72: The meeting, as expected, was about the beautiful girl.

"Miss! Your tail's so cute!!!"

"W-What?! A tail?! On our first meeting?! Is this guy a pervert or something?!?"

A woman resembling a dead-and-gone lizardman blushed furiously at Jitarou’s Delicacy Zero comment, twisting her body to hide her ample chest.

The melancholy aura she’d been radiating vanished—but so did the tension. All in all, a win.

"Ah, just ignore that idiot. He’s a perv."

"Craft-san?! That’s kinda harsh, isn’t it?!"

"Shut up. For about three years."

"Three years?!"

Jitarou was shoved aside roughly. Then, turning back to the lizard girl, he straightened up.

She picked her words carefully, but looked about the same age as me. Early twenties, I’d guess by human standards. But then there’s Leifan, and Áian ages are never clear.

Still, better to misjudge a girl’s age as younger than it is than the other way around, I guess. That’s all the “girl” label in my head really means.

You’re a lizardman, right? We humans heard you were all wiped out…

That’s…

The lizard girl fumbled her words. Maybe it was something she couldn’t just say offhand.

When I looked at Raidock, he silently signaled me to go on.

Looked like they were running from something…

They're here!

Jitarou and Solal nocked their bows almost at the same time. A moment later, we formed a defensive formation centered on me and the lizard girl.

"Moda! Leifan! Don’t know what’s coming, but stop it!"

"Got it! Raidock-san!"

In an instant, the priest Bepp launched every supportive spell he had at the two. Bepp was good—choosing high-impact, short-duration effects on the fly.

A giant frog-like creature emerged before us, clearing trees with every step.

"What the hell is that? Never seen anything like it."

"Watch out! Don’t know what it’s gonna do!"

Unfortunately, Raidock’s warning was useless.

The frog bastard spat out a massive chunk from its mouth.

"Stopping it!"

"Nuun!"

"No—!!"

Leifan and Moda thrust their enormous shields forward, blocking the attack.

The lizard girl screamed at the same time.

Splash!

The thing was liquid.

The high-speed spray of liquid shattered against the two shields, splattering in fine droplets over the entire party.

"Aaaaah! I'm done for! This is a powerful paralysis toxin! After all this... all this way...!"

"What?! Paralysis toxin?!"

I instinctively yanked a potion bottle—test tube-shaped—from my belt and blasted the cap off with magic.

"Drink it!"

"Eh...?"

No hesitation. I shoved the bottle straight into the lizard girl’s mouth.

"Ghuk! Ggghh?!"

"Relax. It’s a cure potion. I could’ve sprayed it on you, but you said it was strong, so I made you drink it. Just to be safe."

"Cough! Cough!"

"How do you feel?"

"...No way... I’m not... not even tingling... Not like before, when every single antidote I tried barely worked..."

"Looks like it’s working. Drink this one too."

"What’s this?"

"Anti-toxin. Unless it's specially made, it'll work on paralysis too."

"Ah... thanks."

The lizard girl drank the potion straight, without hesitation.

"Coming right up!"

"Wha—?!"

Ahead, where the forest deepened, six massive paralysis frogs emerged.

"Craft-san!"

"What?!"

"Hey, these frogs, they tasty, right?"

Before I could answer, the lizard girl gasped, mouth wide open.

"Hmm. Dunno. Why not try? We've got plenty of antidotes."

"Right you are!"

"No way! Run! Run for your life! Those paralysis baron frogs hit hard with physical attacks too! Three tongues, whip-thin and lashing like whips...!"

She pleaded desperately, but it was already too late.

"Blizzard Slash!"

"Finishing Touch!"

"Take this!"

"Rockslide Smash!"

"……Dark Dance Funeral (Bossoo)"

"Scorching Flame Pillar!"

"Fire Bullet!"

The frog didn’t even get to use its prideful tongue attack—blasted to charred chunks in an instant, scattered across the ground.

"...Huh?"

"Yo, is this thing a monster? Or just some animal?"

"...Yeah, uh, a monster."

"Seriously! You collect monster stones, you know?"

"Yessir."

A monster stone from a creature I’ve never seen before. Can’t wait.

"…Can’t believe the Baron was wiped out in a flash like that…"

"They’re top-tier adventurers, right? That’s all the frog was?"

"…! No—wrong! The village was attacked by over a hundred Baron Frogs!"

"What?"

I glanced at Raidock, and he just smirked back at me.

"No need to answer, huh?"

Damn it. So cool. Just fall apart already.

"Raidock, you're such a—"

Evie ignored me.

"Alright, tell me where the village is! Yeah, I'm Craft. Craft Walker. What's your name?"

She stiffened, sitting up straight.

"I'm Shururu, daughter of the village head of Hyoutan Swamp. Sorry I didn't introduce myself sooner."

"No problem. Alright, Shururu. Lead the way to the village."

"That's... um..."

Shururu's hesitation was plain as day.

She was torn—wanting to save her village, but unsure if she could trust some faceless adventurer. The scales were tipping.

"I've got your back. I'll save it for sure."

"...Alright. Please... save the village!"

"Got it! Leave it to me!"

"Settled! Everyone, move out! Frogs aren't a big deal, but don't get sloppy! Shururu, we're counting on you for directions."

"...Yes!"

We set off right away, following Shururu's lead toward the village.

Along the way, we'd exchange information.

"So, Shururu, you're saying you're Rezardmen, right?"

"Yes. We are Rezardmen."

"In stories, I always pictured you guys looking more like reptiles. You're almost indistinguishable from humans."

"Ah, well..."

Did I just say something rude?

"There's quite a bit of variation in physiology. There are plenty of Rezardmen with full-body scales, you know!"

So apparently, having lots of scales makes you a proper Rezardman. I'd accidentally heard something embarrassing.

"Haha, from a human's point of view, Shururu's actually quite beautiful. Really striking."

"...Eh!?"

"That's right! Shururu's beautiful! I'll vouch for it!"

"Really... me?"

"I guess each race has its own standards. Anyway, let's drop it. The point is, some of you look more human, others more reptilian, right?"

"Yes."

I’d almost said lizard a few times, but something kept me from it.

“So you’re familiar with humans, huh?”

“That’s….”

“Can’t say it?”

“…I’ll skip the details, but contact with humans is forbidden.”

“I see.”

That hesitation earlier—this was it.

“Shururu, it’s okay. We won’t harm you. I’ll prove it by saving your village.”

“Why help us so much, when we’re strangers?”

“That’s…”

Two reasons.

First, this area’s officially called a royal territory, even if it’s just claimed. And it’s recognized as the Marquis’s land.

More precisely, it’s supposed to be recognized by the king once settlement’s proven. But in common eyes, this wilderness was always considered the Marquis’s domain.

And this frontier settlement’s been entrusted entirely to Kyle.

That meant, in effect, Kyle was the one in charge here. So there was no choice but to help.

And then there was one more thing...

"Is that not enough reason? That I want to help?"

I wanted to use this power to help someone in trouble.

Then, for the first time,シャルル showed a smile.

"No... I'm happy."

And so, we began our emergency mission to save the race everyone said was extinct—the Lizardmen.

Gotta find some time later to go through that report on the typos they sent...