Before Rei stood a Centaur with eight legs—Drum, chief of this settlement.
Beside Drum stood Zai, and Drum's son, Dratt.
Dratt held considerable influence in the settlement, as befitting the chief's son. However, that influence derived entirely from his position; in personal charisma, he fell short of Zai.
That said, Dratt was by no means a fool. He clearly felt some displeasure at Rei's presence, yet he had enough sense to acknowledge their strength and voice his gratitude before the settlement's people.
Several others had gathered in Drum's tent as well—individuals who wielded strong influence within the settlement, effectively serving as its leadership.
Then, inside the tent, Drum bowed his head.
"Rei, Vihera, Anastasia, Fana... Zai has told me what happened. I am deeply grateful that you cooperated in resolving this incident."
At Drum's display, Dratt looked as though he wanted to say something but ultimately fell silent. For him, seeing his father—the chief of this settlement—bow his head to Rei and the others must have been hard to swallow.
But when it came to the Dragonias incident, there was no denying that without Rei's group, nothing could have been done.
If they had formed a reconnaissance unit led by Zai without Rei's group, what would have become of them? At the very least, defeating the Dragonias Queen as easily as they did would have been impossible.
By now, Zai could defeat two Dragonias on his own, but he had only reached that level of strength through the mock battles he had fought with Rei and Vihera. Without them, his abilities would never have grown to this extent.
And even now that Zai had grown stronger, the opponents he could handle were limited to Dragonias driven by hunger. Against intelligent Dragonias, it was questionable whether he could win alone.
If his opponent was a copper-scaled Dragonias with low combat ability, he might stand a chance. But against a silver-scaled Dragonias, which was specialized for combat, or a golden-scaled Dragonias—a superior creature possessing the characteristics of both the silver and copper varieties—he stood no chance whatsoever.
In the first place, without Rei and Vihera, Zai would have been thrown into battle against the Dragonias with no training at all. Even with the same numbers as this reconnaissance unit, the outcome would have been hopeless.
"I'm glad to hear you say that. There were quite a few troublesome things along the way, but..."
In truth, those words were not far off the mark. The battles against the Dragonias themselves had not been particularly difficult, but everything surrounding them had been full of complications.
For instance, visiting each settlement to select members for the reconnaissance unit. On top of that, some had looked down on Rei and Vihera simply because they walked on two legs rather than four like Centaurs.
Those individuals had drawn looks of pity from those who already knew Rei and Vihera's true strength. In the end, every person who joined the reconnaissance unit had been made to thoroughly understand their power.
"Hmm. I apologize for the trouble we caused you. However..."
Drum, who had been observing Rei, shifted his gaze to Anastasia and Fana.
He had already heard from Zai, who returned first to report, that Anastasia and Fana were the people Rei had been searching for. Originally, gathering intelligence to find these two was supposed to serve as Rei's reward, but the fact that Anastasia and the others had been found before that could be arranged was entirely unexpected for Drum.
"I am glad you found the ones you were looking for. It seems we must consider an alternative reward, though."
"A reward, huh. In that case, I have a request. The Spirit Egg that the Dragonias Queen wanted—would you protect it in this settlement? We managed to handle things this time, but there might be others who come seeking the Spirit Egg."
Rei did not voice it, but he had even considered the possibility that an entirely different Dragonias than the Queen he killed might appear.
In the first place, where exactly had the Dragonias come from? Given that they were such a special existence in so many ways, if their presence had been known beforehand, countermeasures would surely have been developed. But from what Rei had heard, even the Centaurs had been unaware of the Dragonias.
If that was the case, had they come from outside these plains?
Or perhaps, like us, they came from another world.
Since Rei's own world and this world had become connected, it would not be strange for the Dragonias' world and this one to be connected as well.
"Hmm. I understand what you are saying. However... as you know, even Zai, who is said to be the strongest in this settlement, is no match for you and your group, is he? Would it not be safer for your group to hold onto the Spirit Egg rather than entrust it to this settlement?"
"That's..."
Rei understood what Drum was saying, and he actually thought the chief was right. But the reason it was impossible had been explained by Anastasia, who wielded Spirit Magic.
The problem was that they would need to explain exactly where they had come from—specifically, that they had come from another world called Elgin. Rei would prefer not to reveal that if possible, and even if he did, he doubted they would believe him. No, there was a possibility the Centaurs might not even grasp the concept of another world.
That was why he had been unsure how to respond to Drum's words.
"Impossible."
The one who said it in Rei's place was Anastasia.
"The Spirit Egg that the Dragonias targeted was buried in the ground of these plains."
Anastasia said this, but those listening only looked puzzled, wondering what that had to do with anything.
Fana alone quietly listened to her words. Of course, since Fana wore a mask, Rei could not read her expression and had no way of knowing whether she truly understood or not. It would not have been strange for her to harbor the same doubts as the others, even if her manner gave nothing away.
"What do you mean by that?" Drum asked, as if representing everyone.
Anastasia considered his question for a moment, then spoke.
"Let's see. To put it simply, whether the Spirit Egg hatches or reacts in some other way, it is important that it remains within these plains."
"Is that so?"
The next to speak was not Drum, who had been conversing with Anastasia, but Rei. For some reason, Anastasia directed a look of pure exasperation at him.
"Listen, you're traveling with a Spirit Mage of Marina-sama's extraordinary caliber—how can you not even know that?"
"Well, Marina might be skilled, but I can't use Spirit Magic myself... Right?"
At Anastasia's slightly accusatory tone, Rei looked to Vihera for support. Since both of them traveled with Marina, Vihera was in the same boat. After all, Rei, Marina, Vihera, and Byune formed the party known as Crimson Lotus Wings.
But naturally, even Vihera—whose gaze Rei had turned toward—had only studied spirits to some extent as a former princess of the Bestia Empire, and she could not grasp what Anastasia was getting at either.
Seeing the two of them so lost, Anastasia sighed and turned her gaze to Fana.
Fana was naturally not a Spirit Mage, but when Anastasia looked to her, she spoke from beneath her mask.
"I don't know exactly what kind of existence the Spirit Egg is. But if it was buried in the ground of these plains, it wouldn't be strange for it to have some connection to the plains themselves."
Anastasia smiled as if praising a student who had done well and nodded.
"Just as Fana said, the Spirit Egg we excavated is connected to these plains themselves through some means—likely via spirits. That is why moving the Spirit Egg within the plains is harmless, but if it is taken outside, there is no telling what kind of devastation it might cause."
Anastasia's expression as she spoke carried genuine urgency. This was no fabrication. She was not making things up simply because bringing the Spirit Egg to Elgin would be problematic.
"...Hmm. I understand what you are saying. However, the Spirit Egg, huh. Is it not also a fact that its presence here may cause this settlement to be targeted by Dragonias?"
Drum's words were an undeniable truth. Given that the Dragonias Queen had targeted the Spirit Egg, if anyone else sensed its existence and desired it, they would undoubtedly attack. Understanding this, Drum could not simply accept the Spirit Egg without hesitation.
"I understand how you feel. But if that's the case, what's your alternative? If you just leave it somewhere out there, the moment someone who wants the Spirit Egg appears, it'll be taken without any resistance."
"That's..."
Drum could not argue with that. Since it was a dangerous object that could not simply be hidden away, someone had to protect it—that much was fact.
"In that case, it comes down to the strongest among the Centaurs. I'm not sure if I can call him the strongest outright, but at the very least, Zai was the strongest Centaur in the reconnaissance unit. Which means he is the strongest Centaur I know of."
If Rei had arrived earlier, before he first met Zai, there might have been a Centaur stronger than him. But now, after extensive training with Vihera, while he could not say with absolute certainty that no Centaur stronger than Zai existed, he felt confident that one would not be easily found.
"Gathering intelligence on Anastasia and the others is off the table now, so can I ask you to take this on instead?"
At Rei's words, Drum fell silent for several minutes... and then nodded.
"Very well. We shall accept the duty of guarding the Spirit Egg."
Rei felt a wave of relief at those words. Pushing the Spirit Egg onto them as a substitute reward had been unavoidable since there was no other option. But the fact remained that the settlement would be put in danger because of the Spirit Egg's presence.
Still, if they simply hid the Spirit Egg somewhere and it was found by someone with malicious intent, there was even a possibility that these plains themselves could be wiped out.
Rei had no way of knowing exactly how much power the Spirit Egg possessed. But even Rei, who could not use Spirit Magic and lacked the ability to detect magical power, could feel the energy radiating from it. That alone spoke to just how much power was contained within.
"Zai, you need to keep growing stronger even after we're gone. You understand that, right?"
"I know. I don't think I can protect the Spirit Egg at my current level."
For Zai, the belief that he could still grow much stronger was likely genuine. At the very least, the conviction that he could surpass his present self had been forged through the battles he had fought thus far. After all, the fact that he had improved so dramatically through his mock battles with Vihera was undeniable.
That said, he had been able to grow so rapidly precisely because he had a formidable opponent like Vihera to spar against. Once Rei's group departed, how Zai would continue to improve would become the greatest problem of all.
"All I can tell you is to do your best. The Spirit Egg, huh... A troublesome thing to deal with right at the very end."
Those who had been listening nodded in agreement at Rei's murmured words.
Of course, it was precisely because the Spirit Egg existed that the Queen likely had not ravaged lands farther than necessary. But that was only from the Queen's perspective. For those who had been attacked by the Dragonias, their feelings were undoubtedly closer to bewilderment—Wait, what?
Afterward, they talked for a while, and once the conversation concluded, a feast was held to celebrate Rei's group's return.