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Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 1 Chapter 4 Part 9

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Translator: Kurehashi Aiko

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PART 9

 

Unicorn then answered in a shy voice, her figure hidden behind Illustrious.

 

「Hearing you say something like that makes me feel a little bit more at ease, actually. It means a lot when the creator of such a lovely dress thinks so.」

 

After answering Unicorn’s praise with the words coming straight from her heart, Belfast then turned towards Victorious and asked her for help in taking the dress off.

 

「So. What are you going to do when you go on stage? Have you given it some thought yet?」

 

In response to Victorious’s words, when she casually asked her about something like that, Belfast was stunned for a short while, thinking of the possible answer that she could give here. And then she simply decided to be honest about it.

 

「Well, actually, it’s just that…… I haven’t even given that matter that much of a though yet.」

 

Hearing the words that finally came out of the Head Maid’s mouth, Victorious’s eyes widened in shock and surprise.

 

「Huh!? No way! Are you kidding me!? But the School Festival is tomorrow! Are you sure that you’re going to be okay!?」

 

「Yes, I know. I am perfectly aware of that, it’s just that……」

 

After changing back into her maid uniform, Belfast lowered her head in an apologetic bow.

 

「I’m actually thinking of doing something that comes to my mind when we think of “maid”, but also comes with a sense of naturalness to it……」

 

「But judging from that look on your face, that thinking process was not all that helpful, huh? Now I am seriously starting to worry if the Royal Navy is going to be okay when it comes to the contest……」 

 

Beside Victorious, who dropped her shoulders as if she had fallen to a sudden wave of despair, Illustrious began to chuckle a little bit in amusement.

 

「Since this is Belfast-san that we are talking about here, I am sure that you are going to figure something out eventually. And no matter what that something is going to be, you are going to present it in the most entertaining way possible.」

 

「I-Is that so……?」

 

Belfast knew that Illustrious did not mean anything bad by that, and that she genuinely wanted to help here. However, the Head Maid could only utter those words without sounding all that confident about them.

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「No matter the outcome of the contest, that one thing I know for sure: no one in the Royal Navy is going to shun you for doing your best. Victorious, myself, Unicorn, Her Majesty…… we all know that you are always doing your very best on a daily basis, and that fact won’t change.」

 

Illustrious then smiled in a warm way, and just one glance was enough for Belfast to realize that she was speaking from her heart and that she meant every word that she just said.

 

At the same time, it also made Belfast believe that what Illustrious just said was genuinely true.

 

–––––– However.

 

Belfast was still unable to quite understand what was exactly going on inside of her own head at the current moment.

 

「But anyways, we are surely looking forward to tomorrow’s pageant.」

 

When Belfast was told that as she was about to leave the room, she slowly bowed down her head and then slowly walked down the corridor.

 

「Whatever am I supposed to do about this……?」

 

Inside of her own heart, Belfast could feel nothing more but endless waves of anxiety.

 

Partly it was all because she was thinking way too much about this whole matter and making things harder for herself, and once she was able to realize that she also realized that she was growing even more impatient now than ever before.

 

Even if she tried to take it easy right before the contest as a change of pace, she couldn’t possibly change the way in which her mind was thinking, and Belfast descended down the stairs in order to catch the night breeze outside of the dormitory, which had already turned dark.

 

She also knew that even if she was to go back to her room and go to bed early, she would just continue to agonize over her situation and would ultimately be unable to catch even the slightest wink of sleep.

 

「A short walk outside might help me feel a little bit better.」

 

As she left the dormitory and went downhill down the road, she suddenly stopped in her tracks, listening to the gentle sound of the waves as she was walking toward the seashore.

 

「…… Huh? A singing voice……?」

 

It was then that Belfast heard someone humming a melody of some sort down the shore, and soon she found herself approaching the source of that voice.

 

She came right to the brink of the beach and the sea, and poked her head out of the shadows to see what was going on here at this particular hour.

 

「…… San Diego-san?」

 

Right on top of the breakwater, there was San Diego, wearing a fancy dress while spinning and dancing, humming some sort of melody.

 

Unlike the dress that was made by Illustrious and company of the Royal Navy, San Diego’s dress had a way shorter skirt for making the movements that much easier. Even if it was nowhere near as gorgeous as the one that Belfast was to wear, the Head Maid thought that when the two of them are going to be on top of that stage, San Diego’s dress would be the one that would be dubbed as the true idol dress.

 

「La, Lalala, Lalala, la~♪」

 

While she was listening to the way in which San Diego was humming and singing, Belfast felt as though she was paralyzed in an instant and she was unable to move from the spot at which she was standing.

 

「–––––– Huh!? Who’s there!? Show yourself!」

 

Perhaps she sensed that someone must have been there and was watching her, because all of a sudden San Diego stopped her dancing and humming and turned towards where Belfast was standing.

 

Belfast’s very first thought here was to hide further back into the bushes and go into hiding, but after a moment of thinking she realized that this was probably a very bad idea. So, being left with only one option, she emerged from the shadows, thinking she still had to apologize for silently spying on San Diego like that.

 

「Please forgive me, San Diego-san…… I didn’t mean to spy on you like that, but I heard a singing voice while I was walking around, so……」

 

The Head Maid then bowed down her head deeply while expressing her sincerest apology.

 

She wondered if she would be scolded again by the Eagle Union’s Light Cruiser, including the previous case of pulling out the cable of her loudspeaker, but for some reason San Diego stood there in place with her mouth hanging wide open.

 

「Umm…… San Diego-san? Is everything alright?」

 

A thought like that occurred in Belfast’s mind and she called out to her. 

 

Then all of a sudden San Diego put her hands in front of her chest and she started jumping in place with sheer joy and excitement.

 

「No way! Seriously!? Were you drawn here the moment you have heard my beautiful singing voice!?」

 

「…… Excuse me?」

 

For a moment out there, Belfast was unable to actually understand what San Diego was saying just now, but she seemed to be extremely happy for some bizarre reason. And seeing her like that, Belfast reflexively nodded her head in affirmation.

 

「Y-Yes, that’s right. It was a very beautiful singing voice. I was completely captivated by its charm.」

 

「Ehehe, thank you very much! …… E-Ekhem! B-But you know that you shouldn’t be spying on me like that without my permission, right? Especially since the beauty pageant is tomorrow and we are both rivals, after all!」

 

San Diego began to speak with a big smile on his face, as if she was starting to feel better, sounding much more like her usual self.

 

「You know? Tonight’s breeze was feeling really good for some reason, so I got in the mood for going out for a walk. Were you perhaps the same, Belfast-san?」

 

「Yes, indeed. It’s a really cool breeze that doesn’t make your skin feel chill.」

 

As Belfast came closer to San Diego, she took a really dizzying jump off the breakwater.

 

「Yeah, you got that right. So here’s a suggestion. Why don’t we actually hold tomorrow’s competition right here, in this place? It would be an ideal stage for singing and dancing.」

 

「No, I don’t think that will be necessary. For you see, I do not plan on dancing or singing on the stage tomorrow.」

 

「Huh? You won’t? Well then, what are you going to be doing?」

 

「Well, about that ––––––」 

 

There was no way that Belfast could actually admit to San Diego that she hadn’t really thought about anything yet.

 

In the first place, she didn’t know if it was okay to be meeting with other contestants right before the actual beauty pageant, especially since both Royal Navy and Eagle Union have chosen to follow down the Idol path.

 

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