novelraw Chapter 26 : Used Ship Listings
Chapter 26 : Used Ship Listings
「Center Head, why was I called in?」
Regina asked.
「Ah, a Toryū Ryōhei named Gimeru filed a report stating that you ignored the Guild's warning, continued hunting, encountered the Urufado, and were killed - so I wanted to confirm the situation.」
Hearing that, Regina's eyes sharpened with fury.
「Those bastards……they were the ones who insisted on continuing the hunt.」
I turned my gaze toward Regina.
「You'd be better off cutting ties with people like that.」
「I intend to.」
Our meeting with the Center Head concluded, and I updated my Toryū Ryōhei card to officially become Rank C. From there I headed to the Purchasing Department to request disassembly and buyout of the Tyrant Dragon Belgona and the Black Beast Urufado.
The Tyrant Dragon Belgona's Ryūju - a core component for Isō Boxes - and its hide fetched high prices, totaling roughly 2.1 billion Credits. The Black Beast Urufado, meanwhile, possessed a blue Ryūju used as a Luon Drive component, and was cashed in for 1.3 billion Credits.
Having cashed in three Tyrant Dragon Belgonas and one Black Beast Urufado over the past six months, my interstellar financial account now held 7.8 billion Credits. Enough to live in luxury for a lifetime - but nowhere near enough if I planned to buy an interstellar spacecraft.
Interplanetary spacecraft and interstellar spacecraft differed from the hull structure up, so their prices were worlds apart. Adding the Trans-Space-Time Jump Field Generator and Luon Drive on top of that sent costs skyrocketing. However, if you skipped the Trans-Space-Time Jump Field Generator and paid Jump Ring usage fees for interstellar travel instead, you could assemble a cheap interstellar spacecraft.
My goal was to purchase an interstellar spacecraft without a Trans-Space-Time Jump Field Generator installed, then attach the one I had stored in my Isō Box.
I checked used spacecraft prices on the Planetary Information Net. Interstellar spacecraft large enough for cross-system trade ran into the tens of billions of Credits. Combat vessels of the kind Toryū Ryōheis used cost tens of billions even for small, used models.
The used ships within my price range were small interstellar spacecraft some rich person had built as a hobby - considerably outdated by now. But this type of ship could only shuttle a handful of passengers from star to star. Nothing more.
One trip into dangerous space on Toryū Ryōhei business and the thing would probably fall apart. Ideally I wanted a combat vessel I could use for slayer work, but saving enough to afford one would take over ten years at my current pace.
The next day, I went to the Toryū Ryōhei Guild and searched the dedicated terminal for used ships on sale. This terminal also pulled up information the Toryū Ryōhei Guild had independently gathered, so I'd heard you could stumble on unexpected bargains.
No bargains turned up, though. The sole listing of note was a Toryū Ryōhei combat vessel built by a Civilization Level D nation, priced at 76 billion Credits.
「Way too expensive. Can't buy this.」
「What can't you buy?」
A voice came from behind. I turned to find Regina standing there.
「Oh, a spacecraft.」
「Planning to leave Tiratia Star?」
「I made Rank C. If I want to rank up any further, my only option is fighting in space.」
To raise a Toryū Ryōhei's rank to 『B』, you had to take down multiple monsters of threat level 4 or above. Threat level 4-plus monsters were scarce on planets, so space combat became inevitable.
「I see - so that's why you're looking for a spacecraft. But a combat vessel would run tens of billions of Credits even used, wouldn't it?」
「Exactly. No way I can afford one with what I've saved.」
「So that's why you're trying to find the treasure the Tenjin Race left behind.」
「Bingo. Doesn't look like there's another way.」
「But Gilda Canyon has the Mother Queen Spider. It's said to be stronger than the Black Beast Urufado.」
With the Black Beast Urufado this time, I'd gotten lucky - damaging its leg first and killing its speed. If the Urufado hadn't taken that leg injury, I probably couldn't have landed hits consistently enough to finish it off.
The tables might have turned, and I'd have been the one who ended up dead. The Particle Armor helped, but that alone didn't make my defense airtight.
「Mother Queen Spider, huh. What kind of monster is it?」
I'd been planning to research it, so I didn't know the details yet.
「I've looked into it before. Want me to fill you in?」
According to Regina, it was a giant spider with a body length of twenty meters. And the real headache was its exoskeleton - absurdly hard, far beyond anything normal.
「I've heard the Three Basic Techniques of tactical magic can't take down the Mother Queen Spider.」
「My 『Particle Strike: Circular Soaring Blade』 hits harder than the standard version. Would even that not be enough?」
Regina shook her head. She'd probably get angry if I said it out loud, but the triangular ears atop her head flicking back and forth were adorable.
「What are you staring at?」
Regina fixed me with an icy gaze.
「No, nothing. Anyway, even with more power it's no good?」
「Depends on how much more. You'd need at least five times the normal power for it to work.」
Was my 『Particle Strike: Circular Soaring Blade』 really five times more powerful than normal? Thinking about it objectively, it probably wasn't that much stronger. That meant I'd need to learn a different Tactical Magic Technique.
I parted ways with Regina and returned to my room in the Guest Tower. Having reached Rank C, I now lived on the sixtieth floor. The Guest Tower was pyramid-shaped, with fewer rooms on each successive floor. However, each individual room was larger - roughly eight times the size of my first one.
I sat down on an expensive-looking sofa, pulled out my smart glasses, and put them on. I searched for information on Tactical Magic Techniques using Shortened Language.
Looking into Tactical Magic Techniques beyond the Three Basic Techniques, it seemed that Mages had each founded their own schools and were developing techniques independently. And this planet, Boran, had two such schools.
The old-fashioned word "school" seemed out of place in a technologically advanced world. Yet even on this planet, the Pomeoru Style and the Ganufes Style competed against each other in Tactical Magic Techniques.
What both schools taught after the Three Basic Techniques were called Fifth-Grade Magic Arts. These came in numerous varieties, with many techniques developed to convert Tenshiryoku into powerful electromagnetic waves for attacks. Incidentally, while "electromagnetic waves" might bring radio waves to mind, light and infrared radiation were also electromagnetic waves.
The most representative technique among them converted Tenshiryoku into laser light for attacks. Ordinary light radiates in all directions unless something blocks it, with jumbled wavelengths and phases. Laser light, by contrast, is directional - traveling straight in a single direction with aligned wavelengths and phases.
For reference, the phase of light referred to the timing of the wave's peaks and troughs - in laser light, the waves all crested and bottomed out simultaneously.
「That's about as far as the net will take me.」
How to convert Tenshiryoku into laser light was a closely guarded secret of each school, so no such information existed on the Planetary Information Net. I'd have to think of another approach.
I kept thinking - and then it hit me. If I watched other Mages use their Tactical Magic Techniques, I might learn something. I recalled seeing postings on the Toryū Ryōhei Guild's site recruiting temporary team members. If I signed on as a temp, I'd have the chance to observe other Mages' Tactical Magic Techniques in action.