"...Unexpected."
Those were the first words Rei uttered upon stepping out of the Magic Tent.
The sun was already hanging in the sky, making it plainly morning.
...Yes, in the end, there had been no Dragonias attack whatsoever last night.
Given how close they were to the Dragonias headquarters, he had naturally expected an assault after dark. Yet Set, who was on watch, had never raised a single cry of alarm.
Which meant the Dragonias had left them alone.
Rei was grateful for the uninterrupted rest, but he couldn't help feeling puzzled.
"I'd like to say the Dragonias aren't a monolith," Vihera said, "but given their nature, being anything else isn't really an option."
"Yeah. Honestly, that's the most troublesome part about them."
Even when facing a sizable enemy force, the difficulty varied wildly depending on whether they were united or not. If infighting ran through their ranks, winning a battle against them wasn't particularly difficult. In fact, if their internal strife was intense enough, they would tear themselves apart before Rei even had to lift a finger. There was no doubt he could crush such opponents with ease.
But a united force—one that could truly be called a monolith—was inevitably far harder to bring down.
"Anyway... now that we understand the enemy is unified, we just need to adapt accordingly. ...Not that it'll be easy."
Vihera nodded at his assessment. Deciding to have breakfast first and then set out promptly, Rei headed toward the Centaurs.
Naturally, if Rei and the others were awake, the Centaurs were too.
...Though in the Centaurs' case, it was quite possible that many of them simply hadn't been able to sleep, knowing they were closing in on the Dragonias headquarters.
When you're on edge, falling asleep is hard, and you tend to wake earlier than planned. The nature of the tension was different, but it was the same as lying awake the night before a school field trip or sports day, only to jolt awake at dawn.
Incidentally, back when Rei was an elementary school student in Japan, he had been so excited the night before a field trip that he couldn't sleep. He had gone anyway, sleep-deprived, run a fever, and ended up being driven back to school by a teacher to sleep in the nurse's office.
Tension and excitement—polar opposite reasons for insomnia, but the outcome was similar enough.
Still, the Centaurs in the Reconnaissance Unit are adults, so I doubt they'd let it go that far. ...They were already a gathering of seasoned fighters to begin with.
With that in mind, Rei took out the ingredients for breakfast. The members of the Reconnaissance Unit ate a hearty meal and got themselves ready.
They always ate a solid breakfast, but today's menu was even more substantial than usual. The biggest reason was their location—they were smack in the middle of Dragonias territory. A lavish breakfast would help bolster morale, however slightly, and given where they were, there was no guarantee they'd get proper meals for lunch or dinner. That was all the more reason to eat well while they could.
The moment breakfast was over, everyone began preparing to depart. Tents were stowed in Rei's Misty Ring, weapons were readied in case of a sudden Dragonias attack...
"Alright... I'm going to break the wall. I think we'll be fine, but there's no telling what might happen the second it comes down. There's a chance Dragonias could come charging in, so stay sharp."
Rei called out the warning, though in truth he already knew there were no Dragonias on the other side. He hadn't sensed any presence, and more importantly, Set hadn't picked up on anything either. If Dragonias were lying in wait beyond the wall, Set would have noticed immediately.
"Rei, what are we doing about this campsite?" Zai asked, eyeing Death Scythe in Rei's hand. "Are we leaving it behind like last time?"
When they had made a similar campsite before, they had left the fortifications intact for potential future use, so it was a natural question.
"That's the plan. We'll only break the section of wall we need to exit through and leave the rest as is."
"I asked before too, but... what about the possibility of Dragonias using this place?"
The previous campsite hadn't been fully within Dragonias territory. But here, so close to the Dragonias headquarters, they were unquestionably deep in enemy domain. Leaving the fortifications behind was far riskier than before. Rei understood exactly what Zai was getting at.
Even so, restoring all the earth walls to their original state would take time even with the Terrain Manipulation skill. And he certainly couldn't spend the meal prep time undoing earth walls. All things considered, leaving everything as it stood seemed like the best option.
If the enemy attacks while we're eating... yeah, better to leave it as is.
Making that call, he spoke up.
"Normal Dragonias don't have the intelligence to make use of a place like this. A commander-level Dragonias might think to use it... but if that happens, we'll deal with it."
The earth walls surrounding this entire campsite had been built by Rei's—or more precisely, Death Scythe's—Terrain Manipulation skill. Which meant that if Dragonias did occupy this campsite, Rei could strike from any direction, provided he was present.
...Of course, that was only possible for Rei. A group of Centaurs without him would have a very hard time fighting Dragonias holed up behind these walls.
"If you say so, Rei... alright, I understand for now."
Zai didn't look entirely convinced, but he decided it was better to follow Rei's lead for now.
"Well then... looks like everyone's about ready. Shouldn't we get moving? Zai, give the signal."
Zai nodded, surveyed the Centaurs watching him, and spoke.
"We're moving out! Let's give it everything we've got to reach the Dragonias headquarters today and wipe them off the map!"
Zai's shout rang out, rallying the group. It sounded a touch forced to Rei, but the Centaurs didn't seem to feel that way. At Zai's words, they raised their voices full of fighting spirit, some trembling with warrior's excitement.
For many of the Centaurs, the possibility that their war with the Dragonias might finally end held enormous significance. Ever since the Dragonias had appeared, the Centaurs—once called and proud to be known as Rulers of the Plains—had been trampled underfoot. Not merely trampled, but treated as nothing more than feed.
For the Rulers of the Plains, that was absolutely unbearable.
And now, that history of humiliation was finally about to end. Viewed in that light, the current situation—where Rei and his companions had located the Dragonias headquarters for them—was nothing short of divine intervention.
Thus, resolved to reach the Dragonias headquarters today, the group finished their preparations...
"Alright, breaking the wall! Terrain Manipulation!"
At Rei's command, the butt of Death Scythe struck the ground, and a section of the wall encircling the campsite sank smoothly into the earth. Additionally, though it would have been invisible from inside, the waterless moat—or trench—surrounding the wall naturally filled in where the wall had disappeared.
"Ooooooh!"
Since they traveled with Rei, most of them had seen his Terrain Manipulation before. Yet watching it demonstrated right before their eyes still left them in awe. The ability to freely reshape the ground—that power perhaps struck the Centaurs, who prided themselves on racing across the plains, with an even deeper impact than most.
...Granted, Rei's Terrain Manipulation now operated on a considerable scale. He could freely raise or lower the ground within a seventy-meter radius centered on himself by up to a hundred and fifty centimeters.
Still, the gasps of amazement lasted only about ten seconds. At a word from Zai, the Reconnaissance Unit was on the move.
Among the departing group, the most conspicuous were the Centaurs bearing the mikoshi with the Spirit Egg resting on top. Anastasia was using the egg's power to locate the Dragonias headquarters.
She wasn't as drained today as she had been yesterday, though. She had turned in early and slept soundly through the night, but the main reason was simply that the source of yesterday's exhaustion had been the excavation of the Spirit Egg. Once it was placed on the mikoshi, it hadn't taken nearly as much out of her.
"Anastasia, we're still heading the right way, right?" Zai called back from the front.
His use of her name without an honorific drew faintly displeased looks from Damran and the members of his settlement. Whether Zai noticed or not, he paid it no mind and waited for her answer.
"Give me a moment."
Anastasia concentrated, calling out to the Spirit while guiding the deer close to the mikoshi so she could touch the Spirit Egg. The next instant, power radiated outward from the egg in concentric circles, like radar. A moment later, having confirmed the Dragonias headquarters' location, she nodded to Zai.
"Phew... That's right. For now, the current direction is correct. Though I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, Zai, but when you're running, the heading can naturally drift. Keep an eye on it."
"Understood."
When running across open ground, the direction of travel could gradually shift without anyone noticing. That was common knowledge to Zai—in fact, to any Centaur. It was surely why he acknowledged her warning so readily.
With Zai at the lead, the Reconnaissance Unit raced across the grassland. Carrying the mikoshi with the Spirit Egg meant their speed fell short of a Centaur's usual pace. But after a full day of practice yesterday, the bearers had grown more accustomed to the load, and their travel speed had noticeably improved. They seemed aware of it themselves, exchanging cheerful smiles and nods.
At this rate, we might get there sooner than planned.
Watching them from Set's back, Rei nodded in quiet satisfaction. Shaving a little time off their arrival wouldn't make a dramatic difference. But arriving even slightly sooner meant that much less unnecessary combat with Dragonias along the way. That suited Rei just fine.
"Rei, take a look at that!"
About an hour into their run, Zai suddenly shouted from the front.
What is it?
Rei followed Zai's outstretched arm... and his expression darkened.
There was a settlement there.
...Or rather, what could only be called the wreckage of one.
"This is the Dragonias's doing."
"Nothing else would leave a place looking like this. Sure, there's the possibility they abandoned it for some reason, but... given the situation in this area, that's a very slim chance."
"What do we do? Should we go check it out? There's a chance... a really slim one, but there might be survivors."
Rei asked, but Zai shook his head, regret written across his face.