Chapter 72 – A Tribute to Matilda-san (3): I think it’s okay for me to just go home now.

We made our way through the forest and arrived at what seemed to be the area Matilda-san mentioned where the bugs were abnormally multiplying.

And… yep, there they are.

Huge bugs—basically, giant versions of *that* bug—were clinging to tree trunks or crawling around the fallen leaves.

One good thing about their size: they’re easy to spot. At this distance, they haven’t noticed me yet, so they’re not running away or trying to jump at me.

Which means, if I just give them a gentle puff of 1 Yen’s worth of bug spray…

Oh wow, that’s impressive.

I mean—maybe Japanese bug spray is really just that effective? Or is it because, obviously, bugs in this world haven’t evolved any resistance to insecticides?

The bug I aimed for—okay, let’s just call them Gs now—dropped immediately. And so did the other nearby Gs that got caught in the cloud. They stopped moving right away.

Could this be my adaptation skill passively enhancing the effect?

Of course, when it comes to bugs, you need bug spray, and I do strongly believe this is very effective against cockroaches. 　Does this mean that this belief is boosting its power through the adaptation skill?

Still, this is… really effective.

So effective, in fact, that I’m worried about the environmental damage it could cause to the forest. It seems like it could have a negative impact on other insects as well. But there are just so many Gs… I think some extermination is necessary.

“Kirara, are you doing okay?”

This is something I’d also been worried about. It’s also why I didn’t bring Mimi.

“As I said before, my true body is that tree. It’s fine. Besides, from what I can tell, the spray doesn’t seem to be affecting plants even when it gets on them a little.”

“No nausea or sudden hair color changes or anything?”

“I’m fine.”

Good. Kirara seems to be okay, and from what she tells me, the forest trees are too.

When I spray insecticide on the hornets that come to my garden, the spray sometimes ends up getting on the trees, and every time that happens I worry about whether it’s okay.

I think it’s probably the oil in the spray or maybe the sudden cooling effect that’s bad for plants. Maybe the adaptation skill is helping with that too?

In any case, the real issue is the bug massacre, but… I’ve come to terms with the fact that some of it is just necessary.

The forest is vast, and even if I wipe them out in one area, more would probably just flow in from elsewhere…

So for now, I’ll just keep mercilessly exterminating every G I see.

I’ve never been more grateful than I am now for this “1,000 yen repeat purchase” ability—being able to summon something wherever I look.

As long as I can see them, I can snipe them before they notice me.

And Kirara is also amazing.

“Barrier deployed!”

She cast a barrier spell that repels any Gs that try to fly at us.

Even though I can attack from a distance, there are times when they fly right at me. Every time it happens, I let out a little scream—but the fact that they never actually land on me is incredibly reassuring. Kirara is amazing. Bless her.

Now, as for the required subjugation parts… gathering these antennae is low-key awful.

And even if they have magic stones, I really don’t want to dissect these things to get them. And most of the time, they don’t even have magic stones. The disappointment isn’t worth it. Let’s just give up on the stones. Not worth it.

No wonder no one wants this request…

Yeah. Totally understand now.

So, Kirara and I continued exterminating Gs when—

“That’s strange…”

No matter how many we defeat, more just keep coming, like they’re spawning out of thin air.

What the heck? Where are they all coming from?

“Hmm, I sense a strange presence… faint, but coming from that direction,”

 Kirara said, wrinkling her nose. Wait—you can smell a presence?

This is that thing, right?… like, a premonition of some kind of trouble brewing?

“Over there,” she said, pointing confidently in one direction.

“we… have to check it out, don’t we…”

I really don’t want to, but we need to figure out what’s going on.

I followed Kirara as she led the way. Sure enough, the deeper we went, the more Gs we encountered. Bug spray massacre intensifies…

And then we found it—a small hole, open in the ground. Gs were crawling out of it.

“What is this hole…”

Could this be… the nest? Something about it feels really ominous.

Would it be okay to just puff some bug spray into the hole?

As I was pondering that, Kirara, who was also observing the hole, spoke up.

“It’s a partially completed dungeon…”

Hold up, Kirara, I need more details.

“Tell me exactly what that means!”

A dungeon? There’re actually dungeons in this world?

“I’m still young, so I don’t know much. It’s part of the shared knowledge. Hmm, it’s hard to explain.”

Come on, don’t give me that. I managed to coax her into explaining more, and apparently, all sacred trees are connected through some kind of “sacred tree network.” Okay, what? I’ve never heard of it before.

It’s like there’s a shared server where knowledge is stored, and when needed, it downloads into you automatically?

By the way, Kirara has apparently uploaded the knowledge that “Luokdo tastes super good.” Completely useless info, but okay.

Anyway, it seems like the inside of this hole is turning into a dungeon. I’m not sure.

And right here in this hole, there just happens to be a G nest, I suppose.

When a dungeon is still forming, the boundary between dungeon space and regular space is fuzzy, so monsters can come and go freely.

Once it fully becomes a dungeon, the space separates, and monsters stop spilling out.

If it’s an early-stage dungeon, then thinning out the spawning small monsters will often stop the dungeon formation entirely. So basically, if we get rid of these Gs, it might stop the process. Maybe.

So, I’ve decided to go ahead and set that thing up.

Balfour fumigation insecticide! You know, the kind that releases thick clouds of smoke. I looked through my purchase history and found one for 253 yen, so I guess that’ll do for now.

“Kirara, think you can seal off this hole with a barrier?”

If we don’t block it, the Gs might just pour out when the smoke starts.

That would be… bad.

“I shall seal it with no gaps. Also, I’ll color it so you don’t have to see what’s inside.”

She clearly knows what’s coming. Kirara solemnly agreed to put up a proper barrier.

So first, I lightly sprayed some insecticide around the hole to take out any Gs nearby and clear the space. Then I set up the smoke bomb insecticide near the hole.

Once the smoke started billowing out, Kirara sealed the hole completely with a solid barrier.

I think I hear something tapping against the pitch-black barrier, but I can’t see anything, and I hear nothing. Actually, it’s quieter than I expected… Maybe the smoke is so effective that it’s basically instant KO?

Anyway, this will probably take about an hour. So… now what?

Actually… I’m too scared to check how it turns out, so maybe I’ll just… go home?

Yeah, that’s fine!

And then—

Tomorrow, I’ll come back to clean it up.

Sounds good!

Let’s go with that.

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