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Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 4 Chapter 2 Part 6

What was written on that piece of paper were the targets for each group’s preparatory period..

For example, when it comes to the Tools Group, if they were to set a specific goals such as “Preparing the X number of nails required for all crafts”,’ or “Ordering the necessary X amount of plywood,” it would have put unnecessary amount of pressure on the people of that group. So instead the goals were changed to things like: “Completing the day’s work without any trouble”. There were also goals that would aim to test the team’s teamwork abilities, such as “Accomplishing X or Y together” or “Reaching the performance day without injury of any sort.”

「In this way, each team is going to perform its assigned tasks, and each time they will manage to complete it, they are going to receive a stamp for their efforts that they are going to collect on a special card. This paper will be later on posted on the bulletin board in the dormitory, so you can check the progress of your tasks at any given time. And yes, the team that achieves the most achievements will receive a reward directly from His Majesty after the stage play is going to be over..

This was the idea that Belfast had told Elizabeth earlier.

It was all about adding a little bit of a competition-style gameplay to the preparation period leading up to the day of the School Festival. Belfast thought that rather than simply proceeding with the preparations indifferently as an entire faction, this kind of ingenuity might lead to an increase in motivation for the members of each individual group.

—— By doing that, I hope that even those who are reluctant to participate in this activity will have even a little bit of fun while working on it……

Thinking that, Belfast continued on with her explanation while pointing to the paper with the achievements and goals written on it.

「We have also prepared a lot of achievements for every team to accomplish while they will be working towards reaching their respective goals. For example, the daily missions here are all simple goals that will be easy to achieve with only a little bit of effort needing to be put into them. Just by completing the daily goals, it’s possible to surpass the number of stamps that the other teams might accumulate themselves. There will also be other important goals with deadlines to them, like weekly missions, and so on and so forth.

After explaining all that far, Belfast tried to see everyone’s reactions and to gauge how they would respond to that idea.

—— Hey! That sounds really interesting!

She could hear a hushed whisper beginning to travel around the dining room.

—— How about we form a team together? Sounds like fun!

—— Or better yet, how about we try to aim for first place together? That would be even more interesting!

If Belfast was to listen closely, she was able to hear happy voices starting to sound one after another from the shipgirls all over the dining room. Most of them seemed to belong to Destroyers, but it was a start, at the very least.

It was at that time when Belfast was thinking that the reaction to their ideas was excellent and really positive that ——

「Hoo, hoo! What a fun and interesting story you guys are talking about!」

Suddenly, everyone heard voices coming from the side of the door leading into the corridor.

When Belfast and others looked at that general direction all at once,

「I have heard that the Royal Navy faction was going to put on a stage play, so we wanted to help you guys out, so we have come here to do just that!」

The one who showed everyone present and Elizabeth in particular a dashing smile was none other than Le Triomphant from the Iris Libre, a Destroyer belonging to the Le Fantastique Class.

And right behind her there were other shipgirls belonging to the Iris Libre faction who were currently stationed in the Home Port.

「What do you say to that, Your Royal Highness of the Royal Navy, Queen Elizabeth? Will you accept our help? Or will you not?」

Hearing Le Triomphant’s question completely out of the blue like that, Elizabeth waved her hand at her in response.

「Y-Yeah! Of course! You are welcome to help us out! Very welcome, in fact!」

And just like that, Elizabeth stepped forward and came right next to Belfast.

Then, she looked at Belfast. And then Elizabeth turned herself around and looked at everyone from the Royal Navy gathered in the dining room at the current moment. She took a deep breath, and……

「Everyone, I am really, really sorry! This situation turned out the way it did! And that you all ended up getting dragged into this! I really do want to apologize to you all!」

「Your Majesty.」

Raising her hand up and showing Warspite that no more words would need to be said on her side, Elizabeth continued to address everyone present in the room.

「If only I had made sure to uphold my responsibilities the way they were meant to be, we would have had way more time to prepare for this event, but…… I got carried away with my official duties and did not even notice the message about the change in the School Festival…… I am sorry! This is all my fault!」

Slowly lowering her head, Elizabeth spoke her sincere words of apology.

「I just had to tell you all this. Otherwise it would not be fair of me. I owed you at least that much.」

Everyone seemed to be at a loss for words upon hearing those sudden revelations.

After bowing down her head in apology, Elizabeth slowly raised her head back up, and once she regained her composure she continued on with her story.

「I am sure there will be some of you who are going to feel confused by the suddenness of all of this, but that is precisely why Bel came up with such a great idea. It’s a really great idea that should motivate everyone to give it their very best, even if some of you might feel a little bit reluctant to do this in the first place.」

Elizabeth said so again, and in that moment Belfast knew that it was her cue to follow along with an explanation. She’s been waiting patiently all this time for this moment.

「We also made sure to consult this idea with the shipgirls who became the leaders of the four groups that you heard about just a moment ago, and they said that they would be glad to cooperate with us in this endeavor.」

「That being said, if you are still confused, or you think that this is all my fault that we do not have nearly enough time…… That’s not wrong. You are absolutely right in thinking like that.」

For a moment out there, Elizabeth’s expression changed into that of a faint smile.

Then, tightening her expression, Elizabeth met everyone’s gaze directly once more.

「But, if there are still some of you who are confused and at a loss, I would like for those of you to bring those complaints directly to me. Because I really want to make this stage play the best thing that ever was, even though we might not have nearly enough time for that.」

Then Elizabeth gripped the microphone in her hand really tightly, and……

「Which is exactly why! We don’t have nearly enough time, but please! Can you help us to create the best stage play that this Home Port has ever seen!?」

For a long moment out there, the inside of a large dining room was awkwardly silent.

But it was after that brief moment of pause that the sound of hands clapping could be heard coming from somewhere at the back.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

After a while, the sound of clapping hands gradually increased, growing louder and louder.

Louder and louder. More and more.

Soon enough, it became a sound wave so loud and so grand that it was actually starting to hurt Belfast’s ears a little bit.

「……Thank you, everyone. Truly, thank you so much!」

When she let go of the microphone, Elizabeth bowed her head in front of everyone once again, and thus the general meeting of the Royal Navy regarding the School Festival ended without any incident occurring.

* * *

「It was a very good speech.」

After the general meeting was disbanded and the maids returned to the kitchen, Bel-chan muttered her impressions with a smile. Kent, who was clearing the dishes right next to her, also nodded her head.

「Actually, there is no one in here who would be able to say no to a request like that from Her Majesty. Especially not after she apologized for the trouble so earnestly.」