Chapter 5

As a high school girl in Japan, I never imagined that I would be reborn and grow up as a saint in this world, and then proceed down the path of a plant monster as an Alraune. I couldn’t have imagined such a thing during my high school days or even my time as a saint.

However, plants were something I was somewhat familiar with, even as a high school girl named Koshiki Ayame.

I was an otaku who loved anime, manga, and games, but I kept that a secret at school, so I was essentially a closet otaku. Instead, I always read books by myself at school.

I might have been mistaken for a literary girl, but the books I read were mostly encyclopedias—encyclopedias of animals, fish, dinosaurs, and so on. Among them, the one I read the most and liked the most was the encyclopedia of plants.

I read these encyclopedias as a pastime while at school, but over time, I became a girl who enjoyed admiring flowers and became very fond of plants. Still, it was just a hobby, and I didn’t have extensive knowledge about them.

Even so, I had heard the name Alraune before, even in my original world, because I was an otaku.

I had always thought of Alraune as a fictional entity, but I had read about a plant similar to Alraune in a book.

That plant was the mandrake.

The mandrake indeed existed on Earth.

In fiction, the mandrake is also known as mandragora and is often used as an ingredient in magical potions. It is said that when the mandrake is pulled from the ground, it emits a scream, and hearing that scream can cause one to lose consciousness. Many people have heard this story, and it has even appeared in famous movies featuring wizards.

Additionally, I remembered one important piece of information.

I recalled that the mandrake belongs to the nightshade family. Perhaps because it didn’t look similar, I somehow remembered this fact.

So, I did a bit of thinking.

Personally, I believe that the Alraune might be a relative of the mandrake. They are similar in that they are both plant monsters that grow from the ground. I had also seen descriptions of Alraune as mandrake in books I read during my time in Japan.

If that’s the case, then the Alraune, like the mandrake, would also belong to the nightshade family.

So, am I a nightshade?

I like eggplants, but I don’t want to become one.

Nightshades are typically hermaphroditic, with both male and female parts in a single flower. However, my current body and flower crown don’t seem to have male parts. This suggests that the male parts have degenerated and disappeared, resulting in a female flower.

This means my gender is definitely female.

My body is that of a woman, but I am still a plant and a flower. I was a bit anxious about this.

I’m glad. If I had been a hermaphroditic flower, I would have been both male and female.

As a former saint and a high school girl in my past life, I have no intention of being both genders. I don’t want that. Please spare me. It’s dangerous, it’s dangerous.

Plants are typically hermaphroditic, but I have the characteristics of a unisexual flower, which is more common in gymnosperms. I recall that cucumbers, melons, and squashes are also unisexual flowers despite being angiosperms.

I had a hunch that my upper body, which is human, is the female part.

This is a human female body.

The single structure standing in the center of the flower is typically the female part.

If this body is the female part, there should be an ovary at its base.

The base would be around the lower abdomen and waist. Since my lower body has turned into a plant, it would be in that area.

If there is an ovary here, it should contain the ovules, which are the precursors to seeds. I remember learning this in school in my past life.

In human terms, the ovary is like the uterus, and the ovules are like eggs.

I touched my abdomen.

Yes, the place where children are made is in the same area as in my human form. It’s quite fascinating.

If I were to be pollinated, would I produce a fruit like a cucumber or a melon?

What would happen to me then?

The ovary would swell and become the fruit.

The mature ovules would become the seeds.

I imagined my abdomen, the ovary, swelling and growing larger. I might look like a pregnant woman. But I am a plant, so my abdomen would continue to grow, and my human upper body might be absorbed into the fruit and disappear.

I don’t want that.

I would no longer be myself.

I must avoid being pollinated.

Moreover, the fact that I am a female part is quite shocking, so I will try not to think about it too deeply……

As I was feeling down, I heard a buzzing sound from a distance.

I knew what it was without looking.

A bee was approaching.

Bees, I don’t like them.

They can sting, which hurts. Although I am no longer human, I doubt a bee sting would be fatal. However, as a flower, I can’t avoid bees.

Upon further thought, it’s natural because I am a flower. Bees come to flowers for nectar.

It was strange that no insects had come before. Perhaps my body was emitting a pheromone that repelled small insects.

Wait a moment.

The sound is heavy, like a helicopter.

As I thought this, it appeared.

A bee-type monster.

Its name is Tsoln Bee.

It looks like a honeybee enlarged to human size.

Honeybees are famous for pollination.

Worker bees collect nectar and pollen from flowers, and in the process, pollen sticks to their bodies. When they move to another flower, they transfer the pollen from one flower’s male parts to another flower’s female parts. This allows unisexual flowers to produce fruit through cross-pollination. Farmers often use honeybees to help produce fruits.

In simple terms, when honeybees move from one flower to another, they force the other flower to be pollinated and produce fruit.

Because they transfer pollen to other flowers, honeybees are also known as pollinators.

Wait a moment.

Time out!

Beep beep!

You there, stop moving!

Please, don’t come over here. Don’t get close.

Because, Mr. Bee, you’re here for my nectar, right?

You’re going to touch my body, right?

That means:

Mr. Bee, if you touch me, the pollen from other flowers that’s stuck to your body will transfer to my body.

I might get pollinated, right?

Because I am a female flower and a female part.

No, I don’t want that. No, no.

I know you must be carrying pollen from other male flowers. My instincts as a female flower tell me this.

Oh no.

You’re coming this way. You’re flying towards me.

And you definitely have pollen on your body.

This is bad!

This is really bad!!

If this continues, I will be pollinated!!!

※Angiosperms: Plants whose seeds are enclosed in an ovary.

※Gymnosperms: Plants whose seeds are exposed.

Depending on the knowledge and common sense of this world, the Alraune here seems to be an angiosperm.

The ovules are hidden inside the abdomen.

Next time, the crisis of pollination.