The martial arts tournament in the settlement, which had been suspended due to the commotion caused by Rei and Set's arrival, finally came to an end after about an hour.
Rei had only watched for that hour or so, but even so, he could tell that everyone fighting was doing so in earnest.
For the Centaur tribe, rather than relying solely on Rei to save them from the crisis they faced, they had likely judged that they needed to take matters into their own hands.
Not showing complete dependence was something Rei found admirable. He did think that, but at the same time, having a large number of them come along to annihilate the Dragonias was, honestly speaking, something he would rather they not do.
If this were a normal situation—though annihilating the Dragonias could hardly be called normal—then manpower would be needed to transport the various supplies required for a journey of about five days one way. Or, considering the Dragonias' hunger, there was a low but real possibility of bringing back any treasures they had hoarded. And also, though the Centaurs had no interest in them, Rei wanted the Dragonias corpses, which would require manpower to carry.
But that was only if this were a normal situation.
In Rei's case, the Misty Ring made transport a non-issue. Whether it was the luggage needed for the journey or any treasures they might find at the destination, there was no problem. And naturally, securing the Dragonias corpses was just as effortless.
For that reason, there was no issue at all even if the number of people he brought along was not that large.
If anything, considering the defense of the settlement while he and the accompanying Centaurs were away, having fewer people along was not a problem.
...It remained true that the greatest threat to the settlement right now was the Dragonias, but there were also wild beasts and monsters to worry about. Beyond that, there were other races besides Centaurs in this grassland, and they were not on friendly terms with all of them.
There was no doubt that vigilance in those areas was necessary as well.
"So... you've all gathered like this, but..."
Is this really okay?
Words carrying that nuance slipped from Rei's mouth.
That was because, among the ten members who would be going with Rei, both Zai and Dratt were present.
Among those ten, there was naturally also the survivor who had gone to scout the Dragonias.
And as for the others... Zai was fine.
Zai was the one who had first made contact with Rei, and on top of that, had built a friendly relationship with him.
But Dratt was by no means on friendly terms with Rei.
It would be fair to say he was hostile toward him.
Because of that, Rei thought that having Dratt travel with him in this situation might be a case of a hundred harms and not a single benefit.
...In fact, even now Dratt was returning a clearly displeased look toward Rei.
Is this really okay? Rei directed his gaze at Zai.
Zai probably understood what Rei wanted to say. He immediately nodded back to indicate there was no problem.
(As for Dratt, Zai will manage something if anything happens. Given Dratt's personality, as long as he's acting for the settlement's sake, I don't think he'll do anything strange. But holding hostility toward me and showing it in his attitude is a bit of a problem.)
After thinking for a moment, Rei decided he should confirm directly, and turned his gaze to Dratt.
"Dratt. I know you don't like me. But if you take a hostile attitude toward me on the way to the Dragonias base, you'll just be in the way. Don't you think you should stay behind in the settlement?"
"...I will follow your orders."
Seeing Dratt's demeanor as he said that, Rei thought that his attitude was exactly the problem.
Even if he followed Rei's orders, showing his dissatisfaction through his attitude would eventually cause a troublesome situation.
Of course, since this was a journey of about five days one way, it probably wasn't something to be that concerned about, but...
"Understood. But if you don't follow my orders, I'll have you return to the settlement immediately. I'm not just saying this to Dratt. The same goes for everyone else."
No one objected to Rei's words.
As Zai had said when Rei first came to this world, Centaurs revere the strong.
And all those who had won through in the settlement had seen Rei's strength in the battle against the Dragonias yesterday.
The Dragonias had overwhelmed the Centaurs—called the lords of the grassland—with their sheer individual power.
Against such foes, Rei had reaped lives as effortlessly as if he were mowing grass.
Considering that, it was only natural that no one would think to object to Rei's words in this situation.
...Rather, they even found Rei's firm words reassuring.
Unaware that he was being thought of in such a way, Rei turned his gaze to the other Centaurs besides Dratt.
But the ten Centaurs, including Dratt and Zai, showed no particular reaction to Rei's gaze.
Seeing that, Rei judged that, Dratt included, they would all follow his orders for the time being.
"So... what should we do? Originally we were supposed to depart tomorrow, but the sun is still high. Even though you were fighting seriously, should we rest today as planned and depart early tomorrow morning?"
"No, it's fine. For Centaurs, this level of fatigue is nothing."
As if denying Rei's words—as if saying not to underestimate them—Zai spoke.
Seeing Zai's demeanor, Rei thought for a moment... and then nodded.
"Got it. If you say so, Zai, it must be fine. ...It is fine, right?"
Rei asked the other Centaurs as well just to confirm, and everyone nodded to indicate they had no issue.
"I've also prepared the supplies needed for the expedition. Rei, what was it you called it... your..."
"Misty Ring, right."
"Yes. You said you'd carry everything with that. Is that still alright?"
"Yeah, no problem. Take me to where the supplies are gathered."
At those words, Zai felt relieved.
Yesterday, Rei had said he would carry the luggage with his Misty Ring, but Zai had been wondering what he should do if Rei appeared to have changed his mind.
He couldn't imagine Rei doing such a thing, but since only a day had passed since they met, it was impossible to fully understand his personality.
(What is it?)
Rei felt puzzled by Zai's demeanor, but in any case, he decided that confirming and storing the luggage should take priority right now, so he put it out of his mind for the time being.
At the place Zai guided him to, there was... a far larger collection of supplies than Rei had initially expected.
Food and water were fine. Even if there was alcohol among them, Rei couldn't drink it—more accurately, he could but chose not to—but for the Centaurs, alcohol was probably necessary, and there was also the thought that it could be used for disinfection in an emergency.
Weapons as well—since they were heading into battle, having spares would be good to have.
Arrows in particular were consumables, so wanting to carry as many as possible was understandable.
He could understand all of that, but among the other supplies were disassembled tents.
Since they were ger-style tents, Rei had expected they could be transported, and he understood they would be extremely convenient when sleeping.
But he never expected them to disassemble and bring the tents along.
"In terms of adjusting one's condition, it would definitely be better to use the same tents they normally sleep in, but..."
"Is it impossible?"
Zai asked, looking slightly worried.
Perhaps Zai had prepared them but thought it might be impossible after all.
But Rei shook his head to indicate there was no problem.
"It's fine. You saw me store a large number of Dragonias corpses yesterday, didn't you?"
"No, precisely because of that, I thought it might no longer be possible."
Rei could understand and accept Zai's explanation.
Indeed, after storing that many Dragonias corpses, it wouldn't be strange to think the Misty Ring's capacity was full.
...In fact, with a simplified Item Box or something similar, most probably wouldn't have been able to store all of the Dragonias corpses.
But the Misty Ring Rei possessed was not a simplified version, but a true... genuine Item Box.
And not just any Item Box—it was crafted by Esta Nor, said to be the greatest alchemist in history, using the finest materials and pouring in the pinnacle of her technique. It was truly a one-of-a-kind Item Box in the world.
Exactly how much could be stored in the Misty Ring, even Rei himself didn't know the precise amount.
At the very least, he knew from experience during the war with the Bestia Empire that it could store the kind of supplies needed for a military campaign by an entire army.
Because of that, storing the supplies Zai and the others needed, which were right in front of him, after having already stored that many Dragonias corpses was no problem at all.
"There's absolutely no problem there. If this is everything, I'll store it all for now."
Saying so, Rei began storing the food, water, weapons, tents, and various other items large and small, one after another, into the Misty Ring.
Those who had seen him store the Dragonias corpses during yesterday's battle were surprised once again at the sight.
And of course, the women, children, and elderly seeing this for the first time could only stand dumbfounded at the scene before them.
What on earth was happening before their eyes.
For those who knew nothing, thinking such a thing was only natural.
That said, Rei was used to people being surprised by the Misty Ring, so he continued storing things into it without paying any mind to his surroundings.
And in less than a few minutes, he finished storing everything.
"Alright, let's go."
"A-ah..."
At Rei's words, Zai nodded with a somewhat dazed expression.
They don't need to be that surprised... Rei thought, and immediately understood.
In Elgin, the existence of the Item Box was widely known.
It was extremely rare, and very few had seen one in person, but still, through rumors, old tales, legends... for various reasons, its existence itself was known.
That was why, even when they saw him use the Misty Ring, people were surprised, but not to such an extreme degree.
But this was not Elgin, where the Item Box was widely known—this was another world.
In such a place, using the Misty Ring would naturally elicit even more surprise than in Elgin.
(Well, no point worrying about that sort of thing now.)
So judging, Rei called out to Set, who had been watching from a slight distance.
"Set!"
"Gurururu"
At Rei's voice, Set immediately approached.
Leaping onto its back, Rei addressed everyone who would be accompanying them on this raid, including Zai.
"Alright, let's go."
A single short word.
But the power packed into that one word contained something more than enough to shift the awareness of Zai and the others.
Both Zai and Dratt, having survived in this grassland, had been through quite a few fierce battles.
Even those two felt compelled to obey... such a powerful something.
That was likely something Rei possessed precisely because he had been through more battles than Zai or Dratt.
Set began running across the ground, and as if following, Zai and the others started running as well.
That said, since neither Rei nor Set knew where the Dragonias base was, they had no choice but to leave the navigation to someone who did.
"This way."
The guide Centaur probably understood that as well.
After they had been running for a short while, the Centaur moved to Set's side and spoke.
Together with that Centaur, the party advanced.
As expected of Centaurs, their running speed was quite fast.
...Even so, Set was running while holding back to some extent.
(They live up to their word.)
Atop Set's back, Rei observed the Centaurs' condition and was impressed.
They had just finished fighting through the martial arts tournament, and yet they were running like this without showing any signs of fatigue.
Of course, the fact that they were Centaurs was probably a factor, but even so, maintaining a pace that kept them from being left behind by Set could be called impressive.
Rei could fully understand why Zai had been so confidently saying there was no problem.
(Now then, the question is how much distance we can cover today. ...If I used the Set Basket...)
He thought that as well, but given that it was impossible based on last night's conversation with Zai, they had no choice but to run across the ground like this.
Considering the Dragonias' strength, bringing Vihera along might have pleased her.
Thinking that, Rei rode atop Set's back as they raced across the grassland.