Isekai Lizardman Survival Log

The beast was wearing fur in a camouflage color commonly referred to as military green, like a uniform. Its eye level was slightly higher than mine, and its muzzle was large enough to seem capable of swallowing the upper body in one gulp.

Overall, it gave the impression of a gray wolf’s fur being dyed and then greatly enlarged in size.

As I stared at its eyeballs, which were as big as fists, words sprang from the beast.

“A new― guest, I see―!”

The beast―presumably a dire wolf―opened its large muzzle and spoke like an orc, but no matter how much I searched around the beast, I couldn’t see anyone who looked like an orc.

“No way…”
“Hahaha―! Yes, it’s me speaking.”

It laughed heartily as if amused and took a step closer. As the massive beast’s maw approached, I felt Chik-chik’s fur bristle on the back of my head.

“Whoa― whoa, calm down little friend, I have no intention of eating you.”
“Eek―!”

Chik-chik, seemingly more frightened by the beast’s response, came down from my head and clung to my back. I smiled bitterly at the action that seemed to use me as a shield and met the beast’s eyes.

“Are you the guide from the Black Claw tribe?”
“That’s right―! I’ve come to welcome guests, so don’t worry.”

The beast spoke cheerfully with the corners of its mouth raised. At those words, Chik-chik peeked his head out from my side.

“Of course, that’s if you’re legitimate guests―!”

Saying that, it thrust its maw forward again. The carnivore’s distinctive mouth odor from its widely opened maw stung my nose, causing me to involuntarily furrow my brow.

“It stinks, could you move your head away?”
“Oh―wow. Sorry about that.”

I rubbed my brow as I watched the beast behaving like a person. From the start, it acted playfully as if it had no hostility, truly like a curious beast, but the way it spoke from its mouth was completely like an orc.

“I’d like you to clarify one thing. Are you an orc? Or a dire wolf?”

I couldn’t tell if it was an orc controlling a dire wolf’s body through some magic, or a dire wolf that had learned to speak by living with orcs.

The possibility of magic was high, but I had never directly seen a dire wolf in my life. Maybe they had enough intelligence to understand human speech and even had the ability to vocalize.

Rabbits that eat meat are still rabbits, and deer that charge on horseback are still deer. Even bears with six legs are just bears, so if it’s called a dire wolf instead of just a wolf, it might have some special ability.

Their characteristic might just be that camouflage color that seems to work well in the forest, which is why they’re called dire wolves, but there could be other abilities as well.

“Were you curious about that? Rest assured, I’m just borrowing this friend’s body for a moment.”
“I see.”

Whether fortunate or unfortunate, it seems that wasn’t the case. However, seeing it control another creature’s body to the point of speaking, it seemed the Black Claw tribe’s magical prowess was quite impressive.

“Then, do we need to prove that we’re legitimate guests?”
“Oh, that’s fine. I’ve already confirmed that you obtained the seal legitimately.”
“You confirmed…?”

The beast spoke casually, but all it had done was come close and playfully pretend to eat. If there was something it could discern in that time…

“The smell?”
“Correct―!”

-You’re not a complete fool after all―! Haha―ha!

It spouted words that I couldn’t tell whether they were teasing or sincere praise, and laughed heartily.

“If it’s a legitimately obtained seal, it smells normal, but if it’s picked up after being lost or forcibly taken, it stinks. The stench would be so strong that we couldn’t even have a conversation, so the dialogue wouldn’t have been possible in the first place.”

Smell… I took out the seal from my chest and held it to my nose, but as expected, I couldn’t smell anything. A reptile’s sense of smell isn’t inferior to that of canines, so it must be a type of smell that only dire wolves can detect.

“No matter how long you sniff, you won’t be able to smell it unless you’re a dire wolf, so don’t waste your energy on useless efforts.”
“So, it is indeed a dire wolf.”
“That’s right. So stop that pointless act. I’ll guide you to the village.”

The beast―the dire wolf―said this and lay down on the ground. It gestured with its chin for me to ride, but I couldn’t bring myself to do so and just stood there blankly, causing a suspicious gaze to be directed at me.

“What are you doing? Hurry up and get on.”
“…Is it really okay for me to ride?”
“…Ah.”

The beast blinked for a moment and then exclaimed as if it had realized something.

Canines have weak backs. This is a characteristic that becomes more pronounced the larger they are, and dire wolves are no exception. The problem was that due to the structure of the body, I would have to sit on the spine, which has no protection, rather than on the back covered by relatively sturdy ribs.

“Um… This might be a bit― difficult? Just a moment…”

It was obvious that if I sat there, its back would collapse. The beast seemed to have belatedly realized this fact and remained still, lying down with its mouth closed.

Its eyes darted back and forth, giving the impression that it was having a conversation with the dire wolf it was possessing or controlling, rather than thinking.

While receiving its gaze that occasionally turned towards me, moving up and down as if gauging my weight, I calculated inwardly.

Large dogs are kept as pets, but they’re actually quite big. No joke, when they stand on their hind legs and stretch their front paws, they can easily reach a person’s shoulders, and depending on the breed or individual differences, even larger ones are common.

Nevertheless, their body weight is not even half that of a human, and naturally, the limit of what can be carried on a large dog’s back is a small child.

The eye level of this dire wolf was slightly higher than mine. Of course, there would be a much bigger difference in body length and other aspects, but as I also have a large tail, my body weight is on a different level from the usual case.

No joke, my tail alone accounts for about a third of my body weight. No matter how I thought about it, riding seemed impossible.

Just as I had reached a conclusion in my mind and was about to review it a couple more times to check for any issues, the beast, seemingly having finished its conversation, opened its mouth with difficulty.

“Um, well, you see.”

The dire wolf opened its mouth very cautiously, then hesitated for a moment, chewing its words, before continuing.

“To be― honest… I think I could carry you at first? But… I don’t think I could run while carrying you. I’m sorry, but could you follow on foot?”
“I understand.”

As expected, the beast had judged it impossible and carefully continued its words. I had roughly anticipated this, so it didn’t matter much.

“I can barely carry and run with an ogre…”

Rather, the beast muttered with its lips protruding as if its pride had been hurt. While an ogre is a head taller than me, so its body alone might be heavier, my tail is exceptionally thick, making me much heavier in reality.

It was fortunate that it didn’t insist on carrying me out of pride. If it had been stubborn and tried to carry me, its back would have collapsed.

I matched my pace, walking lightly beside the dire wolf, which was walking slowly to match my stride. The beast gradually increased its speed.

Thud― Thud―

Soon I had to move my feet busily as if speed walking, but the dire wolf, walking quickly as if going for a stroll, made neither footsteps nor even breathing sounds. Between its fur color and its ability to conceal its presence, it gave a strong impression of an assassin.

I had thought that the wide spacing between trees wouldn’t be good for concealment or camouflage, but the dire wolf seemed to be an exception, as it felt like I might lose sight of it if I got distracted for a moment.

It didn’t seem to be paying special attention, so perhaps all dire wolves are like this? If a group of such dire wolves were to attack, we’d probably be assassinated before we could even resist.

I couldn’t help but naturally realize why the Black Claw tribe was reputed to be strong in guerrilla warfare.

While canines are generally closer to hunters, we advanced through the forest following the dire wolf that showed assassin-like movements more akin to felines.

When the clearly visible sky had turned red and the edge of the forest began to turn dark blue, we saw tents that were presumed to be the Black Claw tribe’s settlement.

Around the tents, which were set up simply like the gers used by Mongolians, there were groups of dire wolves that looked exactly like the one beside me, and their number seemed to exceed fifty easily.

“Wait here for a moment!”

Saying that, it ran to the dire wolves. Left standing conspicuously in front of the settlement, we had to stand there blankly while receiving the sharp gazes of the dire wolves, whether due to our sudden visit or because of the smell from the seal.

“Sorry about that!”

Before long, an orc sprang out from the direction of the tents. Judging by the way it spoke, it was presumed to be the orc that had been guiding us so far, and as it sprang out, the dire wolves one by one withdrew their gazes.

“Come on, don’t just stand there blankly, come in!”
“Excuse us.”

To be honest, the settlement we entered, guided by the orc, was bleak. Perhaps because it was the time to move the settlement’s location, the tents that looked like gers were actually structured for easy setup and dismantling like gers, and were just set up starkly without any decorations.

And as if to prove that they had the smallest population among the four tribes, the number of tents didn’t seem to be very many. With only about a dozen tents set up without any decorations, it gave an even stronger impression of sparseness.

The difference was stark, considering that even the Red Claw tribe had close to a hundred houses, although many were empty. It really hit home that they had fewer people than even the Red Claw tribe, whose population had been halved due to internal strife.

“Here we are.”

The orc guided us to a particularly large tent, and then stepped aside as if its job was done here.

After expressing gratitude to the orc, who gestured with its chin for us to enter, we stepped into the tent.

The inside of the tent was wider than expected, with animal skins spread on the floor to express a certain level of luxury.

“Welcome. Unfamiliar guests.”

As we entered the tent, which was more spacious than it looked, an orc with a face full of wrinkles greeted us, stroking its chin beard.

“I am called Kergo. I humbly serve as the chief of the Black Claw tribe.”