Dratt's words came as a surprise to the Centaurs who had been watching the exchange.
Rei was equally taken aback that Dratt—someone who clearly found him disagreeable—would say such a thing.
That said, it was undeniable that Dratt's defense had shifted the way the settlement's Centaurs regarded Rei.
For his part, Rei had been hoping to increase his influence within the settlement to gather information on Anastasia and Fana, so he felt a strong sense of gratitude toward Dratt for his stance.
Granted, Dratt hadn't spoken up out of any desire to protect Rei. As a proud Centaur, he simply wanted to avoid belittling someone who had saved their settlement—that was the honest truth.
If Rei were to voice his gratitude directly, Dratt would almost certainly not welcome it.
"Regardless, the fact remains that this settlement was saved by Rei."
Zai spoke up as if to back Dratt's statement.
"Rei only just arrived in these lands today. I'd like to hold a feast in his honor tonight. ...Though given the current situation, we can't exactly throw a feast fitting of his exploits. Will you accept?"
"Ah... sure. I'll gladly join in. I don't drink alcohol, though, so I'd appreciate it if you put your effort into the food instead."
The moment Rei mentioned he couldn't drink, several Centaurs shot him disparaging looks.
Being unable to drink was likely considered a mark of shame among Centaurs—or rather, among men in general, or so they seemed to think.
However, they couldn't possibly say such a thing outright to the person who had saved their settlement, so they held their tongues.
Given the current circumstances, they understood full well that such behavior was out of the question.
Rei noticed the looks from those around him but didn't particularly care. What concerned him more was whether it was even appropriate to hold a feast given the settlement's current state.
A large number of Centaurs had been gathering at this settlement.
Naturally, that meant food supplies were limited, and it was only reasonable to wonder whether it was wise to consume what little they had on a feast.
Of course, when those who had fled from other settlements arrived, some must have brought livestock with them.
But considering the Dragonias threat, Rei could easily imagine that those who arrived with their livestock intact were the exception rather than the rule.
Under these conditions, he thought it might be better to bring out the food stored in his Misty Ring.
In the end, however, Rei did no such thing.
The Centaurs were offering to welcome him. If he produced his own food under these circumstances, it could be seen as an insult to their pride.
They were already a fiercely proud race, and Rei wanted to avoid humiliating them as much as possible.
If it were truly necessary, that would be another matter entirely.
"Alright, get the preparations started for the feast! I'll take Rei to see the Chief."
At Zai's words, the Centaurs began setting up for the celebration.
There was no denying that food was scarce, but a feast served a purpose beyond mere sustenance—both for boosting morale and for unifying those who had gathered from various settlements.
Some saw it that way, while others simply looked forward to the feast as a way to blow away the dark atmosphere that had settled over the settlement.
Rei observed them briefly before following Zai deeper into the settlement.
As befitting the Chief, he apparently resided in a particularly massive tent at the very center.
"Impressive," Rei murmured as he took in the sight.
To be fair, Rei found even the other tents remarkable, but the one at the center was on an entirely different scale.
Twice as tall, three times as wide—no, perhaps even larger than that.
Rei had heard that the tents in the settlement were all designed for quick transport, but he found himself wondering whether even this one could be carried.
"Right?" Zai said, clear satisfaction in his voice at seeing Rei's astonishment.
From Zai's perspective, Rei had been the one surprising him at every turn.
Given that, being able to witness Rei caught off guard for once was immensely gratifying.
"Come, let's go inside. ...The Chief isn't strict about formalities, so you needn't worry on that front."
"That's a relief for me, too."
Rei had never been fond of stiff formality. More importantly, this was another world—the common sense of Elgin might not apply here at all.
And since the other party was the Chief of the Centaur race, there was an even greater likelihood that Rei's own social norms wouldn't hold.
"Chief, excuse me. I've brought Rei... the hero who saved our settlement."
"Enter."
The voice that rang out was brief but carried undeniable authority.
Rei did not let himself be cowed by that presence and stepped inside the tent.
The first thing he saw was a Centaur positioned at the center of the tent.
No—Rei wasn't even sure he could truly call the figure before him a Centaur.
The size alone was different. Larger than an ordinary Centaur, roughly the same proportions as a Dragonias.
But what truly astonished him was that the Chief, seated there in the tent, had not four legs, but double that—eight.
(Sleipnir?)
In Rei's knowledge, an eight-legged horse was a monster known as Sleipnir. Depending on the source, it was sometimes even classified as a divine beast. Regardless, it was undeniably a being on an entirely different level from an ordinary horse.
...Incidentally, the boots Rei wore were called Sleipnir boots, so in that sense, there was an unexpected commonality between them.
(Could this Chief run through the sky like a Sleipnir?)
Rei found himself wondering such things as he studied the Centaur Chief before him. Drum, however, offered a smile and spoke.
"So you are Rei. I am the Chief of this settlement, Drum Kel Radish. ...I am told that thanks to you, this settlement escaped the clutches of the Dragonias. You have my thanks."
Drum—old enough to be called a man in his early twilight years—bowed his head to Rei as he spoke.
"Chief!?"
Just how significant that gesture was became apparent from Zai's stunned reaction alone.
"I suppose I should introduce myself as well. It seems you already know, but I'm Rei. I didn't save this settlement out of any sense of justice or the like—I simply wanted to put the Centaur race in my debt. So you needn't take it too seriously."
"Heh. To hear it stated so bluntly is almost refreshing. ...But why sell a favor? With your level of power, there should be little beyond your reach."
"Not exactly."
It was true that Rei possessed vast magical power and combat ability formidable enough to earn him the moniker Crimson.
But even with such power, there were still plenty of things he could not do.
At the very least, he could not locate both Anastasia and Fana in this unknown world through sheer ability alone.
That was why he had sold a favor to the Centaurs—a people known for their exceptional mobility. ...Though it was also an undeniable fact that circumstances had carried him more than halfway to that outcome on their own.
"Hmm. It seems you carry your share of complications. We would like to lend you our strength as well. But surely you understand the current state of this settlement? Even if we wished to help Rei, right now we are barely managing to survive... no, I cannot even say for certain that survival is guaranteed."
"The Dragonias, huh."
Rei kept it blunt, and Drum nodded.
Given what had happened in today's battle, the situation was self-evident—there was no need to elaborate. Mentioning the Dragonias wouldn't earn Rei any particular admiration.
That said, to Rei, the creatures known as Dragonias were utterly incomprehensible.
With Centaurs, he had at least some frame of reference from the various manga, novels, anime, and games he had consumed back in Japan. He could understand them on some level.
But compared to Centaurs, the Dragonias were entirely beyond his comprehension.
Their upper body resembled a Lizardman-based monster, while their lower half was that of a giant lizard.
Beyond that, Dragonias with red scales possessed defensive power enough to withstand even Rei's magic.
And above all else, their defining trait was hunger.
Rather than reason or intelligence, their hunger drove them to the surface, compelling them to devour anything and everything in reach.
That applied equally to the Centaurs they fought; Rei had seen with his own eyes Centaurs whose flesh had been torn away by Dragonias.
From Rei's perspective, they were best treated as monsters, and he did in fact perceive them as such.
However, that was solely Rei's perception, and he had no way of knowing how they would be classified under this world's common sense.
And yet... that was precisely why Rei had something he could offer Drum.
"About those Dragonias... under the right circumstances, I could wipe them out. Ah, no, wait. My magic doesn't seem to work on the ones with red scales, so it would be all Dragonias except the red-scaled ones."
In truth, Rei and Set could defeat even the red-scaled Dragonias.
But since they couldn't be killed with magic, he would have no choice but to kill them one by one with his own hands.
(Ah, wait. Maybe I could manage something with the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor?)
The Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor—what could be called his ultimate technique—was a skill that concentrated and condensed his magical power.
Even if ordinary magic couldn't defeat them, the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor would convert his mana directly into a devastating strike.
He figured that no matter how resilient they were, they wouldn't be able to nullify an attack from the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor as well.
That said, even with the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, he would still fundamentally be taking them down one at a time. The overall pace of the battle might increase, but the basic approach wouldn't change.
"Is that... true?"
The words that left Rei's mouth were so unexpected that Drum sat in stunned silence for nearly ten seconds before he could manage even that much of a reply.
Naturally, Drum was well aware of the Dragonias' strength.
That was precisely why he couldn't so easily believe Rei's claim that he would wipe them out.
However, he had received actual reports of Rei's abilities, and Drum himself had been able to catch at least a glimpse of the scorching hell that had been born within the settlement.
Given all that, he couldn't imagine Rei would make claims he couldn't back up—not in this situation.
Even so... his pride as a Centaur stirred within him. Was it truly acceptable to leave the annihilation of their enemies to Rei—to an outsider?
"Yeah, it's true. But I have a few requests of my own."
"Requests?"
"Several, actually. First: the ownership of all Dragonias corpses goes to me. Second: if you spot any Dragonias without red scales, you notify me immediately. And lastly—I mentioned this to Zai already—I'm searching for someone. Not Centaurs. Two women who walk on two legs, like me. Their names are Anastasia and Fana."
"Umu. I have been informed of that."
"And also... let's see. If there are any weapons or tools with unusual abilities, or any information about such things, I'd like you to share that with me."
He had originally wanted to say Magic Item, but based on his conversation with Zai, it seemed the term wasn't widely known in this world.
Of course, that might simply be because the Centaur race was unfamiliar with the concept. There was a possibility that such items existed elsewhere—particularly in nations built by humans.
"...Well, I see no issue with that either."
Rei let out a quiet breath of relief at Drum's words.
If these conditions had been rejected, he would have had to rethink his entire approach to negotiating with the Centaurs.
That said, he still had almost no understanding of how many things that could truly be called Magic Items actually existed in this world.
"Then those conditions are acceptable. I'll annihilate the bulk of the Dragonias. ...Agreed?"
"I would ask nothing more, but do you have any idea just how many Dragonias there actually are?"
"I don't know the exact number. But judging from Zai's and the others' reactions, the ones we fought today weren't even the main force. They were an advance party... and only a fraction of one at that, right?"
That was a despairing prospect for the Centaurs.
After all, it had taken nearly every capable fighter in the settlement just to stand against the red-scaled Dragonias that survived Rei's magic, and even then they had barely managed to hold their own.
But... even so...
"So what if they are?"
Rei said it without hesitation.