Isekai Lizardman Survival Log

I took a deep breath and submerged my body underwater.

The startled minnows scattered in a hurry at the sudden intruder.

I waited patiently, letting my body drift with the gentle current.

1 minute. 5 minutes. 10 minutes. How long had I waited? The ripples caused by my dive had completely subsided.

As I remained motionless, the scattered minnows approached my surroundings.

The finger-sized minnows poked at my body, making it tickle, but I endured it.

Eventually, as if judging it safe, dozens of minnows swarmed around me.

‘They’re here.’

Perhaps because the defenseless prey was gathered in one place, the predator of the lake revealed itself.

The bass-like creature, despite its fierce appearance, approached cautiously like an assassin.

‘Just a little more.’

How long had I waited? The forearm-sized creature, either from living long in this lake or by nature, was extremely cautious.

My vision became slightly blurry. Just as I was about to run out of breath, it moved.

It roughly swished its tail fin and swiftly attacked the school of minnows.

The moment it engulfed a minnow in its mouth, I quickly stretched out my hand and snatched it, bursting up to the surface in one motion.

“Puha―.”

I exhaled as I raised my head above the water.

Whew. I almost drowned there.

It should have been worth its size, but it was unnecessarily cautious. I nearly had to do that all over again from the start.

Splash― Splash―

The creature caught in my grasp thrashed about, seemingly sensing its impending death.

It was too big to handle with one hand, so I grabbed it with both hands to subdue it.

Crunch―

I bit its head off with my jaw. The rough scales and tough skull rolled around in my mouth along with the chewy flesh.

Is the soft part the minnow?

Due to my dull sense of taste, I couldn’t really taste the flesh as I pushed it into my stomach.

Crunch―

I bit into the body again, which was still thrashing despite having no head, as if its nerves were still alive.

Was it an otter or a sea otter? I recalled a documentary of an animal floating on water, tearing into live fish.

Somehow, my current appearance seemed to overlap with that documentary.

‘Of course, I don’t look as cute as that.’

The hands holding the thrashing body weren’t covered in fluffy fur, but hard scales, and the nails were as sharp as daggers.

Moreover, the sight of me brutally tearing into the forearm-sized bass was far from being described as cute.

‘I’m not even a mammal to begin with.’

I lowered my head and looked at my reflection in the water surface.

The scales covering my body shone like obsidian, and my head gave an overall sharp impression.

Decisively, my vertically slit pupils gleamed coldly, emitting a golden glow.

Due to underdeveloped facial muscles, there was hardly any change in expression, making my appearance more suited to being described as scary rather than cute.

Of course, there are people who keep reptiles as pets, but even they wouldn’t find alligators or Komodo dragons cute.

Even if there were such people, I had no intention of acknowledging my current appearance as cute.

I threw the remaining tail of the creature into my mouth and flipped my body over.

I paddled with my webbed hands and feet, propelling my body forward.

As I moved forward, my tail swung left and right, and I used that momentum to move my waist and shoulders.

When the tail moved to the right, I twisted my waist to the left while pulling in my right shoulder and leg.

Then, like rowing, I moved my tail to the left while snapping my waist to the right.

Naturally, my body that was curled to the left straightened, and the rebounding right leg kicked the water forcefully.

As my webbed feet pushed against the water roughly, I advanced through the water surface quickly as if equipped with a motor.

Using my tail and webbed feet to move swiftly, I was able to get out of the lake before long.

I shook off the water that was stealing my body heat and turned around to look at the lake.

The fish heads that had followed me were now poking their heads above the water surface, gaping and showing their anger.

I gave the middle finger to those who could only gape and not come out of the water, then turned my steps away.

Not far from the lake, a small village surrounded by thick palisades.

Towards my new home, the Village of the Abandoned.

“He―y, Re―x!”

I smiled bitterly at the booming voice. The reason Kart always acts as the gatekeeper must be because of that voice.

Even for me, a lizardman with dull hearing, it was enough to make my head ring, so how much worse must it be for others?

“Coming back from the lake, eh―! The fishy smell is overwhelming―!”

Pffft―

I waved my hand casually at Kart, who was shouting jovially while blowing air through his nose, as I entered the village.

The cheerful orc Kart is trustworthy enough to be the gatekeeper, but his overly loud voice is a problem.

It’s so bad that even though we heavily rely on fishing, no one but me uses the south gate, which is closest to the lake.

If Kart wasn’t such a diligent and trustworthy orc, he probably would have been driven out of the village long ago.

I held my still-ringing head as I stepped into the village.

Then I picked up an apple-like fruit from a nearby stand.

As I took a bite, the juicy pulp burst in my mouth, the juice swirling around.

I closed my eyes and slowly savored the faint sweetness that danced on the tip of my tongue.

Lizardmen have a dull sense of taste. Nevertheless, I could clearly taste the sweetness, so the stimulation must have been much stronger than when I was human.

Thwack―

“Pay for it before you eat, you fool!”

I turned at the slight impact to face Jamel, who was shaking his hand in the air as if it hurt from hitting me.

Jamel was grabbing his head with his other hand, his face all scrunched up, probably a victim of Kart’s loud voice.

With my head now clear from the sugar intake, I had this silly thought as I popped the rest of the fruit into my mouth.

“Put the fruit cost on the old man’s tab as usual.”
“You’ve got plenty of money, would it kill you to carry some around? Do I have to go through the trouble of collecting from the village chief every time?”
“Well, you shouldn’t have done something that makes you ashamed to face the old man.”

Jamel sighed deeply at my response and tossed me another apple—though its taste was closer to pineapple.

I caught it easily with one hand and took a big bite.

This was my own way of being considerate.

It was consideration for the cowardly troll who, despite having a thick skin rivaling humans, couldn’t integrate into the village and kept to himself.

Two years ago, that greedy Jamel had fled here after pulling off a major scam in our village, hiding behind his tribe’s influence.

Then, two months later, he came back in a pitiful state, begging the villagers for mercy.

It’s fortunate that our village didn’t suffer much loss; otherwise, even the old man wouldn’t have stopped the others. He would have ended up as minced meat in people’s stomachs.

Since then, he’s managed to adapt to the village somehow, but he can’t even make eye contact with other people.

Everyone’s willing to let bygones be bygones since he’s diligently doing his part as a village member, and yet.

He’s the one keeping his distance from people due to his own assumptions, preventing him from truly integrating into the village.

Just look at him, setting up a stand here where there’s no one around because of Kart, pretending to do business.

Everyone in the village knows that the business is just an excuse, and he’s just set up here because he doesn’t want to face people.

If he’d just act like a proper troll, put on a thick skin, and say “I’m sorry” once, everything would be resolved. Why does he keep dragging this out?

“Rex, are you going straight to the village chief?”

Tsk.

I clicked my tongue at his un-troll-like behavior. Regardless, Jamel pulled out a small box from behind him.

“This, take it to the village chief.”

Jamel carefully handed over the box as if it were a treasure.

“The old man doesn’t accept bribes, you know.”
“That’s why I’m asking you. If I go, he’ll definitely refuse.”

I received the box, which was heavier than I expected. If the greedy Jamel valued it, it must be quite a precious item.

“Is it some kind of elixir?”
“It’s just a few medicinal herbs brewed together, that’s all.”
“That’s basically an elixir.”

This is Jamel we’re talking about. That greedy guy doesn’t even consider ordinary herbs as herbs.

“Alright. I don’t know if he’ll accept it, but I’ll take it with me.”
“Please do.”

Leaving Jamel bowing at a right angle with his request, I crossed the village.

As I walked along the quiet street devoid of people, it wasn’t long before I heard boisterous voices.

Despite the village not being particularly large, the commotion was on a different level compared to the southern gate where Kart was.

At least half of them must be Kart’s victims, right?

The thought that the noisy scene in the southern part of the square was caused by Kart alone made me feel conflicted.

I shook my head to clear away the ambivalent feelings and carefully readjusted my grip on the elixir Jamel had entrusted to me.

It would be perfect if Jamel could join in here too. He just got hit by Kart as well, so he’d have something in common with these people.

Instead of spending time brewing herbs, he should put on a thick skin and mingle here.

The old man would prefer him integrating into the village more than these elixirs.

I made my way through the bustling crowd. At times like this, being large in size was helpful.

As the lizardman, standing three or four heads taller than others, pushed through with force, the crowd parted like the Red Sea.

For the sake of those pressed tightly to the sides, it would be best to pass through quickly.

“Thief―!”

Just as I was about to hasten my steps, a goblin came flying towards me with a shout.

I quickly assessed him.

Bald head, a scar near the eye, and a crippled left arm.

Judging by the missing arm, he must have been caught stealing once before. Didn’t he learn his lesson even after losing an arm? Stealing in broad daylight.

The goblin seemed to have darted this way after noticing the parted crowd, but he hadn’t considered what had caused the crowd to part in the first place. His yellow eyes filled with shock.

I stepped forward with my right foot while leaning my body to the right. The goblin, thinking he’d found an escape route, darted quickly to the left.

Using my extended right foot as a pivot, I swung my body half a turn to the right.

The goblin, who thought I was dodging, flashed a sneer on his face as he rushed forward, almost falling to the ground―

Whack!

He was sent flying backward after being hit by my tail, which had whipped out like a lash.

Judging by the impact I felt in my tail, he must have broken at least a few bones.

In the suddenly quiet street, a dwarf leaped at the goblin.

“You son of a bitch!”

The dwarf’s metal right arm smashed the goblin’s head. Still not satisfied, he brought it down several more times.

After evolving the goblin into minced meat, the dwarf tore off the smashed right arm and examined the object clutched in its hand.

“Shit.”

The dwarf cursed, wiped the object with a cloth, and then let out a sigh of relief.

Ptooey―

The dwarf spat forcefully, then turned back, and the crowd resumed its original commotion as if nothing had happened.

Tsk―

I bent down, grabbed the leg of the goblin with its smashed head, and dragged it along.

My last conscience as a 21st-century modern person couldn’t tolerate littering on the street.