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Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 2 Chapter 3 Part 11

「—— Because I don’t want it to leave……」

She said while hugging the birdcage tightly to her chest.

Seeing this, Sheffield let out a deliberate sigh and walked ahead.

「If it’s some milk you want, I’ll get it for you. Follow me.」

Bel-chan silently followed her as she walked to the kitchen after saying that.

Sheffield did not say a word as she lit the stove and warmed some milk on it. She just checked the fire from time to time, and then just looks somewhere else for something.

Bel-chan then for some reason remembered those words that Belfast spoke to her sometime before, the ones regarding Shieffield and her way of being.

—— You see, Bel-chan, when it comes to Sheffy, she is just naturally like that. So there is no real reason to read too deeply into it.

「Umm.」

Bel-chan sat down on a chair near the stove and raised her voice slightly while still holding the birdcage tightly to her chest all the time.

At that moment, Sheffield looked at the little maid with her eyes wide open in surprise.

Seeing her look like that, Bel-chan became surprised as well. Because she never would have expected for Sheffield of all people to be able to make an expression quite like that.

「Sheffield-san, you see…… I had a dream. Or it was more like a nightmare that I was separated from the little birdie here.」

And there, for some reason that was still unknown even to Bel-chan herself, she started to explain to Sheffield her reason for being awake this late at night, bit by bit.

As for Sheffield herself, she was listening to Bel-chan in absolute silence until the little maid was finally done speaking.

Since Sheffield’s eyes were hidden behind the veil of her long bangs, Bel-chan had no idea where it was that Sheffield was looking at the current moment or what her current expression was, but after another moment or two the maid handed Bel-chan a black mug with lots of warm milk poured inside of it.

「It’s just that…… I don’t want the little birdie to leave. That’s all.」

While receiving the mug filled with warm milk from her, Bel-chan said so in a quiet voice.

After those words came out of her mouth, it was once again time for the silence to beset the empty and dark kitchen.

As Bel-chan stared at the birdcage she was holding in her hands so closely to her chest, Sheffield looked as though she was pondering her head about some mysterious matter for quite a while.

Then she slowly opened her mouth and spoke up:

「The Redstart is the kind of a bird that lives alone in the winter season and pairs up with a mate during the mating season to give birth and raise offspring.」

Bel-chan, who was about to put her mouth on the milk mug and take a sip from it, lifted her head up right away upon hearing those words.

At that moment she wondered why Sheffield would bring that topic up now of all times. Perhaps she thought that her words might have come as too cryptic and too sudden for Bel-chan, who understandably looked really surprised. After thinking her own words over again, Sheffield began to speak once more:

「In other words —— what I’m trying to say is that this bird must return to the north in the spring, where its family awaits its return.」

「Its family……」

Sheffield nodded at Bel-chan, who could only repeat those words in a quiet voice just now.

「Let’s assume that, hypothetically speaking, if both Kent and Suffolk, who are going to be gone tomorrow, haven’t returned from the military commission……」

Saying that with a low, deadly serious tone of voice, Sheffield stared directly into Bel-chan’s eyes.

「—— Could you be able to say with all honesty that you wouldn’t mind that fact?」

At that moment, suddenly understanding the meaning behind Sheffield’s words, Bel-chan clearly looked into her eyes.

Sheffield’s eyes, normally hidden behind her bangs, shined golden and looked at the little maid very gently. Her eyes were so beautiful that she couldn’t understand why up until now she thought that she was coming as cold, emotionless and indifferent.

「Let us release it into the sky, where it naturally belongs. I believe that this will be something that will make the bird happy as well.」

Hearing Sheffield’s soft-spoken voice made Bel-chan lower her head down softly.

—— After all, this is…… This is for the sake of the little birdie’s happiness……

Bel-chan then took a really long time trying to sort out the feelings inside of her heart. So long, in fact, that she managed to drink the entirety of the milk that Sheffield poured her into the mug cup. She knew that she was going to feel lonely without the little birdie being around her anymore. She knew that it would be something that she would not be able to get over in a span of a day or two.

But if it was for the sake of the little bird, it was something that had to be done, no matter how hard she would try to oppose it.

What followed after that was once again a prolonged period of silence that lasted even longer than before.

During that time, a number of thoughts came and went through Bel-chan’s mind, some of them staying in there, and some of them disappearing into thin air.

Bel-chan then took a long look inside of the birdcage.

Then, the redstart stared at Bel-chan with its round and adorable eyes.

Seeing its cute eyes that were staring right at her all this time, Bel-chan had a hard time trying to hold her tears back. It was then that she was finally able to make up her mind.

「Sheffield-san…… Thank you so much. For everything.」

Once again, what occurred now was a long period of silence.

All the while Sheffield was waiting patiently. But after some time, seeing the resolve that suddenly appeared on Bel-chan’s face, she finally asked her:

「……Are you really prepared to do this?」

Bel-chan only nodded her head in response.

She didn’t say a word here, afraid that it might shake her resolve.

Because if her resolve was to waver here, the loneliness she had suppressed for so long now would certainly overflow her heart once again.

* * *

When finally the dawn broke, Bel-chan said to both Belfast and Edinburgh first thing when the both of them awoke.

「I think it’s high time for us to let the little birdie go.」

“Are you really sure about that, Bel-chan……?” Edinburgh wanted to ask the little maid that question, before she eventually swallowed those words and remained silent. No matter how you look at it, it would be inappropriate to ask her that now, when she resolved herself to do it.

Belfast only nodded her head slowly and stroked Bell-chan’s head in a loving manner..

「Let’s wait until it gets a little warmer before releasing it. About past noon should be idea. What do you say to that?」

Bel-chan only nodded her head in response.

Since her decision was so firm, Bel-chan headed to prepare breakfast with the faint chirping sound coming from the birdcage, which she never would have thought she would come to care about so much.

Under the cover of the usual hustle and bustle of the breakfast preparations, Bel-chan decided to just focus on her work and use that as a sort of distraction for the time being. By doing so, she consciously tried to get the redstart out of her mind.

But it was to no avail. The more she consciously tried to drive the redstart out of her mind, the more unconsciously she started to think about it.

The appointed time was gradually approaching in a merciless manner.

The clock struck noon and it was already the time for lunch.

Shortly after lunch was over and the dishes had been cleaned and put away to dry, Bel-chan began to do the laundry.

After all that was done, the dreaded time had finally come.

「It’s certainly nice weather we’re having today.」

Bel-chan unintentionally agreed and nodded her head without really knowing what she was doing.

The sky was so clear and beautiful. It was a little bit windy, but it was a pretty warm day compared to the cold yesterday.

Bel-chan decided to release Daurian the redstart from the roof of the Royal Navy’s Dormitory. From here, you have a great view and there were no obstacles to get in your way, so you could fly in any direction you wanted to fly.

Besides Bel-chan, the people present on the roof of the dormitory were Belfast, Edinburgh and Sheffield.

「You can certainly feel the spring being just around the corner, huh?」

While Belfast opened her mouth to say that, she held her hair and looked towards the sea.