"This is... there really is nothing left, is there."
Zai muttered as he stared at the Dragonias stronghold, dumbfounded.
Indeed, truly nothing remained.
Not even the Dragonias corpses.
...To be precise, carbonized and ash-like remains of Dragonias corpses did exist, but they were in no condition to be used as materials, nor were they what Rei had wanted.
"Whoa... honestly, I didn't think it would end up like this. I went too far."
Rei muttered, reflecting on the fact that he had created as many as ten Fire Whirlwinds.
If there had only been one Fire Whirlwind... no, even if there had been half that, five, at least some of the Dragonias corpses would have remained intact.
"Getting my hands on the golden-scaled Dragonias's corpse was a wise decision on my part, if I do say so myself."
Rei praised himself.
However, if he hadn't secured the golden-scaled Dragonias's corpse when escaping the stronghold, that corpse too would most likely have been reduced to charcoal and ash.
Since it was the one leading the Dragonias, there was a chance it could have withstood the Fire Whirlwinds... but Rei had no desire to test that theory with the only golden-scaled Dragonias corpse in existence.
"Yeah, you're right... honestly, there really was no point in us coming here."
Zai said this with an expression of clear dissatisfaction.
For Zai, resolving this matter by relying solely on the power of Rei—an outsider to their settlement—was something his Centaur pride could not permit.
That was exactly why he had come: to fight the Dragonias, at least a little. But in reality, there had been almost no opportunity for him to do so.
Perhaps only when they encountered Dragonias on the way here.
If it meant being useful to Rei, he might have been better off joining the escort for the refugees they had encountered along the way.
He even found himself thinking that.
Of course, he hadn't initially thought Rei's magic would be this powerful... no, this heinous, so it couldn't be helped.
"Exactly."
The one who deeply agreed with Zai's words was Dratt.
He had judged Rei as someone he didn't take a liking to, but even so, he acknowledged that Rei was competent.
After all, Rei had nearly single-handedly annihilated the majority of the Dragonias swarm that had attacked the settlement.
Even when fighting the red-scaled Dragonias that possessed fire resistance, Rei and Set had displayed overwhelming strength.
Given that, he knew how strong Rei was. He did know, but... what he had witnessed this time was a sight that left even Dratt, who thought he understood Rei's strength, with no choice but to stand dumbfounded.
That overwhelmingly powerful scene was something one could do nothing but gape at.
"Tch... what the hell did we even come here for? One guide would've been enough."
Those words, muttered with dissatisfaction yet tinged with resignation, were sure to make those who heard them think various things.
In fact, seeing Dratt like that, the other Centaurs were each lost in their own thoughts.
A short distance away from those Centaurs, Rei surveyed the surroundings once more together with Set.
"I think we've managed to defeat all the Dragonias that were in the stronghold, but... it feels like it ended too easily somehow."
"Gruu?"
While having his head petted by Rei, Set purred as if to ask, "Is that so?"
It was true that the battle with the golden-scaled Dragonias had been settled far more easily than expected.
But that was only because Rei had used the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor.
After all, the opponent had possessed the ability to deflect Rei's thrown Twilight Spear.
Considering those circumstances, Set felt that Rei's sense of it ending too easily was indeed overthinking it.
Set insisted with his eyes that such was not the case.
At Set's gaze, Rei slightly revised his thoughts, as if agreeing.
Rei couldn't bring himself to believe that this matter was truly and completely resolved.
But... to put it in extreme terms, it wasn't as though Rei had to completely resolve the Dragonias issue in the truest sense.
Thinking about it again, Rei had cooperated with Zai and the others solely to get their help in searching for Anastasia and Fana's whereabouts.
As a condition for that, he had undertaken the annihilation of the Dragonias at this location, which the Centaurs of Zai's settlement had knowledge of.
If so, as long as he had fulfilled at least that condition, there was no need to push himself further. There wasn't, but...
Still, I'd like to avoid as many unpleasant incidents as possible.
Dratt aside, Rei held favorable feelings toward Zai, and the other Centaurs—partly because he had saved their settlement—were fond of him as well.
Also, there were quite a few in the settlement who doted on Set.
Considering those circumstances, perhaps it wouldn't hurt to side a little more with the Centaurs here.
It was certain that such thoughts existed within Rei.
"For now... we can't stay here forever, so shall we head back? We did leave some people at the settlement, but it's still better to return as soon as possible, right?"
Rei said this amid an indescribably subtle atmosphere.
Those who heard it had various things they wanted to say, but judging that it would be meaningless to voice them in the current situation, they honestly nodded at Rei's words.
"Yeah. It might be strange to say fortunately, but we've had our fill of food. ...I'm a little sleepy, though."
Zai nodded at Rei's words, and for the others as well, those words were something they could honestly agree with.
Until the Fire Whirlwinds disappeared, they had eaten the food Rei had prepared, so there was no doubt they had eaten their fill.
However, since they had been watching the state of the Dragonias stronghold all night, they were essentially running on no sleep.
Normally, it wouldn't have been strange for them to feel somewhat drowsy, but right before their eyes, the Dragonias stronghold that had continued to inflict heavy damage upon them was still burning in tornadoes of flame.
Being worked up with excitement, they absolutely could not fall asleep in such a situation.
As a result, everyone here had ended up sleep-deprived.
...In that sense, Rei was also sleep-deprived just like the rest.
"In that case, shall we stay one more night here? For better or worse, there must be many who are exhausted from the tension."
At Rei's words, the Centaurs wore complicated expressions.
Of course, being able to rest was welcome.
They didn't feel sleepy now due to the tension, but if they tried to march toward the settlement from here, fatigue would undoubtedly set in along the way.
The fact that they themselves couldn't recognize their fatigue due to tension was probably the biggest problem in this case.
The Centaurs understood that as well, which was exactly why they had shown such expressions.
...In Rei's case, since he would be traveling on Set, he didn't really need to worry about that.
Also, since Rei's body was specially crafted by the Zephyle Clan to begin with, he could handle a few days without sleep if he put his mind to it.
That said, resting was still undoubtedly the better option.
In contrast to everyone else, Set had no need to worry about that at all.
Set, the Gryphon Seto created by Beast Magic, normally enjoyed taking naps, but if needed, could stay awake even longer than Rei.
"I appreciate the sentiment, Rei, but camping at this place is... a bit..."
Most of it had burned away by now, leaving only ash and charcoal, but last night, a vast number of Dragonias had been here... an uncountable number, in fact.
Camping in this place where so many Dragonias had died.
To be honest, it was something the Centaurs absolutely wanted to avoid.
To the Centaurs, the Dragonias were an enemy to be hated.
That was certain, but still... having witnessed yesterday's events, there was no doubt they had complicated feelings about it.
They were not inclined to camp in such a place.
Hearing the Centaur state that, Rei replied briefly, "I see."
As far as Rei was concerned, if the Centaurs said so, then they would skip camping here.
That was the extent of his feeling on the matter.
"Then shall we camp a short distance away from here? ...Fortunately, thanks to the Dragonias, there are no enemies in the vicinity."
Any living creature capable of movement would have been eaten and killed by the Dragonias that used this place as their stronghold.
In that sense, the surrounding area was undoubtedly quite safe.
...Alternatively, even if some creature had been nearby, they would have seen the Fire Whirlwinds burning all night with their own eyes, or even if they couldn't clearly perceive them, they would have been able to see the light in the distance.
Those who would willingly head toward such a place... it wasn't that there wouldn't be any, but their numbers would certainly be small.
If so, Rei felt there was no particular need to worry about that for now.
"In that case, what about Dragonias returning like the ones from earlier?"
At Dratt's words, those listening nodded in agreement.
When they had returned earlier, the Fire Whirlwinds had still been present.
Thanks to that, even without Rei and the others doing anything in particular, the Dragonias had gone to their deaths on their own.
But... now those Fire Whirlwinds were gone.
If Dragonias that had gone elsewhere returned, they would not die.
Now that the golden-scaled Dragonias that had been issuing orders was dead, what would happen to the surviving Dragonias?
Rei harbored such a question, but it was unlikely to be resolved.
"There's nothing to do but leave them be. We can't possibly wait here until every last Dragonias scattered across this grassland returns... that's not something we can do."
Well, if he tried, he probably could.
But doing such a thing would raise the question of how long they would have to stay here.
Rei's home base was Gilm in Elgin.
Currently, the Expansion Construction was underway in Gilm, and since Rei and Set played a significant role in it, he couldn't just leave it unattended.
Also, the objective of searching for Anastasia and Fana would be impossible while waiting on standby here.
Ah, I should have at least checked whether they had been captured by Dragonias, huh? ...Well, that possibility is quite low.
If Anastasia and Fana had been found by Dragonias, they would have been eaten and killed before being captured.
Naturally, Anastasia and Fana would not simply let themselves be killed without a fight; they would have fought back.
In any case, the possibility that Anastasia and Fana had been captured at this stronghold was... so low that it could be called virtually nonexistent.
"Anyway, if we're not camping here, we'll camp a short distance away and rest our bodies thoroughly tonight, then depart tomorrow. Does anyone have any objections?"
As Rei looked around while stating that firmly, no one raised a voice of opposition.
Dratt, who did not think favorably of Rei, still seemed to think that the current proposal wasn't bad.
...If they were truly worried about the settlement, the option of Rei riding Set and returning to the settlement one step ahead wasn't out of the question.
But the problem was whether Rei and Set could arrive at the settlement safely.
This grassland did not have roads running through it like the area around Gilm in Elgin.
Every direction was nothing but grassland as far as the eye could see.
A place that could be called a sea of green without exaggeration.
If asked whether Rei and Set, who were already somewhat prone to getting lost, could safely arrive at the settlement's location in such an environment... anyone who knew Rei and Set would say it would be difficult.
For Rei, he genuinely thought it was impressive that the guide Centaur had led them straight from the settlement to this Dragonias stronghold without getting lost in a place like this grassland.
On that point, the guide Centaur definitely surpassed Rei and Set.
Of course, for the Centaurs born and raised in this vast grassland, even places that looked the same from Rei's perspective likely had various subtle differences, which was how they remembered the way.
"Anyway... let's get going soon. There's no point in staying here any longer."
At Rei's words, the others quietly complied.