Fantasy Galaxy: Why Are There Goblins and Orcs in Space? - Chapter 13

After the reconnaissance ship Gyogal fell back, the battle between the giant monster and the Orc fleet finally began. Watching the fight, Sario declared that he had figured out the true identity of the giant monster.

“This one’s a Threat Level 8 Armored Artillery Isogin.”

“What does a Threat Level of 8 mean?”

“It’s an indicator of the danger posed by a monster.”

[Threat Level 1] The weakest monsters; can be defeated by amateurs with weapons.

[Threat Level 2] Requires trained soldiers or Dragon Hunters to defeat.

[Threat Level 3] Possesses the combat power of a patrol boat class.

[Threat Level 4] Possesses the combat power of a fighter class.

[Threat Level 5] Possesses the combat power of a frigate class.

[Threat Level 6] Possesses the combat power of a destroyer class.

[Threat Level 7] Possesses the combat power of a cruiser class and can destroy small moons.

[Threat Level 8] Possesses the combat power of a battleship class and can destroy planets.

“That’s how it is.”

“So, there aren’t any monsters with a Threat Level of 9 or higher?”

“Not exactly. It’s said that there are very few monsters with a Threat Level of 9 or higher, and they can only be encountered in very special locations. They are beings unrelated to those like us.”

The Armored Artillery Isogin was a monster that could be recognized as gigantic even from a distance. Its armored shell resembled a massive turtle shell, with numerous openings of various sizes that served as artillery ports, from which it extended its artillery tentacles to target enemies.

These artillery tentacles moved like the tentacles of a sea anemone, shooting plasma projectiles at foes. During the battle with the Orc fleet, dozens of artillery tentacles slithered out from the armored shell and began attacking.

The plasma projectiles from the Armored Artillery Isogin glowed orange, and the sight of them flying toward the Orc fleet was both terrifying and beautiful. They flew like a meteor shower, crashing into the fleet.

Several ships were hit by plasma projectiles, resulting in explosions. Although no sound could be heard in the vacuum of space, the sight of the explosions creating holes in the hulls was chilling. The destructive power was staggering. The Orc fleet fought back desperately. Cruisers and space artillery ships fired their main charged particle cannons at the Armored Artillery Isogin.

Most of the shots bounced off the armored shell. However, some hit the writhing artillery tentacles and destroyed them. Unfortunately, the main force of the Orc fleet consisted of space artillery ships, which could not deal a fatal blow to the Armored Artillery Isogin.

The Orc fleet was overwhelmingly at a disadvantage. They gave up on counterattacks and focused on fleeing. Finally, they managed to escape the influence of stellar gravity. Each ship in the Orc fleet activated its temporal jump field generator, creating a temporal jump field and leaping into it.

Seeing the Orc fleet jump into temporal space, the Armored Artillery Isogin generated its own massive temporal jump field and jumped in as well.

“Now! Jump in there!”

I accelerated the small spacecraft. The enormous temporal jump field was beginning to shrink. Our speed, which was at Varch 3, accelerated to Varch 4, and then to Varch 5.

Will we make it? No, we must make it! I pushed the small spacecraft to its limits. The temporal jump field continued to shrink.

“Faster, faster!”

Sario’s voice came through the communicator. He seemed to be anxious as well. Just before the temporal jump field disappeared, the small spacecraft managed to leap in.

At that moment, I felt a sensation as if space was warping, and I felt nauseous. My head was spinning, and I could hardly think straight. I staggered back to the cockpit.

“I feel really sick. Why?”

I asked Sario.

“We successfully transitioned into temporal space. And you’re currently in a trans-temporal state. You’ll get used to it after experiencing a couple more jumps. Anyways, let’s activate the Luon Drive first.”

I felt another sensation as if my insides were twisting. I looked at the monitor showing the outside, but it was pitch black. Temporal space cannot be perceived by human vision or cameras, so it appears as a dark void. However, when looking out from the combat room, I could see what appeared to be stars twinkling in the dark thanks to my awakened Bosol sensitivity.

After two days, I had gotten used to it considerably. I didn’t experience it while on the Goblin ship because I had been forcibly put to sleep during the transition to temporal space.

“By the way, which star system are we heading to?”

“We’re going to the Serijoel Star System, which is about 3.4 light-years away from Gorgona.”

“Even traveling at light speed, it would still take about three and a half years. That’s quite far.”

“Since we’re moving through temporal space, we will arrive at Serijoel in about two days. However, that’s just the beginning.”

When returning from superluminal temporal space to normal space, local star system law dictates that one must return to normal space in regions far from inhabited planets. Violating this rule incurs heavy fines, so typically, one returns to normal space in the outer edges of a planetary system. The distance from there to the planet is far, and traveling in normal space takes time.

After two days passed, Sario began operating the Luon Drive.

“We’re about to return to normal space, so take your seat.”

“Understood.”

I sat down in the cockpit seat. As Sario operated the controls, the small spacecraft vibrated and returned to normal space.

Sario checked the surrounding stars and appeared relieved.

“There’s no doubt about it. This is the Serijoel Star System.”

Sario already briefed me regarding the Serijoel Star System. The inhabitants who dominate this star system are said to be intelligent beings resembling dwarves. They are short, with men having stocky bodies and thick beards.

“After goblins, it’s dwarves? What is going on in this universe?”

As I muttered to myself, Sario tilted his head.

“Huh? Is there something wrong with the dwarves?”

“No, nothing at all.”

“We’ll set the ship’s course toward Serijoel’s fourth planet.”

Sario selected the destination coordinates from the navigation system. The small spacecraft’s thrusters fired, making a significant course change.

Once the course was adjusted, it was my turn. Moving to the combat room, I opened the power conduit control gate at level 1, absorbed Bosol particles and Celestial wave force energy, and accelerated the small spacecraft with that power. Having reached the desired speed, I stopped accelerating the ship and returned to the cockpit from the combat room.

“By the way, the Zen’s Celestial wave force energy drive is amazing, isn’t it? Even top-tier mages probably can’t do this.”

The Celestial wave force energy drive taught to me by the Celestial race member Zorofiene is said to be highly efficient. There seems to be almost no loss, allowing for nearly all of the Celestial wave force energy to be converted into propulsion.

By the way, when an ordinary mage uses a Celestial wave force energy drive, they cannot convert even one-tenth of the absorbed Celestial wave force energy into propulsion. The Celestial race’s method is extraordinarily efficient.

“Speaking of which, I haven’t asked why you chose the Serijoel Star System as our destination yet.”

“I want to sell the equipment we recovered from the Gorgona Star System to raise some funds.”

I placed my hand on the back of my neck.

“Before raising those funds, can’t we remove this conditioning terminal first?”

“We’ll need Krebit for that. First and foremost, raising funds is the priority.”

Krebit is the currency unit used in the Space Alliance. From what I’ve heard, it seems to have purchasing power similar to Japanese Yen, but I can’t determine if that’s accurate just yet.

It can’t be helped. Without funds, it seems we can’t remove the conditioning terminals.

I directed the small spacecraft toward the fourth planet, using Celestial wave force energy to accelerate once again.

It took four days for the small spacecraft, having returned to normal space at the outer edge of the Serijoel Star System, to reach the vicinity of the fourth planet.

There were several space stations around the fourth planet, Joel, and our small spacecraft docked at one of them.

Since Sario was originally an official citizen of the Space Alliance, his personal identification data, such as his genes and iris patterns, remained recorded on his home planet.

By cross-referencing that personal identification data with Sario’s genetic information, it is possible to determine whether he really is a citizen. Therefore, only Sario entered the space station and applied for the reissuance of his ID card.

Many people possess their Space Alliance identification as a physical card. There is also a method of embedding it in the body, but many dislike that option.

It took three days for them to reissue Sario’s ID card. The verification of personal identification data took time.

Once Sario obtained his ID card, he registered with the Dragon Slayer Guild and became a Dragon Slayer himself. This organization is similar to an adventurer’s guild and has a system for purchasing various materials and items.

Sario registered to sell the equipment and materials we managed to procure. While he could have sold it to other companies, there are some that would try to undercut amateurs, making the Dragon Slayer Guild more trustworthy.

We sold the eight charged particle beam cannons for 45 million Krebit. Normally, this amount would be enough for two people to get by for several years, but operating a small spacecraft requires quite a bit of money.

That 45 million Krebit would likely disappear fairly quickly. In fact, just docking the small spacecraft at the space station incurs a cost of about 50,000 Krebit per day. Without the deferred payment option, we wouldn’t even have been able to dock at the space station.