Chapter 162

When I opened my eyes, all I ever saw was the grotesque form of a lizard.

“If I have sinned, how much have I sinned…!”

“Kurt! Good morning!”

“Playing hooky again? Hahaha.”

“Really, Mr. Carrot must be having a hard time. Having a troublemaker son like that. Hahaha!”

The monsters approached me, pretending to be friendly.

I avoided those monsters with their disgustingly shiny scaly skin and slipped into my hideout.

It was the house of someone called the Shaman, who held authority second only to the village chief—or perhaps even more in some ways.

Once I holed up in that house, the lizard monsters in the village wouldn’t bother me anymore, and the Shaman, a lizardman, didn’t pay much attention to me either, so it became my usual escape spot.

It was also a place where, in this primitive village, there were many books that could be considered the fruits of civilization.

Someday, when the day comes to escape this lizard den, the knowledge written in those books will surely help me.

“…Of course, even then, I’m just a monster like them……”

Sigh…

Why did I have to be reborn as a creature with such a monstrous body, unable to even properly taste food?

With such a low level of civilization, there’s no way there are proper entertainment facilities.

The village is unsanitary, and its inhabitants are all utterly disgusting.

And for me, who found the greatest joy in cooking, it’s impossible to cook properly given the cultural level here.

For them, cooking is at best throwing some blood-dripping meat into a bowl with some bitter-tasting grass that hasn’t even been properly cleaned.

Even that is barely tasted, so it’s more about texture than flavor.

Living day by day is painful.

I dread the coming of tomorrow.

All I can do is helplessly watch myself gradually become more and more like the lizard monsters of the village.

Is this how people feel when they face an inevitable, inescapable end?

This is…

Hell.

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After wallowing in despair for a while, I soon regained my composure and turned my gaze to the books on the shelf in the Shaman’s house.

Yes. I can’t conclude that there’s no way out yet.

From what I overheard them discussing, it seems humans exist in this world too.

As I flipped through the books on the shelf to gain knowledge about this world, my eyes suddenly landed on one particular book.

It was an ancient book, so old that its age was impossible to guess, and it looked like it would crumble at the slightest touch.

For some reason, I picked it up as if it had slipped from my hands.

Perhaps because I hadn’t been learning their language for long, or because the book was so old that the words written in it were archaic, reading it wasn’t easy.

But I didn’t give up and tried to read as much as I could. Eventually, I managed to decipher some of the contents, and my eyes sparkled as if the despair I had felt moments ago was a lie.

“Th-this is……”

What was written in the book was about the other races existing in this world besides the Lizardmen.

About the Wizards, a race that seemed to exist solely for the purpose of using magic.

If I could get their help, they might be able to turn me, born as a Lizardman, back into a human.

It was an optimistic and absurdly convenient thought, something a child of that age who hadn’t been reincarnated might have, but at that time, I genuinely believed it.

It’s a memory from long ago.

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First, if we’re to talk about the human races…

Yes.

We can’t avoid talking about the Wizards.

They are known, along with humans and beastkin, as one of the races that have not been □□ in this ○○.

They could be called ▲▲▲.

Wizard is a term that generally refers to a profession, a mage, but in common societal usage, it refers to a human race whose entire race is made up of mages.

No, more accurately, the race name “Wizard” later became a general term for mages.

They are a human race born with such a high aptitude for magic that they can sense the flow of mana from birth, said to have talent comparable to the Fairies, another human race we’ll discuss later.

No, strictly speaking, it’s hard to say whether Fairies or Wizards have superior magical aptitude.

Fairies, due to their small size, find it difficult to blend into human society and mostly form their own societies, while Wizards, being Wizards, either hide their identities or build their own societies in remote places untouched by other human races, or live alone as a solitary race.

Given that both races are extremely reluctant to mingle with human society, the information humans have about them is still very limited.

In reality, it’s impossible to know which race has superior magical abilities.

But even if we can’t confirm it, the fact that their magical talent is compared to that of Fairies gives us an idea of how remarkable their abilities are.

However, apart from their magical abilities, their appearance is said to be indistinguishable from ordinary humans.

Compared to Elves or Vampires, who are known to resemble humans but have distinguishing features like long ears or sharp fangs, Wizards are said to blend in so well that they can’t be distinguished even when among humans.

The only physical characteristic that sets them apart is their inherent physical fragility.

This fragility isn’t about weak muscles or poor cardiovascular endurance.

No, could there even be such fragility?

Their fragility is… a bit complicated to explain.

Because there’s no uniformity to their fragility.

The only shared characteristic is that some part of their body is highly unstable.

Some Wizards have almost no strength in their lower bodies, living their entire lives in wheelchairs, while others have such weak digestive systems that they can’t digest half of what they eat, vomiting or surviving on liquid diets.

Others have such poor eyesight that they’re practically blind, or suffer from chronic headaches.

In severe cases, even basic bodily functions don’t work properly, leading to sudden death before they can fully grow.

In slightly better cases, chronic anemia leaves their skin pale all day.

It’s as if they traded their health for the unparalleled magical talent they were born with.

Additionally, Wizards claim to be the true descendants of the fallen Ancient Empire.

Of course, given that the numerous artifacts excavated from the ruins of the Ancient Empire indicate that it was inhabited by humans, this claim isn’t very credible.

Rumors suggest that the magic they use is on a completely different level from that of other races, so advanced that it can only be described as that of the Ancient Empire…

But honestly, how much can you trust rumors? Wise readers already know this.

Rumors of objects and buildings enchanted with self-cleaning spells, miniaturized golems the size of humans, magic that captures moving pictures in frames, or spells that store and retrieve images of people at will.

Using such refined and civilized magic, not just manipulating elements or casting large-scale spells, is said to be a fragment of the Ancient Empire’s civilization.

Ha! What an absurd rumor.

If they could use such advanced magic, it wouldn’t be hard to understand why they claim to be descendants of the Ancient Empire.

But if they could use such powerful magic, why would Wizards hide away or conceal their identities?

Yet, they live in remote places, untouched by humans, building their own societies.

As if they’re hiding out of fear of something.

If even half of these rumors were true, the common belief that Wizards and Fairies have comparable magical abilities would need to be completely revised.

If Wizards’ magic were that great, they could have fixed their fragile bodies first.

The more you think about it, the more it seems like a ridiculous rumor.

In the midst of so many baseless rumors and hearsay, compiling objective and reliable information about the different races is no easy task.

But I am determined to gather all the knowledge about the different races in this world and compile it into a single book, filled only with correct and rational facts.

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Clarice Everett was in a good mood.

Although the guest who visited her mansion had disappeared…

In return, she had gained a friend she thought she would never have in her lifetime.

Usually, due to her frail health, she avoided even stepping outside her mansion, relying on golems to run errands.

The only outings she had were through astral projection, observing human villages from afar.

Clarice had given up on ever having a lifelong friend.

But unexpectedly, they had accepted her, despite the harm she had caused them.

Perhaps that was why she was so happy.

Born with chronic anemia, Clarice rarely went out, but today she felt unusually well.

Yes.

If her good condition continued, she might even be able to go out someday.

“Hehe. That’s right.”

If she could go out, not only could she invite them to her mansion, but she could also visit their homes.

“…Come to think of it, Karina and Serena said they were adventurers, right?”

Then perhaps she could become an adventurer too and go on adventures with them.

“They’d be so surprised, wouldn’t they? Hehe.”

Clarice happily imagined such a future.

…

It was a warm, sunny day.