"Make sure you keep a close eye on your surroundings! We never know when Dragonias might come!"
Zai's orders rang out across the camp, and the Centaurs on lookout acknowledged him with murmurs of understanding.
Currently, Zai and the others were positioned a fair distance from the Underground Space that had served as the Dragonias headquarters.
The evening sun hadn't fully set yet, so the move itself hadn't taken all that long—though that was largely thanks to the travel speed unique to Centaurs.
The Centaurs carrying the Spirit Egg had also grown somewhat accustomed to the task. While they couldn't manage full speed, they'd reached a reasonable pace.
However, despite putting distance between themselves and the headquarters, the spot they'd chosen for their campsite offered no cover—no woods, no rock formations. Just open grassland in every direction.
Ideally, they would have picked somewhere with natural shelter.
But within the range they could reach before nightfall, no such place existed. And so they had settled on this location.
"Zai, I understand making camp here, but what about the tents?"
"...Worst case, if Rei doesn't wake up, we sleep without them. I'd really rather not, so I'm hoping he comes to. There's also the matter of food."
As a precaution before heading into the Underground Space, Rei had left behind a modest supply of provisions.
But modest was the key word. Tonight's dinner would be covered, but tomorrow's breakfast—let alone lunch—was clearly going to fall short.
If Rei still hadn't woken by morning, they'd have no choice but to force him awake, reasonable or not.
That was how critical food was in their current situation.
Without Rei's Terrain Manipulation to raise walls and dig trenches around the campsite, the Centaurs had to stay on even higher alert than usual.
And with the possibility that Dragonias answering the Queen's final summons could still arrive, vigilance was simply non-negotiable.
(Fortunately, with Set handling watch duty, the burden isn't too heavy. ...Though plenty of people are uneasy about not having Rei available.)
Zai glanced toward the center of the camp, where Set lay resting—and Rei leaned against the creature's side, fast asleep.
Since Rei had returned, there was no doubt the Queen was defeated.
Many of them, Zai included, had learned from Vihera what kind of creature the Queen was, and understood just how formidable an opponent she had been.
Even so, no one questioned that Rei had returned victorious rather than fleeing in defeat. Such was the absolute trust they placed in his strength.
And precisely because it was Rei, Zai wished he could let the man sleep somewhere more secure—inside a proper tent, like the ones they normally used.
But all of their tents were stored inside the Misty Ring on Rei's right hand.
Like the food, they were completely inaccessible.
The Reconnaissance Unit had grown accustomed to the convenience of Rei's Misty Ring during their travels—but now that very dependency had come back to bite them.
"Zai, shouldn't we eat? Better to get food in us while we can."
Anastasia approached with the suggestion. Zai considered it for a moment, then nodded.
"Right. ...One thing, though—can you create walls or trenches like Rei does, Anastasia?"
He'd heard from Rei that she was a Spirit Mage, and with the Spirit Egg present as well, he'd wondered if she might be able to substitute for Rei.
Anastasia fixed him with a look of pure exasperation.
"Listen to me. I am an ordinary Spirit Mage. Do not compare me to an abnormality like Rei."
By general standards, Anastasia was skilled enough to be called highly capable.
If she set her mind to creating an earth wall, she could probably manage it.
But compared to what Rei accomplished through Death Scythe's Terrain Manipulation, the scale would be a fraction of the size.
And what Zai needed was an earth wall to defend the entire campsite.
That was simply beyond Anastasia's capabilities.
"Even with the Spirit Egg?"
"...Look, I don't know what you think that thing is, but using it is incredibly draining. It's not something you just pull out on a whim."
Zai heard her out, but given that Rei couldn't fight and they had no access to supplies, his honest inclination was to ask her to push past her limits. He opened his mouth to press the point—
"Besides, the Queen was after the Spirit Egg, wasn't she? We still don't know if she's dead. If we use it while Dragonias are in the area, there's no guarantee they won't be drawn to its power and come straight for us."
"Ugh..."
Zai had been ready to push, but those words stopped him cold.
The fact that the Dragonias Queen had specifically targeted the Spirit Egg was undeniable. He couldn't dismiss Anastasia's warning lightly.
Given how many times Dragonias had assaulted the grove where the egg had been buried, her argument carried considerable weight.
"Fine. I won't press the matter. ...Which means we really do need Rei to wake up soon."
"I'm not arguing with that. I want to hear exactly how he took down the Dragonias Queen."
Anastasia murmured in agreement.
In truth, she'd wanted to go down into the Underground Space herself, to see things firsthand and satisfy her curiosity.
But the toll of using the Spirit Egg—and the fact that she was the only one who could wield it if something went wrong—had left her on the surface with Fana and the Centaurs.
She understood the reasoning. The Spirit Egg was too important to risk. But understanding and accepting were two different things, and her curiosity had been screaming at her to go below.
Since she'd somehow reined it in, she felt entirely justified in wanting to hear every detail from Rei.
"I get how you feel, but let him sleep for now. ...If you tried to wake Rei in his current state, there's no telling what would happen to you."
Zai wasn't exaggerating.
Set, deeply devoted to Rei, would unquestionably take issue with anyone disturbing the exhausted man's rest. And Vihera, keeping watch at his side, would react no differently.
If it were a genuine emergency, that would be one thing. But rousing Rei just to satisfy curiosity? The consequences didn't bear thinking about.
Anastasia seemed to grasp this well enough. She had no intention of trying to wake him.
After all, Rei was simply sleeping—not injured, not in danger.
He could very well wake up tonight, if not by morning.
She could wait that long.
...For someone with Anastasia's relentless curiosity, having burning questions and being forced to wait for the only person who could answer them—that required no small amount of patience.
"For now, let's eat. ...Though ideally, I'd have liked to find some game."
Centaurs primarily lived as herders, but they also supplemented their diet by hunting grassland animals.
Near the Dragonias headquarters, however, virtually anything edible had already been hunted down and devoured.
Even birds rarely crossed the sky. Or so Zai thought—until he caught sight of something flitting through the darkening heavens. Without a word, he seized a bow from nearby, snatched an arrow from its quiver, drew, and loosed.
The arrow flew true, striking the target mid-flight with almost practiced certainty.
The creature tumbled to the ground just beyond the campsite's edge.
Zai rushed over and retrieved his kill.
It was a bat—its body alone as large as Zai's own face.
A fruit bat, one that favored fruit above all else. Despite its unsettling appearance, its meat was remarkably delicious, making it a prized ingredient among the Centaurs.
Of course, fruit was scarce on the open grassland.
Which made this particular bat a somewhat rare find.
"Never expected to find one near the Dragonias headquarters... though having it show up creates its own problem."
The bat was reasonably large, about the size of Zai's face.
But when it came to feeding the entire Reconnaissance Unit, it fell far short.
At the same time, even though Zai had brought it down himself, if he alone ate the whole thing while everyone else made do with meager rations, resentment would inevitably follow.
He'd acted on instinct, and now he was stuck with the consequences.
"Zai, what exactly... is that? I've never seen one before."
Anastasia eyed the creature in his hands with open suspicion.
As an elf, she had certainly encountered bats before.
But the particular species Zai held was one she'd never laid eyes on.
A creature she'd never seen could hardly fail to ignite her curiosity.
Zai, noticing her reaction, quietly breathed a sigh of relief. He'd found his solution.
Whatever objections there might be to eating it among the group, there'd be no issue if Anastasia—who was drained from using the Spirit Egg—had it instead.
"It's delicious. I didn't catch it for you, specifically... but I'd be glad if you'd eat it. Otherwise..."
"Hm?"
He broke off, deliberately averting his gaze toward one of the Centaurs standing watch nearby.
That Centaur was staring at the bat with undisguised longing, his expression practically begging for a taste.
"...Is it really that good?"
Normally, eating bat wasn't something people did.
Well, perhaps it depended on the person and the place—but Anastasia had never so much as considered it.
Even growing up among elves who lived in harmony with nature, she had never eaten bat.
They were sometimes used as ingredients for medicine or Magic Items, but never as food.
...Had Rei been awake, he would have been surprised, but ultimately unsurprised. He'd once watched a TV program about Earth that showed bats being eaten as a matter of course in places like China and Southeast Asia.
Unlike Rei, Anastasia had never tasted bat. Never had, never considered it. But fortunately—or perhaps unfortunately—she possessed a curiosity that refused to be denied.
If Zai was willing to go this far, and other Centaurs were literally watching her with envy in their eyes, then naturally she had to know: what did a bat that inspired such reactions actually taste like?
That said, all their cooking equipment was sealed inside Rei's Misty Ring. The Spices, too.
The only viable method of preparation under the circumstances was the most primitive one—gut it, skewer it on a stick, and roast it over open flame.
"Thank you. But given our current situation, I doubt we could do it justice. Would it be all right if I waited until Rei wakes up?"
"No."
Zai had fully expected her to agree. The blunt, instant refusal caught him off guard.
But before Anastasia could question it, Zai explained.
"This meat loses its freshness fast. Today, maybe. By tomorrow, it'll be inedible for certain."
"That's..."
She couldn't argue with that.
There were ingredients that spoiled quickly—that was simply a fact of life.
The kind that didn't keep.
Which meant it had to be eaten before it turned.
And so, curiosity winning out over hesitation, Anastasia had the cooks butcher and roast the bat. She shared it with Fana—and ultimately had to admit that Zai was right.