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Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 2 Chapter 4 Part 3

Belfast thought that it was really weird for Dorsetshire to introduce her little sister to her in such an official matter like that, especially since Belfast knew all too well who Norfolk was since they had met many times before around the dormitory, but right about now Belfast could not see her face at all.

「Oh! Of course, I would be there with you all the time if that was to happen! I am the only one who can be allowed to have some quality time alone with my Sister!」

「Yes, of course. Of course I am aware of that fact, so rest assured.」

Belfast then laughed because Dorsetshire had said something that was so utterly absurd that it was actually amusing.

However, today was the end of the commission that the two of them were originally assigned. For now they would be allowed a short rest, and tomorrow a group from another faction would undertake any new commission that would appear.

So, even if the three of them really wanted to go on another commission together, they would have to wait for another opportunity for that to appear.

Belfast looked back at the pier where she saw Dorsetshire frolicking with excitement on the spot.

—— Oh well…… Yes, I guess that it’s about right.

The only one who was present at the pier in the harbor was Norfolk, waiting for her elder sister to make her return to the Home Port. As for Belfast…… there was no one who would restlessly await her return here.

After all, this time of the day was especially busy and hard for all members of the Maid Corps, when they had to prepare the meal for everyone to enjoy. So it was only natural that no one would be waiting here for the Head Maid to return.

「Well then, I will excuse myself for now. Once again, thank you very much for the towel, Norfolk-san.」

Returning the towel back to Norfolk, the Heavy Cruiser shipgirl loosened the ties around her neck and revealed her face once more, previously hidden deep inside of the confines of her hood.

「Y-Yes, don’t mention it…… And, umm, t-thank you so much…… for taking care of Dorsetshire for the past few days……」

Smiling and waving her hand for goodbye, Belfast went up the uphill road leading to the Royal Navy’s Dormitory.

As she walked up the front door of the dormitory, she wanted to change her clothes first and foremost, before doing anything else.

As she walked up the stairs leading to her room, seeing Belfast someone suddenly came to a stop while walking alongside the corridor.

「…… Nee-san?」

Belfast could see Edinburgh standing behind the glass door leading to the courtyard. When she gently touched the round table used in the tea party with her finger, she muttered something under her nose with a faint smile present on her lips.

「What are you doing, Nee-san?」

Curious about her sister’s odd behavior Belfast opened the glass door leading into the courtyard.

Hearing the sound of the glass door being opened all of a sudden, Edinburgh jumped up on the spot while at the same time letting out a high-pitched “Hyah!?” scream out of her mouth, and then she stared at Belfast who was still standing in the door.

「B-Bel? W-When did you come back home? And wait! Why are you so drenched!? What the hell happened out there!?」

She then rushed over to her younger sister’s side, and she hurriedly pushed Belfast back into her hallway, all the while scolding her about catching a cold if she will stay outside while drenched like that. As she was pushing her back, she also let out an exasperated voice.

「We need to get you a spare change of clothes, on the double! If you don’t change quickly, you are bound to catch a cold for sure! Did you come back in the middle of that rain just now?」

「Yes, that’s right. But more importantly, Nee-san, what were you doing in the courtyard all alone just now ———— 」

「N-Nothing! Nothing at all! It was no big deal, anyways! So don’t worry about that!」

That answer was obviously a blatant lie, and a rather poor one at that.

Belfast was wondering what her sister was doing on her own in the middle of the courtyard, but if Edinburgh herself was going to such lengths to hide that fact, it might have been better to just leave it at that and not press her for answers any more than this. With that thought, Belfast twisted her body to slip away from her sister’s hand that was still pushing her back.

「W-Whoa, what the hell!? Don’t do that!」

Edinburgh stomped on the spot and glared at Belfast, waving her hands in apparent protest of her current action.

「Hey, come on, what gives!? Don’t do that so suddenly, Bel!! I almost fell over just now!」

「…… Nee-san.」

「W-What? What do you want, Bel?」

「I have returned home.」

Belfast said after bowing her head down.

When she slowly raised her head, for some reason Edinburgh was looking away from her with her arms crossed at her chest.

「…… Hmmm. As usual, you are always doing things at your own pace, Bel. You never even care about how your big sister is feeling.」

While puffing out her cheeks in apparent dissatisfaction, Edinburgh mumbled those words and glanced at Belfast’s face.

There was a brief moment of silence. Then Edinburgh uncrossed her arms from her chest and burst out earnestly:

「Welcome back, Bel.」

Edinburgh’s voice was once again soft and gentle, and she answered her little sister’s greeting with a big smile on her face.

The two of them then returned to their room and quickly got Belfast changed into a fresh set of clothes, and then Edinburgh and Belfast left the room and went back to the kitchen to help with the ongoing dinner preparations.

Descending down the stairs, they pushed open the large door leading to the dining room, they went through the wooden door at the back of the room and entered the kitchen.

「Everyone, I have just returned.」

When Belfast called out to everyone in the kitchen, the maids who were working inside turned around all at once towards the entrance.

「Oh my, well, isn’t that the Head Maid?」

「Wow! Welcome back home!」

In an instant, both Kent and Suffolk rushed towards the Head Maid.

「Kent-san! How was it when you were away? Anything out of the ordinary or exceptional ended up happening?」

When Belfast asked about that, Kent cheerfully gave her a thumbs up.

「Nothing! Nothing out of the ordinary ended up happening!」

「I’m glad to hear that. And how about you, Suffolk-san?」

Belfast then turned towards Suffolk, who was right next to Kent, and she smiled with her usual gentle and warm smile..

「No problem at all! The only extraordinary thing that I ended up seeing were some extraordinarily beautiful seagulls~.」

As Belfast listened to what both of the maids had to say about the mission on which they were delegated, she just so happened to turn her attention towards the cooking table, and saw that both Sheffield and Bel-chan were busy at work there, peeling the skins off of the vegetables.

「Belfast-nee-sama.」

Bel-chan put her knife on the table and as she ran towards the newly arrived Head Maid her shoes clapped against the tiled floor.

And when Bel-chan approached Belfast and courtesied in front of her with her fingers pinching the hem of her maid apron and skirt,

「Thank you for all of your hard work during your mission.」

She said the following phrase after lifting her head and looking her elder sister straight in the eyes.

「Thank you very much, Bel-chan.」

Seeing her staring at her with her round eyes, Belfast involuntarily smiled at the little maid in a gentle and warm way.

「Were you in the middle of peeling the skins off of the vegetables over there?」

「Yes. I was actually giving Sheffield-san a hand with that.

Hearing Bel-chan’s words and turning her attention back to the cooking table, Belfast saw that Sheffield only gave her a brief glance and then she just continued to peel the skins off as if nothing ever happened.

Recently, Belfast has often witnessed Sheffield and Bel-chan performing their duties together just like right now.

All this time Belfast was sure that the relationship between Sheffield and Bel-chan was somewhat awkward, but then she realized that ever since that time when Bel-chan was taking care of that injured little bird their relationship changed for the better. It was certainly mysterious, but at the same time really reassuring.

「Shefi. Thank you very much for watching after Bel-chan while I was gone..」

Sheffield must have been taking care of Bel-chan like she was doing now, even while she was away from kitchen duty or on military consignment. Knowing this, Belfast expressed her sincerest gratitude to Sheffield.