3 bar menu

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

「Seriously, what a troublesome elder sister you are……」

Bel-chan let out a deep sigh out of her mouth and looked at the alarm clock that was on top of the night table.

It was almost time for Edinburgh to wake up and get out of her bed as well.

「Nee-san, please wake up. It’s morning already.」

When she called out to her like that, Edinburgh only let out a long groan and showed no signs of actually going to wake up anytime soon, even covering her head with her blanket.

She reluctantly shook her several times, and finally Edinburgh’s eyelids, which seemed to be opening ever so slightly, showed some signs of her finally coming back from the dreamland into reality.

「Nmuh……… Huh? Bel-chan…? But it’s still…… Buwaaaaaahhhhhh~~~…… so early in the morning……」

「…Nee-san, just how long are you going to be asleep…… and you are way too sloppy in the morning, you know……?」

When she saw that Edinburgh was finally awake enough to be aware of her own surroundings, Bel-chan walked over to the window and slowly pulled back the curtains from over it.

The faintly brightened morning light flooded the room right away.

The window glass was covered with frost due to the temperature difference with the outside air, making it look like some sort of fantastical frosted glass.

「Uuuhh…… I know that it’s still February, but why does it have to be so cold the very second that you come out of your blankets and sheets?」

Edinburgh’s trembling voice could then be heard coming from somewhere behind Bel-chan.

Suddenly, Bel-chan remembered last night’s snow.

And seeing how it was most probably snowing throughout the entire night, she was very interested in what kind of scenery she would be able to witness outside of the window.

It had snowed so much last night that she was curious about what was going on with the outside of the dormitory, and the fact that she couldn’t see anything because of the frost also encouraged her to make the move that she decided to do.

Because she took a wild plunge forward towards the window, ready to unlock it all at once.

Unlike the kitchen windows, the windows inside of the dormitory’s rooms were double doors and opened inwards.

So Bel-chan put both of her hands firmly on the window handle on the left and right wing and……

As soon as she pulled it out with great force, a powerful gust of cold air suddenly blew right into the room.

「HIIIIIIIIIYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!????????」

And right after Bel-chan did just that, a loud and long scream could be heard coming straight out of Edinburgh’s throat.

「Wha!? What the, what the, what the, what the!? What the hell!? What happened!? Why did you do that!?」

Not knowing why the inside of the room got so freezing cold all of a sudden, Edinburgh started to frantically look about the room, finally spotting Bel-chan standing right next to the opened window.

「B-Bel-chan!? What are you doing!? Why did you even open that window!?」

Unlike last night, where there was no wind outside whatsoever, today it was pretty windy outside, and the cold air, mixed together with some fresh snow, rushed in through the opened window.

「B-Bel-chan! The window! Close it! Close it, close it, close iiiiiitttttt!!!!!! Please, I beg of you, just close it already!!!!!!」

Edinburgh tried desperately to appeal to the little maid, but for some reason Bel-chan acted as though her older sister’s pleas could not reach her ears at all. She just stood there right next to the opened window.

For the eyes of the little maid were glued to the sight that was spreading right outside of the window, and it was something so fantastical and magical that it virtually made her ears closed for any interference from the outside world.

「White…… It’s so white out there!」

In fact, Bel-chan was so enticed by the sight that was right in front of her eyes that she didn’t even notice that the fine snow falling in from the outside was turning her eyebrows and bangs pure white as well.

The scenery as far as her eyes could see was unified in pure white. Various things such as benches and flowerbeds that should have been outside were buried under the thick blanket of fresh snow, and the place where they should have been changed into mere mounds and pyres of white snow that did not even manage to retain their original shape, looking all distorted and uneven.

Being able to witness something like that, one could really start to wonder if the scenery that they were looking at was really that of the Home Port that they knew and loved, and not just some completely different place whatsoever that just got here overnight.

Bel-chan was just so overwhelmed by that new and fresh sight that she could simply gaze at the shimmering silver world in a daze, feeling as if she had come to a brand new world.

「B-Bel-chan, seriously now, I really beg of you…… Close that window…… Just close it already! Bel-chan, please…… Uuuhhh~……」

Edinburgh’s voice was trembling and sounded as though she was about to break into tears from all the cold that was coming into the room from the outside.

And hearing her older sister plea like that, it was at that exact moment that Bel-chan finally managed to come back to her senses.

「Oh my. Yes, that’s right…… I am really sorry for that, Edinburgh-nee-san. I seem to have completely forgotten that you were in here with me in the first place…… Please forgive me……」

Bel-chan then closed the window in a hurry and looked towards the bunk bed.

And surely enough, Edinburgh was right there. Completely wrapping her whole body in the futon under which she would normally sleep and her teeth chattering like mad.

「S-Starting from tomorrow…… I am going to wake up just like I am supposed to wake up, without any help or assistance…… so please, Bel-chan, really…… There is no need for you to wake me up using such drastic measures…… I promise…… Higuh……」

「Y-Yes, I am really sorry about that……」

Bel-chan said and then she deeply bowed her head down in apology.

And, out of self-discipline, she brought Edinburgh her maid outfit to the bed instead of leaving it to her sister to just get it herself.

* * *

They often say that curiosity is the thing that killed the cat. In that sense, curiosity is truly terrifying.

When it snowed before, Bel-chan had some powdery snow on her cheeks.

When she wiped it with her finger, the snow quickly turned into water droplets, and for the first time she said, “Snow turns into water as soon as it touches something!”

However, the reality proved to be entirely different from what she would imagine.

Because at the current moment, snow was everything that Bel-chan could possibly think of. It occupied the entirety of her mind, leaving little to no room for anything else.

Even though she was serving breakfast, she couldn’t help it but worry about what was going on outside. Because of her fidgeting like that, she turned her attention to the window again and again.

It was like the first time she had seen the phenomenon of snowfall, so it was understandable that she was so fascinated and distracted by it.

「Ah ––––––」

And that is exactly why Bel-chan right now was prone to making mistakes of various kinds.

By the time she managed to notice it, the dishes that she was carrying managed to slip from the tray she was holding in her hand.

As she was about to pick up the shards of the plate and tidy the remains of the dish from the floor,

「Are you okay?」

Belfast and Edinburgh heard the noise and rushed out of the kitchen to see what exactly happened.

「I’m really sorry…… but I broke the plate.」

Seeing the pieces of the plate littering the floor, Belfast seemed to immediately sense what the situation was.

「Bel-chan, please go back to the kitchen for the time being.」

「Y-Yes, Nee-sama……」

After watching someone clean up the mess that she created with a broom and dustpan, Bel-chan bowed her head decisively to the children of the dormitory who were still eating their breakfast.

「I’m sorry for making such a commotion.」

Everyone immediately spoke to her kindly and assured her that no real harm was done here.

Every girl smiles at the small maid’s clumsiness, saying, “Don’t worry about it. The meal was good today.”

–––––– A prim and proper maid should not let herself be distracted by something like this and make mistakes like that.

Bel-chan returned to the kitchen with a gloomy look on her face, still holding her finger in her mouth like she was a little child who just got scolded.