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「Soukai City」

In a residence inhabited by three sisters named Kiana, Bianca, and Sirin, someone was politely knocking on their front door.

The figure was that of a young girl, not much different in age from Sirin. She's wearing a uniform similar to what the three sisters wore for their school, which created the possibility that this girl was a friend of one of the three sisters.

"Sirin onee-sama~ Let's play~"「Bella」

It appeared that the assumption was spot on. The figure standing there, clutching her bag with both hands in front of her friends' house, is indeed a friend of one of the three sisters. Within that world, she's a friend, companion, and admirer who had rekindled her relationship with Sirin, the one who is usually called Bella.

She had hair and eye color that resembled a whitish-blue hue, much like the charm hanging on her bag's zipper.

On her head, she wore a cute and adorable headband resembling black and white dragon horns. But what really stand out about this girl named Bella were the small wings attached to her back, making her look like a dragonoid.

*Clack*

Although it took a little while, the door finally opened. Bella appeared to be extremely impatient to meet her friend with purple hair, the same just like Sirin who had been waiting for her friend's arrival.

"Bella! I missed you!"「Sirin」

As soon as Sirin opened the door to her house, she quickly grabbed both of her school friend's hands. Gently jumping up and down while swinging her friend's hands, Sirin burst into laughter, a sight rarely seen from her when she's around strangers.

Bella herself enjoyed the sight, rarely having the chance to see Sirin so happy when they meet.

"Sirin onee-sama, how're you these days? I'm sorry I couldn't help you when the city got— "「Bella」

"It's fine so don't mind it Bella, having to know you're safe and coming to my house already made my day. Oh, come and get in Bella. I've prepared something when you mailed me you'll come."「Sirin」

"You don't have to, Onee-sama. I don't want to cause inconvenience with my arrival."「Bella」

As she always did, Sirin pulled Bella into her house, not allowing her to apologize for something that wasn't her fault. Sirin herself was tired of dealing with people who seemed to constantly apologize to her for reasons she couldn't understand, thus she didn't want to let her friend to be the same.

On the table near the front door there's a stack of letters, some of which had already been opened. Among them, there was a unique envelope adorned with the fangs and jaws of a purple dragon. There was no doubt that this envelope was the message from Bella that Sirin had mentioned.

"Are your parents out onee-sama?"「Bella」

"Ah don't worry about it, you can just come in and enters my room on the most left. Road from Victoria to Soukai is far right? Wait a bit while I brought something!"「Sirin」

As Sirin, still filled with excitement, allowed Bella to take off her shoes at the front door, she went ahead and entered the kitchen. From there, she called out to Bella, asking her to wait in her room.

Having visited Sirin's house several times before, Bella still remembered the layout of the house. She politely made her way past Bianca and Kiana's rooms and entered Sirin's room, which was filled with various sparkling objects.

In Sirin's room, Bella noticed posters, console games, cup ramen, and other merchandise along with stacks of Amazon and Uber Eats boxes. The room seemed like a mix of a gaming den and a cozy space filled with her favorite items.

Most of these items were the fruits of her hard work, which she poured her sweat and blood into. However, what caught Bella's attention was a different item on the study desk in the room – a prominently displayed potrait that anyone would immediately notice.

"Sirin onee-sama, she's still being a hardcore fan for TeRiRi. Looks like she also made new friends as well. But this picture... a man, ah now that I remember, onee-sama once had a big brother didn't she?"「Bella」

Bella reached for the photo frame that displayed the picture of a young man.

"That onii-san... what could have led him to such a fate. I'm sure at that time, onee-sama must have felt extremely distressed."「Bella」

Bella displayed a hint of annoyance as she examined the photo closely, her voice softened with concern at the same time. Sensing someone approaching, she carefully placed the frame back to its original position.

"Sorry for waiting? Hmm? What's happening?"「Sirin」

"Nothing, onee-sama. Please let me help. Oh, by the way, I brought some souvenirs from Victoria with me. Let's have this snack together."「Bella」

"Yup, yup! And do tell me more about your time in Victoria."「Sirin」

They continued their conversation, catching up on each other's experiences.

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『PoV of Sakura Zeimachi』

Finally, they're leaving, what a time-consuming bunch.

Although I didn't witness their departure directly, I can sense it. It's like two slice of pizza walking away with their pepperoni legs, leaving the whole pizza to be incomplete. Even though it's just two slices and few of pepperoni missing... I don't know why, but I feel like something is truly lacking now.

Sigh... what am I talking right now.

"Zei~ Bye bye, thank you for these ice creams! Do your best on your work!" (Hylia-san)

"I'll escort her, whenever you need something from me you can just call me commander. I'll make it to your call."「Enterprise-kun」

"You're waay to exaggerating, but thanks you two. I'll be this way to my office then. And Hylia-san, make sure to not put yourself in some random mess alright?"

"Ou! You can leave it to me!" (Hylia-san)

"Hmm..."「Enterprise-kun」

Here, Sakura Zeimachi is reporting directly on some research that has been conducted. Although it took us nearly five hours to complete the first phase of testing, we finally obtained results on our very first day.

Yeah, now that I think about it, we should be grateful for getting results in the first trial. Many researchers and successful people often fail at the initial steps, they say, but fortunately, we are not among those successful ones.

Hmm... I don't know why, but repeating those words makes me feel somewhat melancholic.

After the three of us returned to the port's area around its beach, I'm currently bidding farewell to Hylia-san and Enty-kun as it's time for me to return to the office.

Thanks to the Astra Sphere, our clothes are dry and neat once again. So we didn't need to change it into a dry one.

With a glance at Hylia-san and Enty-kun waving goodbye as they head to the academy's cafeteria, my attention is drawn to the clock tower standing in the middle of the academy.

The clock shows that it's nearly one in the afternoon, which means I've spent around five hours with them. Fhew, time really flies.

After having some fun, it's time to get back to work. Although I don't have an official job to be done from what I know, but at the very least I need to be present at the office and take care of small tasks to maintain the trust these girls have placed in me.

My body is perfectly fine, and I can continue training as Enty-kun wishes, but I'm a bit hesitant. After all, I've already taken on the role of leading the ship girls at the port. For appearance at least, I had to put in some passable effort.

Thinking about motive and effort, I appreciated Enty-kun's willingness to be my secretary, she said as a commander I should have at least one secretary besides me while we chatted on our way back.

It kinda true though, having a secretary could help me do more thing, but if I were to choose one of them right now, I'm pretty sure it would lead to another battle royale, and not the kind aiming for a winner-winner chicken dinner.

Based on the dreams I received from Amour, there're a lot of girls who still have most of the memories about their dreams. Because of this, as much as possible I want to reduce my appearance in front of them. Thus, a dream will only be a dream.

The issue with the six ship girls is far from resolved, and it would be quite troublesome if I allow any other troublesome events to happen. I very much like to spent days playing around with them again, but work's calling.

❛Ganbare~❜「Loli-man」

As a token of my gratitude for borrowing their morning time, I gave them rewards. At first, I was a bit confused about what to give, but luckily both of them had something they wanted.

Some chocolate caramel ice cream for Hylia-san, along with ten cups of Choco Shaky Sake because she wanted to share it with her friends. Cera had already told me about her obsession with chocolate ice cream, so I don't think it's too surprising.

"It just... I think someone will scold her for eating that much ice cream haha..."

When it comes to Enterprise-kun, she doesn't ask for much. "Just having the commander among us is enough," is what she said. Despite her persistence to reject it, I gave her some pocket money. As for what she'll use the money for, I don't know either.

Enterprise-kun has proven herself to be a trustworthy and dependable ally, and I knew she wouldn't misuse or overspend the money on anything... hopefully.

More than that, I'm also aware of the changes that have occurred in her, the METAfication, or so they call it.

The process of METAfication has undoubtedly left its mark on Enterprise, subtly altering her personality while improved some of her parameter as a ship girl.

Previously Enterprise before META appears to be more reserved and distant, yet cute at the same time. But the her right now appeared to be more... what do I say... adorable and precious and extra considerate? Ah whatever it is, she's still being reserved right now just like her old self.

"Code-G... huh."

In this world, where many ship waifus gathered with their moe, kawaii, beautiful, and charming forms, it's only fitting that they have beautiful and attractive skin. However, instead of being cute and charming, those who have undergone METAfication emits a desolate air.

Their smooth hands they'll use to embrace those they hold dears is still there, despite their Wisdom Cube that has been corrupted, I'm sure those girls will accept any ring being given to their ring finger.

"Ring huh..."

Thankfully, they didn't know about the existence of the "Oath Ring" since the previous commander was such a cold guy. He didn't even pledge his oath to any ship girl in this port, but I can use this to my advantage. As long as those girls remain unaware of the Oath Ring, there's still a chance to break these bonds.

❛Kuku, that's something I could work with.❜「El Dust」

Ah just shut it, it should have been this way from beginning. My presence served not much value beside to deal with those User, passing through a few years were not that rare, but hopefully I don't need to spent years in here. I need to keep moving, along with Hylia-san as well.

"Hah, whatever it may I'll just keep doing what needs to be done... things will never change for me anyway."

Yeah, it doesn't really matter. I could stress all over from here on, or just grit my teeth until it's done. We're moving on to our next stage. Now that I know where Hylia-san will grow, the next step is to solidify.

I didn't just gave Hylia those swords as a mean to test her, but I also need to know more thing about her. Among those three swords, Alastor bear the combination of Heaven and Hell elegy, Doujigiri holds human and monster history, and lastly Seilenos that contain story of sky and stars.

Out of the three, the first to awaken was Alastor the Heaven and Hell elegy, Hylia-san also had a high degree of compatibility when she used her Devil Trigger form. Since Alastor is a zweihander, maybe I should start looking for two-handed sword manuals.

"Huufhhhh... I guess one is done."

As I walked away from the beach, I solved one problem. Now let's move on to the other one.

Azur Lane has its own system, which used to display the details of each ship. Not only are there many events where these systems come in handy, such as in Polaris and Muse systems, I'm sure there are many things I can discover in this world.

In the future, the System will become their property and will also be of great use to them. I will do my best to minimize any knowledge or elements that are exclusive to me when implementing the System's development.

❛... Don't you want to go to the underground building first?❜「Necro-phi/Vandango」

No, I can go there when night falls. I'll handle the night business when it's time. Speaking of night business, what's going on with the town again. Considering how Manjuus restored this port in just a few months, I guess the city is now on the mend as well.

"Should I use this to search for anything in that city? Hmmm..."

Sigh... when one was done, here comes another one. What a really bountiful harvest. So until then, you guys can do whatever you want before the time comes. I believe I can manage without relying too much on Lolicon to get the current job done when the day is over.

❛Alright prophecy has been spoken, then we're off to see how those girls run their missions~ I didn't expect it to be this much fun watching them~ Oi Dust, who's your favorite—❜「Loli-man」

❛This girl with chains, we're a match in heaven.❜「El Dust」

❛You sure are quick when spotting girls in a red flag.❜「Loli-man」

Oh, yes, Als stopped by there earlier wasn't he. I think he also gave some updates about the progress of those girls to you all. I'm sure you all became interested after hearing about the progress of those girls.

If you want to join Als and see how they run their missions, I don't mind at all.

In fact, I'll feel at ease knowing you'll be the ones looking after them. Als is giving them initial quests right now, so you should be able to see their progress. Go to Als' place if you want to watch; I'm sure he's also entertaining himself right now.

Somehow this really stand out as a Celestial genre ain't it, some being watching over mortals, quest and scenario, some cool modifier and such. That was some good time, don't you guys agree.

...

...

...

Hmm? Uh... why is it so quiet. Hello? Moshi-moshi? Anybody there?

...

Oi oi, maji kayo... are you all leaving. I mean, "are you all" really leaving. Well, I admit I said you could went to Als but "all of you" really going there. Necro? Hey, Professor?

...

"Eeeh... impossible, even he's joining in."

Haha, how did it come to this. I thought at least one of them will stay. Well not like something will happen in my mind chamber anyway. However, the now incomplete pizza, has turned into nothing more than a pizza without anything on it. Just a pizza without mushrooms, sauce nor tasty sides.

Alright, enough with monologuing. Let's go and begin my exhausting time as a commander, all by myself. But then again... if this is the case I should've just go with Hylia-san and Enty-kun to the canteen.

Kusodamn it.

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Talar Vältaligt : (Swedish) Speaks Eloquently