Looking at the dead Dragonias, Rei smiled.
Part of it was because he had managed to protect the Centaurs, but more than that, it was from seeing the Dragonias he had slain.
That was because the scales of the Dragonias that Rei and Set had killed were two blue and two green.
The Dragonias that had previously attacked Zai's settlement had been burned so thoroughly by Rei's magic that nothing remained but ash—except for the red-scaled ones.
As a result, the only Dragonias inside Rei's Misty Ring were the red-scaled ones, which possessed strong resistance to fire.
Considering the future—and also because of Grimm's request—he had wanted corpses of Dragonias with non-red scales if possible. Now, that was exactly what he had gotten.
(Ah... come to think of it, I still haven't asked about the corpses becoming unusable.)
The Dragonias corpses he had brought to Elgin had, for some reason—truly for some reason—become useless overnight.
He had been meaning to ask Zai whether the same thing would happen in this world, but the conversation had been so lively with talk about the martial arts tournament last night that Rei hadn't found the chance.
He should try to ask today, if possible.
With that in mind, he stored the four Dragonias corpses into his Misty Ring and headed toward Zai—more accurately, toward the Centaurs speaking with Zai.
The Centaurs who had been talking with Zai were startled at the sight of Rei and Set, and above all, frightened.
If the ones who had saved them had been Centaurs, they wouldn't have been so wary.
But Rei and Set were not Centaurs.
It was only natural that they would be on high alert.
Even so, the fact that none of them made any move to attack was probably because they understood that Rei and Set had saved them.
Pretending not to notice the gazes full of mingled awe and terror that the Centaurs directed at him, Rei called out to Zai.
"So, what exactly happened?"
"It seems they were evacuating after judging their settlement to be in danger, and they ran into Dragonias along the way."
"As expected. So, what will you do with these people? When they said they were evacuating... they meant to our settlement, right?"
"That's right. Our settlement is probably the largest one right now. Centaurs from many settlements have been gathering there."
"And the ones who didn't gather there are this group here?"
They flinched.
The Centaurs who had been listening to Rei's words reacted.
That said, Rei had no intention of blaming these Centaurs.
He had been told that the ones who made such a decision were the ones leading the settlement.
"Correct. But it seems these people could no longer trust their chief's words and fled. ...Even after suffering Dragonias attacks, their leaders apparently only made makeshift responses."
"So there really are Centaurs like that too, huh."
Rei murmured thoughtfully.
He had heard beforehand that such Centaurs existed.
He had known that, but since none of the Centaurs he had encountered so far were the kind that could be called fools, it had never felt real.
Even Dratt, who found Rei's presence bothersome, suppressed his suspicion and dissatisfaction for the settlement's sake once it became clear that Rei's strength was necessary to deal with the Dragonias, killing his own feelings.
But the settlement these fleeing people had come from hadn't even done what Dratt was capable of.
(Ah, but I heard that Centaurs respect the strong, so maybe the chief of these Centaurs is actually strong? ...If they're strong and only fighting for their own benefit, that would be the worst.)
Feeling slightly pitying toward the Centaurs, Rei ultimately came up against the problem of what to do with this fleeing group.
As a general rule, it would be fine for them to head to Zai's settlement as they had just mentioned.
The problem was whether they could arrive safely on their own.
The Centaurs who had been fighting the Dragonias when Rei's group found them were not unharmed either.
Even so, the fact that their injuries were not severe was a small mercy.
In any case, there was concern about whether this group alone had enough combat power to reach the settlement.
Given that, the safest option would be to dispatch escorts from the ten traveling with Rei's group.
But Zai and Dratt, as skilled Centaurs, had no option of separating from Rei here, and the survivor who had previously gone on reconnaissance was indispensable as Rei's guide.
That left seven, but dispatching just one escort wouldn't be enough, so several would be needed.
"What will you do? As for me, I'll leave that to your judgment."
Rei's tone didn't carry that much seriousness.
In the first place, Rei had originally intended to assault the Dragonias stronghold alone—well, counting Set, alone with one beast.
Zai and the others were traveling with Rei because their pride as Centaurs wouldn't allow them to simply be saved by Rei and Set.
In other words, if it was just a matter of defeating the Dragonias, Rei and Set alone would be sufficient.
Because he understood that, Rei spoke casually... but the Centaurs couldn't so easily abandon the chance to travel with Rei.
They had won through the martial arts tournament held at the settlement to earn this role, and had finally obtained it.
Given that, they didn't want to separate from the group so easily.
(If you're leaving it to me, I could just take them with the Set Basket... but judging from Zai's reaction, Centaurs flying through the air is absolutely impossible.)
Considering Zai's reaction when Rei had told him about the Set Basket, they would never accept such a suggestion.
If he absolutely had to use the Set Basket, he would have to do something like knock the Centaurs unconscious and load them on.
Even if he went that far, it would be meaningless if they regained consciousness mid-flight.
No, worse—in the worst case, they could leap from the Set Basket into the sky and fall to their deaths.
"That's... no, but..."
Zai hesitated at Rei's question of what to do.
If he let them head to the settlement in this situation, there would undoubtedly be casualties if they encountered Dragonias like before.
It was only because Rei's group had been here that they had been able to handle the Dragonias.
Considering those circumstances, it was clear that something had to be done.
If it weren't for the slow-footed women, children, and elderly, the male Centaurs could probably outrun the Dragonias.
But doing so would naturally mean offering the women, children, and elderly as feed for the Dragonias.
To prevent that, some measure had to be taken, and for the ones who had fled, receiving escorts from Rei's group was an absolute necessity.
...If there were no women or children, there would have been the option of traveling together with Rei's group, but in the current situation, that was impossible.
"Please. Lend us a few from your side as escorts."
The one bowing his head was one of the Centaurs who had been acting as escorts.
He must have understood that they alone could not possibly protect everyone and reach Zai's settlement.
Or perhaps, when they left their settlement, they had believed they could continue to protect everyone.
But after actually fighting the Dragonias themselves, they must have firmly grasped reality.
"...Understood..."
Zai nodded reluctantly—truly reluctantly—but he still nodded at the other Centaur's words.
Honestly, he didn't want to reduce their numbers if possible.
But even if they were from a different settlement... a different clan, they were fellow Centaurs without a doubt.
As a result, the choice he made was to reduce their own numbers.
He truly didn't want to, and if the goal was simply to safely deliver the fleeing Centaurs to the settlement, there was the option of everyone returning together to Zai's settlement.
But they had already camped for a night on the journey here.
Considering the Centaurs' travel speed, they had already covered a considerable distance.
Rei didn't want to waste a day either.
He had calculated the necessary days for this assault with a five-day margin, but that didn't mean it was fine to waste those buffer days.
"Thank you. That helps."
The Centaur bowed his head.
Those who had been traveling with Zai each wore complicated expressions.
They didn't want to abandon their fellow Centaurs.
But at the same time, they also wanted to join Rei in assaulting the Dragonias stronghold.
And they were very curious about how the Escort Unit and raid party would be divided.
"For now, you need to let those people rest. Decide what to do in the meantime. Besides, it's about time for lunch, so I'll prepare food as well."
Thinking they could use some time to think it over, Rei told Zai as much.
"That helps."
Zai expressed his gratitude toward Rei.
Waving a hand dismissively, Rei took out several tents for the Centaurs to use from his Misty Ring.
The Centaurs who had been fighting the Dragonias had weapons but no belongings or food.
Given that, having tents would certainly be better if they wanted to rest properly.
"Gururu."
Rei had been wondering what to do about lunch, but he turned his gaze toward Set at that cry.
Seeing Set looking at him with expectant eyes, he understood what it wanted.
In other words, it was asking if it could go catch some monster, animal, or bird.
For Rei, having more ingredients was welcome.
But considering the effort of butchering, if Set went out now to catch something, butchered it, and cooked it, it would be difficult to eat it for this lunch.
However, if Set simply wanted to enjoy hunting, Rei had no intention of stopping it.
"Got it. You can go. But if you're late, you'll miss lunch."
"Guru... Gurururu!"
At Rei's words, Set barked sharply and bounded away.
"Rei-san, what's Set doing?"
Seeing Set move away, one of the Centaurs asked Rei with curiosity.
For the Centaurs, Rei and Set had always been together, so they must have found Set's sudden behavior strange.
In reality, there had been times before when Set had gone off on its own, such as catching birds.
This was probably just a matter of impression.
"Set went to look for prey, partly as a change of pace. When it comes back, it'll probably bring something."
Since Set had gone out to hunt, the thought that it would return empty-handed didn't even cross Rei's mind.
...Of course, if there was no prey at all, that would be another matter.
"I see. It is Set, after all."
The Centaur must have understood Set as well. He nodded in agreement with Rei's words, looking convinced.
"For now, I'll serve food to the Centaurs who fled too. ...There must be a lot of hungry ones in that group, right?"
It was unclear how much food they had brought when they fled their settlement.
But looking at how little luggage the Centaurs carried, it was obvious at a glance that they hadn't been able to bring adequate supplies.
The warriors were one thing, but Rei wouldn't be troubled by sharing food with the women, children, and elderly.
If Rei had little food, he might have hesitated to share.
But inside his Misty Ring was a large quantity of prepared food, and the provisions from Zai's settlement also had a considerable margin.
Given that, the option of not providing food here didn't exist.
"Thank you."
"No, I don't think you need to thank me for that."
"Even so, I'm glad to have meals shared with our fellow Centaurs."
Rei didn't say anything more to the Centaur who smiled as he said that, and simply took out food from his Misty Ring.