From Tia's mouth, Takumi learned why these Lizardmen looked so thin and disfigured that they looked like they were about to starve to death and were in distress.
Because they were really in trouble.
The reason was also very simple, because of something that Takumi also knew: war!
Near the habitat of the Lizardmen, a new battlefield between humans and demons had emerged since last year.
This was initially nothing. Since the Lizardmen lived in swamps, this terrain was a natural barrier for both warring parties and was difficult to conquer.
Moreover, there was no benefit to occupying the swamp, and it was very inconvenient to garrison it.
In addition, the combat power of the Lizardmen could not be underestimated. With their strong bodies and excellent water magic, they were a very hard nut to crack with the bonus of their home-field advantage in the swamp.
Therefore, at first, the armies on both sides ignored the Lizardmen and just kept fighting on the sidelines, going back and forth.
Seeing that there was no impact on the Lizardmen, they didn't pay much attention to them. Everyone went about their own lives.
In fact, because they could scavenge on the battlefield after the conflicts from time to time, pick up some useful things from the ruins, and do some trade with both warring parties, the life of the Lizardmen was much better than before.
It wasn't until winter came this year that everything changed.
This year, like last year, the winter was colder than ever, and the swamps were almost frozen.
However, although it was not completely frozen, the difficulty of passage was greatly reduced.
What was more important was that both sides of the war had discovered this.
Then, tragedy struck the Lizardmen.
First, there were some logistical problems on the human side after winter set in, which caused the internal supply levels of the army to decrease.
This made some soldiers who were hungry become obsessed with the Lizardmen, and occasionally they would form groups privately and come over to play bandit.
The Lizardmen, who had been robbed of a large amount of winter food reserves, almost suffered from internal famine.
Fortunately, they reacted later and quickly made amends. They hid all the remaining food and managed to hold on. No one died of starvation, but it was just enough to survive.
Then, the Demons also started to operate. They wanted to use the Lizardmen's habitat to launch a sneak attack on the human side.
Facing the overcoming Demon army, the Lizardmen, who could not fight tanks with their bare hands and whose fighting power had been greatly reduced due to hunger, had no choice but to give way.
Fortunately, the Demon army was relatively well-behaved and did not make things difficult for them. They really just wanted to pass through.
Well, it might also have been because they were in a hurry to march and carry out a sneak attack, so they didn't want to waste time on the Lizardmen.
In short, the Demon army passed through the habitat of the Lizardmen.
From then on, the Lizardmen were completely in trouble.
Because the Demon Clan's sneak attack was successful, the human side did not expect that the Demon army would actually come from the Lizardmen's habitat. The human army was caught off guard without any defense. The main force of the Demons was also waiting for the opportunity. The human army, which was attacked from both sides and was almost completely defeated, finally managed to hold on at a huge cost.
At the same time, this also succeeded in getting the Lizardmen completely involved in this war.
The human side, who was attacked by a wave of sneak attacks, took a closer look afterwards and found out: Okay! It turns out you made way for the Demons! This is no longer ordinary collaboration with the enemy; we must hit hard!
The already red-eyed human army, regardless of whether the Lizardmen gave way actively or passively, directly sent a large number of troops to clear them out, intending to eliminate the Lizardmen and occupy the swamp.
Faced with such an unthinkable disaster, the Lizardmen were forced to have no choice but to ask Gran Maria and the others for help.
This was also the reason why Tia met Gran Maria and the others when she met the Lizardmen.
Because at that time, these three angel girls received the message asking for help and were on their way to protect the Lizardmen, and they were almost there.
After all, these Lizardmen were loyal to Tia. As Tia's direct subordinates, they were considered members of the same faction as Gran Maria and the others. Naturally, the angels couldn't ignore the Lizardmen's plea for help.
Tia, who understood the cause and effect, after punishing the human army, could not bear the continued suffering of the Lizardmen. At the same time, out of the responsibility of a superior, she took them back to Dimension City.
"It was too chaotic outside, and there was no guarantee that they would not be affected by the war again even if I helped them move to other places, so I took it upon myself to bring them back."
Tia said, lowering her head and apologizing to Takumi, "I'm sorry, I caused trouble for my husband."
"You also know that this is causing trouble," Takumi complained helplessly.
At the same time, after listening to this explanation, he finally understood why there were so many more Lizardmen than in the original work.
There were only about twenty Lizardmen in the original work... As for the current Lizardmen, Takumi looked around and saw that there were countless individuals in a large area, at least close to a hundred people.
Thinking about it, the group in the original book should be the ones left after being decimated by the war.
Moreover, in the original book, the Lizardmen arrive later during a period of warm climate, and their situation during that period would have been much better.
In addition, the support of Gran Maria and the others would have arrived by that time, and the trouble would have been solved. having recuperated for nearly a year, they wouldn't be as miserable as they were now.
"Please, husband, treat this as someone begging you to keep them. They are actually very easy to support."
When Tia heard Takumi's words, she thought he was going to refuse, so she quickly begged for mercy.
"It doesn't matter if they don't have a house, they can sleep on the street, and even though they seem to be very weak now, they are still much better than ordinary people. As long as they are given food to eat, it will not affect their labor..."
Takumi was dumbfounded when he heard this. "I didn't say I wouldn't take them in."
Takumi didn't mind taking in these Lizardmen, and he had such a plan in the first place.
Although the Lizardmen looked a bit inhuman, they were not too ugly, just strange, and their appearance was at a level that was relatively acceptable to humans.
At the same time, their abilities were indeed good, and they could make Tia accept their allegiance, which was a recognition of their strength.
After all, it was impossible for an ordinary race to gain the acknowledgment of a top race like the Angels.
Moreover, the most important point was that the Lizardmen had their own aesthetics. Like the Dwarves, they had no interest in humans, elves, beastkin, and other demi-humans!
Humans think Lizardmen are unacceptable, and Lizardmen think the same thing about humans.
Therefore, they were safe and acceptable to Dimension City (Takumi).
Of course, what should be taboo should still be taboo; Takumi would not let them enter the Inner City.
But in the Outer City, it was not impossible to keep them. After all, they were immigrants who were useful in building Dimension City, so there was no reason not to accept them.
Moreover, these Lizardmen were Tia's subordinates. Theoretically, they were people from Dimension City.
Just like Lulucy's Oni maids, and the Azure Order composed of Esdeath's former subordinates in the world of Akame ga Kill!.
Starting from the time when their respective leaders joined Dimension City, as long as they were still loyal to their respective leaders, they could actually be regarded as members of Dimension City's forces.