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Azur Lane: Episode of Belfast Volume 4 Chapter 4 Part 1

CHAPTER 4: Their Own Happy Ending

Even Belfast could not have imagined that something like this would happen right now.

Although the stage was now covered with a curtain, it was in such a state that no matter how you looked at it, everyone was at a loss for words as to what to do..

In the center of the stage, the steel-framed scaffolding was lying, all broken and collapsed.

The cloth in the background of the stage was all torn, and the plywood board depicting the large Elite Siren was cut cleanly in half. Not to mention the fact that the story has been changed quite drastically now, and the costume of the lead actress, Cygnet, had been damaged beyond repair.

Moreover, in such a situation, the maximum amount of time that they could have for themselves in order to try and fix things was thirty minutes at best.

It was a miracle that none of the cast members got hurt as a result of that calamity.

How should they even overcome this current situation?

Belfast tried to frantically rack her brain in order to find a solution, but no matter how hard she tried, she was still unable to find any useful method.

「Really now…… I guess that this is the end of the line, huh?」

While sitting on the floor, Elizabeth let out a quiet voice like that.

None of the shipgirls gathered in the meeting room at the current moment were able to come up with anything useful that would allow them to find a sensible solution.

It was at that time, when everyone present were pretty much ready to give in to the despair of their situation, when……

「—— I’m sorry for disturbing you like that.」

Suddenly, with that sounding behind everyone’s back, the door to the waiting room opened.

Everyone turned their eyes in unison in that direction, then showed surprised expressions.

It was none other than Erebus who came to the waiting room.

Behind her was the figure of Terror as well.

「Since the situation is as serious as it is at the current moment, I thought you all might want to listen to something we have to say —— And it’s something fairly important. Terror, the thing, if you’d please.」

After giving a Erebus a small nod with her head, Terror stepped forward from Erebus and showed everyone the notebooks and thick files he held in both of her hands.

「…… And what the hell is that even supposed to be?」

Elisabeth asked while still crouching on the ground and looking all hopeless.

「The materials regarding the Ghost Maid…… We actually managed to find some of them.」

Terror’s sudden words left everyone, especially Elizabeth, at a huge loss for words for a moment out there, and then everyone present in the room erupted in sudden burst of excitement.

「After all, it’s just like we all thought…… The Ghost Maid actually existed in this Home Port.」

Belfast, too, listened to Terror’s words in utter disbelief.

Terror then handed Erebus the file and backed off a little bit.

「…This here file contains data on the strength of the shipgirls that were on duty at the time of the joint exercises held at the Home Port in the past.」

Like that, Erebus quietly begins to speak to everyone.

「After staying in the library for a long time, we finally managed to identify the shipgirl that seemed to look like our Boo-san and Rei-san, mostly thanks to outfitting their features depicted in the picture book —- And here.」

Erebus flipped through the file’s pages, stopped her hand at a certain point, and slowly lifted her head.

「All the equipment back then was outdated, and I did not think there would be that much meaning in comparing it to the current situation in the Home Port……but even with that in mind, their results are phenomenal. I can say that with utmost certainty.」

Belfast saw the file and then pointed at something inside of it.

「This right here, it’s……」

It was just as Erebus had said.

The total strength of the fleet when the ships that they believed to be Boo-san and Rei-san’s sorties were on an order of magnitude higher than the current fleet consisting of every shipgirl combined together in the current Home Port, both when it comes to the Main Fleet and the Vanguard Fleet.

「According to the materials we analyzed thus far, they dramatically improved their maneuverability, durability, and firepower when they sortied together in the same fleet. It seems that the bond between these two was so strong, that they were by far the most supportive of each other.」

After closing the file and returning it to Terror’s hands, Erebus turned to everyone and handed them the notebook that she had brought with her.

「Also, I happened to find a very interesting notebook in the basement of our hut just a little while ago.」

When Belfast looked at it, she saw the name of someone she had never heard of written on the cover, but she had the feeling that she had seen it somewhere before.

Or at the very least, that’s what Belfast had thought at the moment.

「Most probably, but this is the notebook of the same author who drew that picture book from the library…… In other words, this is most probably the diary of our Ghost Maid.」

Once again, a shocking remark flew out of Erebus’ mouth, causing the entire meeting room to be at a loss for words..

Right after that, Belfast was taken aback, and no wonder, because that name just now was giving her a tremendous sense of deja vu.

That’s because the name written in the notebook perfectly complemented the name of the author of the picture book, which had faded and could not be deciphered by any means.

「But before we are going to discuss the contents of that notebook, it would be better to talk about and explain the contents of this thing first.」

Saying that, Erebus took out a strange piece of paper from the inside of the opened notebook.

It was a folded stack of at least a few different papers, and everyone could see that there were countless small and big wrinkles all over them.

It seems that it had been handled rather roughly over the years, and at the first glance it might have looked like plain old garbage.

「To sum it up in a word or two……Is that perhaps some sort of a manuscript that was deemed to be a failure?」

Hearing Erebus’ words like that, Belfast opened her mouth, thinking that the impossible was happening right in front of their very eyes.

「Don’t tell me…… Is the part of the picture book that was torn out of it —— No way, is this the continuation of the story that was missing from it?」

At those exact words, all the members of the Maid Corps seemed to have held their breaths in anticipation.

「That’s right. Strictly speaking, it’s a continuation of the story that was torn out of that picture book that you guys have found.」

After saying that, Erebus carefully unfolded the wrinkled bundle of papers.

After carefully unfolding everything, Erebus held it up for everyone to see.

Without a shred of a doubt, it was the same size as the picture book they had all read in the library before, with similar pictures and style of letters on the pages. However, the color of this picture book was even stranger than that of the picture book itself, and the damage done to those pages was quite severe.

「Well, as you can clearly see, the method of storage for those papers was quite sloppy. The author herself must have intended to throw them away as garbage at some point in time.」

「But why would she even want to do that in the first place……?」

Warspite unintentionally leaked those words out of her mouth.

Belfast honestly felt the same way as her.

Until just now, she had believed that the continuation of the picture book had been torn apart from the book simply due to someone’s mischief.

Even if it is said that it was actually the work of the person who drew the actual picture book, that fact would only lead to further confusion.

Why was it even necessary to do that in the first place?

「I somehow managed to decipher the majority of the text, so would you like for me to read it to you all?」

Erebus held out the torn picture book for everyone to see.

When Belfast took the book from Erebus’s hands, s then quietly read it to everyone in attendance——

—— Recently, many Sirens have been sighted in the area where Rei-san and the others headed towards.

It was also an absolute situation that could not be competed with using only half-hearted means. However, the sea area around that part was a very important point for the transportation of goods and had to be recaptured at any cost.