Chapter 48

Even as the night turned to day, there was no sign of the rain letting up.

According to Reinhardt, monsters hardly move during heavy rain.

This is because the smell and sounds needed to find prey are washed away by the rain.

In this regard, it seems they are no different from ordinary wild animals.

The tents are well waterproofed, so the rain doesn't seep in, but the moisture inside can condense and drip down.

When it falls on the back of your neck, it can be quite a shock.

The tents are spacious enough for a large adult to lie down and sleep, but they are too small for our classmates who have just been freed from their status as slaves.

Without smartphones or portable game devices like we had in Japan, and with no playing cards or other ways to pass the time, there's not much to do but sulk.

Even though the rain has calmed the activity of the monsters, we are still in the Demon Forest, so everyone is prepared to move at any time.

Since this was the first time many of us had fought with real swords and knives, some of us put away our blades with blood still on them, and Fred had to teach us how to take care of our swords.

When there's nothing to do, the only pleasure is eating.

Both breakfast and lunch were brought by shadow movement from the garrison's mess hall, and everyone was satisfied.

Kobayashi and Sakurae, who helped with the meal service, were entrusted with letters from the girls, and from Honmi and the others, we received messages saying they were looking forward to meeting again in Volzard.

While everyone was having lunch, I finished the care of the committee chair at the Lastock garrison, gave an interim report to Donovan, and was considering whether to set off as the rain began to weaken.

Basten approached with a tense look on his face.

"Lord Kent, a group of lizardmen is approaching. Please have everyone get ready to move."

"Understood!"

I hurried to the center of the row of tents and shouted a warning.

"Monsters are coming, everyone, get ready to fight! Hurry up!"

"Seriously... where did my sword go?"

"Hey, it's raining, don't we have raincoats or something?"

"Ugh, the ground is all muddy..."

Even though they had received training at the Lastock garrison, it seems they had not received proper instruction, only engaging in fistfights and endlessly casting spells, so they had not received much practical combat training.

I had asked Kondo and Takayama to take charge to ensure everyone was ready to move at any time, but it seems they were not even up to the task of a quick fix.

The girls seemed to be in the same situation, and while Honmi and Sagara, who had already prepared, were running around giving orders, it didn't look like everyone's preparations would be completed anytime soon.

"Lord Kent, I'm going out to intercept them. Basten, come with me. Fred, stay here and defend."

"Understood, Lieutenant. If we let them get too close, it will be troublesome, so let's engage them from a distance."

"I'll leave the defense to you..."

"I'll also stay to defend, but for now, just as a greeting..."

I launched a light attribute attack spell at the approaching lizardmen from a distance, but it seemed to have no effect.

"No way, the attack isn't working...?"

"Lord Kent... use a dark shield to hold them back..."

"Huh... oh, right, got it..."

I placed dark shields in front of the feet and faces of the charging lizardmen, causing them to trip and hit their faces, slowing their momentum.

"The dark shield worked, but they seem to have resistance to light attributes..."

The frustration in my heart grew as my light attribute attack spells, which make up most of my offensive power, were ineffective.

I wondered if the spells themselves were not being cast properly, so I tried casting an attack spell at a tree a little distance away, but it seemed to lack the usual power.

"Ah... it must be the rain..."

It's a common knowledge among middle schoolers that laser and other light weapons are affected by fog, rain, and dust in the air.

At close range, the impact would be less, but that would be too dangerous.

Lizardmen are lizard-like monsters about two meters tall, covered in green scales, and incredibly agile.

Some live in deserts and other dry areas, while others prefer to live near water. The ones attacking us seem to be the water-dwelling type.

In addition to sharp teeth and claws, some carry swords made from bones or teeth.

There are at least fifty of them, and there might be close to a hundred.

While Reinhardt could take down several rock ogres at once, it seems he can only take down one lizardman with a single blow, and even Basten's Geborg long-range attacks were being dodged.

In close combat, Basten has the upper hand, but even then, he can't finish them off with a single strike.

"Kondo, Takayama, they seem pretty tough, can you try to keep them from scattering?"

"Should we direct them towards those two skeletons?"

"Yeah, and make a big show to keep them from getting too close to us."

"Alright, leave it to me!"

"Don't do it alone, take charge of everyone."

"But I can handle it alone..."

"No, no, you messed up even with the kobolds yesterday, where does your confidence come from?"

"Shut up! Just watch!"

The clumsy Takayama finally separated from the gathered group and focused on the direction where Reinhardt and the others were fighting.

"Kondo, can you gather the others and do what I said?"

"Okay, leave it to me... what about Kunitake?"

"I'll go up a tree to get a better view of the situation."

I used shadow movement to climb a nearby large tree.

The rain had weakened, but it was still raining, and Reinhardt and Basten were fighting, covered in mud.

They seemed to be intentionally jumping into the front of the group, drawing the attention of the lizardmen with flashy movements.

Thanks to their efforts, most of the lizardmen were focusing on Reinhardt and Basten, attacking them one after another.

However, some of the lizardmen were separating from the group, trying to move around and advance.

"Mana, Mana, the mana that governs the world, gather, gather, in my hand, become fire, dance, dance, fire, dance, become a fireball! Daah!"

To everyone's surprise, the clumsy Takayama's fireball hit one of the lizardmen surrounding Basten.

"Kyaoo..."

"How's that! Got it, you lizard bastard!"

The lizardman hit by Takayama's fireball rolled around, but the mud quickly extinguished the flames.

"Gruu... Kyaoo!"

Once the lizardman had rolled around, it got up and glared at Takayama, letting out a roar.

This roar caused the surrounding lizardmen to shift their target from Basten to Takayama.

The lizardmen moved towards Takayama, who was in front of the gathered classmates.

"That clumsy guy, what did he do..."

The moment I turned my gaze to the classmates, my spine tingled.

"Reinhardt, Basten, fall back! Fred, they're coming from behind too, we need to sandwich them!"

I sank into the shadows and moved to the back of the gathered classmates.

In front of me, I could see a separate group of lizardmen running towards us.

There seemed to be more than fifty of them.

I used dark shields to slow their charge, but there were too many to stop.

"Mana, Mana, the mana that governs the world, gather, gather, in my hand, become water, dance, dance, water, dance, become a water spear! Taaah!"

The water attribute attack spell cast by Honmi beside me only managed to scratch the scales and draw a little blood, but it was far from a fatal wound.

However, in the moment the lizardman flinched, Fred stepped in and deeply slashed its neck.

Reinhardt and Basten had fallen back to the front to solidify the defense, but they seemed to be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers.

In the rear, I was stopping the movement, and Fred was delivering the finishing blow, but we were being pushed back.

With the three vicious skeletons as guards, the classmates would be a force once they received training... I had been too optimistic.

I never expected to encounter monsters more troublesome than rock ogres.

If we were overwhelmed, the classmates would undoubtedly be wiped out.

In this situation, I had to try the method I had thought of.

"Honmi, can you lend me a knife?"

"A knife? You don't mean... to carve an indelible mark... kyaa!"

Sagara's timely intervention stopped Honmi from going off on another tangent.

"Don't say stupid things in this situation. Here, Kunitake, use it!"

"Thank you, Sagara, I'll borrow it."

"I don't mind lending it, but you're not thinking of engaging in close combat, are you?"

"Of course not, I'll use this knife like this."

I stopped the movement of a lizardman approaching us with a dark shield and thrust the knife into the small dark shield in front of me, twisting it and pulling it out.

The lizardman, stopped by the dark shield, staggered and then collapsed.

"Honmi, what did you do?"

"I connected the space of shadows to the lizardman's body and stabbed its heart with the knife."

While explaining to Sagara, I used the same method to take down a second lizardman.

From then on, it became a routine.

Stop the movement, stab, stop the movement, stab, stop the movement, stab... with Fred's efforts, the group that came from behind was quickly reduced in numbers.

"Fred, can you handle the rest?"

"Lord Kent... I'll support the front..."

"Understood, I'll leave it to you."

On the side where the first attack came from, Reinhardt and Basten were still fighting.

The classmates, led by Kondo, were continuously casting spells and launching attacks.

"Second group, cast, first group, attack!"

It wasn't the three-shot volley of Nobunaga, but Kondo was alternating between the first and second groups of mages, ensuring a continuous stream of attack spells.

While the power of each spell was small, the continuous barrage was annoying for the lizard