CH 2

Chapter 2 – I will Live as a Plant from now on

On the journey to defeat the demon lord, I was betrayed by my fiancé — the hero, and my junior — saint apprentice, and then killed. But when I came back to my sense, I found myself had been reincarnated as a plant-type monster called Alraune for some reason.

A human female’s body grows from a bright red corolla, while her lower body is that of a plant monster.

Yup, I have become an Alraune.

What the heck happened!?

My last memory is that I was swallowed alive by a flower monster, and to prevent my body from being digested, I squeezed my remaining magical power and casted super recovery magic on myself continuously.

So, why did I become a plant monster when I woke up? I’ve never heard of anything like that. Well, at least I’m not dead. I should be grateful for that.

I don’t know if it’s a chance given by the goddess, or perhaps I fused with the plant monster as a result of super recovery magic. Either way, I need to grasp my current situation first.

My upper body is still that of a human. There’s nothing strange about it as far as I can see. Speaking of changes, my hair had grown to waist-length and had changed color from pale gold to light green.

The problem is my lower body. I was growing in a huge flower.

The bright red petals like roses are so beautiful that I want to use them for decoration. However, these petals are part of my body. There are several leaves overlapping each other below them, and these are also part of my body.

I understand that the flower is connected to my waist, but instead of having new legs, I feel like the flower is my second body. It’s really a strange feeling.

Underneath the leaves grew what looks like a huge bulb with a large mouth like that of a carnivorous plant. The mouth of a flower monster that had preyed on me, who was a saint, seems to have evolved into such a terrifying opening that could easily swallow a whole passenger car. Furthermore, it looks more evil than what I could remember.

From the side of bulb, countless vines are growing and forming a colony centered around me. And further down the bulb, roots are spreading in the ground. I could feel them absorbing water from the soil.

Yeah, I’m completely a plant now. Moreover, it seems to be a quite atrocious one. I’m especially scared of the bulb’s mouth.

I tried to open and close the bulb’s mouth and succeeded without any problem. In addition, I can also move the vines freely as though they are my own arms. It’s a really different from when I was still a human with only two arms. I’m not really sure how to describe it.

The fact that I’m a plant with an ego of human itself is already appalling. I can only see a future where I’ll be hunted down as a monster if the adventurers find me. But before that, there’s one thing that I need to solve as soon as possible.

I’m naked now!

The lower half of my body is a flower and a plant, so I give up on that part. However, the story is different with my upper body which looks like that of a human girl.

I may have quit being a human, but I won’t quit being a girl. And as a former duke’s daughter and a saint respected by the people, I can’t stay naked in the open like this.

However, there are no clothes here. The one I was wearing seems to have been melted and is gone for good. I guess I had no choice but to use the vines to make a bra at least.

I wove several vines around my chest to create a makeshift bra.

Done! Not as difficult as I thought.

I was able to hide what I could hide, so let’s say it’s good enough for the time being.

Hmm? What about my lower body?

Listen, you should eliminate the concept of “naked” from my lower body. Plants don’t normally wear clothes, after all. I mean, it would be plain weird if the bulb’s wearing a skirt, right? That’s why you don’t need to think it too deeply. It’s not naked because my lower body is a plant — end of story.

Still, I’m currently wearing nothing but a bra made of vines. The me who was a saint or a high school girl, would surely have never imagined dressing up like an Amazoness like this.

I was surprised when I suddenly regained the memories of my previous life, but it can’t be compared to when I found out that I have been reincarnated for the second time, and as an Arlaune at that.

Speaking of my previous life, Murasaki Ayame — that was my name before I reincarnated to this world from Japan.

I remember that during school breaks, I used to read through plants encyclopedia, which I’ve loved since I was a kid, to distract myself from my lack of friends. And at home, I was a closet otaku who enjoyed anime and video games.

However, I can’t seem to remember why I died, or why I was reincarnated. Except for what I liked, what I was interested in, and what left a strong impression on me, my memories when I was living in Japan are rather vague. I guess I can’t help it since it’s my previous life.

In any case, the strongest memory I have right now is that I was betrayed by my companions.

I was born as a second daughter of a duke family in the Kingdom of Gardenia. My talent for light magic was discovered at an early age and I have become a saint apprentice since then.

I learned super recovery magic that could even regenerate lost limbs as I grew up, and I was recognized as the greatest saint in history. Then, I set out on a journey to defeat the demon lord with my ex-fiancé the hero and the others.

I was only seventeen. My training as a saint was hard, I thought I finally would be free once we defeated the demon lord. Just when I felt I had finally taken one step closer to my dream after defeating one of the demon lord army’s generals, I was suddenly betrayed and killed.

I was proud being the fiancé of the hero and a prince of the country. If a child was born, if it was a boy, he might become the king who would inherit the country in the future, and if it was a girl, she might become a saint like me.

I thought I would be able to fulfill my filial duty to my parents and my clan by connecting our bloodline to the royal family’s.

I thought I would be able to spend my old age leisurely in a peaceful world where I wouldn’t need to fight monsters anymore.

However, all of these futures were robbed from me.

To be honest, I can’t forgive that traitor of junior and my ex-fiancé. I really want to take revenge on them, but I don’t even have the leeway to think about such a thing right now. I was just betrayed, killed, and became a monster. My heart is still in a mess.

I don’t even want to imagine what would happen to me if I were to meet them again in this form. If they ridicule me, I’m not confident I can maintain my human ego. Furthermore, it wouldn’t be strange if they try to kill me again.

I also don’t want my mother and my father to see me in this state. My pride as a duke’s daughter (former) wouldn’t allow it.

Speaking of which, I’ve never heard about Arlaune being a strong monster. I will likely lose if I fight them.

To begin with, I can’t move from this spot since I’m rooted in the ground. Let alone taking revenge, I can’t even go to see them. I’m but a flower in the end.

Let’s put this matter on hold for the time being. Just thinking about it makes me irritated. I will try to organize the information I have, instead.

I was a Japanese high school girl in my previous life, and in this life, I was a former saint who is now a plant monster. Being in a new body with the memories of two lives means it’s my third life in a sense.

So, who am I now?

I’m a Japanese high school girl who is also an otaku, a duke’s daughter who is also a saint, and a flower who is also a plant monster — all added together and divided by three. For the rest, I will let the time to answer it.

In any case, the previous me is already dead. I will now begin my second life as a plant.

No, wait, since I have another previous live, maybe I should call this my third life instead? Yup, let’s not sweat the small details.

If you don’t give up on life, something good will surely happen one day. I might even find a way to become a human again. Let’s be positive!

Hmm…?

I just noticed that the area around my chest is wet. Or rather, there is some kind of liquid flowing out of my chest, down my stomach, and onto the petals.

What is this!?

When I took a closer look, I saw that a sweet-looking nectar was slowly flowing out of my breasts. To be precise, from the tips.

I’m kind of speechless here….

This scene is too much for the high school me or the saint me. I’m not at that age yet. I don’t even have any of those experiences with man.

I feel like crying….

Look, I’m really crying now.

No, wait, this is not tears, this is honey.

I feel like I can make it come out from other place as well. For example….

See? I did it. Honey is coming out of my mouth.

From now on, I will only produce honey from my mouth. I may look like drooling, but it’s much better than letting it out from other places. Well done, Me!

I don’t know the taste since it’s basically my body fluid, but from the smell, it seems to be quite sweet. Or rather, I’m surprised that I have a sense of smell even though I’m a plant.

When I was playing with the honey since I had nothing else to do, I suddenly felt a gaze on me. Looking around, I spotted a bear appeared from the shade of a tree ahead of me.

It’s pretty huge for a bear. However, that’s not the main issue here. There’s a blade-like horn on its forehead. Yes, this bear is not just an ordinary bear, but a monster.

I’ve heard about this bear monster before. If they had their eyes set on you, it’s said that they will chase you to the ends of the world until you are caught. Not only obsessive, this monster also strong enough to be called the lord of the forest.

Slowly, the bear monster was approaching with its eyes locked on me.

This bear is really determined, isn’t it?

I’m scared. I want to run away, but I can’t even move from this spot.

I’m just a flower, after all.

Say, don’t you think being a plant is too disadvantageous?

This should be a standard practice in the wild to run away when encountering predator, but plants can’t even do that.

This is an impossible game, after all.

I can’t do this anymore.

Somebody, please help me!

Thus I faced my first life-threatening crisis since I became an Arlaune.