The Centaurs had been shocked by the mottled Dragonias's ranged attack, but the first among them to recover his composure was Dolfina—a surprise to Rei, yet in a way, entirely predictable.
"You say it flings blood... exactly how powerful is this attack?"
"Powerful? Right. Enough to shatter a spear shaft like this in a single hit."
Saying so, Rei pulled a spear from his Misty Ring.
It was not the actual spear that had been shattered by the blood laser. That one was still lodged in the mottled Dragonias he had thrown it at. However, the spear now in Rei's hand had roughly the same thickness as the one destroyed by the blood laser. If it possessed enough power to shatter such a spear, it was easy to imagine just how devastating the blood laser was.
"Rei... isn't this spear a bit much?" Asdena said with a look of exasperation.
He had felt awe and fear toward the blood laser, an attack method he was hearing about for the first time, but those emotions evaporated the moment he saw the spear Rei held. Its tip was chipped, making it hard to believe it could serve as a proper spear.
"Rei, you have the Twilight Spear, right? With such an amazing spear, why carry something like this?" Asdena's tone was unexpectedly light.
From his demeanor, Rei understood the intent. The fact that the mottled Dragonias could attack from range was clearly bad news for the Centaurs present. Asdena was trying to lighten the mood by engaging Rei in conversation, even if only a little.
Rei played along. For him, traveling with the Centaurs, it would be problematic if they lost their nerve over something like this. Besides, if a mottled Dragonias actually appeared, he or Vihera would be the ones to fight it. As long as they didn't come in large numbers at once, it wouldn't be a problem.
"This spear is disposable. As long as I can throw it once, that's enough."
"Disposable? ...I see. Then I suppose it doesn't matter. Even so, a normal spear would be easier to use, even as a disposable. With a chipped tip like this, wouldn't it fail to hit where you want when thrown?"
Rei didn't think the Centaurs understood the concept of air resistance, but they did use spears frequently. Because of that, even without knowing the theory, they likely understood from experience.
"When I need accuracy, I use the Twilight Spear I always carry. I only use disposable spears like this when I don't mind losing them."
Rei's words must have been quite unexpected, as some of the listening Centaurs shifted their attention from the mottled Dragonias to Rei—just as Asdena had planned. Of course, that wasn't everyone. Some, like Vihera, remained focused on the mottled Dragonias. Even so, Asdena's plan could be called half-successful.
"Ah, disposable. If it's in that sense, I can accept it. These tips look like they'd break in a single hit if you're not careful."
A spear with a chipped tip could indeed be that fragile. Depending on the circumstances, it might hold up a bit longer, but that would be the exception rather than the rule.
"In any case, the fact that this mottled Dragonias existed means there could be even more powerful Dragonias out there. Considering that, I judged it best to return to the settlement. Depending on the situation, this mottled Dragonias might be among the enemies attacking this settlement."
A mottled Dragonias capable of ranged attacks would be a terrifying opponent to encounter without any prior knowledge. Though, since the blood laser could only fly in a straight line, fighting in the grove would give them an overwhelming advantage.
If it weren't blood and instead bullets—firing claws or bones, something like that—it might have been able to use ricochets. Well, if it were blood infused with magic, I couldn't deny the possibility of ricochets entirely...
Rei mused on this, then turned his gaze toward Vihera, who was observing the mottled Dragonias with keen interest.
For Vihera, she probably would have preferred to fight such a powerful enemy herself. But in the end, it was Rei who had defeated this mottled Dragonias, and she certainly had thoughts about that. For now, though, she had no intention of blaming him.
She was jealous that Rei had gotten to fight the mottled Dragonias. That much was certain. But based on what she had heard, while the battle sounded interesting, there was also a sense that depending on the circumstances, it could end up being a rather simple fight.
The blood laser was undoubtedly a significant threat. But ultimately, that was all it was.
From what she had heard, Vihera was confident she could dodge the attack. And if she could just dodge the blood laser, according to Rei, it was only about as strong as a silver-scaled Dragonias.
Even so... the desire to fight it herself was an undeniable truth.
"But it's not like I can go in your place, Rei."
"To search for the headquarters? Vihera might be able to manage, but if we want to be thorough, it's definitely better for me to go. Compatibility with Set is a factor too."
This wasn't to say Vihera and Set had poor compatibility. In truth, they were on friendly terms, and Set was quite attached to her. But if forced to choose between Rei and Vihera, Set would definitely choose Rei. Set, who wanted to be with Rei, would not willingly go exploring the headquarters with Vihera instead. If there were no other choice, that would be different.
"In any case, from now on, just understand that there might be ones like this among the Dragonias that come to attack this settlement. With Vihera here, I don't think you need to worry about that."
At Rei's words, Vihera smiled and nodded. She was confident she could handle it herself—just as Rei had said.
"That said, that's enough about this matter. Did you find any clues regarding the settlement?"
Had they discovered anything from the excavation work or the remains of the chief's tent? In response to Rei's question, Zai nodded with confidence.
"We don't know the exact details yet, but it seems the chief of this settlement had planned to move the settlement here from the very beginning."
"Here? I thought that was already decided beforehand?"
"No, that's not it. The plan to move the settlement here existed even before the Dragonias appeared."
"...I see."
A short while ago, Rei wouldn't have been able to accept Zai's words so readily. But after actually witnessing the phenomenon of Dragonias corpses weathering outside the settlement, and seeing how the Dragonias avoided breaking the trees in the grove, he had no choice but to accept it.
"So, was there any concrete evidence?"
"There was something like a map of this area."
"No, that... wouldn't it be unsurprising if they made a map after settling here? You'd need maps to know what's in the vicinity, after all."
Looking disappointed, Rei told Zai as much. Given how confident Zai had been, Rei had expected something more solid—ancient documents, or a scroll with recorded traditions, something of that nature. And yet, what they found was a map. It would be unreasonable to tell him not to feel let down.
"Oh, it's not something to dismiss so easily, you know? Look at this map. Isn't it quite sun-aged for something recently made? And why use animal hide to record the surroundings of this grove?"
"...I see."
Looking again at the map Zai had found, it was not made of paper but of animal hide. The Centaurs did possess papermaking technology. Despite that, why use animal hide instead of paper—something that lasts longer? That could only mean they intended to preserve this hide map for a long period.
Rei couldn't say for certain whether hide actually lasted longer than paper. But if Vihera said so, it was probably correct.
"In that case, this grove really was a special place for this settlement. By the way, what about other settlements nearby... no, I suppose there's no need to ask."
"Right. I asked the survivors. Nearly all the other settlements in this area were wiped out by Dragonias attacks. The survivors were eaten alive, so to speak."
"...I see."
Despite Rei saying there was no need to ask, Zai explained in detail. Rei had various things he wanted to say about Zai's manner, but given the current situation, hearing clearly that there were no survivors made it easier to make decisions.
"In other words, it's confirmed that even if there's something in this grove, there's no one left who knows about it."
"Exactly. Unless by some stroke of luck—a truly lucky survivor exists."
"I doubt there are any such survivors, and even if there were, they'd be eaten by Dragonias right away."
That was an opinion everyone present could agree with.
Dragonias driven by hunger possessed combat power that could only be called atrocious—a monstrous strength that let them keep attacking completely unfazed, even when struck. Given that, even if an ordinary Centaur happened to survive, staying alive in such a situation would be difficult.
Even Zai in his current state would struggle to survive if attacked by a group of Dragonias. Previously, Rei could have said that simply running would make it impossible for Dragonias to catch up. But the copper-scaled Dragonias was clearly faster than normal Dragonias. Given reports that it was swift even compared to Centaurs, he couldn't just say fleeing was enough.
"So, what do we do? We've established that this settlement is in a seemingly significant location, but should we investigate a bit more thoroughly?"
Rei puzzled over the question. The animal-hide map had made it clear that this grove was a special place. Given that, Rei couldn't help thinking there might be other information to be found. But at the same time, the likelihood of any remaining information was undeniably low. If so, perhaps they should redirect more people to the excavation work. It was only natural to think so.
"Hmm... Vihera, what do you think we should do?"
"You're asking me? In the first place, it's not me or Rei leading this expedition, it's Zai. So I think Zai should decide."
"...You're passing it to me..."
When he had asked Rei what to do, somehow Vihera had told him to decide for himself. That was unexpected for Zai. Still, Vihera wasn't wrong. Understanding that, he knew he should be the one to decide. He did understand that... but the fact that he had no idea what to do in this situation was undeniable.
"It's true that I'm the one leading on paper, but in reality, Rei is the one calling the shots."
Zai's words were not incorrect. After all, seeing Rei ride off on Set to conduct reconnaissance made that obvious enough.
"On that front, I think Zai, who leads the warriors at the settlement, is better suited for this sort of thing."
"Leading warriors and this situation are different."
"I can't deny that. Then, alright. For now, how about we pour our full effort into the excavation work?"
At Rei's words, Zai thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.