Isekai Lizardman Survival Log

By the time I returned from feeding the fish in the lake, the sun had reached its zenith.

Just as when I was dragging the minced goblin meat earlier, I responded casually to Kart’s booming greeting as I stepped into the village.

As I entered the village, Jamel looked at me incredulously from his stall where only flies were swarming, but I proudly puffed out my chest.

Isn’t it common sense for modern people to pick up trash from the street and throw it in the garbage bin?

As I took a bite of the apple from the stall—which tasted like pineapple again—to satisfy my hunger, Jamel looked at me with disapproval.

“You… never mind.”

After satisfying my hunger, I left Jamel sighing deeply behind me and proceeded through the quiet village.

Perhaps because it was lunchtime, I crossed the slightly quieter square towards the largest hut in the village.

Creeak―

“Old man―! I’m coming in―!”

I shouted loudly as I pushed open the door that creaked like the old man’s joints, probably due to age.

My voice, comparable to Kart’s, struck the hut.

It probably echoed around the hut, but I hope they’ll understand. Our old man is getting on in years, so his hearing is starting to fail.

As I entered the hut, the musty air enveloped my body.

Enjoying the pleasantly humid air, I headed inside where I saw a giant snake sluggishly raising its body.

“Rex, you’ve come…? You’re late today….”
“I was delayed cleaning up some trash.”

I sat down roughly on the dirt floor and examined the old man’s face.

His eyes, which once might have shone golden like mine, were now unfocused and yellow like a goblin’s, as if coated with pus.

The cyan scales covering his entire body had turned dark and mottled, as if covered in mold.

Once, he might have been mistaken for a dragon’s offspring, but now anyone could see he looked like a dying old snake.

If he had eaten even one of the things people brought saying it was good for his health, he wouldn’t look like this. But as the village chief, he only thinks about opening his storehouse and not filling it up.

I carefully set down the box I was holding and took out a fist-sized jar from inside.

The jar emitted a refreshing scent, suggesting it contained a fairly precious herb decoction. The old man’s head turned instinctively, relying on his sense of smell.

“What’s that…?”
“Jamel brewed some herbs for you to drink, old man.”
“…No need.”

As expected, as soon as he heard the word ‘medicine’, he turned his head away. I carefully opened the lid and approached the old man.

“Jamel must have worked hard to brew this, so let’s just take one sip.”
“I said no need….”
“Ah, you’re being like this again, old man.”

For someone on his last legs, he sure is stubborn.

In a world where there are plenty of crazy people who would even resort to human sacrifice to live just one more day, throwing a tantrum over drinking one bowl of medicine is childish.

He knows how fortunate it is that someone wants him to live even one day longer, yet he’s still being so stubborn.

For the sake of Jamel’s sincerity and the old man’s health, I have to get this into his stomach somehow this time.

I carefully lifted the jar, making sure not to spill a single drop, and approached the old man.

The old man, sensing something was amiss, tried to back away, but.

“―Gack!”

He might have been able to avoid my hand when he was in his prime, but not with his aged body.

I wrapped my arm, thick as a log, around his head and forcibly opened his jaw.

Thud―

“It’s good for you, so let’s just take one bite―!”

I pinned down his thrashing body with my legs, like a child throwing a tantrum, and poured the elixir into his wide-open throat.

To prevent any mishap of it going down the wrong pipe, I pulled his windpipe and poured it directly into his esophagus.

When his arms were blocked, the old man swung his tail, but such feeble attacks couldn’t even scratch my scales, let alone my skin.

Ignoring the old man’s struggles, I only released my arm after shaking out every last drop of the elixir stuck to the inside of the jar.

“Ke―ack. You insolent brat….”
“Well, if you had just drunk it when I asked nicely, it would have been much better.”

After coughing for a while, the old man glared at me with noticeably clearer eyes.

It works well. Did Jamel pour in an elixir instead of just herbs?

“I picked up a beast crawling on all fours and raised it as a person…. What an ungrateful brat.”
“It’s because I’m grateful that I’m feeding you medicine directly like this.”
“Shameless brat…. I should have let the wild boar eat you back then.”
“I’m doing this all for your health, you know. You’re being too harsh.”

I replied with a grin to the old man’s sharp reaction.

Others might not notice, but the old man, being a fellow reptile, seemed to recognize it and scrunched up his face.

Of course, only I would be able to recognize that scrunched-up face.

“So, how do you feel seeing my face after so long?”
“You look like a half-chewed goblin.”
“Didn’t you used to say I looked like you when you were young?”
“I never said such a thing.”

I laughed again as I watched the old man turn his head away as if sulking.

Seeing this, the old man sighed deeply with his face all scrunched up.

“Who on earth do you take after….”
“I take after you, old man. Who else would I take after?”
“You never back down, not even an inch.”

The old man sighed again and lay down as if tired.

I should probably stop teasing the old man now.

Right now, he might look full of vitality due to the medicine, but it’s ultimately like pouring water into a bottomless pit.

Even if we prop up this dying old man with medicine, he’ll return to his original state before long.

“Now that you’re feeling healthier, why don’t we go out for some sunbathing? Everyone in the village is worried about you, so let’s go show your face.”
“Tch, alright.”
“While we’re at it, please thank Jamel in front of everyone. That guy is still an outsider.”
“Alright.”

The old man nodded halfheartedly as if bothered. Judging by his reaction, he seems intent on getting it over with quickly.

I could already imagine how the cowardly troll, so different from his appearance, would react in surprise.

This should put an end to Jamel’s outsider status in the village.

The old man, not even trying to hide his sullen expression, nodded and got to the main point.

“So, how are those fishy bastards doing these days?”
“Them? Well… they’re still desperate to eat me.”
“Tch―. We should have nipped it in the bud back then.”

He clicked his tongue repeatedly, seemingly displeased at the mention of the fishy fish-heads—the fish-men.

Five years ago, those guys who had been cautiously testing the waters while harassing the villagers, apparently thinking they could handle it, invaded the village.

Arrogantly leaving their home ground of the lake to invade the land, half of them were turned into grilled fish by the old man, and they fled back to the lake at lightning speed, abandoning their charred comrades.

After that, they holed up in the lake and were quiet for a while, but recently they’ve started to creep up again.

They seem to have learned their lesson as they’ve been harassing people without coming out of the water, but being fish, they’re too quick in the water to catch.

And if we were to fight them in the water, only the old man and I could keep up with them underwater.

On land, even if it took some time, the two of us could wipe them out, but we don’t have gills, so a prolonged battle underwater is impossible.

Moreover, considering the old man’s physical condition, forget fighting—he’d probably be shaking hands with the grim reaper and crossing the rainbow bridge as soon as he entered the water.

In the end, the best we could do was to keep irritating them and lure them out of the lake, just like now.

“Those goblin-like bastards. Just let them come out. This time, I’ll uproot them for good.”

The old man spat out, chewing on his words with his face twisted like a demon.

Seeing him look ready to cast a curse on the lake right this instant, I hurriedly changed the subject.

“Speaking of goblins, haven’t there been a lot of goblins entering the village lately?”

The old man furrowed his brow and thought for a moment before nodding readily.

Goblins entering the village was a common occurrence.

They weren’t particularly threatening, so we didn’t pay much attention, but now there are quite a lot of goblins in the village.

“But they have no intention of settling in the village, and every single one of them is only thinking about stealing something and running away.”

Goblins are synonymous with weeds and cockroaches.

They’re weeds because they can exist wherever life can survive, be it desert or snowy mountain, and they’re cockroaches because if you see one, there are a hundred hiding nearby.

These creatures, despite their small build and weak strength, were the embodiment of endless greed. Perhaps because most of them die from overreaching themselves without knowing their limits, they’ve developed quite a keen sense for detecting danger.

Of course, they lack patience and end up going to their deaths anyway, but they generally tend to be cautious.

Our village is a gathering of people who have been abandoned by various tribes, villages, and cities, so everyone here has their own story.

Even Jamel, whose fighting skills don’t match his size, or Kart, who’s always stuck at the south gate, could crush a goblin with one hand.

Perhaps that’s why goblins tended to avoid our village.

Of course, there were occasionally goblins who entered the village, but it was usually just one stray goblin, not this many.

Moreover, even those who did enter didn’t act so stupidly as to steal in broad daylight.

Stealing secretly at night is one thing, but trying to steal openly where there are many people? Knowing they’d be beaten to death?

There must be something.

Something that makes them blind to the immediate danger in front of them.

The old man’s eyes darkened, apparently realizing the seriousness of the situation.

“…Looks like there’s a problem in the forest.”
“Yes, I think we need to investigate.”
“Tch―. This is troublesome. The fishy bastards were already a headache, and now there’s a problem in the forest.”

The old man rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache.

The forest is vast, and there are other tribes and villages, so we’ve tried to avoid going too deep into it.

There are quite a few people who have been driven out from the tribes and villages deep inside, so our efforts to minimize contact have gone to waste.

“I guess I’ll have to go.”
“Yes, Rex, you’ll have to go….”

The old man nodded with a sour expression.

Among those without connections to the forest factions, I’m the only one suitable to represent the village, so I have no choice but to go.

I stood up and dusted off the dirt from my body. The old man also uncoiled his body and stood up.

“I’ll take a few people with me.”
“Don’t work the kids too hard.”

Is this the time to worry about others? It looks like you’re the one who’s going to suffer the most, old man.

Creeak―

Swallowing my words, I waved and left the hut.

Behind me, I could hear the villagers’ murmuring voices. Our old man is blessed with good people. So many people worried about him.

Leaving behind the old man’s voice shouting in surprise, I walked through the village.

I don’t know what problem has arisen in the forest, but it’s best to prepare for the worst.

First, I need to wake up that guy who’s probably sleeping in his room.