"Not now you two, it's getting dark. We'll look a place to camp then we can continue,"
I cut off Aqua, who was about to apologize to Liz. The goddess tried to meet my gaze before looking down meekly. Megumin didn't even try to speak. She just nodded silently as she followed along on my right. On my left, Liz is staring at the two with a longing look on her face.
"Otou sama…"
"Not now Liz," I said a little more softly this time. "This is the type of thing you want to sort out in the most comfortable and uninterrupted setting as possible, we'll build a camp, get comfy, then you'll have all night to talk."
And it's a perfect chance for them to wallow in their guilt and think of what they've done. I mean, I'd be lying if I wasn't pissed at them for choosing a mimic monster over Liz. If It weren't for the fact that Megumin looked like how she was when she killed me the first time, I'm probably chewing her out right now.
Soon enough, we found ourselves on the other side of the forest. Vast empty plains stretched out in front of us. The sky is turning red, and the moon is slightly visible on the horizon. I put down my backpack and motioned everyone to stand back.
I took out my adventurer card. I still have thirty or so skill points. I poured them all into upgrading one of my most powerful skills. Nature's Beauty.
"Okay, here goes something, I'm counting on you, Eris sama," I poured down some seeds in different parts of the clearing and stood in the middle of it. Everyone else looked at me in slight curiosity, and I waved at them. "Observe, my powerful control over nature!"
I pressed my hand together like a particular fictional character. "Nature's Beauty!" I exclaimed, and dozens of plants erupted from the ground.
The vines intertwined and combined together to form a wooden platform. The vines that have gone into position hardens into the wood and become a support for the other vines. They all kept growing longer and thicker, forming into wooden supports and even roofs.
After around five minutes and almost depleting all my mana in the process, we have a large picnic shelter with a short wooden wall barricading it from the outside world. I even made many furniture ready, like a dining table, coffee table, and cupboards.
Many glowing flowers bloomed on the ceiling and on the corners of the wall, lighting up the picnic shelter. The flowers glow yellow and red to give off the sense of warmth and home-like feelings.
I grinned a little at my masterpiece before dropping flat on my face in front of the entrance. "The stools are still connected to the floor," I said, though my speech is a little muffled. "Just cut the legs, that'll do the trick."
A soft hand pressed against my neck, and I can feel some powerful magic coursing into me. I quickly stood up and saw Liz smirking at me. "An impressive feat, though it lacks the proper finish," she said in her usual Chuuni tone.
I just chuckled and rubbed her head a little. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind Liza chan," I stepped into the makeshift Shelter/Villa and put down my bag near a glowing flower. Everyone else followed us into the shelter and start picking a spot.
"A bed?" Darkness commented while walking towards the two king-sized beds at the end of the pavilion. There's another one at the other end of the room, but it's covered with wooden planks like a private room.
Elena, who noticed the room, couldn't help but sigh.
"Now what would be the purpose of that room?"
"Here's a hint, it has a bigger bed and soundproofed,"
"Forget it,"
I can see Megumin looking at the room and back to me. She blushed a little, but she slowly shook her head. Obviously, she's not in a mood for it, but that's not my intention at all. I turned towards Aqua and Darkness, who's about to share a bed.
"Darkness, do you mind if I sleep with you for tonight?"
"Eh?" Darkness looked between Megumin and me. "W-what? What do you mean!? I-I can't let you do that to Megumin, I mean, she…"
"No, not that like that," I put a hand on my forehead and groaned a little. "Why is everyone here kept thinking like that!?" I turned to Aqua, Megumin, and Liz. "You three, that's enough skulking around, now get in there and talk. I want the three of you to drive Darkness crazy again by tomorrow."
The three of them gave me a silent thanks before walking into the private room. Hopefully, they'd be better by tomorrow. I mean, if Liz is anything like me, I'm sure she can handle it.
"Alright, time to sleep. Don't worry Darkness, I'm not laying my hands on you."
"Ri-right… Sorry…"
I helped Darkness off her armor, and we both lie down on the bed. Beside us, Yunyun and Elena already made themselves comfortable. It didn't take long for Yunyun and Darkness to fall asleep, which leaves Elena and me alone.
"So… Do plant girls sleep?"
"Don't call me Plant Girl, at least call me Alraune,"
"Sorry… Does Alraune sleeps?"
"No…"
I turned towards Elena and saw her staring off into the ceiling.
"Really? Don't you feel bored just sitting still 24/7 without nothing to do?"
"Not really, we don't feel boredom the same way humans do. To us, staying still and not doing anything for an extended period of time is just natural, it doesn't bother me in the slightest."
Right… She's a plant. Plants don't do anything by nature.
"Do you mind doing this? I mean, adventuring and having a picnic like this goes against your nature right?"
"A bit too late to ask me that now, don't you think?"
"Sorry,"
"Don't worry, I enjoy the company,"
We lay there for around an hour in comfortable silence. There were still muffled noises coming from the private room, and I'm not sleeping before they do.
Elena exhaled a deep breath. She muttered something illegible before finally saying,
"Do you know how Alraune's are born?"
I narrowed my eyes after hearing that. "From a seed?"
"I was a human once, an adventurer just like you,"
Oh, now that's a twist. I mean, yeah, obviously! How do you think she learns about common knowledge if she were stuck in that forest since she was born?
I decided not to comment on that and let Elena continues her story.
"I was born in the capital as the heir of one of the most powerful noble in the kingdom. Naturally I was an arrogant piece of weed,"
I couldn't help but chuckle at that last one.
"I lived a spoiled and comfortable life back then. Everything was handed to me on a silver platter, I never learn how to ask, only yell and demand. I never learn respect, only subtle ass licking and expertly hidden sarcasm. I was… I was a real mess…"
"Then, that happened… I was around sixteen back then. My father, he was caught red handed by the kingdom for using questionable means to uphold his position. He was hanged in public and I was stripped of my nobility. My mother, she refused to live a life as a commoner and took her own life."
Elena paused and silently cursed at herself.
"I decided to become an adventurer back then. Since I ate only the highest quality food and has a powerful blood in me, I was already quite powerful for my age. I registered myself as an adventurer and… well, you can guess what happens next… I literally have no idea how to be polite, how to be nice, how to be respectful. I offend people even when I was trying to be nice to them,"
"So, I became a solo adventurer. I took on high paying missions and reap all the rewards for myself. I became arrogant once again, hogging all the quests to myself, without thinking about those who needed them more."
"One day, I found a peculiar mission. A simple investigation mission in the Devil's Keep Forest. All I have to do is go in there and investigate a mysterious place marked on the map then get out. So I came there, fully intent on finishing this mission and reaping all the sweet rewards."
"Obviously it was a trap. The spot marked with the map was a one shot bear territory, about a dozen of them lives there. I thought I'd be fighting for my life but I didn't even have the chance. A thief used skill bind on me and stole all my weapons."
"I was at their mercy. Mauled to death and died alone in the middle of a jungle. My body was ripped apart and scattered all across the land. Even in my dying moment, all that came out of my mouth was demands and threats. I… fuck, I was an idiot till the end…"
Elena paused for a moment and raised her hand to the ceiling.
"After that, I met Eris sama… She… she was the first one to give me mercy. She told me that I do not deserve heaven but she believes that I shouldn't go to hell either. She gave me another chance at life, but she told me I won't be the same."
"And thus, I became an Alraune, the most powerful of all Plant-Type monster. I changed my name to Elena and simply sat there, serving my sentence…"
Elena finally turned to me.
"Oh great, you're still awake…"
I smiled at her.
"Do you want me to sleep through that?"
"Of course, I wouldn't want to spend all night with a perv like you."
"Okay, okay…"
I turned away from her and closed my eyes.
"Stupid, I was being sarcastic there… But… if you want to sleep then go ahead, I'll keep watch…"