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Chapter 54: The lizardmen’s backstory. [Release Version]
🕑 Added 2020-04-04 19:55:07 +0000 UTC“You’re finally here, little lady. Make it yourself comfortable, young scale, there is a lot we need to tell you about,” Caszcur said with a small smile.
Listening to him, Tasianna and I went to sit beside Saori while Apsala went to the lizardmen’s side. Once I sat down, cross-legged, Rajah jumped onto my lap while his siblings sat to my sides, greeting me with a small cry before turning their eyes towards the lizardmen, keeping an eye on them.
[“…This is really unfair. I’ve spent so much time with them, and they just leave me the moment you appear?”] Saori said with a frown, glaring at me jealously as she complained.
I nervously laughed it off and began petting Rajah, ignoring Saori as she continued moping around. Saori did look very pleased, having a very rare girlish expression as she affectionately stroke Rajah’s fur before I came.
It is these sorts of moments where Saori sheds her cool and stoic personality that I find the most endearing, as she drops her guard and just enjoys herself. Whether it is tailoring new clothing, collecting new ingredients, or just plain training, she shows a much softer side of herself.
I personally think it fits her better to be like this, but I ask her to do so, as she shows no reluctance about showing it nowadays. When she wants to have fun, she will act on it…especially when it concerns hunting down animals and monsters.
“Now, we would first like to thank you for everything you did for our wounded scale-kins,” Caszcur began. “We started out on a bad foot, but you still helped. We would have lost even more of our group if it wasn't for you. We are in your debt.”
The three adult lizardmen simultaneously expressed their gratitude by bowing and saying “As our tails are our witnesses, we thank everybody for aiding us. May Marsven bless all of you with his shadowy veil”.
“Please, it’s alright. We were also at fault as we were equally rude due to the virigress cubs. Everything is forgiven and forgotten,” Tasianna translated what I wanted to say, as I felt guilty for not bowing ‘cause I was intending to rescue the cubs with brute force were it not for Tasianna.
“…I see,” Caszcur let out, as the lizardmen stopped bowing. “Actually, I’m curious, why is it that the fairy, Tasianna, is the only one actually speaking? The wolfkin, besides for ‘yes’, ‘no’, and ‘ok’, didn’t say anything else. You, little lady, I heard you speak something extremely long when we first met but you barely said anything longer than three words.”
“Huh, now that you said it, you’re right, Caszcur,” Aksmias said, praising him for his observation “You can speak, right, fair-scaled one? So, why don’t you speak? Does it have something to do with why the fairy is calling you ‘Lady Hestia’?”
It would seem like the lizardmen have finally realized that it seemed weird that Saori and I weren’t speaking very much. They knew that we could speak as we did display it by saying some words in Common tongue, so their question does have merit.
The question is, should we actually answer them?
“Come now you two, leave them alone,” while our party pondered on giving an answer, Apsala spoke up. “They must have their own circumstance, so let’s just leave them alone. Besides, you two should have already noticed the hatchling smell around the little one and the wolfkin…actually, we haven’t been introduced yet, right? My name is Apsala and I greet Hestia’s, our savior's, companion.”
[“…How annoying. She does not leave me much of choice at the matter,”] Saori complained to us through telepathy.
[“For courtesy’s sake, it would be better if you were to introduce yourself, Miss Saori, but that doesn’t mean that it would prevent me from doing it,”] Tasianna added.
Glancing over at Apsala, it was easy to see that she was using this chance to get more information from us. I did overhear her saying that she was willing to trust in us, or at least in me, but I guess not being able to speak must have sparked a bit of curiosity in her.
Well, it’s not like exposing that we can’t speak Common tongue fluently was that bad, nor was telling them that we could use [Telepathy] a problem. I really don’t see anything stopping us from doing this beside an unnatural amount of distrust and paranoia.
In addition, I’m interested in what Apsala will tell us, remembering what those quintet asked me to do.
After speaking about it among ourselves, we concluded that it wouldn’t harm us to be forthright about our situation as it benefitted us if we could communicate with the lizardmen.
“Please, don’t be shocked,” Tasianna warned the lizardmen.
Apsala tilted her head, before questioning what Tasianna said, “‘Please, don’t be shocked’? What do you mean about…”
[“Hello, it is a pleasure to have made your acquaintance, Miss Apsala. My name is Saori, I hope my Lady’s abilities were satisfactory?”]
Oh right, we are in public again…huh, I completely forgot about that.
Considering how much has happened ever since we met Tasianna, I completely forgot about my deal with Saori when I received my name, that she would use “my Lady” when we were in public. Funnily enough, I don’t feel that apprehensive about it anymore. Considering that Tasianna has kept addressing me formally, I think I’ve gotten completely used to it as the cringey sound of being called princess or lady was gone.
“Wha-! Something just popped inside my head,” Aksmias remarked as he held his head in bewilderment
“Urgh, you too? Kinda sounded like a female’s voice, huh? What was that supposed to be?” Caszcur scratched his head in irritation, as he couldn’t make sense of the situation.
“…Saori, so that is your name,” perplexed, Apsala uttered after needing a few seconds to understand the information she received through [Telepathy]. “So, that’s how you three have been able to communicate until now…how is that possible? No, let me guess, it’s a skill correct?”
[“Yup, nicely guessed, Miss Apsala,”] this time, I answered her. [“We’re using [Telepathy] to speak with everybody currently sitting at the campfire, including Rajah here and his two siblings.”]
“…That sounded neither like Tasianna’s nor Saori’s voice, so…is it yours, little one?” Apsala looked at me, unsure if she made the correct choice.
Making a heart sign with my hands, I gave her a wink to confirm her guess, [“Heya, another good guess, Miss Apsala. Hestia, at your service~”]
“…You sound peppier than I thought,” Caszcur said with a hanging jaw.
[“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean? How did you imagine me sounding before I started fully expressing myself, Caszcur?”] I asked, shocked at what he said.
“Well…,” adverting his eyes while scratching his back, Caszcur nervously stalled for time to think of an appropriate answer. “Uh, I guess more refined cuz your posture and movements until now seemed quite graceful? Or maybe more boisterous cuz you’re a mage?”
H-How rude! I screamed internally as I was too dumbfounded to say it out loud.
“Enough of this comedy act,” Apsala stated as she massaged her temple. “I shouldn’t have been surprised to learn that there was a skill like [Telepathy]. So, why is it that you two weren’t speaking while Tasianna was?”
[“Well, the reason is pretty simple isn’t it?”] Saori answered. [“Your nose guessed our age, correctly, Miss Apsala. We know how to speak in our own languages, but we have not mastered Common tongue yet.”]
“Ok, please drop the ‘miss’ part and just call me by my name; the extra formality isn’t needed among us lizardfolk,” Apsala said with a sigh before nodding. “Still, it is nice to finally understand. I thought it was some sort of priestess rule that prevented the little one to speak, so I thought it was weird that you weren't able to speak, Saori. That clears my questions."
“I thought it’s cuz of that ‘Lady Hestia’ stuff,” Caszcur admitted. “Some dragonewt appears, wearing something fancy like a mana dress with a subservient fairy and you start getting ideas.”
“I thought the fair-scaled one was simply angry at us while the wolfkin just wasn’t talkative,” Aksmias said while nodding.
…What the hell? That is a bunch of misunderstandings!
Noticing that everybody had a different take on the reason for our silence, everybody started nervously chuckling. It took a bit until the lizardmen chilled down enough that they wanted to begin talking about the main purpose for this meeting.
“I think that was enough pleasantries,” Apsala stated. “Time is essential so let us not slither around our tails any longer.”
[“Mhmm, I agree,”] I nodded. [“You’re gonna talk about the stuff those kids talked about, right? What they asked me to do?”]
[“Correct,”] Apsala said with down casted eyes. [“However, I believe you must be curious about why we are here in the first place, yes?”]
[“Well, I would lie if did not admit to it,”] Saori confessed, her eyes focused on the lizardmen. ["Looking through your camp, you lack essential equipment and the amount that you have, have been worn down and badly maintained. A general mismatched can also be seen as some of you have metal armor and weapons, while you mostly work with forest materials.”]
["I've also heard that the Belzac forest was mostly inhabitable as the number of monsters, especially the variety of dangerous ones, was too much for a normal person to live in,"] Tasianna said, holding her chin as she tried to remember the little amount of information she gained over her lifespan. [“Well, besides for the occasional elven wood runner.”]
[“Ja, what she said,] I agreed. ["Nothing against you guys but I don't feel like anybody in this camp is really combat-ready, or at least nobody exceptional. You said you guys lived in this forest for three months, but I find that statement hard to believe with what I'm seeing."]
“What in the…you three are quite harsh. I think I found it better when you stayed silent,” Caszcur complained with a deep frown, massaging his temple. “Urgh, but I can’t help but understand what you mean. The lack of acceptable tools has annoyed me for a while now, and even the best can’t handle everyday usage when the maintenance quality is subpar. It is a disgrace for an artisan…”
“Surviving in a marsh is actually no problem for us lizardfolk, as we were born in one before everything that happened a year ago,” Aksmias said with a pained expression. “It just shows how many people had to be sacrificed for our current group to survive through all of that. This forest is a hell pit."
"We might have been freed but I regret having agreed to flee with everybody," Apsala said crestfallen, returning to the same personality she had when I first met her in the clinic. "I've seen so many scale-kins dying in front of me, either being torn by a monster or by their wounds in the clinic's beds. I prayed to Marsven and Kargryxmor so that our hell could finally stop but…look where it has gotten me.”
“Apsala,” Caszcur called her out. “You know I’m not the most religious person around, but you shouldn’t say that about Marsven. And, seriously, are you honestly talking about Kargryxmor like that in front of the little lady?”
Noticing that Apsala tensed up from hearing that, she looked at me apologetic with an open jaw, not knowing what to say.
[“Don’t worry about it,”] I told them. [“I won’t be offended. Whether it’s Aurena or Kargryxmor, I’m sure they can endure a bit of criticism.”]
While I'm not an actual believer of Aurena and Kargryxmor, Tasianna had suggested that it would be better to act like one. Due to the existence of gods being a fact, it's rare to see an atheist in this world and most people wouldn’t understand why anybody would not choose to follow some kinda god.
So, to keep ourselves safe, Saori and I have decided to adopt a religious following. As Saori was able to use [Dark Magic] it was easy to lie that she was a follower of Marsven. However, considering the number of magic skills that I had, it was actually pretty complicated for me, as I had to learn about Danterno, Crustacia, Zephira, Aurena, and my racial god Kargryxmor.
I just needed to follow Aurena and Kargryxmor, correct? Well, according to Tasianna, it would have been if I only knew [Holy Magic] but as I was a multi-elemental magician, I also had to know about the rest of the gods. It was custom for a mage to follow a god of a corresponding element if she wanted to learn it.
Due to knowing [Fire Magic], [Earth Magic], [Wind Magic], and [Holy Magic], it would be safe to just adopt all these gods. It was fine to just say that we followed them for now, but it would be wise to take up a theology book and read about them once we reach the elven capital.
“I-I see…, well, I’ll take your word as a priestess of Aurena,” Apsala said in shock.
[“Oh, to clear up another misunderstanding, I’m not a priestess of Aurena. I can use [Holy Magic] that’s all. I’m nobody special,”] I said with a straight face, which obviously caught Apsala off-guard. ["But, anyway, let's get back to the story. So, what forced you to enter the Belzac forest?"]
“I’ll take over from here,” Caszcur said. “So, how much do you three know about us lizardfolk and where we came from?”
“Well, you came from the other half of our continent, Altrust, correct?”] Caszur nodded to Tasianna’s answer so she continued. [“The beastmen country is located there, divided from this half of the continent by the dwarves’ mountains and the Folschreck Empire…now that I think about it, aren’t you all a bit far from your home?”
“Yup, we are far too far from our home,” Caszcur breathed in deeply to cool himself down. “Our tribes, the many tribes of us lizardfolk were attacked by humanoid monsters. We were enslaved and then transported on a ship.”
Cazscur added that it was just a normal day when an army of demi-human monsters suddenly attacked the marsh that these lizardmen came from. As they fought in their homeland, the army had a hard time moving forward as the army consisted mostly out of goblin and kobolds, who had trouble traversing the lizardmen homes due to their height, while the heavily armored orcs moved too slowly compared to the swift lizardmen.
They thought they could win through the combined power of the many tribes but once the army brought in their elite orc warriors, blue-skinned mage goblins, and their beast tamer kobolds, it was only a matter of time until the marsh was overwhelmed by the sheer number of enemy troops.
However, while many clans were defeated, their bravery and sacrifice to stay and fight bought the lizardmen enough time to call for help from the other beastmen tribes and clans, forcing the army of demi-human monsters to flee with their tails between their legs.
While it was catastrophic for Caszcur and his group, their sacrifice meant that the lizardmen were able to survive. In their defeat, the defeated clans were enslaved and loaded onto a ship like cargo. Due to a shortage of food, many lizardmen had to rely on cannibalizing their starving members and dying soldiers while the ship was moving.
Those that managed to survived made it to shore, where they were quickly put onto wagons and transported away to another port. Luckily, barely any lizardmen died along the way as food and water were abundantly available this time, ships were fully loaded with provision for another long trip over the seas.
While lizardmen clans were mostly territorial, antagonistic against foreigners in their lands, through this trial and tribulation, the clan members bonded together. Despite being slaves, the living condition improved, allowing the many weakened warriors and soldiers to recover along the trip.
They thought that they could bide their time and find a way to escape which made the defeated lizardmen regain hope. However, that was crushed when they finally landed on shore again, in a land ruled by an ogre.
“Wait, an ogre?!” Tasianna shouted out, surprised by the mention of a land ruled by an ogre. “I’ve never heard or read about a place that was ruled by demi-human monsters. I mean, I don’t know everything, and I bet my knowledge is outdated but where is this place?”
“On the other side of this forest,” Aksmias said. “It’s right over the mountains in the south.”
[“You mean Avitor Peaks, correct? The place where flying monsters live?”] Saori asked, remembering about what Tasianna told us about the mountain range located south of the Belzac forest.
“No idea what it’s called but I guess,” Caszcur shrugged.
“So…,” Tasianna hesitated before speaking. “What were they doing? What did they have you do?”
“They used us as labor,” this time Apsala spoke up. “Constructing buildings, making tools, mixing up medicine, and many more duties that you would expect from a normal village. Honestly, looking back, besides our lack of freedom, they treated us rather well. Being reminded of it just makes me regret my decision even more.”
[“I guess that is normal that they would use slaves as free labor.”] Saori mentioned. ["History has taught us that people conquered others to claim land that they wanted for profit while turning their inhabitants into slaves so they could gain much-needed labor."]
“History, huh? You know quite a lot about something that somebody older should know,” Caszcur said with a questioning look.
[“I-I like reading books, that’s all,”] Saori stuttered, understanding that she shouldn’t have said that.
["Hehe, well at least I'm glad that they aren't assembling an army to attack my home. I haven't heard anybody inhabiting that place so it shouldn't be a problem,"] Tasianna let out a deep sigh as she was relieved that her home wasn't threatened.
Caszcur simply shrugged before continuing. They explained that there were also other beastmen slaves there, all obtained by raiding and attacking the beastmen's land.
As Apsala said, the slaves were treated quite well as the ogre and blue-skinned mages knew that most of them were Marsven followers. Although in truth, most of them worshiped whatever gods they thought would fit their culture better, so the majority weren't Marsven believers, however, it was convenient enough for them, so everybody unanimously agreed to stay silent about it.
They were all in it together so there was no need to throw somebody else under the bus, especially when antagonizing another beastmen race would be devastating, as it could lead to an all-out war between them in the slave camps.
As many months went by, one day, a group of lizardmen announced that they should escape from captivity. They explained to all their scale-kins that they overheard that north of them lived the Elves and the Levianewts, the ocean dragon version of dragonewts, while in the west was the dragonewt's and dragon's continent.
As some of the lizardmen were worshippers of Kargryxmor, the Dragon God, those lizardmen were fanatical about it and thought that it was the correct time to finally escape. The hope that they had almost a year ago was finally reignited.
“I’m a worshipper of Kargryxmor, and I was also among those that fully supported the idea to escape,” Apsala confessed. “It was a mistake. An absolutely big mistake.”
With the hope of escaping etched into their heads, the lizardmen began planning and scouting for more information, finally learning that escaping through the borders in the north was impossible, as the demi-human monsters made sure that no information could go out nor in. They didn’t want their position to be found out as the construction process of their towns couldn’t afford to slow down.
That's when somebody found an entrance through Avitor Peaks's mountains by a cave. Once they knew that nobody besides the lizardmen knew about it, they began stealing food, weapons, tools, and other essentials from their capturers. Once everything was at the place, they initiated their plan to free every single lizardman, regardless of their clan.
Some considered to free the other beastmen slaves, but the majority decided against it as they had no responsibility to help them. It would have been detrimental for them if every single slave fled, as it was likely that the demi-humans would chase after them at all cost, while only the lizardmen leaving would only slow down their construction process by a bit.
The plan was to escape through the cave, travel north, and then make contact with the elves. They thought they had everything planned, but…
“We didn’t know that this hellish forest was in our way,” Caszcur expressed with silent anger. “We thought that it was just a normal forest and that the elves would be somewhere north. As the sun and moon as our guide, we walked north but that was when we started losing people.”
“Not every single of us lizardmen are proper warriors,” Aksmias explained. “While we know how to hunt and fight, we aren’t trained to kill strong or devious monsters. The hunters and soldiers that stilled lived suggested that those that can and want to fight should stand and fight, while the artisans would stay in the back and protect the women and young scales.”
“It worked for a time,” Apsala added. “People like Caszcur were able to make tools out of wood, while metalworkers kept our weapons and tools maintained. I and those that were able to use [Alchemy] started sorting through the herbs and plants, so we could start making more medicine and potions, as the rations that we stole wouldn’t last forever.”
[“So, what happened?] I asked.
“I don’t know, maybe it's our own darn luck, but it just happened," Caszcur said. “It was after we spent a month in the forest when we met our first real hurdle, a monster strong enough that even our warriors couldn’t slay.”
"We lost many of our scale-kins on that day," Aksmias continued for Cazscur. "Imagine, our group was over a hundred, and now it’s reduced to this amount. We thought we were safe after losing a few people, but it never ended. We started facing against toxic monsters, monsters in groups, or just a singular monster that preyed on the weakened."
“Regardless, we slowly began losing more and more people,” Apsala replied. “Our dwindling numbers meant that we became weaker but most importantly was that we were losing warrior, scale-kins that have gained a lot of levels.”
They lost the strong people, leaving those that have barely leveled to be vulnerable. Their strategy of traveling through the Belzac forest was effective when most of their enemies were weak, easily beatable in a group. However, once the actual terrors appeared and killed the skilled, the rest were left helpless.
They made it all up to the marsh, but all that remained from the group was 53 lizardmen. They were elated, finally, they were back in their preferred environment and it showed when they started to refill their provisions.
“So, how did you lose the rest of your group?” Tasianna asked.
“Two days ago, we were once again attacked by a monster, an indomitable beast that we never guessed made its home in this marshland,” Caszcur looked in the distance as he told us that. “If you were in the swamp at that time, then you should have seen the monster. The giant that jumped into the air to claim its next prey.”
[“Ahh, the one with the giant gaping mouth? Yes, we saw it eat a few otthas on the way,”] Saori said with a nodding head.
Nodding, Caszcur continued, “Our group wandered too close to the lake, the place that it calls home. Not realizing where we were, we were ambushed by the beast who ate all our remaining rations.”
"Nobody died, but we just lost everything. Most of our tools and all the food that we saved up for the coming winter," Apsala said with a deep sigh. "In our panic, our group escaped in another area that we should not have gone to. Three giant beasts with scales and fur mixed on their body attacked us and killed the remaining hunters and warriors that we had. We were separated from there, so we have no idea if they are still alive or not.”
[“So, those kids wanted to get revenge against something that wiped out all your remaining warriors, while they had no idea if their friends were still there?”] the three lizardmen nodded to my question. [“Scheiße, that is pretty stupid…but I guess that is understandable. They are their friends after all.”]
[“My Lady, I do not know what this is about, but you should not praise that behavior,”] Saori turned to me and scolded me. [“Endangering your life to save somebody else is already an idiotic thing to do but that is how friends act, correct? Still, you said ‘those kids’ so are you telling me that they are trying to do it all alone? Now that is absurd.”]
[“Come on, Saori, they lost their friends and the people they knew in that attack, so it can’t be helped that they are acting impulsive,”] I argued back.
[“Do not suggest acting recklessly in these sorts of situations, my Lady!”] Saori insisted with sharpened eyes. [“You only have one life and that is precious, especially when you have family and other people waiting for you to return home alive. Regardless of your intentions, the people that you save will not like it if you died in the process, so think about the people around you before you act on your desires.”]
Scratching my head in annoyance, I had to reluctantly agree to what Saori said, despite how uneasy her words sounded to me, [“That’s why I will agree to help them rescue their friends. If you believe that it’s stupid of them to go in alone, then I’ll just go with them.”]
"Hestia…" Saori's eyes suddenly turned cold as a blood-red mana mist started to form around them, visibly furious as she spoke English. “…Are you diving into another situation like when we met Tasianna? Are you risking your life again…for a complete stranger? You do not know these people and neither do you know about the enemy this time. I respect your noble spirit but even altruism has its limit, and this is one of those times!”
“Saori, I-I…,” stumbling on my words, I couldn’t get the correct words out of my mouth.
It was honestly suffocating to speak in her presence right now. She hasn’t activated her aura skills yet, but it felt like she was. Her words stung a bit, reminding me about how she reacted when I decided to rescue Tasianna.
Being glared at Saori was never a nice experience, it was one of the things that I personally would like to avoid as her anger is usually cold as ice.
“Uhhh, hey you two?” suddenly, the person to actually break the ice was Caszcur. “I know you two want to continue arguing but we kinda need…”
[“I know, we are wasting time if we stay here,”] I said so I could ignore Saori’s glare for a moment. [“You need to save the rest of your group, right? I’m in.”]
“Hestia!” Saori cried out, standing up. “Did you not listen to anything that I have said?!”
"I did, but at this point, I don't care. I'm strong enough to handle anything that is thrown at me, so I'll go and rescue them," I asserted.
“Hestia…you’re being really…urgh,” Saori stopped her sentence mid-way before turning her head to Tasianna. [“Tasianna I apologize but I need to rely on you for this. Please, keep her safe in my stead.”]
[“Huh, Miss Saori? What do you mean by that? Aren’t you coming?”] Tasianna said confused at Saori’s statement.
[“Somebody has to keep the virigress mother safe, and while I’m at it, I’ll also keep the camp safe. Take care of Hestia and let her do her childish want,”] Saori declared before walking off. [“I am sorry…urgh, I need to calm my head.”]
Saori…
I wanted to say something to how she wasn’t willing to help me with this but all I could do was clench my fist in frustration. Maybe…maybe I could have said things differently…I…urgh.
It was decided that we would travel tomorrow morning after we all rested for the night. As thanks for my help, the lizardmen decided to treat us to dinner for tonight, despite not having enough to eat for themselves. Understanding that they just wanted to return the favor, our group agreed to their hospitality.
Although the lizardmen were having fun, being cheerful and energetic, ‘cause of their healed wounded and that I agreed to help them rescue their scale-kins, our party wasn’t in a celebratory mood.
Saori averted her eyes and looked gloomy as she kept biting her lips while slowly ate her meal. I lost my appetite and wasn’t able to put anything into my mouth, while I kept brooding about my choice and if it was worth worrying Saori. Tasianna tried to get us to reconcile but as we both ignored everybody, not even speaking a single word, it was all unsuccessful.
Once daylight came, Caszcur, a few of the guards, Tasianna, and I departed for the rescue mission.
