Isekai Lizardman Survival Log

In the end, I ended up eating the blood stone that looked like an ostrich egg. They said it was close to an elixir, so I tried to offer it to the old man, but…

“What good would it do for a dying old man to eat that? You eat it.”

I was refused. I thought about forcibly shoving it into his mouth, but perhaps because he had been tricked once before, as soon as I showed any sign of it, the old man whipped my back with his tail, so I gave up.

‘He’s disgustingly strong.’

While rubbing my stinging back, I put the blood stone in my mouth.

The moment I bit into the thing the size of a human head, it crumbled. A clean sensation that couldn’t be thought of as blood and a sweetness that made my tongue tingle swirled in my mouth before disappearing like a mirage.

“…!”

At the same time, the blood throughout my body began to boil as if churning.

Blood that heated up so intensely that I thought I might be cooking alive from the inside coursed through every part of my body, and steam rose from between my scales.

It’s hot. Steam filled my lungs and leaked out of my nose and mouth, heating up the surrounding air.

‘It would have been a disaster if I had given this to the old man.’

I can handle it because I’ve experienced something similar before, but others wouldn’t.

Especially the old man, whose body has been damaged by fire, would have turned into steamed snake.

“…Ha―ah.”

How much time had passed? The steam that had been spewing from every orifice—eyes, nose, mouth, and even between my scales—subsided.

As the blood that had been raging like lava settled down and my body, which had been like a fireball, began to cool, I could hear the commotion around me.

“…Hey!”

As I blinked my eyelids, which had become damp from the constantly emitting steam, I saw Chik-chik floundering in panic and the old man lifting the uncle, wrapped in his tail.

“…What are you doing?”
“Rex! Are you alright?!”

The old man approached, still holding the uncle with his tail, and judging by the uncle’s pale complexion, he looked like he was about to be crushed.

“Kanash…! Save me…!”
“…Let’s put the uncle down first.”

Only then did the old man release the uncle, almost throwing him down.

Cough―

The uncle coughed lightly and caught his breath, gathering himself. The old man, seemingly displeased with the uncle, gave him a smack on the back of the head.

“Now explain, Donovan. You’d better explain properly.”
“No, explanation or not… I didn’t do anything, Kanash. I swear on my hammer.”

The old man, who had been quite angry, curled his lip when the uncle swore on his hammer.

“What’s with those reactions? At least give me an explanation.”
“Well… you see. Actually, eating a blood stone doesn’t normally make steam come out of your body like that.”

To summarize, it’s normal to just feel a bit warm and that’s it, but they were surprised when steam suddenly started pouring out of my body.

The old man and the uncle have eaten blood stones a few times, but they never emitted steam like this.

Thinking about it, it was strange. Judging by the old man’s reaction when he refused and the uncle’s casual recommendation, it seems normal not to have these symptoms.

“Then why did this happen to me?”
“We don’t know. We’re not gods, how would we know?”

The uncle puffed out his chest proudly as he spoke, only to get hit on the head by the old man. As the old man started lecturing the uncle who had sat down, Chik-chik cautiously approached my feet.

“Boss? Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m fine.”

I stretched my body to show I was fine, and only then did Chik-chik seem relieved and climb up my body.

“Aren’t you hot?”
“It’s warm!”

Chik-chik sat on its usual spot on my neck, rested its chin on my crown, and cheerfully chattered, seeming to enjoy it.

“Boss, but really, aren’t you in pain?”
“How did it look to you that you’re so worried?”
“No, don’t even ask. Boss, you suddenly started spewing steam all over your body, and it got incredibly hot around you!”

I watched as it excitedly chattered away, waving its tiny arms and legs. It seems to have worried a lot.

Well, I guess it’s natural to worry when a person suddenly starts emitting steam from every pore.

“…So! The village chief grabbed Uncle Donovan and―!”

As I half-listened to Chik-chik’s words, I turned my gaze towards the old man, and the uncle who had been kneeling stood up.

“…Boss! Are you listening to me?!”
“Chik-chik. It looks like they’re done over there.”

Chik-chik, who had been pouting with its mouth protruded, relaxed its expression and waved its arms enthusiastically as the old man dragged the uncle over.

“Is it over?”
“Yes. For now, this fellow really didn’t do anything. It seems there was no problem with the blood stone itself.”
“No, why would I do such a thing…?”

The uncle, looking quite deflated as if the old man’s lecture had been tough, grumbled as he walked over.

By the way, if there was no problem with the blood stone, that means the problem is with me….

‘Is it because of that?’

I have a guess. The massive body that far exceeds the average height of current lizardmen, and the scales that have turned pitch black as if burned by fire.

Since all these changes are essentially side effects caused by one ability, it’s likely that’s the problem this time too.

“Looking at your face, it seems you’ve realized it too.”
“Well… yeah, it can’t be anything else.”

I stroked Chik-chik, who kept tilting its head in confusion, not understanding the vague conversation between me and the old man, trying to soothe my troubled feelings.

[Hot Blood]

The power I gained when I first climbed the stairs of evolution. An ability that greatly influenced my second life?, which, true to its name, makes my blood hot.

At that time, I was in danger of freezing to death after missing the timing for hibernation, and that’s when I luckily reached the stairs of evolution and gained this power.

Thanks to this ability, I was able to move around ignoring the cold during winter, but as soon as winter passed, problems arose.

As the name suggests, my blood was constantly boiling, causing my body temperature to keep rising, and I started cooking from the inside.

Being a cold-blooded animal and still small in size at the time, I managed by frequently submerging myself in water to cool down, but as my body gradually grew larger, even that became difficult.

Eventually, with a body that tired easily, I was chased by a wild boar and met the old man, thanks to whom I was able to manage for a while by frequently submerging in the village lake.

But even this was only a temporary measure, and my heart, constantly exposed to the heat, eventually cooked through entirely.

Thanks to being a reptile with low blood pressure, I didn’t die immediately and was able to reach the stairs of evolution, but I could have died right then and there.

I desperately climbed the stairs, not knowing where to go, but when I came to my senses, my scales had turned pitch black as if burned by fire, and my body had grown even larger.

Since then, I never felt my blood as hot, so I lived without problems… who would have thought an issue would arise like this.

“Let’s observe the situation for now.”

Even if we know the cause, we don’t know what kind of problem might have occurred.

To begin with, even the name “Hot Blood” was just given because the blood was boiling; we don’t know its exact name.

Of course, I never thought there would be such a problem, so how could I know what kind of issues might arise in the future?

In the end, as the old man said, we had no choice but to observe the situation.

“By the way, is there nothing else besides the blood stone? Like bones?”
“No… Look at the state of that thing.”

At the uncle’s words, I looked up at the half-dismantled corpse.

“First of all, we can’t use the skin and scales. Actually, this creature’s skin and scales aren’t that good to begin with, but with it pierced by spines like a porcupine, it’s no better than rags now.”

The uncle sighed deeply, seemingly exasperated at the state of the materials.

“And the bones, well, apart from the shell, there’s not much to them, but that needs time to dismantle, so I can’t give it to you right away. What’s left is the meat, but… well, it’s been pierced by spines all over, so the quality isn’t great.”
“What about the blood?”
“Blood? That’s absolutely not allowed. It’s not even usable for anything.”
“That’s right. A dragon’s blood is poison itself.”

According to the old man’s detailed explanation, dragon blood has powerful vitality, but this acts as poison to other creatures.

“That’s why blood stones are precious. They’re weaning food for their offspring, so they’re not toxic.”

-Well, this one didn’t have any offspring to feed anyway.

I looked at the Tarasque’s corpse with a dejected expression. In the end, it means there’s nothing worth salvaging except for the blood stone and the shell, doesn’t it?

“Is there so little to salvage from a lesser dragon?”
“That’s how it usually is with lesser dragons. Some are dangerous, but even if you catch them, there’s not much worth taking, so it’s best not to bother.”

Well, it’s not like I fought because I wanted to.

I went to check because it seemed there was a problem in the forest, and we ended up locking eyes. What could I do?

It wasn’t in a mood to let me go, and if I had run away, we would have both ended up as skewers, so I had no choice, but still…

“So what should we do? With that.”
“We’ll have to make use of it somehow. We can eat the meat, and if we layer the skin several times, it might be usable. As for the bones… we’ll have to grind them finely and scatter them in the forest or something.”

It was somewhat fortunate that there were ways to make use of it somehow. The problem was that the blood was too toxic to do anything with…

“How about pouring the blood into the lake? This year’s fishing industry is ruined anyway.”
“…? What are you talking about? What do you mean the fishing industry is ruined?”
“Ahem… Well, something happened.”

As the uncle looked at the old man with a puzzled expression, the old man cleared his throat awkwardly.

-No, don’t try to gloss over it, explain! What do you mean the fishing industry is ruined! What kind of disaster is this! Hey! Kanash―!

As I moved away from the two shouting loudly, Chik-chik cautiously asked, seeming worried.

“…Boss. Wouldn’t it be dangerous to pour it into the lake?”
“The fish are all dead anyway, so what does it matter?”

Besides, we don’t know when those fish-head bastards might invade. The old man might have taught them a lesson, but they’re basically like goblins, so they’ll quickly increase their numbers.

If dragon blood is extremely toxic to living beings, wouldn’t it work on the fish-men too? If we can eradicate them, it’s worth it no matter what.

Well… we’d have to go somewhere other than the lake to get water, but that seems like a small price to pay for eradicating the fish-men.

“For heaven’s sake. Act your age, you old geezer. How many people make their living from fishing? What are you going to do if you put all of them out on the streets?”
“Ahem. Those fishy bastards keep testing us, what else can we do? We need to nip it in the bud before they invade.”

As the old man turned his head, the uncle let out a deep sigh and approached me.

“Is the conversation over?”
“Yeah…. You suggested pouring the blood into the lake, right? It doesn’t seem like a bad idea. Since the fishing industry has been ruined by that senile old man anyway, it shouldn’t matter.”
“Ahem!”
“Haah―. The blood is piled up over there, so take it and pour it into the lake. It’s not particularly harmful if it just touches your skin, so don’t worry, and if necessary, throw the whole container in.”

-Sigh…. I was planning to go fishing after this was over….

The uncle let out a deep sigh, picked up his saw, and slowly climbed onto the Tarasque’s corpse.

“Ahem! Well then, let’s go.”

Seeming self-conscious, the old man took the initiative, carrying a container of Tarasque blood in each arm, and turned towards the lake.

“Boss. Uncle Donovan looks really sad.”
“Well, fishing was the uncle’s hobby.”

He must be quite heartbroken, considering he came to our village because it looked good for fishing.

It’s not just my imagination that his back view, cutting the skin while sawing, looks particularly miserable today.

“…Let’s go.”
“…Okay.”

Leaving behind the uncle who somehow looked lonely, I tucked a container of Tarasque blood under each arm and followed the old man.