"Haa, haa, haa... This is exhausting, as expected."
Just moving the Spirit Egg from underground to the surface had left Anastasia's breathing heavily disordered.
That was how much she must have strained her Spirit Magic to move it.
And it wasn't just magical exhaustion—mental fatigue had taken a significant toll as well.
The Spirit Egg radiated dense Spirit power.
Moving it meant that the slightest misstep could trigger consequences no one could predict.
...Under the wrong circumstances, the settlement itself could have been wiped from existence.
To Rei, it was something like watching a bomb disposal expert at work—though that comparison was purely his own impression, and whether it was actually accurate was another matter entirely.
"Are you okay?"
Rei handed Anastasia some Fruit Water from his Misty Ring. She had dropped to the ground without the slightest concern for her clothes getting dirty.
She must have been parched. Anastasia snatched the Fruit Water and drank it down in desperate gulps, then silently thrust the wooden cup back toward Rei for a refill.
Figuring that if the Fruit Water would help her settle down even a little, it was worth providing, Rei pulled out another serving from his Misty Ring.
The chilled drink seemed to seep into Anastasia's body, still flushed from her intense concentration. And since it wasn't just cold water but contained real fruit juice, it went down easily—which made it taste all the better to her.
Even so, after a few cups, her body refused to accept any more.
"...I'm exhausted..."
She returned the cup to Rei and murmured the words with a heavy, faraway weariness.
To anyone listening, those words alone were enough to convey just how drained Anastasia truly was.
Even the many Centaurs who knew almost nothing about Spirit Magic—or magic in general—could understand, simply by looking at the Spirit Egg that had been hauled from the earth and now sat on the surface, the sheer magnitude of power radiating from it.
...And for Dolfina, who belonged to a clan of magic-specialized Centaurs, the magical power pouring off the Spirit Egg had left him completely immobilized.
Given Dolfina's deep interest in magic, it went without saying that Spirit Magic had captured his curiosity as well. ...Though in this case, it would be more accurate to say it had captured it.
One look at the Spirit Egg sitting before him was enough to make him understand—no, force him to understand—that there was nothing he could do in this situation.
If Dragonias came now, Dolfina in his current state wouldn't even be able to move properly, let alone fight. He would be devoured where he stood.
This, despite the fact that under normal circumstances, his magic could handle multiple Dragonias at once.
With several other Centaurs nearby, though, it wasn't a given that things would actually come to that if Dragonias did attack.
"So, what should we do from here? If just excavating it from the ground left you this exhausted, won't moving it be just as bad?"
Rei asked Anastasia, glancing over at the cluster of Centaurs fussing over Dolfina with evident concern.
Judging from how she looked right now, there was no way she'd be able to do anything about the Spirit Egg anytime soon.
That was exactly why he asked what their next move should be.
"You're right. I'm pretty wiped out, and I'd love to rest a bit more if I could... but given the situation, I don't exactly have that luxury, do I?"
Rei nodded at her words. Her tone had steadied somewhat.
Until now, the Dragonias had avoided breaking the grove's trees, which meant this settlement nestled within the grove might as well have been shielded by a formidable barrier.
But that had been entirely predicated on the Dragonias' reluctance to damage the trees. Given the current situation, the grove could no longer serve as a defensive wall.
"For now, the fact that a decent number of trees are still standing means we do have some breathing room... but honestly, I'd like you to get that Spirit Egg sorted out as soon as possible. I want to take out the Dragonias' base and put an end to this chaos."
"Suppose so."
Anastasia nodded at Rei's words, though her expression carried a tinge of regret.
For someone as curious as Anastasia, both the Spirit Egg and the Dragonias' base were objects of intense fascination.
But neither was something she could afford to meddle with carelessly.
One wrong move with the Spirit Egg, and the dense Spirit power saturating the area could obliterate the entire settlement.
And even if she wanted to deal with the Dragonias' base, Anastasia in her current state—badly depleted by the Spirit Egg—would only be dead weight.
"Bottom line: if we handle the Dragonias' base, this whole mess is over. You said you have a general idea of where it is, right?"
"Yes. But right now, I think I can pinpoint a much more precise location... thanks to this little one."
With that, Anastasia reached out and stroked the Spirit Egg beside her.
Rei couldn't help but wonder whether that was really wise, but from what he could see, Anastasia touching the Spirit Egg didn't seem to cause any problems.
If anything—unless it was just his imagination—her exhausted appearance seemed to be easing, at least slightly.
"Is that true?"
"It really is. Think about it. The Dragonias wanted this Spirit Egg. Doesn't that suggest they have some kind of connection to spirits as beings?"
"Now that you put it that way, I suppose I can see it... but even for someone like me who doesn't know much about Spirit Magic, I can tell this egg carries enormous power. Given that, isn't it more likely the Dragonias were simply drawn to the raw power of the egg itself, rather than anything to do with spirits?"
Knowing what he did about Dragonias, that was how Rei read the situation.
The Dragonias were driven berserk by the instinct of hunger. It wasn't Spirit power that drew them—it was power, plain and simple.
"Honestly, I'm not sure about that part. But if they were only seeking power, wouldn't it be odd for them to fixate on this egg and nothing else? I don't know exactly what kind of power it holds, though."
"...That much might become clearer once we wrap up this incident. Anyway, I'm sorry, but I need you to push yourself a bit more, Anastasia. If possible, I want to nail down the location of the Dragonias' base today. And if we can, I'd like to finish wiping it out today, too."
Rei knew he was asking too much of her.
But if they did nothing today—well, not right this second, but in a matter of hours, or possibly by tonight—Dragonias drawn by the Spirit Egg's power could descend on the settlement in overwhelming numbers.
The one stroke of fortune was that since the Dragonias no longer bothered to avoid the grove's trees, detecting their approach wouldn't be difficult.
Though, given that Set could sense them the moment they entered the grove regardless, that point might be moot.
(Ah, come to think of it... what happened to those two deer and the Centaur guarding them? Completely slipped my mind. I should go check on them later.)
The thought drifted through the back of Rei's mind, but there were more pressing matters at hand.
"Anastasia, I'm not saying this very second, but how much rest do you need before you can search for the Dragonias' base?"
"Honestly, I'd love to call it a day and just rest... but I know that's not happening. Let me rest for a bit... about an hour. That should bring me back to around thirty percent—physically, mentally, and magically."
Recovery to thirty percent in a single hour. Some might balk at such a low number; others would be amazed she could bounce back that much in just an hour.
Rei fell into the latter camp.
"Got it. One hour. At that rate, there probably won't be any fresh Dragonias attacks. I'm going to head outside the grove and check on the deer and the Centaur."
"!?"
The mention jolted Anastasia—she clearly hadn't given the deer a thought until that very moment, and her eyes went wide.
Fana, who had been standing quietly at Anastasia's side so as not to be a nuisance, also remembered the deer and shot an alarmed look toward Rei.
Rei nodded, as if to tell them both not to worry.
"For now, both the deer and the Centaur can outrun Dragonias. Even if Dragonias show up, they should be able to flee. I doubt they've gone far from the grove."
The two deer had bonded with Anastasia and Fana so thoroughly that Rei found it hard to believe they were wild animals. Which meant that even if they'd temporarily bolted from the grove to escape the Dragonias, they would almost certainly circle back before long. ...No—calling that a prediction would be underselling it. It was closer to a certainty.
That said, he hadn't actually seen it with his own eyes. He needed to go out there and confirm.
"Besides, the Dragonias smashed quite a few trees on their way through. It might be possible to bring the deer all the way into the settlement now."
The only reason the deer hadn't been able to enter before was that the trees served as a defensive barrier against the Dragonias. But if the trees were no longer serving that purpose, Rei figured they might as well prioritize ease of access.
"Is that okay? ...Then please do."
"Yeah. Set, let's go. Vihera, stay and guard the settlement just in case."
At Rei's words, the woman and the beast each gave a firm nod.
Since the mission to retrieve the deer carried little risk of combat, Vihera decided she was better off staying at the settlement, which could come under attack from elsewhere. Set, meanwhile, was simply happy to tag along with Rei—no complaints there.
"Ah, but do you really need to bring Set? The deer were terrified of him."
At Anastasia's words, Rei reached over and stroked Set, who was visibly drooping with disappointment.
"If Set walks ahead and snaps the obstructing trees straight out of his way, it'll carve a path wide enough for the deer to follow all the way here."
"...I see. That makes sense."
Seemingly satisfied with the explanation, Anastasia told him she'd leave the rest to him and lay down right where she was.
There was cloth spread beneath her, but just below that was raw earth—dug-up ground, at that. Hardly comfortable. Still, Anastasia needed to stay close enough to respond immediately if anything happened to the Spirit Egg.
Fana took up her post at Anastasia's side. She offered Rei a bow—a silent request to look after the deer.
For Fana, staying by Anastasia was the priority, but the deer weighed on her mind just as heavily. In that sense, Rei's help was a genuine relief, and she bowed to convey her gratitude.
Rei gave Fana a casual wave and left the settlement with Set.
Creak. Crack. Snap. Those sounds trailed in Set's wake as he strode through the grove—every one of them the noise of branches splintering as his body forced past.
"Gruu. Grururuu. Grurururu."
Trees or no trees, Set was clearly just happy to be walking through the grove alongside Rei. He padded forward in high spirits, purring contentedly all the while.
"Hmm. Impressive, no matter how many times I see it."
Any branch fool enough to bar Set's path simply snapped. The ones that survived were thin and spindly—hardly worth ducking around. Rei could tell that branches of that caliber wouldn't trouble the deer either.
They pressed on through the grove. At one point they passed Dragonias corpses and skirted around them, until at last Rei and Set emerged from the far side of the trees.