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Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 3 Chapter 4 Part 8

Edinburgh could not help but to envy Belfast’s continued perfection.

She loved her so much, but at the same time she envied her so much.

「Even though we are supposed to be sisters…… How come that we are so different?」

Suffolk told her that she thought that their faces looked similar, but their insides were completely different.

「Oh, you! Enough with self-loathing already~……!」

After giving herself a light bang on the head, Edinburgh struggled to get back on her feet.

She then left the dormitory and walked down the downhill path towards the pier.

Edinburgh thought that by being exposed to some fresh air and sea breeze for a while, she would be able to blow away all of the bad feelings that were swirling inside of her chest.

When she finally arrived at the pier, Edinburgh took a deep breath while listening to the sound of the waves crashing against the shoreline.

Thus, as she smelled the sea breeze, her strange and unpleasant feelings seemed to subside little bit by little bit.

「I guess that I will…… stay right here for the time being.」

Just as she thought like that to herself,

「Hmm……?」

A loud rumbling sound rang in the sky somewhere nearby.

When she looked up at the sky while thinking that something like that could not be even possible, some large droplets of cold water started to hit her cheeks.

「Uuugh, you have got to be kidding me……!」

It would seem that today it was one misfortune falling onto Edinburgh after another. Andright now she was beginning to become fed up with it..

Edinburgh quickly ran away from the pier, as more and more rain drops started to fall right on top of her head.

She then thought to herself that even for a sudden downpour like that, it was way TOO sudden of a rain.

And then, the rain that started falling down grew more and more intense by the second, turning into a heavy rain before she could even know it. But what was so weird about it, was that the sky turned like that during the span of approximately thirty seconds, or even less.

「Geez! Why is this happening to me of all people!?」

Running at full speed right now, Edinburgh shouted in an unbearably loud voice, having trouble containing her emotions.

In that case, the only way to escape this rain right now was to run to a place with a roof, no matter what it would be.

When she hurriedly searched for a nearby place where she could possibly evacuate to, she found a porch with a bright light just in front of her.

She hurriedly slipped in, but her hair and clothes were already completely soaking wet.

「Ugh, this is just the worst…… I can’t seem to catch a break today, can I?」

After dropping her head and looking at her feet and being all depressed for a long while, eventually Edinburgh raised her head.

「By the way, which part of the Home Port is this place……?」

She jumped in here without really checking it beforehand, so she didn’t really know what kind of building this place was.

She wanted to at least know where she was for the time being, so she started checking around to see if there was any light source inside of this building.

「If this is a dormitory of some sort, I would at least like to thank whoever lives here for letting me in……」

But no matter how hard she searched around, Edinburgh was unable to find any light source, and aside from the window located at the front porch, she could see no other windows in the nearest vicinity. Also, it was nowhere near the time when everyone was heading to their beds to tuck themselves in for the night. so the possibility of this being another faction’s dormitory seemed really low.

「Ahh, ah well…… I guess I’ll just have to wait here for the rain to stop, even if it’s going to be quite a while.」

Perhaps this torrential downpour should stop before long. At least that was what Edinburgh was hoping for here.

Every year, around this particular time of season, the amount of rainfall in the vicinity of the Home Port island would increase substantially, and it was not uncommon for sudden rains like this to occur.

For the time being, Edinburgh just stood there, gazing at the torrential downpour absentmindedly..

Then, apart from the sound of rain, she heard the sound of someone kicking and running through a puddle of water.

「No way…… Is there someone out there who is in the same kind of situation as I am?」

It was certainly unexpected.

She couldn’t see clearly because of her poor eyesight, but she could hear the sound of running that was slowly approaching her location.

Just as Edinburgh unintentionally braced herself for imminent impact, she could vaguely see a small girl running in here, soaking wet from head to toe.

「Why is it raining so hard all of a sudden like that —— Oh my. Do my eyes deceive me? Or do we have a previous visitor here?」

The girl’s wet golden hair was illuminated by the unreliable light of the entrance porch.

「What a strange coincidence that we chose to shelter ourselves from the rain in the same place. What faction do you belong to, pray tell?」

Edinburgh couldn’t see clearly without her glasses, but she was still able to tell that this girl was incredibly pretty.

Edinburgh was a little nervous as she introduced herself to that girl whom she was meeting for the very first time.

「M-My name is Edinburgh, the first ship of the Royal Navy’s Edinburgh Class. I am a Light Cruiser.」

Now, even though she did not have her glasses on her nose, Edinburgh was able to tell that the newly appeared girl was someone that she herself had never met before.

At the very least, one thing was clear: she was not a shipgirl belonging to the Royal Navy.

The newcomer shipgirl wore her beautiful, curly golden hair and she smiled softly.

「I’m Emile Bertin, and I am a Light Cruiser of the Emile Bertin Class, belonging to the Iris Libre. I have only just been assigned to perform an active military service, so this place is still new to me and I still sometimes end up getting lost in the Home Port…… But it surely is raining rather heavily~……」

「With the climate around this place, we get torrential downpours every year at this time of year. It’s just the natural charm of this particular season.」

「Oh, is that how it is? It’s a very unique Home Port island, that’s for sure. Not to mention all these guerrilla downpours~.」

Saying that, Emile Bertin chuckled slightly.

Not knowing what was so funny here, Edinburgh watched the rain still pounding against the ground right outside the front porch.

—— A member of Iris Libre, huh……? Somehow, that just now made me remember.

Then Edinburgh suddenly realized that she had neglected to clean up after the meal today.

She walked out from under the front porch without saying a word, thinking that Belfast must have been really upset with her by now.

As she silently pondered that matter while she watched the rain come down without stopping.

「—— Oh no, you won’t!」

「Hyeh!?」

Suddenly, Emile Bertin’s face appeared right in front of Edinburgh’s face. she must have chased right after Edinburgh, and before she could even wonder what her deal here was, she started to pull Edinburgh back under the roof of the small front porch.

「W-What do you think you’re doing all of a sudden!?」

「You had a rather gloomy expression on your face, so I thought that maybe you were worried about something?」

Hearing that question, Edinburgh groaned in a pained way.

「I-it’s nothing…… It’s really not.」

She replied while averting her gaze from the Iris Libre girl as if she was trying to escape her, but to that vein attempt Emile Bertin only smiled brightly once again.

「You might be saying that, but I can see it clearly on your face that you are lying. Now then, is there anything that I can help you with to resolve your troubles?」

「N-No! Like I said, it’s nothing! Really! No need to worry about it!」

「Really now? You know, you can talk to me about anything you want? It’s not like I will go and tell your secrets to anyone~.」

Edinburgh was still trying to evade Emile Bertin’s gaze and Emile Bertin was still looking right at Edinburgh, as if she was trying to gaze right into her very soul.

Then Emile smiled even more broadly than before.

「I guess that our meeting here must have been a work of fate. So come on, lay your worries and frustrations bare with me.」