I Became a Tentacle Monster Blooming in the Academy Garden 5

## Chapter 5 – Anne De Monehen

‘Quite the commotion.’

According to the woman’s memory, this place was the Groden Kingdom, located in the central part of the Verdini Continent.

And within that Groden Kingdom, it was the ‘Saint Flansina Academy,’ considered one of the most outstanding places.

It was said to be a gathering place for the children of nobles and wealthy families from the Groden Kingdom and its surrounding countries.

‘A school… come to think of it, at this hour, everyone should be finishing up and leaving.’

Whether it was an academy or something similar to a school, that’s just how schools are.

Schools are usually bustling when people arrive, during lunch, dinner, and when they leave for the day.

But the bustling time should have already passed once.

I even had to strain and bend my stem to hide myself.

‘More than that, the atmosphere doesn’t seem good.’

Along with the hurried footsteps that suggested urgency, there were sharp voices that didn’t sound like friends chatting.

A female student with waist-length, purple hair strode by, seemingly ignoring those following her, and my gaze was drawn to her.

“Hey! Anne! Where are you rushing off to?
I’m asking you to answer! Just because you’re from a mere baronial family!”

“I have nothing to say, Vivian.”

A sharp contest of voices, one with a stinging tone, the other seemingly patient but indifferent.

“Did you think you wouldn’t pay the price for embarrassing me earlier?
Right, considering your lowly Monehen family, you naturally wouldn’t have anything to say.”

One of the female students following the slender girl with purple hair, called Anne, with a rather unpleasant expression, was lashing out at her in an arrogant tone.

Vivian, a girl with sharp eyes and flowing blue wavy hair, seemed to have quite the temper.

Surrounded by her gang, she was verbally jabbing at Anne, trying to provoke her.

Anne was clearly trying to ignore her words, but she ultimately stopped abruptly in front of the flower bed, seemingly enraged by the last remark that insulted her family.

“The Grenot margraviate, what a prestigious family, Vivian.
But I think your family’s character education is lacking.”

Anne turned around immediately, her sharp gaze piercing, and her demeanor was utterly confident.

There must be a significant difference between a baronial family and a margraviate.

Despite that, Anne’s retort, as if she had something to say, caused the arrogant smile of the seemingly inevitable victor, Vivian, to falter.

Upon hearing those words, two of the girls beside Vivian stepped forward and grabbed Anne from either side.

Crouching among the flowers and watching the scene through the leaves, I couldn’t help but feel troubled.

‘It’s not pleasant to watch something like this…’

I had to consider whether to grab some popcorn and watch the intense confrontation between the female students unfold right in front of me, or to try and stop it.

But what would happen if I went out there?

I’d be lucky if they just reported a strange monster flower.

The only thing I could do right now was watch the scene of bullying unfold before my eyes.

“Kyaaak!! Ah!! Hngh!!”

“So you can make cute noises?
Who told you to act up?
Did someone hold a knife to your throat or something?
That’s why your whole family is going to ruin. Hehe!”

“You have to pay the price for messing with Lady Vivian.
Your trading company is already failing anyway.
Now, your sister is next, you know?
Should we have some fun before that?”

The two girls, gleefully grabbing Anne from either side, began to take turns hitting her, mocking her screams.

“Ugh… Let go!! I said let go!!”

Hearing their taunts, Anne seemed to steel her resolve, her eyes wide as she began to resist properly, which felt somewhat desperate.

But the actions of the girls, who seemed to enjoy tormenting Anne, were proceeding more boldly than I had anticipated.

“Hey, hold her tighter! It’s hard to strip her!”

“Why strip her! Just tear it! Here!”

When one girl grabbed and yanked at Anne’s school uniform shirt as if to tear it off, the sound of buttons popping echoed, and Anne’s complexion turned pale.

Her fair, modest, and plain white underwear-covered breasts were revealed to the world, and I, watching their scene from the flower bed, witnessed it as well.

It was the first time the woman had seen a woman’s breasts since becoming a flower, and a carnal desire momentarily surged from within my instincts.

But the situation unfolding before my eyes seemed quite serious, so I had to focus on vigilance rather than instinct, watching the situation unfold.

‘Girls fighting each other is this brutal…?’

Fortunately for me, I had only attended co-ed schools, and perhaps because they were conscious of the boys’ gazes, most of the girls only showed feminine or tomboyish behavior.

But even if they were bullies of the same gender, to do something this brutal…

And there was more than one thing that surprised me.

I witnessed another girl approaching the ringleader of the gang, Vivian, and taking something out of her pocket.

It was a crystal ball that appeared transparent on the surface, but in reality, it had various complex patterns carved into it, like fine cracks.

“Shall we take a picture of our pretty faces?
You should look this way, okay?”

I didn’t know what that thing was, but judging from the reaction, it was as if a camera was being pointed at the scene of bullying.

Watching Anne, gritting her teeth and trying to resist fiercely, made me wonder if I should stand by and watch even this, even though I was supposed to be hiding.

‘What am I…’

But I knew my place.

Even when I was human, I received harsh glares, so what good would it do for me to try to save someone as a monster tree?

I didn’t even expect such an action to be met with gratitude in the first place.

The action I had to take was to survive in order to meet the woman again, not to get caught up in these kids’ fight and get cut out of the flower bed after my identity was revealed.

‘I’m sorry, but… let’s at least not watch anymore, for conscience’s sake…’

The moment I turned the flower bud away from the girl who was about to suffer a terrible fate, feeling a lingering sense of guilt.

“You’re holding her well… Kyaaak!!”

The unexpected scream made my gaze unconsciously turn back to the other side.

The scene that entered my eyes was, in some ways, quite astonishing.

Anne, held on both sides, was struggling and kicked the girl who had approached her to take a picture of her breasts with the crystal ball in the chest.

No matter how much the bullies knew how to fight and were relatively strong, they were just girls at the end of the day.

– Clang!!

The crystal ball, kicked in the chest, flew out of the girl’s hand as she stumbled, soaring through the air before crashing to the ground and shattering.

And the recoil from kicking the girl was transmitted to the girls holding Anne on either side, causing all three girls, who had been standing side by side, to fall backward simultaneously.

At that moment, unlike the thug girls who staggered and fell neatly, Anne, struggling to regain her balance, tripped over the low flower bed fence, and the scene began to appear in my vision.

‘Oh… it’s going to hurt a lot if she falls on this…’

Contrary to my calm thoughts, I unconsciously moved my body and supported Anne’s head with a leaf as she fell onto the flower bed.

“Aaa!!”

With that brief scream, Anne remained motionless in that spot.

I could feel a tingling sensation from the leaf supporting her, and I thought that there must be a stone underneath, causing the leaf to tear.

Although I had supported her with a leaf, Anne couldn’t avoid the impact of her head falling onto the stone, and small droplets of blood began to seep from the back of her head.