Watching the approaching figures that appeared to be cavalry, Rei considered his next move.
Originally, he had asked Grimm to send Set over so they could search for how far this grassland stretched—and whether Anastasia, Fana, or anyone else was somewhere out there.
Under those circumstances, the fact that potential sources of information had come to him was something to be glad about.
And he was, but...
"Hm? Wait. Something feels off..."
As he watched the approaching figures, Rei sensed something incongruous about their forms.
What exactly was wrong with those cavalrymen still far in the distance?
As he pondered the question, it hit him.
"Centaurs!?"
Through careful observation, he identified the source of his disquiet and cried out.
Normally, cavalry consisted of soldiers riding horses. That was a given.
But the riders in Rei's line of sight had human upper bodies growing directly from the bodies of horses.
He knew of such beings called Centaurs from his knowledge of Earth.
(At the very least, considering they make clothes and carry bows and spears, they possess an advanced culture. In other words, should I treat them not as monsters but as a type of demi-human? I need to search for Anastasia too, so I'd prefer to handle things peacefully if possible.)
With that in mind, Rei waited for the Centaurs to approach.
He glanced toward Grimm, and Grimm—reading his intent from that alone—chanted a short spell. The next moment, the cavern connecting to the Underground Space vanished from sight.
"Rest assured. I have not closed the hole. I merely made it invisible."
"That helps."
What kind of world this was, even Rei couldn't say.
He didn't know—but if anyone spotted an Undead like Grimm or a hole connecting to the Underground Space, expecting them not to grow suspicious would be unreasonable.
Grimm, likely concerned about exactly that, had erased the hole from view.
As one might expect from beings with the lower bodies of horses, the Centaurs' running speed was considerable.
While they couldn't match Set, they were clearly faster than ordinary cavalry.
Rei counted five approaching Centaurs and weighed his options.
(Given Anastasia and Fana, a friendly approach is non-negotiable. But the real question is whether we can even communicate.)
If they were beings from another world, then just as with the Lizardmen and the Green People, their language would likely differ from Rei's.
If it had only been the Lizardmen he couldn't communicate with, he might have chalked it up to a racial barrier.
But the Green People—unmistakably humanoid, though green-skinned—had also spoken an unintelligible language.
Given that, whether he could communicate with the Centaurs ahead was doubtful at best.
On top of that, they carried weapons—bows and spears.
Which meant there were opponents in this grassland who used such arms.
Whether they were enemies or simply hunting prey, Rei couldn't tell. But since he wanted even a scrap of information about this world, his honest preference was to avoid making enemies of the Centaurs if at all possible.
Of course, if they attacked first, that was another matter entirely.
"Set, don't attack first. If they come at us, you can fight back, but try not to kill them if you can help it."
"Guruu."
Set rumbled in acknowledgment.
As Rei stroked him, the Centaurs drew steadily closer.
They had clearly spotted Rei and Set as well, and Rei could tell they were ready to respond instantly if either of them made any suspicious move.
(The real question is whether these Centaurs know anything about Anastasia and Fana. ...For that matter, even if Anastasia and Fana did come to this world, how would they have communicated without a shared language? Gestures, after all?)
Rei recalled his first encounters with the Lizardmen and the Green People.
Or perhaps Spirit Magic included a spell for mutual communication? It wasn't an impossible thought, but if such a spell existed, there was no reason Marina wouldn't be able to use it. He dismissed the idea.
To Rei, Marina was synonymous with a master of Spirit Magic.
Since even she couldn't use it, he concluded no such spell existed and—
"Who exactly are you?"
"!?"
Precisely because he had been thinking along those lines, Rei was startled when words he could perfectly understand came from the Centaur.
"Huh? You... understand my language?"
"Umu. However, I have never seen ones such as yourselves. Still, I can tell you are strong. Our clan reveres the strong."
"...I see."
What Rei gathered from this was that the Centaurs before him likely knew nothing about Anastasia or Fana.
If they had, they wouldn't have claimed to have never seen beings like themselves.
...Though Anastasia was an elf with pointed ears, clearly different from a human, and Fana wore a mask. Come to think of it, even if they did know those two, it wouldn't be strange for them to consider them different from Rei.
Still, the fact that the Centaur before him believed in honoring the strong worked in Rei's favor.
(I don't know why we can communicate, but... it's certainly better than the alternative.)
If they hadn't been able to communicate here, things would have become undeniably troublesome in more ways than one.
"I'm Rei. This is Set. ...And your name?"
"I am Zai Kel Celeston."
That name drove home once again that this was another world.
In the surrounding nations, including the Kingdom of Mireana where Rei had been just moments ago, only nobles and the Royal Family bore family names or anything resembling middle names.
For someone living on a grassland to have two or three names would be clearly abnormal to anyone from the Kingdom of Mireana.
"I see. Pleasure to meet you, Zai."
"Umu."
Zai nodded at Rei's greeting.
Since they showed no hostile intent, Rei pressed for information.
"Actually, I'm looking for two women. Neither is a Centaur like you—they're two-legged women, like me."
He briefly wondered whether the word "Centaur" would even translate, but Zai shook his head without hesitation.
"No. I have not seen such ones."
From Zai's phrasing, Rei gathered that while he couldn't speak for the entire world, at the very least on this grassland, two-legged beings either didn't exist or were so rare that almost no one had ever encountered one.
"I see. They came through here a little before me, but it seems they've wandered off somewhere. That's exactly why I need to find them."
"Then come to our settlement. There may be someone who has seen them."
"Is that alright? As you can see, Set and I aren't Centaurs. Won't bringing us along cause any friction?"
"If there are any immature fools incapable of discerning another's strength, you need only demonstrate your power, Rei."
From the matter-of-fact way Zai said it, it was certain that among the Centaurs—no, among Zai's clan—strength was what mattered.
"Understood. Then I'll take you up on your hospitality. So, this is my first time here—is everyone in your clan a Centaur?"
"Naturally. On these plains, none can match us."
So Zai declared, but his expression didn't carry quite that much confidence.
(What was that?)
Not much time had passed since their encounter.
Even so, Rei could tell that Zai held deep pride in his clan—and in the Centaur race as a whole.
Grasslands and Centaurs were a natural pairing, after all.
Open terrain with few trees or rocks to obstruct the view.
For Centaurs who could run freely across such ground, there was no better place.
Among the highest ideals of cavalry existed the concept of Man-Beast Unity.
It meant rider and horse understood each other's hearts so completely that they could move as one without a single word.
But Centaurs were, quite literally, Man-Beast Unity in body. They were different from ordinary cavalry from the very start.
Man-Beast Unity was their starting line.
Since they were Man-Beast Unity from childhood—no, from birth—every Centaur, women and children included, was an exceptionally skilled rider. That much was certain.
Rei didn't know the finer details of Centaur life, but he could appreciate that Centaurs on a grassland were formidable demi-humans.
(Then again, we're not close yet. Probably best not to pry too deeply here.)
Saying something careless risked dragging him into Centaur affairs.
Making that judgment, Rei nodded.
"Then I can rest easy. ...Just out of curiosity, what's this country called?"
"Country? That is something humans create. No such thing exists here."
"...I see."
What Rei learned from this was that this world also had humans, and those humans had established nations.
(In that case, would it be better to visit a human nation to gather information? No... judging from Zai's demeanor, a human nation seems quite far from here, and whether I could find news of Anastasia and the others there is doubtful. I suppose gathering information at Zai's settlement is the better play.)
Having reached that conclusion, Rei spoke loudly enough for the hole leading to their world—concealed by Grimm—behind Set to hear.
"Well then, I think I'll head to Zai's settlement to search for Anastasia and Fana."
Deliberately projecting his voice for Grimm's benefit, Rei climbed onto Set's back.
"Hou."
The Centaurs who watched Rei and Set let out breaths of admiration, as if something had struck them.
Rei didn't understand why they were looking at him that way, but he could tell they were impressed.
(No, really—why? Well, it doesn't seem like there's any malice behind it, so I guess it's fine.)
Puzzled but deciding it was better to say nothing, he followed Zai's lead across the grassland.
They hadn't been running particularly fast at first—likely because Zai could see Set's wings and assumed flight was his primary mode of travel.
But as they gradually increased their pace and Set showed no sign of tiring, Zai turned to Rei and asked.
"Rei. Set, was it? How fast can that winged beast run?"
"I can't give you a specific number since I don't know your top speed, but it can run quite fast."
Those words were apparently taken as a challenge—not just by Zai, but by the others as well.
They directed challenging gazes not at Rei, but at Set.
"Then let us pick up the pace. Can you keep up?"
For Zai, the speed until now had been nothing more than a light jog.
He and his companions increased their pace, carrying the conviction that when it came to running, they would absolutely not lose.
As beings of the grassland, the Centaurs' speed was considerable—fast enough that even measured against Elgin in Rei's world, it could be described as swift.
Of course, Elgin was home to a vast array of monsters.
Among those monsters were beings that could run exceedingly fast.
Compared to such creatures, the Centaurs simply weren't that fast.
"Set, show them how fast you are. It's a race."
"Guruu? ...Gururururuu!"
Set tilted his head as if to ask "Is this okay?" mid-stride, but being allowed to run as he pleased was evidently a joy to him.
"Wha—"
Zai, who had picked up his pace, let out a cry of astonishment as he watched Set keeping up effortlessly—and looking positively delighted.
With an expression that said he would be damned if he lost, he pushed his speed even higher.