As expected, the Dragonias they encountered were effortlessly defeated by Vihera.
She might have wanted to enjoy the battle more, but since Rei had told her to finish them quickly, she likely took them down just as instructed.
Vihera looked slightly disappointed about this, but if they had kept fighting there endlessly, other Dragonias could have come rushing in one after another, so her reaction was understandable.
If it had just been Rei, Set, and Vihera, that would have been fine. Unfortunately, there were nearly twenty Centaurs with them this time.
Considering that some among them were not particularly skilled in combat, fighting while protecting such individuals... it wasn't impossible, but it would definitely be troublesome.
Given that, having Vihera dispatch them quickly was naturally the obvious choice for Rei.
Vihera seemed somewhat dissatisfied with this as well, but she apparently judged that heading to the base would be far more rewarding. There would be many Dragonias there, and more importantly, a high likelihood of a special Dragonias commanding the others. Rather than complaining here, it would be far more enjoyable to just get to the base quickly.
"Well then, let's get going right away."
Rei stored the Dragonias corpses Vihera had defeated into his Misty Ring and, prompted by her words, prepared to depart.
They had burned the Dragonias corpses near the campsite, but doing so here—so close to the enemy base—would undoubtedly get them spotted.
That would inevitably lead to trouble, so storing the bodies in the Misty Ring was the quicker solution.
...The fact that it had been Vihera who fought them, leaving the corpses largely intact, was probably also a significant factor in this case.
Fortunately, no other Dragonias appeared while they were cleaning up after the battle.
With their preparations quickly finished, Rei set off once again.
"You mentioned it was close from here, but honestly, we're getting there surprisingly fast."
From atop the running Set's back, Rei spoke to the guide Centaur.
Considering the time it had taken to return to the campsite, it wouldn't have been strange for it to be a considerable distance. Yet from the look of things as they traveled, they would arrive soon, which made him curious.
The Centaur nodded at Rei's question as if to say it was obvious, then spoke.
"When we were scouting on our own, we were cautious of the Dragonias and moved quite carefully. But with this group, there's no need for that, so traveling is much easier."
Those words made perfect sense to Rei.
When they were initially scouting, not knowing where the Dragonias headquarters or base was, they'd had to remain vigilant for any sign of abnormality.
But now that they knew where the base was, there was no need to worry about that.
Also, when Dragonias approached like they had this time, they would normally need to detect them faster than the enemy could and flee. But with this party, there was no need for such concerns.
Whether enemies were present or not—Set could detect them far faster than the Centaurs could search, and even if they did encounter enemies as a result, they had more than enough combat power to overwhelm the Dragonias, just as they had this time.
Considering all that, it was only natural that their travel speed had increased compared to before.
...Of course, having a large number of Centaurs meant that moving took more effort than traveling with a smaller group.
Before even an hour had passed, the guide Centaur spoke up.
"Stop. ...The fact that that rock is here means we should be close."
What the Centaur had spotted was a rock about the height of Rei's knee.
Rei nodded at those words and told everyone to be quiet.
"So, exactly how far from here?"
"Right there. ...Can you see that hill over there?"
Rei turned his gaze in the direction the Centaur indicated and immediately nodded.
There, rising up in the distance, was a sight worthy of being called a hill.
"It's beyond that hill. At least, that's where it was when we saw it."
"...Understood. Then I'll go check it out with Set first."
"Oh, are you planning to leave me behind?"
At Rei's words, Vihera cut in.
From Rei's perspective, he would have preferred not to bring Vihera along if possible.
Given Vihera's personality, there was no telling when she might suddenly charge at the enemy.
If so, it was better to leave her here.
That was what he had been thinking, but Vihera raised an objection.
"I'm telling you, no suddenly charging at the enemy. If you can agree to that, I'll take you along."
"That's fine."
At Vihera's casual reply, Rei wondered whether she actually meant what she said. Still, he nodded, believing that she wouldn't do anything foolish here.
"Got it. Then that's fine. ...Considering the possibility of something happening here, I would have preferred to leave some combat power behind if I could."
That was Rei's honest feeling.
Among this group, the truly skilled fighters were Rei, Vihera, and Set.
Having all of them leave the group, even temporarily, was somewhat worrisome.
Of course, the hill wasn't that far away, so even if Dragonias attacked, dealing with them wouldn't be difficult.
Centaurs were faster runners than Dragonias by nature, so if Dragonias came from somewhere other than the hill, they just needed to run toward where Rei and the others were.
...Doing so would alert the Dragonias base on the other side of the hill, but even so, regrouping with Rei's group would give them a much better chance of survival.
In the end, Rei told them that if enemies appeared, they should immediately flee toward where his group was. Then, taking Set and Vihera with him, he headed for the hill overlooking the Dragonias base.
...The Centaurs left behind looked slightly anxious, but they accepted that it couldn't be helped given the situation, and stayed vigilant of their surroundings.
Confirming that the Centaurs seemed fine, Rei proceeded up the hill...
"Bingo."
From the Centaur's report, he had understood that there was definitely a Dragonias base here.
But even so, seeing it directly with his own eyes was what finally allowed him to truly accept it.
"Right."
Vihera murmured as if agreeing with Rei's words, but the disappointed tone in her voice was likely because she couldn't confirm the presence of a golden-scaled Dragonias—or any other specially-colored Dragonias that could be called a commander.
(It's probably just that they haven't come out yet.)
At the base Rei had raided before, the golden-scaled one hadn't shown itself initially either.
Thinking of that, this development was neither strange nor surprising.
No, for Rei, it was exactly what he'd expected.
"Anyway, I've confirmed the base is here. ...The number of Dragonias being fewer than what we heard is concerning, but it's daytime, so they're probably outside. If that's the case, we'll raid at night as planned."
"Grru?"
Like last time? Set purred, and Rei nodded in confirmation.
He had absolutely no intention of losing if he fought the Dragonias head-on.
But if he could defeat them easily, then he should. That was Rei's thinking.
Vihera pursed her lips sullenly at his words, but since she had been told about this plan beforehand, she couldn't very well complain now.
After that, the two and their companion observed the Dragonias base in silence for a while.
"From what I can see, it's not much different from the Dragonias base I saw before."
Rei, who had been studying the base, suddenly spoke up.
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. When I saw them before, they were the same during the day—wandering around aimlessly, each doing whatever they felt like."
"...Even though they'd rush to devour anything they spotted like they're consumed by hunger, when there's no prey around they just act like nothing's there? That's a little strange, isn't it?"
"I think so too. But then again, the Dragonias themselves have plenty of odd things about them, right?"
What Rei was referring to was, as always, their appearance.
Though individual Centaurs differed from one another, they all shared the common form of a human upper body and a horse's lower body. ...There were exceptions like Drum, who had eight legs.
But with the Dragonias, while they all shared the common trait of having a lizard's lower body, differing numbers of legs was perfectly normal.
The placement of their legs varied, and even the shape of the lizard lower body itself differed from one to the next.
Unlike the Centaurs, they were clearly not structured as a single cohesive organism.
That said, if told that was simply the kind of monster they were, Rei had no choice but to accept it.
Among the monsters Rei had fought in Elgin so far, there had been many whose appearance screamed Common sense? What's that? Is it tasty?
"Strange, huh. They're enjoyable opponents to fight, but I'd prefer it if they thought more rationally about how they fight. ...Of course, if that meant losing those hunger-driven movements, it would be pointless."
"No, that's not what I meant. ...Well, whatever. For now, I've confirmed the state of the base, and I understand that the Dragonias' behavior is the same as it was at the first base. Let's head back. If we take too long, they'll start worrying down there."
At the bottom of the hill, everyone was staying vigilant in case the Dragonias attacked.
But at the same time, being so close to the base, they were also anxious that a large number of Dragonias might suddenly appear—something Rei could read even from a distance.
(Did I get them a little too dependent on us?)
Before Rei had arrived, the Centaurs had been dealing with the Dragonias on their own.
Given that, being this frightened just because his group wasn't around... felt a bit excessive.
Then again, among the twenty, there were some who weren't combat specialists, so in a way it couldn't be helped.
Thinking this, Rei descended the hill.
The Centaurs must have realized Rei was returning.
Even from a distance, their relief was plain to see.
And so was the way their tension dropped the instant they caught sight of Rei and his group.
(This is... a little dangerous. The idea that they're absolutely safe just because we're here is a problem. Well, I'll have Zai address it when we get back to the campsite. If I speak up about it myself, it might cause unnecessary friction.)
Ultimately, they were relied upon for their combat power, but they weren't deeply connected to the Centaurs on a personal level.
If so, it would be better to tell Zai, who held a leadership position over the Reconnaissance Unit, after returning to the campsite.
...For Rei, though, his stronger desire was simply to avoid any trouble here that might agitate the Dragonias beyond the hill.
"For now, let's put some distance between us and this place. There's nowhere to hide here, so if Dragonias come up the hill, we'll be spotted immediately."
No one had any objections to Rei's words.
They moved away from the spot at once.
...That said, there was nowhere to conceal themselves in the vicinity—nothing but endless grassland stretching out in every direction.
Given that, Rei wondered how far they needed to go... and ultimately, deciding it was too much trouble, he stopped at a reasonable distance from the hill.
"Rei? What are you doing?"
One of the Centaurs asked in bewilderment, but Rei let the question pass while taking Death Scythe out of the Misty Ring, placing the butt cap against the ground, and activating a skill.
"Terrain Manipulation."
Along with those words, the ground rose by one hundred and fifty centimeters, and the ground adjacent to the raised area sank by one hundred and fifty centimeters.
As a result, a trench three meters deep was formed.
It only needed to fit about twenty people, so it wasn't particularly large, but...
A murmur ran through the group.
Those who saw it gasped in surprise.
It was only natural. They knew Rei could use Flame Magic, but they never expected he could use something like this.
...In reality, it wasn't magic but a skill of Death Scythe.
"Come on, just get inside for now. After that, we wait until night."
Everyone obediently followed Rei's words.