Chapter 7: Let's hunt the awful-tasting mice in the forest!

Let’s hunt the awful-tasting mice in the forest!

* * *

“…Haa.”

I proceed through Naso Forest, adjacent to Fenoben Village, which serves as my stronghold, sighing along the way. The time is probably around 2 PM, if we were to compare it to my previous life’s sense of time. Early summer has arrived, making the days sufficiently long, but I can’t be too careless. I need to secure tonight’s fresh meat early.

My cohabitant inside my head, Extra, chuckles as she speaks.

Ah, yeah, I thought I’d take a moment to sort through my current situation… And after sorting it out, the sheer awfulness of it all dealt me a mental blow. Sorry about that, all of a sudden. Was it weird when I got all hyper?

Extra cheerfully responds. Having been together for a while, I’ve come to realize she’s quite cheerful and easygoing. And occasionally insensitive. Eccentricities, indeed.

I’m fine, I’m continuing with 【Body Strengthening】.

Alright, let me explain a bit here. Naso Forest is a bright forest with sparsely placed large trees, and it’s a beautifully scenic place, especially in early spring. However, this brightness leads to a serious issue as summer approaches. That issue is the overgrowth of plants known as Naso. These plants proliferate so much that this forest is named Naso Forest. Naso is similar to the Japanese knotweed in my previous life, with thick stems and large round leaves. It thrives in bright areas and continues to grow taller than an adult by early summer. Essentially, it’s a large grass that gets very tall, but since the leaves are sparse near the base, it’s actually easier for someone short like me, a 5-year-old, to walk through…

The problem is, Naso is the favorite food of a poisonous caterpillar called Polly bugs. Touching them won’t kill you, but their hairs can cause severe itching if they stick to your skin. So, I continuously use 【Body Strengthening】 to increase my skin’s defense to prevent the hairs from sticking. My clothes, made from Cody’s old shirts and pants cut to the length of my elbows and knees, offer no defense at all. Plus, I walk around barefoot since I don’t have shoes, so I can’t afford to stop using 【Body Strengthening】 to avoid injuries.

Ah, 【Body Strengthening】 is a technique that uses magical power to fortify the body. This world, as Extra mentioned before my reincarnation, is a “world of swords and magic”… meaning, magic, or rather, the magical power that serves as the basis for magic, exists here. 【Body Strengthening】 is a very popular technique of magical power manipulation, and most people use it unconsciously to a small extent.

In my case, since my mother bid me farewell (euphemistically speaking) right after I was weaned, I needed to make my body robust to survive the neglect (directly speaking). That’s when Extra taught me how to use 【Body Strengthening】 based on what she saw in “an isekai broadcast of a martial god”! Thanks to that, my body has become robust, wounds heal quickly, and I don’t get sick even when eating bugs! Furthermore, according to information Extra saw in “an isekai broadcast of a magic god,” using magical power from a young age in this world tends to increase the total amount of magical power, a “template setting” as Extra calls it, so my total magical power is also on the rise according to Extra’s assessment.

I’m not sure how much higher my ability values are compared to a normal 5-year-old… but without a doubt, if compared to a 5-year-old by my previous life’s standards, I am overwhelmingly stronger and more durable. Enough to live alone in the forest. Really, I don’t know if it’s thanks to magical power or not, but my body in this life has quite high specs, which has been a big help. Conversely, I wonder why I was so bad at both studies and physical activities in my previous life?

Now, back to the topic at hand.

On the underside of the leaf in front of me, just as Extra pointed out, were Polly bugs clinging in large numbers. Each bug is about the size of an adult’s thumb, chubby and black with fur, and quite repulsive to those not accustomed to them. I remember watching from the bushes as Uncle Rand’s leafy vegetables were infested with these bugs, causing a commotion with his wife.

I casually grabbed one, stripped off the fur, and popped it into my mouth. The texture is mushy and sour, and there are tastier caterpillars out there, but, well, it’s passable as a snack when I’m a bit peckish.

But these alone won’t make up tonight’s main dish. I want to eat meat for dinner, right? Not insects, but animal meat. I’ve been a carnivore since my previous life~!

…Yeah, I see it, Extra. Those round droppings. …They’re still warm. They must be nearby.

I was going to do that without you saying.

I stop moving and concentrate, becoming one with the forest. That’s the image in my mind as I erase my presence…

What I’m doing now is a technique called 【Presence Concealment】. Extra saw this essential skill for hunters in “an isekai broadcast of a hunting god” (seriously, she’s really into these isekai streams).

Without making a sound, I completely stop the slight leakage of magical power that normally emanates from my body. Then, I wait. I am a stone. A harmless stone…

About three minutes later, by my estimation, my prey crawls out of a burrow at the base of a tree, sniffing around. It’s a mouse. Its formal name is the Naked Awful-tasting Mouse. It looks like a naked mole rat from my previous life but green in color, and hairless. It’s about 20cm in length.

In this world, any creature that harms people, regardless of its strength, is called a “monster.” It’s a very human-centric and broad classification. These creatures are weak, but those living near human settlements are considered monsters because they ravage crops.

These mice taste awful. They’re rightfully named Naked “Awful-tasting” Mice. Their meat is smelly, tough, and bitter. In Fenoben Village, traps are set regularly to protect the crops from them, but even though the villagers kill them, they don’t eat them. They just kill and bury them in holes.

…But, no matter how bad it tastes, meat is meat, right?

The meat of the Naked Awful-tasting Mouse is smelly, tough, and bitter, but it’s not poisonous.

That means it’s edible! (Well, even if it were poisonous, I’ve been eating caterpillars and such anyway.)

Ah, what a waste the people of Fenoben Village are making!

If I weren’t treated as a cursed child, I’d take all that exterminated mouse meat and eat it!

Oops, sorry, Extra.

I take a pebble out of my pocket and get ready.

The Naked Awful-tasting Mouse sniffs around the ground, twitching its nose. They’re omnivores.

Probably looking for insects crawling on the ground. But, unfortunately, you won’t be able to eat.

Because… you’re going to be my meal!!

“…………Shush!!!”

I momentarily and intensively strengthen my arm with 【Body Strengthening】 and throw the pebble.

I throw pebbles every day for hunting.

My 【Stone Throwing】 skill is quite high.

I’m incomparable to amateurs like Uncle Rand.

The pebble released from my right hand hits the mouse on the head as if sucked in!

It (he? she?) loses consciousness and stops moving.

I quickly approach and twist its neck just to be sure.

I gut it with a sharp pointed stone I use frequently, removing the smelly parts.

This process is also applying techniques Extra saw in “an isekai broadcast of a hunting god.”

Well, it seems they didn’t eat mice in that broadcast.

Anyway, with this, tonight’s main dish is secured.

I’ll pick some tasty vegetables on the way back and make a salad!

Even though I’m a carnivorous girl, I need to eat vegetables for beauty!

Oh! Extra, don’t sweat the small stuff.

If it’s edible, it’s a vegetable to me.

In other words, it’s not an exaggeration to say that all edible plants in this world are vegetables.

Insects, grass, mice.

This world is overflowing with food.

What a wonderful, easy-to-survive-in otherworld!

………………………………………….

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!

Damn iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit!!

Living alone in the forest without relying on parents from a young age!? Surviving by eating poisonous caterpillars and mice!!?

Don’t screw with meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!

…Yeah, maybe I’m just a bit tired.

I’ll go back to the base today, eat, and go straight to sleep…