Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 752 - 17: The Unique Traditions of the Lizardman_1

Chapter 752: Chapter 17: The Unique Traditions of the Lizardman_1

"Everyone’s saying you got the wrong person." Pannis covered his eyes with one hand, pretending he couldn’t see the other party, hoping they wouldn’t see him: "I’m not even thirty years old yet. How could you have seen me over a hundred years ago? And even seen me being dragged around in the lake by a ferocious fish? Such a thing could never have happened. Yes, you must be mistaken."

"Sssss, I see, haha." The old Lizardman laughed heartily: "That’s right, it’s indeed a mistake on my part. Sss, the son of the High Priest, sss, are you and these human friends planning to go home or go out to play?"

"I want to go home, sss." Galantis replied, wagging his tail: "I’ve been away for two years now and I want to go home and see my mother. Sss, I hope my mother hasn’t had any problems."

"Sss, you’ve grown up, sss, and can venture into the outside world. You’re quite a capable child." The old Lizardman’s boat finally reached the shore. The pale Lizardman spryly jumped off the boat, patted Galantis’s head, and said, "The High Priest should be fine, I haven’t heard of any health problems. Sss, you know, if someone like the High Priest were unwell, most of the tribe would have heard about it. Since we haven’t, it means the High Priest is doing well, so don’t worry."

"That’s great, thank you Uncle, sss." Galantis affectionately hugged the old Lizardman, rapidly sticking out his tongue as he spoke: "I can hardly wait to get home now. Sss, I get so excited thinking about the dinner my mother cooks and my soft water bed."

"Are you eager to get home? Sss, well then we’ll take you part of the way." The old Lizardman thought for a moment: "Crossing over the lake won’t take too long, sss, and it will help you speed up your journey."

"Are you sure it won’t get in the way of your fishing? Sss, I really appreciate it." Galantis courteously tapped the leg of the old Lizardman with his tail. This was a unique way of expressing gratitude among the Lizardman race: "It’ll be much more convenient for my sisters and me if we can cut across the lake. Sss, we could save at least two hours of travel time, sss, and avoid a particularly muddy patch that’s hard to navigate."

"Uh, if we cross the lake, that ferocious fish won’t cause trouble, will it?" Pannis scratched his face, looking embarrassed: "I had a tussle with it last night, won’t that have any consequences?"

"Hahahaha, sss, no, it won’t." The old Lizardman laughed heartily: "It was just playing with you, sss. That ferocious fish has been living in the Tear of the Gods for hundreds of years. It knows us fishers quite well, sss. It’s quite clever, like a child, sss, just a little mischievous. You see, it only plays with you. Sss, it probably finds you interesting, haha. So don’t worry, it knows its limit. Sss, it won’t capsize our boat."

"Well, I don’t find it interesting, and I didn’t want to play with it. I was just fishing." Pannis pouted, muttering a few words, and was finally persuaded by Catherine to thank the old Lizardman and boarded one of the small boats he summoned. All the boatmen were pale, elderly Lizardmen. Their strength had waned, making it inconvenient for them to hunt. Unwilling to remain idle in the tribe and receive assistance, they took on the task of fishing, contributing to the tribe in their own way.

The customs of the Lizardman Tribe are interesting, completely unlike those of other races in the Yarran World. In the minds of most Lizardman, the concept of family does not exist; only tribe and kinship bonds. That means there are virtually no married couples in the tribe. The birthing and raising of offspring is solely handled by female Lizardman. Most Lizardman don’t even know who their fathers are, only their mothers. Even if a female Lizardman lacks the ability to raise her children, it’s not a problem. All the resources and necessary education for the young are provided by the tribe, so there’s not much pressure. As for the male Lizardman, they’re freer. They don’t need to support their offspring or maintain a family, but in return, they, in a sense, must support everyone else’s offspring since the resources to raise the young are accumulated from the hunting and production efforts of all tribe members, and they contribute a large part of it.

Furthermore, male Lizardman have to pay another price. Because they don’t bear any responsibilities, they also do not possess any rights. In the Lizardman Tribe, females basically dominate, and male Lizardman have little say in the tribe’s development. They may live carefree lives, but they have no influence over tribe decisions. The most important roles of medicine and sacrifice are reserved mostly for female Lizardman, and while both genders can carry out medical duties, females are still the majority.

As for tribe members who have entered old age, they are certainly not abandoned. The tribe continues to distribute the same resources to them, allowing them to spend their last few decades in comfort. Some tribes even distribute more resources to the elderly than the young. And the kind-hearted Lizardmen, preferring not to idle or waste tribe resources, often find work within their abilities to offset the tribe’s expenditure on them.

For the outside world, this unique habit is difficult to comprehend, even unimaginable. However, to the Lizardmen who live leisurely in the swamp, it is a habit that has been passed down for thousands of years, as normal as eating when hungry. They maintain this lifestyle generation after generation, and it will continue in the future too.

The lake is very wide. Although they only cut across one corner of it, the size still engulfs their sight when they reach the middle. The emerald lake water surrounds them on all sides while the refreshing lake wind dispels their morning drowsiness.

These old Lizardmen rowing the boats are experienced hunters after all. Even while sailing, they often thrust their Suguwood poles into the lake, always managing to throw a struggling giant fish onto the deck. If someone misses, they will be the subject of friendly laughter among their companions.

Seven or eight boats sailed very steadily, almost without feeling the ship’s movement. Except for Lina who was still a bit afraid of the deep water, the other girls had already started to enjoy this comfortable journey.

With a sudden "splash", a huge head emerged from the nearby lake. The head of the fish alone was bigger than a grown man. This giant fish had an intimidating appearance, lined with row upon row of sharp teeth in its mouth. These teeth were not only sharp but also had a slight inward curve, like a hook, promising a considerable amount of flesh if bitten. There was a short thorn growing in the center of the fish’s forehead. Like a ship’s ram, it could destroy most smaller boats at high speed.

"Pannis, your old friend is here." Catherine swiftly gripped the shield and sword at her side upon sighting the monstrous fish. It had impressive strength and was at least at the top of the hierarchy among legendary creatures. If its battle power in the water was taken into account, it could even rival some demigods. If they had to fight, without counting Pannis’s strength, they would likely fall into a tough battle. Although now alert, the young knightess still had great confidence in their strength, and humorously said to Pannis: "Aren’t you going to go down and greet it? Go on another lake tour and enjoy the good old memories."

"I’d rather not." Pannis pouted and shook her head, "I have no pleasant memories with it, only deep resentment. Look, it’s bearing its teeth at me. See how deep its hatred for me runs."

"That’s just how it looks." Catherine rolled her eyes at Pannis, holding her shield on guard and asked loudly, "Does anyone know why it surfaced so suddenly?"

"No idea, hiss." The old Lizardman at the front answered across the lake. Not a trace of panic was heard in his voice, as if it wasn’t a carnivorous fish surfacing but rather a child, "But don’t worry, hiss, it means no harm, hiss. If it wanted to attack, it wouldn’t have announced itself by appearing above water, hiss. Don’t provoke it, it will actually get angry then."

"Got it." Catherine put away her one-handed sword, but to be on the safe side, she kept the Falcon Shield at hand. "I won’t attack first, but if it attacks us, I’ll have to fight back."

However, Catherine’s worries were unnecessary. The giant fish didn’t attack. After staring at everyone with its lifeless eyes for a while, it suddenly flipped over in the water, whipping up a shower with its tail, dousing Pannis. This cunning fish only splashed water without making any waves, thus preventing the boat from overturning.

Nonetheless, Pannis and Catherine who shared the boat were quite unlucky. They watched helplessly as a sheet of water came crashing down over them, thoroughly drenching their clothes and hair. The fish seemed pleased with its successful prank, swiftly swam to a distance, poking its head out of the water from time to time, reminiscent of a mischievous child who, after causing a ruckus, runs away while looking back to taunt the victims.

"Damn creature." Pannis wiped the water off his face, grinding his teeth in frustration, "Just wait. One day I am going to roast you into a fish steak. Remember this, bastard."