Into a Happy Dream with Omake-sama

“【Ignition】”

At the tip of my outstretched palm, a small fireball manifests in the empty air.

The fireball catches on the dry leaves and twigs I'd treated with 【Desiccation】 beforehand, and they start going pachipachi.

I pierce the meat of the Naked Awful-tasting Mouse I hunted earlier with my favorite sharp, long stone, and wait patiently for it to roast over the campfire.

When I look up, the cloudless sky is already purple.

It's starting to get darker and darker, and stars more beautiful than anything imaginable in my previous life are beginning to twinkle.

The air is just so clean.

While enjoying the faint sounds of insects going chii, chii from the surrounding grass, I quietly gaze at the flickering flames of the campfire.

There are a lot of hardships in this life, but times like this aren't so bad.

I managed to survive today, too.

Immersed in a sense of satisfaction that masks my anxiety for tomorrow, I wait for the meat to cook.

......This is my base in Naso Forest, the clearing in front of the Kariva Great Tree.

The Kariva Great Tree is an incredibly massive tree that grows acorn-like nuts in the autumn.

Its trunk is so thick that 10 adults holding hands couldn't make it all the way around, and it has several hollows; I sleep in one of them.

Since the hollow is a fair way up the trunk, I'm safe from beasts that prowl the ground, the view is great, and it's reasonably roomy and warm. It's my favorite piece of real estate.

......When I first found this hollow, there was a previous tenant that looked like some kind of giant owl, but I've already killed it, so this is my home now.

It was delicious......

By the way, the 【Ignition】 I just used is one of the few spells I can cast.

Using magic power to cause a chemical reaction and generate a small fireball...... it's one of the spells known as life magic.

Besides 【Ignition】, the other spells I can use are 【Desiccation】, which manipulates and removes moisture from things like dry leaves, and 【Water Collection】, which gathers moisture from the air to create drinking water.

I suspect 【Body Strengthening】 and 【Presence Concealment】 might be magic too......

But from the perspective of the people in this world, it seems they aren't classified as magic.

Well, that's just a classification decided by humans; since the root of these techniques is the manipulation of magic power, I think it's fine to consider them the same thing in the end.

<Emi, isn't it about time?>

......Yeah, you're right, Omake-sama.

I bite into the mouse meat, now cooked through and a little less stinky.

Tough.

I focus 【Body Strengthening】 on my jaw and teeth, forcing myself to bite it off.

Incidentally, I'm also protecting the inside of my mouth with 【Body Strengthening】, so I won't get burned by this level of heat.

The more I chew, the more the stink and bitterness spread through my mouth, but since I sprinkled on the salt Cody gave (gave......?) me, it tastes halfway decent.

Halfway decent compared to usual, that is.

<Haaaah...... it's delicious, Emi! Eating really is the greatest entertainment there is!>

Omake-sama and I share our senses, but how we evaluate the stimuli we feel is different for each of us.

......Having never even done any “eating things” in all her long years as a ‘Vessel of a God,’ Omake-sama is blessed with a happy palate that finds basically everything delicious.

<......Did you just make fun of me a little?>

I didn't, I didn't!

<If you've decided I'm taste-blind, I take offense! I'm just a little more accepting, that's all. I can tell flavors apart perfectly well, you know!>

Inside my head, Omake-sama is huffing with anger.

<But no matter what the food is, if I get to eat it with you, Emi, it tastes absolutely wonderful!>

H-hey! Don't just say stuff like that out of nowhere!...... You're making me blush!

Feeling suddenly embarrassed, I quickly finished my meal, climbed the tree, and crawled into my bed.

I got a bit down today after thinking about everything, but in the end, I managed to feel a little more positive.

Tomorrow will surely be okay. Tomorrow will surely be an even more wonderful day than today.

Thank you for everything, Omake-sama.

Ehehe, it's because you're here that I can keep doing my best.

From here on...... I'm counting on you......

<Ufufu, likewise. I'm counting on you too, Emi......>

With a warm feeling in my heart, I departed for the world of dreams.

......That night, I dreamed that Omake-sama and I were eating a feast in a warm house.

Since I went to all the trouble of being reborn, I want to treat Omake-sama to lots more delicious food.

I'm sure that would be a wonderful thing.

Aiming for that kind of future, for now, I just have to survive.

Let's do our best together tomorrow, too, Omake-sama......

But that happy slumber.

The moment the sun rose the next morning.

Got smashed to pieces by a tremendous roar and tremor, as it turns out.