"And... that is all."

Sitting in the bath that has gradually cooled over time, I have told Eliza-san about my past, as well as to Kyuki who was listening while floating on the water.

"I see." was all she said at first after listening to my story. "It would seem that no matter the time, place or world, Humans will never cease to baffle me with their absurd way of thinking." she added, mocking the whole of humanity so casually.

"You, your parents and him. All of you are just as foolish as the other." she stated, piquing my curious as she'd mentioned—

"Him?" I asked.

Eliza-san looked straight into my eyes then. A somewhat sad yet composed expression was shown on her face as she then smiled and said.

"Thank you, my dear, for telling me your story. As promised, allow me to tell you mine. A story from two hundred years ago; the story... of a foolish human and the Lord of the Forest who is even more of a fool than that."

And then, I began listening to Eliza-san's story as Kyuki re-heated the bath before listening to it as well.

---

Eliza's POV

At first, I was but a small flower born in a large forest.

From that state, I ate and I grew.

What I ate, I did not know. But, the nutrients I'd received made me grow even more beautiful.

At some point later on, I grew sentience; I became aware of my surroundings and everything that lives around me.

And suddenly, I became afraid. For I had realised just how frail and small I was.

A small animal could easily stomp on me and I wouldn't be able to do anything.

People could just walk over me without ever realising what they had stepped on.

It was fearful moment for weak old me. I could die at any time and I didn't want that.

So, I chose to bloom; to become stronger and more dangerous than anything else around me.

I would lure preys with my scent as I couldn't move myself. Then kill them silently and swiftly with my skills.

Once their body laid dead on the ground, I would absorb their nutrients and grow even bigger and stronger.

At some point, I gained a title, [Monster Slayer].

I didn't know what that meant, but it made my kills much easier. So I didn't care much about it and continued my stationary daily life for survival until the day when I evolved into an Alraune.

I grew an upper body that looked human, while the rest was still a flower.

I thought I looked weird. But I could move now, so that's all that mattered.

Then one day, I encountered a man. A Human to be exact.

When he saw me, he became frightful. He screamed, and then he ran. Calling me a "monster".

How strange, I thought. Feeling somewhat hurt yet all right at the same time, because what the man said felt correct.

Yes, I am a monster.

Thus, from that day onwards, I would encounter more humans. Except, unlike the man, those humans had came to kill me. Because I am a monster. Therefore, they must kill me. So, as a monster, I fought back and kill them all before they could kill me. And I got a lot of points for it to become stronger.

Then, I ate their bodies to absorb every amount of nutrients they had. But somehow, unlike before, I had also absorbed their knowledge and memories. Allowing me to learn more about the world while still being in the forest.

It was strange. But I learnt a lot from their corpses. And eventually at some point, I was granted the titles of [Man Eater] and [Man Slayer] for killing and eating every Human that crossed my path.

Soon enough, word spread across the world about a powerful monster in a certain forest. Namely, me. And because of that, I got a new type of visitor.

They were not like the Humans. They were strong, they were terrifying. They were beautiful and they had long pointy ears.

They were the High Elves. A type of enemy that I had to retreat from once, because of how unprepared I was and powerful they were.

But when the rematch happened, I more than prepared and killed them all using various traps and dirty tactics I'd learned from the Humans' knowledge. I had also gain a lot more points from them than I did when killing the Humans.

It was sad to say however, that eating them was not an option.

They tasted foul. And this was coming from a flower monster who was fine with urine and droppings. 

There was just something about them. It was as if eating them was the same as consuming poison that are bad for my flowers. In any case, they were disgusting, so I spat them out and never tried to eat them again. Although, they and the Humans kept coming for me. As a result, I'd gained another title as time went by: [Elf Slayer].

As I constantly fought for my life day after day, I eventually got tired and decided to retreat deeper into the forest where none could easily find me. By then, I had already reached the final stage of my evolution: The Queen Alraune. And for reaching that stage, I became known as the Lord of the Forest, causing that title to appear in my status as I then became able to control the entire forest as I pleased. 

So, that's what I did.

To create safe haven for myself, I made the forest hostile to all that are a threat to me. Because of that, I was able to gain points and food while doing absolutely nothing, as intruders and monsters kept coming into my forest regardless of whatever their reasons were.

Days go by, just like that.

I lived in peace and silence. My life was a bliss.

But then, he appeared.

A young boy in his teenage years had appeared before my eyes, much to my surprise. He beared no hostility towards me and was not considered a threat, which was why the forest left him be which allowed him to appear before me.

As soon as he laid eyes on me, what shown on his face was hope instead of fear, unlike the first Human who ran away from me.

"Should I kill him?" I pondered for a minute while checking his status with my Appraisal skill.

He's weak.

That was my first thought upon seeing his status.

The boy was level 1. His stats were horrible and the only skill he has was Alchemy, which was at level 5. He was also wearing plain clothes only with a small bag strapped over his shoulder. It was no wonder that the forest didn't deem him as a threat.

Seeing as he wanted something from me, I sighed and asked.

"Why are you here, boy?"

He was surprised when I spoke to him. Perhaps, he didn't think that a monster like me could speak in the human tongue. However, because I ate those humans and gained their knowledge, I naturally gained the ability to speak their language.

The boy swallowed his nerves and gathered his courage. Then, with determined eyes, he approached me and immediately went on his knees.

"O Great Lord of the Forest, I beseech you. Please give me a drop of your sacred nectar! I wish to save my mother who has been plagued with disease. In return, I offer you my body and soul! Please, I beg of you!" the boy said all of that in one go.

Meanwhile, I was simply stunned. Unable to comprehend as to what was going on before my very own eyes.

A human is lowering his head to me.

The same humans who had been hostile towards me for many years.

The same humans who had been trying to kill me for years.

That very race...!

And one of them is lowering their head to me. Speaking in an odd tone of politeness and respect to me; a monster.

Is this boy some sort of fool? Just what is he thinking?

Those were the only things that came to my mind as I stared straight at him in disbelief.

Also... what in the world is this "sacred nectar" he's asking for!?