Translated by kuronochan

"E?to......"

After being treated kindly by punks, I looked at the guide memo.

"Caterpillars, they can be found in the『Beginner's Forest』, if you go straight from the south of the town.........huh."

It was a casual letter.

However, there was a continuation in the guide memo.

"Whatever happens, pPlease do not enter the Desperand Forest to the north.

Double A-Rank Chimera Lion and B6 Mad Wild Boar Piglet exists there.

Even if you enter accidentally, rescue teams will not come."

"What do Double-A and B6 means? Kehma."

"Double A means two A-Rank adventurers.

B6 means that six B-Rank adventurers, only then that it could be subjugated safely."

"I see......"

The useless goddess nodded.

However, I had a cold sweat.

The forest that we were in, it was such a dangerous place!!

However, thinking about it oppositely, that is the reason we spend time there safely.

Because there are high-level monsters around, there are only a few monsters that escape their territory.

As long as the territories are known, the possibility of accidents happening can be minimized.

After walking for a while.

A green forest can be seen.

There is probably many adventurers who visit it regularly. There is a proper path in the forest.

But even so, we entered warily.

"GyaGyaGyaGya."

"Kiiー, kiiー."

"Hoー, hoー."

Cries of birds and insects could be heard, but Laura and I were not attacked.

It is like, as living things in the forest, they know that the creatures that pass through this path(in short, adventurers) are dangerous.

We continued to advance, and it is the end of the path.

In front of us, it spread, tens of leaves......

That was, really, leaves.

However, they are big.

It has about as tall as my waist and sufficiently broad that kids could easily mount on it.

Those leaves were like Fuki, and they grew from the ground.

A 30cm long caterpillar was munching those leaves.

There is one of them riding one leaf.

"I guess that this is the Green Caterpillar?"

"It seems like so!"

I approached the leaves to find eggs.

"Kyata?!!"

The nearest caterpillar noticed my existence.

"Kyatapiiiーーーーーーーーーー!!!"

The Caterpillar raised its body and released a supersonic-like sound.

"Kyata?!"

"Kyapi!"

"Kyatapiiiiiーーーーーーーーーー!!!"

The caterpillar that heard the voice made their bodies round at once.

They fell from the leaves.

Half of them pretended to be dead and the other half ran with a dash.

The dictionary goddess Laura that knows what she knows started explaining.

"It's their instincts that by taking different actions, their swarm would not be annihilated, even if those that run away were targeted or those that pretended to be dead does."

"I see."

When I understood it like that, the caterpillar that shouted spits out thread.

It is a movement from its instinct, not caring if it dies as long as the swarm lives on.

Insects that think of the whole swarm as one individual also exist on Earth.

For example, aphids.

Aphids are sap-sucking insects.

However, if the colony becomes too large, all of them will have a mutual destruction.

That is why, when their colony reaches a certain number, they release pheromones that attract their natural enemies.

And with that, they thin out themselves to prevent mutual destruction.

I could not help but to get moved to their sophisticated appearance as species.

I easily dodged the thread, neared the enemy and shouted.

"Wa!!"

(Kyatapi?!!)

The caterpillar that I shouted flinched then lost its consciousness.

It made its body round and fell tot he ground.

If it isn't resisting, there shouldn't be any reason to kill.

I searched for eggs with Laura.

"I found it!"

"There's also some here."

The size and shape of the egg are similar to that of a coconut.

It looks like that and has a pale yellowish white color.

I think you could understand if I say it's the same color as a hot cake batter before it's cooked?

(Coconut juice, I wanted to drink it at least once......)

I mean, really, looking at it like this, I could only see it as a chunk of delicious juice.

I looked around and picked up a bamboo leaf-like grass.

I used the stem as a substitute for straw and sucked the liquid inside.

It was like a pudding was changed into a juice, thick sweetness spread above my tongue.

Delicious.

Tererettete?.

I leveled up.

Level: 1279→1280

HP: 10955/10955 (↑7)

MP: 10094/10094 (↑8)

Strength: 9946 (↑6)

Vitality: 9871 (↑7)

Agility: 9852 (↑6)

Magic Powers: 9301 (↑7)

Learned Skills

None

Raised Skills

Mellow LV2 30/150 (↑10)

My mysterious skill rose, but I am convinced.

It truly is mellow.