"All right, we're departing! It's safe to assume our destination almost certainly holds the Dragonias headquarters. Don't let your guard down for a second!"
With Zai's shout, the march began.
At the site they had used as a campsite for the past few days, every last tent and structure had already been packed away.
And yet, the trenches Rei had carved out with Death Scythe's Terrain Manipulation skill remained untouched, lending the area a vaguely eerie atmosphere.
If he had wanted to, Rei could have used Terrain Manipulation to flatten the ground back to its original state. But thinking they might need the site again if something came up, he had ultimately decided to leave it as is.
There was a chance the Dragonias might exploit the location—trenches and all its meager fortifications included—but they concluded it would be fine. After all, the creatures were driven by hunger, not strategy.
In truth, after the incident with the nest-splitting group led by a silver-scaled Dragonias, they couldn't afford to be completely at ease.
There were also Centaurs like Damran whose territory included this area.
For them, this campsite would be a tremendous asset.
Rei had been gazing at the campsite when Set suddenly lurched beneath him, catching him slightly off guard.
It seemed their turn to move had come while he was lost in thought.
"Gruu?"
Set cast him a slightly worried glance, and Rei stroked his neck to show that everything was fine.
Seemingly reassured, Set broke into a run with Rei and Vihera on his back.
"Something on your mind?" Vihera asked from behind him.
Rei nodded. "Yeah. We lived there for a few days, after all. I dug those trenches with Terrain Manipulation, so it'd be a lie to say I don't feel a little reluctant to just leave it behind."
Hearing this, Vihera fell silent as well—perhaps she felt somewhat the same way.
Since she was riding behind him, Rei couldn't see what kind of expression she wore.
"Anyway, it'd be nice if the other Centaurs could put it to good use."
"Yeah. You went to the trouble of building it, so it'd be interesting if they did."
Even as they exchanged these words, the Reconnaissance Unit raced across the grassland.
Unless it was Rei alone, or just Rei, Set, and Vihera, they had to navigate by landmarks only a Centaur could recognize.
Their destination lay beyond the line connecting the two points where Dolfina's unit and another scouting party had encountered groups led by silver-scaled Dragonias.
In all likelihood, the Dragonias headquarters lay in that direction.
Whether it actually did or not was something they wouldn't know until they arrived, but it was undoubtedly far better than searching with no leads at all.
"The real question is how long it'll take us to pin down the headquarters."
"For my part, I'd like to find it as quickly as possible," Vihera said.
Rei naturally agreed.
At the end of the day, if they didn't destroy the Dragonias headquarters, nest-splitting groups would keep emerging one after another, and the creatures' sphere of influence would only expand.
And while the silver-scaled Dragonias was one concern, the golden-scaled Dragonias Rei had fought early on had been a genuinely formidable foe.
Of course, given that even silver-scaled individuals varied in strength, it wasn't necessarily the case that every golden-scaled Dragonias would be equally powerful.
"I feel the same. Besides, getting closer to the headquarters naturally means more enemies. Even with your group, depending on their numbers, things could get out of hand." Asdena, running alongside Set, chimed in.
He knew full well just how powerful the Dragonias were, and he was clearly anxious about how many might swarm them.
"For now, once we set up a forward camp to search from, I'll use my skill to dig trenches and raise walls again. Even if the Dragonias attack, we should be able to hold our own."
"Before that, if we just enclosed the campsite with walls, wouldn't ordinary Dragonias be unable to find it?" Vihera muttered casually.
It was an unexpected suggestion, even to Rei.
As far as he knew, ordinary Dragonias were ruled by hunger and incapable of complex reasoning.
Given that, simply hiding the campsite behind walls had a very real chance of keeping them hidden.
Naturally, completely enclosing the camp would bring its own set of problems.
"If we seal it off entirely, I'd have to use Terrain Manipulation every time someone needed to enter or leave. Plus... even with walls, the smell of cooking could drift upward and spread. That's the sticking point."
"Now that you mention it, you're probably right," Vihera murmured in agreement.
She had tossed the idea out casually, so she probably wasn't all that serious about it.
Even so, the notion of fully enclosing the camp was an unexpected one for Rei—and for Asdena, who had been listening in nearby.
"What about the smell? Instead of leaving the top open, what if we covered the whole thing? That way, the cooking smell wouldn't leak out."
"Out of the question. There are limits to what Terrain Manipulation can do. Maybe if the skill develops further down the line, I could pull something like that off... but for now, it's a no-go."
"I see. Then what about using cloth or something as a roof?"
"That's doable, but it still means nobody gets in or out without me being there, which is a pain."
"For that part, even without you there... couldn't we just rig up something like a hidden door?"
Rei could follow Vihera's logic.
But if they built something like a hidden door, its structural integrity would inevitably drop.
If a Dragonias barreled straight into it with a full body slam, the earthen wall could crumble all too easily.
"There are probably Centaurs who wouldn't be too happy about that sort of thing. Even at the old campsite, I had to work with Zai on the construction because the Centaurs couldn't move freely in and out."
"...I see."
Asdena, being a Centaur himself, likely understood Zai's concerns perfectly. He nodded in agreement.
"Oh—hey! Over there!" one of the Centaurs running not far from Set suddenly shouted.
What was it? Rei turned his gaze in the direction the Centaur was looking.
There, he spotted several Centaurs sprinting for their lives.
And behind them, Dragonias were in desperate pursuit, driven by hunger and closing in fast.
"Just to be sure—all our Reconnaissance Unit members are accounted for, right?"
When Rei asked, Asdena nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yeah. Which means those Centaurs... what was the name? Damran's group? I'm guessing they're survivors from a settlement that's still holding out around here, same as his lot."
"I see. ...Set!"
"Gruu!"
Set needed only the sound of Rei's voice to understand what was being asked. He surged forward, accelerating instantly.
Until that moment, he had been matching the Centaurs' pace. In the next instant, he left them behind, exploding into a dead sprint.
The surrounding Centaurs startled at Set's sudden burst of speed—but then:
"Chase Rei! We're rescuing our brethren!"
Zai's voice rang out across the column, and nearly every Centaur surged after Set.
Naturally, there were non-combatants among them—cooks and support staff—so a handful stayed behind to guard them.
At the end of the day, those fleeing Centaurs weren't their comrades, but they were kin. Dragonias were hunting their own kind.
Given that, Zai had no choice but to help.
And as Zai's warriors thundered after Set, Vihera leaned forward and spoke to the rider ahead of her.
"Hey, Rei. Got a second? If you're open to it, I'd like to let the Centaurs handle the fight against those pursuing Dragonias."
That was the last thing Rei expected to hear.
If she had asked to take them all on herself, he would have accepted without a second thought—that was just who Vihera was.
But she wasn't asking for herself. She wanted to leave the fight to the Centaurs chasing behind them.
"Why?"
"Like I told you before, the Centaurs—the ones who trained with me, especially—have gotten a lot stronger. But since they only ever fight me, they have no idea how much they've grown."
"Ah, you did mention that. ...I see. So these are the perfect opponents to make them realize it."
In truth, the number of Dragonias chasing the fleeing Centaurs was somewhere between ten and twenty.
For Rei, Vihera, and Set, that was a threat they could dispatch effortlessly on their own.
And given that they were about to storm the Dragonias headquarters, getting a read on the Centaurs' current combat strength here wouldn't hurt at all.
"Understood. But we need to protect those fleeing Centaurs. We'll cut in between the two groups and shield their retreat."
Strictly speaking, Rei had no obligation to help the fleeing Centaurs.
But Centaurs shared a powerful kinship, even with those from different settlements. If he abandoned them now, morale would plummet—and worse, some might start casting suspicious glances his way.
Given that, shielding them was barely any trouble at all. There was no reason not to.
"Zai! I'll protect the Centaurs—you take the Dragonias! Show me what Vihera's training has done for you!"
The shout erupted from Rei up front without warning. Zai's confusion lasted barely a heartbeat.
He seized the meaning instantly and bellowed to the warriors behind him:
"Rei's calling us out! We're taking those Dragonias down! They're fewer than twenty—with what we've got now, we can crush them!"
Zai's voice carried fierce, unshakable confidence.
He had always stood head and shoulders above the rest—strong enough to solo an ordinary Dragonias.
After enduring countless mock battles with Vihera, it was only natural that he was itching to see just how far he'd come.
After all, as the one leading the Reconnaissance Unit, he hadn't gone out on scouting runs like the others. He'd stayed behind at camp.
Which meant he had logged more time in the crucible of Vihera's training than anyone.
Naturally, his growth had outpaced them all.
"UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
At Zai's rallying cry, the Centaurs roared in unison.
Some screams were to drown out their fear; others were raw, bellowing aggression.
The war cry carried across the plains, and the fleeing Centaurs heard it.
They startled for a split second—but the moment they recognized the voices as their own kin, fresh strength flooded their legs, and they ran like men reborn.
...Though when they spotted Set racing ahead of the Centaur column, the unfamiliar creature gave them pause, slowing their stride for just an instant.
"Keep running! I'll guarantee your safety!" Rei shouted.
Under normal circumstances, they would never have trusted the word of a two-legged stranger to such a degree.
But the instant they saw Rei draw Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear from his Misty Ring, instinct took over. This man's words were true.
And without a shred of doubt, they kept running.