I Am A Carnivorous Plant

After a few minutes I let my poor burnt trees collapse down into ash, and I took a look at the prize that waited for me inside. Surprisingly enough, even though the mages were already long dead, the leader had covered his mouth with a cloth, and had managed to survive a bit longer than them, although just barely. His eyes were unnaturally puffy, and I could see how wet the cloth he was using had gotten from the way he was foaming up, but he still had the wherewithal to mutter a few gasping words when he saw me.

 

“You… You monster! How, how could… You sh-should be…”

 

His hand tried to shakily raise his spear for one last attempt at killing me, but I easily knocked it away and leaned down towards him menacingly.

 

=You should have been prepared for this the moment you entered my forest.=

 

And with that, I put him right out of his misery.

 

~~~

 

Hmmm, you know, I thought this earlier when I ate that appetizer of lizard bits before the fight, but these guys really have a naturally smokey, wood-grilled taste to them! I guess it’s because of all of the fire they use? I hate to say it, but it’s possible that if I’d properly washed my food before eating it, then maybe they’d no longer have that flavor, since the smoke that clung to their flesh would have gotten washed away.

 

…Oh well, at least I really really enjoyed it!

All that magic that I burned through totally wasn’t a waste!

Eating invaders is really the best!

 

Like I expected, these guys gave me wayyyy more magic and nutrition than regular humans do. It’s crazy, because when I ate those little wind-foxes or whatever back in the stolen territory, they were about on par with orcs for deliciousness, right? So then why do these lizards, which are also another spirit’s invader, taste so much tastier? Is it because they’re humanoid? Or maybe because they have more magic in them? Or maybe it’s because they’re actually invading my territory right now? I mean technically the foxes were too, although they were in a successfully conquered area…

 

Yeah you know what? It’s not up to me to try and figure this out. Tasty things are just tasty! Let’s not dissect it, and just enjoy the moment instead! Let’s eat the tasty things and be happy!

 

…Oh, but I should probably hurry this up and go let all those poor people out of the basement. Don’t wanna keep ‘em all scared and waiting while I’m up here gleefully gorging myself, huh? I’m not usually the type to be considerate, but I do have some promises to keep, so I guess I’d better go and do my best at ‘em like I have been…

 

Well, at least I’ve worked up a good appetite with all that plant manipulation I’ve been doing! I mean did you see all those trees I had to grow to trap those darn lizards in? And that’s not to even mention the tidal waves of vines I had going at the same time!

 

Yeah, it won’t take me very long to work through the rest of these bodies at all~!

 

~~~

 

After scattering the ashes of a few of the bodies that had been sucked dry by my mushrooms, I finally gave the people the okay to come upstairs. They tried to do some kind of weird prostrating and praying thing towards me to thank me, but that’s really only fun or interesting for like a moment, you know? Idunno, when it’s a whole big crowd doing it it just kind of feels like a lot of pressure to me. Now maybe if it was just Til or Fen doing it, then perhaps I might find it a little more-

 

Hah, yeah, let’s not go there for today! Too much to do, too many places to go, no time to wander down that mental path!

 

After spending the better part of a night making sure the group safely made it back to the village without getting eaten, I sneakily grew a couple of nice big grape trees in the middle of the town and ran off before things could get too emotional. Turns out I actually get pretty attached to things when I spend too much time with them, and re-seeing how skinny and starving everyone at the village was when we got back really pricked at my conscience, so I decided to give them a going away present before I bounced. Idunno, I guess I just didn’t want to hear a bunch of thank you’s? Don’t get me wrong, I like being thanked, but multiple of them is tedious. Maybe I’m just more cut out for terrorizing than I am for doing good deeds. Big scary monsters ought to be big scary monsters, after all!

 

During our trek back I made sure to have Fen point me in the right direction. He did a really super good job of it, and even went out of his way to tell me about several landmarks to look out for to help me on the way! Apparently the town he was born in was actually located relatively near the border of the Water territory, so he knew a lot about the way there, and with his directions I probably shouldn’t be getting too lost anymore!

 

Helping people really pays off sometimes, doesn’t it!

 

So yeah, using my new knowledge, I resumed my trip towards the Water territory! I was a little sad that I didn’t get to give Fen a proper goodbye, but I’m not too good at goodbyes anyways, and remembering how hard it was for me to say goodbye with Til made me totally not want to do it! I’m sure if I had tear ducts or, you know, even real eyes in the first place, then I would have been bawling ‘em out for sure, both times! As it is, I basically just ran away furiously from my feelings, both then and now!

 

Ah, when my feelings get all jumbled like this, it’s time for some egg hunting, don’t you think?

Eggs always make me feel soooo much better!

 

~~~

 

For the first time in a while, I got to do some good old fashioned photosynthesizing! I was actually crazy well off on nutrients and magic before I grew those grape trees, and with the light hunting I did after grabbing a good armful of eggs, it kind of felt like a waste to not do anything with all that power I was holding onto, so I decided it was time to get in a good attempt at growing a bit, don’t you agree? I found a nice sunny spot on top of a hill and planted myself down (haha), and got some serious time sunbathing in while I watched the clouds go by~.

 

And hey, you know what?!

 

During my journey from the elves, my head was actually starting to show small signs that it might be cooking up something new for me. There were several tiiiiny tiny little bumps that had appeared along the line of my head, just under where my flowers and mushrooms were, nicely spread apart from each other. And I guess now, after the absolutely massive smorgasbord of eating that I did yesterday, combined with the photosynthesizing that I did today, it seems like those bumps have finally sprouted into beautiful little buds! They look a little bit black and pointed, but I can tell for sure that they must be some kind of new flower! From how developed they are, I’m sure that it’ll only be a matter of days before they finally reveal themselves to me, so long as I put in enough time eating and photosynthesizing.

 

Sorry original plan, but this TOTALLY takes priority now!

I just gotta see what these new little flowers will do for me!!!

 

***

 

The people of the charcoal village would never forget the kind actions of their savior. Fendel in particular, who had seen the full story and had secretly peaked during the plant-woman’s fight against the lizards, would never forget the whirlwind of events. The idea that such a powerful monster had benevolently saved their people and had even gifted them with such robust fruit-bearing trees to sustain themselves, would forever be passed down amongst their people.

 

Fendel, having overheard the words of the lizardmen, and having suspected such things due to the monster’s plant-like nature, proclaimed to the people that their monster-savior had been a mercy bestowed upon them by the Spirit of the Forest, and the villagers got to work rearranging their village so that they could create a shrine in the middle of it, right next to the fruit trees, dedicated to worshiping and praising the Spirit of the Forest, and even pledging their loyalties to it. The villagers ceased cutting down any more trees than they needed for construction and never made charcoal again, instead investing a majority of their time taking care of the fruit trees and even finding ways to grow and propagate them in the previously deforested areas.

 

Gradually, as their worship for the Spirit of the Forest continued and many offerings of the harvest and nature were made, the villager’s eyes began to all turn green, and even some of the more fair-hued children’s hair began to take on a greenish tint, signaling that the village-folk had truly been accepted by the Forest.

 

Fendel took up the role as both the village’s leader, as well as devoting most of his time to taking care of the shrine. His eyes were the first to turn green, showing him to be the most loyal to the Forest of them all. The monster had long ago informed Fendel that the fruits from the trees were called ‘grapes’, but when the villagers consulted with Fendel about what to call the trees, he simply declared that they would be called 'Mellily trees', and that the village itself would be known as ‘Mellily’ from now on, after the name of their savior. There of course was little to no opposition.

 

The grape bearing village of Mellily flourished for many generations.