Chapter 6: Preparations, Princess, and Night Cruising
With the addition of Dokken to the Kawashima app, many people within the company were able to maintain their reputations with children, relatives, and friends. The adventurers’ reviews were also surprisingly positive. And it seems the children’s reviews of the manga and cards were excellent as well.
The tournaments held on weekends were crowded with many people, and the stock of starter decks made in large quantities was dangerously low. Of course, there were stores that were diverting booster packs to resellers, but those stores were all blacklisted and dropped from the next shipment on some pretext. For a while, it was uncertain how things would turn out…but with help from various people, everything managed to progress smoothly in the end.
And the busier things got, the more preparations were needed for the next steps, as Princess had said.
So, in our spare time during the hectic schedule, we would occasionally head to the old factory where Kawashima Trading Company was originally located to repair the broken battle robot Third Eye, and select and manufacture personal barrier and life support equipment. This was because we intended to go into space on the pirate ship Psycho Dragon before launching the resource mining ship Kawashima One.
The last time we went into space, we only briefly checked the situation, so we hadn’t yet confirmed the conditions in the area Kawashima One would be traveling. And to venture into space, we had to be prepared for anything, which is why we were making these detailed preparations bit by bit.
“This ring-type life support device? Which is more powerful, this or the one I have from the Galactic Police?”
In the nostalgic factory where I built Third Eye, I asked Mars while holding up a ring that came out of a space production machine to my eye.
“Obviously the Galactic Police one. That’s for rugged use, while the ring is for civilian use.”
“So I should wear this one?”
As I said that and took out the headphone-type life support device I always wore when going into dungeons…Mars glanced at it and wagged her tail.
“Wear both. You could even put the rings on both hands if you want.”
“Is that allowed?”
“Absolutely. The most important thing when going into space is surviving.”
“Surviving is important.”
As Mars and Sierra said that, I put the ring on my right hand, even though I wasn’t actually going into space today. Well, it apparently has a simple barrier function too, so it’s a useful item to have.
“Should we get necklace types for Mars and Sierra? There are also ear cuff types, but I guess those wouldn’t work?”
“I’m not good with putting stuff on my ears. And for Sierra, the ear cuffs might fall off when she takes human form.”
“Good point. Should you put the necklace on now, Mars?”
When I held out the necklace-like life support device, he shook his head.
“Nah, I’m good for now…it would strain my neck.”
As he said that, he rolled his shoulders around. Usually Mars and Sierra just wear a cloth around their necks like a wallet or key case.
“Oh, did we need to make any weapons?”
“I was planning to for myself. But you don’t need one, do you Tonbo? You have that illegal gun as a last resort.”
“Well, about that…if we’re getting weapons, I’d want something cooler.”
I wanted things like a mechanical blaster or a laser sword. But to those fanciful thoughts, the former sailor Mars gave a very realistic response:
“An untrained person with a deadly weapon is just likely to hurt themselves or get it taken away by the enemy. Do you really think you could pull the trigger on a person, Tonbo?”
“Well, when you put it like that…”
While I could probably fight dragons, giant snakes, and the like, I didn’t have much confidence in shooting a human being.
“You’ve got Sierra as a bodyguard anyway, so just leave it to her.”
“…Well Sierra, do you want a weapon?”
“I want one.”
The self-proclaimed infiltration homunculus raised her fluffy arms as she said that. She did seem to take down monsters with ease in the dungeon, so maybe I don’t need a weapon if she’s around.
“I guess a melee weapon then, since guns probably won’t work for you.”
“Gun, I know, from games.”
Sierra moved her little hands in motions like firing a gun, but it’s probably best to stick to melee weapons. I selected a shock baton that transforms from a ring in the production machine’s catalog and placed the order. Since it’s designed to be worn, it’s probably just for self-defense, so even if I accidentally hit myself with it, I won’t die.
“Let’s see, what else…”
“Wouldn’t a universal translator be good for Tonbo? I’m sure Princess can modify the data.”
“Good idea. And then…”
“Food rations!”
“What’s that?”
When Sierra raised her hand energetically and said an unfamiliar word, she clarified with “food”. She’s right, that is important.
“Well, as long as I’m around we’ll be fine, but we do have emergency survival packs for drifting just in case…”
“They have those in space too?”
We have plenty of materials, and at worst I could just store food in my junk yard so it won’t spoil, so I placed more orders. Well, it’s questionable how useful it will be if we actually confront a real space military, but…at least we’ll be prepared.
And it wasn’t until fall that we finally finished all the preparations we had been squeezing into our busy schedules.
On a full moon night when the silver grass growing in the corner of the parking lot swayed in the wind, we stood in the parking lot of the old Kawashima headquarters.
“Everyone, make sure you’re ready at the factory.”
“Got it!”
“Okay!”
“Alright, I’m deploying it.”
With Princess’s words, as optical camouflage and sound dampening measures were activated in the parking lot, the Psycho Dragon that had been waiting in space began descending.
Although, thanks to the ship’s own stealth functions…even standing right next to it, the only signs of the massive object coming down from the sky were a subtle wind and faint sound.
Seeing the pirate ship Psycho Dragon suddenly reveal itself the moment Princess opened the hatch, I was again reminded of just how incredibly advanced Mars and Princess’s home civilization is. And next to me, the dog-like Sierra was standing there, mouth agape, gazing up at the Psycho Dragon.
“It’s fluffy.”
Sierra, settling into the fourth seat on the Psycho Dragon’s main bridge that she hadn’t been to in a while, seemed delighted as she said that and wiggled her butt around.
“Captain, should I register Sierra as a crewmember?”
“Eh? Oh, am I the captain…yeah, register her.”
“Touch the tablet then.”
“Understood.”
As I touched the tablet showing indecipherable text in front of me, the red letters changed to green. I guess that registered Sierra as a crewmember.
“Alright, let’s go up.”
With Princess’s casual words, the Psycho Dragon gently lifted off. Before I knew it, we had pierced through the clouds and were instantly floating in the sea of stars. On the bridge monitor was the glowing blue Earth, which Sierra stared at openmouthed.
“Where is this?”
“This is space.”
“Above the sky.”
“Above?”
“Way up there.”
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Sierra tilted her head, but the Psycho Dragon’s atmospheric exit was probably too fast for the sensation to really hit her. To be honest, while this was my second time, I didn’t really feel like I was in space either.
“Captain, firing radar.”
“Go ahead.”
Waves spread out from the Psycho Dragon’s position, indicated by an arrow-like shape, on the spherical map displayed from the ceiling of the bridge.
“Huh?”
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s something pretty close by…but it’s not returning the radar signature.”
“Could it be debris?”
“No, it’s registering as a ship, but not sending out a signal…”
As I listened to their conversation and looked at the map, there did seem to be a ship-like shape displayed a short distance away.
“Well, they probably can’t detect us in stealth mode, but it is odd they’re not returning the radar ping. Where is that exactly? Within the solar system?”
“No, a bit further out than that.”
Mars said, zooming out the map. It did seem to be a little outside the solar system’s range.
“Well, let’s not worry about making contact for now. It would just cause trouble if they came at us unprovoked.”
“Good point. It could just be a drifting derelict ship or something.”
Earth’s civilization still can’t even reach other stars in the same system, so making unwarranted contact could invite unforeseen circumstances. If they’re not bothering us, it’s best to leave them alone.
“Should we do a loop around from the moon to the asteroid belt for now?”
“Roger that.”
Under Princess’s control, the Psycho Dragon swiftly approached the moon, circled around it, and then headed off towards Mars.
“Whoa…the moon’s color looks totally different from Earth.”
“Crumbly.”
“Those are called craters.”
With hardly time to take in the receding sight of Earth and the moon, Mars was rapidly drawing near. …Wait, aren’t Earth and Mars supposed to be billions of kilometers apart?
“Isn’t this a little fast?”
“Huh? Is it? It’s just the next planet over.”
“Well, this is a pirate ship, so its acceleration and top speed are pretty high. If a normal ship is like a train, then over short distances we can go around the speed of a bullet train. It’s a high-speed combat craft for minimal crew, so life support is minimal too.”
Princess gave a concise, easy-to-understand explanation, but that’s not what I meant.
“No, I mean, we can just casually go to Mars like this?”
“If we couldn’t go this easily, I wouldn’t suggest an evening trip just because tomorrow is a day off.”
“Night cruising!”
It seemed the vastness of space was many times smaller than I had imagined for their civilization. Though as I was thinking these unnecessary thoughts…Sierra had been glued to the front monitor this whole time, wagging her tail as she gazed out at the view of space.
Maybe I shouldn’t have thought too deeply, and just enjoyed it like she did. With my elbow propped on my knee supporting my chin, Mars turned her body toward me from her diagonal seat, pointing at the planet Mars.
“Tonbo, that star is named after me, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right. Mars is the English name for the red planet.”
And the name is also what a certain man named his cat. Well, it’s not like I dislike that sense itself though…
After circling around the powerful Mars, the Psycho Dragon then entered the main asteroid belt beyond it. This is the region between Mars and Jupiter where most of the asteroids in the solar system are said to congregate, a place the Kawashima-One plans to eventually visit.
“Doesn’t seem like there are any dangerous lifeforms around here.”
“Yeah, this area of space doesn’t seem to have any lifeforms at all. It’s totally desolate.”
When I was a child, I had hoped space would be inhabited by space monsters…but now I’m just relieved there aren’t any space monsters here. In the real world, there are no giants coming to defeat them.
“Well, according to the plan, the resource mining ships will come here first to collect whatever rocks or whatever they can find…”
“If we’re going treasure hunting, we at least need a treasure map. No point sending ships out to just bring back random rocks.”
I gazed absentmindedly at the asteroid belt while listening to Princess and Mars’s conversation.
The more I looked, the more amazing space seemed. The sheer ridiculous vastness, the desolation like another world, the fathomless depths of darkness stretching on endlessly – I was simply overwhelmed.
“Tonbo, what’s up?”
“Space is just…kind of terrifying, you know?”
“Ah, everyone thinks that at first when they leave a planet behind.”
“Did Mars think that too?”
“I did, I did. Like ‘Whoa, it’s so dark out here.'”
The cat Mars said, twitching her ears as she looked up at the ceiling.
“But eventually, you start thinking the opposite – that the planet you lived on before was too bright.”
“Is that how it is, ……? ”
“That’s the way it is. Some sailors are more at home in the quiet of space than down on the stars.”
“Really…?”
As I tilted my head, Princess turned to face me from the front seat, resting her arm on the backrest.
“Of course not. Ship crew are people suited for that kind of work. I think for actual living, planets are better, especially naturally habitable ones.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
Hearing that, I felt reassured for some reason. The thought of living somewhere this desolate for good didn’t fill me with confidence.
That said, during summer break my first year of college, there were times I never left my room except for my part-time job…The idea of turning my own ship into a room-like state and having that be my workplace was strangely appealing in its own way.
“…Oh, I found a good one!”
“Princess, you found something?”
“Yeah, there’s a good amount of resources in this area of space. A lot that are too big to bring back, but…there are a few that seem a good size.”
“That’s a relief. Well, worst case we can always go further out to another asteroid cluster if we need more.”
Mars said with a relaxed stretch.
That day we just surveyed the area around the moon, Mars, and the main asteroid belt before heading back to our quarters before the day changed. Just as Princess said, it was an easy-going space cruise around the night sky.
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