CHAPTER 46: LAMIA VS LIZARDMEN

An emergency kitchen was indeed important when the village situation was unstable. Fortunately for them, Gideon had broad knowledge.

The river was a primary need. When that primary need was disrupted, it could have a significant impact.

Food was one of them. When Lena arrived in the village, she connected Gideon’s words to the reality in the field.

She clearly saw many villagers thin and starving, weak and pale-faced. Siver did not know how to deal with this problem.

Then Gideon appeared with a solution. She placed much hope in Gideon, believing he could save her and the entire village. It seemed Gideon was not joking about his promise.

Looking at the crops and vegetables available, Lena did not choose complicated food. She would make soup with ingredients from the village, hoping it would help the others.

Gideon and Luke worked on their tasks, cleaning the surroundings and draining stagnant water. Their only concern was malaria.

That’s right. Malaria was a disease caused by mosquitoes, usually living and breeding in swamp areas. The Lamia village was the perfect place, with the humidity and temperature just right for mosquitoes to multiply.

By clearing out stagnant water, at least Gideon had taken the first preventive step he needed to take. He turned to the side, watching Lena busy cooking food for the villagers.

That night, Gideon and the others stayed in the village. Some slept in Siver’s house, others slept in tents.

Right in front of a small campfire, Luke sipped coffee from his cup while Gideon was still chewing on a wafer snack in his hand. Both of them turned quickly when they heard an explosion that startled them.

BLAST!

"What was that?" Luke asked.

"An explosion. It came from inside the ruins."

"Luke, grab Lyra’s laptop and activate the drone. Scout the ruins," Gideon ordered.

Luke agreed. He went into the tent, grabbed Lyra’s laptop, and activated the drone they had brought. The laptop powered on and synced successfully with the drone.

Slowly, he flew the drone, guiding it with Lyra’s laptop. Gideon grew curious, stepping closer to watch the drone feed on the screen. The drone was now on its way to the ruins.

It did not take long before the drone hovered above the ruins. What Siver had said was true, it was the ruins of a city, with buildings and roads covered in vines and creepers.

"There’s no way vines could pollute the river. I’m right, aren’t I?" Luke asked.

"You’re right."

"Switch the feed to thermal mode."

"Alright."

Luke switched the feed from normal video to thermal imaging. What appeared on the laptop screen was shocking enough to make both Luke and Gideon’s eyes widen and their mouths drop in disbelief.

"N-No way..."

"This is insane, completely insane."

What they saw on the screen were images of hundreds of heat signatures inside the city. Only a few lived above the ruins, while most lived underground.

Gideon had already suspected it. Fungi did not cause chemical effects on the river, and moss didn’t either. He had predicted that some group of people must be polluting the river for their own purpose.

"Pull the drone back," Gideon ordered.

Luke quickly recalled the drone from above the ruins, preventing anything bad from happening. Soon, the drone landed back at their tent and was shut down to save battery.

"What are we going to do?" Luke asked.

Gideon was silent. He did not know their exact numbers, or even exactly what they were. But his best choice was to discuss this with Lena, Lyra, and Siver. He was certain Siver had answers about this.

***

The next morning.

The Lamia villagers lined up at the field kitchen, where Lena and Lyra were ready to serve food. The five wolves worked together to clean the area. Luke and Gideon, already geared up, entered the village and walked to the chieftain’s house.

"What do you want?" asked the guard at the residence, a Lamia woman.

"I want to see Lady Siver. This concerns the ancient ruins."

Luke carried Lyra’s laptop, storing the reconnaissance evidence from the night before. It had video showing hundreds of monsters roaming the ruined city, both above and below ground.

Seeing their determination, the guard agreed. One of them went inside and led Gideon to Lady Siver’s study on the second floor.

The door opened, and Lady Siver turned to welcome Gideon. He entered in full gear, with Luke following and carrying the laptop.

"Do you need something?" Siver asked.

"Yes."

"I need to know what’s in the ancient ruins," Gideon said.

"I already told you, we’ve never been there. So we don’t know."

Gideon turned his head, and Luke nodded. He opened the laptop and showed her the drone footage from the night before. Siver squinted, not knowing what it meant.

"What is that?"

"Red means living creatures. There are hundreds, living underground. I’m certain they’re the ones polluting the river," Gideon explained.

"Do you know them?" Luke asked.

Siver shook her head. From what they saw, their forms resembled lizards, with the tallest ones around two meters. Siver realized that Lizardmen and Lamia had never gotten along.

"Could they be Lizardmen?"

"Lizardmen?" Gideon asked in shock.

"Yes. An annoying lizard race. We’ve always been enemies with them. From their forms, I’m sure they’re Lizardmen."

"Damn lizards!" Siver cursed.

Gideon stayed silent. He did not know there was a lizard race in this world. But it all made sense, considering this was a fantasy world.

What he thought about now was how to solve the problem without committing genocide.

It would be difficult, but Gideon had to try. If there was truly a way to reconcile and make them live together, then he had to find it.

"Alright. That’s all I need," Gideon said.

He took his leave, walking out with Luke to return outside. Luke shook his head, never expecting their enemy to be another race.

"What are we going to do?" Luke asked.

Gideon cleared his throat quietly, his mind working hard to figure out how to end this mission.

If he gave the order to raise weapons, hundreds of lizard people would die, and it would not be worth it.

Lena noticed Gideon’s troubled face. She stepped closer and brought them MREs, which were more suitable than the soup earlier. The soup was meant for the Lamia.

"What’s wrong? Your faces are already tense this early in the morning?" Lena asked.

"We’re thinking about lizards."

"Lizards?" Lena frowned.

"Yeah, lizards."