The Lizardman Heroes

by Kugane Maruyama

  According to information the priests received via magic, Razor Tail had been sentenced to annihilation first. Timing-wise, it was fortunate that it hadn’t been Dragon Tusk.

  “So why did you come out here, Crusch?”

  “It’s simple, Zaryusu. But before that, tell me what you’re planning to do now.”

  After the meeting that lasted from evening into the early morning, it seemed natural to call each other by name. They’d gotten closer, so they could speak more at ease.

  “I’m going to go to another tribe, Dragon Tusk.”

  “Strength is everything to them, right? Supposedly they have the most powerful military of all the tribes.”

  “Yeah, that’s right. We’ve never had dealings with them before, so I have to go prepared.”

  Everything he’d ever heard about them was wrapped in mystery, so going at all was extremely dangerous. And the fact that they had taken in the survivors from the two tribes who lost the war made it even more dangerous.

  From the perspective of those survivors, Zaryusu, who had fought in the war, was without a doubt a hateful enemy. Still, for the upcoming fight, Dragon Tusk was the tribe whose cooperation he needed the most.

  “I see… Then I should definitely go with you.”

  “What?”

  “Is that weird?” The clump of grass rustled.

  He couldn’t see her face, so he wasn’t sure what she meant. “I dunno if it’s weird…but it’s dangerous.”

  “Is there anywhere that isn’t dangerous right now?”

  Zaryusu hesitated. If he mulled it over with a clear head, there were lots of pros to taking her along. But as a male, he didn’t like the idea of taking his crush into certain peril. “I’m not thinking clearly…”

  The grass hid her from view, but it seemed like she laughed a little bit.

  “…I have a different question. What’s with the getup?”

  “It doesn’t look good on me?”

  Looking good or not isn’t the issue. It’s bizarre. But would it be better to praise her? Zaryusu wasn’t sure how to respond. After careful consideration, he decided to get on her good side, even though he couldn’t see her expression. “I guess it looks…good?”

  “Yeah, right!” she snapped.

  There was probably nothing Zaryusu could have done to not feel disheartened in that moment.

  “I just can’t take the sunlight, so I usually wear this when I go out.”

  “I see…”

  “Oh, but I didn’t get your answer. Will you let me go with you?”

  It was pointless to say what he thought, and having her along would probably work to his advantage in forming the alliance. Maybe she had proposed it because she thought so, too. In that case, he didn’t have any more objections. “Okay. Lend me your strength, Crusch.”

  She looked thrilled from the bottom of her heart. “Got it, Zaryusu. You can count on me.”

  “Are you ready to go?”

  “Of course. I packed my bag and everything.”

  Now that she mentioned it, there was a lump on her back under the grass. It smelled like fresh herbs, a little pungent. As a druid, she probably had techniques that used medicinal herbs, so she must have brought some.

  “Zaryusu, you look sleepy.”

  “Oh, uh, I am…just a little bit. Between this and that, I haven’t really slept much in the past couple of days.”

  A white hand suddenly extended from under her grass clothes. “Here. It’s a rikiriko nut. Try chewing it with the shell on.”

  Zaryusu took the brown nut out of her hand and unhesitatingly popped it into his mouth. A bitterness radiated out of it and took the edge off his tiredness, but he couldn’t really say he felt awake. As he kept chewing, however, the flavor suddenly exploded across his tongue. It made his breath smell, too. “Mph! How refreshing! It really gets into your sinuses.” He inadvertently reacted in his brother’s trademark way.

  “Shuu-shuu,” Crusch laughed at him. “You’re not sleepy anymore, right? But that doesn’t mean you’re not tired, so don’t overdo it! You should take a break when you can!”

  Satisfied by the fresh, cool feeling in his mouth and nose, Zaryusu nodded. “Then I’ll take a nap on Rororo at some point.”

  Without further ado, he climbed up Rororo’s back. Crusch followed a moment later. Rororo glared at Zaryusu, none too happy with the strange sensation of grass creeping along his body, but Zaryusu managed to soothe him.

  “Okay, let’s go! It’s not very stable, so hold on to me.”

  “Got it!”

  She wrapped her arms around him, and the prickly grass tickled.

  “…” This feeling wasn’t quite what he’d expected, and he frowned.

  “What’s the matter?”

  “Eh, it’s nothing. Let’s go. Okay, Rororo, we’re counting on you.”

  “What am I so happy about?” Hearing Crusch’s excited voice behind him, Zaryusu smiled in spite of himself as they swayed along.

  2

  Conquered by its new ruler, the Tove Woodlands were filled with silence—because every living thing held its breath, frightened by the new king.

  But this one place was different.

  The sounds of trees being felled and then transported filled the area. Heavy iron machines—golems reminiscent of heavy machinery—carried the trees to an area of huge wooden buildings under construction. The structures seemed far from completion. The site was quite big, but there were surprisingly few buildings actually standing.

  Working there were golems and undead. Most of the undead were elder liches wearing eye-catching crimson robes. Each of them had a nine-inch demon—a brown-skinned imp with bat wings—perched on one shoulder. They held their pointed poison tails up to keep them out of the elder liches’ way.

  One of the working elder liches unrolled a piece of paper and gave orders to a golem in transit. The golem stopped as ordered, and the lich looked back and forth between the part it’d been building and the paper, cocking its head. Eventually it spoke to the imp on its shoulder.

  After listening to what the elder lich had to say, the imp expressed its understanding and flapped up into the sky.

  Its movements weren’t very elegant, but it soared into the air and scanned the site with its goggling eyes. Soon it found the person it was looking for and immediately glided down to meet her.

  It was one of the Great Tomb of Nazarick’s guardians of the sixth level, Aura Bella Fiora. She was one of the new rulers of this forest.

  The dark-elf girl was using a rolled-up piece of paper in lieu of a megaphone to project her voice. The imp flapped down before her and bowed, and she asked in a familiar way, “Uh-huh. Which team are you from?”

  “Mistress Aura, I’m C-3.”

  “A C, huh? Okay. Is there some kind of problem again?”

  All the workers in this place had letters from A to E, and each team had their own job and location. Aura recalled that Cs were working on the warehouses. Their construction was second furthest along among the different buildings.

  “There’s an issue with the thickness of the wood being used for construction, so if you could spare a momen—” The imp stopped short because a voice started coming from the iron band around Aura’s wrist.

  “It’s time!”

  It was the ditzy voice of a cheerful girl, and when Aura heard it, her expression broke. Her ears drooped, and her face flushed with awkward embarrassment. “Okay, understood, Lady BubblingTeapot!” she responded energetically to the band on her wrist.

  “It’s lunchtime. Let’s call it good for this morning.”

  There were almost no monsters working there that required food. Actually, Aura was wearing a Ring of Sustenance, so she didn’t need to eat, drink, or sleep, either. But her master had kindly told her, “Make sure you take a proper break!”

  “So sorry, I’m going on break. Could you come back in an hour?”

  “Understood. Then please excuse me.” The imp bowed and then noisi
ly took off.

  After watching the imp fly back toward the warehouses, Aura stretched her shoulders and looked once again at the band on her wrist—and grinned ear to ear. It had been a reward from her master for a job well done. Of course, as a guardian created by the Supreme Beings, it was only natural to work for them, for her master, and it would be wrong to charge for her service. It was a matter of course. But she just couldn’t refuse when he offered this.

  “Eh-heh-heh-heh. I wanna hear Lady BubblingTeapot talk more.” She gently stroked the band. Her caresses may have been even gentler than the ones she gave the magical beasts she controlled.

  All the voices the item used came from the Supreme Being who created Aura. Even just hearing it tell her the time sent joy coursing through her entire body. When she heard her little brother, Mare, got a Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown, she’d been a little jealous, but now, she honestly thought she had gotten the better gift.

  “Eh-heh-heh-heh-heh.” Her ears sagged, and she polished the band a bit giddily. She nodded in satisfaction as it sparkled in the sunlight. Then she frowned, puzzled. “I wonder why Lord Ainz limited the ways I can use it.” He’d given her several orders, such as Don’t set an alarm at 7:21 and then 19:19. “Maybe I should ask… Eh, I can’t do that!”

  Noticing the numbers on the band, she rushed off.

  She ran to a maid.

  The forty-one maids who worked in the Great Tomb of Nazarick were grotesques—homunculi—but on the outside they looked like beautiful women. This one, however, was different.

  Her head was a dog’s, and a line like a scar ran down the middle of her face, along with marks that looked like the remains of stitches. It was as if her head had been split right in half and sewn—though it seemed impossible—back together. Her name was Pestonia S. Puppydog. She was the head of Nazarick’s maids and a high-level priest.

  “As you requested, I’ve brought you a hamburger. On the side you have pickles and fries with the skins on. And for your beverage, cola…woof.”

  During the brief pause before the “woof,” Aura had a hunch she’d forgotten her signature noise, but she didn’t say anything. The drool-worthy aroma was making her too hungry. Even though her ring rendered eating unnecessary, it wasn’t like she couldn’t, and eating made her happy—especially something that tickled her nose with such a tasty aroma.

  “The total effects of your meal are—”

  “Ah, I’m okay; I don’t need to hear that. I didn’t order it for the ability boosts.”

  “Understood, woof.”

  Pestonia went to the food cart that was emanating delicious smells at her side.

  “Lu-unch, lu-unch!”

  Listening to Aura’s food song, Pestonia lifted the cover of a silver tray.

  “Ooh!” Eyes glued on her meal, Aura mentioned something she remembered. “A-7 ground beef isn’t bad, but I like a mix of beef and pork better. I wonder if you can make three-patty burgers of that.”

  “I’ll tell the chef, woof.”

  “Great, thanks!”

  Aura grabbed the tray and walked off with a smile on her face.

  3

  A clump of plants peeked around Zaryusu’s shoulder as he watched the Dragon Tusk village rise in front of them. It went without saying that it was Crusch. Her hands moved, and the grass covering her head parted to reveal the face Zaryusu found so beautiful.

  “Are you really planning on riding right in? Are you trying to start a fight?”

  “No, the opposite. The Dragon Tusk tribe prioritizes strength. If I get off Rororo now, there might be trouble—I could end up in a fight before I reach the chief. Rororo is a great deterrence against that.”

  As they proceeded, several warriors on their guard here and there throughout the village, weapons in hand, pierced them with their eyes alone.

  Reacting to the hostility, Rororo let out a faint, low cry. Despite the warning, Zaryusu had him continue advancing.

  If he went any farther, there would be a fight. Once the air crackled with tension, Zaryusu finally stopped Rororo and dismounted. Crusch came down a moment later.

  The sharp gazes of several soldiers targeted the pair with palpable pressure. The sentiment wasn’t simple hostility but already in the realm of killer intent.

  Crusch, seeming a bit overwhelmed, stopped moving. She may have had advanced ability as a druid, but she rarely had to bear the brunt of an encounter as a warrior.

  Instead, Zaryusu took a single step forward. He shielded Crusch with half his body and raised his voice. “I am Zaryusu Shasha, and I come on behalf of the Green Claw tribe. I want to speak with your chief!” His strong voice subdued their murderous attitudes, and the Dragon Tusk warriors seemed a bit overawed, and their stances wavered.

  Then Crusch raised her voice. “I am Crusch Lulu, acting chief of the Red Eye tribe. I also came to meet with your chief.” Hers was a quiet voice, but it contained the confidence and awareness of a tribal leader. She’d been inspired by the proud male’s voice, and the little lady lizardman who had been there a moment before had vanished.

  “I’ll say it again! We came to see your chief! Where is he?”

  Just then the atmosphere shifted violently. It was almost as if emotions had taken on physical shape and assaulted Zaryusu and Crusch.

  Rororo’s four heads immediately started writhing. He opened his jaws wide and let out threatening growls, moving his heads to intimidate. The lizardmen shrank back for a moment as if frightened at the huge hydra’s continued high-pitched cries.

  “…You don’t really need to protect me.”

  “I don’t intend to. You came here of your own free will. But the one who should get this kind of glare, as the one responsible for the breaking up of their tribes, is me.”

  More warriors gradually gathered by the entrance to the village. They all had magnificent physiques and faint scars in their scales. They had probably made it through some intense battles. But Zaryusu could tell their chief was not among them.

  They were all mere warriors. There was no one with the dignity of his elder brother or the extraordinariness of Crusch, no one with the impact of a chief.

  The only sound breaking the silence was Rororo’s warning growls. Not a single lizardman there relaxed their guard. Then…

  “Ah!” Crusch gasped quietly. But Zaryusu didn’t lose his composure when the lizardman they were waiting for appeared—he’d sensed the immensely powerful creature walking toward them before he’d seen him.

  Still, he couldn’t help being a little shocked when he finally came into view.

  To describe this lizardman in a word: monstrous.

  He was huge, over seven and a half feet tall. That alone wasn’t enough to make him grotesque, but there were reasons to use that expression. First, his right arm was big and thick. It was the same strange appearance that fiddler crabs, with their one large claw, had. No, his left arm wasn’t skinny. His left arm was about the size of Zaryusu’s. His right arm was just bizarrely thick, and it wasn’t puffed up due to disease or deformity, but muscle. He was missing his ring and pinkie fingers on his left hand. His mouth seemed to have been sliced open with something around to the back of his head. His tail was smashed flat, less like a lizardman’s and more like an alligator’s. But more eye-catching than anything else was the brand on his chest. The design was different from Zaryusu’s, but its meaning was the same: He was a traveler.

  He took a close look at Zaryusu and Crusch—and there came a sound like pieces of dry wood bumping together. The grotesque lizardman’s sharp teeth rubbed against one another. Apparently he was laughing.

  “So you made it, huh, bearer of Frost Pain?” His deep, heavy voice was a good fit for his odd looks. He was probably just talking normally, but he sounded daunting.

  “Pleased to meet you. I’ve come from the Green Claw tribe an—”

  The lizardman waved a hand, as if to say, Not necessary, not necessary. “How about just your names?”

  “…Zaryusu Shasha.
And this is Crusch Lulu.”

  “Is that a…plant monster? Well, you did bring a hydra, so it’s not so strange that you’d have another pet monster.”

  “…No.”

  Crusch began taking off her clothes, but the massive lizardman did his not necessary, not necessary hand wave again. “Don’t take that joke seriously, ya goobs…”

  “!”

  He gave Crusch a bored look as she rustled her grass and then turned to Zaryusu. “So, I guess I’ll ask why you’re here.”

  “Before that, could I ask your name?”

  “Yeah, I’m the chief of the Dragon Tusk tribe, Zenbel Gugu. Call me Zenbel!” he said with a toothy grin.

  Zaryusu had known this one was chief when he saw him, but the reality of a traveler in charge was still surprising. On the other hand, it made sense. There was no way a male like this could be just a traveler. When he appeared, the hostility from the others vanished. He was a male with that much authority, as well as military might and unifying force.

  “You can call me Zaryusu, too. So…Zenbel. I imagine that a strange monster showed up here lately?”

  “Yeah, the messenger from the Great One.”

  “If it came, then that makes this eas—”

  Zenbel lifted a hand to pause Zaryusu mid-sentence.

  “I have an idea what you’re going to say, but we only trust the strong. Take up your sword.” The split mouth of this huge lizardman, Zenbel Gugu, chief of the Dragon Tusk tribe, bared his sharp teeth good-humoredly.

  “What?!” Crusch was the only one to gasp in surprise. The warriors in the area and Zaryusu appeared to approve.

  “…How straightforward. Chief of the Dragon Tusk! That’s a clear, concise judgment with no time wasting.”

  “And you’re a brilliant messenger. I guess I should have expected that, since you have Frost Pain, though?”

  The strongest gets selected as chief. For a lizardman, this was utterly natural. But for issues that impact the continuation of the tribe, is that okay? Shouldn’t many people consult one another and discuss things from different angles before deciding? Crusch thought these things—and then found such logic mysterious.