“What kind of ship is approaching?”
“It’s huge.”
Sonya displayed the spacecraft approaching on the main monitor. It was a battleship, approximately 250 meters in length.
“That’s a destroyer, isn’t it? And it’s not sending any identification signals.”
Hearing that, I felt like clicking my tongue in frustration.
“Is it one of Melora’s allies? Should we run?”
“Do you think we can take down a destroyer, Zen?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. A destroyer’s barriers are probably too strong. Our best bet is to escape.”
Sario nodded in agreement.
“Before we run, we need to do the final check on the Spacetime Jump Field Generator.”
The final check involved activating the Spacetime Jump Field Generator while stationary to ensure the field was properly generated. Sario started the self-check system of the generator and ran the test. Finding no issues, he activated it. In the next moment, a hyperspace jump field appeared 15 kilometers ahead of the Lunadagger. Sario inspected the field using several instruments.
“No problems. A proper hyperspace jump field has been generated.”
This meant we could enter hyperspace without needing a jump ring. All that was left was to reach Birch-1 speed to escape.
With the final check of the Spacetime Jump Field Generator complete, we were ready to move.
“So, does this mean that Spacetime Jump Field Generator is now worth 600 billion Krebits? Impressive.”
“But I’m absolutely against selling it.”
“I know. If we let it go, we’ll never get it back.”
Sario nodded.
“Would it have been better to ask Zolfienne to teach us how to make a Spacetime Jump Field Generator?”
“That’s being too greedy. You don’t want to make Zolfienne angry.”
“True. The Spacetime Jump Field Generator is special.”
“Since the final check is done, let’s run.”
“Please use the Heavenly wave Drive.”
“Already worried about fuel?”
“We used a lot during the fight with the pirate ship. We need to conserve it.”
“Understood.”
I headed to the combat room and accelerated the Lunadagger in the opposite direction of the pursuing pirate ship. The destroyer, already at a considerable speed, was overwhelmingly faster than the Lunadagger, which was accelerating from zero.
“If this continues, we’ll be caught. We need to reach Birch-1 as quickly as possible and jump into hyperspace.”
To enter hyperspace, we needed to reach Birch-1 speed, which was 0.1% of the speed of light. The pursuing destroyer began its attack. Its main cannon appeared to be a 20-light-radius charged particle cannon. Since the destroyer was firing from outside its effective range, the plasma shots were missing by a wide margin. However, as time passed, the aim became more accurate. The distance between the Lunadagger and the destroyer was closing. The sense of urgency grew, and Sario asked if we could accelerate further.
“We can, but will Sonya be able to handle it?”
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The Lunadagger didn’t have an inertial dampening system. Sudden acceleration would generate G-forces, pushing everyone on board backward. I was worried whether young Sonya could withstand the G-forces.
“I understand your concern, Zen, but if we get hit, we’ll all die.”
“Got it. I’ll increase acceleration if things get dangerous.”
I knew it wasn’t the best solution, considering Sonya’s safety, but it was the only choice. Just as the destroyer was about to enter its effective firing range, its acceleration stopped.
“Sario, do you know why it stopped accelerating?”
I asked Sario over the comms.
“Probably because it’s running low on fuel. A proper destroyer should have propulsion methods that don’t require fuel, but when it fell into pirate hands, those systems were likely removed.”
Fuel-free propulsion methods include acceleration field generators, which work on the same principle as the Heavenly wave Drive, and gravity engines that use artificial gravity. Without these, a spacecraft must constantly monitor its fuel reserves. Just as I thought we might escape, two objects emerged from the destroyer.
“Zen, those are small fighter crafts.”
“They’re persistent.”
“They’re probably seeking revenge for their comrades.”
I clicked my tongue as the fighters approached. A destroyer with barriers was tough enough, but agile fighters were also a formidable challenge. The issue was whether we could hit the fast-moving fighters. The basic technique of tactical magic, which relied on visual aiming, wasn’t suited for long-range sniping. But if the fighters got too close, they’d attack with laser guns and space cannons.
“Overthinking won’t help.”
I decided to attack while praying for a hit. I halted the Heavenly wave Drive and told Sario to use the engines for acceleration. I fired enhanced particle-piercing bullets at the approaching fighters. Hitting a small fighter in the vastness of space was incredibly difficult. As expected, I missed. I considered using the Strike Dagger, but guiding it to hit a fighter the size of a speck was nearly impossible.
The two fighters increased their speed and closed in. Then, they began firing their laser guns. While small-caliber laser guns could take down another fighter, it was difficult to destroy a ship as large as the Lunadagger unless they hit critical areas like the engines. The lasers struck the Lunadagger’s hull, emitting bursts of light. In that instant, the Lunadagger shuddered. Being a military vessel, the Lunadagger had enough durability to withstand this level of laser fire. Still, I couldn’t help wishing we had a barrier at a time like this. Since there was still some distance between us, the attack was limited to laser guns. In battles between warships flying at high speeds in space, space autocannons wouldn’t hit their mark unless the ships got much closer.
Another tremor ran through the Lunadagger’s hull. I stopped firing the enhanced particle-piercing bullets and switched to firing standard particle-piercing bullets in rapid succession. Thanks to my training, I had reduced the time it took to fire a single particle-piercing bullet to about 0.5 seconds. Taking advantage of this, I continued to spray particle-piercing bullets toward the rear. The scattered bullets flew toward the fighters, but none of them hit their mark. The reason was the low accuracy of the basic skill, [Particle Shot – Piercing bullet]. I decided to discuss this issue with Sario.
“If we compare it to space cannons, it’s like having low-quality targeting systems. The basic technique prioritizes rapid fire over accuracy.”
If it’s a matter of the basic performance of a fundamental skill, then the only option is to modify it and create a new magical technique. However, that would require a long period of research and effort, which is why I hadn’t tackled it yet. The fighters were getting closer. It seemed they had realized that their laser guns alone wouldn’t be enough to take us down and were trying to close the distance to within effective range of their space autocannons. However, if they got that close, the probability of my particle-piercing bullets hitting them would also increase. I scattered another volley of particle-piercing bullets, and the last one struck one of the fighters. The round seemed to have pierced the fighter’s engine, causing it to explode spectacularly.
“Yay! Zen, you’re amazing!”
Sonya’s voice came through the communicator. Shortly after, the other fighter jet closed in, so I scattered another round of particle-piercing shots and took it down as well. Sonya’s cheers echoed through the communicator again.
“Zen, we’ve almost reached Birch 1 speed. Please return to the cockpit.”
I hurried back to the cockpit and strapped myself into my seat. Checking the monitor, I saw that the destroyer was closing in, almost within effective firing range. The moment the Lunadagger accelerated to Birch 1 speed, the transition space jump field activated, and we plunged into transition space. I could see Sario, who was piloting, let out a deep breath.
“Looks like we got away. They won’t be able to follow us now.”
Most of the pirate-owned warships didn’t have transition space jump field generators, so the only way for them to enter transition space was by using jump rings.
After experiencing transition space a few times, I had grown accustomed to the peculiar, warping sensation. Sonya, too, seemed to have gotten used to it after our long journey. After traveling through transition space for about two days, the Lunadagger returned to the planet Chiratia and then headed for the fifth planet, Volan. Although this journey had its dangers, we had acquired something incredible—a starship. With this, we could freely travel the starry worlds. Expanding our range of activity would not only help in our search for Earth but might also allow us to do something about Sario’s wish to save the Kushi tribe. As I gazed at the floating, enigmatic planet Volan in the vastness of space, I felt a strange sense of nostalgia.
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