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Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 1 Chapter 1 Part 5

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Translator: Kurehashi Aiko

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PART 5

 

「Oh yeah! It’s time to grab some delicious grub! Come on, come on! You’d better want to eat it all fast before it goes cold!」

 

With both Belfast and Edinburgh still busy inside of the kitchen, the job of taking the food carts and distributing the lunch fell upon Kent and Suffolk, who were currently running all over the dining room, one of the maids being seemingly way more enthusiastic about the task than the other one.

 

「It seems like…… It’s over for now, huh?」

 

「It would certainly look that way.」

 

Before long, the hustle and bustle around the dining room started to die down, and before the maids even realized it, the lunch time was finally over.

 

After rushing to clean up the tableware and wash all the dirty dishes that were left after lunch, it was time for another one of Maid Corps’ crucial tasks: cleaning the entire dormitory once more. And in order to do that, the entire Maid Corps was divided into groups, with each group being responsible for cleaning spotless a certain part of the certain floor of the entire building.

 

The last thing left to do for Belfast for now was to see that the jobs were divided equally and that they would be carried out without fail. That, and one more thing on her official “To-Do List”.

 

「Well then, everyone. Please do your very best with your assigned tasks.」

 

With those words being said, the maids took various cleaning utensils and supplies in their hands and left the kitchen at once to do their assigned chores.

 

As for Belfast, she could now finally focus on the most important part of her task for today: preparing to make fresh scones.

 

Belfast took out a huge bowl, added the cake flour to it, followed by baking powder and diced butter, and then she started to crush all those ingredients together in order to formulate a cake dough. She then put some fresh cream into the mixture, followed by sugar and salt, and once all of that was done, she started to mix everything together with a spatula a couple of times. She then put the ready dough to the side to let it rest for a while.

 

Belfast was getting a feeling that at the current moment it would not taste nearly as good as it should, so she decided to also add some cranberries to the mixture, just so it could give it that extra sweetness.

 

Once that Belfast managed to do everything that was in accordance with Elizabeth’s request for a freshly baked scones, she started to pour the mixture into the molds and would then let it rest for a while longer, but it was then that she heard the door to the kitchen being opened once more. She then looked back to see just who it was that entered the room just now.

 

「–––––– Belfast. I want to report that all of the cleaning that needed to be done on the first floor has been taken care of.」

 

The earliest member of the Maid Corps to report the end of her assigned duties was of course the Town-Class Light Cruiser, Sheffield. As was to be expected.

 

「Thank you for all of your hard work, Sheffield. It is always really helpful to have you do your duties and chores as quickly as you do them.」

 

Being praised like that, Sheffield would only nod her head slightly while standing upright, her facial expression perfectly still and without even the faintest trace of a smile. But even so, Belfast knew that it was just the way that Sheffield was, and that her indifferent attitude was nothing bad. She then flashed her a huge and bright smile.

 

「…… I will go and see how Kent’s group is doing for the time being. It’s not like they are doing a bad job, but they tend to be easily distracted and careless with their tasks.」

 

With that said, Sheffield turned around and walked out of the kitchen, but right after she left there was yet another person who walked into the kitchen through the door. This time around it was Warspite.

 

「Belfast. I would like to use the kitchen just like we have discussed this morning.」

 

「Oh, yes, that’s right.」

 

Belfast said while turning towards Warspite, who for some reason was standing in one spot, fidgeting like crazy.

 

Seeing that Warspite was so reluctant to move from her spot, it would seem that she was still reluctant about doing whatever it was that she wanted to do. Or maybe she wanted to be sure that there was no one else inside and that she wouldn’t be seen going into the kitchen.

 

Belfast then quietly nodded her head and left the kitchen after bowing slightly towards Warspite on her way out. Then, remembering that Edinburgh was supposed to be drying the sheets on the roof, she went up the stairs in order to lend her sister a hand.

 

And once Belfast arrive on the roof, a gentle breeze hit her face right away.

 

Belfast then immediately took out the bedsheets from the basket that was placed nearby, dragon and called out to her sister who up until now was trying her best at doing this chore on her own.

 

「Nee-san, I’ll help you with that.」

 

「Huh? Ooh, y-yeah, please do. I’d appreciate it.」

 

Thanks to Belfast lending Edinburgh a hand with drying the bedsheets, the two sisters were able to finish this particular task way faster than usual, since they did not have to do it on their own.

 

After that, when the roof was filled with a pleasant aroma of freshly washed bedsheets, Edinburgh let out a deep sigh while she sat down on the upside-down bucket that she used instead of a chair or a stool.

 

「Uuuhh…… I know that I should be happy that we have managed to do this task so quickly, but having to rely on the help of my little sister for a task as simple as this one makes me lose all of my confidence as the big sister……」

 

Hearing Edinburgh droop like that, Belfast turned towards her.

 

「Nee-san, don’t you have it all backwards? It is only a human nature to seek help from others when we are unable to accomplish something on our own. Besides, didn’t you say it before? That we can only be who we are?」

 

「I know that I said that, but even so……」

 

Edinburgh said while holding her hair with one hand to prevent them from scattering all over the place on the sea breeze, which was somewhat stronger right now from the one that was blowing in the morning. At that time,

 

「…… Say, Bel? Can you smell it? Doesn’t it smell like something is burning?」

 

Edinburgh got up from her bucket-chair all of a sudden, approaching the edge of the roof while sniffing intensely.

 

Alarmed by her sister’s words, Belfast also started to sniff the smell that was carried by the wind. And certainly, there was stinky smell being carried on the wind, reminding her of something being burnt.

 

Immediately after she realized that fact, Belfast rushed out of the spot where she was standing and ran inside of the building.

 

「B-Bel!? W-What’s wrong!?」

 

Hearing Edinburgh’s startled voice behind her back, as well as the sound of the rooftop door’s coming to a close, Belfast ran down the staircase as fast as she possibly could. She ran all the way to the first floor in one go without coming to a stop even once, and then she dashed straight towards the dining room, through the tables and chairs and arrived at the kitchen’s wooden door.

 

As soon as she grabbed the doorknob and opened the wooden door in one fell swing, the heavy and irritating smell of something burnt started to spread across the dining room. Belfast hesitated for a moment out there, but then she went straight inside of the kitchen, all the while keeping her nose and mouth covered with a handkerchief that she procured from the inside of her skirt’s pocket.

 

The source of the foul smell turned out to be a huge cloud of dark smoke that was coming from the oven that was under the stove where coals were burning.

 

Then there was also the figure of Warspite, looking all flustered and panicked beyond belief.

 

「*Cough*, *cough*! B-Belfast!? W-What are you……!? N-No! T-This isn’t what it looks like! This is……」

 

「Please, for now stand aside!」 

 

After she put on the thick cooking gloves so that her hands would not get burned by the fire and the coals, Belfast opened the lid of the stove and in the next moment she grabbed the fire extinguisher that was right next to it, pointing its nozzle inside of the stove. At the same time, a huge flame burst forth from the inside of the opened stove.

 

When she made sure that the hose was plugged properly into the fire extinguisher, Belfast pulled the lever all the way while having the nozzle firmly pointed towards the heart of the fire.

 

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