The Iris saint was kneeling in prayer.
The light filtering through the stained glass mingled with her orange hair, giving the cathedral an almost otherworldly atmosphere.
Was she repenting, or praying?
Maybe both.
Then the door opened, and Jeanne d’Arc entered.
"Ah, Saint. Were you in the middle of prayer?"
"It’s fine, Jeanne. I’ve already finished praying. But... what brings you here?"
"Do you really intend to cut ties with Azur Lane like this? Even if they are the Royal Navy, telling us to resign under recommendation—doesn’t that amount to a grave insult to Cardinal Richelieu?"
".....For your first question, I suppose my answer would have to be yes."
Jeanne d’Arc looked uneasy.
"If the Commander, holding a grudge, attacks us..."
"The Commander is certainly not that kind of person."
Richelieu seemed very firm in her conviction.
"And...! If Jean Bart were to..."
"Jeanne."
Richelieu looked straight into Jeanne d’Arc’s eyes.
"...I’m sorry. That was a slip of the tongue."
"It’s all right. The Lord forgives those who truly repent of their sins."
Richelieu rose to her feet.
"Our fate will be decided by the Lord. We need only accept that path and follow it. I merely pray that the road will not be too painful."
"Yes... That was my mistake. I lacked faith."
Jeanne d’Arc bowed and left the cathedral.
Though she had said those things to Jeanne d’Arc, Richelieu was in truth just as worried about the very points Jeanne had raised.
As a leader, and as a saint, she could not afford to look shaken, so she had only forced herself to appear strong.
Richelieu. She was the kind of girl who looked strong on the outside but was soft-hearted within.
She knelt down again.
Then she lowered her head and closed her eyes.
But this time, she was not praying.
She was simply thinking back on something from long ago.
If, just if, she had stood by the Commander despite the Royal Navy’s pressure, would he have stayed?
If she had fought alongside the Commander and completely crushed Iron Blood, would she have been able to meet her only blood relative again—Jean Bart?
"I hate praying."
"Why?"
"Rather than relying on some illusion that may or may not even exist, I’d rather confirm it with my own hands and make it happen myself."
"I see..."
She was a slightly prickly child, but she was still her only blood relative.
For Richelieu, today felt colder than usual.
...
"Urrrgh..."
I stretched out my stiff body and got up.
"We finally made it. It’s close, but it still took forever."
The reason was simple: even though Azur Lane’s influence had weakened, the sea route to Vichya was still crawling with Azur Lane submarines.
Bismarck also stretched and stepped onto the ground.
"Welcome back to Vichya."
Jean Bart, the sound of her heels clicking behind us, stretched as well.
"Hey, honestly, you knew the Sakura Empire would lose out on this deal, so you moved first, didn’t you?"
"Hmph. As expected of the Commander."
Jean Bart looked around and said,
"Will you rest today and start the schedule tomorrow? Or start from today?"
"Let’s rest a bit and start right away. Time is tight."
"Hmm... Are you a workaholic or something?"
"Let’s just say I’m someone who likes to use time efficiently."
Jean Bart let out an incredulous snort and walked away from us.
"Then, Bismarck. Let’s unpack and get some rest too."
"All right. The lodging seems to be over there."
We unpacked our things and lay down on the bed.
But why was Bismarck lying beside me?
"Bismarck."
"Hm?"
"Is there only one room...?"
"........."
No, was this actually right? Or rather, nice...?
I didn’t know, rehu. At this rate, I was going to end up taking catnaps in the office, teche...
"Um... I’m fine with it."
"I’m not fine with it."
Still, the bed was wide enough... If we slept apart...
I don’t know, rehu. It felt like somehow it would work out.
I stopped thinking and sprang up.
"Let’s go eat first. Vichya’s food is really good."
I dragged Bismarck along and went to the dining hall to eat.
As expected of Vichya, the food was incredible.
Was this really a nation of gourmets?
Bismarck also ate while letting out little exclamations of delight again and again.
After that, I visited Dunkerque’s café.
"Oh, Commander? You’re here?"
Dunkerque, who had been washing dishes, greeted us warmly.
.....If Dunkerque were my wife, would this be what it felt like...?
With that pointless thought in my head, I sat down.
"Heh heh, I came because I heard I’d get a cup of coffee."
"If I don’t give you coffee, you won’t come? That’s hurtful..."
When did you learn to talk like that?
Kids these days really learn fast.
Am I still a kid...?
"No, no. I’d come even if you didn’t give me any."
"Fufu, thank you."
While I was chatting away with Dunkerque, I felt a gaze on me and turned my head, only to find Bismarck shooting laser beams at me with her eyes.
"Ahem. Then I’ll order. Two café lattes and Dunkerque’s special cookies, please."
"Two café lattes and the special cookies, right? Got it. Just a moment~"
Dunkerque busied her hands and started making the coffee.
"You’re practically dripping honey from your eyes. Looks like you don’t need syrup with the Commander around."
"Yeah. Maybe so."
At that, Bismarck kicked my shin hard.
"Gaaah..."
Abuse faction, techaaaak!!!!!!
"W-what was that for!"
I shouted at Bismarck with the expression of some manga protagonist possessing a body.
"My leg just felt stiff."
"No... you should at least look where you’re kicking."
The truth was, I knew.
It wasn’t because her leg felt stiff.
"Sigh, so what time does the transfer of core technology start?"
"At five in the evening. It’s three now, so if we take our coffee slowly and head over, that should be perfect. But before that..."
"Before that?"
"I should secretly investigate what’s going on in Vichya first."
"...What’s going on?"
I explained to Bismarck everything I had noticed: Jean Bart’s unusual behavior, the fact that one seat in Azur Lane’s delegation was vacant, and more.
"Your coffee’s ready, Commander~"
"Ah, thank you."
I took a sip and said,
"I have a rough idea of what’s happening, but I need to confirm it."
"I see."
I finished the rest of my coffee in one go and headed to Vichya’s archive.
From here on, I had to move quietly—and magnificently.
I pressed myself against the wall and moved like I’d been possessed by every spy film in existence.
And at last, I reached the archive.
I searched through the diplomatic documents concerning Azur Lane and Iris.
There, I was able to understand the relationship between Jean Bart and Richelieu more clearly.
In other words, Vichya was the faction that wanted unification under Iron Blood, while Iris opposed it.
Both sides had apparently taken an extremely hardline stance, and there seemed to have been a civil war as well.
Then Iron Blood intervened, Vichya emerged victorious, and Iris was driven out and forced to join Azur Lane with the Royal Navy’s help....
That was what it said.
It was useful information, but not the information I wanted.
What I needed concerned recent events, and there was very little material generated on that.
In that case... there was no choice but to eavesdrop.
I quickly left the archive and headed to Bismarck.
"Bismarck. Something came up. I need to tap some lines."
"Tap some lines? All of a sudden?"
Bismarck stared at me quietly.
"Come to my flagship quickly and help me out."
"Understood. I’m coming now."
We headed to the flagship and hacked the channels and archive to find out why exactly Jean Bart was acting like this.
"Commander! I succeeded in accessing the documents Richelieu sent."
"Good. Well done."
I set down the headphones and turned my eyes to the screen Bismarck was holding.
She had probably succeeded in hacking the scanned copies stored for long-term document preservation.
"Well done, Bismarck."
As expected of Bismarck.
I quickly scanned the contents.
What I read was shocking.
"....Why is Iris withdrawing from Azur Lane..?"
A shift to neutrality?
Ridiculous.
We could just say screw international law and swallow them whole if we wanted to—what kind of nerve did they have?
And now they were withdrawing at a time when war with Vichya, and the war up to this point, had made Royal Navy support absolutely essential?
Were they planning to side with the Eagle Union?
Given the Eagle Union’s nature, there was a chance they’d accept them, but not a very high one.
According to the line they had recently announced, the Eagle Union had declared that it would not interfere in international disputes and would instead focus on defeating the common enemy, the Siren.
They were probably trying to redirect public dissatisfaction and anxiety over unresolved internal issues toward the Siren, a common enemy.
Still, they probably wouldn’t take in Iris if it risked becoming the spark for a new conflict.
Then why was Jean Bart so anxious?
There was no reason for her to be uneasy under our protection.
I left the flagship without having found an answer.
As soon as I stepped out, it was time for the meeting.
When I got to the conference room, Jean Bart, Dunkerque, Algerie, Joffre, and Le Malin were seated in a neat row.
By contrast, only Bismarck and I were sitting there, which made us feel a little out of place.
"Everyone’s here, right? Let’s begin."
With Jean Bart’s declaration, the meeting began.
The main exchange of technology consisted of our metallurgy and smelting techniques, the transfer of authority over several steel mills, and Vichya’s core technologies for high-output engine production and artillery manufacturing.
The meeting ended successfully, and one by one, the members gathered their documents and left.
"Bismarck. Go on ahead."
"Why?"
"It’s an extension of what I was eavesdropping on earlier."
"....."
Bismarck’s face looked like it desperately wanted to say, I’m coming too, but perhaps because she was considering me, she simply stared at me without saying anything.
"You have to tell me what’s going on too."
"Of course."
"Mm... all right."
Bismarck gathered the rest of the materials and left.
I spoke to Jean Bart, who was left alone.
"Jean Bart."
"Hm? You’re not leaving?"
"You’ve got something going on with Richelieu, don’t you?"
Jean Bart made a troubled face, as if I had hit the mark.
"Haah... I really can’t hide anything from you, can I?"
Only then did Jean Bart tell me the full story.
"Iris was expelled from Azur Lane."
"Do you know why?"
"They probably became useless."
Hearing that, I felt a deep sense of kinship with Iris.
"But... the power of the Iris Papal States isn’t that small, is it? If word got out that Azur Lane had kicked them out, there’d be enormous protests from the Iris Papal States leadership..."
"What they need right now is only capital. Since you disappeared, they’ve been suffering massive losses. The easiest way to solve that is to reduce the number of mouths to feed, isn’t it?"
"But you wouldn’t be worrying over something that small."
Jean Bart let out a deep sigh and interlaced her fingers.
"...Right. And one of the people worried about this is standing right in front of me."
"Me?"
"Yes. I’ll be direct. What are you planning to do with Iris... with Richelieu?"
"Do whatever you want."
"What...?"
Jean Bart asked back, looking truly surprised.
"Does that mean... we can take it as you’re handing over all decisions regarding Iris to us?"
"Yeah."
"........Why?"
"Why, you ask? On a broader level, this is a matter for your sisters, isn’t it? I don’t think Iron Blood needs to interfere. That’s the official position..."
"You actually always had Richelieu on your mind, didn’t you?"
"Ugh..."
"To think you’d fight with guns and cannons against the only blood relative you have. It’s truly absurd, isn’t it?"
"......."
"I already knew you weren’t that heartless. When you were at Azur Lane, Richelieu talked about you from time to time."
"You..."
"So. And I’ve seen my share of sister fights, too. I’m practically an expert in this field now. Of course, I don’t know how Bismarck will react. But in the end, I’ll make you accept my position. That’s the right thing to do."
Jean Bart turned her head away.
"To think I was the only one suffering over this... I... I really am an idiot."
"So don’t be afraid. Contact Iris. If there’s any part I can help with, I will."
"...Commander, you..."
Jean Bart’s voice grew wet, and her words came out in broken pieces.
"You’re such a... good... person..."
"You just realized that? Everyone keeps telling me I’m a good person."
I patted Jean Bart on the shoulder.
".....Forget what I looked like today. If you go blabbing about it anywhere... I’ll hang you from my main gun and fire you off..."
......That was a pretty terrifying warning.
"Y-yeah... I-I understand."
I left Jean Bart behind and stepped out of the conference room.
People really were impossible to understand.
No wonder they say you can know the depths of water, but not the depths of a person’s heart.
My first impression of Jean Bart had been that she was a girl irritated by everything, a girl who was nothing but cynical—but that wasn’t true.
She had something she needed to protect, and her position was weighty, but her nature wasn’t suited to that burden, so she had only forced herself to act harshly.
...All right, then. Shall I go report to Bismarck now?
I ground out my cigarette and headed back to the lodging.
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