Let's Hunt Some Gross-Tasting Mice in the Forest!

“......Haah.”

With a sigh, I make my way through Naso Forest, my home turf next to Fenoben Village.

It's probably around 2 PM, by my previous life's clock.

Since it's early summer, the days are plenty long, but I can't afford to be careless.

I need to secure some fresh meat for tonight as soon as possible.

<First you launch into a hyper self-introduction, then you sigh and get all gloomy...... You're certainly busy today, aren't you, Emi?>

Omake-sama, the roommate in my head, giggles as she talks to me.

Ah, yeah, I just thought I'd take stock of my situation for once......

And once I did, I took some serious mental damage from how awful it all is.

Sorry for the sudden mood swing.

Me suddenly getting all hyper like that, it was creepy, right?

<It's perfectly fine! I've already grown used to your weird antics, Emi!>

Omake-sama replies brightly.

Having been with her for a while, I've realized she's a pretty carefree and easygoing person.

And occasionally insensitive, too. ‘Weird antics,’ seriously?

<Never mind that, look. The leaves up ahead are badly bug-eaten. I bet there are lots of Polly Bugs. Please be careful, just in case.>

I'm fine, since I'm keeping 【Body Strengthening】 active.

Right, let me explain a few things here.

First, Naso Forest is a bright forest with scattered giant trees, and in early spring, it's an absolutely beautiful place.

However, that brightness causes a huge problem as summer approaches.

That problem is the massive proliferation of a plant called Naso.

Because these things grow in such abundance, this forest is called Naso Forest.

Naso is a plant with thick stems and big, round leaves, kind of like the Japanese knotweed of my previous life; they spread like crazy in bright places, and by early summer they're giant weeds taller than a grown-up and still growing.

Well, anyway, they're tall weeds, and since there are fewer leaves near the base, it's actually easier for a short 5-year-old like me to walk through......

The trouble is, these Naso plants are the favorite food of a toxic caterpillar called the Polly Bug.

It's not touch-it-and-you-die levels of toxic, but if the hairs prick your skin, it gets incredibly itchy.

That's why I always keep 【Body Strengthening】 active to increase my skin's defense so the hairs don't penetrate.

I mean, the clothes I'm wearing are just Cody's old shirt and pants cut to elbow and knee length, so they have zero defensive power.

Furthermore, since I don't have shoes and walk around barefoot, I can't let 【Body Strengthening】 drop if I want to avoid injuries.

Ah, 【Body Strengthening】 is a technique that uses magic power to make the body tougher.

Omake-sama mentioned briefly before reincarnating that this is a “world of swords and magic,” and indeed, it's a world where magic...... or more accurately, the magic power that serves as the basis for magic, exists.

【Body Strengthening】 is a very popular magic power manipulation technique, and most people use it just a tiny bit unconsciously.

In my case, I said bye-bye (euphemism) to my mother right around the time I was weaned, so to survive and not lose to child neglect (no euphemism), I had to make my body as tough as possible.

That's when Omake-sama taught me how to use 【Body Strengthening】, which she <saw on the Fighting God's Isekai Reincarnation Broadcast>!

Thanks to that, my body became tougher, injuries heal faster, and I stopped getting stomachaches from eating bugs!

Furthermore, according to information Omake-sama <saw on the God of Magic's Isekai Reincarnation Broadcast>, this world apparently has what she calls a ‘template setting’: living things here find it easier to raise their total magic power if they keep using magic power from a young age. And since I've been using magic power nonstop for 【Body Strengthening】, my total magic power is going up too, as a little omake, a bonus.

I'm not sure exactly how much higher my current stats are compared to an average 5-year-old...... but compared to a 5-year-old by the standards of my previous life, I'm undoubtedly overwhelmingly strong and tough.

Tough enough that I can actually live alone in a forest.

Really, I don't know if it's thanks to the magic power or what, but this life's body has pretty high specs, which is a lifesaver.

On the flip side, I wonder why I was so bad at both studying and sports in my previous life?

Now then, anyway, back to the topic.

On the underside of the leaves in front of me, just as Omake-sama pointed out, Polly Bugs were clinging in thick clusters.

Each one of these is a chunky, black caterpillar about the size of an adult's thumb; if you're not used to them, they're pretty repulsive.

I remember peeking from the bushes once when these things clung to the leafy vegetables in Uncle Rand's field and his wife made a huge fuss.

I casually grabbed one, roughly plucked off its hairs, and popped it into my mouth.

The texture is mushy and it tastes sour; there are other caterpillars that are much tastier, but as a snack for when I'm feeling a bit peckish, I'd say it's a passing grade.

However, these alone can't be tonight's main dish.

After all, you want to eat some hearty meat at night, right?

Not bugs, but animal meat.

I've been a carnivorous girl since my previous life, after all~!

<Oh! Emi, look!>

......Ah, there they are, Omake-sama.

Little round pellets. Their droppings.

......They're still warm.

They're nearby. Definitely.

<Let's erase our presence.>

You don't have to tell me.

I stop moving and concentrate.

I become one with the forest.

With that image, I erase my presence......

What I'm doing now is a technique called 【Presence Concealment】.

An essential hunter's skill that Omake-sama <saw on the Hunting God's Isekai Reincarnation Broadcast> (seriously, she really is a die-hard Isekai Reincarnation Broadcast fan, huh).

Without making a sound, I completely stop the magic power that usually leaks slightly from my body.

Then, I wait for a while.

I am a stone.

A harmless little stone...... aaand done.

About 3 minutes later, by my internal clock, my prey came creeping out of a burrow at the base of a tree, its nose twitching.

It was a mouse.

Its official name is the Naked Awful-tasting Mouse.

In appearance, it's a hairless mouse, like a naked mole-rat from my previous life but colored green.

The large ones are about 20 cm long.

In this world, anything that harms humans, whether it's strong or weak, is called a “monster.”

It's a pretty human-centric and crude classification, isn't it?

These guys are weak, but since the ones living near human settlements devour crops, they barely qualify as monsters.

These things taste awful.

The flavor, I mean.

They're named the Naked ‘Awful-tasting’ Mouse for a reason.

Their meat is smelly, tough, and bitter.

Even in Fenoben Village, they regularly set traps to cull them to protect the crops, but the villagers don't eat them even after killing them.

They just kill them and bury them in a hole.

......But no matter how awful it tastes, meat is meat, right?

Naked Awful-tasting Mouse meat is smelly, tough, and bitter, but it's not poisonous.

In other words, it's edible meat! (Well, I eat caterpillars even though they're toxic).

Ah, the people of Fenoben Village are being so wasteful!

If I weren't treated as a cursed child, I'd take all those culled mice and eat them!

<Emi! Please concentrate......>

Oops, sorry, Omake-sama.

I take a pebble out of my pocket and take aim.

The Naked Awful-tasting Mouse is sniffing around the ground, its nose twitching.

They are omnivores.

It's probably looking for bugs crawling on the ground.

But too bad for you.

You won't be eating dinner.

Because...... you're going to be my dinner!!

“............Shu!!!”

In an instant, I focus 【Body Strengthening】 on my arm and throw the pebble.

I throw pebbles every single day for hunting.

My 【Stone Throw】 technique is top-notch.

Some rank amateur called Uncle Rand can't even compare.

The pebble leaves my right hand and flies into the mouse's head like it's being sucked in. Hit!

He (or she?) lost consciousness and stopped moving.

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

With my trusty sharp-edged pebble, I slit open the belly and get the smelly bits out.

This processing, too, uses techniques Omake-sama <saw on the Hunting God's Isekai Reincarnation Broadcast>.

Well, it seems they weren't eating mice in that broadcast, though.

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

Now I'll just collect some tasty vegetables along the way and make a salad!

No matter how much of a carnivorous girl I am, I have to eat vegetables for the sake of my beauty!

<Emi, that is not a vegetable. It is grass.>

Geez! Omake-sama, the details don't matter.

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

In other words, it's no exaggeration to say that all edible plants in this world are vegetables.

Bugs, grass, mice.

This world is overflowing with food.

What a wonderful, easy-mode isekai to survive in!

................................................

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

DAMMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!

Living alone in a forest since childhood without relying on parents!? Surviving by eating toxic caterpillars and mice!!?

DON'T SCREW WITH MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

<Emi, aren't you a bit too emotionally unstable today? Are you alright?>

......Yeah, maybe I'm just a little tired.

Once I get back to the base today, I'll just eat and go straight to sleep......