“Mmmph!! Mmph-mmph! Mmmph~!!”
“Ah~! Now I don’t even need a translator anymore! Isn’t that great? Your feelings are getting through to me without one!”
“Mmmph!!”
Out on the sea right in front of the anchorage, where the whole base was visible, a massive battleship floated. And from atop it, one man’s muffled screams and another man’s shouts rang out across Eagle Union.
“If you live your whole life on ships, you’re bound to be scrawnier than some mountain-dwelling bastard! Why are you so scared just because you’re hanging there?!”
At the end of Yoo Jinseong’s bright, ringing shout was Matthew, gagged and tied up, dangling from the muzzle of the battleship’s huge main gun.
“How dare you, you damn bastard, violate military discipline with my subordinate?!”
“C-Commander.... I, I mean, that’s all fine, but why are you on top of me....”
Looking at New Jersey as she shuffled over in a dejected little hunch, Jinseong laughed brightly, as if he were imitating someone from his army days.
“Ah, sorry, New Jersey! Since you’re Eagle Union’s flagship, you’re just gonna have to suffer a little this time!”
“Hiiing....”
It was something that should never, ever be done, but the muzzle of New Jersey’s 16-inch 50-caliber gun had been turned toward the base. Eagle Union’s shipgirls were gathered at the anchorage, watching Matthew hang from the end of it.
While the shipgirls all murmured among themselves, Jinseong raised his voice again like he was cracking a whip over a horse.
“You’re still screaming, so you haven’t come to your senses yet!! New Jersey, rotate the turret 180 degrees toward the horizon!”
“Ugh~”
Reluctantly, New Jersey slowly turned the ship’s gun toward the beach. It felt as if Matthew’s thrashing was being transmitted straight through to her. More than anything, she just prayed her Commander wouldn’t order a bombardment.
“Hey, Education Officer! That’s your job, isn’t it? I’m the one who got drafted!! I’ll make sure you never, ever get on a ship again for the rest of your military life!!”
Jinseong kept shouting as he walked along beside New Jersey’s turning turret.
“Mmmph!! Grrrghhhhhh!!”
“You should’ve thought before acting, you idiot! Those insignias don’t come with physical defense, you bastard!!”
Jinseong shook his fist at Matthew, whose struggling only grew more violent, while New Jersey followed weakly behind him. Bremerton, who was also up on New Jersey, stared blankly at the scene.
“What if this causes a problem? I can just take off my insignia and walk away! You wanna meet me after I’ve stripped it off?!”
“...Pfft.”
In the end, Bremerton couldn’t hold back her laughter and rubbed at the corners of her eyes with her hand. Even though she was clearly separated from Jinseong, the hand he had held, and the warmth in her heart, still lingered. How long had it been since she’d felt like someone was protecting her?
Bremerton looked toward the other shipgirls gathered thickly around the anchorage. She could see Saint Louis, who had been hard to spot lately, standing there with Helena.
“....”
When Bremerton’s eyes met Saint Louis’s, she waved. The atmosphere changed.
-------------
“(English) ...That concludes everything that happened in this incident.”
“(English) Haa.... Understood. You may return to your seat.”
It was the familiar meeting room at Eagle Union’s base. But unlike the familiar space, a solemn atmosphere hung over the new faces seated there. One person wore judicial robes instead of a military uniform, and at both ends sat Dylan and Jinseong, along with navy officers Jinseong had never seen before. Opposite the robed officials, Jinseong and Matthew sat at a distance from each other.
“Commander, isn’t your expression a little too confident...? This is a military court, you know....”
New Jersey, standing beside Jinseong, whispered to him. Jinseong shrugged and smiled. Dylan, seated at the edge, had a similar expression to New Jersey.
“Just you wait. Now you’re definitely getting discharged!”
On the surface, it looked like he had assaulted a superior, restrained him, treated him as a criminal at his own discretion when trouble arose, and even publicly punished him.
No matter how you looked at it, even if he was a Commander of Azur Lane, if he’d acted this recklessly, wouldn’t he be stripped of his position or quietly discharged? Even if he were punished for this, he had at least a noble cause—he’d been trying to protect a subordinate—so he figured he wouldn’t be hit with a ruling that would leave him blacklisted outside.
“(English) Making my son look like this is clearly an incident that has disgraced the honor of the navy! Cut that worthless army bastard loose immediately and punish him severely!”
“(English) Silence! This may be temporary, but this is still a court, Samuel!”
Compared to the bickering Samuel, Matthew kept his head bowed and stayed quiet. Was it because this was his first time being physically punished? Or was he truly afraid of retaliation once Jinseong’s insignia was stripped away? He flinched even at Jinseong’s slightest movement.
“(English) Lieutenant Yoo Jinseong. Do you admit that all the circumstances I’ve been given are true?”
At New Jersey’s translation, Jinseong nodded and casually answered in English.
“(English) What you did may have been justified, but you went too far. I think this was more than necessary, and if it’s not properly ruled as a justified act, you could be punished. Do you understand?”
Jinseong, hearing the judge’s words, actually frowned.
“Shipgirls are already treated as people and are our equals. If you remove the rigging, they’re no different from human women. Is it acceptable to harass such a woman? Besides, Bremerton had already had problems with her previous Commander. She hadn’t even recovered from that shock, and then this happened again. I was simply making it clear that I would protect her, even if I had to go a little overboard.”
At Jinseong’s confident words, the judge glanced at Matthew for a moment before speaking.
“(English) Normally.... even if you’re a Commander, the proper course would be to punish you according to the incident and quietly transfer you elsewhere before discharging you. But for you, that would probably be what you wanted, wouldn’t it?”
New Jersey translated the words to Jinseong and visibly flinched a little. After that, she looked at Jinseong with sad eyes.
“Of course I wou—! Ahem! No, sir. How could I disrupt military law and overturn precedent? That would be the very thing that disgraces the navy’s honor. I believe I did what I had to do for my subordinate, but I don’t think I did well. If you hand down a punishment, I’ll accept it gladly.”
“(English) Haa.... I’m sorry to say, but that’s not going to be easy either.”
With a deep sigh, the judge received a stack of papers from Dylan, who had somehow prepared them beside him. After glancing through them once, he lifted the stack and gave it a shake.
“(English) Do you see this? Lieutenant Yoo Jinseong, what do you think this is?”
“A file of precedents? Or....”
“(English) Wrong. It’s the signatures of every single Eagle Union shipgirl, along with a petition signed by more than half of them.”
“What?”
At the judge’s words, Jinseong, who had been absolutely certain of his discharge, froze.
“(English) Most of it says that you did your best for Eagle Union and that they want you to remain their Commander. Of course, Bremerton’s petition is in there too.”
“....”
“(English) If the actual victim is actively defending one side, there’s not much we can do.”
“(English) What the hell!! You’re just going to let that criminal walk free like this?!”
“(English) Samuel! If you keep making a scene without the floor, I’ll have you removed from the room!”
Samuel tried to object, but at the judge’s words he turned and glared at Jinseong. Jinseong, with no time to even notice the hostility, had to gesture helplessly at New Jersey as if asking what the hell was going on.
“(English) Because of what your son Matthew did, you’ve only poured more fuel on the already precarious situation in Azur Lane. Do you really think we could drag that Commander out, ignore every petition, lock him up, and still walk out of this Eagle Union base in one piece? The shipgirls’ anger is at its peak!”
“(English) Hah! So the navy that claims to be the best in the world has fallen so far that it has to watch the faces of those weapons?”
“(English) You’re being far too arrogant, Major Samuel. Mind your tongue.”
Jinseong couldn’t understand what they were saying since New Jersey wasn’t translating, but he could tell the situation was going in a very strange direction.
“(English) Lieutenant Colonel Matthew.”
At the judge’s call, Matthew lifted his head, forgetting even to give his name and rank, his eyes trembling.
“(English) You appear to need medical treatment and time to recover first. After that, I’ll order you transferred to a naval logistics and supply unit on land. Be grateful to your father for helping you avoid an dishonorable discharge, and reflect on your actions. Of course, you won’t be able to go aboard a ship again in the future.”
Samuel stormed out at the verdict, and Matthew, tears streaming down his face, was dragged away while looking back and forth between the direction his father had gone and the judge.
Only then did the judge’s eyes return to Jinseong.
“(English) Lieutenant Yoo Jinseong.”
“Lieutenant Yoo Jinseong.”
Jinseong tensed up a little, thinking his fate was finally about to be decided. Sensing it, New Jersey placed a hand on his shoulder.
“(English) Normally, I’d have to impose a certain level of disciplinary action, strip you of your Commander status, and order you transferred to another unit just like Lieutenant Colonel Matthew....”
“Huh...? N-not discharged??”
Jinseong’s jaw practically dropped. Not even the word “discharge” had come out of the judge’s mouth, and he was so shocked he’d lost all military decorum.
“(English) Considering that Bremerton, the actual victim, is actively requesting leniency for the Commander, that you’ve been working hard for Eagle Union and the results are clearly visible, and that nearly all of Eagle Union’s shipgirls are petitioning for you to return as Commander....”
“No, wait, wha—? Huh?? That can’t be right.”
“(English) I order you to return as Eagle Union’s Commander. However, you are forbidden from sailing out on the lead ship for the next three months and must remain quietly in confinement at Eagle Union’s base. That is all.”
“Wh—! That’s just the same as usual?!”
The judge, along with the others around him, seemed to have nothing more to say. He gathered up the papers, gave them a few taps to straighten them, and stood. Jinseong sprang up and reached out as if to stop him from leaving, only for New Jersey to grab that hand.
“Thank goodness! Commander, thank goodness!”
Holding Jinseong’s hand, New Jersey smiled brightly and hugged him. Jinseong’s expression was painted over with despair. And only then did Dylan approach him from the side.
“Phew.... I’m really glad it ended at this level. Do you know how shocked I was when I heard the news?”
“Uh, wha, hey.... Wh-what is this....”
“As expected of you. I knew you’d do well. You’re becoming a model Commander unlike any I’ve ever seen. Honestly, maybe you don’t even need to be discharged? Was it never really your true intention from the start?”
With a dazed expression, Jinseong stared at the meeting room door the judge had left through.
-------------
“Ah....”
“Commander, I’ve lost count of how many sighs you’ve let out today.”
Jinseong sat in his Commander’s office as if nothing had happened, idly rolling a pen between his fingers. Yorktown stood beside him and let out a small laugh.
“If I get sent to a military discipline camp, will every day drag on this slowly and miserably....”
“That’s why I asked whether you wanted a place to stay with us shipgirls.”
“Why, why? Why did I suddenly start getting all these weird requests for counseling and for walking around the base together after that?! I’m under confinement, I said confinement!”
“It means you’re not allowed to go out to sea, not that you have to stay locked up inside the base. Of course, once your confinement is lifted, you’ll be very busy sailing out with us.”
“Ah....”
Knock, knock. Click.
“Commander? Ah, Yorktown’s here too?”
The shipgirl who entered the Commander’s office was Bremerton. It was the first time Jinseong and Matthew had faced each other properly since the trial.
“Bremerton? What’s up?”
Jinseong, still sprawled over his desk with only his head lifted, asked while Yorktown waved at Bremerton in greeting. Bremerton, fidgeting as she approached the desk where Jinseong was lying, twisted her hair for a moment before speaking.
“Well.... First! I really wanted to say thank you. I’m so late, aren’t I?”
“Ah~ don’t worry about that. Taking care of my own people is only natural. I was like that back when I was squad leader too.”
Jinseong gave a light laugh as if it were nothing and flopped back onto the desk. Bremerton giggled and crept around to his side.
“You know, Commander, so.... could I serve you too?”
Thud!
“Guhhck!!”
“Oh my....”
Startled, Jinseong slammed his knee into the desk, and Yorktown checked on him while laughing.
“Grr.... W-why do you all keep saying things in such a weird way sometimes?!”
“Hehe. Sorry. Yorktown, I’ll take turns too. Is that okay?”
“Of course. I was really worried about the Commander whenever I had to step away from my secretary ship duties.”
Bremerton politely took Jinseong’s free hand—the one not busy rubbing his knee—and laced their fingers together.
“W-what are you doing?”
“I’ll stay right beside you from now on! Please take care of me, warm-handed Commander?”
Jinseong wanted to be discharged even more now.
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