Fantasy Galaxy: Why Are There Goblins and Orcs in Space? - Chapter 3

“There’s no way we can fight such a monster.”

Hearing that, Sario laughed.

“We won’t be fighting barehanded. We’ll be using powered suits called ‘Mobile Armor’ to battle.”

However, it seemed that the Mobile Armor manufactured by the goblin tribe was of the lowest rank.

“Is that Mobile Armor thing easy to use?”

“No, it requires rigorous training. You’re actually gonna start training to pilot it next.”

Sario brought out an actual Mobile Armor. Its appearance resembled the white-armored soldiers from a space war movie I had seen on TV. A person wearing that Mobile Armor could exert about three times their normal power. For example, even at fifty-five years old, I would be able to jump over one hundred twenty centimeters in a vertical leap. Of course, that’s assuming the environmental conditions were the same as Earth’s.

However, the Mobile Armor provided to us seemed to be a modified version of the training equipment manufactured by the goblins. The genuine Mobile Armor is said to enhance power by at least eight times.

Attached to the back is a thruster pack for moving in zero-gravity space. It’s about the size of a small backpack and can continuously expel thrust for about twenty minutes.

“Now, let’s try putting it on.”

First, I donned the space suit called the ‘Biosuit.’ It was a full-body suit that fit snugly, preventing my body from ballooning in a zero-pressure environment.

Then, with Sario’s guidance, I put on the Mobile Armor. It seemed to have size adjustment functions, so there was no issue with fitting. I activated it using the switch located at the waist of the Mobile Armor. Words appeared on the transparent armor lens in front of me. It seemed to be checking the startup status.

Finally, the message ‘Check complete, no abnormalities’ was displayed. I relayed that to Sario.

“Alright, let’s start training to move in a gravity environment.”

The new training course began. This Mobile Armor senses the user’s movements and amplifies their strength threefold. Because of that, I fell over multiple times. The fact that the Mobile Armor weighs about thirty kilograms was also a contributing factor.

“Haah… whoa!”

I collapsed after running about fifteen kilometers while still wearing the Mobile Armor and couldn’t get back up.

“Zen, you’re putting in too much effort. The Mobile Armor is here to support you, so you don’t need to exert that much strength.”

Until now, I had been called Banatsu, but having grown closer to Sario, I was now being addressed by my actual name.

“Haah… it’s not my fault; I’m just not used to this.”

“We don’t have time. At this rate, you’ll lose your life to those space jellyfish.”

“But even if I get stronger, there’s no way I can take down a space jellyfish that’s ten meters long. What weapons will we use anyway?”

“A space machine gun.”

In Gapanese, it meant a machine gun that can be fired in a zero-pressure environment, but it seems the language module in my head translated it as ‘space machine gun’ instead.

“You mean that kind of machine gun? The one that fires bullets using gunpowder?”

“That’s right.”

The machine gun, despite being called a space machine gun, was not like the ones found on Earth; it has been modified for outer space use.

“But bullets are so small. Can we really take down a gigantic space jellyfish with something like that?”

“The bullets of the space machine gun use explosive rounds. When they hit, they explode, so if we aim for the core of the space jellyfish, we can take it down.”

“I see. But I thought we might be using something more advanced than just a machine gun.”

“There are such weapons, but they’re expensive, so the goblin tribe won’t let subordinate soldiers like us use them.”

I asked Sario how advanced the goblin tribe’s technology was.

He explained the levels of civilization in this region, using Gapanese, which was the official language here. When converted to an alphabet tiering system, it roughly looks like this:

Level G: Civilizations that have not ventured into space

Level F: Civilizations that have ventured into space but have done little in terms of space development (Earth)

Level E: Civilizations that are developing other planets but cannot travel between stars on their own

Level D: Civilizations that have developed low-level interstellar travel methods and control multiple star systems

Level C: Civilizations that have developed advanced interstellar travel methods and control hundreds of star systems

Level B: Powerful civilizations that control over ten thousand star systems

Level A: Civilizations that operate throughout the galaxy but cannot reach other galaxies

Level S: Civilizations that operate all throughout the galaxy and are capable of traveling to other galaxies (the Celestial Gods)

Earth corresponds to Level F. The Celestial Gods have established a rule that civilizations Level F and below cannot be interfered with as they are considered intelligent life forms that should be protected. Normally, the goblin tribe would be punished for using someone like me, an Earthling, as a subordinate, but they seem to think they can get away with it due to the vastness of space.

“So, the goblin tribe is at Level D? They’re more impressive than they look.”

Sario shook his head in denial. This gesture was similar to that of an Earthling’s.

“No, no. The goblin tribe is at Level E. They can’t build their own spaceships capable of interstellar travel.”

“Then how do they have access to faster-than-light travel?”

It seems they either buy devices from species that possess FTL technology or use services that offer FTL travel.

I continued my training, and once I became adept at moving in a gravitational environment, I began training to move in zero gravity. After mastering that, I moved on to training where I would fight against orc-type robots while wearing the Mobile Armor.

Days of such training passed, and I finally reached the stage where I could train with actual weapons. However, I was not provided with real ammunition; instead, I trained with guns loaded with blanks. I also practiced using a simulator.

As a result of all this training, I had become surprisingly agile for my age of fifty-five.

“But why would they want to make someone my age into a soldier?” I asked Sario.

“For a human like Zen, living up to three hundred years is normal, so being in your fifties is still quite young.”

Here, it seems that being in your fifties was considered young. However, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the dark syndicate that sold me to the goblin race definitely scammed them. They must have known that my aging had progressed quite a bit when they did their research.

I had become capable of winning about half the time against monsters like the space jellyfish and the monster known as the “Fang Ball,” which resembles a giant pill bug. The Fang Ball was a four-meter-long creature that approaches and bites its prey to death.

“Another day of combat simulation, huh?”

“Are we still gonna be doing this?”

“Orders from the commander.”

“Ugh, fine.”

I donned only my biosuit and entered the simulator. The inside of this simulator was dome-shaped, about five meters in diameter, displaying lifelike three-dimensional images.

Suddenly, the surroundings transformed into outer space. I was floating in space, clad in my Mobile Armor. I held a space machine gun and was approaching an asteroid. Out of nowhere, a space jellyfish leaped out from behind the asteroid.

I aimed my space machine gun, searching for the core of the space jellyfish. Inside its squishy, six-meter-wide body, a red sphere floated. That was the core of the space jellyfish. I pulled the trigger, aiming for that core.

I couldn’t hear any sound, but I felt the vibrations of the space machine gun. Apparently, the simulator was sending weak electrical currents to my body to create this illusion.

The moment I shattered the core of the space jellyfish, I felt a wave of relief wash over me, and I relaxed my tension. That was a mistake. A Fang Ball suddenly emerged from behind the space jellyfish and lunged at me.

“Whoa!”

Its massive mouth clamped down on my head. In that instant, everything went dark, and alarms blared. The lights turned on, and I heard Sario’s voice.

“You’ve died. Don’t let your guard down.”

Sighing, I turned my face toward the camera that Sario was watching.

As the training in the simulator continued, I became capable of reliably defeating Space Clione, Space Jellyfish, and Fang Balls. By the time we arrived at the Gorgona star system aboard the supply ship Braba, I had improved significantly.

The supply ship Braba had apparently traveled faster than light several times during the journey, but we had been asleep in sleep capsules, so I had no idea what happened during that time.

The third planet of the Gorgona star system was under the control of the orc race, while the fifth planet was under the goblin race’s control. The supply ship Braba approached the fifth planet and docked at the space station controlled by the goblin race.

Sario and I infiltrated the supply ship Braba’s information network to sneak a peek at the state of the environment outside. We were using the simulator as our tool for this.

I couldn’t get a mobile device since the lower-class citizens weren’t allowed to have one, so I used the simulator’s communication function to infiltrate the supply ship’s information network. It seemed Sario was quite knowledgeable about information technology. By the way, my smartphone was gone. It was probably discarded.

On the 3D display, a brown planet and a six-hundred-meter-long space battleship were projected against a backdrop of a starry sea shining in the pitch-black void. That battleship was said to be the flagship of the goblin race.

“So, this is the Gorgona star system. We’re going to fight here, huh?”

“That’s right. There should be monsters on the planet as well.”