The scholars who had come to investigate the lake had departed, and the sun was beginning its descent. By now, it was around five in the afternoon.
Around that time, those assigned to guard the Birth Tower were growing considerably more relaxed.
There had been the investigation of the lake and the matter of eating the fish from it, but beyond that—especially anything like an attack—nothing of the sort had happened.
To be precise, Rei had been attacked by a Water Strider monster that morning, and since that monster had possessed no Magic Stone, it was far from accurate to say nothing had happened. That alone was enough to say that something had indeed occurred.
...That said, to Rei, it was nothing more than business as usual.
At any rate, with the sun now setting, preparations for dinner were underway.
The main dish today was stew made with deer meat.
Deer meat was normally quite gamey and tough, but thanks to the skill of whoever had prepared it, the venison in the stew was exceptionally tender.
A few people, undeterred by earlier events, were skewering fish caught from the lake on sticks and grilling them over the campfire.
The scholars had given them a cursory examination and confirmed there were no toxins, but there was no guarantee some problem wouldn't arise later.
Despite that, the fact that they were still casually grilling and eating the fish—whether one should call that courage or simply thoughtlessness—left Rei uncertain.
Then again, Rei was doing much the same thing himself, skewering cheese on a branch and toasting it over the fire, then placing it on bread to eat once the surface began to melt.
Grilled fish, toasted cheese, and beyond those, there were also people reheating the skewered meats the Carriage had brought.
Eating together like this was something adventurers were accustomed to, but for Rei—who used to operate solely with Set and now usually traveled with a set group of Crimson Lotus Wings members—it was unusual.
He had eaten yesterday's dinner and today's breakfast and lunch with this many people, but...
"Man, I never thought a lake would teleport here."
"I was more scared of that Giant Clam, honestly. If I'd known something like that was in the lake, I'd definitely think twice about wading in even a little."
"Damn it! Why does that scholar act so high and mighty?!"
Since they were still on guard duty, no Alcohol was being served.
A few of the Adventurers were unhappy about that, but even so, eating with this many people naturally livened the mood.
Many were eating whatever suited them and grumbling about the day's events. The sight of everyone enjoying their meal gave Rei a different sense of satisfaction compared to eating at a dining hall.
"Mmm, this deer stew... it's delicious..." one of the Adventurers murmured earnestly.
Beside him, a Lizardman that had apparently befriended the Adventurer Man was happily bringing grilled Fish to its mouth.
"●●, ●●●"
"The fish over there is good too? I get that, but I'm still a meat man over fish."
Watching the two converse, Rei wondered if that actually counted as communication.
From the look of it, they seemed to be getting their point across just fine, but naturally enough, the Lizardman was speaking in the Lizardman language and the Adventurer was speaking in this world's tongue.
The fact that neither seemed particularly bothered by it was probably because they had spent a fair amount of time together.
"Still, this area really got busy all of a sudden over the past few days," an Adventurer eating deer stew beside Rei remarked with feeling.
He hadn't said it very loudly, so not many people probably heard him.
But for that very reason, Rei nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. The lake teleporting here was huge. ...And not knowing that a Slime that massive was lurking at the bottom was a big deal too."
Rei nodded at his own words as he looked at the Slime that was still burning.
Many of the scholars who had arrived today had also shown interest in the endlessly burning Slime.
Some, perhaps simply fascinated by such an enormous specimen, had even requested that Rei extinguish the magic so they could see it directly with their own eyes. Rei had naturally refused.
Even now, as it continued to burn, there was no visible sign of it shrinking.
It was possible the Slime was burning away and getting smaller, but from Rei's vantage point, it didn't appear to have changed in size at all.
If that was the case, then even if it was shrinking, it was happening to a degree imperceptible to the eye.
(There's no way it's absorbing magic or fire and growing instead of shrinking... right?)
It wasn't that Rei didn't harbor some unease, but he had a strong conviction that it would be fine.
There was no specific reason for it, but still. This sort of instinct came from having survived many fierce battles and fought countless monsters since arriving in this world.
Then again, if Rei's prediction was correct, this lake had teleported from another world entirely, and naturally the Slime that emerged from it would be a monster from that other world as well. So if asked whether his instincts would apply here, he couldn't honestly say yes with full confidence.
"Gruu? ...Grururururu!"
Then, while eating alongside the others, Set suddenly growled—a warning to those around him of approaching danger.
Among those present, there was no one who doubted Set's senses. There were even those who, unable to trust their own instincts, trusted Set's completely.
Additionally, the Lizardmen were well aware of just how powerful Set was, and just like the Adventurers and the Knight, they immediately shifted into battle readiness.
Even mid-meal, the commission to guard the Birth Tower was still in effect.
Naturally, everyone had kept their weapons within arm's reach while eating, so responding instantly was not difficult.
"Watch out—the enemy is coming from the lake!"
Seeing Set growling toward the lake, Rei shouted.
Since the Birth Tower stood beside the Treant Forest, it wouldn't have been unusual for some animal or monster to attack from the forest side or from the open plains. Most creatures would flee the moment they sensed Set's presence, but there were some that, even knowing Set was there, showed no intention of running.
It was possible that such an animal or monster was attacking now—but right now, Set was staring squarely at the lake.
(Wait. Hold on. If animals and monsters detect Set's presence and keep their distance, wouldn't the monsters in the lake do the same?)
So Rei thought, but setting aside the massive Slime, the Water Strider had attacked completely unfazed by Set's presence.
Whether that was because it was a monster from another world, or because it lacked a Magic Stone—though that wasn't fully confirmed yet—Rei didn't know.
But regardless, the fact that Set was on alert meant there was definitely something in that lake that would attack regardless of his presence, just like before.
"Look! There's a lot of them! They're not Water Striders!"
One of the Adventurers, watching the shoreline, cried out sharply.
At those words, everyone looked not at the surface of the lake but at the water's edge.
Illuminated by the moonlight and the glow of the burning Slime, what they saw could be described in a word as reptilian.
However, it had a long mouth like a crocodile—no, even longer than a crocodile's. Including its tail, its total length was roughly two and a half meters, and about half of that was mouth.
Whether it noticed it was being watched was unclear, but Rei, with his Night Vision, spotted rows of short but sharp teeth inside.
"It's a lizard-like monster. They're fairly large, so be careful. Especially the mouth—it's big and full of sharp teeth!"
At Rei's words, many of the Adventurers who heard him grimaced.
Emerging from the lake at this timing meant they were undoubtedly hostile—or so everyone reasoned.
It was hard to imagine that this many creatures would appear under these circumstances to playfully nuzzle up to them.
Quite the opposite—looking at their eyes, it was obvious they were filled with hunger.
In other words, these monsters had likely come out of the lake to feed.
"Them coming in a group is troublesome. That huge... no, that long mouth looks like it'll cause plenty of trouble too," an Adventurer beside Rei muttered grimly, spear in hand.
Nodding in agreement, Rei withdrew Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear from his Misty Ring.
Rei had no intention of losing in a one-on-one fight.
But if they all swarmed at once, it would undeniably be a troublesome situation.
"Anyway, these are unknown monsters. I'll ask just in case—does anyone here know anything about them?"
Gazing at the giant lizards, Rei addressed everyone present.
At the very least, he had no recollection of ever seeing the monsters before his eyes.
In response to his question, the Fleeing Adventurers simply shook their heads.
Rei did visit the library from time to time. The library held many books, and the Monster Encyclopedia series alone spanned several volumes. He hadn't read all of them, but even so, it was his first time encountering a monster like the one before him.
Facing an unknown monster, Rei's mouth curved into a grin.
"With the Water Strider, the head was destroyed before we could check, but now that they've come up onto land, there's no need to worry about that. Now then—whether they truly have no Magic Stone, or whether the stone that was in the Water Strider's head simply sank into the lake. Let's find out."
"Grurururu!" Set let out a spirited cry in response.
Naturally. When they had defeated the Water Strider, Set had crushed its head and sent it sinking into the lake.
Given that, in order to truly confirm whether the monsters inhabiting this lake possessed Magic Stones, they needed to defeat these lizards here on solid ground.
"Here they come!"
Rei suddenly shouted and threw himself clear of his position.
In that same instant, something launched by the lizard leading the pack pierced through the exact spot where Rei's body had been a heartbeat before.
What was that? Rei wondered, but there was something more important to deal with right now.
"Just like that Water Strider, they have a long-range attack! Be careful!"
Shouting, Rei gripped Death Scythe and cast Magic Shield.
The Shield of Light that materialized from nowhere had the ability to block a single enemy attack.
(That Water Strider, and now this—the monsters from this lake all have some kind of projectile attack.)
The reason Rei had dodged the lizard's attack so effortlessly was because of the Water Strider incident.
The Water Strider's strike had been alarmingly dangerous, and having witnessed it, Rei had anticipated that the lizards might use a similar ranged attack. His instinct had been right on the mark.
(A fang...?)
Though there were light sources—the moonlight, the burning Slime, the campfire—it was still nighttime.
Given that, Rei couldn't clearly identify what the lizard had fired.
But it was undeniably something white, small, and sharp, and if it had been launched from inside the mouth, the first thing that came to mind was a fang.
"Everyone, stay alert! The enemy appears to shoot fangs!"
While warning the others, he swung Death Scythe as a probing strike.
"Flying Slash!"
A slash of energy shot through the air.
It flew straight toward its target—but merely grazed the surface of the lizard's scaled body before dissipating.
"You've got to be kidding."
That Rei wanted to mutter those words was only natural.
The Flying Slash skill with Death Scythe had reached Level 5, dramatically increasing its power.
It possessed more than enough force to effortlessly bisect an ordinary lizard.
And yet, the Flying Slash that struck its mark had only left a light scratch on the creature's scaled hide.
That alone was testament to the sheer defensive power of the lizard's body.
"The scales are tough, it seems. As a material, that's top-grade," an Adventurer beside Rei muttered, eyeing the lizards.
Indeed, if Flying Slash could only inflict that level of damage, then using the lizard's hide and scales as materials would undoubtedly yield powerful Armor.
Viewed purely from an Adventurer's perspective, it was a lucrative catch—provided they could actually defeat them.
"Yeah. They're unknown monsters, so as far as extra income goes, it's not bad at all!"
With that shout, Rei stepped forward—and the Adventurers and Lizardmen surged ahead with him.