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Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 2 Chapter 3 Part 10

On that particular morning, Bel-chan was suddenly informed about a certain thing.

「–––––– Kent-san? And Suffolk-san?」

After breakfast was finished, Bel-chan was told by the two maids in the kitchen about the military consignment that was due to start tomorrow.

「Yes! Starting tomorrow, everyone will be away for a while due to the military consignment.」

「Well, we are telling it like that, but truth to be told, we are going to be back before you even know it. But still, the fact remains that we will be gone for now.」

It would seem that the place where the two of them were going was quite far away from here, and it seems that they would be away for at least a few days.

「Is that so?」

In fact, ever since Bel-chan first arrived at this Home Port until just now, the two of them had never been out on commission as much as the little maid could remember.

A thought suddenly occurred inside of Bel-chan’s head: is the kitchen really going to be alright without those two being around? Because as far as she was concerned, both Kent and Suffolk were pretty much synonymous with the kitchen.

「Alright then! So without any further ado, let us depart right away! Energetically and bravely!」

「And I am going to go now as well. Take care!」

The two maids then walked out of the kitchen, waving their hands at Bel-chan all the while. From now on, the two of them would prepare to go to the commissioned work, so they would leave the dormitory and go to check on their equipment to see if it was in top shape.

「Well then, I will clean more carefully than usual for today, since there will be even fewer people than usual.」

Sheffield said so while taking out a bucket and started to fill it with water and various cleaning detergents.

「And I’m going to do the laundry.」

Edinburgh then collected various clothes from the kitchen and put them in the laundry basket that was to be taken out.

Bel-chan was also on duty to clean the windows in the hallway for today, so she immediately started to prepare her rags and cleaning utensils to see the job done.

It was then, at that exact time that,

「Bel-chan.」

While in the middle of cleaning the dishes, Belfast suddenly called out to the little maid.

Bel-chan, who took the cleaning rags and was just about to leave, stopped on the spot, wondering what could have happened for Belfast to call out to her like that.

「I think it’s the high time to return the redstart to the wild where it belongs.」

For some reason, it took Bel-chan a good moment to actually process the meaning behind Belfast’s words, even though they were pretty short and on point.

「……………… Huh?」

That was all that Bel-chan was able to spit out of her mouth at the current moment.

Belfast continued the conversation while looking down at the tableware order form that she shifted her attention towards after getting the dishes done.

「Since redstarts are a migratory species of birds, I think it’s probably best for us to release it before spring arrives.

After saying those words, Belfast finally lifted her head.

「…… Bel-chan?」

Noticing that something was strange about the little maid, Belfast gently touched her shoulder.

「What’s wrong?」

At the Head Maid’s gesture of concern, Bel-chan was finally startled and raised her face towards her in a hurry.

「N-No, it’s nothing, really……」

It was not that Bel-chan had forgotten all about it. No, it was not that at all.

All this time, she was carrying out her responsibilities while pushing that matter to the side, trying her best not to think about it.

The redstart came here only because it was injured in the first place. And once it would make a complete recovery, it would have to be returned to the wild, where it naturally belonged.

It was something completely natural. And it was something that Bel-chan was perfectly aware of ever since she first protected the small bird and brought it here.

At that moment Bel-chan instinctively pressed her hand against her chest.

There was this vague feeling of uneasiness in her heart once again.

Yes…… That’s right.

She was finally able to understand the identity of this strange feeling of uneasiness that was clutching at her heart from time to time recently.

「That’s right……I guess that you are right.」

She was only able to mutter those words vaguely.

The hand in which she was holding her rag loosened its grip and the rag fell down onto the floor.

「We have to return it to where it belongs…… right?」

Sheffield, who has been standing there and looking at the whole exchange while holding onto her bucket and cleaning utensils, stares at Bel-chan’s face really intently.

「Belfast.」

As she called out to her softly, Sheffiled also glanced at Belfast.

Edinburgh then made a similar kind of expression, adding a small wink to it as well.

But even if the two of them did not do that and made it so painfully obvious for the Head Maid, Belfast herself already knew what was going on here.

Looking at Bel-chan’s expression right now, it was more than perfectly clear what was going on inside of her head.

In other words,

「Yes,that’s right…… Let’s not do that today. We can still wait for a little bit.」

Saying so quietly, Belfast once again looked down at her purchase order and counted her tableware as if this whole exchange did not even take place.

When Sheffield finished ordering all the detergents inside of her cleaning bucket, she grabbed the mop and left the kitchen without saying a single word.

Even Edinburgh herself, she looked for things to wash and threw them into the basket in a hurry and then she left the kitchen.

Bel-chan was the only one who stood still there for a while, unable to move and even think straight.

***

Later on that same day, in the middle of the night.

「——— Huh!?」

For some strange reason, Bel-chan happened to wake up in the middle of the night, and she sat up on her bed instantly.

Soon enough, the little maid was overcome with a powerful sense of uneasiness that she could do nothing about. She jumped out of her bed while still wearing her pajamas, and approached the birdcage on the table by the window.

Sitting calmly inside of the birdcage, the redstart was looking up at Bel-chan.

When she saw it so peaceful like that, she was relieved from the bottom of her heart. In the dream she had just had, the redstart had disappeared from the birdcage before she even knew it, and was nowhere to be found no matter how hard she looked.

「I don’t want you to leave, little birdie……」

Bel-chan then put her hands on the birdcage and hugged it tightly to her chest.

But staying awake in the middle of the night like that would not solve anything here. It would be best for Bel-chan to go back to sleep again.

But if she was to fall asleep while being so worried and anxious, she was afraid that she might see the same dream once again.

“Pii, pii, pii……” the redstart cried from the inside of its birdcage.

「Little birdie, could it be that you are worried about me?」

Bel-chan saw the redstart bowing its head over and over again inside of the cage, as if it was trying to console her sad and lonely companion.

Still unable to fall asleep, Bel-chan gently opened the door of the room while still in her pajamas, holding a birdcage firmly in her hand. She then took the steps down the corridor and staircase, in order to get some warm milk for herself from the kitchen.

「—— And just where do you think you’re going, huh? This late at night without even turning on your lamp or any source of light?」

When she was called completely out of the blue like that, she was startled and nearly dropped the birdcage to the ground.

She looked in the direction of the light that appeared just now and said in a startled voice,

「……Sheffield……-san?」

It was Sheffield who was standing there with a bright red hand lamp in her hand.

「I was just about to go to the kitchen to pick up something I forgot in there…… But what about you? Where were you going? And with a birdcage in hand, at that?」

「I just wanted to go and get some warm milk for myself.」

「Right. So, why are you going there with the birdcage in hand?」

「This is……」

For a moment out there Bel-chan clearly hesitated with her answer, but then she decided to tell Sheffield the truth.