“It’s really... no different from a scaled-down medical checkup...”
Muttering to himself, Jinseong opened the door to the medical unit's waiting room. Inside, only the platoon leader was present, staring intently at his phone.
“Oh, Jinseong. Done with your exam?”
“Yes, sir.”
“You were the last one. Everyone else has already headed back to the barracks. Nothing special, I assume?”
“Apparently not... I was kind of hoping I’d get to see a [Cube] or something...”
“Hey... you think they’d show something that precious to a bunch of ground-pounding bullet shields? Imagine if something happened to it or it got damaged for no reason.”
“Seeing how the battalion and regimental commanders both looked like they were having a rough time when they visited, I guess that makes sense.”
“Even for the Navy, getting those things from Azur Lane is a headache. Then handing them out to military units and civilians is another headache, and making sure they don’t get lost or cause an accident is yet another... They must be furious beyond belief.”
Army or Navy, soldiers all lived the same miserable life. The platoon leader and Jinseong snickered as they walked out of the waiting room.
“Tap tap tap! Bang! Beep— beep—”
“What?! Seriously?!”
A voice erupted from a closed room deeper within the medical unit. The platoon leader, who had just looked up from his phone, peeked toward the noisy back area.
“What’s going on? Why is it so loud?”
“...?”
There was no one to ask, and no real reason to linger, so the platoon leader and Jinseong left the building with nothing but questions.
“Come to think of it, Jinseong, what percentage did you get?”
“Ah... right. I was actually going to mention that...”
“Hm? Why?”
“Normally, after the exam, don’t they hand out the reports right away?”
“They do.”
“I didn’t get mine. I poked around the exam room just in case and asked a medic if they weren’t giving them out, and he said something seemed to be going on, so they’d hand them out later.”
“Maybe the printer ran out of paper. So you didn’t get your results?”
“T-that seems to be the case.”
“Hiss... The Navy seems fast when it comes to handling things, but they stumble on something like this? Hmm... if the reports come out, they’ll probably contact me too. Head back to the barracks for now.”
After they returned to the barracks, the platoon leader waved him in and headed off elsewhere.
Figures... nothing ever happens in the military. So bland. So boring.
Jinseong, who had been hoping for at least something new, trudged into the living quarters. The moment he stepped inside, he spotted a soldier standing in the middle of the room with his fist raised to the sky, striking a triumphant pose as if he had just conquered the world.
“...What?”
It was the same corporal who had been wailing earlier about having only six months left until discharge.
“I... got 11 percent!”
“....”
“This body is special!”
The other soldiers in the room all wore the same expression: here he goes again. Jinseong slowly walked over and placed a hand on the man's head.
“Ah, Corporal Lee Jiwoong.”
“Get off me, you bastard!”
Jinseong grabbed Jiwoong by the head and shoved him hard toward an empty bed. Jiwoong yelped and rolled around dramatically on the mattress.
“Aaaagh! Sergeant Yoo! What percentage did you get?!”
“How the hell should I know? I don’t know either!”
“Huh? You didn’t get your report?”
Jiwoong lay sprawled on the bed, staring at Jinseong. Jinseong ignored him, busy organizing his belongings at his locker.
“I’m telling you, I don’t know. They didn’t give me a single sheet of paper after the exam.”
“Then you don’t know what percentage you got?”
“Sigh... yeah, yeah. Why are you so curious about other people’s percentages?”
“Because I wanted to know if there was anyone else besides me! Right now, I’m the only one in this unit with an aptitude over 10 percent!”
“For a guy like you to get 11 percent, even the [Cube] must be feeling generous...”
As the laughter continued, one of the soldiers sitting on another bed spoke up with a hopeful look.
“Still, if it’s like this, doesn’t that mean Corporal Lee Jiwoong might actually get to see a shipgirl like he wanted?”
“Wasn’t that only for those 20 percent and up?”
“The platoon leader said that yesterday, but I heard there was a Navy guy with 17 percent who met one.”
“Oh! No way?! Ooooh!!”
Thanks to Jiwoong flailing his arms again, Jinseong’s face twisted in annoyance.
“Hey, you idiot! Why would you tell him that?! Are you insane?! He’s going to be hyping this up for days now!”
“Ah... r-right... sorry...”
[Heh-heh. This is the administrative office speaking. Sergeant Yoo Jinseong and Corporal Lee Jiwoong, Sergeant Yoo Jinseong and Corporal Lee Jiwoong, please report to the administrative office immediately.]
The announcement echoed through the barracks. Unlike Jinseong, who sighed at the thought of having to fix his combat boots, Jiwoong’s face lit up with anticipation as he tightened his laces.
“Ooooh~!”
“Damn it...”
Jinseong and Jiwoong headed side by side to the administrative office and walked right in. A man in an unfamiliar Navy uniform was waiting for them. Perhaps because of the officer's rank, or perhaps because it was the sheer audacity of a soldier nearing the end of his service, the formal greetings were skipped entirely. The captain-rank man waved them over in a hurry, while the platoon leader stood behind him with an awkward smile.
“Ah, you’re here? Haa... First of all, this gentleman is from the Navy... specifically, from Azur Lane.”
“Company commander, are these the two?”
“Yes, yes. These are the ones from the report, Yoo Jinseong and Lee Jiwoong.”
“Then I’ll continue with the explanation.”
Was he a foreigner? Jinseong wondered. If he was from Azur Lane, Jinseong had assumed he’d be Western given the factions involved. However, the man was Asian and spoke Korean fluently. Jinseong nudged Jiwoong, who was still squirming in place, and stood at ease. Seeing that they were paying attention, the Navy officer glanced down at the documents in his hand and began.
“First of all... we have been continuing the examinations while increasing the number of test subjects, but this is the first time someone from the Army has exceeded a Cube aptitude of 10 percent. Ah... and also...”
He trailed off for a moment and stared straight at Jinseong. Jinseong felt a strange sense of unease; though he was curious about his own report, he kept his eyes fixed ahead and remained still.
“Only the company commander, platoon leader, and these two need to know this. Corporal Lee Jiwoong’s aptitude is 11 percent...”
Jiwoong’s aptitude was already common knowledge, given that he had been bragging about it nonstop.
The Navy officer flipped to the next page of the report and let out a heavy sigh before continuing.
“Sergeant Yoo Jinseong’s aptitude... is 98 percent.”
“What?!”
“W-what...?!”
Everyone except the Azur Lane officer stood there with their mouths hanging open. The officer scanned the document back and forth as if he couldn’t believe his own eyes, but the number 98 remained unchanged.
“Hiss... we also thought there might be some kind of error. But even if the machine itself had a problem, during Sergeant Yoo Jinseong’s test, we confirmed that the [Cube] inside the measuring device not only lit up, but actually tried to activate. We performed an emergency recheck, but the result was still anomalous, so we reported it to Azur Lane headquarters.”
“I-I see...”
“So the order that came down is... within two days, one shipgirl from the Eagle Union who was operating in the nearest area, and one shipgirl from the neighboring Sakura Empire, will be dispatched to Korea. A face-to-face measurement between these two and the shipgirls is scheduled. Will that be all right, Company Commander?”
The company commander, who had frozen as if his brain had stopped working, slowly nodded.
“Ah... yes... I’ll need to report this up the chain as well. It’s an important matter... I’m sure approval will be granted, but...”
“Ah, you don’t need to do that personally. Azur Lane has already contacted the Republic of Korea Army directly.”
In the company commander’s silence of acceptance, the platoon leader suddenly cut in, looking puzzled.
“Huh? But the Sakura Empire is a different faction... a shipgirl from there? Is that really okay?”
“Ah, yes, it’s fine. It’s already been verified and agreed upon... And frankly, because of where the Eagle Union and Royal Navy are located, it’s not easy to dispatch them to Korea on short notice. Having an Eagle Union shipgirl already operating nearby is lucky enough.”
“Ah, yes...”
The rest of the conversation ended in a blur. After the Navy officer left, the company commander ordered the platoon leader and the two soldiers to keep their mouths shut. The platoon leader patted Jinseong and Jiwoong on the shoulders with a look of utter injustice, as if to say, Why are all the weird ones in my platoon?
Jinseong and Jiwoong trudged back to the living quarters side by side. The soldiers left behind were all staring at them, clearly dying to know what had happened.
“Sergeant Yoo...”
Jiwoong stopped halfway to his own bed and turned toward Jinseong.
“What now... I’m tired...”
Jiwoong spread his arms and bowed his head to a full ninety degrees.
“This junior salutes you!!”
“You lunatic! I’m trying not to swear and you pull this crap?! Do you think this is the time for jokes?!”
“Ah! Aaaah!! My boots hurt, my boots hurt!”
Thanks to Jinseong’s kick, the rumor spread through the living quarters that Jinseong’s own aptitude had also been over 10 percent.
-------------
“....”
“...Why did you call me out to the sea like this, senpai? You're usually not like this.”
Over the water not far from the shore, where cherry trees and an Eastern-style base looked like a painting behind her, a pure white, silver-haired shipgirl stopped slowly, tucking her flute into her arms.
“You came when called on time, unlike you, Shokaku?”
The shipgirl called Shokaku—with black hair, a black coat, a red miniskirt, fox ears, and nine tails swaying behind her—glanced sideways at her.
“Akagi-senpai... Haa... this sounds important, so I don’t want you dragging out your words. What is it?”
Akagi stared at the horizon for a moment, then finally turned toward Shokaku and spoke.
“A dispatch request came in from Azur Lane.”
At Akagi’s words, Shokaku’s eyebrows lifted in surprise.
“Is it a request we have to accept?”
“For the sake of the future...”
“Thinking about your past, your calm reaction right now is even more suspicious...”
Hearing the faint edge of mockery, Akagi widened her eyes and glared at Shokaku. But she soon withdrew the look and gazed in a certain direction.
“I think... we’ve found our Commander. Heh heh heh...”
“Commander...? After everything those Commanders assigned to the Sakura Empire have done and been punished for, you’re still looking for one after all that?!”
“....”
Shokaku let out a sigh, stamped her feet in exasperation, then turned away from Akagi.
“Go to Korea within two days. That’s the request.”
So there really was someone with a high aptitude. I don’t know why I have to go that far, though. Shokaku closed her eyes and sorted through her thoughts.
“Should I leave Zuikaku at the base and go alone?”
“If it were up to me, I’d want to send both of the Fifth Carrier Division girls, since it’s closer to the opposing faction’s territory, but the requested number is one. Besides, an Eagle Union carrier is coming too...”
Akagi cut herself off, but the meaning was clear: she wanted to properly showcase the Sakura Empire’s premier carrier shipgirl so they wouldn’t be outshone by the Eagle Union.
“...I’ll go.”
The two shipgirls stood in the sea breeze for a while before slowly returning to the base.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register