Hikaru was in the middle of a dramatic retelling when he caught a glimmer out of the corner of his eye and immediately fell silent.
Elizabeth nudged him. "Come on, don't stop at the good part!"
"There's a light signal." Hikaru stood up. "I never learned how to read those, but that's gotta be someone from the Navy, right?"
Elizabeth smoothed her hair and stood as well. Far off across the waves, two beams of light were flickering in alternating patterns.
"It's someone from the local naval base. Hand me the flashlight."
Hikaru rummaged through the backpack and pulled out a high-powered flashlight that looked more like a lantern, handing it over to her.
Elizabeth flicked it on and fired off a series of long and short flashes. Then she clicked it off. "Perfect, they're inviting us to rest at their base for the night."
The great Cataclysm had reshaped the world into something closer to a fantasy continent. Among the changes were the coastlines—like sesame seeds scattered on a pancake, countless small islands now dotted the southern seas of the Eastern Continent.
Many forward bases had been built on those islands. Some even had civilians living on them. The one they approached now was a relatively bustling settlement.
A purple-haired girl who introduced herself as the light cruiser Katori led them inland. "Our town has about 3,000 residents. They're good people. I heard about a base over east where a battle with Abyssal destroyers led to buildings collapsing in town. The residents were so angry they pelted the shipgirls with rocks. Honestly, it's disheartening."
"Well, shipgirls aren't gods. We can't be everywhere at once," Elizabeth replied, gazing up toward the lighthouse that crowned the highest point of the island. "Have you run into many Abyssals lately?"
"Not really, Big Sis. This is blue sea territory, so the chance of Abyssals spawning here is low. The ones from the Black Sea side don't make it out this far. My gear's practically rusting from disuse."
Elizabeth sighed. "Figures. Looks like we'll need to head to the Black Sea."
Katori turned to her in surprise. "Why would you go there? Got a mission? But you're a battleship, right? You types usually only show up when it's time for the big fights. Don't tell me there's going to be a major offensive?"
"Nah. Just bringing a newbie to get some blood on his hands. Have you eaten? I'm starving."
Katori sped up. "Perfect timing then. If we hurry, we might still catch the big meal."
They soon arrived at the base—about the size of a typical high school campus. In the dusk light, Hikaru could make out the silhouettes of a slide, swings, and a seesaw.
Practically every base had some sort of playground, because every admiral ended up with a few elementary-school-aged destroyers.
Katori led them into a brightly lit hall, spreading her arms wide at the doorway. "Look who's here!"
Hikaru peeked out from behind her—and nearly choked.
In the glow of the lights, three little girls were pelting each other with food from the dinner table. One of them was wielding a ruler, trying to scold the others. Meanwhile, a matronly middle-aged woman was chasing a girl in circles with a bowl in hand.
It was like getting a glimpse into his own future. Please, let my shipgirls not turn out this wild...
Eventually the chaos died down. Once the rascals were calmed and the mess cleaned up, the woman even cooked a few more dishes and finally sat down to chat with her guests.
She introduced herself as Tsukiyama Ran, a seasoned admiral whose shipgirl roster included the battlecruiser HMS Repulse, light cruiser Katori, and four destroyers. She had held down this region for over a decade. A heavyweight, no doubt—but her destroyers? Total menaces.
Glowworm, however, was a hit with the local "elementary schoolers." They surrounded her, captivated by her stories, which thankfully kept them from wrecking more of the base.
As the newbie, Hikaru wisely kept his mouth shut and focused on eating.
Admiral Ran and Elizabeth chatted warmly, and Hikaru managed to glean quite a bit from their conversation.
"You hear the news from the Hawaii front? That Saint George girl went on a long-range sortie—said she was off to slay a dragon."
Elizabeth froze mid-cut, knife poised over her black pepper steak. "I hadn't heard. At this rate, she's going to get herself sunk."
Hikaru blinked. "A dragon? There are actual dragons in this world?"
Admiral Ran glanced over. "More like sea dragons—monsters, really. Think of them like the Abyssal version of giant steel whales. Not our kind of dragons."
Still terrifying, Hikaru thought.
Elizabeth looked thoughtful. "Saint George fighting a dragon... sounds fitting."
Being British, she was well-versed in Old World mythology. The legend of Saint George slaying a dragon to save a maiden was famous across Europe. Richard the Lionheart had even named Saint George the patron saint of England. His red cross on a white field became England's flag.
From what Hikaru gathered, this shipgirl named Saint George was practically infamous. Not because she was absurdly powerful, but because she was a berserker of the highest order. She'd only been born ten years ago, not even that high-level—but she charged into battles like a maniac.
So much so that even admirals in the rear lines had heard of her.
Saint George was based on the N3-class battleship design. That class had four planned ships, each named for a patron saint of a region of the UK—Scotland, England, Ireland, and Wales. They were often referred to as the "Saint-class," though none of them had ever been built.
Still, sometimes shipgirls were born from designs that never reached completion. Ships like the battlecruiser Invincible, the battleship Lion, the Sovietsky Soyuz... The reasons for their appearance were still a mystery. Some speculated they were born from the dreams and hopes of their designers, or perhaps the longing of a nation—like the Sovietsky Soyuz, which represented the Soviet Union's shattered naval ambitions, scrapped even before construction reached 20%.
Dinner wrapped up happily enough, but Admiral Ran never once mentioned anything about letting them stay overnight. After thanking her and saying their goodbyes, they had already walked halfway back into town when Elizabeth suddenly slapped her forehead with an "ah!"
"What is it?" Hikaru asked.
"Every time I've visited her before, she's been super enthusiastic about hosting me. But I bet she saw you were a guy and didn't think it was appropriate to let you stay in the base."
Hikaru considered that. Fair enough. But still, wasn't Elizabeth a bit too... ditzy?
They ended up booking two rooms at an inn in town. Early the next morning, they set out again toward the south.
This time, Elizabeth meant business.
She sat astride her massive lance, Hikaru held Glowworm tight as they balanced on her shield, and the two pieces of shipgear tore through the waves at breakneck speed—easily over 100 knots.
The wind roared past Hikaru's face so fast it felt like his skin was being kneaded like dough. His eyes wouldn't even stay open.
They didn't stop until they reached the edge of the Black Sea.
"That's the better way to travel," Elizabeth admitted. "It burns a lot more fuel, though. Anyway, about yesterday—Dean Yat Sen told me to test your temperament a bit, you get me?"
Hikaru groaned. "You're just casually throwing her under the bus like that?"