"Alright, once the other reconnaissance units return, we'll depart as soon as possible. Be ready for that."
Zai's voice echoed through the campsite.
The Centaur who had first brought back word of the silver-scaled Dragonias moving in a group, along with Dolf, spoke up, and they were able to roughly estimate the direction the creature had come from.
It was only a general direction, not a precise location. Still, compared to their complete ignorance of where the enemy headquarters lay before, even a rough estimate meant the investigation had progressed significantly.
Zai would have preferred to set out immediately, but it was already afternoon—and nearing evening at that. Departing from the campsite under these conditions would inevitably mean nightfall would overtake them before they could cover much ground. More importantly, several reconnaissance parties had yet to return.
If they left now, there would be no one here to receive those members when they came back. He couldn't simply abandon comrades who had gone out on reconnaissance together, so Zai had no choice but to wait until those units returned before departing for the enemy headquarters.
Granted, someone motivated solely by personal glory might well have left behind the reconnaissance units that hadn't all returned yet. But there was no way the considerate Zai could do such a thing.
That consideration was one of Zai's virtues, but it was also a flaw that left him paralyzed at critical moments.
In truth, many within the campsite were dissatisfied with Zai's decision. More than a few felt that while perhaps not this very instant, they could at least set out toward the Dragonias headquarters by tomorrow. Zai's flat rejection of the idea was the source of their frustration.
Those who felt that way were largely ones whose settlements had suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Dragonias. Having learned of Rei's strength, they figured that with him around, things would somehow work out.
In all honesty, that judgment wasn't entirely wrong. However, if they acted on it, Zai would completely lose the trust of the other Centaurs—especially those left behind here.
In that case, Zai's judgment is probably correct after all. I did consider going to the headquarters with just me and Set, but... that comes with its own difficulties.
Specifically, the difficulty of getting lost. With nothing resembling a landmark on this grassland, striking out alone with just Set along the line extending from where they'd encountered the silver-scaled Dragonias seemed to Rei to be nothing short of suicide.
Landmarks on this grassland were few and far between. But to the Centaurs born and raised here—though in a slightly different area—the subtle differences that all looked the same to Rei and his group were more than enough to navigate by. Unable to do that himself, traveling with just Rei and Set would be nearly impossible.
Furthermore, if Rei tried to go with only Set, Vihera would inevitably insist on coming along. Given that the silver-scaled Dragonias they'd fought during its nest-splitting had been considerably weaker than expected, it was hardly surprising she harbored some frustration over it—something Rei was well aware of.
"So we're staying here for the night, then?" one of the Centaurs asked Zai.
Zai nodded. "That's right. This situation calls for caution. Besides, we have Rei's group with us, so even if we run into the enemy a bit later than expected, it shouldn't be a problem."
Zai's words amounted to a declaration of near-total reliance on Rei's group, but Rei didn't particularly mind. He'd intended to annihilate the Dragonias headquarters from the start.
If anything, it's better this way. He wouldn't say it aloud, but it would be far more helpful if the Centaurs didn't throw themselves to the front lines and get in the way of Rei, Vihera, and Set in combat. Or, for instance, when he cast magic, they could mop up any Dragonias that happened to be outside the area of effect.
Thanks to Vihera's training, they've gotten quite a bit stronger overall. There are plenty of capable warriors too, starting with Zai. Against ordinary Dragonias, I have a feeling they'll manage just fine.
They didn't possess enough strength to let their guard down against Dragonias, but even so, if a large group fought only a few at a time, it wouldn't be surprising for them to win decisively with virtually no injuries.
"Alright then, everyone return to your assigned duties. Especially the lookouts—since we don't know when the reconnaissance parties will return, stay sharp."
At Zai's words, everyone went back to their respective tasks. Even those who had been dissatisfied apparently decided to bide their time and see how things played out, quietly following his instructions.
"Rei!"
Naturally, the first to approach him was Dolf.
He had probably already heard that Rei had destroyed one of the Dragonias bases while he was away. He didn't even need to say it—one look at his face told Rei everything he wanted to ask about magic.
Rei hesitated over how to respond, but thinking about it, unlike the other Centaurs, he had almost nothing he needed to do right now. If anything, it would be storing away the provisions he'd left behind—foodstuffs of uncertain return timing that he'd set aside for the search for the nest-splitting Dragonias—into his Misty Ring. But there was no rush for that either.
Might as well humor him for a bit. He might know things I don't, too.
Just as Rei possessed magical knowledge that Dolf could never have imagined, Dolf held knowledge Rei didn't, and that knowledge would certainly benefit him as well. Though when it came to magical theory, it wasn't particularly useful for someone like Rei, who constructed and activated his spells through intuition.
"Sorry, Vihera, Set. I'm going to talk with Dolf for a bit."
"Is that so? Then I'll... let's see. Training, I suppose."
"Take it easy, alright."
Rei judged that Vihera's training session was, partly because of the disappointing showing from the nest-splitting silver-scaled Dragonias, essentially serving as a way to vent her frustration, and he told her as much.
Perhaps sensing something in Rei's words, several of the Centaurs who had begun preparing for training when Vihera mentioned it twitched their cheeks. Even so, the option of skipping training simply didn't exist for them—Centaurs valued strength above all else.
Vihera's training was harsh, but precisely because they could feel themselves growing stronger, they kept at it. If they alone skipped out, the other Centaurs would pull ahead, accumulating session after session and surpassing them. As Centaurs, that was something they absolutely refused to let happen.
Even so, Rei's words just now clearly gave them pause.
"Yes. I'll be sure to hold back appropriately, so don't you worry about it."
How much he could trust those words, Rei had no idea. But if Vihera said so, he figured it would be fine for now, and he headed toward where Dolf was waiting.
Several Centaurs looked at him with pleading eyes, but he decided to ignore them. Acknowledging it would only drag out the conversation and eat into his time.
"So, what do you want to know?"
"The magic you used against the silver-scaled Dragonias, obviously."
Dolf answered instantly, as if he'd been waiting for exactly that question. From his perspective, if there existed magic capable of defeating a commander like the silver-scaled Dragonias—a type of High-ranking Species—he absolutely had to know about it.
That hope, however, was effortlessly betrayed in the next moment.
"Unfortunately, Vihera killed both of the silver-scaled Dragonias. What I... rather, what Set and I did was merely annihilate the other Dragonias that were with it. And even then, the spell had no effect on the red-scaled ones."
Based on the feel of the fight, Rei sensed that no matter how much power he put behind the fire attribute, he probably couldn't kill a red-scaled Dragonias. That was strictly his impression, though—the reality might have been different.
"...I see. Then what kind of magic did you use to kill the others?"
Dolf looked slightly disappointed that the silver-scaled Dragonias hadn't been slain with magic, but he quickly moved on. For him, figuring out how to deal with the numerous, actively attacking ordinary Dragonias was arguably of greater interest than the silver-scaled ones that refused to leave their bases.
"The effect is simple. It's a spell that fires arrows made of fire—nothing more than that."
Dolf looked taken aback. A spell that launched fire arrows was hardly rare among those who could use magic. Dolf himself was by no means skilled in Flame Magic, but even he could cast it.
However, he soon had a question. His own settlement had been attacked by Dragonias several times, and naturally, many of those who'd gone out to intercept could use magic. Some had even used fire arrows themselves. That was precisely why he couldn't believe such a spell could annihilate Dragonias.
In other words, Rei must have had some method of launching fire arrows that went far beyond what Dolf knew.
And his expectation was by no means wrong.
"The spell's effect is simple, but by increasing the mana consumed, the power can be amplified."
"That's... true, but honestly, wouldn't you need to have plenty of mana to spare for that? I've been wondering for a while now—does Rei really have that much mana? Unfortunately, I don't have the ability to sense it."
"That might be a blessing. If you could sense mana and felt mine, you might not even be able to stand."
That was personal experience talking. Thanks to the Ring of the New Moon, Rei's enormous mana was now imperceptible to others. But before he'd obtained it, many of those who sensed his mana had been paralyzed with fear, cowered, fallen into panic—and some had even lost control of their bladders.
Of course, those capable of sensing mana through some means were by no means common. Rare would be a more accurate word. Given that he'd subjected many such rare individuals to that kind of experience, Rei's caution was only natural. At the very least, he had no intention of carelessly removing the Ring of the New Moon.
"...Rei's mana is really that immense?"
"That's right," he replied, offering a confident smile.
"Rei's magic—the Flame Heaven Wheel, for instance—seems to involve many spells that are built on the premise of heavy mana consumption."
"In my case, I construct spells through intuition, so it can't be helped that they tend to end up that way. Though I have absolutely no idea what would've become of me if I didn't have this much mana."
The Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, which could be called Rei's trump card, also required vast amounts of mana—so much that even an ordinary mage burning away their own life force wouldn't come close to having enough. The same went for the Flight Magic Flame Heaven Wheel he'd been practicing recently, and the Purification Magic Mourning Flames as well.
If Rei didn't have an abundance of mana—if he had only about as much as an ordinary mage—his combat style would likely have been something entirely different from what it was now.
"I see. But in that case, not having effective magic against Dragonias is a painful limitation."
"The troublesome part is the scale color. There's always at least one in every group with strong resistance to magic."
Dolf nodded with an expression of heartfelt agreement. As a magic user himself, he undoubtedly found the Dragonias—whose scales granted resistance to specific attributes depending on their color—just as troublesome as Rei did.
Rei and Dolf spent a while discussing magic.