Naturally, Elizabeth wouldn't admit that "protecting the student" was just a convenient excuse.
After almost being defeated by Glowworm, she had grown intensely curious about Hikaru. Now, with the sudden appearance of the urban-legend-tier Fletcher, summoned right before her eyes, there was no way she'd leave, even if chased off.
Hikaru could only shrug helplessly. "Fine. For every day I hold you up, I'll treat you to one nice meal."
"Now that's more like it. Alright then, let's go!"
Compared to Glowworm, Fletcher's combat style was far more versatile.
For most enemies, she could take them out with precision artillery fire from a distance. Her strongest attack was her torpedo strike—just earlier, when they encountered an abyssal heavy cruiser at nightfall, Fletcher sunk it instantly with a single torpedo.
At first, Elizabeth was exclaiming non-stop—things like, "That's cruiser-level firepower!" "Is she wearing three armor plates? Her defense is insane!" "Such polished combat technique!" "You've got insanely high luck, don't you?"
But once she saw Fletcher's gear setup, Elizabeth fell silent and went off to sulk.
Fletcher was equipped with the rainbow-grade "23rd Destroyer Squadron Flag," another rainbow "Zulu Flag," and a golden "VT Fuse Shell."
All these pieces of equipment were exceptionally rare, of course. But in terms of combat optimization, they weren't necessarily better than more specialized gear like top-tier naval guns or torpedoes.
For instance, the VT Fuse Shell was a team-oriented anti-air upgrade—great for squads, but not much better than a high-level purple anti-air cannon on its own. As for the two rainbow flags, they added about +3 to all stats—nice, but not game-breaking.
Yet here Fletcher was, without a single torpedo or gun equipped—just firing energy-based shelling and torpedo strikes barehanded, and still outshining everyone. Her base stats must be off the charts.
And rainbow gear—come on! That stuff's rarer than six-star shipgirls! Two pieces at once? What kind of luck did this guy have?
Elizabeth stared off dreamily, wondering if she really was witnessing a living Star-Destroyer-class ship. Compared to Fletcher's absurd loadout, what had she even been doing these past years? She'd been so proud to have four green +17 Firepower twin 15-inch guns from the UK. What a joke now.
If Hikaru were to comment honestly, Fletcher's stats weren't even that exaggerated—sure, torpedo, evasion, anti-air, and ASW were all over 100, and her firepower and armor were at cruiser level. But he had plenty of destroyers with individual stats higher than hers. Fletcher's strength was in her all-rounder nature.
But of course, he knew better than to say that out loud. Say something like "she's only a little better than a heavy cruiser" and you'd get beaten to death.
With Fletcher hogging the spotlight, the most annoyed of all was Glowworm. Time and again she would rush in, only for Fletcher to finish the fight before she even got there, leaving her flailing at empty air. After a few rounds of this, Glowworm stopped participating altogether and just sulked in Hikaru's arms, puffed-up cheeks and all.
That night, they hunted abyssal shipgirls until late. When they finally returned to the inn on Auntie Ran's island, Elizabeth was still in a daze. When Hikaru said good night, she didn't even seem to hear it.
Back in the room, Hikaru placed the now-sleeping Glowworm gently onto the bed. Fletcher followed behind.
Hikaru straightened up and said, "It's late. Go get some rest. Your room is next to mine."
Fletcher closed the door and blushed. "I want to sleep with you, Commander. What if you disappear again?"
Hikaru rubbed his temples. "I won't. I'm not going to disappear."
But no matter how he tried to reassure her, Fletcher kept stubbornly shaking her cat-eared head—"Not listening, not listening."
Fletcher was already a young woman, so Hikaru felt it necessary to keep some distance. He sighed. "Fine. You can take the bed. I'll sleep on the couch."
The inn was pretty simple—its couch was barely big enough to curl up on. But Hikaru figured he could tough it out for a few nights.
Fletcher, however, panicked and shook her head. "I can't let you sleep on the couch. Let's just sleep together. Do you want a foot bath? I'll prepare some hot water for you."
Despite his firm refusals, Fletcher ignored him, grabbed a basin, and filled it under the showerhead. After testing the water temperature, she brought it over and began to remove his shoes to wash his feet.
Hikaru had never been pampered like this before, and she even used her shipgirl strength to hold him in place—he couldn't overpower her. In the end, he could only sit on the edge of the bed, utterly resigned, as Fletcher gently placed his feet in the warm water and massaged them with utmost care.
He had to admit, after a whole day of exhaustion, the hot water felt heavenly—and having a cute girl knead your feet made it even better.
While kneading, Fletcher chatted and complained about her sisters.
"When I came to you, I don't know if Johnston's even bathing properly. She's always fooling around. Remember? You used to call her Little Yellow Hair. And there was Little Brown Hair(USS Hoel) and Little White Hair(USS Heermann). We were all teased for those names. I'm not blaming you, Commander. In fact, we all loved those nicknames—because getting one meant we were special to you."
She continued, "I always thought you liked Converse(USS Converse) the most. You used to tease her like a cat. But if you liked her that much, why did the Taffy Three get all the sorties and training while the Little Beavers like Converse didn't? I never understood that. And then there's Willia(William D. Porter) and Sullivan(USS The Sullivans)… I hope they're okay on their own. Willia always causes trouble. Remember?"
Hikaru nodded as she spoke, the memories slowly coming back.
Nicknames… yeah, the game allowed shipgirl renaming, and he went wild with it—naming girls Cat, VV, Lady, OvO, Secretary, Little Sister… whatever struck his mood. The three from Taffy Three had yellow, brown, and white hair, so he just called them Little Yellow Hair, etc.
As for the training schedule, it was simple. Taffy Three girls were upgradable and hit levels 80–90. The Little Beavers had great art but couldn't be upgraded. With so many destroyers, he couldn't train them all—most were just eye candy.
And the 23rd Destroyer Squadron? That was the Little Beavers. The flag Fletcher wore now was their banner.
Fletcher kept rambling on. By the time the water cooled, she was finally winding down. She had just finished retelling Willia's tenth screw-up—stealing Helena's swimsuit to try it on, tearing it a little, almost getting killed, and forcing Fletcher to beg for mercy on her knees.