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Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 4 Chapter 3 Part 11

Directly above the stage, there was Sirius handing from the catwalks, just like the Manjuu was hanging not all that long ago.

Seeing that, both Queen Elizabeth and Warspite, who were sitting in the audience seats and enjoying the play thus far, opened their mouths in shock and their eyes widened considerably.

Even Belfast, who was watching from the back of the audience seats, held their breath and stood still for a moment out there, unable to comprehend what just happened right in front of her eyes.

While everyone was dumbfounded in front of the picture now depicting broken and utterly crushed Elite Siren, Emile Bertin, who had guessed the situation before anyone else was able to figure it out, raised her voice out loud.

「…… H-Hooray! We did it! We have defeated the Siren!」

Although it was nothing more than an ad-lib on her part, Javelin immediately became aware of the situation after being startled for a moment, shouting the lines that would go well with Emile Bertin’s proclamation just now.

「O-Oh yeah! That’s right! We did it! We managed to bring that Siren down! Hooray! I cannot believe it!」

In sync with the two’s ad-libbing, the other cast members also smiled wryly as they raised their victory cries while retreating towards the backstage in a hurry.

And it was at that time that there was first a static coming from the speakers, and then there was an announcement from Amazon playing across the entire theater.

「Umm, and with that, the first half of the story has come to an end, so let’s take a short break here—–」

Along with the announcement that did not seem to be calm and planned at all, the stage curtain came down and the hall brightened up in an instant.

* * *

As soon as the Cast Team moved backstage, all of its members alongside the Tool-Making Team and Costume Team went to the meeting room in order to have an emergency meeting there, and soon enough they were joined by Queen Elizabeth, whose complexion had turned completely pale as a result of the disaster that she witnessed first-hand.

「W-W-W-What the hell is the meaning of this!? Why is the entire stage messed up like that!?」

Queen Elizabeth started to walk in circles in place in apparent frustration, and it was at that time that both Belfast and Warspite managed to finally catch up with her.

「This is the worst possible development that we could have had here! If we happened to defeat the Siren right here and right now, what would happen to Boo-san who was supposed to end up being washed away on a deserted island? This basically changes the content of the entire play drastically!」

「Your Majesty, first of all, please calm down!」

「Calm down? How the hell am I supposed to calm myself down in a situation like that!?」

Elizabeth lashed out violently against Warspite’s words, even though Warspite only wanted her to remain calm and composed.

「E-Everyone…… I, what am I supposed to do……?」

Hearing Cygnet’s words behind their backs, not only Belfast, but everyone else looked back at her.

「M-My costume…… It’s……Uhh…… 」

She must have been caught in the board that fell on top of the stage earlier, for the skirt part of Cygnet’s uniform had been torn really badly, to the point where it was almost cut out from the rest of the costume.

No matter how you tried to look at it, it was impossible for her to go on stage while looking like this.

Amidst the chaos, Amazon and Bel-chan also arrived from the Sound Room.

「I tried to buy us some time with that announcement just now, but what are we even supposed to do now? The maximum time limit we can earn this way is thirty minutes at best. After that we need to keep the play going.」

「…… Ah! That’s right!」

At that moment, Elizabeth looked back at Belfast as she remembered something.

「This is the time to listen to Bel’s opinion! Hey Bell, I’m sure you can come up with a way out of this hellish situation, right? RIGHT!?」

Belfast quietly casts her eyes down at Elizabeth, who asks her that question in a flustered manner.

「……I am really sorry, Your Majesty.」

Belfast slowly bowed her head down towards Queen Elizabeth.

「As expected, with this much of the scenography being destroyed…… I don’t really think that there is actually a way in which we can recover from this.

After that, the entire waiting room was filled with awkward and dreaded silence.

At that exact moment, Elizabeth fell onto her knees with a loud *THUD* sound.