The Toryū Ryōhei Guild on the space station housed two facilities. One handled administrative processing with a reception counter; the other was a comrcial facility resembling a supermarket.
Fresh Toryū Ryōhei card in hand, I went shopping with Sario. I was desperate for a decent al.
「Can I eat everything they sell here?」
「No, the food products are shorted by category, and you pick what's safe for you from those.」
Even between Sario and , what we could eat apparently differed. Most items overlapped, of course from what I could tell, but we had to be careful.
I already knew my genetic classification code - I'd looked it up on the rental dical machine. Any food printed with that code was supposedly safe to eat.
I wandered the aisles, tossing anything that looked edible into the cart. The biggest selection by far was flavored and scented Preservation Food Tubes. I wanted to sample them first, but no such system existed.
I searched for other preserved foods and discovered an extensive frozen food section. I bought frozen food in bulk and arranged to have it delivered to the ship.
「Ah - we don't have a refrigerator.」
We'd been living on Preservation Food Tubes, so we'd never needed one. We also lacked cooking appliances like a microwave, plus dishes, spoons, and the like - so I bought those too. Chopsticks, incidentally, were not for sale.
We purchased various daily necessities and returned to the small spacecraft. Then we waited for the purchases to arrive. Until they did, it was Preservation Food Tubes, so I spent every mont praying for a swift delivery.
If the space station had any restaurants, I'd have eaten there - but it didn't have a single one.
Once our purchases arrived and we'd installed the refrigerator and other appliances, we ate a proper al for the first ti in ages.
「It has flavor. But it's been so long, I can't even tell if it's good or not.」
The taste was, in fact, diocre. My expectations had been sky-high, which only made the letdown sting more.
We decided to head for Tiratia Star. Naturally, the question of what to do about a Trans-Space-Ti Jump Field ca up - but in civilized sectors like this, devices called Trans-Space-Ti Jump Field Generation Rings existed.
These Trans-Space-Ti Jump Field Generation Rings - commonly known as "Jump Rings" - sat positioned far from the star. Pay a fee, and they'd generate a Trans-Space-Ti Jump Field for you.
We flew the small spacecraft toward the Jump Ring. As we approached the doughnut-shaped structure - roughly three kiloters in diater - a ssage ca through the communication device.
『Will you be using the Jump Ring?』
When Sario replied "yes" through the communication device, they instructed him to transfer funds to a designated account. Sario wired the money using his interstellar financial account.
『Paynt confird. Please accelerate to Barch 1 or above and proceed on a course through the center of the ring.』
Sario made fine adjustnts to our heading and flew a course that would thread the Jump Ring. Just as we were about to pass through, a Trans-Space-Ti Jump Field materialized on the inner surface of the doughnut-shaped structure.
Our small spacecraft Jumped into Transition-Space. That gut-wringing sensation hit again. I still hadn't gotten used to it.
「Sario, how much was the fee?」
「The charge for generating the Trans-Space-Ti Jump Field ca to roughly three million Credits.」
I let out a sigh.
We arrived at Tiratia Star and gazed at the star displayed on the holographic screen. It resembled Earth's sun, though it struck as slightly more reddish.
This star was also a yellow dwarf like the sun, with people living on its fifth planet. We reached that fifth planet in five days. Blue oceans and green-covered landmasses spread across its surface - a planet that called Earth to mind. As we drew closer, a colossal structure caught my eye.
「What's that?」
When I asked, Sario glanced at the planet on the holographic screen.
「That'sh a space elevator. The part extending into shpace serves as the spaceport.」
The spaceport asured roughly thirty kiloters in diater. We approached it and contacted the traffic control system. The system transmitted a mooring point and flight route, and we followed the instructions to dock.
We packed spare clothes and equipnt into storage cases and entered the Tiratia spaceport through the hatch. A security system inspection awaited us there.
They checked us for harmful pathogens and examined our luggage. The ones conducting the inspection were androids. Cat-eared androids, specifically.
The race that built them must have had cat ears. I asked Sario about it.
「The race managing thish planet is the Werecat Race. Their civilization level is 'D,' but they're retainers of the Aurebusu Tenjin Race, sho you mustn't defy them.」
A portion of the Werecat Race served under the Tenjin Race. They worked on the Tenjin Race's behalf, from what he told . Even among the sa Werecat Race, they seed nothing at all like the late Berta or Rieto.
The spaceport interior was apparently zero gravity by default. Since they couldn't predict which races might visit, artificial gravity had been disabled. The air composition matched the Sector Alliance standard. It was a type I could breathe as well.
We decided to descend to the surface by space elevator. I was stunned when it cost two hundred and fifty thousand Credits per person, but this price was supposedly cheap. We talked things over inside the elevator.
「So if we hunt monsters here, we can earn Sector Alliance citizenship, right?」
「That'sh correct. However, you need to reach Toryū Ryōhei Rank D.」
「Hm? What do you an?」
Toryū Ryōheis had a ranking system - I knew that much. You started at Rank G upon registration and climbed through G, F, E, D, C, B, A, S by building achievents from monster kills. What I hadn't known was that reaching Rank D earned you Sector Alliance citizenship.
「Rank D - how many monsters do I have to kill for that?」
「You need to beco capable of defeating Threat Level 3 monshters.」
Space clione and space jellyfish sat at Threat Level 1, so citizenship was a long way off. Sario, however, seed to think I'd reach Rank D in no ti. I could only assu he was overestimating the High-Dinsional Access thod Zorofiēnu had given .
「Are you going to hunt monsters too, Sario?」
「No way - I have neither Boshoru Sensitivity nor physical power. Inshtead, I plan to get my Class 2 Starship Pilot license.」
Races lacking both Bosoru Sensitivity and physical power apparently fought on the ground by equipping Ard Mobile Armor and similar gear used by heavy mobile troopers.
Ard Mobile Armor was Mobile Armor with powerful weapons built in. It amplified the wearer's strength over tenfold and let them fight using its integrated weaponry.
「Then why not buy a set and aim for Rank D together?」
「Even the cheapesht Ard Mobile Armor runsh at least three hundred million Credits.」
Our combined assets had dwindled to around forty million Credits - nowhere near enough. Monster hunting would fall to alone.
The elevator reached the surface, and we set foot on Demon World Planet Boran. The base of the space elevator had developed into Elevator Town. In one section stood the Toryū Ryōhei Guild's Training Center, and we headed to its registration counter.
Registering for the Training Center's developnt program at this counter granted access to lodging facilities called "Guest Towers" provided by the Toryū Ryōhei Guild, and an Achievent Collection Badge would be lent out.
The Achievent Collection Badge was a round badge roughly five centiters in diater. It counted the monsters I killed and reported them as achievents, or so I was told.
The counter here was staffed not only by robots but also by several female Werecat Race employees. So Toryū Ryōheis apparently disliked dealing with robots. My assigned staff mber was a Werecat nad Adelina. Her cat ears bobbed and twitched, and she was adorable.
「These are the card keys for your Guest Tower room. Please don't lose them.」
Adelina handed two card keys. They were for a room on the second floor of the Guest Tower near the space elevator. She explained that two keys were standard practice, since so people ca with family.
Higher ranks unlocked rooms on higher floors. The Guest Tower was enormous - equipped with rooms to house roughly ten thousand Toryū Ryōheis.
The room I entered was about eight tatami mats in size, with a toilet and shower attached. Sario said he'd live here with . Wasting money on a hotel would be foolish.
The robot at the registration counter had ntioned a cafeteria and a store like a supermarket for als.
「Co to think of it, don't I need to buy equipnt?」
The thought of hunting monsters on the ground conjured up images of fantasy novels - armor, a sword? No, not a sword - but shouldn't I at least buy a gun? That was what crossed my mind.
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