A Taste of Summer: Myogomyogoshugo

“Myogooo...... Myogomyogomyogo! ......Shugoooooooo!”

Hello! It's me, Emi, the girl searching for food in the middle of summer in Naso Forest!

“Myogooo...... Myogomyogomyogo! ......Shugoooooooo!”

And that unpleasant cry you've been hearing for a while now? It's the courtship song of the Myogomyogoshugo!

The Myogomyogoshugo has a name that's exactly the same as its cry, but you can just think of it as an insect that holds the same position as the minmin cicada in my previous life!

......Fu!!

“Myogooo...... Myogomyogo...... Myogo!!??”

The pebble I launched with a no-look throw hit the tree trunk where the Myogomyogoshugo was perched, and the Myogomyogoshugo was so surprised it fainted. It fell straight to the ground.

These things have such loud voices, yet they're way too cowardly.

Aren't they too weak as wild creatures? What's up with their ecology?

For now, I approach the Myogomyogoshugo before it wakes up, pluck its wings so it can't fly away, and put it in a basket I wove from vines.

I won't kill them yet, since that would ruin the freshness.

I'll catch a few more of these, put them on skewers, and grill them.

They're pretty big and have plenty of meat on them, the forest's signature taste of summer.

By the way, according to Omake-sama, Myogomyogoshugo are common creatures in this world and are undoubtedly just insects, but because their cry is loud and unpleasant, they've been certified as creatures that harm people, in other words, as monsters.

Isn't the certification for monsters in this world way too loose?

Now then, anyway, back to the topic.

It's been 1 month since it came to light that the village chief's son, Torch-kun, is a reincarnator with the 【Holy Goddess's Blessing】, and a hero.

In other words, it's been 1 month since I was exiled from Trash Village and became a vagrant.

My life hasn't changed in any particular way, and my days of running around the forest searching for food continue.

To be honest, I did want to just get away from that village already, since I have no good memories of it, it's sitting on a time bomb called a hero, and on top of that I can't get seasonings there anymore, but Omake-sama stopped me.

She said I should leave the forest only after I've grown larger and stronger.

<Because this world is nothing like the world of your previous life, Emi! It's full of danger! There are plenty of thieves, and there are tons of goblins and orcs that eat humans! No matter how strong you are for a 5-year-old, it's still too dangerous for you to take on the likes of them!>

Heeh, I didn't know because I'd never seen them in the forest, but this world really does have monsters I've heard of, like goblins and orcs, huh.

<Yes! I saw them on the Adventure God's Isekai Reincarnation Broadcast, so there's no mistake!>

......I can't help but feel like Omake-sama takes the information from the broadcasts a bit too literally, but since I don't have any other sources of information, I'll just believe her for now.

So that's why I'm still living at my base in Naso Forest, where it's safe.

Why is this forest safe, or rather, should I say the area around that Trash Village? According to Omake-sama, it comes down to a complex tangle of geographical and climatic conditions that can't be explained simply.

However, it's precisely because it's safe that a hero was born in that village.

Apparently, that Trash Village was chosen as the ‘Starting Village’.

<The village where the hero is born, and the region where they adventure in the early stages, have no strong monsters! This is one of the staples of the Holy Goddess's broadcasts.>

Well, it wouldn't be very interesting as a story if the hero, who's supposed to be active later on, got killed in the early stages......

I'd been wondering why Caro-chan, a presumed demon, doesn't just hurry up and kill the hero off, and while she probably has all sorts of official excuses ready, I bet it's just one more way to move along the scenario the gods wrote.

Really, the more I think about it, the deeper my pity for that hero becomes. Serves him right.

By all means, do your best to save the world as the gods' toy!

◇ ◇ ◇

While I was catching bugs and thinking about various things, my basket had become packed with Myogomyogoshugo before I knew it.

“Myogo......!!?”

A Myogomyogoshugo that woke up inside the basket tried to scream, but I stopped it by slamming the basket against the ground, knocking it unconscious.

<My, you sure caught a lot, Emi!>

You're right, Omake-sama.

With this many, I'll definitely be full!

It'll be dark soon, so should we start a fire early and eat them while they're still fresh?

<Yes! ......Ah! Emi, look! Up ahead, on the right...... can you see those bluish, beady berries?>

Ah, yeah, I see them too. The ones on the short tree, right? What are those?

<Those are Shoma berries! They're a rare kind of berry with a sharp, spicy kick, used as a high-class seasoning in some regions! I saw them on the Gourmet God's Isekai Reincarnation Broadcast!>

Seriously? Alright, let's grab 'em! We'll sprinkle them on the Myogomyogoshugo and eat 'em!

<They crumble easily if you squeeze them, so please crush them into a powder before putting them in a bag! Apparently that takes away the bitterness.>

We were floating on air over our unexpected harvest. We were totally floating.

But that fluffy, happy feeling was soon to be chilled.

Our base...... the Kariva Great Tree, had been occupied.