Ring-ring-ring.... click!
"H-hello?"
After the ringing tone persisted for a moment, the call finally connected. Jinseong stood outside the barracks, clutching the cellphone he had briefly reclaimed from the administrative office during his personal maintenance time.
"Oh, Jinseong! I’ve been waiting for you to call...!"
"Ah.... Mom. Something... came up."
"I figured something had happened! The military called the house!"
"You're always so quick to catch on to this kind of thing.... Did they give you the details?"
"Well, I don't really know.... It sounded like you were going to be commissioned into the Navy, Jinseong? Were you actually enlisted in the Navy instead of the Army? Did you like it so much that you decided to stay?"
"Th-that’s impossible, Mom! I just want to be discharged as fast as I can and come home!"
"Is that so...? Your father was furious when he heard. He said if the boy is due for discharge, they should send him home quickly—what on earth are they doing sending him somewhere else?"
"Sigh.... I’m not really sure what’s going to happen. For now, it seems like Azur Lane needs me. I thought I should let you know that this was happening."
"Oh dear.... What are we supposed to do... In the military, they’re probably calling it a huge honor, a glorious opportunity, and all that—but what good is that? I can’t even see my son..."
"I’ll call again as soon as I hear anything more."
Jinseong kicked at the dirt pointlessly, as if venting his frustration, and kept the family call going for a few more minutes before hanging up.
"Haa...."
He slipped the phone back into his pocket and glanced toward the smoking area. He didn’t smoke, but for some reason, he felt he finally understood the desperation of those who did.
Just then, a soldier wearing a private first class insignia emerged from the barracks, looked around, spotted Jinseong, and ran over calling out to him.
"Sergeant Yoo Jinseong! The company commander is looking for you in the administrative office!"
"The company commander, all of a sudden? What’s going on?"
"From what the commander said.... it looks like someone from Azur Lane came by again, just like last time."
"What...?"
Sensing something ominous, Jinseong hurried toward the administrative office.
Aside from the usual staff, only the company commander was in the office. There was no sign of the visitor from Azur Lane.
The company commander, seeing Jinseong burst in wearing his PT uniform, looked surprised and rubbed the back of his head with his phone.
"Mm.... First, Jinseong, go change into your combat uniform and clean yourself up. You need to report to the headquarters company."
"Understood."
"Yeah, yeah. A colonel from Azur Lane stopped by—he’s the head of personnel administration. He said he’d like a private interview with you."
Ah.... So it has finally come. With his heart sinking even further, Jinseong turned around and headed back to the barracks.
-------------
"Go on in. Report back to your platoon leader or me when the interview is over. You know the platoon leader is on duty today, right?"
"Yes, sir."
Inside the interview room of the headquarters building, the company commander knocked and opened the door. A light-brown-haired Westerner in an Azur Lane naval uniform nodded in greeting.
The company commander finished the brief greeting and left the room, closing the door behind him. Jinseong hesitated for a moment, and the Azur Lane naval officer, his colonel insignia gleaming, gestured for him to sit.
"Good to meet you, Sergeant Yoo Jinseong. I’m Colonel Dylan Code, head of personnel administration for Azur Lane."
"Sergeant Yoo Jinseong. Good to meet you, Colonel Dylan Code."
"No need to be so stiff. You’re not even in the Navy yet."
"Not even.... yet, sir...."
"Hahaha. Too early to say that?"
This colonel spoke Korean as fluently as a native. Has Korean become such a global language? Jinseong shook off the pointless thought and looked at Dylan.
"Sorry to call you over during your break. I’ll get straight to the point and only say what is necessary."
"Ah, no. I haven’t been told what’s going to happen to me yet, so I really want to know."
"Then.... I suppose I should ask this formally and directly. Sergeant Yoo Jinseong, would you... be willing to become Azur Lane’s Commander?"
"...."
As Jinseong fell silent, Dylan waited patiently. Under normal circumstances, such a silence might have been rude, but Dylan was well aware of Jinseong’s situation as a conscripted soldier.
"I.... don’t need anything. I just want to be discharged and go home."
"I thought as much.... First, I apologize that so much has been kept from you and that this is being forced upon you. Even sacrificing oneself for one's own country is difficult when it's a choice, so forcing you to sacrifice yourself for an alliance unrelated to your nation would be absurd..."
It seemed certain that things were heading in the direction Jinseong feared: toward the Navy. Dylan, his expression a mix of emotions, leaned forward and spoke again.
"But.... if you can possibly understand, I’d like to make a heartfelt request. The factions of Azur Lane.... even the factions of the Sakura Empire are suffering because of the 'Commander.'"
What is he trying to build up to? They're just going to drag me in anyway. Jinseong was starting to feel a flicker of anger.
"Worldwide, there are only a handful of people whose Cube aptitude is suitable enough to become a Commander. Among them, even fewer are active soldiers.... That’s why, since the shipgirls appeared, those appointed as Commanders have been Navy leadership, people with experience in fleet tactical command, or.... the upper class and their associates."
"What.... are you saying?"
"Being a faction’s Commander brings not only honor and status, but also guaranteed welfare. You could seize power in one go, become famous.... in other words, life becomes very easy."
"...."
The words, "That has nothing to do with me," rose to his throat. Jinseong didn’t want any of those grand things. He just wanted to go home.
"The Commander of the Eagle Union was dismissed a few days ago for sexual harassment and assault against shipgirls. The Commander of the Royal Navy was dismissed after using the Royal Maids for private profit and attempting rape. Beyond that, the Iron Blood and Sakura Empire of the Red Axis have had many problems as well, starting with embezzlement."
Fragments of things Yorktown and Shokaku had said to him in passing came back to mind. Yorktown, who had said he wouldn’t harm them; Shokaku, who had mentioned the Commander’s position had been vacant for a long time. Jinseong let out a heavy sigh.
"If there is even a small chance to appeal to your feelings, then please, I beg you, take pity on those girls. For the sake of the shipgirls..."
"But even if I became a Commander.... what could I possibly do? Besides, with so many examples of Commanders like that, why should I trust you?"
"You visited the maritime special facility for measurement before, didn’t you? I was there as well. I saw you with Yorktown and Shokaku, and I was very satisfied with what I observed. Especially Shokaku.... it has been a while, but even though she is a shipgirl from an opposing faction, she was still like that."
How shameless. It was exactly the kind of plea designed to soften his heart, but Jinseong forced himself to hold out. Is this how you turn someone into a sucker? Becoming a Commander wasn't something you did as a volunteer. There were bound to be more problems the less he knew. It felt like jumping straight into a cesspit.
"Still, if you’re worried about taking in the shipgirls.... then yes, let’s make a deal."
"A deal.... sir?"
"There will be a meeting between Azur Lane and the Red Axis in the near future. A very large and important meeting. Once that’s over, we’ll discharge you. Until then, I’d like you to serve as the temporary Commander of the Eagle Union."
Jinseong stared at Dylan in silence, and Dylan nodded before continuing.
"The meeting will absolutely happen within a year. In fact, I believe it will be held within six months at the latest. I’d like you to handle the Eagle Union for just that long. And.... if I ended the offer there, it wouldn’t be a deal, would it? There are various benefits to becoming a Commander, but I can guarantee one definite benefit in my own name: a pension sufficient to support your family after you discharge—how about that?"
The sudden guarantee of a secure future. Having just spoken with his family, Jinseong’s heart wavered. A pension was something one barely earned after dedicating an entire life to service, and even then, it wasn't guaranteed. And he was being promised that for less than a year of service in Azur Lane?
When the scales tipped this far, it only made him more suspicious that there was some other scheme behind it—some massive, grueling job they wanted to dump on him.
"...."
"I’m sorry I can’t give you more time to think. I have to head back tomorrow.... Do you need a moment alone?"
His mother saying she wanted to see her son, his father getting angry on his behalf the moment something seemed wrong, Yorktown’s lonely expression, Shokaku’s desperate face as she held his hand—all of it flashed through Jinseong’s mind. If Dylan hadn’t been sitting in front of him, he would have slammed his head into the interview table in frustration.
"...I’ll do it. I’d be half-forced into it by this country anyway, so making a deal with a place called Azur Lane makes me feel a little better."
"Whatever your reasons, I’m grateful for that decision. Then.... let me briefly explain what will happen after Sergeant Yoo Jinseong is discharged."
Dylan took a sheet of paper stamped with the Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defense emblem from his inner pocket.
This country.... they’d already decided to do it this way and built the plan around it. Of course they had. Jinseong let out a long sigh and rolled his eyes.
-------------
An old-fashioned Japanese-style mansion. While it looked like a residence, it was actually the central command room of the Sakura Empire. With no Commander present, it served as the place where the Sakura Empire’s shipgirls gathered for work and meetings.
"There must be a reason Shokaku deliberately called us here this time, right?"
"...Yes, Akagi-senpai. I hate to admit it, but you were right."
"Sister, what is this about?"
The shipgirls gathered there were Akagi and, beside her, a fox shipgirl with short white hair, a white coat, and white ears and tail; and Shokaku and, beside her, a shipgirl with a brown ponytail, the same large wing-like kimono as Shokaku, and a red mini dress underneath—four in total.
"He was nearby. It was a feeling I’d never experienced before. His command even brought out my abilities far more strongly."
"Fufufufufu.... As expected, as expected, that’s how it was, yes?"
"Sh-Shokaku? What are you talking about? About the time you went out alone a few days ago?"
"Yes. That’s right, Zuikaku. I was inclined to be negative too, but.... if it’s with that person, it’ll be fine."
"Didn’t you say you met a human with abnormally high Cube aptitude, Shokaku?"
"A level I’ve never seen before.... yes, Kaga-senpai."
Akagi turned her head toward the world map in the central command room.
"The upcoming meeting with Azur Lane.... it sounds like it will be a very enjoyable one. We’ll have more conditions to consider."
Kaga closed her eyes, nodded, and swayed her tail lightly, while Zuikaku let out a worried sigh as she watched Shokaku, who was smiling faintly while remembering that day.
"I just hope it goes well...."
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