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

Belfast then went on to say:

「And since it is a ball that we are talking about, every single person that is going to be in attendance needs to learn how to dance properly. And since the members of the Maid Corps know only the very basics of dancing, it would be quite difficult to teach everyone the proper moves in time.」

「I-I see…… It sure is a whole lot of trouble, isn’t it?」

Edinburgh finally began to realize the practical problems of attending a ball and that it would be really problematic to make it happen for the members of the Maid Corps.

「Lastly, there is the issue of the dress.」

「Thedress?」

「Yes. This is actually the most important issue: we do not have enough formal dresses for everyone to attend the ball.」

「…… Ah.」

That was certainly a problem that would be the most difficult to work around.

In the image that popped up in her mind, she wore a dress as a matter of course, but when she thought about it some more, Edinburgh had never worn a formal dress before in her entire life.

「——Head Maid, I have just returned.」

Just then, Sirius, who had gone to see the Iris Libre people off, returned to the dormitory.

Then she walked towards Belfast, straightened her back and said,

「I have also received a message from the Iris Libre representatives that they told me to pass onto you and Her Majesty.」

「A message, you say?」

「Yes! It is as follows: “I forgot to mention that before, but please don’t worry about the dresses for everyone in attendance. We will arrange for them all, so you just patiently sit and wai for them to be delivered.」

It was a very well-timed message, if nothing else.

「Thank you for relaying that message to me, Sirius. So, I guess that for the time being the problem of the dresses has been officially taken care of, and that’s a huge plus.」

Then the next to approach Belfast was Sheffield, who had just returned all the dishes to the kitchen and emerged from it.

「I have left the washing of the dirty dishes to other maids. Now, both Belfast and Edinburgh, please leave the cleaning up in here to me and go to the kitchen to assist others.」

「Thanks a lot, Sheffi.」

Edinburgh smiled brightly, and Sheffield hesitantly took out a piece of paper from the inside of her apron’s pocket.

「Also, when I was cleaning the library several times before, I happened to see some books and documents about social circles, so I took the liberty of noting their titles down. There were also a few books about dancing practices. I don’t know if the steps described in those are meant for balls and social gatherings, but I thought it would be better to actually give them a read and check them out, just to be on the safe side.」

「Oh wow, Sheffi! that’s actually amazing!」

Sheffield then stared at Edinburgh’s face as she handed the piece of paper to Belfast’s hands.

「W-What is it? Is there something on my face?」

「No, it’s just that…… 」

「Just what? Come on, say it!」

「I’m worried whether you will be able to learn the proper dance steps by the time the ball takes place.」

「Hey, that’s actually none of your business! Besides, you’re worrying too much! See, I am the kind of person who can do just about anything for as long as I put my mind to it! So it will be a piece of cake for me! Right? Surely you think the same, huh, Bel!?」

When Edinburgh turned around after saying that, Belfast was staring at her older sister with the kind of expression that was actually difficult to describe.

And seeing Belfast make that kind of face, Edinburgh immediately knew what was going on and she asked Belfast almost right away:

「That face…… Bel, don’t tell me……You don’t think that I am going to do this? You don’t think that I can learn how to dance properly!?」

「No. That’s not true, Nee-san. If you practice diligently, you should be able to learn how to dance just in the nick of time.」

「…… H-Huh? I-Is that right? I mean, yeah! Isn’t that right? What there is to worry about! I am your ever-so-reliable older sister after all! So there is no need to worry!」

「However.」

「Huh!? W-Wait, Bel!? What was that!?」

At the current moment Edinburgh was getting really tired of hearing the word “But” being thrown around in regard to her capabilities.

When Edinburgh’s face stiffened at hearing her younger sister’s words, Belfast spoke lightly.

「As I said earlier, we really do not have that much time before the ball next week, so I am really worried that it might not be enough for you, Nee-san.」

「Uuuhhh~~~…… That’s it! I’ve had it! I’ve had it with both of you looking down on me like that!」

Raising a loud complaint, Edinburgh pointed her finger at the two of them.

「Just you wait! You will see! On the day of the ball, my dance moves are going to be so magnificent and beautiful that they will knock the socks off of your feet!」

Belfast looked at Sheffield once and then she gave Edinburgh a soothing look while trying to appease her to some extent.

「……Well, I mean, it’s certainly not a good idea to make assumptions before you actually see someone put in the effort and showing off the results of their hard work. In the meantime, let’s go find a book on proper ballroom etiquette in the library that Sheffield was so kind to let us know about.」

「Of course! You can count on me!」

Edinburgh nodded her head and thought for a moment out there.

She was going to show everyone that she was going to be able to dance properly! So much that everyone would be amazed and would need to collect their jaws from the floor!

After clearing the dirty dishes and sending the other maids back to their rooms so they could call it a day, Edinburgh and Belfast decided to go to the Academy’s library together.

「Would you like me to accompany you to look for the book that you are searching for, my dear sisters?」

Bel-chan, who stayed in the kitchen until the very end of work, asked them that all of a sudden.

「Hmm…… It’s already late at night, so I’d like you to go back to our room for the time being and wait there for our return, Bel-chan.」

But even when Edinburgh said so to Bel-chan, the little maid would simply refuse to leave them all alone with that task of theirs.

It was also plainly written on her face that she was curious about the subject at hand.

「I have never danced before, so I’m really curious about that.」

And just like that, the two of them had no other choice but to take Bel-chan along with them, and the three of them headed to the Academy’s library.

On their arrival at the library, the three maids looked at the note that Sheffield left them, and once they did that they started to work together in order to find all the books about balls and whatever it was that surrounded them that they could find..

「—— So these are the books that we managed to gather.」

Belfast said so while stacking the books each person brought on top of the table.

Actually, thanks to Sheffield’s memo it did not take them all that long to find all of the books that they were looking for.

And as luck would have it, none of the books that they gathered were very thick to begin with, so the three of them started flipping through their pages in search of any piece of information that could help them out in their predicament.

Belfast immediately sat down on a chair and placed a portion of the gathered books right beside her.

「I shall read all the books here that are about all manners of ballroom etiquette, so that I will be able to pass that knowledge onto the other maids tomorrow. That way, it will be way more efficient than having every single person read it in turn.」

「Alright then, so in that case, together with Bel-chan I am going to read all of the books that are about dances and dance moves. Is that alright with you, Bel?」

「Yes, I shall leave that matter to you.」

Edinburgh left Belfast, who had begun to read a book at the library’s study desk, and headed to the bookshelves again with Bel-chan in tow.

The Home Port’s library was mostly filled with books on various weapons and military tactics.