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Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 3 Chapter 3 Part 1

CHAPTER 3: Meowofficers and Cleaning

「I guess that should be all.」

Sheffield left the Academy’s Shopping Department while checking her purchase list, ticking every position one after another.

Her list was all written by herself in advance. The bags hanging from her hands were all packed with cleaning tools and various detergents.

When she explained to Belfast that she was about to run out of her cleaning supplies, the Head Maid simply gave her all the necessary funds for her shopping, without even asking for a specific raw estimate.

The only thing she had to say for that was: ‘Since you are always so passionate about cleaning, Sheffield, I think that it is only appropriate for you to be the one doing the shopping for cleaning utensils rather than anyone else”.

「…… And I think that as far as money is concerned, I managed to avoid needless overspending.」

That being said, the many supplies used for cleaning had to be replenished almost every week at the rate in which the Maid Corps was burning through them, so it was certainly inefficient to proceed in a formal way of buying them, even during non-busy times of the year.

And while Sheffield was thinking just how troublesome that matter tended to be at the most inconvenient of times sometimes,

「Sheffield-san.」

She was just about to cross the fountain in the center of the Academy, when Sheffield heard someone calling her name just like that,

When she turned herself around, she could see a small apron-clad girl who was standing just a few meters away from her.

「Oh. Is that you, Bel-chan?」

When she looked around, Sheffield saw that the other small shipgirls were coming out one after another from the large auditorium that was built right behind Bel-chan’s back, holding various books and school utensils.

As for Bel-chan, she came up to Sheffield with her textbook stuck under her arm, and she just lifted her head and smiled in a bright and positive way.

「It just so happens that all of my classes for the day have ended just now. Would you like to go back to the dormitory with me, if you don’t mind, of course?」

Casting a quick glance at the textbook that Bel-chan was holding under her arm, its title was “How to Choose Your Shells Properly, VER 1.03”’, and Sheffield remembered that some of the shipgirls from the Sakura Empire happened to mention some time ago that such a class would be taking place around this exact time.

「Yes, I don’t mind that.」

When Sheffield answered Bel-chan with her usual expressionless face and voice, Bel-chan started staring at the bags that Sheffield was holding onto this entire time.

「Would you like me to carry one of those for you?」

The bags that Sheffield was carrying in her hands were not that particularly heavy, so she was completely fine with carrying them on her own, but since Bel-chan already asked her about that and offered her help, Sheffield would feel bad if she was to refuse her. So she obediently agreed to the small maid’s proposal.

「…… Well then, if you would be so kind.」

Since Bel-chan was already offering, Sheffield might have as well taken her on her kindness, and she handed the small maid one of her shopping bags.

Then, Bel-chan held the bag with one of her hands while she was keeping her textbook stuck under her armpit, and then she squeezed Sheffield’s free right hand with her other free hand as if it was the most natural thing in the world to do in a situation like that.

While Sheffield was initially really surprised by that action of hers, Bel-chan smiled and lightly waved her hand that she was holding onto Sheffield’s palm.

「Sheffield-san, your hand is so warm.」

「…………………….」

While letting out a long sigh, Sheffield held Bel-chan’s hand in her own tightly squeezed palm and the two of them started walking forward.

And then, while casually holding hands like that, the two maids started to return to the Royal Navy’s dormitory.

「Huh? Who’s there, I wonder?」

The moment the two opened the door leading to the dining room, Bele-chan let go of Sheffield’s hand and pointed right in front of her.

If you were to look closely, you could see that someone was currently standing right in front of the wooden door that led to the kitchen.

Sheffield opened her mouth as soon as he stared at the person in question and recognized who they were right away.

「…… Well now, talk about a rare visitor.」

When Sheffield let out that remark out loud, it was also the moment when that sudden rare visitor turned around and also realized that they two maids had just arrived in the room.

「——— Oh my, how good to see you two! There was no one in the kitchen, so I was actually at my wit’s end, wondering what to do.」

The rare visitor turned out to be none other than the Admiral Class Battlecruiser Hood, as she let out a sigh of relief as soon as she saw Sheffield and Bel-chan.

「Hood-san, how did you get here?」

Sheffield opened the kitchen door and went inside after passing Hood by with Bel-chan closely by her side.

Looking around the kitchen, the Head Maid, Belfast, was nowhere to be seen, and all the other maids had also disappeared from the kitchen for some reason.

Soon Sheffield prepares a chair for Hood to sit on.

Almost at the same time, Bel-chan went to light the fire under the stove.

「Oh, it’s okay, both of you. You don’t have to trouble yourself for my sake or anything like that. I’m just here to tell you something.」

Hood looked at the faces of the two surprised maids and let out a small chuckle.

「But I must say, the two of you have started to create such a compatible combination, wouldn’t you agree?」

「Really now? Is that how you see it?」

Even with that being said, Sheffield did not seem to mind all that much, and her expression was still as unflinched as ever.

When she happened to glance at Bel-chan, she also tilted her head curiously to the side.

「Yes, I would say quite a good combination, indeed. The two of you can even share your roles and chores without saying a single word now…… But oh well, let’s put that aside for now, that’s not why I came here in the first place. Let’s get to the main topic, shall we?」

Hood coughed a little to clear her throat, and then opened her mouth once more.

「Actually, I’d like to ask the members of the Maid Corps for help with cleaning up. As for the actual place for the job, it is a place located outside of the dormitory.」

Sheffield’s ears twitched at the word cleaning.

「Cleaning, you say? But then, you say it’s somewhere outside of the dormitory’s grounds ——」

At that time, Belfast finally came back to the kitchen, followed by a few other maids. It seemed that everyone was repairing or maintaining something, since each maid had a tool in their hands.

「Why are you in the kitchen, Hood-san?」

Belfast raises her voice in surprise.

「…… She came here to ask us to help with cleaning a certain place.」

When Sheffield answered the Head Maid’s question, Hood nodded her head and continued speaking.

「Yes, that’s right. Actually, I would like you to help with the cleaning of the new building in the center of the Academy, called the Cat Lodge.」

「Ah, so that’s what it’s all about? Come to think of it, there was a rumor circulating about the Cat Lodge becoming available for the Royal Navy sometimes soon.」

Belfast clapped her hands together as if she just happened to remember something.

「If I remember things right, they should be: Lime, Soup, Peppa, Bugles, and Rose. The five of them, right?」

「It seems that people from other camps are also cleaning the Cat Lodge rooms, so we have to clean the Cat Lodge rooms assigned to our Mewofficers as well. That’s why I thought about asking the Maid Corps for help with that duty.」

「I have one question, if you all wouldn’t mind?」

One of the maids raised her hand at that moment.

She was the Anti-Aircraft Cruiser of the Dido Class named Sirius, the fifth ship of her class. It was weird to actually see her here, since she would usually be put in charge of guarding various VIPs.

「Oh my, it is really unusual for you to have a question to ask, Sirius. What’s wrong? Was there something you did not understand?」

Hood asked her that.

Since Sirius was a noble shipgirl just like Hood, it was only natural that they would behave in a more familiar way with one another.