Isekai Lizardman Survival Log

North of the village. At the entrance of the forest, which had been dug up and strewn with stumps.

Rustle―

I walked along the wide path that had been created, trampling the flattened wildflowers that had been crushed when dragging the Tarasque.

The path that had formed in the middle of the forest was wide enough to leave plenty of room even with arms outstretched. The overturned soft soil covering it made it look like a primitive road.

Until now, we hadn’t interacted with other villages or tribes, but with such a large path created, it would be impossible not to in the future.

I walked along the path with a spear slung over my shoulder, which I would have normally left behind as cumbersome.

“Boss. Are you feeling alright?”
“This is good enough.”

My body creaked from only having rested for two days, but it wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t move.

Chik-chik, sitting on my other shoulder, looked at me worriedly, but I wasn’t just putting on a brave face. When I used to crawl around like a lizard in nature, I had to grit my teeth and run even when I had no energy to move, let alone muscle aches.

Compared to the times when I didn’t even know how to detach my tail and had to run for my life, this is nothing.

“We can’t put it off any longer.”

Above all, we needed to make contact with the orcs who were presumed to have clashed with the Tarasque first.

Given their belligerent nature, they might declare war, claiming we stole their prey, so we needed to reach an agreement before it was too late, or it would become troublesome one way or another.

“But will we be able to communicate?”
“We should be able to, more or less.”

At least orcs aren’t such a foolish race.

They might be battle-crazed due to constantly surging adrenaline, but they’re not madmen who charge in without thinking.

Except for one orc tribe near the forest, they’re not the kind of people whose heads are as hot as their hearts.

Moreover, unlike the generally gloomy trolls, orcs are all cheerful, so it might end with just a light sparring match.

Even if not, if we join their feast for a day, we might not become brothers, but we could become friends.

“Do we really need to become friendly?”
“From now on, we’ll need to rely on the forest a bit, so we should have at least one friendly force.”

The forest is home to not only orcs and trolls but various tribes and villages, and with limited prey, conflicts are bound to arise.

At such times, shouldn’t we have at least one ally to take our side?

Since trolls and orcs were the two largest forces in the area, we needed to ally with one of them, and in that respect, the cheerful orcs, even if a bit loose in the head, were more suitable neighbors than the selfish trolls.

Wouldn’t you feel more affinity towards orcs who would bleed for a friend even if not blood-related, rather than trolls who would betray even their own kind for personal gain?

Just look at Jamel, who came to scam our village on his chief’s orders, only to be chased out penniless after taking advantage of us. Would we be any different?

The moment we join hands with them, we’d have to worry about when we might be backstabbed.

“Not all orcs belong to the same tribe, right?”
“Still, they should be of some help.”

Of course, as orcs are divided into tribes, not all of them would be on our side, but wouldn’t they at least lend an ear to their kin’s words?

At the very least, they would receive it more positively than if we were to make claims on our own.

“And we can look for elves while we’re at it.”

When you think of orcs, you think of elves, and vice versa, right? Although not in a positive sense, they might have some clues.

“Elves…? Ah, is it because of the elixir?”
“Yeah.”

I nodded while stroking Chik-chik, who clapped its hands as if it had realized something.

[Fairy Elixir]

Also known as the Elixir of Immortality.

It’s the legendary elixir that grants the immortality possessed by elves, which everyone has heard of at least once.

As with any rumor, there might be exaggerations, but it should at least extend one’s lifespan by a few years.

I confirmed its actual existence from the uncle, so we just need to figure out how to trade for it.

The elves probably won’t give it up easily, but we need to obtain it by any means necessary.

-Well… I think six months is my limit.

With only six months left for the old man, we needed to get our hands on the elixir even if it meant going to war.

By the time my creaking body had somewhat loosened up.

A clearing at the end of the wide path came into view.

Although only a few days had passed, the clearing, which felt like we hadn’t visited in a long time, still bore the traces of that day. The countless craters scattered everywhere like scars showed how fierce the battle had been.

“Wow….”

Chik-chik stared blankly with its jaw dropped.

It’s not new, but it’s amazing we survived.

Not only did we survive, but we even managed to kill the monster. Even now, I don’t know how we did it.

As soon as we realized its defense wasn’t that high, we immediately changed our strategy to subjugation, but it was a miracle made possible because it was young and stubbornly stood its ground to protect non-existent eggs.

If it had moved normally, we might be in its stomach by now.

“You’ll dislocate your jaw.”

I poked Chik-chik’s lower jaw while smiling bitterly, and it closed its mouth in surprise and looked at me.

It stared at me with round eyes, seemingly overwhelmed, so I stroked its head as if messing it up, and the reverence in its eyes disappeared, replaced by an annoyed expression.

“Boss!”
“Why are you looking at me so seriously?”

It puffed up its cheeks, apparently quite angry, but a furball the size of a palm is only cute when angry.

Even that anger seemed to dissipate as I gently stroked its head, and it climbed up to its usual spot on my neck.

“Boss! Let’s go!”
“Alright.”

I stroked the cheerfully smiling furball again and extended my foot between the craters.

Perhaps because the Tarasque had fired spines indiscriminately, there was no trace of the weapons that had filled the clearing. Even after searching through the uneven craters, not even fragments could be found.

“…Boss.”
“We have no choice.”

Finally, I started digging the soil using the long spear as a shovel.

It’s an inconvenient tool to use as a shovel, but it’s faster than using bare hands, so we have to make do.

If there’s any consolation, it’s that the soil was soft due to the chaos, allowing the spear tip to sink in easily.

As I was silently digging the ground, dust rose from beside me.

When I looked down, I saw Chik-chik digging the ground with its tiny hands, yet its speed in excavating the soil was incredibly fast.

Perhaps because it originally lived in burrows, it seemed that if left alone, it might find what we’re looking for on its own.

At that astounding speed, I just stared at it, and sensing my gaze, it raised its head, its white fur covered in dirt.

“Boss?”
“It’s nothing.”

As I looked down at it silently, it tilted its head as if something was strange, but soon resumed digging.

I couldn’t let that tiny creature work hard alone, so I started digging the ground with the spear again.

How much time had passed? As the sun had passed its zenith and was starting to slowly descend.

“I found it!”

Chik-chik finally succeeded in finding a fragment.

It spun around happily, holding what was probably an axe blade fragment, then hugged it preciously and climbed onto my shoulder.

“I’ll start now!”

It carefully plucked a single strand of its fur, placed it on the metal fragment, and threw it into the air.

The metal fragment flew in the air for a moment, then melded into the single strand of fur, which unnaturally elongated and became a line.

“Let’s go!”

I stroked Chik-chik’s head as it puffed out its chest proudly, smiling bitterly.

“If you had just plucked a handful of fur, we wouldn’t have had to search so troublesomely.”
“No way! It takes a long time to grow!”

Just like when we first searched for the Tarasque in this forest, if we had plucked a handful of fur to use, we wouldn’t have needed any catalyst. But because all the fine hairs that had grown during the molting season had been plucked out, there was no fur left to pluck.

If we could find it in one go, even Chik-chik would have been willing to pluck some fur, but there was no guarantee we could find it in just one or two tries like when we searched for the Tarasque, so we ended up finding a catalyst.

Still, with the added catalyst, the power of the spell should have increased, so we should probably be able to find it in one go.

I soothed Chik-chik, who kept tapping my crown and urging me on, and followed the thin line.

We passed through the up-and-down craters, struggled a bit in the dense forest due to my bulky body and the spear on my shoulder, went around the impenetrably dense forest where no path was visible, and finally, a somewhat passable plain came into view.

Phew―

“It’s going to be tough on the way back.”

Although I marked the path on the way, we had taken so many detours that the route had become quite complicated.

“Chik-chik. I’m counting on you for the way back.”
“What―?!”

At my declaration that I would pluck its fur for the return journey, it cried out as if shocked and started tapping my crown, but.

“We can’t stay here forever.”
“Ugh….”

Knowing it couldn’t be helped, it vented its frustration on my crown in a gloomy voice.

As I felt the steady tapping on my crown, I followed the line.

――!
―――!
―――ah!

A booming war cry shook my head.

The roar, comparable to Kart’s, was mixed with the sound of air escaping due to their characteristic tusks.

“Let’s hurry!”

Chik-chik, excited about finding the target, stopped tapping my crown and started urging me on.

‘That was close.’

Judging by the loud war cries, they must have just formed their expedition.

If we had encountered them after the expedition had already departed, given their nature, we wouldn’t have been able to avoid a battle.

In that case, someone would have had to bleed, so it was a close call.

I hastened my steps towards them.

To make our presence known, I deliberately stepped heavily on the underbrush and broke branches to reveal our presence.

Crack

“Who goes there―!”

As soon as the sound of breaking branches was heard, a thunderous command rang out, and the orcs raised their axes in unison, heightening their guard and assuming battle positions.

Taking in their skilled movements, I approached the orc who seemed to be the leader and had shouted towards us, raising both hands.

Surprised by the sudden appearance of a lizardman, the orcs started murmuring, when.

“Qui―et―!”

Pffft

The orc who seemed to be the leader subdued them with a single command, then raised his head to meet my eyes.

“Stranger. Who are you?”
“I am Rex, from Kanash’s village.”
“I see. Rex. Pleased to meet you. I am Karakt, chief of the Red Claw.”

At the words “Red Claw,” I looked at Karakt’s chest and saw a red tattoo that looked like it had been clawed by a beast.

‘Red Claw… not bad.’

It’s a bit ambiguous, but not the worst or second worst. They’re better than the likes of Blue Tusk, so I’d say they’re a decent choice.

“So, Rex. What is your relationship with Kanash?”
“I’m his adopted son.”
“Adopted son? Naga adopted a lizardman?”

Karakt tilted his head for a moment, then nodded.

“If it’s the small dragon Kanash, it’s possible.”

I secretly puffed out my chest at Karakt’s reaction. The relationship between the old man and me would be shocking to other lizardmen or naga.

It’s essentially like saying he adopted the enemy of his family, not a choice a sane person could easily make.

Probably because the old man’s reputation is so great that even Karakt, who looks young for a chief, knows about it, he accepts it so easily. If it were another naga or lizardman, they would have thrown an axe at me for talking nonsense.

“So, Rex, adopted son of the small dragon. What business do you have with us?”
“Ah, it’s nothing much.”

Perhaps because I was inwardly relieved that the atmosphere was better than expected.

“I just happened to kill the Tarasque.”

I blurted out the truth without any embellishment or excuse.

“Pffft―?”