Greetings, Automata Maid

aid, and I appear behind the monster.

“Illusory Magic is fun, but also kinda tricky.”

The Orc Soldier had been attacking a projection of me I made with Illusory Magic.
The same spell concealed my real body, so I could stand behind the Orc Soldier without him noticing.

In a way it worked better than expected, but in another way that was exactly what I wanted to happen.

The textbook mentioned that proficient warriors can easily see through such projections, so it’s best to not use it in real fights.
But it’s more than enough for decoys when fighting monsters with low intelligence.
It’s very effective in that situation.

The tricky part is making the projection move.
If done improperly, the limbs could end up detaching from the body and moving on their own, or the movements can look really robotic.
I’m not good enough for that.
I also have to move my real body really slowly, since it becomes visible otherwise.
But that much is obvious.

Either way, it’s not something I can just use without thinking about it to confuse enemies.

Anyway, I take the Orc Soldier that is still somehow breathing and drag him behind me as I return to the path I was walking on.
Soon I notice a familiar scent.
It seems it didn’t move out.
I make way through the thicket and I see the large Man Eater clinging to a tree.

“Hey, how’ve you been?”

“Shahh! Shah shahh!” When I call out to it, the Man Eater raises its vines high trying to intimidate me.
I guess that means it remembers me.
It feels like it’s trying to tell me not to get closer.

“Ah, I know how you feel but don’t worry, I won’t take anything this time.” I throw the freshly caught Orc Soldier in front of the Man Eater.

“…” The Man Eater could not understand what I was doing, staying still while looking warily at me.

“My thanks for the fruits, or I guess apology is better.
Feel free to eat him.” I stand back and sit on the ground, trying to show I meant no harm.

It slowly gets off the tree as I watch from a distance, and moves on top of the Orc Soldier.

*Crunch, rip, shlurp *

It’s like Bemstar…or I guess more like Astromons.
I watch the Man Eater swallowing the Orc Soldier whole as I think back to giant monsters from my past life.

The Man Eater finishes its meal and returns to the tree.
My business is done as well, so I stand up too.

“Shah!”

The Man Eater sounds much calmer than before, and it seems to be ruffling for something on the tree it’s attached to.
I wonder what it’s doing.
Eventually it lifts one of its vines, a red fruit like a cherry grasped on its end, and it extends it towards me.

“Shah!”
“You’re giving me that?”
“Shah!”

That sounded like a yes from the Man Eater.

I didn’t expect a monster that looks so plant-like to have that kind of intelligence, so I approach warily in case it’s trying to lure me in.
But it turns out I’m worrying for nothing, and I get the tree’s fruit without issue.

Somehow the Man Eater looks a bit cuter than before.
Maybe I should come back to feed it again.

After that I continued wandering around the forest randomly, taking out monsters when I felt like it, greeting adventurers I crossed paths with, and the day ended without anything out of the ordinary.