"So? Are you satisfied?"
Rei asked Asdena, who lay on the ground before him.
In their usual mock battles, the understanding was implicit, and Rei would hold back, dealing only light damage. But what Asdena had asked for this time was a real fight.
...That said, he couldn't very well use Death Scythe's blade to carve apart a comrade, so Rei had wielded only the shafts of Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear.
Even so, that merely meant he had held back the bare minimum to keep Asdena alive. Since Asdena had asked for a serious fight, even the shaft strikes carried considerable force.
In fact, Asdena's body — struck and sent flying by that blow — had almost certainly suffered fractures in several places.
Rei had at least taken that into account, aiming his strikes to minimize the chance of lasting aftereffects once the bones healed. But it was no guarantee.
There was a possibility that some kind of aftereffect might linger once the injuries healed.
Then again, considering a Centaur's vitality, they would likely recover from something like that with ease.
If Rei had intended to hold back, he could have held back far more.
But the reason he hadn't — despite the circumstances — was largely because Asdena himself had wanted it that way.
If Rei had held back so obviously, Asdena would have been furious, even with fewer injuries to show for it.
"Good work," Vihera called out to Rei.
Her slightly envious air was likely directed at Asdena, who had gotten to fight Rei at full power.
"Yeah. I just don't understand why, in this situation, Asdena would want a fight with me... a real one at that."
"Really? I don't think it's that strange," Vihera replied. Unlike Rei, she seemed to understand exactly why Asdena had challenged him.
Rei wore a puzzled expression. "Why would he do something like that?"
"Because Asdena is a Centaur, and a warrior. Until now, no Centaur has ever thought to do something like this, but..."
She stared intently at Rei.
At her demeanor, Rei somehow found himself accepting the reasoning.
"Do you think others will come saying the same thing going forward?"
"...I wonder. I'd say it's entirely possible."
For Vihera, Asdena's feelings were perfectly understandable.
...Or perhaps, even if this Dragonias matter had been resolved, if Anastasia and Fana hadn't been found, she wouldn't have done something like this herself.
But those two — Anastasia and Fana, the very reason Rei's group had come to this grassland — had been found during their search for the Dragonias headquarters.
With the Dragonias situation now settled, the likelihood that Rei's group would never return to this grassland was extremely high.
That was why, before parting ways with Rei, Asdena had decided he wanted a real fight rather than a mock battle where holding back was a given.
...Of course, even in that "real" fight, Rei had ultimately only used the shafts of Death Scythe and the Twilight Spear. He hadn't used the magic he excelled at, let alone the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor that had defeated the Queen.
But even in that somewhat limited state, Rei had still achieved an almost one-sided victory over Asdena.
This wasn't because Asdena was weak among Centaurs.
While he didn't measure up to Zai, the strongest Centaur in the Reconnaissance Unit, Asdena was unquestionably ranked among the top in ability.
And Rei had the strength to overwhelm someone like him.
Then again, the Centaurs understood that well enough after going through countless mock battles.
"If they're going to challenge someone, shouldn't it be Vihera rather than me?" Rei offered.
For the Centaurs, Vihera was an opponent who had beaten them in mock battles countless times — more than they could even count. Challenging her for real at the very end — that much Rei could fully understand.
"I think it's because you defeated the Dragonias Queen, Rei."
"That's..." Even Rei couldn't argue back once it was put that way.
To the Centaurs, the Dragonias were sworn enemies. Having slain their Queen, Rei had, in a sense, become a special existence.
To the Centaurs, fighting Rei — who had killed the Dragonias Queen — held far greater significance than fighting someone who had merely beaten them in mock battles. Rei reluctantly accepted that.
"Well, that matter aside... come to think of it, Anastasia!"
At Rei's call, Anastasia, who had been examining the Spirit Egg alongside Fana, came over to where he stood.
She had shown not the slightest interest in the fight between Rei and Asdena, absorbed as she was in studying the Spirit Egg.
"Do you need something?"
Her slightly displeased tone was probably because she'd been interrupted mid-investigation.
For the deeply curious Anastasia, examining the Spirit Egg likely held far more significance than watching Rei fight.
Rei knew that too, but right now there was something he needed to say first.
"About the Spirit Egg — we can't take it to Elgin."
"...I know that."
"Huh?"
A dumbfounded sound escaped Rei's mouth.
He had been completely certain she would insist on taking it to Elgin.
For her to nod so readily was entirely unexpected.
Perhaps finding that unsatisfying, Anastasia opened her mouth with a disgruntled look. "What's with that face? Even I know the difference between what's acceptable and what isn't."
Are you really Anastasia?
Rei had almost said it out loud, and who could blame him. Vihera, standing beside him, wore a strikingly similar expression.
"Uhh, why exactly? I mean, it's a relief for us too, but... honestly, I was sure you'd insist on taking the Spirit Egg with you."
"Listen. This thing has an enormous amount of Spirit power sealed inside it. If we carelessly brought it to Elgin, who knows what kind of effect it might have. Gilm is already... no, the Treant Forest has already become a special place in various ways as it is."
"I can understand that." Rei found himself nodding in genuine agreement.
After all, near the Treant Forest stood the Lizardmen's Birth Tower, and a vast lake had been teleported there. The Treant Forest itself was no ordinary forest — it had appeared suddenly, practically overnight. From it, massive monsters like the Gigant Turtle had emerged.
In a way, even within the frontier, the Treant Forest was a place that could be called the frontier of the frontier.
What would happen if a mass of otherworldly Spirit power — the Spirit Egg — were brought to such a place?
It would be a lie to say Anastasia had no interest in finding out, but she had no desire to test it.
"...Is it really that dangerous?" Rei asked again, pressing her on the point.
He understood that the Spirit Egg possessed great power. The Dragonias Queen had desperately wanted it, sending wave after wave of her kind to obtain it.
But even so, he hadn't thought of it as being as dangerous as Anastasia claimed.
"To be precise, the danger is that we don't know what specific danger it poses. Considering the Spirit power sealed within the Spirit Egg, at worst the Treant Forest could... no, depending on the circumstances, it might not just be Gilm — the entire frontier could be wiped out for some reason."
"...That dangerous?"
Once again, the same words slipped from Rei's mouth. But while the words were identical, the gravity behind them had clearly intensified.
"Yes. If the risk were a little lower, or if we knew exactly what kind of danger it posed, I would have considered bringing it back."
"That's... well, should I say I'm relieved? It's a delicate matter."
The Anastasia that Rei knew might well have insisted on bringing the Spirit Egg to Elgin regardless of the danger.
Fortunately, the current Anastasia wasn't thinking of any such thing.
(Should I take this to mean Anastasia has grown? Or is it just coincidence this time?)
Rei found himself harboring such doubts. But if she truly had changed, that brought a new problem to the fore.
"Then where are we leaving the Spirit Egg? With the Dragonias Queen matter still unresolved, we can't just leave it somewhere careless."
Even if they hid it, any creature with the same ability as the Queen to locate the Spirit Egg would make hiding it pointless.
In that case, they would need someone to guard it, but...
"It goes without saying, but I can't do it," Rei said immediately, catching the look Anastasia was directing at him.
Staying behind in this world was out of the question. Once he returned to Elgin, a mountain of work awaited him.
Besides, having chosen Gilm as his home, he couldn't remain here indefinitely.
The same applied to Vihera and Set. Neither had any intention of leaving Rei's side.
"In that case... the next candidate would be Zai's settlement."
Anastasia's gaze turned toward Zai, who was directing Asdena's treatment.
Zai had always possessed considerable strength among the Centaurs, but his abilities had grown even further through training with Vihera. While most of the Reconnaissance Unit members had enough skill to fight a Dragonias one-on-one, Zai was currently the only Centaur who could handle two at once — excluding Rei's group, of course.
Having such strength, and above all, being someone they could trust — that was what mattered.
Given all that, the only person Rei could think of to entrust with the Spirit Egg was Zai.
"I understand that Zai would be a safe choice. I do, but..."
"You're uneasy?"
"Honestly, yes."
That Zai stood head and shoulders above the other Centaurs Rei knew was an indisputable fact.
But even so — whether he could fully trust Zai with the Spirit Egg was something Rei couldn't honestly bring himself to affirm.
This wasn't a matter of trusting Zai or not. It was purely that Rei felt Zai's strength was still insufficient.
No matter how close to the strongest he was among Centaurs, that ranking existed only within the scope of their kind.
Zai could handle two Dragonias on his own, but that also meant he couldn't cope with any greater number.
Against three or four, he could probably manage by focusing entirely on defense and evasion to buy time. But if asked whether he could win against those odds, the answer was no.
Much less if multiple intelligent Dragonias — stronger than ordinary ones — attacked together. Dealing with that would be exceedingly difficult.
(Then again, even so, there's no one besides Zai suited to be entrusted with the Spirit Egg. Even if the attackers proved stronger than him, at worst, Zai wouldn't need to win — he'd just need to grab the Spirit Egg and run. In that sense, Zai is trustworthy enough.)
The Zai that Rei knew was exceptional not only in strength but also in speed — among the finest of all Centaurs.
In that sense, once again, Zai was the only one who could be entrusted with the Spirit Egg.
"I guess we have no choice but to leave it to Zai. ...That works for you too, right, Anastasia?"
"Yes. Since we can't bring it back with us, I think your judgment is sound. Besides..."
Anastasia paused there, but Rei could guess what followed.
The location connected to Elgin wasn't far from Zai's settlement. If so, there would likely be future opportunities to examine the Spirit Egg again.
...Of course, the Centaurs were a nomadic people. Eventually, they would probably move on from even their current location.