Isekai Lizardman Survival Log

The old man’s fire show didn’t seem to end until I had stuffed ten well-cooked fish into my stomach.

“…How does all that fit in there?”
“I wonder.”

Chik-chik stared blankly at my stomach, seemingly more amazed that I had eaten ten forearm-sized creatures rather than the end of the fire show.

Normally, I would have been full after eating three or four at most, but I had room even after devouring that much.

No, I was rather hungry.

‘Is the ability related to digestion?’

Lizards store fat in their tails.

They mainly store it in preparation for hibernation or when they can’t hunt due to illness, but it’s also consumed as calories for wound healing.

Considering the recent shedding and the clean healing of broken bones, there was a significant calorie consumption in various ways.

So it’s natural for the body to demand nutrition, but this was excessive.

No matter how I think about it, it far exceeds the stomach size, and I can’t understand how it all fits in.

‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’

I pushed the question to a corner of my mind as I bit into the eleventh fish in my hand.

Questions aside, I was too hungry. I was fine until I ate the apple Jamel threw, but now it felt like my stomach was stuck to my back.

Ignoring Chik-chik, who was shaking its head as if disgusted, I picked up the twelfth fish when a giant snake emerged from the lake.

“Puha―.”

The old man caught his breath with his head out, then took a deep breath and tried to dive back into the water.

“Old man!” “Village chief!”
“Hm?”

As we hurriedly called out, the old man turned his head to look at us. Then, with a surprised face, he swam over.

“Rex, you’re already up?”

The old man climbed onto the shore, pushing away the floating corpses, and breathed fire to dry himself.

“I thought you’d be lying down for at least a week, but your recovery is fast.”
“Yeah, I thought so too.”

The old man looked up and down, examining my body condition. It was true that with all the bones broken and muscles torn throughout the body, it should have taken at least a week even for someone as tough as me.

Of course, in my previous life, it would have been not a week but half a year of hospitalization, but by the standards of monsters rather than humans, a week was correct.

Even this was a week because of my extraordinary recovery ability; for others, it would have taken twice as long.

“…You climbed the stairs.”
“Huh? Boss, really?!”

I nodded at the old man’s words. Chik-chik, surprised, tapped on my crown as if asking if it was true, but I ignored it.

The old man looked at me with deeply sunken eyes.

I understood. The old man himself had climbed the stairs three times. Chik-chik, who was eagerly tapping my crown, had done it once, but I, who hadn’t lived even half as long as half of the old man’s life, had climbed three times, so it was natural to be curious.

“Hm… Well, you’ve been through a lot, so it’s understandable.”

I could only smile bitterly at the old man’s words. If it were me, I would have complained about the unfairness, but the old man laughed it off lightly.
Then he picked up Chik-chik, who was still tapping my crown, and placed it on his head.

Suddenly placed on the old man’s head, Chik-chik froze, only relaxing when the old man stroked its head.

“So, why did you come here?”
“Well, I heard you went to the lake instead of me, so I came. And then I saw pillars of fire shooting up from the lake.”

The old man turned his head sheepishly and continued to stroke Chik-chik’s head.

“Ahem. Those fishy bastards were bothering me, so I had no choice.”
“Come on, old man. Think about your age. You’re 90, 90 years old. You were groaning until yesterday, and now you’re moving around on medicine.”
“Ahem.”
“Of course, I understand you might want to cause some trouble since you suddenly became energetic after groaning all the time. But…”

I picked up a fish floating on the water. Despite quite some time passing, the fish was still warm.

“Even if you cause trouble, you should do it in moderation. What is this? You’re about to ruin this year’s fishing industry.”

The old man cleared his throat awkwardly and tried to change the subject.

He always scolded others for causing trouble, but now that he had caused such a big mess himself, he seemed embarrassed and kept stroking Chik-chik’s head, apparently aware that he had done wrong.

“Well, it’s fine. The fish population will grow back next year anyway, so the fishing industry will be okay, but let’s think about your health, old man.”
“…I’m sorry.”
“Village chief! It’s okay! I’ll help you!”

As the old man’s face fell, Chik-chik stepped in and stroked the old man’s head. Being comforted by the tiny creature, the old man smiled awkwardly.

“Thank you. Well then, let’s go back to the village.”

With Chik-chik on his head, the old man uncoiled his body and returned to the village.

Moving leisurely as if taking a stroll, the old man headed towards the west gate instead of the south gate we had come from.

“Old man? Where are we going now?”
“Where else? We’re going to see Donovan. Since you caught it, you should get the best part, shouldn’t you?”
“Ah! Right! Uncle Donovan!”

Suddenly remembering, Chik-chik rummaged through its clothes and pulled out my neatly folded molted skin.

“I thought I had lost it!”

The old man looked fondly at Chik-chik, who was vigorously waving its arms in relief.

“Did Donovan send you on an errand?”
“Yes! Uncle Donovan said he’d make something good if I brought it!”
“Hmm…?”

The old man briefly made a suspicious face before stroking Chik-chik’s head.

“I see, he’s probably planning to make something from the Tarasque’s leftovers.”
“Tarasque?”
“Yes. The creature Rex caught.”

The old man continued speaking while constantly stroking Chik-chik like a grandfather looking at his grandchild.

“The Tarasque, a true dragon that has at least earned a place among the lesser dragons.”

Creatures descended from the now-extinct dragons are called lesser dragons, and the Tarasque is also a type of lesser dragon.

“This one looks so much like a drake that you might think it’s a subspecies of drake, but it’s a completely different species.”

Since drake itself is a general term for lizards descended from dragons, you might think the Tarasque is also a type of drake, but it’s a completely different species.

“Just as drakes all look different but ultimately originate from lizards, this creature originates from turtles.”
“Old man, you’re saying that’s a turtle? It couldn’t even fit into its shell?”
“Yes, it’s ultimately a turtle. Just like how everyone denies it, but wyverns actually originate from birds, not lizards.”

-And there’s a reason it couldn’t fit into its shell.

I tilted my head at the old man’s following words. A reason it couldn’t fit? Is it related to why the creature didn’t move from its spot?

Regardless of my frowning at the chain of questions, the old man continued his explanation to Chik-chik, whose eyes were shining.

I half-listened to the talk about how some argue it’s not a lesser dragon because it can’t breathe fire, and as we continued walking, the west gate of the village came into view.

“Wow… It’s still amazing even when I see it again!”

More precisely, the sight of the Tarasque’s corpse being dismantled came into view.

“Donovan!”

At the old man’s booming voice, a dwarf who was busy sawing on top of the shell turned his head.

“Oh―, Kanash has come! Rex and Mordo are here too!”

Thud―

Donovan, the dwarf with metal arms and legs, jumped down from the shell and ran towards us.

Making thudding noises as he ran, Donovan ignored me and the old man and looked for Chik-chik.

“Mordo! Did you bring what I asked for!”
“Yes! Here it is!”

The uncle, who was shouting almost as loudly as Kart, received my molted skin from Chik-chik, who was excited about completing the errand, and spread it out.

“Oh! It’s clean! As expected of Mordo! You’re so handy!”
“Uncle! Now tell me!”
“Huh? Oh, right, that’s right.”

Saying that, the uncle rummaged through his pockets for a moment and pulled out a small pouch.

The cute pouch was neatly decorated and, judging by its appearance, seemed to be the right size for Chik-chik to carry.

Chik-chik looked at the pouch, its eyes shining, and then at its own bag.

“I’ll finish this and give it to you. How do you like it?”
“Yes!”

The uncle briefly stroked Chik-chik, who looked like it wanted to wear it right away, and then put the item in his pocket.

“Donovan. Is Rex’s share finished being dismantled?”
“Oh, yes. Rex! Follow me! Your share is over there!”

I followed the uncle, who turned around and ran off with thundering steps as soon as he finished speaking.

As we got closer to the west gate, the massive body of the creature―the Tarasque―came into view.

‘…It’s huge.’

It’s not new, but it’s really an absurd size. Back then, I might have been drunk on adrenaline and didn’t think much of it, but seeing it like this, the difference in our sizes really hit home.

’10 times? 20 times bigger?’

Now that I see it, I can only describe it as a miracle that I got away with just broken bones.

Despite the head, scales, bones, claws, and flesh being dismantled in various places, its enormous body was still intact, and I felt like its one undismantled eye was looking at me reproachfully.

“Here it is!”

As I approached the uncle who was shouting and waving his arms and legs, he held out a bright red gem the size of my head.

“Here, this is your share.”

The gem I received from the uncle was smooth but so soft that it could hardly be called a gem. Given its color, it’s closer to jelly than a gem, isn’t it?

“What is this?”
“It’s a blood stone.”
“Is it edible?”

Perhaps because of its jelly-like texture? The uncle nodded at my absurd question that suddenly popped out.

I looked at the old man with a questioning look, wondering if this was correct, and the old man also nodded.

“Blood stones are formed from the blood shed by dragons during the egg-laying process. They’re also used as weaning food for young dragons.”
“Wait a minute. Are you saying this thing laid eggs?”

The old man shook his head at my perplexed question.

“That’s not it. The Tarasque you caught wasn’t mature enough to lay eggs yet.”

It’s not fully grown? Are you saying that massive body, dozens of times my size, isn’t fully grown?

“Very rarely, they try to lay eggs before they’re fully mature. But since they’re not mature, they only shed blood. The one you caught probably mistakenly thought it was laying eggs.”

So, you’re saying the reason that creature didn’t move was because it had a phantom pregnancy? It stubbornly stood its ground thinking it was protecting its eggs, which were actually just its coagulated blood?

I looked up at the sky. As I stared at the clear sky without a single cloud, the uncle continued speaking.

“When people think of dragons, they all think the heart is the best part, but dragon hearts don’t have much effect. They’re just tough, that’s all. Actually, among dragon byproducts, blood stones are the best.”

-They’re rich in nutrients and actually enhance recovery abilities.

As the uncle and the old man passionately extolled the virtues of blood stones, and Chik-chik congratulated me enviously, I kept staring at the sky.

The still cloudless sky seemed to be mocking me.