Elder brother's garrison

Page 758

Before the last rays of sunset faded, the ship girls finally returned to the naval base.

"Ah... I'm finally back..."

Following behind Saratoga, Royal Oak, with its eyes downcast and a haggard expression that looked completely drained, leaned against the car door and stepped out of the car, feeling utterly exhausted.

The clatter of shoes echoed on the floor. Royal Oak, head bowed, rubbed her ankles, still clad in high heels, before slowly raising her head to gaze at the gates of the rookie naval base. She breathed a sigh of relief, "Ah...that's great..."

"Perfectly done!" Behind the Royal Oak, the pursuer shuffled out of the car in his slippers. "I'm exhausted today."

"Chaser, how many copies of our comics did we sell today?"

"I don't know. The ledger is with cv16. You can check cv16 later."

"Oh... well, is it alright for us to come back so late?"

"It's okay, we're resting today, this is a free day."

"No, I meant our business of selling the Admiral's comics..."

"Don't worry, the admiral isn't here right now!"

The ship girls chatted amongst themselves, gradually getting off the cars in front of the naval base.

After gathering at the naval base's main gate, the pursuers turned back to pay the fares. Everyone watched as the cars billowed thick smoke and the taxis sped off and disappeared over the horizon.

The ship girls looked away, exchanging glances. Apart from a very few with poker faces and a very few unpaid employees, the eyes of the remaining ship girls were filled with a sparkling sense of accomplishment.

"I announce!"

"My comic convention trip has come to a perfect end!"

"yeah!"

"yeah----"

The pursuers raised their arms and cheered with the ship girls at the entrance in the sunset.

For the ship girls, nothing could make them happier than this moment.

After the cheers subsided, the ship girls packed up their belongings and happily headed towards the naval base.

Several of the more active ship girls walked at the front of the group, chatting and laughing about today's comic convention. One laughed and said that Tirpitz hadn't said a word the whole time and had been slacking off at the convention, while another laughed and said that she was a chaser who was working overtime during her lunch break. One said that drawing comics was really fun, and another said that she really didn't want it to end like this. The atmosphere was incredibly lively for a moment.

Even Tirpitz, who wasn't usually talkative, unusually refrained from putting on a death-defying expression and quietly listened to the voices of the ship girls.

In this atmosphere, only Richelieu kept his head down, following the taciturn Deans of the Deep Sea at the very back of the group.

Richelieu, are you in a bad mood?

The pursuer noticed Richelieu's lack of enthusiasm, and curiously walked to the back of the group, turning to Richelieu and asking him a question.

"Oh, it's nothing, I'm fine."

Richelieu was somewhat surprised by the pursuer's question. She paused, then shook her head.

"You seemed a bit distracted towards the end of today's work. What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Thank you for your concern... I'm fine."

Richelieu hesitated for a moment, then gently shook his head.

What made Richelieu somewhat disappointed was not being dragged out to hand out flyers all day, but rather the message that Muxi had Xiaobai convey to him.

Put down your burdens... and enjoy life...

Richelieu couldn't understand that sentence.

I really don't understand.

Richelieu lowered his head, quietly gazing at the flamboyant clothes he was wearing.

In my memory, I was wearing a dashing naval uniform from this perspective; now, from this perspective, all I can see is the openwork lace pattern on the black and white fabric and a small patch of snow-white skin below the collar.

—She has become much weaker.

Is the Admiral looking down on me because I'm useless?

Probably. Otherwise, she wouldn't have said those things to herself, right?

Richelieu frowned, his gaze filled with conflict.

Richelieu had considered the possibility that Xiaobai might be telling a lie, but after all, she had lived in the newbie naval base for a long time and knew Xiaobai's character quite well.

Leaving aside Lexington, Little White is indeed an upright and honest admiral; she would never tell such a nasty lie to a ship girl.

But precisely because of this, it dealt Richelieu an even greater blow.

For the admiral... is he truly useless now that he's been imprisoned?

If the admiral doesn't want me... then I...

"Oh, alright." The pursuer shrugged slightly, noticing Richelieu's unrelenting expression, then wrapped his arms around the back of his head. "But Richelieu, if you run into any trouble, you can confide in me."

"Thanks……"

Richelieu gave his pursuers a forced smile.

"Well, let me say this first: although they were mean to you at the comic convention, they didn't mean any harm."

“I know…I understand.”

"Oh, that's good." The pursuer whistled.

“Well… now that we’re back at the naval base, Richelieu will now make his statement—”

“Ahhhh!!!!”

Before Richelieu could utter the next word, "retreat," the pursuer who had been whistling nearby seemed to have been reminded of something by Richelieu's words. She glared and suddenly shouted.

"Um, excuse me, how do I—"

"Oh, right!" With a snap, the pursuer turned around, grabbed Richelieu's arm, and then jumped up and down while shouting to the ship girls in front of her, "Victory celebration! Victory celebration! Don't forget, everyone! We're going to have a victory celebration!"

"A victory celebration?"

"A victory celebration? Ah, yes!"

The ship girls in front heard the pursuers' voices, their ears twitched, and they quickly raised their hands in response.

"A celebration party would be great! I haven't had enough fun yet! Count me in, count me in!"

“So spicy!”

Where should the victory celebration be held?

"Whose venue is bigger?"

"Tirpitz's house, I guess. Half of the people here live there. I think they just demolished a wall there a few days ago. Anyway, it's a huge place, and Bismarck doesn't ask us where we went during the day."

Ah! What a wonderful place!

"Tirpitz, may we have a victory celebration at your house?"

“…Oh.” Tirpitz said as always, “Alright.”

"yeah!"

"Okay, let's choose that place!"

The ship girls cheered in unison, finally finding a common goal again, and couldn't help but quicken their pace.

Richelieu sighed inwardly.

“…Well, everyone, Richelieu will be heading back now…”

"Can't!"

“Well, then everyone… wait a minute??” Richelieu paused, checking her ears to make sure she hadn’t misheard.

"Richelyu, no! You can't leave! Look, everyone here is going. What will we do if you're the only one who leaves? You went to the comic convention with us. We're teammates. You're an inseparable part of us. So Richelieu has to go to the celebration party too!"

As soon as the ship girls finished speaking, they rushed to Richelieu's side, surrounded her, and then pushed her towards Tirpitz's house.

"Huh? But... oh... no, that won't do..."

Richelieu's face turned pale as he watched Tirpitz's dormitory getting closer and closer to his own.

Suddenly, memories of seeing Xiaobai this morning flooded into Richelieu's mind.

"Not tonight! Your admiral, she..."

"It's alright, I've told you many times, the Admiral won't find out."

"Richelio, oh dear~ So you're such a coward~ How cute, hehe—"

Having spent the entire anime convention together, the ship girls, who had forged an even deeper friendship, teased the timid Richelieu, pulling, hugging, and pushing him into the dormitory building.

"No... really no, your admiral... Ah! No, don't pinch my butt—"

"Don't worry, Richelieu, the admiral is busy salvaging ships in another city right now!"

"No, I saw it today..."

"Richelio is embarrassing himself again. Even if he doesn't want to go to the victory celebration, he should at least come up with a better excuse."

No matter how Richelieu tried to persuade him, the group of ship girls wouldn't give him a chance.

Amidst the pushing and shoving, the group ran into the dormitory building, all the way down the corridor, and amidst the chatter, the door to the Tirpitz family's house came into view.

Within sight, the Tirpitz family's door was slightly ajar, as always not completely closed.

Saratoga, who was at the front, looked at the gate without thinking and strode forward with a smile. He pulled open the door of the Tirpitz's house, shouted "First place!" and jumped inside.

"We're back!"

Saratoga jumped through the doorway and ran to the living room entrance, a happy smile spreading across her face. "Hahahaha...hahahaha...hahaha...hahaha..."

Saratoga's laughter grew softer and softer until it slowly disappeared.

Saratoga, mouth agape, turned into a sculpture.

Outside the gate behind Saratoga, a large group of ship girls and Abyssal Fleet pushed Richelieu a step slower as she entered the room.

They first glanced curiously at Saratoga, who had turned into a stone sculpture, standing at the entrance to the living room, and then their gazes unconsciously turned into the living room.

This glance.

The group of ship girls were all stunned and stood there dumbfounded.

The living room in Tirpitz's house, which had already doubled in size, had somehow expanded by adding another room. The three rooms were now connected, forming a large living room that resembled a small plaza.

However, this living room, which was as big as a square, was crammed full of ship girls, like a meeting was being held.

Several dining tables of various sizes were set up on the living room floor, laden with all sorts of dishes. A large number of ship girls sat around the tables, some holding beer or drinks, chatting and laughing.

"Wow, Nelson, cheers!"

"Washington, what a drinker!"

"..."

"Tons, tons, tons——"

"Back in the day! When my company was wandering around, it was all thanks to my intuition that I found the admiral!"

"Wow……"

"Back then, my sisters and I were created together by the Admiral! I personally witnessed the Admiral buying a wedding ring for our eldest sister!"

"I'm a hero who has made great contributions!"

……

At a glance.

The room was bustling and noisy, filled with destroyers, light cruisers, battleships, aircraft carriers, heavy cruisers, and small submarines. They ate and chatted, seemingly oblivious to the ship girls at the door.

Why are there so many people in Tirpitz's house all of a sudden?

The ship girls looked at Saratoga curiously, then followed her gaze to the center of the living room.

In the middle of the living room, at the table, sat Xiaobai, who had been away from the naval base for several days. With a serene smile, she gazed at the group of ship girls who had just returned home, having traveled thousands of miles.

The ship girls gasped.

Admiral! !!! ? ?

On Xiaobai's table.