3 bar menu

Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 4 Chapter 1 Part 15

「Please excuse the sudden intrusion.」

When the three of them went inside of the hut, Erebus was resting her chin on the armrest of the sofa in the back of the room.

As for who it was who opened the door for them, it must have been Terror, because she was the one who was standing the closest to it at the current moment.

「I wonder, are all maids staying up so late every day? That’s a no-good habit to develop, you know?」

「Erebus-sama, we have come here because we have something that we want to ask of you. Please tell me, do you remember last year’s Halloween?」

「Yes, I do remember that matter quite clearly. What about it? Is there something wrong? Did something happen again?」

「Ah! I know! Could it be that the Ghost Maid made her appearance once more!?」

When Belfast heard a voice from her side and turned around, Vampire was sitting on a chair with several cards in her hands, looking straight at the newly come guests.

When she checked the pattern of the cards that were lined up on the table in front of her, they looked awfully like tarot cards.

「No, I am afraid that this is not the case here this time around, Vampire-san. Actually, I came here because I had a question about the origin story of the Ghost Maid.」

「Oh, something like that, huh? Well, talk about boring.」

Vampire,, who has seemingly lost her interest in the case at hand, resumed playing with the cards she was holding onto.

After staring at her figure for a moment or two, Belfast looked at Erebus once again.

「When I spoke to you here about the Ghost Maid before, you said that rumors of the Ghost Maid were passed down from fortune-telling activities and gossip around the Home Port. Erebus-sama, in the first place, don’t you know who the Ghost Maid really was?」

Erebus slowly shook her head in denial.

「…… Unfortunately, I know almost nothing about that matter, aside from the fact that it originated as a rumor. It was already in circulation by the time I first arrived at the Home Port but I personally never bothered to investigate it in greater detail.」

「But if the Ghost Maid really existed here in the past, is there a way to find out about her?」

「If it’s a ‘shipgirl’ that has arrived at this Home Port, then there should be a book somewhere around the library that contains past enrollment data among the books that are prohibited to take out. But it will be very difficult to find such a shipgirl through that method alone, are you aware of that?」

「Yes. And I am prepared to search for her for as long as it will be needed.」

Hearing those words, Erebus frowned her brows.

「I want you to answer me a certain question, too. Why are you bringing up the Ghost Maid again now?」

Belfast began to explain what had happened so far.

At this year’s School Festival, the Royal Navy is going to be putting on a stage play.

But it was difficult to find the right materials for the script for that very purpose.

Then Belfast remembered about the Ghost Maid, and she thought that they could use that subject as a hint to create an interesting stage play story.

After Belfast told Erebus everything that she knew,

「If that’s the case, then let me help you, too.」

Saying that, Erebus stood up from the sofa.

「The past enrollment data is a very large file, so if you are going to hunt one specific entry down, it’s better to gather as many people as possible for that purpose.

「Erebus-sama, does that mean you will help me look up the enrollment data?」

「No, at least not quite. But I am going to assist you in a different way. Honestly speaking, this whole matter began to interest me once more.」

Saying that, Erebus left the sofa and crawled under the table where Vampire was currently sitting.

「Noo! Erebus, you perv~!」

「Can you please be silent for a moment?」

Erebus dismissed the words of Vampire sitting in the chair and let her hands slide all over the floor. Then her right hand stopped at a certain place as if it was caught in something that was there.

「Here it is.」

Saying that, the moment her right hand grabbed something and pulled it, the floor beneath the table opened to the side, as if there was some sort of mechanism or contraption there.

Belfast was not the only one who was surprised to see something like that here.

「Wait just a minute, Erebus. What the hell is this!?」

「What the hell is this? Have you never seen an entrance to the basement before?」

「That’s not what I’m talking about here! Why does it look like that!? And why is it so concealed!? And how come I don’t know anything about it!?」

「You don’t know because I chose not to tell you.」

With that curt answer just like that, Erebus looked at Belfast.

「Actually, it seems that someone used this hut before we decided to live here. The basement must have been originally used as a storeroom, and a lot of antique things can be found there, all covered in dust.」

「So that means, Erebus-sama, that you have found out that there is something in the basement that has something to do with the Ghost Maid?」

Belfast seriously doubted that Erebus and her company managed to find something while they were trying to clean the place up. So it was way more probable that they were actually looking for something.

「But then, how do you know that there is going to be some sort of a clue located in this very basement, Erebus-sama?」

「Just wait a moment. You are going to see it for yourself.」

Erebus crawled into the cellar, and she soon returned with something white in her hands.

「It’s because I found this thing before.」

Seeing what that “thing” was, Belfast involuntarily held her breath.

「No way……」

Not only Belfast, but also Edinburgh and Bel-chan seemed to be at a loss for words.

What Erebus was holding in her hands was a white prim that had been left in the basement for many years and covered in a thick layer of dust.

「The white prim that some maid must have been wearing on her head during her stay at the Home Port…… It might be just a coincidence, but maybe the Ghost Maid really existed.」

Erebus said that as if she was somehow amused by her own words.