- ???? -
"How is that guy moving around again?"
"Error detected... error rate exceeding 70 percent..."
"Twisting causality? By a mere human?"
The yellow eyes glowing in the darkness ground their teeth as they watched the results displayed in a hologram.
"Heh... The price for stirring up my test subjects and my lab will be steep."
.
.
.
The reconstruction of the Iron Blood was proceeding smoothly.
The construction of the new ships was nearing completion, and Bismarck’s recovery was going well too.
"Oh, Bismarck. So you can finally deploy your rigging?"
Bismarck, still in a hospital gown, showed me her rigging.
But her rigging was cracked in several places and didn’t look to be in very good condition.
"Yeah... But as you can see, I still can’t go into battle."
"Still, that’s huge. I’m really glad. Don’t push yourself at all until you’ve fully recovered."
I took Bismarck’s hand as I spoke.
It was a thin hand, but white and beautiful.
Unlike mine, which had calluses from work and scars besides.
"Mm... okay..."
"Good. Get some rest."
The moment I turned to leave Bismarck behind—
Bang!
"Commander! So you were here after all!"
Karlsruhe burst through the door in a hurry.
"Karlsruhe, I know it’s urgent, but you should knock before coming into a room..."
"That’s not important! We’ve got trouble. An enemy fleet is gathering in the Arctic Sea sector right now."
"...What?"
The one who answered wasn’t me, but Bismarck.
"Looking at their course, it seems like Tirpitz is their target! We need to send a rescue fleet at once...!"
"Understood!"
"I-I’m going too...!"
Bismarck staggered to her feet, still too shocked to steady herself.
"Bismarck, didn’t you hear what I said earlier? I told you to take it easy. You agreed too."
"...But... but...!"
Bismarck looked up at me with tears welling in her eyes.
Tch... I really am weak to a woman’s tears. How did she know that?
"...Fine. But you’re not fighting. You’re riding on my command ship."
So I took Bismarck with me, boarded the command ship, and put everyone into battle formation.
"Beep— All hands, battle stations. Battle stations."
Not long after the siren sounded, the girls poured out of the barracks in a rush.
It was the moment all that training paid off.
Roon in particular seemed weirdly excited for her first sortie and sent a radio transmission.
"Commander~ So where are the enemies I get to tear apart~?!!"
What the hell... She wasn’t like this before, so why is she acting like that now...
Ignoring the goosebumps crawling up my skin, I explained the operation.
"We’ve received reports that fleets from Azur Lane are gathering in the Arctic Sea waters. Based on their route, their target seems to be Tirpitz in the Arctic Sea sector. But there are other comrades there too, so we’re going to rescue them as fast as possible and get out. Even if we lose the port, losing our comrades is an outcome we cannot accept. All fleets, full speed ahead!"
The girls and I cut through the spray and headed north toward the Arctic Sea.
Before long, snow began to drift down.
Checking the map, we were almost at the target point.
The enemy still hadn’t arrived, so we had plenty of time to form up.
"U-boat fleet. Get to the enemy’s expected approach route first. This operation isn’t about sinking them. The goal is to break their formation and delay their arrival."
"Ah~ Got it. I’ve told you that a bunch of times already..."
Hearing U-96’s indifferent voice over the radio somehow made me even more irritated.
So I decided to be a little petty.
"Uh... hey... I accidentally dropped a depth charge over there..."
"W... what...? Hyaaak!!!"
It was just an empty drum.
"Y-you scared me!!!!"
This is how I loosen the girls up before battle.
...What, you’re saying she wasn’t tense to begin with?
Then I tossed it to make her tense. Happy now?
After the radio call ended, a light came on in the Enigma in front of Bismarck.
"Commander, it looks like we found the enemy fleet first."
Hah... This is the power of a new radar.
If you’re German, please use FuMo.
I’m not even German and I use it!
"If we found them first, there’s no reason not to fire. Send the bearing to the battleships and tell them to open fire as soon as the guns are ready."
"Understood."
Bismarck tapped away at the Enigma again.
"The weather’s probably bad enough that their aircraft won’t spot us either. And since we’ve deployed quite a few submarines, Azur Lane probably won’t realize what’s going on and will think the submarines are the main force."
Bluff them into thinking the submarines are the whole force, land one devastating blow, then send in the cruisers and destroyers to wreak havoc.
Perfect plan.
Soon after, thunderous gunfire rang out.
.
.
.
"Speed up, comrades! If we don’t reach Tirpitz’s port first, Royal’s support will be useless!"
Then—
Whoosh! A shell came flying in and slammed into the front line.
"Kyaaah!!!"
"Comrade! Take cover! A torpedo is approaching from starboard!"
"What...?"
Sovetskaya Belorussiya said in disbelief.
"We already eliminated all the submarines with depth charges!"
"...Propulsion units stopped... It was a decoy."
The Northern Parliament fleet, fooled by the propulsion units, was shattered in an instant.
"Where’s Royal?! We need support now!!"
But Royal Navy’s situation was no different.
"Torpedo! Evade!!"
They were being thoroughly outplayed by the wolf pack tactics of the submarine force that had only been meant as a bluff.
And both Royal Navy and the Northern Parliament had the same thought.
"If only the Commander were here..."
"If only the Commander were here..."
Morale had already sunk to the bottom, but retreating now would only make things worse later.
Incompetent command.
That title was the one thing they had to avoid.
"At the very least, we have to sink Tirpitz!"
Belorussiya lashed out and fired every gun she had toward the predicted direction.
But in poor visibility, and with air superiority uncertain, that was basically an advertisement asking to be killed.
A shrill high-pitched sound tore into Belorussiya’s ears.
It almost sounded like a scream, or maybe a siren.
"N-no way...!"
Belorussiya looked up in shock and saw dive bombers bearing the Balkenkreuz plunging down with piercing sirens.
"Impossible...! Iron Blood shouldn’t have any carriers...!"
Fortunately, all the bombs were turned into near misses by the fierce anti-air fire from allied cruisers, but near misses were still enough to damage a ship.
"Who said Iron Blood had no carriers?"
A proud voice came over the open channel.
"I am Iron Blood’s regular aircraft carrier, the lead ship of the Graf Zeppelin class, Graf Zeppelin."
.
.
.
That’s right.
This battle was really a testing ground for the new ships.
Roon and Graf Zeppelin.
Apparently she hadn’t been like this when she was little, but since Zeppelin had been left unfinished and neglected for so long, she’d gone pretty far off the rails.
"Hmph. Little fish like you. I’ll destroy you all."
And she said things that sounded straight out of a chuunibyou fever dream without the slightest hesitation...
"Who are you calling chuunibyou?"
"Ah, it’s nothing. Focus on the battle."
"...I’ll ask you when we get back."
Graf Zeppelin pouted and focused on the battle.
And Roon...
"Kya-hahahaha!!!! Break!!!"
Mom... why is she like that...
Roon had gone completely mad, firing shells like a berserker.
Where had that usual gentle voice gone? Some lunatic had shown up instead...
Whoa, her eyes are gone too...
And then I spotted Tirpitz.
"Tirpitz!"
Bismarck stepped out onto the deck and called out to Tirpitz.
"Sis...?"
"Hey! So you’re Tirpitz! Nice to meet you!"
Tirpitz, who had been approaching the command ship, narrowed her eyes and deployed her rigging.
"Who are you?"
"Eek, don’t shoot! I’m not a research team employee... I’m the Commander!"
"Tirpitz! Put your weapons away. This person is trustworthy."
At Bismarck’s explanation, Tirpitz lowered her weapons, but her suspicious eyes stayed fixed on me.
"Phew... Sorry, Commander. I think it’d be better to explain things again later."
"Uh... yeah..."
Th... that’s terrifying...
She probably beat her former commander with that look.
I’d better not get cocky with her...
Leaving that chill down my spine behind, I checked the battle map.
In most areas, we were fighting with fewer numbers but still holding the advantage.
But as expected, Royal Navy was gradually being pushed back, probably because of the carriers.
"Fleets Four and Five, return. The operation was a success."
"Yes! Understood!"
Z23’s spirited voice came over the radio.
We had rescued Tirpitz and inflicted considerable damage on the enemy fleet, so this was a success.
There was no need for any more attrition.
"All fleets, withdraw from the operation zone at once."
""Yes!""
.
.
.
"Grr...!"
Elizabeth could no longer contain her fury.
"We lost again!"
"What happened? Illustrious! Explain yourself!"
Illustrious lowered her head and answered.
"I’m sorry... The enemy fleet fought better than we expected..."
"You were winning just fine until now! What on earth was the problem?"
In truth, Elizabeth had a vague idea of what the problem was.
But the moment she admitted it—
All of her decisions, herself included, would be denied.
So she raged even harder.
"...Everyone, leave."
Once everyone had left and she was alone in the room, Elizabeth smashed the prepared tea set to vent her anger.
Tears were welling in her eyes.
"Damn it...! If I...! If he shows up in front of me...! I’ll kill...!"
Kill? The Commander?
Everyone else had grieved his absence, but she was not someone who was allowed to do that, and she shouldn’t have been.
More than that, she had cast him aside with her own hand.
"Hngh... Commander... I’m sorry... I was wrong... Come back..."
Elizabeth muttered with her face buried in a pillow.
.
.
.
"Achoo!"
Sniff... what was that. Was the Arctic Sea too cold?
"Do you have a cold? Should I warm you up?"
Roon smiled and stood up.
"N-no, I’m fine. My nose is just itchy."
If I hadn’t seen that side of Roon, I might have grinningly said yes.
"Hmm... why are you refusing...?"
Roon murmured while staring straight at me.
"J-just make me a cup of coffee instead..."
"Mmm... okay."
A little later, Roon brought me coffee.
But unusually, she had made milk coffee.
"Hm? Milk coffee. It’s been a while."
The Iron Blood girls usually drank black coffee, so it was surprising that Roon had made milk coffee.
"Hehe, it’s coffee filled with Roon’s affection... ♡"
"Thanks. I’ll enjoy it."
I picked up the cup.
...Just as I was about to drink, Roon’s gaze felt a little too hot.
"Why...?"
"Hehe, I just wanted to watch the Commander drink it."
Ignoring the unease, I took a sip.
Setting aside Roon’s stare, it was sweet and fragrant, with a rich, nutty flavor.
"Wow, Roon, you make coffee really well."
"Oh, really? Hehe, I’m happy."
At my praise, Roon smiled without a trace of pretense.
"I’m glad I can help the Commander like this."
"Uh... yeah..."
Roon was smiling so brightly.
But her battlefield self kept causing cognitive dissonance.
"Roon, though, you seem a little different on the battlefield than you do now?"
I decided to go straight at it.
Unexpectedly, Roon answered calmly.
"Hmm~ Well, everyone gets intense when they’re relieving stress, don’t they?"
"Mm... I guess so."
"Are you uncomfortable? If you are, maybe you should sit up straighter."
"Uh... yeah..."
With that sharp little jab, I went back to work.
More importantly, Tirpitz’s disposition was the real issue...
As I’d mentioned before, Tirpitz had been exiled to the Arctic Sea as punishment, but no matter how badly she’d erred, she was still an important battleship of Iron Blood.
I couldn’t just stand by while she was being targeted like this, so I officially authorized Tirpitz’s return.
"...What are you plotting?"
Tirpitz stared at me with cold eyes.
"I’m not plotting anything."
Even after I told her there was no plot, Tirpitz didn’t let go of her suspicion.
"If you do anything to my Iron Blood comrades, I won’t sit still."
"Do as you please."
People like her were perfect for neglect play.
No matter how tough someone was, if they stayed on guard 24/7, 365 days a year, they’d only wear themselves out.
Any kind of reform or approach could wait until after that guard dropped.
Still, it’d probably be better to talk to her sister Bismarck first.
"Yeah... I’ll leave her disposition to you."
"She’s your sister. Don’t you have anything else you want to say?"
"...Please leave for today."
Bismarck oddly seemed reluctant to bring up Tirpitz at all.
Given her personality, she was definitely making some kind of strange assumption again.
"...Bismarck. Sometimes you need to step back and look at the situation."
Tunnel vision.
It’s a mental health term for when you get so absorbed in something that your field of view narrows.
There’s nothing more inconvenient than narrowed vision.
You miss what you should be seeing, and your judgment gets clouded.
But if you step back and look again, sometimes it turns out to be something absurdly simple.
"I’m your Commander. Talk to me."
"I know... but I don’t want to talk about it right now."
"Even if I said I’d dismantle Tirpitz?"
"What...?"
First, I needed to get Bismarck on my side.
"She disobeyed orders, and in the past she even committed assault. And her disobedience is still ongoing, plus she’s been in the Arctic Sea so we can’t even verify her training condition. It’d be cheaper to build a new ship than to retrain and reform her."
".......You...!"
The lethargic look vanished from Bismarck’s face, and she glared at me with fierce eyes.
"Idiot. It’s been a month and you still don’t understand how I work?"
I sighed and sat down in a chair.
"Listen. You don’t have to do everything yourself. You were definitely planning to handle Tirpitz on your own, weren’t you? But with the guilt Tirpitz is carrying, it’s not easy to approach her. You haven’t changed at all since the last time you argued with those submarine girls, have you? Hm?"
"..."
Only then did Bismarck seem to realize what a foolish idea she’d been entertaining again.
"She’s your lovely little sister, isn’t she?
So you need to make up quickly."
I roughly ruffled the hair of the Bismarck who had lowered her head, then left the infirmary.
"Ugh... this is hard. So hard."
At this point I was even having to mediate a sisterly fight for them.
Why is my life like this...?
A few days later.
A meeting was held in the conference room regarding Tirpitz’s disposition.
Perhaps the talk with Bismarck had gone well, because Tirpitz and Bismarck both looked fairly relaxed.
"Bismarck, did you talk with Tirpitz?"
"Yeah... We didn’t say much, but it was enough."
Why can I picture that scene so clearly?
Bismarck lying on the bed, formally saying, Tirpitz... I’m sorry...
Then Tirpitz, with her hat pulled low, quietly answering, Mm... before turning around and leaving.
"I... I can see it..."
"See what?"
"Never mind."
They were such awkward, bashful girls.
"As the Commander of Iron Blood, I hereby render judgment on Tirpitz’s disposition.
Tirpitz’s acts of insubordination and assault were impulsive offenses, but the severity was considerable.
However, taking into account that she has maintained a decent life while carrying out her assignment in the Arctic Sea, and that the period involved was quite long, I hereby lift her punishment."
I released Tirpitz.
"And Tirpitz’s reform will proceed while she serves as my secretary ship. That is all."
"Commander, are you sure?"
"She won’t die. If you’re that worried, you can come to work too."
For once, Hipper seemed to be seriously considering my suggestion.
"Fine."
"Huh?"
"I said I’ll do it, okay? It’s not that I’m worried about you, it’s just that if you disappear, Iron Blood’s future becomes uncertain! Don’t get the wrong idea!"
Hipper shouted, her cheeks turning red.
"Why am I not grateful at all...?"
"I’m helping you and you still make a scene!"
In the end, Hipper slapped my back with her palm.
Wow, I thought my soul left my body for a second there.
Hipper... are you some kind of ancient one...?
Rubbing my stinging back, I went over to Bismarck.
"Do your best... This isn’t something I should get deeply involved in if it’s a sister issue."
Bismarck smiled faintly and answered.
"...Thank you, as always, Commander."
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.
.
Creak—
"Commander... are you..."
The Commander, worn out by work again today, was sleeping soundly on the bed.
His face, lit by the mood lamp, looked tired even in sleep.
It wasn’t exactly handsome in a striking way, but his warm face had this strange effect of calming her just by looking at it.
At first, she had been grasping at straws.
What more could she do when everything was already falling apart?
He introduced himself as the Commander of Azur Lane.
For a moment, irritation surged up and she nearly blew him away.
She barely managed to steady herself and think.
Maybe...
The intelligence she had heard recently, that Azur Lane had kept up its offensive for days without stopping.
Maybe...
He had principles.
He had said he would no longer use the submarine fleet because of what happened with that girl.
And yet he deployed the submarines anyway.
And then she realized she had been wrong.
Maybe the one trapped in stubbornness had been her all along.
Was it from that moment?
She had started waiting for him whenever he came to her infirmary.
A fixer who solved the problems she couldn’t handle.
A counselor who shared her worries.
By now, he had become something more than that to her.
If she woke up in the morning and didn’t hear the sound of his shoes coming to find her, she felt uneasy.
If she didn’t smell the perfume drifting from him as he parted the curtains in the morning, she felt uneasy.
Bismarck took the Commander’s hand.
Then, in her heart, she prayed that this happy time would go on forever.
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