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Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 11

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Translator: Kurehashi Aiko

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PART 11

 

As she continued to stare blankly at the warm colors of the fire, she gradually began to doze off.

 

「……Make the stage……yours ——」

 

She thought that she shouldn’t sleep like this in a place like this, but no matter what she tried to do now, her body just wouldn’t listen to her anymore.

 

–––––– Tomorrow is finally…… the long awaited School Festival……

 

Just as she was about to fall asleep, she suddenly heard the sound of a wooden door knob turning.

 

Startled and panicked, Belfast jumped out towards the door to see who could be in a place like this at this hour, and then she saw that the one who walked into the kitchen was none other than Edinburgh.

 

「–––––– There you are! For you to be in a place like this so late at night, geez…… I have been looking for you all over, you know? Do you even have any idea what time it is?」

 

「Ahh, e-excuse me. You see, Nee-san, I was just about to go back to our room, when……」

 

As soon as Belfast was about to open her mouth some more and start explaining her sudden disappearance and absence from the dorm, she could see that yet another familiar face popped out from behind Edinburgh’s back. 

 

「I see that Belfast is as much of a role model for every Royal Maid out there as ever. For her to be stuck in the kitchen until it’s so late at night, talk about being passionate and dedicated to your job.」

 

That familiar figure was none other than Sheffield. And truth to be told, in the dim light of the hand lantern, her expressionless face looked just a little bit scary.

 

But that was not over yet. From behind Sheffield’s back, more and more familiar faces of other Royal Maids started to pop up one after another. 

 

「Relax! Even like this, the Head Maid’s face does not lose any of its natural charm! So there is no problem, I would say!」

 

Alongside Kent’s cheerful words, Suffolk’s face was next in turn to make an appearance, all smiley and upbeat. 

 

「The Head Maid’s current expression is so soft and fluffy, just like clouds drifting through the sky. So nice and so innocent~. I wish I could be like that, too~.」

 

Hearing all those words directed at her, Belfast looked at everyone’s face and then cleared her throat in a hurry to try and hide her own embarrassment. 

 

「Everyone……」

 

Even though Belfast did not want to cause all the people who cared so deeply about her any unnecessary worry, it would seem that her intentions and actions managed to do something quite the opposite, seeing how worried everyone seemed to be about her.

 

Feeling really apologetic for causing everyone needless worry like that, Belfast reflexively stood up from her chair.  

 

「I-I am really sorry for making you worry like that about me, everyone. It’s just that, with the contest being so close, I wanted to go to someplace where I could feel calm and relaxed, thinking it might let me think of something……」

 

It was at that moment that Belfast was suddenly taken aback.

 

「…… Bel?」

 

Even when Edinburgh called out to Belfast anxiously, she couldn’t immediately respond in any kind of way.

 

It was then that the Head Maid felt like she was finally able to understand what exactly San Diego meant when it came to transforming the stage into a place of your own choosing, of making the stage yours.

 

「It was here at my side, all along, wasn’t it…… My own stage. A place where I belong.」

 

As Belfast slipped her finger on the table’s top, her face burst into tears as the many memories of working here with everyone else all her life came back to her all at once.

 

—— Also, Belfast then remembered that Her Majesty told her that she should be smiling more in front of other people. Because she was the kind of person who is oblivious to her own charms, even though others could clearly see them.

 

Once that memory flooded her head and Belfast fully understood its meaning, Belfast once again turned towards everyone gathered in the kitchen at the current moment. She then bowed down her head really low.

 

「Thank you for worrying about me like that, everyone. However, it’s alright. I am fine now.」

 

What is my true nature? What is the most natural thing in the entire world for me?

 

It was at that exact moment when Belfast was finally able to grasp it after thinking about it long and hard.

* * *

Today was finally the day that everyone was waiting for. The day of the School Festival.

 

At the Academy at the Home Port, which was unusually filled with a festive mood, each faction put on a show of their own choosing, each filled to the brim with enthusiasm.

 

At the Eagle Union’s dormitory there was a movie of their own production being shown. It seems that the filming for this particular picture began quite a while back, and the action scenes were so flashy and showy that their impact was really powerful, especially the stunts being performed on the screen. It was a great production value that was simply crushing the viewers into their seats.

 

At the Royal Navy’s dormitory, the girls borrowed some spare uniforms from the members of the Maid Corps and opened up a maid cafe. All the dishes served were simple snacks that didn’t have to use fire to prepare them, and the girls who received the recipes from the Maid Corps in advance entertained the other shipgirls from the different factions in many ways while being at it.

 

The Sakura Empire decided to go with a haunted house. The children disguised themselves as ghosts and monsters with the help of artificial blood and special makeup, all so that they could do a good job at scaring the visitors the best they could. And the word going around the Academy was that the haunted house was so scary that some of the visitors from other factions ended up bursting into tears on the spot.

 

Iron-Blooded had opened a beer garden that was a little more grown-up than what the children of the Royal Navy did with their maid café. The beer that was being served there was paired up with grilled sausages and German potatoes, all the dishes that were making an exceptionally good combination with the clear autumn sky, and for children who could not drink alcohol there was a cold freshly squeezed fruit juice in a few different versions.

 

But even in such an exceptional and festive situation, the Royal Navy’s Maid Corps had their hands full of work right from the early morning. But that being said……

 

「–––––– From this point forward, you can do whatever you want with your free time. So please use your time and schedule plans that you must see fit.」

 

In the morning between the usual work, Belfast suddenly called all the maids to the kitchen and said so.

 

「What? But Head Maid, is there not still some work that needs to be done?」

 

Kent looked at Belfast with a startled look on her face, and Suffolk, who was washing the dishes in the kitchen, stopped her hands halfway through her work in sheer disbelief.

 

「Huh? But I thought that even though it is the School Festival, for us Royal Maid it would only mean business as usual……?」

 

「From this year onwards, I wanted to let the members of the Maid Corps participate in the School Festival as well, so I told Her Majesty about it beforehand.」

 

The trigger was at the time of the Beauty Pageant meeting. At that time, Belfast learned that Suffolk was interested in the topic of beauty pageants, and thought that maybe the other maids wanted to use that occasion to let loose and have a moment to just sit back and relax, just like everyone else in the Royal Navy’s Dormitory.

 

Of course, if the chores such as cleaning and laundry would be abandoned for the whole day, it would be troublesome for everyone living in the dormitory at the current moment.

 

So Belfast took the plunge and consulted the matter with Elizabeth on her way back from taking photos for the promotional poster.

 

Hearing that, Her Majesty had only one thing to say: “I don’t mind if the maids who are always working hard take a break for one day. I’m sure that no one is going to complain about that.

 

Just as Elizabeth said, even when Belfast went out of her way and told about that to the children living in the dormitory, not a single person complained. On the contrary, the children in the dormitory were so grateful to the Royal Maids and their hard work that they could not express their gratitude enough. So lending them a hand for a day so that they could relax instead was a small price to pay.

 

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