Storing the glass into the Misty Ring took Rei quite a bit of time, all things considered.
Midway through, lunchtime rolled around, and Rei had those who had come along eat from meals he had stashed away in his Misty Ring.
...That said, the thought of what those who had turned back partway would do for lunch crossed Rei's mind, but he decided to deal with that later.
Anyway, after noon passed and a few more hours went by, the storage of the glass imbued with Fire Spirit power was finally complete.
It had taken so long because Anastasia handled every piece with meticulous care, making sure none of it cracked or broke.
Had Rei been working alone, it probably would have gone much faster—though the quality of the glass would have been far inferior to what Anastasia managed to collect.
"I've had Flame Ore result from using Flame Magic before, but this glass is something different, right?"
"Naturally. Flame Ore is rare, certainly, but you can still purchase it if you're willing to pay a premium. But glass with sealed Fire Spirit power? At the very least, I've never seen anything like it."
Then how did she recognize it at a glance?
That thought crossed Rei's mind for a moment, but on further reflection, he concluded that since Anastasia was an outstanding Spirit Mage, she could probably grasp something like that immediately.
"In that case, it really is rare. If I did the same thing somewhere else, do you think it would produce the same kind of glass imbued with Fire Spirit power?"
With Flame Ore, it had been the result of coincidence piling upon coincidence. He had tried similar things afterward, but Flame Ore had never been produced again.
If he could create this glass that sealed Fire Spirit power whenever he wanted, it would be an incredible boon for Rei.
However, doing the same thing again would mean exhausting nearly all of his enormous mana reserves—not only that, but activating the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor using even his life force, after which he would collapse into unconscious sleep.
Even if it were reproducible, whether Rei would actually attempt it was doubtful.
Mind you, there was a big difference between choosing not to do something he could do and simply being unable to do it. That was exactly why he had asked Anastasia.
"I wonder. I think it would be difficult."
Anastasia replied to Rei's question with a disappointed expression.
For Anastasia, this glass—a substance entirely distinct from Flame Ore, imbued with Fire Spirit power—must have held deep fascination.
That was precisely why being able to create it again would have delighted her.
But delighted as she might be, claiming she could do something she could not was something Anastasia's pride would never allow.
She was brimming with curiosity, but precisely because of that, she absolutely refused to lie in its service.
"I see. Anyway, all the glass is stored now..."
With that, Rei turned his gaze to his surroundings.
Zai and many of the other Centaurs stood there, surveying the area with complicated expressions.
If even a fragment of the Queen's corpse had remained, they might have felt differently about it all. But since she had been obliterated without leaving so much as ash, there was no trace of the Queen left to see.
Had the core survived, things might have been somewhat different... but that too had been severed by Death Scythe and destroyed.
"Zai, sorry, but there's the question of time to consider. I'd like to head out soon, if that's all right."
"...Understood. I have my own thoughts on the matter, but... we can't stay here forever."
Zai showed a flicker of surprise at Rei's words, but sensing that lingering here indefinitely was unwise, he accepted the proposal.
There was no immediate problem, but there was no guarantee that Dragonias following the Queen's orders wouldn't reappear. Not a single Dragonias had been found inside the Underground Space, but that was no guarantee they never would.
If so, having their main fighting force—Rei and his companions—remain inside the Underground Space, deep within it at that, was unwise on multiple fronts.
Perhaps arriving at the same conclusion, Zai quickly issued orders to the other Centaurs.
"Everyone, listen up! It's time to leave this Underground Space! There's no telling when Dragonias might return!"
Hearing Zai's words, the Centaurs who had come this far recalled their companions who had turned back earlier.
Thanks to the mock battles with Vihera, the current Centaurs possessed enough strength to defeat an ordinary Dragonias one-on-one. But that also meant they could not win against multiple Dragonias at once.
That was why they felt the danger—if a large number of Dragonias came following the Queen's orders, the situation would be dire.
...They could win one-on-one, and in terms of running speed, Centaurs had the edge. If they fled and then struck once the faster pursuers among the individually varied Dragonias were reduced to a single opponent, it wasn't as if they'd be completely helpless.
"Anastasia, let's go. You've stored all the glass already—no reason to stay here."
Rei called out to Anastasia, who for some reason was still studying the ground with rapt attention despite the glass being long gone.
He understood her fascination with the glass, but why she remained so absorbed in the ground where the glass no longer existed was beyond him. Before he could puzzle it out further, Fana tugged Anastasia back to reality.
Watching the two of them mount their deer, Rei climbed onto Set's back alongside Vihera.
"Alright, Set. We'll be traveling through the Underground Space again—counting on you."
"Gururururu!"
Set let out a cry as if to say, "Leave it to me!"
As if in response, the Reconnaissance Unit members began to move.
"Well then... all that's left is to head back, huh?"
"What are you going to do? Staying with us until the end?"
Rei understood what Vihera was getting at—they had found their objective in Anastasia and Fana, and the Dragonias situation was settled. Using the Set Basket, they could return to Elgin right away.
Knowing that full well, Rei nodded to Vihera sitting behind him.
"Yeah. I plan to stick with everyone until the end. We've come this far together, so I want to see it through properly."
His words were genuine, but a large part of it was also uncertainty about whether he and Set alone could navigate from here to Elgin—to the place connected to the Treant Forest's Underground Space.
With Anastasia, Fana, Vihera, and the others, they could have guided him. But knowing that, he still found himself wanting to escort the Centaurs back to their respective settlements.
Come to think of it, the original reason I joined this Reconnaissance Unit was as payment for gathering information on Anastasia and the others. Now it's completely meaningless.
Before he could even gather information, Rei had found the very people themselves. Given that, this job now carried no reward for him—but if asked whether he was dissatisfied, the answer was no.
He had gained firsthand experience of what happens when the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor is pushed to its absolute limit. He had secured the corpses of multiple Dragonias, including intelligent ones with special abilities. And above all, Terrain Manipulation reaching Level 5 held enormous significance for Rei.
Skills became dramatically stronger at Level 5 compared to everything up to Level 4, and Terrain Manipulation was notoriously difficult to level up to begin with. The standard method was raising its level by destroying a Dungeon's core.
Considering all of that, this incident had brought Rei substantial returns.
From a personal standpoint, the balance sheet is overwhelmingly positive. But for the Centaurs, thinking about those who were eaten alive... it's nothing but a loss.
The damage the Centaurs suffered at the hands of the Dragonias was far from light. Rei didn't even know how many settlements had been wiped out entirely. No—it wasn't just Rei. Even among the Centaurs, there were probably many who didn't fully grasp the true extent of the damage.
"For now, since I got involved, I'll see it through to the end. Fortunately, Zai's settlement, which we'll stop at last, is close to the place connected to Elgin."
"Is that so? Well, fine by me."
She seemed to accept his reasoning, but the hint of disappointment she let slip was surely worry over Byune.
All things considered, a fair number of days had passed since Vihera arrived in this world. Given that, it was only natural for her to feel anxious about whether Byune was doing her job properly.
Rei and the others had more or less come to understand what Byune was trying to say. But even so, the only one who could truly understand Byune was Vihera.
...Maybe I shouldn't have left Byune behind, Vihera couldn't help but think. But in the end, she had made the choice herself and had wanted things as they were.
"Oh, there it is."
"Hm?"
Vihera, who had been lost in thought about Byune, snapped her gaze forward at Rei's words. Before them lay the ramp leading to the surface—and she realized just how deeply she had been dwelling on things.
"We're back. Looks like there wasn't a Dragonias attack, fortunately."
From the top of the ramp, from the surface, no sounds of battle or anything of the sort reached them. The possibility that a fight had already ended couldn't be ruled out entirely, but since no scent of blood drifted down, Rei judged they were probably safe.
If blood had been in the air, Set, with his sharper nose, would have caught it before Rei and sounded the alarm. But fortunately, Set showed no such signs.
As Rei felt relieved about that, Set, the Centaurs, and the two deer made their way up the ramp—until at last, they emerged onto the surface.
The walls and ceiling had been bright enough that visibility wasn't an issue underground, but stepping out into the open, dazzling sunlight poured down and blinded them for a moment.
Come to think of it, Anastasia didn't seem bothered by the glowing walls and ceiling. Normally she'd have shown interest in something like that. Was she so absorbed in the glassified ground that it didn't register? Or was it because it reminded her of the Dungeon in Elgin?
Rei didn't know the reason for Anastasia's lack of interest. But if she had gotten caught up in that too, returning to the surface would have taken even longer. In that light, it hadn't been a bad thing at all—it was only natural to feel that way.
"Oh, you're back! Hey, Rei and the others are back!"
The Centaurs on the surface shouted to those around them the moment they spotted Rei's figure. Those who had stayed behind, those who had given up before reaching the Queen's location—they all called out to the returning group.
"Ugh, you're kidding me! A sight like that actually existed?!"
What drew everyone's interest the most, as expected, was the glassified ground Rei had produced. Even without understanding exactly how it had come about, the Centaurs could grasp that something extraordinary had happened.
Among those hearing the stories, quite a few wished they could have witnessed it with their own eyes and regretted turning back.
Since that glass was now stored inside Rei's Misty Ring, he decided it couldn't be helped and pulled out several pieces to show them.
But given that Fire Spirit power was sealed within the glass, and careless handling could trigger unknown dangers, he exercised the utmost caution.
Several of the Centaurs even felt a sense of fear toward that glass, which could fairly be called the crystallization of Rei's power. But all in all, they managed to get through it without incident.