That night, after excavation work had begun... the members of the Reconnaissance Unit, using part of the settlement as their campsite, were asleep when a cry suddenly shattered the silence and echoed throughout the surroundings.
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrl!"
It was the cry of Set, who had been standing watch.
And not just any cry, but one urging caution.
Naturally, when such a cry rang out, even those members of the Reconnaissance Unit who had been sleeping woke up.
They immediately made ready for battle and burst out of their tents.
Originally, everyone should have been exhausted, since the excavation work had continued until evening that day.
They had done work they normally never did, so that was only natural.
However... even under such circumstances, they understood that something was here, and that tension was precisely why none of them had been able to fall into a deep sleep.
After all, if there was something buried in this settlement, it could fundamentally change the Dragonias situation... perhaps.
It was only a "perhaps" at best, but for the Centaurs, it was undeniably a great hope.
The fact that they were excavating something like that naturally meant they were excited... and excitement led to lighter sleep, or simply being unable to sleep even when tired.
That was why so many of them were able to react immediately the instant they heard Set's cry.
...In the case of Rei and Vihera, unlike the Centaurs, they had been soundly asleep inside the Magic Tent, but even so, they did not miss Set's cry—particularly one so heavily laden with vigilance. They quickly tidied their appearance to a minimum and dashed out of the Magic Tent.
Rei didn't really need to worry much about his appearance, but in Vihera's case, given the nature of her outfit, she inevitably needed to at least make herself minimally presentable.
This could be called one of Vihera's drawbacks, dressed as she was in thin garments like a dancer or prostitutes.
Though, at the same time, it was also an advantage.
After all, she didn't need to put on multiple layers of clothing.
In any case, a few minutes after Rei stepped outside the Magic Tent, Vihera followed.
What Vihera saw upon exiting was the sight of the Centaurs preparing for battle.
Following Zai's orders, the non-combatant Centaurs were gathered in one location, with Centaurs assigned as guards positioned around them.
"Asdena, what happened?" Rei asked Asdena, who was nearby.
But Asdena had only just emerged from his tent himself, and he didn't actually understand what had happened either.
"You're the one who should know, Rei. You woke up to Set's cry... can't you tell anything?"
"It's not like that. All I can tell is that some kind of danger is approaching."
Honestly, for Rei, just knowing that much was sufficient.
For now, he quickly scanned the surroundings so he could respond immediately to whatever happened.
...Fortunately, thanks to Set's cry just moments ago, nearly everyone had come outside their tents and was ready to respond to anything at a moment's notice.
Rei observed the scene, then headed toward Set's position with Vihera and Asdena in tow.
Normally, Set would be lying right beside Rei's Magic Tent.
But this settlement was currently in the middle of excavation work and bustling with activity, making it impossible to arrange Rei's Magic Tent and the Centaurs' tents side by side as they had at the previous campsite.
As a result, Set's resting spot was slightly removed from the Magic Tent.
...That said, it was only a short distance away, so Rei and the others reached Set's position quickly.
"Grrrl." Spotting Rei, Set purred happily.
Set's demeanor was markedly different from when he had issued the warning cry earlier.
...Of course, Rei was indeed somewhat relieved to see Set like this.
If there were truly a threat that Set needed to be on guard against, he wouldn't be showing such a relaxed demeanor.
In other words, while it was certain that something to be cautious of existed, Set's attitude made it clear that the threat was not that significant.
"Rei." Zai called out upon spotting him.
There was no question that Zai was the one leading this Reconnaissance Unit.
But if asked who the strongest among the unit was, that would undoubtedly be Rei.
...Or perhaps Vihera, or maybe even Set.
In any case, from Zai's perspective, having someone stronger than himself arrive—someone he could communicate with—was hugely significant.
Rei understood Zai's feelings as well, so he nodded reassuringly and spoke.
"Some enemy or other is probably approaching, but the people here are strong. Considering that, no matter what the enemy tries, dealing with them won't be difficult."
That was neither flattery nor politeness, but pure fact.
In fact, during the battle to retake this settlement, they had fought the Dragonias, and while there were injuries, there had been no fatalities.
This carried tremendous significance.
It was enough to give the Centaurs the conviction that they could fight the Dragonias on even terms.
...What made that possible were the hellish mock battles Vihera had put them through.
Compared to endlessly repeating mock battles against Vihera, fighting the Dragonias was easier—that was the opinion of most Centaurs.
After all, they could at least land hits on the Dragonias. Whether those attacks were effective was another matter entirely.
But when fighting Vihera, landing even a single hit became impossible.
No matter how many times they attacked, no matter how they coordinated with their comrades, not a single attack would connect.
In a way, that was a nightmare.
And while their own attacks never landed, Vihera's strikes hit them one after another.
...To make matters worse, they could plainly tell that her attacks were being pulled, which only made it more frustrating.
On top of that, knowing that Vihera could unleash a single strike powerful enough to defeat them all in one blow if she got serious, it was only natural for them to feel that way all the more strongly.
"An enemy, huh... you think it's Dragonias?"
"Probably."
Given that an enemy was approaching under these circumstances, Rei couldn't imagine it being anything other than Dragonias.
"If a third force showed up in this situation, that would be a little uninteresting."
"We might be considered a third force ourselves, in a way," Vihera said with a smile.
In truth, those words were by no means incorrect.
Rei and Set, Vihera—the two people and one creature—were merely cooperating with the Centaurs, not part of the Centaur forces.
...Though Rei had no intention of separating from the Centaurs.
Under the present circumstances, he more strongly identified as being on the same side as the Centaurs.
"Don't tease too much. For now, we're working with the Centaurs."
"Right, I'll be careful."
Vihera nodded readily to Rei's words.
She probably hadn't been serious anyway.
Rei glanced at Vihera, then turned his gaze back to Zai.
"Anyway, there's no doubt the enemy is coming. I don't know exactly when they'll arrive, but... Set, how does it look?"
"Gruu? Grrrrrl."
Set let out a cry in response to Rei's words.
...Rei couldn't tell exactly what Set was trying to say, but he judged from the overall impression that it wouldn't be long.
"Before long, I'd say."
Hearing those words, Zai wore a dubious expression.
It was only natural to wonder whether Rei had truly understood Set's words from that exchange just now.
But in all the time they had been together, Rei and Set had never once shown any difficulty communicating, and considering that, Zai concluded it was probably true.
Furthermore, seeing Vihera, who had been listening to the conversation, showing complete trust in Rei was also reassuring.
"Then, what do we do? I'd like to avoid fighting them here, if possible," Zai asked, glancing at one section of the settlement.
That section was where excavation work had been carried out during the day.
If a battle with the Dragonias broke out, there was a risk that the damage would extend there as well.
Moreover, it wasn't just that—during combat, some chance impact might bring up whatever was buried underground, or destroy it, or... whether it would happen or not was uncertain, but it might even activate.
To prevent that, it was naturally better to defeat the Dragonias before they could enter the settlement.
...Of course, if it came to fighting in the grove, Set obviously couldn't participate, and the trees would hinder the Centaurs' combat as well.
It wasn't impossible, but fighting while paying attention to the trees meant there was a real possibility of being caught off guard by the Dragonias.
Naturally, those with outstanding skill within the Reconnaissance Unit, starting with Zai... or magic users like Dolfina, could probably fight well enough even in the grove.
Even so, fighting in a forest meant there was a real chance Rei and Vihera might let enemies slip away.
Considering that, Rei judged that it would be better for only himself and Vihera to head into the grove.
(With Set here, I don't think dealing with any Dragonias that slip through would be difficult, though.)
He thought that, but as long as they didn't know how many Dragonias were coming, caution during the fight was undoubtedly necessary.
"For now, Vihera and I will go thin out their numbers while reconnoitering. Zai, you and the others hold the defenses."
"...I've been thinking this for a while, but the 'reconnaissance' in your mind and the 'reconnaissance' in mine seem to mean very different things."
Urk... Rei was at a loss for words.
He understood that reconnaissance was, fundamentally, about gathering information on the enemy without being detected.
There was also force reconnaissance, but that involved engaging the enemy in small-scale skirmishes to extract information—not the full-scale combat that Rei engaged in.
What Rei did wasn't reconnaissance; it could fairly be called straightforward offensive action.
Of course, Rei himself understood that perfectly well, which only made him even less able to retort to Zai.
"Anyway, if the Dragonias make it through the grove and head for the settlement, I'm counting on you to handle them. Set will be here, so I don't think there's anything to worry about, but no matter how strong Set is, there's still only one of him."
He ran away.
For a moment, Zai thought that, but there was no time to voice it in the current situation.
Seeing Zai's reaction, Rei immediately called out to Vihera.
"Alright then, let's go. ...Judging from Set's demeanor, the Dragonias are definitely coming, but it seems we don't need to be overly vigilant."
"In other words, there are no silver-scaled Dragonias."
"That's just a guess, an estimate, a 'probably' at best."
Among the silver-scaled Dragonias, there were strong individuals like the two Vihera had fought, as well as weaker ones.
If a weaker individual had come, it wouldn't be strange for Set to recognize it as a non-threatening enemy.
"Well, fine. Let's go, then. Fighting in the grove sounds like it could be interesting in its own way."
Vihera had experienced combat in densely wooded areas a few times before.
But fighting Dragonias in such a place was apparently something she looked forward to.
"Gruu..."
"Set, if any Dragonias get into the settlement, take care of them."
Rei patted Set's head as he said this, addressing the creature who looked disappointed at not being able to come along.
In truth, it was nearly certain that the Dragonias were advancing through the grove, but exactly where they would approach from was still unknown.
There was even a possibility they might come from an entirely unexpected direction.
That was why Rei wanted Set to protect this settlement.
"Gruu!"
Whether Set understood Rei's intent, he purred as if to say, Leave it to me!
After giving Set one more light pat, Rei turned his gaze to Vihera.
"Alright, let's go. ...I don't know how many of them are coming, but we should take out as many as we can."
"Right."
Vihera nodded to Rei's words... and the two of them headed into the grove without a trace of tension.