The series of exchanges with Vihera concluded without incident.
Fortunately for Rei and Set, there was no friction between the Centaurs and Vihera.
Many of the Centaurs in the settlement had witnessed firsthand how Vihera single-handedly overpowered five Dragonias. Combined with the fact that she was proven to be Rei's acquaintance, they treated her with a friendly attitude. For Zai and his group, it carried significant weight that they had heard even Vihera herself would be in danger in close combat.
Zai and the others had been shown just how powerful Rei was, time and time again.
With Rei's words alone, they had no choice but to believe it.
Rei had suspected that perhaps Dratt might cause some sort of trouble, but Dratt never lashed out at Vihera.
Whether it was because Vihera was a woman, or because they too had come to understand Rei's true strength...
The exact reason was unclear, but the absence of unnecessary trouble was undoubtedly a relief for Rei.
At any rate, the attacking Dragonias had been annihilated, the new guest responsible for it had arrived, and Rei's group had returned safely with the achievement of destroying the Dragonias stronghold. Given all this, telling the Centaurs not to celebrate would have been unreasonable.
Naturally, the elated Centaurs decided to hold a banquet... and while preparations were underway, Rei and Vihera were told to wait inside a tent.
This was likely Zai's consideration, trying to carve out even a little private time for Rei and Vihera.
At any rate, Rei and Vihera were talking inside that very tent.
"So? Are you the only one who came to this world?"
Rei could use the phrase "this world" so casually because he understood that there was no one around the tent besides himself, Vihera, and Set lying down outside.
Normally, Set was highly popular even in this settlement. It wouldn't have been strange for Centaur women, children, men who liked cute creatures... or even Centaurs who had joined the settlement while Rei and his group were away, wanting to see the rare creature with their own eyes, to come by.
However, everyone was busy preparing for the banquet, and above all, Zai had told them not to approach the tent for a while. Everyone obediently followed that order.
That was precisely why Rei and Vihera could speak frankly without having to keep up appearances.
"Yes, just me. I tried inviting Byune too, but she said she'd prioritize her work."
"Well, that's normal, isn't it? ...What about your work, Vihera?"
As far as Rei knew, Vihera's job was to patrol Gilm as a substitute for the guards and resolve any troubles that arose.
Had she thrown that job aside to come to this world?
Seeing Rei ask this, Vihera nodded.
"Yes, there's no problem. It's not like I abandoned my work midway. You seem to have forgotten, but the work at the Guild involves accepting requests on a daily basis. As long as I didn't accept a request in the first place, it can't be considered throwing my work aside, can it?"
"That's... well, I suppose so?"
Rei showed a look of slight reluctance to accept it, but he could actually understand that Vihera's logic was correct.
If she hadn't accepted a request, there was no problem.
...That said, Vihera patrolling Gilm had become something of a local institution since last year.
It wasn't just because of Vihera's own strength; given her beauty and the kind of clothing that stimulated men's desire, it would have been unnatural for her not to stand out.
...Still, just because it had become a local institution didn't mean Vihera was absolutely obligated to accept those requests.
And so, she told him that she hadn't accepted a request today and had come to this world instead.
"It took some nerve to go into that spatial hole."
"Oh, please. I was told it was safe, so what's the problem?"
Who exactly had told her that?
It was obvious without even thinking about it, and Rei couldn't help but let out a sigh.
It was clearly Grimm.
After all, Vihera had been hinting at as much for some time now, so Rei should have realized it.
"Yeah, well... I suppose so. But coming to this world is one thing—how did you find this settlement? Wait, you don't need to tell me. That was Grimm too, wasn't it?"
Vihera said nothing in response to Rei's words; she merely smiled.
Seeing that smile, it wasn't difficult to understand her true intent even without her saying anything.
"Good grief. ...Well, at least you didn't get lost."
If she hadn't been able to find this settlement, Vihera would have been wandering aimlessly through the grassland.
The grassland where the Centaur tribe... and many other creatures lived was incredibly vast, and getting lost would leave one utterly helpless.
Since it was a grassland, there was plenty of wildlife, so she wouldn't have starved to death.
As for Grimm, he had probably told her the location of this settlement as a thoughtful gesture so she could meet Rei.
Rei understood that too, but he couldn't help thinking it was a bit too much service.
"Isn't it? So, what kind of opponents did you fight? Dragonias, right? I heard you went to their stronghold."
As expected, that was what Vihera was most curious about.
Given her love for battle, she couldn't help but wonder just how many powerful foes were at the Dragonias stronghold.
Rei knew Vihera's preferences well enough, so he spoke without any particular need to hide it.
"There was a golden-scaled Dragonias. It deflected the Twilight Spear I threw. ...Though it did leave a large gash on its scales in the process."
"You're kidding... That's genuinely impressive. To deflect your Twilight Spear..."
Vihera murmured with a look of surprise on her face.
She didn't bother asking whether it was true because she understood that Rei wouldn't joke about something like this.
"Yeah. However... if you ask me how strong it actually was, I'd have to hesitate. I fought it using the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor."
"What a waste."
At Vihera's words, her expression shifting from surprise to one of slight envy, Rei quietly averted his gaze.
For Vihera, the desire to fight a powerful enemy to her heart's content was probably very strong.
Rei understood that, but he didn't enjoy battle as much as Vihera did.
His philosophy was that if there was an opponent he could defeat, it was better to take them down quickly and be done with it, unless there was some special reason not to.
(Besides...)
He didn't tell Vihera, but Rei honestly couldn't bring himself to believe that the Dragonias at that stronghold represented the headquarters of all the Dragonias in this grassland.
Of course, there was no doubt that the golden-scaled Dragonias was an extremely powerful individual.
The fact that it could deflect the Twilight Spear was nothing short of astounding.
But... even so, he couldn't accept that the golden-scaled Dragonias was the greatest enemy.
He had no clear evidence or reason to think so; it was purely intuition.
However, that intuition belonged to Rei—the same Rei who had been caught up in numerous major disturbances and fought countless monsters over the years.
Thinking of it that way, Rei's intuition was not something to be taken lightly.
That said, since intuition was the only basis, he judged it was better not to mention this to Vihera, who looked forward to battling powerful foes.
"Well, thanks to that, the people in this settlement can rest easy now, so in the end there was no problem. ...Probably."
"You're not sounding very convinced. Is there something?"
Even without Rei saying anything, she must have sensed from his demeanor that something was up.
Vihera and Rei had known each other for quite a long time, all things considered.
As a woman's intuition toward the man she loved, she could pick up on at least that much.
Facing Vihera, who had effortlessly seen through part of what he was trying to hide, Rei could only laugh it off.
"Hahaha. Well, it's complicated. More importantly, has anything changed back in Gilm? Setting the Wisp matter aside for now."
"Let's see. I've heard that the woodcutters, their escorts, and the adventurers doing the manual labor are having a hard time."
"That's... yeah. I imagine so."
Rei had no choice but to agree with that explanation.
If Rei were there, he could store the felled trees in his Misty Ring and fly to Gilm on Set in no time.
By comparison, with Rei absent, they now had to load the felled trees onto specialized carriages and transport them to Gilm themselves.
How difficult that was didn't even need to be said.
Furthermore, unlike Rei who could transport various construction materials with his Misty Ring, they now had to carry everything to the construction sites by hand.
The impact of Rei's absence on those tasks was certain.
"Also... Elena and Marina didn't seem amused that you went off on a journey to this world without telling them anything. Though, the same goes for me."
Despite saying that, there was no displeasure in Vihera's demeanor.
This was probably because she had come to this world herself.
It might also have been because the Dragonias were somewhat enjoyable opponents for her.
"When I get back, I'll have to get those two some sort of gift."
"Oh? Aren't you going to give me a gift?"
"You came here on your own, didn't you? In that case, you don't need a gift, do you?"
"You really don't understand a woman's heart, do you?"
Just as Vihera said that with an exasperated look and was about to continue—
"Gruu."
Set, who had been keeping watch outside the tent, let out a cry.
"Oh, looks like someone's here. The banquet preparations must be done?"
"I see. Then, before the banquet starts, I want to ask you one thing. Do you have any leads on Anastasia and Fana?"
"No, unfortunately not. Since this is the closest settlement to the hole, I initially thought they might be here. However, Fana aside, Anastasia can use Spirit Magic. And she's quite skilled. ...Though she doesn't compare to Marina."
"Comparing anyone to Marina is just wrong."
Vihera told him that, laced with exasperation.
Marina was a Spirit Magic user for whom the word "versatile" was truly fitting.
Knowing that well, Rei didn't argue with her words.
Even so, Rei knew that Anastasia possessed enough skill in Spirit Magic to be considered fully competent, when looking at the general standard excluding exceptions like Marina.
Given that, Rei understood that no matter where Anastasia was in this world, she wouldn't be defeated so easily.
Even if attacked by Dragonias, she might not be able to defeat them completely, but escaping or hiding should be possible with Spirit Magic.
"The raid on the Dragonias stronghold this time was also in exchange for having them gather information on Anastasia and Fana."
"I see."
Vihera looked as if she wanted to say that she would have gladly gone to the Dragonias stronghold herself.
Just as Rei was about to say something to Vihera with a hint of exasperation—
"Rei-san, Vihera-san. The banquet is ready."
The one who said that and showed his face was one of the Centaurs.
It was the man who had served as a guide, leading Rei's group to the Dragonias stronghold.
When they had previously scouted the area, all of his companions other than himself had been killed.
He was especially grateful to Rei for avenging them.
...However, even for that guide, the apocalyptic scene that had unfolded at the Dragonias stronghold was enough to make him feel pity.
"I see. Now that you mention it, it does smell good."
As Rei said, a savory, appetite-stimulating aroma was drifting into the tent.
Noticing it from Rei's words, Vihera smiled happily and spoke up.
"Now that I smell this, I'm getting hungry."
"It's a dish we made wanting you two... no, including Set, two people and one creature to eat, so I'm sure you'll be pleased."
The guide's confident declaration was of great interest to Rei.
After all, he had eaten Rei's cooking both on the way to the Dragonias stronghold and on the return trip to this settlement.
For him to say this on top of that experience, he must have tremendous confidence in the dish being prepared.
Rei headed to the banquet venue together with Vihera and Set.