"Come on, cheer up already. ...See?"
Hearing those words from Rei, Vihera would normally have smiled happily right away, but not this time.
That was how much of a disappointment the silver-scaled Dragonias she had fought this time had been.
The fact that it had the same appearance as the individual she had fought previously was probably also a factor.
Because of that, she had expected to enjoy this battle just as much as the last one.
That was what she had thought, but the fight had lacked any real substance.
...In reality, it was still a silver-scaled Dragonias, so it had been stronger compared to regular Dragonias.
Even so, perhaps because it had been weaker than the opponent she had anticipated, it could not be helped that she voiced her dissatisfaction.
Rei thought for a moment...and eventually spoke up.
"How about thinking of it this way? It's true that this silver-scaled Dragonias was an issue of individual variation, and there's no doubt it wasn't that powerful an enemy. But that could also mean that other silver-scaled Dragonias might be even stronger than the one you fought last time."
"That's... true, I suppose."
That the individual variation could be this large was likely unexpected for Vihera as well.
That was precisely why, if told that there might be a similarly powerful silver-scaled Dragonias among other individuals, it was a fact that she would honestly accept those words.
Seeing Vihera appear slightly calmer, Rei pressed the point further.
"Besides, you seem to be forgetting, but when we return to the campsite, Dolfina and the other reconnaissance units who saw these guys should be sharing information. I don't know if things will go that smoothly, but even so, depending on the case..."
"We might find the enemy's headquarters."
As if picking up where Rei left off, Vihera finished his thought.
As if her earlier displeased demeanor had been a lie, Vihera floated a joyful smile.
From Rei's perspective too, that appearance possessed enough charm to draw people in.
...Of course, however, there were not many who could fully understand the meaning of that charm.
"That possibility is certainly there. Though, it would only tell us the direction where the headquarters seems to be."
What exact route the silver-scaled Dragonias that Vihera had defeated had taken to arrive here.
Depending on that information, there was also a possibility that the direction of the enemy's headquarters was actually completely different.
Considering the nature of Dragonias, Rei thought it was not something to be that concerned about.
Even so, thinking on the off chance, he would exercise some caution.
On the off chance, truly on the off chance, the possibility that this operation was a trap to draw them in could not be completely denied.
Whether Dragonias would think that far ahead to set a trap was honestly questionable even to Rei, though.
"Right. Then, shall we head back to the headquarters soon?"
"No, it's the campsite we're returning to."
Rei pointed that out in response to the words that came from Vihera's mouth.
Just how much was she looking forward to heading to the Dragonias headquarters?
It must have been that the silver-scaled Dragonias they had just fought was that much of a disappointment.
"Right. It was the campsite. Well then, let's hurry up and go."
"Before that, we need to do something about these corpses. For now, we'll secure the silver-scaled Dragonias's corpse that Vihera defeated, but... gathering the rest would be a hassle, so it'd be better to just burn them all."
By Flame Arrows, many of the Dragonias had been pierced through their bodies or burned to death by flames.
Given that, even if they gathered the corpses and stored them in the Misty Ring, there was a high possibility those corpses would be unusable.
(For people like the Alchemists, who are full of curiosity, they might want a large quantity, even if it's this kind of corpse.)
He thought that, but since they would become unusable overnight, there were various problems.
Specifically, Rei would need to continue providing usable corpses every day.
The Alchemists Rei knew... specifically, the ones who magically processed wood felled from the Treant Forest, would likely demand that he produce Dragonias corpses every single day.
Honestly, Rei had no desire to accommodate such behavior.
If the corpses wouldn't become unusable, he could just gather every corpse in sight and store them all at once, and that would be fine.
"Anyway, if we leave the corpses as they are, there's a chance they'll become Undead, so let's clean them up quickly."
At those words, Vihera must have understood what Rei was about to do.
She opened her mouth with a worried expression.
"Is your mana alright?"
Because Rei specialized in the fire attribute, using magic to purify corpses would consume a large amount of mana.
Knowing that, Vihera was likely worried.
But Rei nodded, indicating there was no problem.
"Lately, for one reason or another, I've been using this magic quite a bit. I've gotten fairly used to it. ...Though the mana consumption hasn't changed."
To be precise, it would be more accurate to say he had grown accustomed to consuming an unnecessarily large amount of mana.
In particular, since he had been training more often with Flame Heaven Wheel, a spell that was further from fire than even purification, he had become even more accustomed to the act of consuming excessive mana.
Understanding that Rei was not putting on a brave face but genuinely believed there was no problem, Vihera felt relieved.
Relieved... she opened her mouth as if something had just occurred to her.
"This area is within the Dragonias's sphere of influence, so even if they become Undead, wouldn't they attack Dragonias rather than Centaurs? If so, we could reduce the enemy's combat power... actually, I feel like it'd be better to turn them into Undead."
"...I see."
Vihera's opinion was unexpected even to Rei.
Rather than not turning them into Undead, deliberately turning them into Undead here to reduce the Dragonias's combat power.
At first glance, it seemed like an effective strategy, but... in the end, Rei shook his head.
"No, let's not. We're here to annihilate the Dragonias headquarters. If that's the case, then it won't be long before this area becomes Centaur territory. When that happens, Undead Dragonias would be nothing but a nuisance."
Also, aside from the reason he had just stated, there was the matter of Anastasia and Fana.
Since a fair amount of time had passed since they left Damran's settlement, the possibility of Anastasia and Fana being in this vicinity was low.
But... if the Dragonias corpses here were to become Undead, there was a sufficient possibility that something could happen if Anastasia and the others returned to this area.
Given that, Rei could not imagine going along with Vihera's proposal here.
...In the first place, Undead did not always come into being.
Depending on the circumstances, they might not become Undead, and the corpses could simply rot and weather away into nothing.
Rather than testing whether they would become Undead or not, purifying them here to ensure they definitely would not become Undead was easier to calculate for when thinking about the future.
In addition to that, for the Centaurs such as Damran and the others who had settlements in this area more so than Zai and the others, there was a real possibility they would harbor dissatisfaction if told that corpses that might become Undead had been left behind.
"Really? Well, if you say so, I don't particularly mind. I was simply saying it because it came to mind."
Vihera had not said it with the firm conviction that they absolutely should do so; she had merely spoken up because she thought that approach might be better.
Rei understood that as well, so without making any particular remark about it, he took Death Scythe in hand and began chanting.
"Ah, I can see it now. ...Or rather, it looks like we arrived at about the same time as Dolfina and the others."
At Vihera's voice, who was holding onto Set's front legs, Rei directed his gaze toward the ground.
Whether it was because Vihera was with them, or because Set's sense of direction had been corrected, or simply a product of chance.
Rei did not know the reason, but in any case, without getting lost, they arrived at the campsite without hesitation from the place where they had fought the silver-scaled Dragonias.
And in the middle of the campsite, in an area that served as a plaza for various purposes, Dolfina and the others were there.
Just as Vihera had said, not much time had passed since they returned to this campsite, and several Centaurs were gathered around them.
Among them, naturally, was Zai, and it looked to Rei like he was talking with Dolfina about something.
"Set."
"Gruu!"
When Rei spoke a single word, Set, without needing to be told specifically what to do, began descending toward the ground.
Naturally, Centaurs were standing watch around the campsite.
The campsite was surrounded by simple defensive walls created by Death Scythe's Terrain Manipulation skill, so only a small number of watchmen were needed.
Rei had wanted to strengthen the defenses further, but that had been put on hold by the Centaurs themselves.
In any case, several of the watchmen spotted Set flying overhead and began making a commotion.
Listening to those voices of commotion, Set descended toward the ground.
As a matter of course, the first to dismount... or rather, release from Set was Vihera, and since the altitude had become quite low, she landed on the ground without difficulty.
Then Set briefly gained altitude before descending toward the ground once more.
This too, naturally, Set landed on the ground without any trouble.
"It looks like we weren't that late."
As Rei spoke while dismounting from Set's back, Zai asked with surprise.
"Weren't late? From what I heard from Dolfina, weren't you fighting a group led by a silver-scaled Dragonias?"
"Yeah, this."
Judging that it would be better to show it directly rather than explain himself, Rei took the silver-scaled Dragonias's corpse out of the Misty Ring.
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
The moment they saw it, everyone around erupted into a commotion all at once.
It was only natural. For Vihera, it had been a disappointing opponent, but against Dragonias, which Centaurs could barely fight to a standstill even in groups, it was a being that could be called a High-ranking Species.
"As you can see. For now, the moving silver-scaled Dragonias that were reported have been taken down. Naturally, not a single one survived. ...So, have you heard the details from Dolfina and the others?"
"Yeah. If you connect the locations where this silver-scaled Dragonias was encountered on a single line, the Dragonias headquarters should be ahead along it. We're currently coordinating that information."
Rei nodded at those words.
Not that much time had actually passed since they had set out as a reconnaissance unit.
But thanks to everything that had happened, it felt like a considerable amount of time had passed in terms of perceived time.
Also, if it meant even slightly reducing the danger to Anastasia and Fana, the option of not annihilating the Dragonias headquarters here did not exist within Rei.
Thinking that, he looked toward Dolfina... where Dolfina was not talking with the Centaur who had initially brought the information that a silver-scaled Dragonias was leading a group of Dragonias... but was instead directing a gaze full of intense curiosity toward him.
For Dolfina, figuring out the Dragonias headquarters was important, but even more than that, he was curious about what kind of magic Rei had used to annihilate the group led by the silver-scaled Dragonias.
As a Young Mage, Dolfina had a strong interest in the magic Rei used.
In this matter as well, it would have been unreasonable to tell him not to be interested in the magic Rei had used.
...In reality, the magic used this time had been used a fair number of times before, and it had also been used when raiding the previous Dragonias base, so if he asked the Centaurs who had seen it then, he would know right away.
Of course, Dolfina had already left the settlement on reconnaissance by then, and naturally he thought it would be better to hear about it from Rei, who had actually used the magic, rather than from the Centaurs who were not well-versed in magic.
"For now, coordinate the information!"
When Rei gave that order, Dolfina reluctantly tore his gaze away from him.