5 Sario’s return and the new ship
Three days after I was discharged from the hospital, Sario returned. Behind him as he entered the guest tower room stood a young girl from the Kushi tribe.
“Zen, you look like you’ve gotten younger, don’t you?”
Sario tilted his head as he looked at me and spoke. I hadn’t expected that to be the first thing he’d say.
“I underwent a longevity treatment. More importantly, who’s that girl?”
Sario’s face darkened.
“This is my younger sister, Sonya. She’s the only family I have left.”
Seeing the sadness on Sario and Sonya’s faces, I didn’t know what to say to comfort them.
“…I see. It must have been tough.”
“She’s my last family. I want Sonya to be happy.”
“Yeah. I’ll help too. By the way, why did the war start between the Korad star and the Goblin Empire of Gonuva?”
“The Goblins set a trap. A military ship disguised as a transport vessel entered the Korad star system, caused trouble, and clashed with the space fleet.”
The Goblins claimed their transport ship was attacked without provocation, and the issue escalated into a full-blown war. The Kushi tribe desperately tried to prevent the war, but the Goblins charged ahead and eventually declared war.
“Did the Space Alliance do nothing?”
“Once the war started, the Space Alliance dispatched a mediation force. But they were too late.”
“Too late?”
“Before the mediation force arrived, the Goblins had already taken control of Korad’s main planet, Zilta.”
The war was still ongoing, but the planet Zilta had already been incorporated into the Gonuva Empire. Based on this fact, the Goblin tribe claimed that the war in the Korad star system was a civil war. The Space Alliance Army had a law stating that they would not interfere in civil wars. The Goblins took advantage of this. Although the Space Alliance did not immediately accept this, as time passed, all the planets in the Korad star system were eventually subdued. By the time things had progressed this far, the fact that the Kushi tribe had been taken hostage also meant that the mediation forces could do nothing. And so, effectively, the Gonuva Empire of the Goblin tribe took control of the Korad star.
“We Kushi will definitely take back Korad.”
“That’s the spirit. I’ll lend my strength too. But I’m not sure what to do.”
“First, I want to find a safe place for the Kushi to live.”
“How many Kushi survived?”
“About thirty million managed to escape the Goblins.”
“That’s a lot—no, considering there were originally billions, it’s actually few. What about the planet Rodar in the Talitar system? Isn’t it a safe haven?”
“Talitar is too close to our home star. If we try to prepare forces to take it back, the Goblins will find out quickly.”
Sonya, Sario’s sister, was staring at me intently.
“Uncle, are you a Dragon Hunter?”
“Yeah.”
“Cool. I want to be a Dragon Hunter too.”
Hearing this, Sario laughed.
“Why do you want to be a Dragon Hunter?”
“To get strong and defeat the Goblins.”
Even little Sonya harbored anger toward the Goblins. It was only natural, given that her parents and siblings had been killed. Sario and I caught up on what had happened during our time apart.
“Wait, you were demoted from Rank C back to Rank D?”
“Yeah. It’s unfair, isn’t it? It wasn’t even my fault.”
Sario shrugged.
“But there were casualties, so it couldn’t be helped.”
After discussing the past, we started talking about the future.
“Zen, you’re thinking of buying a spaceship right?”
“Yeah. But I don’t have enough funds for a proper Dragon Hunter warship.”
I’d sold the Dragon Orb and remains from defeating the Mother Queen Spider for 23 billion credits. Without a ship, it’s inconvenient to travel to other planets, so I planned to use that money to buy one.
Speaking of which, Regina mentioned she’d sell the contents of the Dimensional Pendant she got from defeating Zedeggar to buy the powered armor she’d always wanted. Had she already bought it? Oh, right, we were talking about ships.
“How much do you have?”
“About 30 billion total, but after modifications, I can probably spend 25 billion credits.”
Hearing this, Sario and Sonya were stunned.
“Dragon Hunters really make money.”
“I almost died, though.”
Sario sighed.
“Zen is still the same, isn’t he? How were you planning to pilot the ship?”
“I’ve started studying for the Class 2 Spaceship Pilot license. I’m about to begin simulation training. But now that you’re back, maybe I don’t need to.”
Sario had obtained a Class 2 Spaceship Pilot license during his long journey home.
“It’s not a waste. You should still get the license.”
“Maybe you’re right. I’ll keep going.”
Sario and Sonya planned to stay at a nearby hotel. I would’ve been fine with them staying with me like before, but with Sonya here, they decided to look for a separate room. I focused on getting my Class 2 license and succeeded eight days later. Then, Sario, Regina, and I discussed our next steps and decided to head to the planet Zolda. Regina suggested it because Zolda has a large used ship market where we might find a good ship. She remembered I wanted a ship and helped search for one.
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Sario, Sonya, and I boarded a passenger ship headed for Zolda. Regina wanted to come but couldn’t because she had to take care of her younger siblings. I hadn’t known she had siblings.
The used ship market on Zolda is located around the moon of its third planet, Fenyas. Numerous small space stations floated around it, with used ships docked nearby. Countless used ships were also scattered on Fenyas’ surface.
“Wow, ships everywhere!”
Sonya exclaimed in awe at the sight. She’s a cute, straightforward girl who quickly warmed up to me. When our passenger ship arrived at the central space station, we headed to a rental shop and rented a four-seater ultra-small spacecraft to tour the sales shops. Each small space station was an independent used ship dealership. We visited three shops but didn’t find anything we liked.
“Zen, most of the ships here are cargo or passenger vessels.”
“Seems like it. No warships in sight.”
We’d chosen the larger shops in the market, but none had ships suitable for Dragon Hunters. At the third shop, I asked the clerk if there were any places selling warships. The clerk, a Human with bright red eyes, replied.
“Well, if there are any, it’d be the smaller shops on Fenyas. Those places sometimes sell salvaged warships after repairs.”
We landed on Fenyas in our ultra-small spacecraft. Sario searched the local network for shops selling warships.
“I checked the moon’s network. There are two shops with some in stock.”
“Great, let’s check them out.”
The first shop had a 300-meter-long destroyer built by a Level E civilization, requiring a crew of about fifty.
“No good.”
“This won’t work.”
Sonya tilted her head.
“Why not?”
“We can’t gather fifty crew members. Plus, it’s not suited for Dragon Hunters.”
The first shop was a bust, so we headed to the second. The shop was in an old building with a long history. The owner looked to be in his sixties but was probably over two hundred years old.
“Customers, what kind of ship are you looking for?”
The owner, named Melora, was a Human with the same red eyes as the clerk.
“If you have any warships, we’d like to see them.”
“Oh ho, a warship? Are you Dragon Hunters?”
“Yes.”
Melora led us to where the warship was docked. Sonya stayed in the shop while Sario and I, clad in spacesuits, followed. The surface of Fenyas was a sandy desert with fine grains of sand. We flew over it in the shop’s hovercar toward the warship. The ship was a 130-meter-long corvette. It lacked a temporal jump field generator and a Luon Drive, but its structure was that of a warship.
In the space fleet, ships are ranked by armament: scout ships, corvettes, frigates, destroyers, cruisers, and battleships. A corvette is more heavily armed than a scout ship. By the way, corvettes and frigates are sometimes called simply “corvette” or “frigate” without the “ship.”
“How many crew members are needed to operate this ship?”
“Five.”
That’s manageable. But the ship seemed expensive. I asked for the price.
“This warship is 60 billion credits. That’s the bare minimum.”
All I could do was sigh. Sario turned to Melora.
“That’s too high. Do you have any other warships?”
“Wait. This corvette is equipped with a 12-light caliber particle cannon and an 8-light caliber laser cannon. It’s not overpriced.”
“Unfortunately, it’s still over budget.”
When I said that, Melora made a dissatisfied face.
“I see. However, other combat ships are more expensive than corvettes. Wait, there’s one ship that’s cheaper.”
I leaned forward.
“What is it?”
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