After crying for a while, I noticed the bird still convulsing next to me. The fact that it was convulsing meant it was still alive.
It seems it had only fainted from the mandrake's voice. Relieved that I hadn't killed it, I reached out my hand—or more accurately, my root—intending to nurse it somewhere safe.
'In fantasy settings, mandrakes either kill people with their voice or make them faint or become confused... In this world, it seems to be the latter.'
The moment I touched the bird's body, I somehow tasted a flavor. It was fairly delicious. While I was puzzled by this strange phenomenon, the bird gradually began to wither, eventually becoming motionless like a dead branch. Immediately, that trumpet melody flowed through my head.
'Could this sound be... something like a level-up sound?'
Having played games even while growing up in a facility, I recognized it. When a character grows and levels up, becoming stronger, a melody plays to indicate this. Could this be that?
If so... that means I defeated this bird and my level increased.
"MEEEHHN...!"
It seems mandrakes aren't structured to pronounce words like humans, so my attempt to say "sorry" was transformed into a strange sound like a sheep's cry. ...I wish I could speak more properly.
'Ugh... so this body absorbs life just by touching... This really makes me a monster...'
A monster, or rather a magical beast. Plant roots are meant to absorb nutrients, and these root parts that I recognize and move as my arms and legs seem to be organs that extract energy from living beings they touch.
'Come to think of it, that melody played several times earlier. Could it be... I committed... mass slaughter...?'
This bird didn't die from my screaming, but perhaps different creatures have different resistances to a mandrake's voice, and there might be species that die just from hearing it.
I realized with horror that I might have caused mass slaughter of creatures with no resistance as I ran through the forest spreading my voice. ...Well, my skin is brown, not blue.
'What if there were humans among them...!?'
If they were monsters like me, that would be one thing, but what if they were human? As a former human, I strongly feel that I cannot—or rather, should not—kill people.
'Should I go back to check...?'
Looking back, there was a deep forest. For a mandrake of my height, it was a dark and frightening forest with overwhelmingly tall vegetation. Just looking at it made me scared, and the thought of going there to confirm the presence of corpses—I simply couldn't bring myself to return.
It seems I've become quite timid since becoming a mandrake. Whether this is a characteristic of this species or my individual trait as a monster, I don't know.
'But what should I do now... I don't know how mandrakes are supposed to live.'
I retain my human memories, and I was so convinced I was Misaki Hanazono until I saw my appearance that I clearly inherited that consciousness.
While my personality seems to have changed in subtle ways, my values remain close to those of humans.
'Humans need food, clothing, and shelter... Come to think of it, I was fine without doing anything at first. That was before I was pulled out by that green person-like thing, when I was in the soil. So if I burrow into the ground, maybe I'll be okay for housing and food...?'
And clearly a mandrake doesn't need clothes. Even if I expose this plump, round body, I'm just a root, so there's nothing embarrassing about it. ...That said, this body is well-nourished. The ground I was initially buried in must have been very nutritious.
'My flower is very beautiful too. Yes, yes, just looking at this flower isn't bad.'
Since mandrakes are plants from fantasy worlds, there's no equivalent flower in my original world. However, the large, layered pink petals like roses or peonies, glowing with a faint light, are fantastical and beautiful. God must have granted my wish. ...Well, looking at the lower part, I'm not happy being a daikon radish with haniwa-faced limbs. But the flower is truly beautiful. Remembering stories about beautiful flowers growing above buried corpses, I was about to consider the source of nutrients that helped me grow, but I shook my head to dismiss the thought.
'Since I'm a plant, I should be able to rest by burying myself in the ground. So I don't need a house, I can rest anywhere. I'm really tired today, so I'll rest once and think again later.'
The soil by the water was soft, so it wasn't too difficult to burrow into it. With just the right amount of moisture, it was surprisingly comfortable to be buried.
It might be nice to live here—just as I thought this while dozing off, I was suddenly pulled up.
"KYAAAAAAA!?!!?"
"Gu, a...!"
I screamed at the sudden event. This body reflexively makes loud noises when startled, so the scream was involuntary.
As before, I was thrown into the air, but this time I fell with a splash into the water. The next moment, I made eye contact with a fish that had eight eyes. And of course, I screamed again in great terror. Meanwhile, the trumpet melody was ringing in my mind.
'No way, no way!! Scary!! Can't I swim faster...!? If only I had webbed feet...!'
The moment I wished for it, I found myself able to swim well in the water and desperately made my way to land. There I saw the same green-bodied giant as before. Apparently, this green giant has a habit of pulling out mandrakes when it finds them buried in the ground.
'Alright, I've decided. I'll find a safe... safe dwelling...! That's it, I wonder if there's a human country. In a human country, monsters like this shouldn't be roaming around...!'
The problem, however, is that I am a plant monster, a mandrake. ...Even if I have human memories, they wouldn't accept a monster.
As I hung my head in disappointment, I was surprised to see my hands. Yes, hands. The part that had only been a thick root tip now had hands. Moreover, they were webbed.
'Why...? ...Because I wished for webbed hands?'
Perhaps this body can evolve into the form I desire. Looking down at the eerie webbed hands, I tried to swallow but ended up swallowing air since I couldn't produce saliva. ...It seems mandrakes don't have saliva.
***
In a room in the royal castle of a certain kingdom. The court magician Nikolaus was seriously staring at a potted plant. Since he hadn't moved for over an hour, Ritter, the knight assigned as his assistant, became worried and finally asked.
"Master Magician, what exactly have you been doing all this time?"
"What do you mean... It's obvious, isn't it?"
"No, I don't understand at all."
"This is why ordinary people are..."
Ritter felt somewhat irritated at being looked at with such profound exasperation. However, his counterpart was a universally acknowledged magical genius, employed as the court magician. A knight dispatched to be his assistant cannot rebel, so he bit his lip lightly and suppressed the complaint he was about to voice. Everyone in the castle knows he's an incredibly eccentric person, so there's no point in getting angry.
"Let me explain in a way ordinary people can understand... Most monsters simply grow larger as they develop. The prevailing theory is that they're too stupid to think of anything beyond becoming bigger and stronger. But monsters with intelligence show interesting evolutions."
"Huh, monsters with intelligence... you say?"
"They may not have human-level intelligence, but some can think to a certain extent. Like monkeys or crows, some monsters can be called clever. ...And such monsters can determine the direction of their own evolution."
Monsters are no different from animals. No, they are far more ferocious and lack reason compared to animals. While monsters that live long and grow tend to become gigantic and stronger, occasionally individuals undergo unusual changes. These are called mutant individuals, and it seems Nikolaus is currently researching such mutants.
"But that's... a mandrake, isn't it?"
"Yes, my current research subject. I was wondering if plant-type monsters might have some wisdom too. Mandrakes in particular make sounds and are closer to animals, don't you think? ...For example, what would make a mandrake scary to you?"
A mandrake is a plant monster. However, it's also an ingredient for elixirs (complete recovery potions), and since it can't move on its own, it can be domesticated and farmed. They're regarded more as medicinal herbs requiring careful handling rather than monsters.
However, mandrakes emit cursed screams when pulled out, and those with weak resistance to curses can die just from hearing it. But with special earplugs, it's easy to prevent hearing their voice. If you put in earplugs before pulling them out of the ground, they aren't frightening beings at all. Even after being pulled out, since they're plants that can't escape, there's no risk of harm spreading.
"I can't imagine a stationary mandrake being scary... Oh, but if it could run around, that would be frightening. Without preparations to block that voice, we could even die."
"Hahaha. For an ordinary person, that's a good idea—a running mandrake. I'd like to see that... Hey, why don't you evolve like that?"
Nikolaus talking to the potted mandrake is indeed an eccentric incomprehensible to normal people. There's no way a running mandrake could exist. If such a thing existed, it could disrupt the ecosystem.
'They say genius and eccen... eccentricity are two sides of the same coin. ...But surely he won't actually create a running mandrake?'