Chapter 16: Red Scaled Lizardmen

"You sent Lizardmen after us that day! Brutus almost lost his arm!" Eudora's furious glare was pointed at Michael. A frown quickly grew on Michael's scaled face. He had never sent any Lizardmen after the pair that day.

"I didn't send any Lizardmen to attack you that day. I think you must be mistaken." Michael folded his arms behind his back and matched Eudora's glare with a calm gaze. "Besides, even if I wanted you dead, I would rather do it myself. My people would most likely be clumsy when performing such deeds, and mess up the mission." His words prompted a slight frown from the members of the hunting group.

Brutus sneered at Michael's words, his right fist clenching, "You think we're fools, don't you? Let me just tell you, we have enough people to bring down your entire Lizardman civilization in just a single day. Watch your words, lizard." He finished off by spitting at the ground by Michael's feet. Hisses instantly erupted from behind Michael as all the Lizardmen bared their poisonous tongues, and teeth at the warrior. They took an insult at their leader very personally.

"Calm down. This isn't the time to fight." Michael raised his hand, stalling his people's movements.

"But Leader..."Even Milizaus felt affronted by the blatant insult.

"If you rush to attack without trying to solve a dispute through other methods, then that makes you a bad leader. If I was alone, I might have attacked them, but you all are with me. I refuse to throw your lives away... Besides, there are over a dozen archers pointing their arrows at us right now." Michael smirked when he saw the dumbfounded look on the Adventurer duo's faces. "Oh? You thought I was clueless? I had known all along that your backup wasn't a measly group."

"How did you know?" Eudora asked, barely masking the shock on her face.

"That is for me to know." Michael brushed aside her question. In truth, he had acquired a skill that greatly enhanced his vision some time ago. Aside from the Night Vision skill he got as a lizard, he had unlocked another vision enhancing skill called Telescopic Vision. Even though his eyesight was already quite good as a Lizardman, this skill allowed him to monitor any movement within fifty to seventy meters, with him as the center. From fifty meters, the further it stretched out, the less focused and clear his vision got.

The archers on Eudora and Brutus' side were situated roughly forty meters away. Close enough to provide backup, but also far enough to retreat quickly if anything went awry.

"Let's get back to the matter at hand. You said Lizardmen attacked you. What did they look like?" Michael refocused his gaze on the two people before him.

"Lizardmen, duh." Eudora replied with a frown.

Michael gave her a deadpan look before elaborating. "Their color?"

"They had red scales."

"My people don't have red scales." Michael's frown deepened. He turned back to Milizaus to confirm, "Milizaus, do any of our people have red scales?"

"No, Leader. We are all yellow." Milizaus bowed his head.

Michael turned back to the Adventurer duo, "Our people didn't attack you. Perhaps in order to prove our innocence, we can help you and your buddies find those Lizardmen." He offered. "But firstly, tell those 'buddies' of yours to stop pointing an arrow at my head." As he spoke that last part, Michael turned his head, directing his gaze between the trees. Exactly forty meters away, a male archer with fiery red hair jerked in surprise. His eyes were wide open as he stared at the pair of blue reptilian eyes that had locked onto him from afar.

'He saw me?!' was the only thought that could run through his mind at this point. Just as he steeled his mind and pulled back on his arrow, ready to release it, Eudora reached into her spatial ring that served as a portable store for her, pulling out a purple cloth from it. Everyone that was assigned to the backup team knew the meaning of that color. Purple meant that there was no need for backup, and they were going to remain friendly with the Lizardmen.

The archers lowered their bows, a bit confused. They had read the lips of Eudora and Brutus, so they were aware of their words. The just couldn't read Michael's lips because of how different he was from the standards.

Although they had received word not to attack, they still remained hidden, just in case anything went wrong and they had to snipe the Lizardmen.

Meanwhile, Michael was busy appealing to Eudora and Brutus.

"You want to help us hunt down your own kind?" Eudora was confused.

"Yes. If I want my Lizardman tribe to be the strongest in this region, then I have to conquer every other tribe that resides here. If I leave them be, then they will only grow until they have enough capital to attack and conquer my own tribe. I would rather strike first." He explained his motive for helping them.

Eudora thought it over before nodding, "That sounds reasonable. We have a party member that can help locate the Red Lizardmen. He will help us find them."

"Very well, then. I believe we have ourselves an agreement." Michael nodded. "Please wait here while we get some more people as part of our group." Michael told them before turning to his Elite Guard. His eyes settled on Ryncol, the fastest Lizardman among them.

"Ryncol, I need you to head back to our settlement. Gather ten more people and return here as fast as you can." Ryncol, the Lizardman who featured a faded line that ran down from his head to the tip of his tail. He nodded and bowed slightly before turning and running into the cave. In just a few moments, his footfalls could no longer be heard.