* * *
“Myogooo… Myogomyogomyogo!… Shugoooooo!”
Hello! I’m Emi, a girl searching for food in the Naso Forest at the height of summer!
“Myogooo… Myogomyogomyogo!… Shugoooooo!”
And that annoying sound you’ve been hearing is the courtship song of the Myogomyogoshugo! Though it has a name that exactly mimics its call, you can think of it like the cicada of my previous life, taking a similar position among insects!
…Hmph!!
“Myogooo… Myogomyogo… Myogo!!??”
The stone I threw without looking hit the trunk of the tree where the Myogomyogoshugo was perched, startling it into fainting and falling to the ground. These guys are so loud yet so cowardly. Too weak for a wild creature, don’t you think? What’s up with their ecology?
For now, I approach the Myogomyogoshugo before it wakes up, pluck its wings so it can’t escape, and put it in a basket woven from vines. I don’t kill them immediately to avoid spoiling their freshness. I’ll catch a few more of these and skewer and roast them. They’re quite large and have a lot of meat, making them a representative taste of summer in the forest.
By the way, according to Extra-sama, Myogomyogoshugo are common creatures in this world and definitely just insects, but because their calls are loud and unpleasant, they’re classified as harmful beings, or in other words, monsters. Isn’t the criteria for being considered a monster in this world too lax?
Now, back to the story.
It’s been a month since it was revealed that the village chief’s son, Torch-kun, is a reincarnated person with the 【Divine Blessing】 and a hero. In other words, it’s been a month since I was banished from the trash village and became a vagrant.
My life hasn’t really changed much; I continue to run around the forest looking for food every day.
Honestly, I had no fond memories of that village, was burdened with knowing about a hero, and lost access to seasonings, so I wanted to leave it far behind. But Extra-sama stopped me.
She said I should wait until I’m bigger and stronger before leaving the forest.
<Because, Emi, this world is entirely different from your previous life! It’s full of dangers! There are plenty of thieves, and goblins and orcs that eat humans are everywhere! Even though Emi is strong for a 5-year-old, it’s still dangerous to confront such beings!>
Huh, I had never seen them in the forest, so I didn’t know, but this world has goblins and orcs, monsters I’ve heard of before.
<Yes! I’ve seen them in the broadcasts of the god of adventure’s isekais, so there’s no mistake!>
…I can’t help but feel that Extra-sama is taking the information from those broadcasts too seriously, but since we don’t have any other source of information, I guess I’ll just have to believe it for now.
So, I’m still living at my base in the safe Naso Forest. Why this forest, or rather, why the area around that trash village is safe, is due to a combination of geographical and climatic conditions that aren’t easily explained, according to Extra-sama.
However, it’s precisely because it was safe that a hero was born in that village. It seems that trash village was chosen to be the “Village of Beginnings.”
<In the villages where heroes are born and the regions where they begin their adventures, there are no strong monsters! This is one of the unwritten rules in the broadcasts of the Holy Goddess.>
Well, it wouldn’t be interesting as a story if the hero to play a major role later on gets killed in the beginning… I had been wondering why Caro-chan, who is presumed to be a demon, doesn’t just kill the hero right away. There are probably various official reasons, but surely it’s also a measure to advance the scenario created by the gods.
Really, thinking about it this way only deepens my pity for that hero. Serves him right. He should do his best to save the world as God’s toy!
* * *
As I was catching insects while pondering various things, my basket had become packed with Myogomyogoshugo before I knew it.
“Myogo…!!?”
The Myogomyogoshugo that woke up in the basket started to scream, but I slammed the basket against the ground to knock it out and stop it.
<You’ve caught quite a lot, Emi!>
Yeah, Extra-sama. With this much, we’ll definitely have our fill! It’s going to get dark soon, so why don’t we start a fire early and eat them while they’re still fresh?
<Yes!… Oh! Emi, look! To your right, ahead… do you see those blueish berries? Do you see them?>
Ah, yeah, I see them. The ones on that low tree, right? What are those?
<Those are Shoma berries! In some regions, they are used as a high-class seasoning, a rare berry with a spicy kick! I saw them in the broadcast of the god of gourmet’s isekais!>
Really? Great, let’s collect them! Let’s try them with the Myogomyogoshugo!
<If you squeeze them, they’ll easily crush, so crush them into powder and then put it in a bag! That’s supposed to get rid of the bitterness.>
We were elated by the unexpected harvest. Completely overjoyed. But, that fluffy, happy mood was soon to cool down.
Our base… the Great Tree of Kaliva had been occupied.