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Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 4 Chapter 3 Part 6

「Echo can be really dependable when I want to be!」

「Yes, you are, Echo. Yes, you are~~~…… Haha… ha……」

Coming out of the bed while still in her pajamas, Edinburgh immediately began getting herself ready for the day to come.

「But still, isn’t the time for the meeting like, way too early……? And how time flies by! Until just a little while ago, I was busy looking after so many things surrounding the stage play, but it’s already the day of the School Festival.」

When Edinburgh said that while combing her hair, Belfast raised her head while folding her own hair.

「This last year has truly gone by in the blink of an eye.」

「Yeah, you can say that again.」

Belfast opened the door to their room as soon as Edinburgh was done changing from her pajamas into her maid outfit.

「Now, let’s just hope that this is really going to be the most wonderful stage play to ever grace the stage.」

* * *

Inside of the Great Auditorium, not only the members of the Royal Navy, but also everyone from the Iris Libre were currently gathered.

「—— Everyone, it is time! After many trials and tribulations, the day has finally come!」

In front of everyone else there was Queen Elizabeth, speaking in a loud and strong voice. Right next to her were Warspite, Le Triomphant and the Blueprint Ship from Iris Libre, Saint-Louis.

「I have already heard about it all, how you were all working really hard until today in order to make that stage play into a reality! And that is exactly why! Because of the amount of hard work and heart that we have put into making this stage play, I honestly believe that it will be the best stage play to ever exist, one that is not going to lose to the performances of any other faction out there!」

Having said everything that needed to be said, Elizabeth took a step back and let Le Triomphant address her subordinates next.

「Everyone, for the past few days, everyone in Iris Libre has done a really good job. I think it was a wonderful thing during those days that we were able to cooperate with everyone from the Royal Navy and got to know one another better. I am sure that it was a beginning of a great friendship and that in the future we are going to be able to support one another more and more.」

Once Le Triomphant was done, Elizabeth stepped forward once more and spoke up again.

「Now, I know that the hour might be early, but since we were drawing lots as to see what faction would present their performance in what order, it was decided that we are going to be the penultimate ones to do our performance. That is why we need to use all the time that we can get before the actual performance. But we are definitely going to show everyone a stage play so overwhelming that no other faction is going to be able to overshadow us! Do I make myself clear!?」

After that short speech what followed was a loud round of cheers and applause from everyone present in the auditorium.

「…… Hey, Bel. Come to think of it, about that little incident with Hood-sama and Cygnet-chan last night……」

Edinburgh secretly whispered into Belfast’s ear, and the Head Maid only responded by shaking her head slightly.

「I did not report that incident to Her Majesty yet. But I did report it to Warspite-sama, and we both came to a conclusion that it is not necessary to disclose something so discouraging to the public. That’s actually the last thing that we need right now. That, and in addition ——」

「In addition ——? 」

Belfast then looked at Cygnet clapping her hands vigorously in the back of the auditorium.

Unlike last night, her profile had an expression that seemed to have been blown away, looking all determined and ready to go.

「—— If it’s Cygnet, I am sure that she is going to do just fine.」

After all, Cygnet was someone who was able to withstand a full-blown lecture on the intricacies of the Military-Assigned Commissions back in the Academy, so if she was able to get through something like that, this stage play would be an easy task for her to overcome. She only needed to not be discouraged.

After the morning rally ended, the Casting Team and Costume Team immediately moved to different locations to match the costumes and get themselves ready. The Tool-Making Team carried in large plywood boards with pictures of mass-produced ships of the Siren variety on them, which were placed behind the dormitory up until now. But now they would wait in here so that they would be easily available the moment they would need to use them.

「The girls of the Sound and Lighting Team have been given a short amount of time to test everything properly. Let’s go and see if everything is the way it should be!」

When Amazon, the leader of the Sound and Lighting Team, gathered at the side of the stage, Bel-chan, one of the auditors for that team, said to Belfast:

「Well then, Nee-sama. We are going to be best on our way now.」

「Yes, please do that. And do your best out there, Bel-chan.」

After saying that, Belfast and Edinburgh watched Bel-chan, Sirius and Curlew go away together with Amazon.

After seeing this particular group off, Belfast joined Curacoa with Sheffield and Newcastle, who were the auditors of the Costume Team.

As for the costume fitting, it was scheduled to be held in the dining hall of the Royal Navy’s Dormitory.

After leaving the large auditorium, the four maids started walking right after the Casting and Costume teams that had gone ahead of them.

「But I must say, I am really glad that the costume-making process went without any problems popping out of nowhere.」

When Curacoa said that in a casual tone while they were on their way to the dormitory, Sheffield made a face as if she just happened to remember something that she particularly would not want to remember at all. She then said:

「…… But that’s not to say there were not any problems at all, as we have had a couple of occasions where we have worked on the wrong dimensions and had to redo the whole thing from scratch. So I would not actually call it a problemless procedure.」

「Yeah, you can say that again. It was pretty rough in its own right. According to the story, the Tool-Making Team and the Sound and Lighting Team had to redo their own things at least several times, because always when they thought that they were done, it would seem that some sort of new problem would pop up right after.」

Hearing Newcastle’s words, Belfast felt somewhat relieved to hear them.

「I knew it, so it would seem that every team had its share of problems, huh?」

「…… Well, I mean, when you are doing an undertaking as grand as this stage play, problems are bound to pop up eventually, right? It’s only natural.」

Sheffield said those words as if it was the most natural truth of the world.

「But the important thing is not to give up and just push forward in face of adversity. If you do that, you should be able to recover from all the difficulties to some extent with everyone’s strength backing you up.」

「Yes, that’s right. I’m with Sheffi on what she said.」

Soon enough the group arrived at the Royal Navy’s dormitory, thinking that all the other groups had made it through the preparation period thanks to solid teamwork, and they headed straight towards the dining room.

「—— Ah, you are finally here!」

When they opened the door to the dining room, Illustrious greeted the four of them with her cheerful voice.

「As for us, we have just finished changing into our costumes……」

Saying so, she guided the four maids to the rest of the cast that was waiting for them.

When Illustrious gently flipped up the curtain that was placed in the dining room for the purpose of the shipgirls to change their clothes set up in the corner there the Casting Team members had changed into their costumes for the stage play and were checking the sizes of them all in great detail.

Since the Costume-Making Team obviously did not have enough hands to carry out their tasks in time, Belfast and the other maids decided to give them a helping hand in adjusting the sizes of the costume, to streamline the whole process.

「We still need to make final adjustments, so please wait in the waiting room for the time being.」

Just as Illustrious said that, props were brought in from the Tool-Making Team. But this time, when everyone was helping in installing the props, Belfast and her group heard the sound of something hitting something else.