Chapter 21 – Sortie Against the Abyssal Sea

Hikaru followed Glowworm into the living room. Despite the building's age on the outside, the interior decor was surprisingly cozy. You could tell a girl had put care into decorating it—warm, lived-in, and distinctly feminine.

Elizabeth gestured toward the fabric-covered sofa. "Sit. Your sortie permit's approved. I'll go grab it."

Hikaru sat down and looked around. A bookshelf full of paperbacks, a travel bag, delicate bento boxes, a mountain of snacks, and… teddy bears, action figures, plush animal pillows, wind-up toys.

Hikaru hadn't pegged her for the girly type underneath the foodie and lancer exterior.

Glowworm stared longingly at the plushies, and Hikaru felt a twinge of guilt—he hadn't bought her anything like that yet. She'd been so well-behaved, never asked for toys, but surely even a shipgirl wanted a doll or two.

Decision made. He'd get her something.

Thud thud thud.

Elizabeth strode back, long legs bared below her skirt—no stockings today, and her pale skin practically shimmered.

"Here. Your permit."

"Thanks," Hikaru replied as he accepted the document. "I want to head out today, if that's okay."

She tapped her lips thoughtfully. "I'll take you. Newbie sorties need a supervising instructor. It's vacation anyway, I've got time."

"I'll treat you to cake to thank you."

He figured she was a foodie—foodies were easy to bribe.

"Cake's nothing special. When we get back, I'll take you to this old local restaurant. Their Chinese dishes are amazing. Hang on a sec."

She didn't make him wait long. Ten minutes later she was ready, wheeling out a bicycle from the racks below.

"I'll drive."

The bike was sized for her height—pretty big—but Hikaru hesitated. "Can it hold all three of us?"

"Quit whining. Get on," she said, patting the rear seat. Then, remembering something, she scowled. "Oh, and don't touch my waist. Break your hand if you do."

Awkward laugh. Hikaru hugged Glowworm and barely managed to balance on the back. The bike, thankfully, held up.

So the three of them rode off toward the sea—on one bicycle.

They passed several other shipgirls and Admirals on the way. When they saw Hikaru riding behind Queen Elizabeth, expressions of surprise bloomed on every face. A few shipgirls laughed and teased Elizabeth, while the Admirals all looked... wary and jealous.

Great, Hikaru thought bitterly. Did I just aggro half the academy before classes even start?

At the seaside operations office, Elizabeth crossed her arms. "We're heading out. You staying here to wait?"

"I'd like to see the fight myself, if that's allowed," Hikaru said.

She rolled her eyes. "So troublesome. Admirals are supposed to command from the rear, but fine. It's your first sortie. Just be ready for a full day on the water."

She tossed him a standard-issue backpack. "Water, flashlight, basics. Carry it."

Once he was strapped in, she deployed her shipgear. Her massive shield dropped onto the sea—and floated. Despite its bulk, it bobbed like a feather on the surface.

"Get on."

Hikaru grimaced but climbed up, sitting cross-legged. To his surprise, the shield didn't shift a bit beneath his weight.

Elizabeth raised her massive lance. "Queen Elizabeth, sortie!"

The two shipgirls stepped onto the water with their propulsion units and surged forward like arrows. Hikaru's shield raced after them like a motorboat, slicing across the waves.

Here we come, Abyssals!

…

Sortieing to face the Abyssals sounded cool in theory. Reality? Not so much.

Elizabeth muttered while gliding forward, "A sortie for a shipgirl is made up of long stretches of boredom punctuated by short bursts of sheer terror."

The sun blazed overhead. Sea spray was salty and unpleasant. The Abyssal zone was over 300 nautical miles away—ten hours of straight sailing at least.

Her speed was 25 knots. One knot equals roughly 1.85 km/h—not exactly fast.

Two hours in, Elizabeth suddenly slapped her forehead. "Crap. We should've requisitioned a speedboat first. Those things can hit over 100 knots. We could've swapped ships at the forward base. Ugh, too late now."

Hikaru strongly suspected she'd done this on purpose. No way an instructor would forget something that basic. But whatever. He'd once been a sword cultivator. Boredom and endurance were old friends.

Glowworm, at first thrilled, eventually grew restless. She climbed into Hikaru's lap and whined for a story.

"Where were we? Right, the Three Sworn Sisters bit was done, so now it's the infamous 'Fall of Bismarck in the Atlantic.' So! To kill the demonic ghost that was Bismarck, the British Empire rallied six, seven… forty-two of its greatest champions from under the blazing sun and over the sparkling sea—two carriers, three battlecruisers, five battleships. Renown, Ark Royal, Victorious, King George V, and the berserker herself, Rodney—all ready to gang up on Bismarck and avenge their red tea sister, De De-chan(Hood)…"

At first, Elizabeth was a little sulky, feeling like their glorified chauffeur. But Hikaru's retelling had its own charm, and she ended up leaning in to listen.

"So Bismarck gave a passionate speech: 'I have risen to power over three years of war, unbeaten in a hundred battles. Today I die not for lack of courage, but because fate has turned against me. This is not a failure of strength but a curse from the heavens…'"

Time passed. The moon rose. Elizabeth sat on her lance, cheeks in hand, completely entranced.

"And so, under the fading light of the Queen's rule, with the enemy hemming her in from every direction, Bismarck—wounded in over a hundred places—gazed at Prince of Wales and said, 'Are we not old comrades?' The Prince pointed at Rodney and said, 'This one's a damn scoundrel.' And Bismarck replied, 'So I heard there's a bounty on my head, a noble title promised… I die not for weakness, but for honor.' Then she took her own life. The Prince sighed: 'A true warrior. What use is death to threaten such a soul?'"