"Listen up! I've figured out the secret of this settlement!"
Rei's words sent a murmur through the surrounding Centaurs.
Naturally. Until now, no matter what they tried, they had never been able to figure out what was here. At worst—poor phrasing aside—they had essentially just been digging at random.
Yet now they were being told the secret of this place had finally been uncovered. Expecting them not to rejoice would have been impossible.
The survivors of this settlement in particular all turned their gazes toward Rei in unison. Despite living here, they hadn't been part of the Chief's inner circle—the leadership—and therefore had never known what kind of place this settlement truly was. Not knowing despite it being their own home... No one had blamed them, given their standing, but it was still a deeply embarrassing fact. Under those circumstances, wanting to know the settlement's secret was only natural.
Even for those not originally from this settlement, being told not to wonder what they had been desperately mining for would have been an impossible ask.
...Only Damran and his group were still basking in their reunion with Anastasia, to the point where it was unclear whether they could even hear Rei's voice.
"Over there are Anastasia and Fana. Some of you may already know them, but they're the people I was looking for."
Naturally, many had watched Rei's group return to the settlement, and above all, Damran and the others had charged straight toward Anastasia and Fana—so spotting the pair was a given.
"Anastasia... the one not wearing a mask, uses a type of magic called Spirit Magic. As a Spirit Mage, she informed me that an overwhelmingly powerful Earth Spirit's presence permeates this settlement."
At those words, everyone looked around with visible unease. Naturally—they were being told that an excessively powerful Spirit's presence existed right where they stood, one so strong that Anastasia had described it as dense.
Something might happen. Thinking that was by no means a mistake.
"Don't worry. The ones who've been living in this settlement all along experienced nothing out of the ordinary. ...Right?"
The settlement survivors on the receiving end of Rei's gaze nodded honestly. In truth, nothing abnormal had occurred during their time here, so that was only natural.
"Anastasia! Come over here for a bit!"
At Rei's call, she broke off her conversation with Damran and the others and came over to Rei's group alongside Fana.
"Did you explain things?"
"Only a rough overview."
"I see. ...So, what should I do?"
"Specifically, I think something is buried somewhere in this settlement—the reason the Earth Spirit's power is so concentrated. Can you tell where?"
Anastasia thought for a moment at Rei's question, then pointed to a single spot.
It was a location slightly removed from where the Centaurs had been desperately excavating.
"Over there?"
"Yes. But... it's quite deep down."
"How deep, specifically?"
"I can't tell you that much. This is strictly intuitive."
At Anastasia's words, Rei surveyed the surroundings once more.
...A short distance away, Set—who had flown in well before Rei's group returned to the settlement—was lying on the ground, keeping a vigilant watch over the area.
"I see. ...For that reason, we're changing the dig site. I know you've all been at it for days, and I'm sorry, but this time we know for certain something is there. Give it everything you've got."
At Rei's words, everyone nodded and began preparing for the excavation. A few, however, were less than enthusiastic. After digging for days only to learn the spot was meaningless, they were bound to have complicated feelings. It was only natural to wish something had been found right where they had been working.
...Still, knowing that this time the target truly existed, many felt at least mentally relieved.
"Alright, sorry, but... Vihera and I need to talk with Anastasia and Fana. We'll be gone for a bit, but if anything happens, come to my tent."
"What?!"
The one who cried out was Damran. He likely wanted to keep talking with Anastasia and Fana a while longer. Yet right when the general briefing had finally wrapped up, Rei and Vihera were swooping in to speak with Anastasia—expecting him not to feel dissatisfied would have been unreasonable.
Rei understood Damran's feelings perfectly, so he spoke before Damran could voice any further complaints.
"Sorry, but Vihera and I originally came here looking for Anastasia and Fana. Given that, I want to properly hear about everything they've been through in these grasslands. I know you feel indebted to Anastasia, but save that for later."
Hearing that, Damran couldn't exactly insist on prioritizing himself and his group. Anastasia was their benefactor, and he couldn't bring himself to do anything that might trouble her. Besides, if Anastasia herself had been reluctant to speak with Rei, that would have been one thing—but from the look of it, she showed no such hesitation. If anything, she seemed to be looking forward to the conversation quite a bit.
Given all that, the option of getting in the way simply didn't exist.
"I'll make time to talk with you all later, so for now, let me speak with Rei's group."
Especially when his benefactor Anastasia herself asked him that, there was no way he could refuse and insist on having his way.
"Understood."
Damran bowed, looking disappointed but resigned, and led the others back toward the excavation work.
"You're really well-liked."
"...A lot happened."
Anastasia smiled with a troubled expression—unusual for her. From the look of it, Rei could tell she hadn't merely saved Damran's settlement from some crisis; there was likely something deeper there. But right now, there were more pressing matters to discuss.
"This way. Inside the Magic Tent, we won't have to worry about eavesdropping, and we can take our time."
Rei pulled the Magic Tent from his Misty Ring and pitched it in the same spot where he had set it up the night before.
Anastasia and Fana had both seen the Magic Tent plenty of times near the lake where Rei had camped in Elgin, and had even been inside it, so they weren't surprised. But seeing the same tent from Elgin here in this world... smiles crept onto their faces, as if the familiar sight brought them comfort.
Rei noticed this but made no remark, simply urging them inside.
"Come on in. I can put out some tea, so let's talk while we drink."
Boiling water was a feature unique to the Magic Tent, but to Rei, it wasn't particularly remarkable. If all he needed was hot water, a campfire, a pot, and some water would do the job just fine.
That said, to anyone who found that process troublesome, Rei's Magic Tent was an incredibly convenient item. And in fact, when Anastasia and Fana watched Rei quickly boil water and pour tea inside the tent, they looked genuinely envious.
...Of course, Rei's tea-making skills weren't exactly refined. The result was merely drinkable; anyone with a discerning palate would have confidently called it amateurish.
Vihera, who frequently enjoyed Ara's expertly brewed tea at Marina's house, wore a subtle expression of displeasure at Rei's offering.
Anastasia, however, was different from Vihera in that regard. Having arrived in this world considerably earlier than Rei's group, she and Fana had gone that much longer without tea. Even Rei's humble brew tasted perfectly wonderful to them.
"For now, have some of this too. I'm sure things have been tough in this world—that much is certain."
Seeing Anastasia and Fana drinking his tea so eagerly, Rei pulled out some dried fruit from his Misty Ring. He had baked goods as well, but he judged that this would be the better choice right now.
And indeed, Anastasia and Fana ate the dried fruit with obvious relish, savoring its sweetness between sips of tea.
After about ten minutes had passed and they had settled in, Rei spoke again.
"So, we didn't have time to talk much in the grove. Could you tell me about everything now?"
"Right. ...But honestly, so much happened that I'm not sure where to begin."
Anastasia and her companion had spent far longer in this world than Rei's group. That being the case, it was only natural to hesitate over where to start.
Sensing this, Rei brought up what had been on his mind.
"Near where you arrived in this world, there was a Centaur base... a fairly large one that had absorbed survivors from surrounding settlements scattered by the Dragonias attacks. Did you not go there? I stopped by that settlement first."
To be precise, it was more accurate to say he had encountered Zai and the others, who had come from that settlement. Had Anastasia's group made contact with Zai's settlement first, Rei would have obtained that information much sooner.
But with no trace of them having done so, they must have headed elsewhere without ever contacting Zai's settlement.
"That being said, there was nothing around where we came out into this world, right?"
"Well, I won't deny that. Without Zai and the others showing up, I would have been at a loss for what to do myself."
"...Then it shouldn't be surprising that I couldn't reach the Centaurs of that settlement, should it? So in the end, Fana and I traveled together... and we did make contact with several other Centaur settlements."
Fana nodded in agreement.
Rei watched the two of them, but even if they hadn't encountered Zai's settlement and had run into a different one instead, he still felt that the information would have eventually made its way to Zai.
For instance, Asdena's settlement was close to Zai's, but from what Asdena had said, they hadn't stopped by there either.
"Could it be... just like with the time difference, did we come out in different locations?"
"Ah..."
Rei's words were apparently unexpected for Anastasia. A surprised sound slipped from her lips.
"Think about it—the time difference between when I arrived and when you arrived in this world was significant. Given that, it wouldn't be strange for our arrival points to be quite different either. ...After all, that Wisp was essentially going haywire, so things that would normally be impossible happening is exactly what you'd expect."
"Now that you mention it... you may be right."
"Anastasia, do you know anything about that Wisp? You were investigating it, so surely you must have at least some clues?"
"Unfortunately, I don't know much. I do understand that the Wisp is a special existence—one that would be unthinkable under normal circumstances, but..."
Those words carried enough persuasive force to convince Rei. Yet at the same time, it was equally true that they didn't resolve anything.
"So in the end, we essentially know nothing."
"Listen... if it were an ordinary Wisp, I'd say research it all you want. But that Wisp is special in the literal sense of the word. If you handled it poorly and ended up killing it, what do you think would happen? ...You understand that well enough, don't you, Rei?"
"That's... true enough."
Rei did understand just how special an existence that Wisp was. After all, it possessed the power to summon various beings from another world—everything from living creatures to inanimate matter.
If they could handle it correctly and bring it under control, the sheer benefit it could produce didn't even bear thinking about. Considering that, when researching the Wisp, they would need to exercise the utmost caution, and then proceed with even more caution beyond that... Rei had no choice but to accept that reality.