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Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 4 Chapter 2 Part 7

True to his words, Belfast, who was worried at first, felt very relieved when the voices of dissolution came out. And if there were any words of backlash being thrown at them right there, she would honestly not know what to do.

「For some inexplicable reason, all of the Royal Navy’s shipgirls are so kind.」

Curlew slipped past Suffolk as she sat in a free chair.

「Well, I guess it’s only natural. Besides, no one would say anything harsh to the girls who volunteered to clean up the Still Room just like that.」

「Ah, I just happened to remember something, everyone.」

Seeing Suffolk getting up from the chair and rushing out of the back door in a hurry just now, Belfast explained to the rest of the maids about the schedule for the next day that they would be having.

「I will go and tell Suffolk all about it later, but before I explain the schedule of the Maid Corps for tomorrow, there is one more thing that needs to be done before that ——」

Belfast then turned around and spoke towards the wooden door leading from the dining room into the kitchen.

「You can come in now.」

While everyone from the Maid Corps was wondering what was going on here, they slowly all turned their heads towards the kitchen’s door.

The one who appeared in them was none other than Le Fantasque-Class Destroyer, Le Triomphant, who had just offered to cooperate with the Royal Navy’s attempts at making a stage play.

「W-What are you doing here of all people…… 」

Belfast explained to Edinburgh, who clearly did not understand the current situation.

「Actually, from today onwards until the eve of the School Festival, Iris Libre shipgirls will also help out with some of the maid work around the dormitory.」

「Especially that with some many people going to be delegated to work on the stage play, you might lack the appropriate personnel to get the job done around here. And while it is only a possibility, it is a possibility that is very strong, wouldn’t you agree?」

With a slight chuckle, Le Triomfant pointed to several shipgirls waiting right behind her.

「Everyone, the Royal Navy is counting on us with this one, so I expect you to carry out your new duties with dignity and in the best way possible.」

Then, the shipgirls from the Iris Libre all stepped up and said “Roger that!” in unison.

Seeing this, Sheffield turned towards Belfast and said:

「Looks like we have got some new work to do, too, huh?」

「You intuition is as keen as always, I see, Sheffi.」

Belfast then turned to everyone and spoke about the information that Elizabeth had given her personally sometimes before.

「I was not able to tell you this at the time of the meeting just now, but starting from tomorrow, the Maid Corps will be working as a separate team as well. A sort of fifth team, so to speak.」

「The fifth…… team?」

Edinhalla cocked her head slightly upon hearing that.

「Since we have our regular maid duties to take care of, we can’t spend as much time preparing for the School Festival as the other shipgirls, so we are going to be responsible for undertaking special tasks throughout that time period.」

With that said, Belfast showed everyone a little finger-sized seal that she had procured out of her apron’s pocket.

「It will be the job of us maids to stamp the goal achievement stamps that were conveyed to everyone at the meeting earlier. In addition, we are to check the progress of preparations of all the groups in great detail, report to the leaders of each group if we see that there is going to be a delay, and sometimes go around to help those who would require our help. In short, you can think of us as an auditor who grasps the overall business and budget and gives instructions to those directly under our jurisdiction.」.

「Wow! Doesn’t that mean that the Maid Corsp holds a slightly higher position from all the other groups out there?」

Kent shouted like that all happily.

「I’m actually relieved, I thought I would not have time to properly clean because of it all.」

Sheffield let out a sigh of relief from her mouth and asked while looking at the seal Belfast was holding in her hand.

「You say that we are going to be the auditors for each group, Belfast. But it would be better to assign a person in charge of checking the progress of each individual group? That way we could make our jobs easier.」

「Yes, I understand. I was just about to suggest that.」

So, it was decided that each person would be in charge of a different group from the preparatory section.

COSTUME DEPARTMENT AND QUALITY CONTROL…… SHEFFIELD, NEWCASTLE.

PROPS & SCAFFOLDINGS…… EDINBURGH, KENT, SUFFOLK.

SOUND & LIGHTING…… BEL-CHAN, CURLEW, SIRIUS.

CASTING CREW…… BELFAST, CURACOA.

「Starting from tomorrow, let’s share information with each other while doing our own maid work at the same time.」

Then Belfast handed out the stamps to everyone and finished the day’s work with that.

Just like that the date has changed and there were about seventeen more days left until the School Festival.

After breakfast and laundry had been completed, the shipgirls who had been appointed to be in charge of their respective groups immediately went to check on how each team was doing.

「I will ask everyone about the progress later, so please let me know if you have any concerns.」

With that said, Belfast and Curacoa headed towards where the Casting Team was located.

「I heard that the Casting Team is gathering in the conference room for now.」

In the hallway on the 4th floor of the dormitory, where the conference room was located, the two bumped into Javelin, a J Class Destroyer.

「Ah! Belfast-san and Curacoa-san!」

「Long time no see Javelin. Could it be that you are part of the Cast team?」

When Belfast greeted her like that, Javelin smiled and nodded her head cheerfully.

「When I heard that we were going to be making a stage play, I really wanted to appear on the stage, no matter what! I take it that you are going to be the ones who are going to help the Casting Team, Belfast-san? Curacoa-san?」

「No, that’s not quite it. You see, we are only going to be responsible for the audit work.」

「Audit…… what’s that?」

While explaining to Javelin, who tilted her head in puzzlement, what an audit was, the three of them walked to the front of the conference room together.

The moment they opened the door ——

「Wow! There are so many people in here!?」

No wonder Javelin raised her voice like that.

The conference room was simply overflowing with shipgirls.

「Because the performers are going to be the main stars of the play, I guess it means that there are so many girls who want to act on top of the stage even if they are not going to get the leading role.」

Curacoa said something like that, and it was honestly a pretty accurate description of the current situation of this particular team.

「The fact that so many people are gathered here means that the other groups must be a whole lot quieter than this here.」

Just as Belfast was saying that, the three happened to overhear the voice of King George V speaking.

「…… I’m sorry. Unfortunately, I cannot allow you to join the Casting Group.」

「Uuuh! This is so frustrating!」

Seeing one of the Destroyers leaving the conference room with her head in her hands, as if she was about ready to cry from frustration, both Belfast and Curacoa headed towards King George V location, to see what was going on there. And once the shipgirl in question saw the maids, she invited them to come closer with a wave of her hand.

「It’s good to see you here. Belfast. And you as well, Curacoa.」

「Yes, we came here to perform the audit of your work. And since we are going to be working together until the performance’s time, we hope for a fruitful cooperation.」

Saying that, Belfast and Curacoa both bowed their heads slightly, and then slowly lifted their heads back up.

Taking a closer look, they would notice that King Goerge V had a large iron box in her hands. It was supposed to be a box where people could write requests to Santa Claus during the Christmas period, but why was it here now?

「Inside of this box you will find both white and red ping-pong balls.」

As if to answer Belfast’s doubts, Hood, who was right next to King George V, opened her mouth and explained.

「We were thinking about the lottery method in advance, thinking that this would happen anyway.」