is delicious as always."
The Little Witch licked it clean.
She looked utterly pleased.
But I was too rattled to care.
My mouth had been utterly ravaged by the Little Witch.
I knew it was just nectar harvesting, but I'd been human once.
From a Former Saint's POV, this was total panic territory—no exaggeration.
Trembling, I stared at her, and she explained calmly.
"I just harvested nectar from a flower. Nothing weird about it."
Fair enough—it was nectar harvesting.
Being on the receiving end had just shocked me.
"Same as a keeper milking a cow or goat. So no need to be scared, Alraune—it's fine."
I'm livestock now!
I wanted to protest, but really, I was just a flower. Hard to argue.
The Little Witch began patting my head gently, "there there."
I'm a young girl now, so looks-wise, she was totally the big sister.
And human contact like this? It had been ages.
When was the last head-pat from someone?
Being treated so kindly stirred deep happiness in me.
I think the last time was from my fiancé Hero-sama.
His big, heroic palm gently stroking me—pure bliss.
But that same hand betrayed me.
Now, Hero-sama's hand belonged to the Shitty Junior Apprentice Saint who'd carved into my body.
Imagining Hero-sama's gentle hand—meant to comfort me—patting that Traitorous Shitty Junior's head instead... emotions boiled over inside me.
It was all that Shitty Junior Apprentice Saint's fault—the one who'd betrayed me and tried to kill me.
She deserved to die. Die a thousand deaths.
If I could, I'd bury her in this dim forest.
Turn her into my fertilizer.
The Little Witch's small, soft hand quelled my flame of rage.
Hero-sama was gone.
But I had the Little Witch now—a true companion.
She, who'd been the White Bird-san, would treasure me.
She wouldn't abandon me out of nowhere like Hero-sama.
Savoring her Little Witch's patting like a regressed infant, I noticed her head droop with a thud.
"Flying the sky that long for the first time... limit reached............"
The Little Witch dozed off.
Sleepy time, apparently.
She'd been the White Bird-san since morning, soaring with me in tow all day.
No wonder the fatigue had piled up.
The sun dipped low, night's curtain falling.
Time for bed soon............ or so I'd say, but no way!
Doze off in a brand-new forest? Way too scary.
What if it was a monster den?
And I was thirsty.
Water, please.
My throat was bone-dry.
Potted life is brutal.
The soil came from scorched, waterless earth—no moisture at all.
Like a plant-killing torture device.
Zero nutrients.
My roots itched desperately for water in this cramped bucket.
I needed water bad, right now.
Before, even short on supply, I'd scraped it from underground somehow.
But not anymore.
Potted Alraune, remember?
Day one of potted life, and the water shortage hurt worse than last summer's drought.
I wished she'd found a river to water me first.
I couldn't move alone.
Ah............ this is bad.
H-hey, Little Witch......
Wake uppp......
The flower'll wither awaaay......
A potted flower's fate, neglected by its keeper.
Withering—that was all it held.
That day, I tasted neglect for the first time.
Memories flooded back from my Previous Life Japan.
Elementary school.
A school lesson: growing mini tomatoes in pots.
I watered mine right, so it thrived. But some classmate boys let theirs wither.
That boy-killed mini tomato? My exact situation now.
Mini tomatoes are Solanaceae vegetables, after all.
Same family as this Alraune.
──Haha.
What now?
I felt kinship with the mini tomato.
Would I wither like it too............?
But I'm no helpless mini tomato.
Gotta push for my keeper.
Mustering my last strength, I wrapped us both—Little Witch and me—in vine.
Forest floor sleeping? Too rough for a 10-Year-Old Little Witch.
Her body would chill.
A vine cocoon would hide us from threats, too.
Good job, me!
Wanted to shake her awake, but pitying her exhaustion, I held back. No calling out.
Sweet dreams tonight.
My body could last another day, right? It'll be fine.
Hope so......
That thought drained my stamina.
No more......
Bud closed—nighty-night.
But consciousness lingered.
──Huh?
Feels like a dream.
Fireflies danced beyond the trees.
A tiny light swayed near, circled my vine, then vanished.
Fireflies—so pretty.
Alraune life: artificial light, rare sight.
Made me appreciate light's beauty anew.
But dream or not, thirst clawed deep.
Water craving kept sleep shallow.
Awake? Asleep? Blurry line.
Ah, withered flower by morning? Disaster.
Don't wanna be a withered mini tomato......
Then another dream.
Me, back as Saint, watering a mini tomato.
Two previous lives mashed weirdly.
Yet I watered it quietly.
Water-starved plant pain? I got it now.
If human again, I'd water plants extra—gently.
Not drown 'em, but neglect? Crueler.
Suddenly, the mini tomato was a Young Girl Alraune.
Me, given water by Saint-sama.
I'd become the non-Saint.
Saint's Face gleamed in sunlight, hard to see.
Still, my long-lost Saint's Face felt there.
A year without a mirror? Memory faded.
Plus, no longer human.
Plant Monster Alraune.
Receiver rejoicing, not giver.
So rejoice now.
Even if dream and illusion fades.
Ah, water—delicious.