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Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 2 Chapter 3 Part 12

「In less than a month the cherry blossoms will bloom on the mountain over there.」

Bel-chan then asked Edinburgh, who pointed towards the mountains in the east.

「Are cherry blossoms beautiful, Edinburgh-nee-samal?」

「Ah. Well, you see, Bel-chan, it will be your first time ever seeing cherry blossoms in full bloom, right? Let me say this: it’s really beautiful. If you don’t mind, shall we go on a picnic together next time?」

「I would definitely like to go if it is supposed to be so beautiful .」

Bel-chan laughed as said so, and she finally put her hands on the birdcage.

「This is it, little birdie —— Off you go! Safe travels!」

When the birdcage was opened, the redstart flew out of it, spreading its left and right wings cheerfully. As if it’d been waiting for this moment for a long time, it flew around the dormitory a few times and chirped loudly.

「Bel-chan.」

Belfast slowly opened her mouth while looking at the redstart that behaved as though it did not want to leave Bel-chan’s side either.

「You were the one who saved it, and you have nursed it back to health with all the love that you could give it to this very day…… I’m sure it must be grateful to you for that.」

Many times the redstart would fly around the roof of the Royal Navy’s dormitory where Bel-chan and her sisters were standing and observing it. Then, Bel-chan slowly raised her hand up and started to wave it at the bird.

While looking at her own waving hand, Bel-chan’s eyes started to get all watery and before she was even able to realize it, she was already crying. She knew that the moment of parting would be hard, but she never knew it would be this hard.

What started as a small waving motion gradually increased, and right now Bel-chan was waving her hand at the bird in such a way as if she wanted to convey her emotions to someone she was never going to see again.

「……Goodbye.」

It’s okay. It was a decision that she herself made and steeled her heart for.

「Goodbye…… little birdie.」

So why? Why was it so hard now?

「…… stay safe……」

At that exact moment, all of the emotions that she should have been firmly blocking inside of her heart seemed to have overflown outside of it, and Bel-chan was unable to contain them any longer.

However, no matter how hard it was for her and how much it was tearing her heart apart, she had to see this through to the very end. She had an obligation to do so. And just like that, Bel-chan tried to hold back her tears as best as she could, and raised her face towards the sky.

「…… Please take care of yourself out there, little birdie!」

As if those words were supposed to be some sort of a signal, the redstart made one last lap around the Royal Navy dormitory’s roof and then it took off into the distance.

The figure of the redstart started heading for the distant mountain, and gradually it became smaller and smaller, until eventually it completely disappeared over the horizon.

「And just like that…… It’s gone.」

When Edinburgh, who was also waving her hand at the departing redstart, said those words with a quiet voice, Bel-chan turned around towards everyone present on the roof beside her.

「I must say, I feel like I was able to learn a whole lot from that little bird.」

Bel-chan said so with a huge smile on her face.

「I really feel like I was able to grow as a proper maid in the last couple of days. No matter if it comes to helping someone who was injured, or if it is about helping someone who is in need of assistance in general, and also…… and also……」

For a really short moment out there Bel-chan seemed to be at a loss for words.

「—— That no matter how well you think you have prepared yourself for it, saying goodbye and coming apart when the time comes is so excruciatingly hard…… 」

It was at that moment that tears started to spill from the corners of Bel-chan’s eyes in earnest, as if a floodgate of some sort had been opened..

It was also then that Bel-chan finally came to her senses and realized something very important.

What she thought had been firmly blocked inside of her own heart just now hadn’t been blocked at all, and that she was always wearing her heart on her sleeve all this time.

「Uuuhh…… Uuueeehhh…… Eeehhhnn!!」

No matter what she did, no matter how hard she tried, she simply could not stop the large tears that were overflowing from her eyes and coming down her cheeks.

「Hhhnnn… *Hick*…… Uuueeehhh~nnn!!!」

It was the first time ever in her life that she cried aloud in such a manner in front of other people.

Right about now Bel-chan could only stand there atop the dormitory’s roof with her face distorted by the tears and sorrow, knowing full well that those days that she had spent together with the redstart came to an end and that they would never come back.

Seeing Bel-chan crying her heart out like that, Edinburgh gently covered her eyes and rubbed her head affectionately.

Sheffield had been facing the wall all along, pretending that she did not actually see anything out of sheer courtesy.

「Waaahhh… Ugh… Aaaaaahhhhhh~~nnnnnn!」

Belfast gently hugged the crying Bel-chan closely to her chest.

Although it was faint and barely recognizable, Belfast’s shoulders were also trembling ever so slightly.

Bel-chan continued to cry like that for a while. And even when all of her grief and all of her sadness and sorrow were already long gone from her heart, she was still crying in earnest and just would not stop.

Because of that, no matter how much time passed, Bel-chan’s sobbing never stopped and refused to die down for a long time.