"Vehhhhhhh"
As they headed toward the settlement, that voice drifted up from behind them.
Who the owner of that voice was required no thought at all.
After all, they were walking on the ground specifically to bring the owner of that voice to the settlement.
...That said, Rei wasn't walking — he was riding on Set's back.
"Come on, this way."
Rei called out, but the owner of the voice... the Two-Headed Goat... followed behind Set without needing to be told.
For that matter, there was no rope around its neck, nor were Set and the others positioned behind it to keep it from running.
Given that, the Two-Headed Goat should have been able to escape if it wanted to.
The fact that it made no attempt to do so likely meant it saw no point in fleeing.
...Or perhaps being free of the Dragonias threat was, in itself, a relief.
It had fought Dragonias and taken down a fair number of them, but even so... no, it hadn't been easy by any stretch.
If it had come to close combat — the Dragonias' specialty — the Two-Headed Goat would probably have lost.
Considering that, the Two-Headed Goat was at a clear disadvantage when swarmed by multiple Dragonias.
That was why it was hardly strange for it to choose to obey Set, who was stronger than itself.
At the same time, there was also the possibility that it thought following Set might lead to more of those delicious fruits from Rei.
Whether the Two-Headed Goat had calculated all of this and made its choice accordingly, Rei couldn't say.
From what he'd observed, the Two-Headed Goat possessed considerable intelligence.
But whether it fully grasped all of those circumstances... honestly, that was debatable.
(Well, whatever the reason, as long as it follows along quietly, I've got no complaints.)
It took multiple Centaurs fighting together to match a single Dragonias, but the Two-Headed Goat had the strength to fight several on its own.
That would be a tremendous asset for Zai and the others.
That said, Rei wasn't entirely without concern.
After all, the Centaurs were extremely proud.
Relying on outside power to protect their settlement wouldn't sit well with them.
...Then again, they were already receiving help from Rei, Set, and Vihera, so wasn't that ship already sailed? Rei did think so himself.
However, unlike Rei and Vihera, the Two-Headed Goat was an animal... or rather, a monster.
Given that, its sense of pride was probably somewhat different from what Rei had in mind.
Turning such thoughts over in his head, he continued toward the settlement.
They pressed forward, but in truth, it wasn't entirely clear whether the settlement actually lay ahead.
They were traveling with the general sense that it was probably in this direction.
That said, Set at least seemed to know which direction they'd flown from, so they continued without much agitation... and eventually, after about one to two hours, a settlement came into view.
"Turns out calling me and Set directionally challenged was wrong."
"Gruu!"
"Veh...?"
Set cried out as if agreeing with Rei's words, and the Two-Headed Goat, watching the two of them, let out a bewildered bleat.
Having only just met Rei and Set, the Two-Headed Goat probably couldn't grasp the circumstances regarding their poor sense of direction.
Even if it had known, it wouldn't have dared bring it up with Set present — and communication was difficult to begin with, so it couldn't have done so anyway.
"Alright, for now let's show the Two-Headed Goat to Zai... hm?"
Hand it over to Zai, then take it easy for a while.
That was what Rei had been thinking, but upon seeing the settlement, something felt off.
It wasn't that the settlement had been attacked by Dragonias and suffered damage. ...Though with Vihera there, Rei figured that even if Dragonias did attack, the settlement wouldn't take any damage unless it was on the order of a hundred or so.
In any case, the sense of wrongness Rei felt upon seeing the settlement wasn't for that reason.
It was something else entirely...
As he puzzled over it, the settlement apparently noticed them approaching, and several Centaurs came their way.
"Huh?"
The word slipped from Rei's mouth.
The reason was simple — he didn't recognize the approaching Centaurs.
Zai's settlement had quite a large number of Centaurs gathered there, so naturally a significant number of them served as warriors.
Rei didn't remember every single face, but still, it wouldn't have been strange for at least some to look familiar.
And yet, the approaching Centaurs were completely unfamiliar to Rei... and furthermore, the Centaurs themselves seemed to be heavily on guard.
(Huh?)
The word he'd spoken aloud moments ago, he now muttered in his mind.
Could it be...? Just as that question formed, the nearest Centaur leveled its spear tip at Rei and spoke.
"Two-legged one, what business do you have bringing the Wind of the Plains here?"
"...The Wind of the Plains?"
Hearing those words, what naturally came to mind was Set.
Seeing it fly freely through the sky, the description Wind of the Plains certainly seemed fitting.
But Rei immediately rejected the idea.
The Centaur had used the term as if it were common knowledge.
In other words, they believed Rei should naturally know what the Wind of the Plains was.
And judging from how the Centaurs who'd interacted with Set had reacted, it was clear they didn't know of the creature called a Gryphon.
Whether Gryphons simply didn't exist in this world, or whether they just never came to this grassland, Rei didn't know.
But the Centaurs before him clearly knew nothing about Set, and given that, they would never refer to it as the Wind of the Plains.
If so, then the Wind of the Plains was...
"You, huh."
"Veheh."
The Two-Headed Goat let out a cry as if answering Rei's words. ...No — the Wind of the Plains.
Seeing its demeanor, the Centaurs relaxed their guard slightly.
Judging from the Wind of the Plains' behavior, they had determined it hadn't been brought here by force.
...In reality, it had been something closer to intimidation by Set's overwhelming presence, but fortunately, after that initial encounter, Rei and Set had managed to build a friendly relationship with it.
In a way, that had perhaps been their finest move.
Taking advantage of the Centaurs' slightly relaxed guard, Rei pressed on.
"I'm probably wrong, but... is this Zai's... no, the settlement where Drum serves as Chief?"
"No."
Without a moment's hesitation, the Centaur who had been speaking shook his head.
Seeing that, Rei thought, Figured as much.
In other words, this was...
(Lost.)
Yes, this was unmistakably being lost.
He'd thought they were returning to Zai's settlement, but what they'd actually arrived at was a completely unfamiliar settlement.
Looking at it again, he could see various differences from Zai's settlement.
The most obvious was size.
Zai's settlement was quite large, given how many people had gathered there.
But the settlement now before Rei's eyes was clearly smaller.
...If they'd been flying, it would have been much more apparent, but unfortunately, since they were bringing the Wind of the Plains along, it had been a slow journey.
As a result, Rei had ended up at an entirely different settlement.
The product of his poor sense of direction at work.
"I see... Sorry about this. We were actually trying to get to the settlement where Drum serves as Chief, but it seems we took a wrong turn and ended up here."
"...Hah?"
Rei's explanation was apparently completely unexpected.
First they'd been wary of an unknown stranger approaching, then wary of a two-legged stranger, then wary because said stranger was accompanied by the Wind of the Plains — a known and respected monster — then relieved when they saw it wasn't being subdued by force... and now this.
Centaurs, having grown up on this grassland, basically never got lost on their way to a settlement.
That was why they probably couldn't even comprehend the idea of Rei being lost.
"A two-legged one, accompanied by a monster I've never seen... Could you be the one from the reports — the one who killed Dragonias!?"
The voice that cut in belonged to a different Centaur from the one Rei had been speaking with.
The way it stared at Rei with sheer astonishment openly expressed disbelief.
At those words, the other Centaurs also fixed their gazes on Rei.
After all, compared to a Centaur, Rei was quite small.
For someone like that to have single-handedly crushed Dragonias — creatures that required multiple Centaurs to fight — and destroyed their base? Asking them to believe that was asking too much.
That said, two-legged beings were extremely rare on this grassland.
And if one was accompanied by something like Set... there were many details that matched the information that had come from Zai's settlement.
"No, but... someone this small killing Dragonias? That's impossible no matter how you look at it, right?"
The moment he heard those words, Rei came up with a brilliant idea — or perhaps a terrible one.
"In that case, how about a mock battle? If I win, you guide me to Drum's settlement."
"...And if you lose?"
"Hmm... if I lose, huh..."
Rei hadn't considered the possibility of losing at all, so he couldn't immediately think of what he'd offer.
Naturally, the Centaurs could sense that confidence.
Knowing that the person before them had no intention whatsoever of losing to them... they felt half irritated and half intrigued as warriors by Rei's skill.
"Alright then. If I lose... the Wind of the Plains, was it? How about I ask it to be friendly with you?"
In the end, that was what came out of Rei's mouth.
But those words shook the Centaurs far more than he'd expected.
(Wait — does this mean the Wind of the Plains is to the Centaurs... no, given that it has "of the Plains" in its name, it must hold great significance for those who live on this grassland?)
Indeed, it could kill Dragonias — which even Centaurs couldn't fight without numbers — while fleeing, and though it relied mainly on long-range attacks that Dragonias were weak against, it had still slain many of them.
For Rei and Set, who had killed even more Dragonias, that wasn't particularly surprising.
But to the Centaurs, the Wind of the Plains was a being that could rival a thousand... well, perhaps not quite that, but it was undoubtedly capable of overwhelming a small number of Dragonias on its own.
"Understood."
The Centaur who had been speaking to Rei answered with a serious expression.
That was how attractive Rei's proposed conditions were.
Neither side needed any particular preparation, so the mock battle was set to begin immediately... and as always, Rei drew Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear from his Misty Ring, drawing surprised looks. But since Rei was accustomed to that reaction, he didn't pay it any mind.
They then faced each other across roughly ten meters of grassland.
The distance was necessary because a Centaur's fighting style basically involved running to build momentum, then converting that momentum into an attack.
For a Centaur fighting seriously, a certain amount of space was essential.
The Centaur facing Rei held a spear and fixed him with a sharp gaze.
That Rei was strong became apparent just from facing him.
Even so, exactly how wide the gap in ability was remained unknown...
"Here I come!"
The Centaur shouted as if psyching himself up, and broke into a run across the ground.
Rei showed no particular tension as the Centaur rapidly closed the distance, stepping forward... and in the next moment, as the two passed each other, the Centaur's spear was deflected by the swung Twilight Spear and sent flying by the shaft of the Death Scythe wielded in his other hand.