The commander’s office was quiet. Jinseong, who had somehow grown a little used to it by now, sat in his chair, rolling a pen between his fingers as he checked over the documents.
"The ingredients arrived, huh? Some of them go to the front of the shop, and some to the theme park materials warehouse...."
Knock knock.
"Hm? Yorktown? Come in!"
Creeeak.
"...."
When the door to the commander’s office opened after the knock, what appeared was not silver hair or long flowing locks, but a pair of twitching rabbit ears.
"Huh? Who.... Laffey?"
"Hi, Commander. Today’s hi."
As Jinseong stood up and walked over, Laffey came toward him with a gentle wave. When Jinseong looked around toward the door, wondering what was going on and whether someone had come with her, Laffey lifted her arms.
"Laffey doesn’t think the Commander should make eye contact. Mm, doesn’t think so...."
Her voice was lazy as ever, but with her raised arms she lightly tapped Jinseong’s chest. Laffey stood on tiptoe, looking adorable, and Jinseong almost crouched down to hug her like before, but he stopped himself and simply lowered his head with his hands behind his back so he could meet her eyes.
For the love of all that was holy, do not touch the shipgirls carelessly!
"I’m not really sure why, but... is this okay?"
"Mm, yeah...."
Laffey held his shoulders and looked into his eyes for a moment, but she couldn’t keep it up for long. Instead, she wrapped her arms around his neck and looked away.
"Uh, um.... La, Laffey...?"
"Laffey isn’t flustered because she doesn’t know what’s going on. It’s not weird...."
There was no way to stop contact when it came from the shipgirls side. Jinseong swallowed a cry inside. The more Laffey’s flustered feelings reached him, the more his own embarrassment must be reaching her too. Thinking this couldn’t keep happening, he hurriedly changed the subject.
"Anyway! What brings Laffey here alone? Did you need to ask me something?"
"Mm. Came to take a nap...."
"Huh?"
She came to the commander’s office to take a nap? Not her own room? Jinseong froze at the thought. Laffey let go of him and slowly headed toward the bed.
"Ah.... You like that bed?"
"This place is better. Fwaaah~ sleepy...."
Laffey naturally climbed onto the bed, curled up, and closed her eyes. Jinseong stood there blankly for a moment, unable to make sense of the situation, then shook his head and returned to his chair.
"W-well.... I guess it’s fine."
Jinseong made coffee, tapped at the computer for a bit, looked out the window, came back and skimmed through the documents, and after some time had passed, he stretched.
"Grr.... Then I should go check the shop for a bit.... Gah?! You scared me!"
As Jinseong twisted his body while stretching, Laffey had somehow silently come up right in front of him and was staring at him. The chair slid back with him, leaving him in a ridiculous posture.
"Commander, are you going to the park?"
"Not the park, the shop that’s there. I thought it was about time to test it out."
"Test?"
Jinseong stood up beside the tilting head of Laffey and gave a small laugh. He hesitated for a moment, then this time held out his hand to her.
"Want to come with me, Laffey? Let’s go eat something tasty."
"Mm...! Mmhm!"
Laffey smiled brightly and took Jinseong’s hand.
-------------
"Wow.... What happened here?"
All the closure signs and notices that had been posted at the theme park entrance were gone. What New Jersey saw after stepping inside were the shipgirls of the destroyer class sitting on the chairs in front of the shop, smiling brightly with food smeared around their mouths as they ate.
"Benson? Laffey?"
The blonde Benson in a rabbit headband, just coming out of the shop with something in her hands, and Laffey, standing in front of the shop with sleepy eyes and waving a sign. Besides them, Hermann and other shipgirls also caught New Jersey’s eye.
Pushing through the small crowd, New Jersey approached the shop and saw an unexpected person inside.
"C-Commander?!"
"Hm? New Jersey? I didn’t expect you to come."
The one looking over the shop was Jinseong, wearing an apron. His hands moved with a somewhat practiced touch as he handled the machine. It seemed to be the waffle maker Saratoga had mentioned. New Jersey was still flustered by the sight of Jinseong when he waved a hand and spoke to her again.
"I only told the destroyer kids to come hang out for now, but you’re the first battleship customer. Since this is a trial run, I’m giving out one waffle per person for free. Want one?"
Jinseong said, pointing at Laffey. New Jersey turned her head with a creak, and only then did she notice the sign, which read, "One free waffle per person!"
"Uh, um.... Y-yeah...."
"Good. For now, the temporary stock I brought in is mostly vanilla ice cream, so it’s all banana vanilla ice cream waffles. That’s okay, right?"
"It’s fine! I’m not picky!"
It was hard to erase the awkwardness, but after repeating it enough times, Jinseong had started making waffles with a little more skill. New Jersey had become an accidental customer waiting for her waffle, but she still couldn’t quite get used to the commander’s appearance.
Where had the dignity of the commander’s position she had always seen and thought was supposed to be there gone?
"Here you go, customer. Your waffle."
New Jersey took the waffle Jinseong offered with both hands and stared at him blankly. Standing there like a squirrel, she finally managed to put the waffle in her mouth and chew.
...It’s delicious.
As New Jersey nibbled away without even noticing the ice cream on the corner of her mouth, Laffey came over and poked her side with the sign she was holding.
"Eek—! W-what is it, Laffey!"
"If you keep standing there, you’re in the way. Move."
"S-sorry...."
Today, the Eagle Union flagship was in terrible shape.
Watching the destroyer shipgirls occupying most of the seats, New Jersey’s familiar pink hair flashed past her side.
"Commander! I’m here! New Jersey’s eating one too?"
"You’re here, Saratoga. Want one too?"
Saratoga, who had almost finished her waffle but was still chewing blankly, smiled as if New Jersey were adorable and shook her head.
"I really, really love sweets too, but later! You called me so we could check the stock together, right?"
"Yeah. I was planning to leave the welfare side to you, Saratoga. I figured you’d do a much better job than me, since you know your way around a lot more than I do."
"How does the Commander know something I never even said~? I think excessive interest in idols is a crime! Ah, or am I not an idol but a magical girl?"
"Neither!"
Jinseong took off his apron and looked toward the inside of the shop. As if they had sensed his intention, the Manjuu working inside fluttered their wings.
"I’ll be counting on you from here on out, Manjuu. Ah, Laffey! Are you still here?"
"Mm. I am."
Laffey was standing beside Jinseong and Saratoga before anyone noticed. Jinseong took the sign from Laffey and propped it at an angle beside the shop.
"I thought you’d lose interest and go nap or play somewhere.... Good job, Laffey."
At the commander’s praise, the rabbit’s eyes sparkled and she threw both arms up in a cheer.
"Want to come with me to check the stock, Laffey?"
"I want to."
Laffey answered without the slightest hesitation and took Jinseong’s hand. That reaction startled Jinseong and New Jersey in turn. Saratoga already had eyes full of mischief.
"Ehh~ Commander, what’s this? You only called the destroyer kids when the waffle shop had its soft opening! And now you’re already with Laffey? Is that your type?"
At Saratoga’s words, New Jersey looked like, here we go again, but Jinseong felt a chill run down his spine. Absolutely not.
"They were the kids who most wanted to play around while going back and forth in front of the closed shop, so I wanted to invite them first.... It’s not like that...."
"Got it! I believe you! Then let’s go!"
"Ah, I-I’m coming too!"
New Jersey, who had finally finished her waffle, hurried after them.
-------------
Tap, tap.
"Listen, Colonel Dylan. I’m sure you already know why I’ve come back here, so I won’t bother saying it."
"...."
The familiar massive frame, the hand drumming irritably on the table, the two-star major general insignia. Dylan sat silently before him, while Samuel’s face was already deeply twisted with anger.
"I clearly handed over my personally written recommendation letter and my son’s cube aptitude assessment report myself!"
"I’m sorry, Major General Samuel. As I said before, there’s a candidate who’s become such a huge global topic that...."
Bang!
When Samuel slammed his fist on the table, the ice in the iced Americano clinked loudly. Thankfully the coffee didn’t spill, but it was enough to make Dylan even more uncomfortable.
"No matter how high the numbers are! To take an Army man and sit him in the place where a Navy officer should be commanding the Navy! You’re going to parachute some rootless nobody into the Azur Lane commander position?!"
The commander’s most important qualification is cube aptitude, and only after that comes naval ability. Besides, if he was talking about parachuting someone in, wasn’t what he himself had tried to do for his own son also a parachute appointment?
Dylan sighed inwardly.
"The current commander entered naval service through proper procedures, demonstrated clear cube aptitude, passed the corresponding test, and proved his qualifications as an Azur Lane commander with excellent results. In a situation where the news is already causing enough commotion, if someone with lower aptitude were chosen as commander over him, it would only create a bigger problem."
"You...! Gulp, gulp! Gah, ptooey, ptooey! Damn it...! Hey! Bring me sparkling water! The brand I drink!"
Samuel, apparently forgetting that this was the iced coffee he had already given up on once before, gulped it down and spat it back out. At the shout loud enough to be heard outside, his adjutant Ricardo brought over sparkling water in an elegant glass bottle. Samuel snatched it up before it was even set down, popped the cap, and took a swig.
"Khhhhh...! I can’t tolerate the disgrace of the Navy! Some guy who doesn’t even know what it means to command a fleet is going to swallow all those weapons whole? Absolutely not. That’s why I already sent my son."
At Samuel’s words, Dylan shot to his feet in surprise.
"W-what...! You sent your son to the Eagle Union?!"
"That’s right! As I thought, there are fellow generals who agree with me! My son will go there and teach that rootless nobody exactly what naval command is! If he’s judged unfit, then the commander may be replaced!"
Things had gone strangely off the rails. He had thought this might happen, but it seemed he had underestimated the stubborn pride of the upper brass when it came to the Navy.
If some outsider carelessly set foot in the Eagle Union’s territory now, he might really come out crippled. Even in the last call with Lieutenant Yoo Jinseong, the atmosphere hadn’t been very good.
"I need to make some calls and check.... I should tell Lieutenant Yoo Jinseong as soon as possible too."
Once again, the iced Americano was left unfinished.
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