Isekai Lizardman Survival Log

I lightly swung the spear in my hand.

A size slightly larger than my grip. A lighter weight than usual. And a shortened length.

The feel was different from usual, but just as I was satisfied with the quality, which wasn’t bad for something hastily made—

“What are you doing meow!”

A small cat pounced. Where such strength came from in that tiny body, I don’t know, but the cat instantly jumped up to my chest, however.

“Got you∼.”
“Meow!”

It was easily caught by Lulu, who reached out her hand. The cat’s all-out charge ended with being caught by the larger cat.

“Let me go meow!”
“Don’t worry. I’ll return it after using it.”
“Meow!”

Leaving the cat that was trying to pounce while foaming at the mouth to Lulu, I swung the spear—or rather, stake—in my hand again.

As I had seen from outside, a clean palisade was hidden inside the shabby-looking one.

The thickness of the stake was only half that of the outer shabby palisade, making it just right to hold.

As expected, when I pulled it out and swung it, it felt quite good, so I pulled out one more stake as a spare. A howl came from behind.

“Meooow!”
“Nabi∼ If you keep yelling, I can’t use you∼.”
“Meooow!”

With two stakes on my shoulder, I approached the cat—Nabi—who was crying pitifully.

It glared at me fiercely as if looking at an enemy, its earlier frightened appearance nowhere to be seen.

But due to its small size, it looked cute rather than scary, so I reached out to pat its head.

It flinched when I reached out, perhaps not entirely free of fear, but soon seemed to resign itself and submitted to my touch.

“Meow…. Don’t destroy the village meow…”
“I’ll return them after using them. I can’t fight empty-handed, can I?”
“But meow…”

I needed weapons for the battle. Since I had Goof’s permission, there shouldn’t be any problem.

Nabi hung its head as if giving up, and Lulu kept stroking its head, finding it cute.

“Meow! Don’t treat me like a kid meow!”
“Okay, okay∼. I got it∼.”

-Meow!

Leaving the two cats communicating behind, I moved on and swung the long stake again.

Given the violent world, the long stake was about a quarter shorter than the spear I usually wielded.

Due to the different feel from my usual spear, I thrust it several times to get used to the sensation, familiarizing my body with it.

Since it was shorter than usual, I gripped it further back, and being thinner and lighter, I held it more delicately.

As there were extra fingers when holding it like usual, I changed my grip to wrap my hand around it completely.

Swish―

The spear pierced the air with a sound of tearing.

Then once, twice, three times.

As the hand position was further back, the spear tip wobbled more than usual, so I applied more force to my grip.

When twisting my waist and pulling back the spear, it retracted faster than usual, so I moved my leg and waist muscles more quickly.

As I thrust the spear again while twisting my wrist, the spear rotated and the tip wobbled again.

Tsk―

Inevitably, I pulled my hand forward to readjust my grip and thrust the spear again.

This time, even when I twisted my wrist, the spear tip didn’t wobble, but the clearly reduced range didn’t satisfy me.

“It’ll be difficult in just one morning.”

If it had been a bit heavier, I would have gotten used to it quickly. But being too light, the spear tip kept wobbling.

In the end, only when I placed my left hand on the front and gripped the spear with both hands did it feel stable.

“I guess I won’t need the spare like this.”

Since I’m holding it with both hands, I can’t carry a spare anyway, so I stuck the extra one back in its original place.

“Why don’t we go back to the village now?”
“If they run away, it’ll be a big problem.”

Chik-chik seemed worried about the changed feel, but we needed to deal with it quickly while we knew the target’s location.

Given the nature of this target, we needed to handle it quickly before it grew further.

“But it’s not a weapon you’re used to.”
“This is good enough to be thankful for.”

To begin with, my original spear was too inconvenient to use in the forest.

The spear made to fit my size was too long and often got caught on trees, making it almost impossible to thrust properly unless in an open area.

This is better. As for the feel, I can cover it to some extent by wielding it with both hands.

“Boss∼. Are you done∼?”
“Meow…”

Lulu, who seemed to have played a lot and was excited, approached carrying the drained-looking Nabi in her arms.

“I’m pretty much done.”
“Then∼. Are we leaving now∼?”

At the mention of leaving, Nabi, who had been hanging limp as if dead, suddenly raised its head.

“We’re leaving meow?!”
“Yeah, this should be enough.”

I placed the stake I had gotten somewhat used to on my shoulder and gathered Kart, who was doing handstand push-ups, to head outside.

As I hurried Kart, who was regretfully touching the axe at his waist, and stepped outside the village, Nabi caused a commotion trying to escape from Lulu’s arms.

“No∼ way∼.”
“Meooow!”

Unable to escape due to the fundamental difference in strength, it hung its head. Seeing this, I smiled bitterly and stroked Nabi.

“Nabi. Can you explain one last time?”
“Alright meow…”

Nabi sighed deeply and opened its mouth again.

“At some point, Ur started acting strange meow. Originally, he was a very gentle kid, but suddenly he started smelling of blood and watching people meow.”

As it spoke, its emotions seemed to well up, and it continued with a gloomy face.

“Until then, we thought maybe the kid was secretly hunting meow. But at some point, he started drooling when he looked at us meow. Then he bit the villagers meow…”

There’s no need to say what happened after that. They somehow managed to drive Ur out, but the damage was unspeakably severe.

The fact that Nabi and another rabbit were acting as gatekeepers was because there were hardly any able-bodied people left.

“You said that black spots appeared on this Ur’s body.”
“That’s right meow. His fur was gray so it wasn’t very visible, but there were black spots meow.”

Madness and black spots…

From what I heard, Ur was a small dog about the same size as Nabi, but for him to become strong enough to fight the entire village, it must be a severe case.

At that level, he would have quickly recovered by eating goblins and beasts, so Kandol village might have disappeared within days.

After devouring one village, it would have been troublesome to deal with. Is it fortunate that we discovered a potential threat to our village early, or should we be sad that incidents keep happening wherever we go?

‘Still, it’s better than an ogre.’

It’s easier to catch one rabid dog than to butt heads with a giant a head taller than me.

“Do you know why Ur became like that meow?”
“Didn’t Goof tell you?”
“The chief didn’t tell us meow…”

Nabi asked with its ears folded, looking dejected. If Goof didn’t tell them, there must be a reason, right?

Thinking deeply, something did come to mind, but since they would find out anyway when we go together, it wouldn’t matter if I told them.

“It’s a side effect of magic.”
“Magic, you say meow?”
“More precisely, it’s the harm of human sacrifice.”
“Human sacrifice meow?!”

Nabi’s eyes widened so much in surprise that I thought they might pop out, so I stroked its head.

I don’t know where or how they learned human sacrifice, but it’s not a magic that should be used carelessly.

To begin with, magic is a ritual of borrowing the power of mythical beings who lived in this world long ago.

It’s about borrowing even a fragment of the authority of beings like dragons, giants, spirits, and other legendary or mythical existences.

Naturally, the price to pay for borrowing the power of such beings was enormous.

That price had to be paid entirely with one’s body, so if used carelessly, one might have to pay with their life.

For example, magic that creates fire, regardless of its lineage, takes the caster’s body temperature as payment.

The moment a human creates a fireball the size of their head without a catalyst, they die of hypothermia.

Conversely, if they create water, all their moisture evaporates like dried squid.

Because the cons far outweigh the pros and it’s difficult to utilize individually, it’s usually done in the form of a ritual.

Of course, if the original owner of the borrowed authority is the origin of the species in terms of bloodline, that risk is reduced.

Just as the magic Chik-chik used has the owner of the authority as the origin of the species, and because it’s an albino, its value as a catalyst is high, so it can use magic just by plucking some fur.

On the other hand, if Lulu were to use the same magic, she would have to pluck half of her fur and still not be able to move a finger due to the physical toll.

Moreover, she wouldn’t be able to find vague targets like [The culprit causing problems in the forest], but would have to specify concrete targets like [So-and-so from the Blue Tusk tribe who stubbed their toe on a rock two days ago] or bring traces.

Thus, magic either had risks that were too high compared to the return, or the prerequisites for execution were too strict, and sometimes both.

And human sacrifice is a typical high-risk, low-return type of magic.

As it originates from vampires’ blood-sucking, it’s magic that consumes the spirit and flesh of the sacrifice through blood.

It not only increases strength but also extends lifespan, so those who are attached to power or life often try it without knowing better.

Because the price isn’t visible, many fools think it’s fine, and many jump in with a mindset like ‘I’ll be okay’.

Although it might look fine on the outside, devouring another’s spirit and flesh inevitably pollutes the blood and stains the soul.

Unless you’re a real vampire or a dhampir descended from one, the end for others who perform human sacrifice is nothing but destruction.

There’s a possibility that this Ur’s distant ancestor was a vampire or dhampir, but if the risk was reduced by such a tenuous connection, humans would be ruling the world by now.s are such that even if they marry among themselves, not knowing what races might be in their ancestry, a goblin could be born as their child.

At least 30% of the goblins roaming that forest were born to human couples, and 10% of the Green Skin tribe are orcs born between humans.

It’s not for nothing that they self-deprecatingly call it a “bloodline lottery.”

So Ur’s spirit and flesh must have already been ruined as the price of the magic.

Even if something remains, can it be called a proper person?

Rustle―

I stopped at the rustling sound. As I lifted the spear resting on my shoulder with both hands, Chik-chik, who had been riding on my neck, quickly climbed up a tree.

“Grrrr―.”
“Ur meow…”

Lulu quickly climbed the tree and sat Nabi, who was calling the beast’s name sadly, next to Chik-chik.

Regardless, the beast didn’t take its eyes off me and drooled profusely.

“Come here, doggy. Do I look tasty?”
“Grrrr―.”

I lowered my posture with the spear tip pointing down and met the beast’s eyes. I detached my left hand and wiggled my fingers.

“Graaah―!”

The beast that had lost its reason thrust its maw at me.