"The silver-scaled Dragonias? Of course I'm going. That's a given."
They were heading out to eliminate the silver-scaled Dragonias that had been leading a group of its kind on the move.
Vihera's response to Rei's declaration was only natural.
Having already anticipated that reaction from her, Rei accepted it without any particular surprise.
Set handles the small fry, and Vihera takes the silver-scaled Dragonias. If we divide our roles like that, we'll be able to jump straight into the fight. That part's fine — thinking back to when we annihilated the enemy base, there shouldn't be any issues on that front. In this case, the problem is...
Shifting his gaze from Vihera's delighted expression, Rei looked toward the direction the Centaurs had indicated earlier.
The Centaurs who had brought back word of the silver-scaled Dragonias on the move didn't have a clear idea of exactly where they had encountered it.
More accurately, they couldn't pinpoint the exact location of the encounter for Rei and his group.
If there had been some clear landmark — a distinctive rock formation, or perhaps a patch of woodland — it would have been a different story.
However, there had been a hill, so they hadn't been spotted by the Dragonias.
But in this grassland, hills existed in great numbers, both large and small.
The Dragonias settlement that Rei's group had annihilated had also been on the far side of a hill.
With multiple hills scattered across the terrain, even being told to look for "a hill" made arriving at the right one a tall order.
And above all, the silver-scaled Dragonias was leading its underlings on the move.
Considering that, even if they headed to that hill's location now, the enemy should already be long gone.
...Unless the silver-scaled Dragonias intended to establish a base near that hill, in which case it would be a different matter.
That possibility wasn't zero, but it was undeniably slim.
Given all of this, the most important thing for Rei's group right now was simply finding the enemy.
The enemy's location, huh. If even one of the Centaurs who came back had no resistance to flying... no, it's too late for that. And if they had to ride in the Set Basket, guiding us would be tricky anyway.
If they were to travel by grabbing onto Set's legs directly, the way Vihera and the others sometimes did, communication wouldn't be all that difficult.
But once inside the Set Basket, things would inevitably get complicated.
"Rei, so when are we leaving?"
"As soon as you're ready. Immediately."
Since there was no way to bring the Centaurs along, they ultimately had no choice but to have Set fly and search for the Dragonias group led by the silver-scaled one.
If that was the case, then the sooner they left the campsite and began searching, the better.
Having reached that conclusion, Rei gave his answer, and Vihera smiled happily.
Normally, it wouldn't be surprising to be told they needed more time to get ready, or something along those lines. I suppose this is just very much like Vihera.
That was partly because she had the temperament of an adventurer through and through.
When an adventurer was out on a job, being told they needed more time to prepare and to wait a bit longer — that kind of logic simply didn't apply.
If they truly needed time to get ready, they should wake up even earlier and start preparing before anyone else.
While Rei was mulling this over, Vihera finished getting ready in no time at all. Rei stowed the Magic Tent in his Misty Ring, and with that, their preparations were complete.
Since Rei had the Misty Ring, it was fair to say that no real preparation was necessary to begin with.
"Alright then, we'll be heading out. If we find them, taking them down won't be difficult — but given the situation, finding them in the first place is going to be the hard part. It might take a while before we come back. I'm counting on you to hold down the fort."
"Understood. ...Though since I'm supposed to be the one leading this Reconnaissance Unit, I do have some misgivings about that exchange just now."
Zai replied to Rei's words.
That said, Zai also understood that Rei — and Set and Vihera — were the strongest combat assets in the entire unit, so he didn't appear to be genuinely dissatisfied.
"Alright, Set. Let's go."
"Gruu!"
At Rei's words, Set crouched low to make it easier for him to mount.
Once Rei climbed onto his back, Set took a few running steps — not caring that he was still inside the campsite — flapped his wings, and soared up into the sky.
Then, flapping his wings, he angled downward toward the ground, swooping right above Vihera... and in the next moment, she leaped up and seized Set's front legs.
Even with Vihera clinging to his legs, Set didn't lose his balance in the slightest. He flapped his wings and climbed higher.
Many of the Centaurs could only watch the group's departure with stunned expressions.
"Incredible... they fly so well..."
One Centaur muttered under his breath, and the others around him nodded in agreement.
For Centaurs, who lived in harmony with the earth, flying through the sky was something they simply couldn't fathom.
And yet Rei had casually mounted Set's back and taken to the air, while Vihera hadn't even bothered riding on Set's back — she had flown by grabbing onto his front legs.
Honestly, they couldn't possibly imagine themselves doing anything similar.
Several minutes passed... and eventually, Zai spoke up.
"Alright, standing around dumbfounded is over. With Rei's group gone, defending this campsite falls to us. And since we don't know when they'll be back, we can't rely on Set like we did before."
At Zai's words, the Centaurs who had been watching Rei's group disappear into the distance snapped back to reality.
They immediately began discussing what would clearly be the most demanding aspect of their new situation: the watch.
Until now, they had Set, so they had left the night watch almost entirely to him.
But with Set gone, they would have to handle the night watch themselves.
"...I wish Rei would come back soon. Today, if possible."
At one Centaur's quiet mutter, the others nodded in agreement.
That was how demanding the night watch would be.
Living on the grassland, they had good eyesight, and some among them possessed Night Vision.
But without Set's acute sense of smell, hearing, and presence detection, they couldn't simply do what they had been doing before — which amounted to having Set at the center of the campsite.
They had to spread out around the perimeter, with large numbers standing watch.
In terms of manpower, they would need far more members than when Set had been around.
Given time, they could have hammered out the details, but this situation had erupted with little warning.
Considering that, they needed to firmly establish not just the current watch, but especially the night watch.
Naturally, the Centaurs gathered around Zai, who led the Reconnaissance Unit, and began discussing how to weather the situation.
Fortunately, two Reconnaissance Units had already returned, and others from nearby settlements had joined them as well.
Taking that into account, they should be able to manage somehow.
The real problem isn't the watch... it's what happens when the Dragonias actually attack.
That was without question the most troublesome aspect of the current situation.
A Dragonias's strength was not something a single Centaur could normally handle on his own.
Since multiple Centaurs would need to cooperate to fight them, they also needed to thoroughly discuss their coordination in battle.
As Rei himself had said, with no way of knowing when he would return, there was no telling how long this situation would last.
...Incidentally, had Zai known about Rei's and Set's abysmal sense of direction, he probably would have stopped them before they took off.
Then again, the possibility that he let them go precisely because Vihera was with them couldn't be completely ruled out either.
While Zai was working to shore up the campsite's defenses, Rei's group was soaring through the sky.
The endless green carpet stretching out below — a sight Rei had seen countless times since coming to this world.
But unlike Rei, who was familiar enough with it — or rather, hadn't flown enough to be completely accustomed to it — Vihera was utterly captivated by the expanse of green below.
"This is... amazing."
Her murmured voice naturally reached Rei's ears as well.
In truth, this wasn't the first time Vihera had flown through the sky clinging to Set since arriving in this world. But that had been during the battle with the Dragonias, and she hadn't been able to leisurely take in the ground below the way she was doing now. In that sense, it was fair to say this was her first time flying at such a relaxed pace.
Rei heard her words and nodded in agreement, even though he knew she probably couldn't see him do it.
That said, Rei had other things to attend to besides admiring the grassland.
Nest-splitting... well, I'm not sure if that's really what's happening, but I need to find the Dragonias, and that's probably the closest description. I never expected them to have habits like ants or bees. Looking back on it now, though, I can sort of see how that might make sense.
Driven by hunger, with no sense of self — or at least none visible from the outside — they simply carried out whatever needed to be done. They even killed and devoured their prey to satisfy that hunger.
That was merely Rei's impression, but it was one he could accept.
"Hey, Rei! How are you planning to find the Dragonias!?"
Vihera, who had been gazing at the grassland while clinging to Set's front legs, called out to him after a few minutes — perhaps having satisfied herself enough to shift her focus.
"Set is heading in the direction the group who spotted the silver-scaled Dragonias came from, so we're moving that way for now. From up here, we might be able to spot them right away."
Ultimately, since the Dragonias group was on the move, searching from the sky like this was the most efficient approach.
"I see. Then we'd better search hard."
Vihera's tone was dead serious.
Precisely because she lived for battle, she spared no effort when it came to preparing for one.
Maybe we'll find them sooner than expected?
That was what Rei was thinking.
He and Vihera both had eyes far sharper than ordinary people, and Set possessed vision that surpassed even theirs.
From the sky, they could see a considerable distance.
If there were cliffs or areas with extreme elevation changes, finding the enemy might prove difficult.
But here on the grassland, there were two people and one creature with superhuman eyesight, all flying through the air.
That was an ideal setup for locating the enemy.
The problem is if we still can't find them even then.
With some kind of landmark, it would be one thing, but Rei had no concrete idea where the Dragonias were.
Given their detection capabilities, he was confident they wouldn't miss any Dragonias directly in their path. But if the Dragonias were off to the side, finding them would inevitably be much harder.
"Vihera, can you see any Dragonias?"
"Unfortunately, no."
Hearing her voice from below, Rei accepted that it was to be expected.
If even Set hadn't been able to find them, it was unlikely that he or Vihera would spot them so easily.
In the end, finding the Dragonias is... partly down to luck. Even if the Centaurs who went on reconnaissance had left a lookout behind... it would've been meaningless if we couldn't find that lookout in the first place.
Gazing out over the grassland, Rei mulled it over.
"Gruu?"
Set suddenly rumbled from his throat.
But it wasn't a warning of enemies — nor a sign that he had found the silver-scaled Dragonias and its group. The sound carried a strong note of curiosity.
What is it? Wondering that, Rei followed Set's gaze — and spotted a group of Centaurs.
More people from another settlement? he thought, but then he recognized one of them.
"Dolfina?"
Yes, it was the Reconnaissance Unit led by Dolfina.
A rare family among Centaurs, one that excelled at magic.
Seeing Dolfina — of all people — heading this way, toward the campsite, naturally raised questions in Rei's mind.
"Alright, let's make contact with them for now. Set, take us down."
"Gruu!"
"Vihera, I spotted Dolfina. We're making contact."
"Understood."
Calling out to Set and Vihera... Rei's group descended toward Dolfina's location.