Hikaru's single-shot gamble at ship construction struck Yuji as a bit odd. Never mind how rare it was to get a result from just one attempt—betting only on destroyers? Wasn't that a huge waste?
Then again, strange behavior from Admirals during construction wasn't new. There were those who cursed themselves, crossdressed, threatened to jump off buildings if they failed, recited the "Memorial to Dispatching the Troops" before constructing Lion, or filled the room with manga and figurines to entice Tirpitz the recluse. Compared to those, Hikaru's actions didn't even register as odd.
Yuji was just here to watch for fun. But with only one roll? What fun was that? People came to see a gambler go insane and lose everything, not some calm-headed one-and-done rational builder.
Ah well, nothing better to do anyway. And chatting with Elizabeth was the real goal.
Under Hikaru's palm, the resources coalesced into a shimmering orb of light, and he was now attuned to the memory of steel.
It was strange—what he saw wasn't the life of a single warship, but one after another of destroyers being completed and setting out to sea.
What did that mean?
He wasn't sure. But after an unknown length of time, a tremor surged through his heart, and he snapped his eyes open.
The glowing orb of resources dissolved before him. From the void, a girl emerged and landed on the sand in front of him.
She had blonde hair and blue eyes, with a pair of sharp orange cat ears poking through her bangs. Although destroyers were usually small in build, this girl was like a light cruiser—well-developed, almost betraying her class.
She looked a little dazed at first. But the moment her eyes locked with Hikaru's, a flicker of recognition flared in her soul. Her expression shifted instantly into delight. Her eyes rimmed with tears as she fought to hold them back. She stood straight and saluted.
"DD-445, reporting in! Commander, Fletcher is honored to meet you again—at last."
Glowworm wrenched free from Elizabeth's hand and hopped toward her. "Fletcher-nee! Why are you wearing my clothes?"
Sure enough, Fletcher was dressed in a red-and-white wool sweater clearly too small for her—her bust strained against the fabric, making her look ridiculously over-packed. On the bottom, she wore an English-style skirt that completely clashed. The whole ensemble looked comically mismatched.
Fletcher's face flushed scarlet.
After Glowworm was summoned away, the rest of the girls in the dorm thought Hikaru would summon from there again. The scramble to seize the dorm escalated into something just short of war. Fletcher didn't stand a chance. That dorm was already packed to bursting with twenty-plus capital ships, even the hallways filled with bedding. All she'd managed to grab were a few of Glowworm's clothes. The odds were slim, but for the tiny chance she might be chosen—she had to try.
But how could she explain something so embarrassing? She'd be laughed at.
She peeked at Hikaru, heart pounding, suppressing the urge to throw herself into his arms.
But what she saw in his eyes was...strangeness. The look one gives a stranger.
Fletcher's heart sank. Did he forget her?
Hikaru motioned for the others to stay back. "This is...complicated. Let's talk over there."
Yuji still looked completely dumbfounded. He hadn't moved since Fletcher introduced herself. His eyes flicked to Elizabeth.
"I didn't mishear, did I? Fletcher? That Fletcher—the one with rarity higher than six stars? The one no one's ever built?"
Fletcher—originally just a plain 2-star destroyer—was legendary. The strongest destroyer. A star slayer.
In the long years of naval warfare, only one autonomous Fletcher had ever emerged. Her mission: to care for her countless sisters. She joined the Admiralty and dedicated herself to protecting every stray Fletcher-class destroyer she could find. She eventually became so powerful that her firepower and armor surpassed battleships, her torpedoes and evasion double that of any destroyer—a true star-slaying juggernaut.
No one had ever successfully built her. It was theorized that the precondition to build her was to collect all of her nearly 200 sisters. By all logic, building her was impossible.
Any time a wild Fletcher did appear, it became headline news. Admirals lined up in droves, forming queues long enough to make a pyramid.
And now you're telling me this guy just casually builds Fletcher with a single roll?
Yuji's worldview was on the verge of collapse.
He looked at his own little Braine—also a Fletcher-class. She was gnawing on her fingers and staring at Fletcher with sparkling eyes.
"She must've had Fletcher already," Elizabeth said quietly. "This is just summoning her back. Look—she and Glowworm clearly know each other."
Even as she spoke, Elizabeth felt a little guilty. Sure, it was probably true he'd built her before... probably. Okay, he was just lucky.
Yuji couldn't even hear her anymore. His mind was filled with only one thing: Fletcher. And when Braine tugged his hand and whispered, "I want Fletcher-nee too," all his remaining sanity went up in flames.
"Fletcher, I'm coming for you!"
He bolted for the nearest dockyard like a madman, leaving Braine behind. The little destroyer blinked, looked around nervously, then chased after him with hesitant little steps.
Elizabeth sighed. "He's gonna be disappointed."
Of all the superstitions around shipbuilding, the most universally accepted was the so-called window of fortune—the belief that if you saw someone summon the ship you wanted, you had to start building immediately. Every second wasted lowered your odds.
As a shipgirl, Elizabeth scoffed at that stuff. But even she was feeling curious about this Fletcher.
She saw Hikaru and Fletcher chatting under a distant palm tree and decided to stay back for now. She probably wouldn't be welcome.
"Ah, I see," Fletcher said softly. "So the Commander ended up drifting into this world, and lost his memory? No wonder. Honestly, I can't remember all the details myself."
She clutched her hands over her chest, eyes bright with resolve. "Then let's make new memories together, starting now!"
She looked at him like a puppy waiting for praise. If she had a tail, it'd be wagging furiously.
Too cute.
The bond between them tugged at Hikaru's heart. He hesitated, then reached out and gently touched Fletcher's ears.
"Alright."
Unbelievably soft. Fluffy and warm. Perfect.