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

It took her a moment, but eventually Belfast stopped her hand at a certain page.

「…… Ah.」

It was a picture where the image of the kitchen was drawn.

It seems to be the exact same kitchen as the one that was installed inside of the Royal Navy’s dormitory, but even if some of the details were different or no longer there, the resemblance was really striking.

「——Belfast」

Before the Head Maid even knew it, Erebus was standing right in front of her and calling out to her.

Right behind Erebus, there was still a heated debate over the topic of the name that the Ghost Maid should be given for the time being.

「If you guys are going to make choosing a name so god-damn difficult, then how about we just call the Ghost Maid “Yuu” or “Rei”, huh? That should pretty much do it, wouldn’t you agree?」

In response to Erebus’ proposal, Belfast nodded her head while closing the picture book.

「Yes, I suppose that this is a valid argument. However, if we were to call her “Yuu”, I am afraid that a name like this would overlap too much with both Unicorn-san and her beloved Yu-chan.」

「Well, in that case, it’s going to be either “Boo” or “Rei”. Let’s just limit our choices to those two and do not waste any more time on this pointless subject.」

As Belfast agreed to that idea, the dinner time was less than ten minutes away.

Surely there was not much time left for pointless deliberations like that.

「Everyone! Please listen to me for a moment! That’s enough of the name discussion for now! For the time being, this Ghost Maid’s name will be tentatively established as “Boo-san!” until further notice!」

What resulted from that announcement was a loud chorus of disappointment and complaints, but even in the midst of it all, Belfast simply carried on.

It took her a moment to connect all of the readable parts together, but eventually she managed to accomplish just that. And after she was done deciphering the text, the continuation of it was probably something alongside the lines of:

——Well then, today, Boo-san came to the HomePort in order to assume her post as a maid here. Although she is quite the hard worker, she can be really clumsy at times, and she always gets into trouble with things like cleaning the laundry and cooking. However, because of her kind and lovable personality, people tend to overlook her shortcomings and just pin it under the “Ah well, since it’s Boo-san, I guess it cannot be helped”. She is living her life in the Home Port while being loved by many people all around us.

And then, it happened on a day just like any other day.

A new “shipgirl” has arrived at the Home Port——

After reading up to that point, Belfast raised her head and said,

「Apparently, this “other shipgirl” is the other girl on the cover of the book.」

「…Then, should we not refer to that girl as “Rei” for simplicity’s sake?」

There was no particular objection to Erebus’ remark, so Belfast continued to read on.

—— Rei-san was a type of a “shipgirl” called a Capital Ship, and had a real peerage rank above everyone else. Rei-san severely would always severely criticize Boo-san, who was still as sloppy when it came to doing her job as ever.

「How come no one ever gets angry with such a useless maid like you!? I will never get along with such a failure of a maid! Not in a million years!」

At first, Rei-san was really stubborn and pungent about certain things, but as time went by, she was gradually swept away and won over by Boo-san’s kindhearted nature and soft air about her.

「Wait! Please wait just a moment, Rei-ojou-sama!」

「I told you to stop following me like that!」

Such an exchange between the two became a very heartwarming spectacle, and a regular occurrence around the Home Port. The two of them gradually became irreplaceable best friends as they spent their days together pretty much all the time ——

「…… Somehow, I think that the relationship that those two had going on for them was a very cute one.」

Bel-chan let those words out after a moment of silence, voicing her honest impressions here.

「Yes, you can definitely say that again. Somehow, listening to their story makes me feel all happy inside for some bizarre reason. Also, for some reason I can see a whole lot of similarities to Belfast and Edinburgh with those two.」

「Hm? What was that? Did you say something?」

「N-No! Nothing! Nothing at all!」

Hearing the other maids shriek those words in a panic, Belfast chuckled slightly before she eventually cast her gaze down at the picture book once again.

—— While it was true that this Boo-san was bearing some sort of resemblance to Edinburgh, at least character-wise, Belfast deliberately chose not to comment on that subject at all.

Thinking just like that, Belfast turned the next page, and what she saw there was……

「This is……」

Unintentionally becoming at a loss for words, Belfast’s expression turned rather surprised and sour.

「…… Huh? What happened, Bel?」

Elizabeth asked her that, seeing her expression.

「No, it’s nothing, Your Majesty. It’s just that the next pages are the continuation of the previous subject —— 」

—— On one day, Rei-san was ordered to leave the Home Port for a few days due to a temporary return order from the main Royal Islands.

He seemed to be really happy when Boo-san came to see her off with a smile on her face as usual.

A few days later, even when it was time for Rei-san to return to the Home Port, Rei-san did not return.

Boo-san tried her best to be cheerful, and she tried to spend her everyday life as usual. But even so, everyone could see that she was going to the pier every single day, desperately awaiting her friend’s return.

In the Home Port, uneasy voices began to whisper little by little, but Boo-san still believed that she would return someday to the Home Port.

However, the contact message that came to her was like a nightmare come true.

Recently, many Sirens have been spotted alongside the sea route that Rei-san and the others took on their way back to the Home Port from the main Royal Navy’s Islands.

And as for the Sirens, their numbers were so big that it was actually despair-inducing. It was not the kind of force that could be matched with a half-baked patrol force alone. However, that particular sea area was a very important point for the transportation of goods and had to be recaptured at any cost.

Naturally, emergency orders were also issued to all the shipgirls currently in the Home Port, which included Boo-san as well ——

「And…… And then what!?」

Edinburgh asks that question cautiously, holding her hand tightly in front of her chest, looking as though she was trying her best not to yell in desperation to know what happened next.

Belfast looked at the picture book and slowly shook her head and shifted it towards everyone else to see.

「…… It’s just as you can see.」

The next couple of pages had been torn apart by someone.

「Looking at the scribbles on those pages so far…… I think this is probably the work of the Destroyer girls who were enrolled at the Home Port in the past.」

All the maids currently present in the library felt at a loss for words.

Belfast quietly closed the picture book, and Echo cautiously opened her mouth.

「Boo-san, Rei-san…… I hope that they are alright.」

「This is……」

Belfast did not know what to say to that.

It was a book that carefully and meticulously depicted the relationship between two people who started on bad terms, shifted to being on good terms, but one day they suddenly had to part ways —— And since no one here knew anything about this subject at all, to be perfectly honest, this story could take any turn now and no one would even be that surprised about it.

「Ahh, umm…… Head Maid?」

Suffolk then raised her hand.

「If Boo-san also had received a sortie order, then, umm, then maybe…… It was not just Rei-san that went missing, but Boo-san as well, after that……」

「Hey! Suffolk, why are you saying such hurtful things all of a sudden!?」

「B-But…… Considering the war situation at the time, the Sirens clearly had the upper hand by that time!!」

In response to Kent’s hoarse voice, Suffolk countered with a voice that was on the verge of crying.

Meanwhile, Belfast stared at the cover of the picture book.

What was drawn on it was a cute picture of a maid and an aristocratic girl, both looking happy as they were holding each other’s hands.

「…… Perhaps the two people in this picture book are really ——」