Chapter 79

　As autumn came, the sun began to set earlier. By the time I had finished listening to the villagers’ worries, gifting them plants that seemed useful, and making medicine for an injured child, the surroundings had been dyed crimson. Ellie had also gone home, saying Miriya should be returning soon, so it was probably time for Noel and me to head home as well.

　Even I, being a plant, still was more energetic during the daytime. Just as I was thinking that we should return home and relax before sunset…

(……What? Something from one of the sprouts……a danger signal?)

　The five young sprouts I had released into the village also served as lookouts, watching the village’s two entrances. If any problem occurred, they were supposed to send a signal to inform me of the danger.

　I had never received such a sudden warning before. Wondering what had happened, I looked in the direction of the young sprout sending the signal.

「What is it, Witch-sama? ……Is there something over there?」

(One of the young sprouts is acting strange……Hm? And it feels like it’s moving too.)

　I did not know what was happening, but I had the feeling that it was nothing good. That village entrance led toward town, so no monsters from the Demon Realm should appear there. Worried, I decided to go and check.

　When I hurried toward the village entrance, all I could see were two children excitedly making a fuss about something, and otherwise, nothing seemed particularly different.

「What is all the commotion about?」

(No idea……I wonder what happened……)

「Ah! Someone’s been caught! By a plant!」

(Whaaaaaat!?)

　A plant had attacked a human. That was something that absolutely must not happen. I should have forbidden them from harming people through my chain of command, so what in the world had occurred?

(I-If they hurt someone, then I……I’ll be branded a dangerous witch, and if things go badly, they’ll discover I’m a monster and it’ll all be over……!?)

　A village where plants and humans coexisted. The plants were useful, and even the monsters among them posed no danger. I felt as though I could hear all the effort I had put into spreading that understanding crumbling apart. Screaming endlessly inside, I hurried over to investigate.

　Outside the village, in other words, beyond the thorn barrier, some people had fallen to the ground. They were tangled up in a viscous, net-like plant and unable to move. ……It had been difficult to see through the bushes, so I was impressed that Noel had spotted them.

(The young sprout’s danger signal is coming from around here……or rather, from near those humans……)

　The people caught in the net did not seem injured. They merely sounded confused as they muttered things like, 「What the hell is this?」 and 「Damn it, I can’t move.」 For the moment, I was relieved that they were unharmed.

　This was the effect of the grass gun I had given the light-blue sprout. There was no doubt that one of the plants under my control had done this, but I had ordered it not to use the weapon unless the situation was dangerous, so they had probably done something and been met with retaliation. ……No one was injured, and if it had been self-defense, there should be room to explain. Not that I had a mouth with which to make excuses, but first I needed to determine the cause.

「……Those are the people who were stopped when they tried to enter the village today.」

(I see. I thought they looked unfamiliar……They really went and caused unnecessary trouble……)

　Until just moments ago, I had felt as though I had gone pale from fear. Of course, I did not have blood flowing through me, nor did I have a complexion to lose, so it was only a feeling, but I had truly been frightened.

　Being recognized as an enemy of humanity and marked for extermination. That was what I feared most. If humans recognized me as a monster and an enemy, I would no longer be able to live peacefully within the environment they had created like this. Days of being attacked by both monsters and humans would surely await me.

　The culprits who had threatened my peaceful daily life were grumbling with dissatisfaction, but I was the one who had every right to complain.

「I want to keep watch here, so……Hey! Someone go call the knights! And get someone who knows what happened to explain the situation!」

「Okay! Got it!」

　When Noel called out to the village children who had been making a commotion nearby, they answered energetically. One went to fetch the knights, while the other came over to us.

「Those guys are thieves! Sora-kun took them down!」

「……By Sora, do you mean the water sprout?」

「Yeah! He climbed up there and hit them with one shot!」

　The child pointed toward a nearby tree. On one of its thick branches stood the light-blue sprout, wearing a cape that fluttered in the wind. Noel was questioning the child, but it would be faster for me to synchronize with the water sprout and view its memories.

　While I was at it, I used a vine to catch and pull over the water sprout, whose fluttering cape made it look as though it were striking a cool pose, even though in reality it was probably just struggling to gather the courage to climb down from the tree. Holding it in my arms, I closed my eyes once and checked its memories.

(……I see. This couldn’t really be helped……It wasn’t a plant going berserk. It was defending someone.)

　Apparently, the men who had been captured had abducted one of the young sprouts from inside the village. The young sprouts seemed able to exchange more detailed information with each other than they could with me. After receiving the abducted sprout’s distress signal, the light-blue sprout stationed at the gate had climbed a nearby tree and waited in ambush for the culprits.

　The children who had witnessed the young sprout being taken had chased after them as well, but naturally, adults could run faster, and the culprits would have escaped at this rate. However, the moment they left the village, the water sprout captured them with a single shot. The children who saw it then became excited and started treating the water sprout like a hero, and that seemed to be when we arrived.

　The water sprout had not done anything particularly wrong, so once I finished checking its memories, I lowered it to the ground. Had it acted against my orders, I would have filleted this sprout into three pieces myself. ……The water sprout was trembling as it looked at me, but I was the one who wanted to tremble.

「So these people are sprout thieves……How could they do such a thing!」

「Yeah. They must have hidden it somewhere, so we need to rescue it, but……Witch-sama, is it safe to touch that sticky stuff?」

(It isn’t poisonous, but it’ll stick to you, so don’t touch it. ……Hmm, what should we do with these thieves……)

　I did not oppose humanity. That was because I wanted to live peacefully among humans. But threatening the daily life of someone who was merely trying to live quietly was far too cruel. Kidnapping, plantnapping such an innocent mandragora, made them truly heinous criminals.

(……Wait, if people find out I’m a mandragora……then instead of merely being exterminated, there’s also a chance I could be kidnapped and sold……is that what this means……!?)

　And they would surely turn me into medicine as a rare ingredient. They would cut me up, grate me, boil me, or dry me out. Humans were terrifying.

　Trembling, I quietly moved behind Noel and used him as a wall between myself and the thieves. Then I gently covered my face with my hands and decided to observe them through the gaps between my fingers. ……Looking directly at them was too frightening, after all.