Azur Lane Under the Stars

Page 499

Just then, Richelieu and Louis IX finished sweeping the fallen leaves and went into the church to rest and wait. They saw that small figure from behind and exclaimed with delight:

"Ah, you're back, aren't you?"

Then they saw a man and a woman staring at each other, and they couldn't help but feel puzzled.

…………

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I mistook you for someone else!"

Ren Shuo started a frantic apology mode. Is there anything more embarrassing than a ship girl he just met and was trying to build a good relationship with directly admitting his mistake?

"Commander, didn't I say that those in black and white are the Advancement type? How come you still mistook them?"

"The problem is, Jinqiu also has white hair..."

Ren Shuo whispered.

“That’s just an excuse…” Louis IX was about to lecture him, but Ambition took over the conversation.

"But seriously, Sister Louis IX, there's something wrong with your introductions. The color scheme of our clothes—Joffrey, Indomitable, and I are all dressed in black and white, and we all have white hair, although mine isn't pure white..."

Louis IX thought about it and thought, "Oh, that seems to be true."

"So, why don't you just distinguish us by our hairstyles? I have short hair, Buqu has a long ponytail with antennae on her head, and Xiafei has twin ponytails."

Louis IX retorted confidently, "But won't you change your hairstyles?"

Encouraged, seemingly used to Louis IX's strong arguments, replied, "Then, shall we not change our clothes?"

Richelieu couldn't help but chuckle: "Alright, you two, this isn't going to get interesting. Let's get to know each other again. This is our commander, Ren Shuo. Commander, this is Jinqi, the Royal Jinqi."

The Imperial ship deeply respects and even admires Richelieu... although it's a bit strange for a Royal Navy ship to admire a ship girl from the Free Iris.

Therefore, Jinqu greatly admired the commander who was able to marry Bishop Richelieu, and curtsied, displaying royal elegance.

"I am the Emerald-class light cruiser Enterprise, belonging to the Royal Navy. During the war, in addition to support, escort, and transport missions, I would occasionally participate in combat... Although that was in the past, now I am just a Royal Navy maid in charge of cleaning. Well, that's all."

"Hello, and I'm sorry, I mistook you for someone else," Ren Shuo apologized again.

"It's alright, it's Louis IX's sister's problem."

Compared to Richelieu, who exuded elegance and sophistication in every gesture, Encouragement was far less courteous to Louis IX. If it were the former Knight of the Palace, it might have been more tolerable, but this Louis IX…

Hmm, how should I put it? The "office slave" and "nongnong's" laid-back attitude is so deeply ingrained in people's minds that it's no wonder Jinqu doesn't respect her much.

“Jinqu, where are Xiafei and the others? Why are you all alone?” Richelieu pulled Jinqu down to sit and asked softly.

After a moment's thought, Jinqu said, "I guess they haven't finished shopping yet. We bought different things, and I came back first this time."

"I see... By the way, are you interested in stage plays?"

Richelieu had a sudden inspiration and asked.

I could invite them to rehearse these plays in the Minato Ward first. If they are interested, then I could go along with it and let them experience life in the Minato Ward.

When it comes to salvaging ships, what ship girls care about is nothing more than whether they can become stronger, whether they are valued, whether the commander is a good person, and what the atmosphere in the port is like.

Honestly, these are all very good things about the port area.

The only downside is whether or not we get any attention... Since everyone gets attention, there's no comparison. Besides, the commander has time-stop ability, so he can basically be with everyone now.

After thinking about it seriously for a moment, Jinqu shook his head: "I'm not interested..."

"I see..." Richelieu was a little disappointed, but it didn't matter. Even if they weren't interested, he could try inviting them to help. Of course, if they still refused, he would have to find another way.

However, Richelieu's eyes lit up at Jinqu's next words: "But Sister Xiafei and Buqu should be interested. They discussed it for a long time after watching the play last time."

"Really? Then I'll try to invite them. To be honest, our port area is currently holding an internal event where our own people will perform plays, and there will be prizes. So I'm trying to see if I can invite you to help out. We at Free Iris still have too few people."

Richelieu subtly concealed his ulterior motive of salvaging the ship. While ambitious, he lacked finesse in wordplay and, without much thought, replied:

"Well, if Sister Xiafei agrees, I'll come and help."

“But…” Jinqu still hesitated, “We’ve all gone to help, but what about the nun…”

“You don’t need to worry about me. This old woman can manage on her own. You can’t always rely on this old woman for your lives. Young women should have the vigor of young women.”

The old nun interjected promptly, saying, "Go and help out; Xiafei and the others will be there too."

The old nun knew her girls very well. Besides the sea, Xiafei loved plays and churches the most. As for Buqu, that easily fooled little girl could be persuaded to help with just a few words.

“I understand.” Jinqu nodded.

"When will it start? I'd like to do some preparations," Jinqu asked earnestly.

"This is another diligent little maid," Ren Shuo thought to himself, then said, "No need to rush, Richelieu will come to find you later."

“Is that so? Then I’ll be waiting for you,” Jinqu replied.

"Grandma Sister! We're back!"

As they were talking, the church door opened again.

Chapter 549 Xiafei

Inside a small room behind the church, a few people sat down at a round table.

Ren Shuo looked at the girl in front of him. Strictly speaking, this was not the first time he had seen her. Her light gray hair was tied up in a double ponytail style with a headdress that looked like a circle and horns.

Her bangs were adorned with a neat row of diamond-shaped black hair clips, and her alluring figure was encased in a snow-white dress with black accents.

He was still wearing two fingerless leather gloves, and the sword that was originally hanging at his waist was now lying horizontally on his thigh.

The ship girl in front of me, who looks very calm and has a great presence, is none other than Kasumi.

Beside her stood a white-haired little girl who, though very young, had a delicate and serious face, looking like a little knight – this was Buqu.

"This should be our first formal meeting... Commander Ren Shuo." Xia Fei's voice was very gentle.

“Indeed, we’ve only met a few times in the port area before, and we haven’t had any in-depth conversations,” Ren Shuo asked. “Although I’m not very strict with my own daughters, I’m still very curious about what you and Richelieu talked about.”

Xiafei laughed: "It's mainly about church matters. I'm still very curious about how Archbishop Richelieu works as a church official. It's like exchanging experiences."

Speaking of which, Richelieu no longer believes in the original teachings; he seems to believe in his own mother instead.

Ren Shuo gave Richelieu a strange look.

Richelieu understood Ren Shuo's meaning and winked mischievously.

Perhaps, without being subtly influenced, Xiafei has also been somewhat carried away.

As a ship girl who is only five years old, although she is mature in mind, her understanding of the world is still insufficient.

Richelieu casually offered some platitudes, saying that current doctrines are all distorted, written by humans in their own way, and that his version is the only surviving copy from the old era...

I reckon this little girl could easily fool him.

“Speaking of which, it’s quite rare for Bishop Richelieu to come to our door. Is there anything I can help you with?” Joffre asked.

Richelieu finally had a chance to speak: "It's nothing major. Our port is holding an internal stage play competition, but not many of our Free Iris sisters are interested in participating, so we came to you to see if we can get you to join."

Unlike her ambitious nature, Joffre was quite mature. Although she enjoyed stage plays, she was wary of Richelieu's wordplay.

However, without certainty, Xiafei wouldn't be foolish enough to say it out loud, otherwise she would be the one who gets embarrassed later.

"Hmm, maybe... we don't have much time? Our church work..."

Xiafei politely declined.

She roughly understood what Richelieu meant. In the past, Richelieu would occasionally ask her if she had any intention of joining the port, or introduce her to her commander.

But she refused them all because she didn't really want to leave the old man who had taken her in for so long.

Even though the old man was about to leave for the Free Iris, she still wanted to go with him. This was her insistence, her way of repaying a debt of gratitude.

But then the old nun spoke up: "There's not much work at the church. They're moving soon. This church might be demolished and rebuilt into a welfare home, so fewer and fewer people come here to worship and sightsee. Now there are almost none. I know you like stage plays, so don't take care of this old woman. Go on."

Xiafei immediately understood the old nun's meaning; she was supporting the man in front of her in rescuing her. Looking at the man with a slightly complicated expression, she pursed her lips before slowly saying:

"Alright, I'll see if there's anything I can do to help."

“But if they refuse to yield, then I cannot make the decision,” Xiafei added.

The old nun smiled and said again, "No, Grandma loves your performances and the joy you bring to the stage."

While not explicitly stating that they would go to see it, this guiding approach is the most effective way to win over the unyielding.

Buqu immediately replied, "Don't worry, I will definitely live up to your expectations!"

Richelieu's smile widened. With the old nun's words carrying weight in their hearts, salvaging the ship would be much easier.

Richelieu knew in her heart that ship girls who were picked up and adopted by ordinary people and who thought of repaying their kindness were actually a type of ship girls that were easy to handle. As long as she could get the consent and assistance of their guardians, she would basically have an 80% chance of success.

"They all agreed, so what do you say?"

Jinqu tilted his head and said, "Then I will try my best to help."

Great, the first step is complete. Now let's trick all three ship girls into coming back.

Moreover, this isn't considered fraud; the person's guardian consented.

Chaffee decided to make the best of it since she was already there. Even if it was the old nun she regarded as her mother or grandmother who spoke up, she would still thoroughly investigate this port and this commander.

Although I had been there many times before, I only interacted with Bishop Richelieu or Joan of Arc each time, and had no interaction with other people at all.

Xia Fei looked up at Ren Shuo and asked, "What kind of stage play is it? Could I take a look at the script? What kind of role do I need to play?"

The indomitable and enterprising figure on the other side nodded and looked at Ren Shuo.

Ren Shuo pointed at Richelieu: "Ask Richelieu, he was in charge of the part about the Free Iris."

Richelieu's expression turned awkward when she sensed the three ship girls' gazes shifting to her.

"Actually, there are some difficulties right now..."

"What's the difficulty?"

“We have enough supplies and money, but…” Richelieu hesitated for a moment, but finally made up his mind and said, “The problem now is that the actors are not yet decided and there is no script.”

The three ship girls: "...?"

No, you haven't finalized any of these things, so what's the point of trying to get us to join you?

Richelieu, feeling somewhat embarrassed by the stares, hurriedly explained, "Well, it's because, well, the number of people hasn't been determined yet, so the script can't be based on the number of people, right?"

Richelieu looked to Louis IX for help; she really couldn't fool anyone.

She couldn't very well tell the truth that she came because she was thinking of salvaging the boat and wanted to bring some people over as a backup, could she?

Louis IX sighed. When it really comes down to it, it's still up to his mother...

She picked up the thread: "Actually, although there's no final script yet, we still have a few options. It's just that we need to choose from a few scripts with a certain number of participants, so we need to come here to see if we can get some of you as external help to determine the final choice."

"So, which scripts are they?" Xiafei asked.

"It's 'The Three Little Pigs,' 'Little Red Riding Hood,' and 'Alice in Wonderland.' Oh, and 'Romeo and Juliet.'"

In a moment of desperation, Louis IX recited several well-known stories.

“I think it’s a good idea.” Joffre smiled and, as the eldest of the three, extended her hand to Louis IX. “Then please give me your guidance.”

…………

"Report! Commander, mission accomplished!"

Back in the port area, Ren Shuo and his group had just introduced Xiafei and the others to the other Free Iris ship girls as ship girls who had come to help when, under the gazes of everyone who seemed to say "I understand, we're all sisters from now on," the Empire came knocking.

After being taught by Veneto, Giulio Caesar, and others, at least the Empire is no longer so careless as to button its coat incorrectly before leaving the house.

Of course, this also made Ren Shuo sigh with regret. After all, he was the only person of the opposite sex in the port area. When leaving the port area, he always had maids who helped him tidy up the empire. In the port area, you are being too formal.

And every time I see Veneto, she looks at me like I'm a wolf in sheep's clothing... It's just that last time I accidentally forgot to close the door at night, and Veneto was seen by Littorio and the southwest and northwest winds...

I'm so sad.

However, seeing that the empire before him still looked like he hadn't woken up yet, Ren Shuo considerately smoothed out the empire's slightly messy hair and then asked:

"Has everything been investigated and clarified?"

It's a real shame that I even doubted whether the Empire might have messed things up.

"Report! I've been spotted..."