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Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 2 Chapter 3 Part 8

Normally she would wake up as soon as someone left the room, but since she had stayed up so late last night and fell asleep on the spot, her fatigue prevented her from waking up at normal hour.

While she was still in a daze, Bel-chan called out to the small bird sitting in a birdcage that was still wrapped in a blanket.

「Little…… birdie?」

「Pii…… Pii……」

She then heard a faint whisper coming from inside of the cage.

When Bell-chan heard that, her drowsiness was blown away all at once in an instant.

She hurriedly removed the blanket from the birdcage and found the redstart, which had been so weak the day before, poking at the nuts and fruit that had been left in the birdcage the day before.

「What a relief –––––– So you are feeling better after resting for a while.」

Bel-chan was about to jump up from joy when she realized a blanket had been placed over her shoulders. And she did not remember putting it on her shoulders herself.

「Thank you very much…… Nee-sama.」

While thanking the two of her older sisters from the bottom of her heart, Bel-chan stood up from her chair.

After getting properly dressed and heading towards the kitchen in order to help and prepare the breakfast, she could see that the maids had already begun the necessary preparations in earnest.

「Good morning, everyone.」

She bowed down her head deeply, and then Suffolk appeared right in front of Bel-chan, who was just about to carry the dishes on a serving cart into the dining room.

「Good morning, Bel-chan.」

「Suffolk-san, please let me help you with that.」

「Okay, if you want to help, can you push the cart from behind me?」

Bel-chan nodded her head and pushed the cart from behind Suffolk in order to carry it to the dining room.

「By the way, how is the little birdie doing?」

When Suffolk asked her that question, Bel-chan was in the middle of arranging the knives and forks from the cart on top of the table, and she answered while not even stopping her work.

「It seems to be feeling a little bit better. It is even eating nuts and fruits that it would not even eat yesterday.」

At that time both Belfast and Edinburgh also came out of the kitchen.

「Good morning, Bel-chan. Did you sleep well?」

Belfast stood up and called out to Bel-chan like that.

「Yes, Nee-sama. There was no problem at all.」

「I am glad to hear that. Now, as for your duties for today, I would like you to stay with that little bird after breakfast and keep on watching after it, just to be on the safe side.」

Listening to Edinburgh’s words as she was telling her that, Bel-chan cocked her head a little bit.

「Huh? But I thought that my vacation lasted only for the duration of the day yesterday, right?」

「Yes, that’s right. …… Or at least, that was supposed to be the case, anyway.」

When Edinburgh laughed a little bit after saying that, Belfast who was right next to her took over and answered Bel-chan’s question.

「From now on, it will be your responsibility to take care of that redstart and nurse it back to full health, Bel-chan. But you must also remember that taking care of something or someone is also a very important duty for a maid.」

「So…… Does that mean that for now I am required to stay by the little birdie’s side at all times and make sure that it is getting better?」

「Yes. That is exactly right.」

Belfast so while slowly approaching Bel-chan and placing her hand atop of her shoulder.

「I shall leave that matter in your capable hands, Bel-chan.」

––––––– Being entrusted with an important task.

Being told something like that struck a certain chord inside of Bel-chan’s heart.

「Understood! I will do my best to take care of the little bird and nurse it back to health, Nee-sama!」

「Yes, that’s what I thought, I would expect nothing less out of you, Bel-chan.」

Then, when breakfast time finally came about, Bel-chan started working even harder than usual. She’s been taught many things as a maid when it comes to her duties, but she’s never been entrusted with anything to do completely on her own.

That is why at the current moment her small heart was filled with an unlimited amount of motivation to meet Belfast’s expectations.

After tidying up after breakfast and returning all of the dirty dishes back to the kitchen, Bel-chan stood in front of all the other maids here and addressed them.

「Now then, I am going to go and take care of that little birdie.」

Hearing Bel-chan say that, the gathered maids all said “Have a nice day, Bel-chan! Best of luck to you!” the little maid then bowed her head deeply and went out of the kitchen, immediately going back to her room.

Once she arrived there, she went towards the birdcage to check up on it right away.

「Little birdie, how are you doing?」

Bel-chan took off the warm blanket that was covering the birdcage up until now, and once she did that the redstart cried out when it saw Bel-chan’s face. For some strange reason at the current moment Bel-chan felt just like a parent who was looking after their small baby.

「How about I give you some delicious cucumber to eat for now? And once you are finished with that, I can take you out of the cage for a while.」

Thinking like that, Bel-chan gave the redstart the round slice of cucumber for it to snack on, and then she opened the birdcage’s door in order to let it out for a bit so that it would experience some open space outside of the cage.

「Hmm?」

But then, the moment the redstart was let out of its birdcage, it started to bang its small head up and down repeatedly, as if it was bowing down its head right in front of Bel-chan.

「–––––– It seems to be doing a whole lot better than yesterday, wouldn’t you agree?」

Hearing a voice speaking up completely all of a sudden from the direction of the door leading outside of the room, Bel-chan turned around to see what kind of visitor would pay her a visit at this strange time. But the one she saw at the door was none other than Belfast, standing straight while holding some spare sheets in her hands. She then pointed towards the redstart and ask:

「But why do you keep on bowing your head like that, little birdie? Could it be that you are still in pain somewhere?」

「Bowing its head?」

After Belfast asked the redstart that question, Bel-chan asked her that question in turn, not really able to quite follow the Head Maid’s words.

「You see, Bel-chan, redstarts are the kind of birds that can bow their heads.」

「So, is that really a genuine bow?」

「Wasn’t any information like that written in that book that Sheffield gave you yesterday?」

As soon as Belfast spoke those words, Bel-chan went towards the book that she left on top of the table right next to the birdcage.

And surprisingly enough, the information was written right there: “Redstart, a bowing bird”, alongside many different pieces of information.

「It seems just like…… Just like the way in which us maid curtsy from time to time.」

「Yes, it certainly looks like that.」

Said Belfast and then she grabbed the dirty bed sheets from the beds, replaced them with new and fresh ones, and then she left the room just like that.

「Little birdie, could it be that you know how to curtsy properly?」

When Bell-chan asked the little bird about that, it’s only reply was that it started to chirp rapidly in a lively manner.

「It is just like a form of a greeting for a maid. You see? You pinch the hem of your skirt just like that, and then you bow your head just like this.」

In order to actually show it to the little bird, Bel-chan stepped back a little bit and did the best curtsy that she could possibly perform. Then the redstart bowed at exactly the same time as if trying to imitate the moves that the little maid just did.

Surprised to actually see the bird do that, Bel-chan curtsied once again, and the redstart bowed its head once more as well, wagging its tail at the same time.

「Little birdie, you are so clever! That is really impressive!」

Bel-chan was really surprised and could not contain the excitement in her voice any longer.

「Ah! Oh no, you can’t! You still need to rest!」

The little bird’s wing was still held in place with a matchstick, and more importantly, its bones surely did not manage to heal throughout a single night.

「I know it’s a pity that you can’t fly on your own right now, but please! Don’t move that wing until it is properly healed! It’s for your own good!」