Chapter 22

（Thank you to the generous reward from "Dyed Blood Quill"! Thanks to Ag6cat for the review vote! A new week has arrived, so I'm asking for clicks, favorites, and recommendation votes to boost the rankings! By the way, regarding the 650 Steel incident, as a member of the internal group, it's quite disheartening to see so many people in the forum criticizing us. Especially when that mocking announcement appeared, it almost broke my spirit. Fortunately, I managed to pull back from the brink. I don't know what to say, but I hope Azur Lane continues to improve! By the way, the winter event for KanColle is about to start, and I'm really struggling...）

22. Stealth Performance is Still So Good

The admiral sat in the chair, head tilted back, staring blankly at the light bulb on the ceiling, which emitted a white glow. His face, covered in stubble, was expressionless.

Under the cold light, the admiral's shadow stretched long on the ground. The dining room, which had been cleaned, was now empty of any shipgirls. An hour ago, there were still over a dozen of them sitting here, but now the admiral was alone, staring at the ceiling.

"......So, I'll take my leave."

Looking at the admiral lying back in the chair, silent, Kaiho's brows furrowed with a hint of pain. She stood by the door and gently closed it.

With a soft click, the dining room fell into complete silence. Only the admiral's heavy breathing, due to his lung issues, echoed in the space. In the distance, the sky had darkened, and a few lights in the direction of the shipgirls' dormitory slowly turned on.

After dinner, it was the shipgirls' relaxation time. For these girls who had dedicated their loyalty and souls to him, the admiral did not exploit their energy like his peers. Compared to other admirals who held night drills and expeditions, he was a bit more lenient.

However, due to today's events, he would likely have to ask these adorable little ones to sortie at night soon, to face those detestable deep-sea fleets.

"......Am I really that unlucky?"

Looking at the white lights flickering in the distance from the shipgirls' dormitory, the admiral leaned back in his chair and muttered.

"Trusting my shipgirls, but then this happens. Trying to get some shipgirls, but only seeing Montana. Trying to take a chance, but always getting unknown ships. Maybe I shouldn't have taken that chance?"

"Taking a chance when there's no change is not a bad thing. I don't think you did anything wrong, Admiral."

In an instant, another voice came from a corner of the room.

"Besides, I think you're quite lucky. At least you didn't hear this news at the most critical moment. If you had heard it during an enemy fleet attack, you might have really jumped into the sea. Although it's still stressful now."

"Ah, that's true. Compared to finding out during a battle, it's better to discover it beforehand. You're right."

Looking at Sacramento sitting in the corner, the admiral's lips curled into a smile.

"But your stealth performance is still so good, Miss Sara."

"Um, thank you. But I don't think that's a compliment to a girl. I'm a girl, and even I would be a bit upset by such a subtle way of speaking. Admiral, you should be more careful with how you talk to others."

"Sorry, sorry. It's just that I haven't talked to anyone for so long. I'm not good at it. I'll be more careful in the future. Please forgive me this time."

"Then I'll accept your apology."

Sacramento, still with her detached demeanor, nodded and flipped through the book in her hands. The admiral, sitting in the chair, smiled, looked at the ceiling, and suddenly remembered something, turning his head to look at Sacramento.

"Ah, what's the name of the book you're always reading? I see you reading it every day. Is it interesting? If it's really that interesting, could you lend it to me to read?"

"Sure? It's not very interesting, just a way to pass the time."

The shipgirl in white raised the book in her hand and waved it in the admiral's direction. The white-gold thimble on her finger flashed, momentarily obscuring the book's cover, drawing the admiral's attention.

"Did you find your thimble?"

"Yes, I asked Maersk to look for it."

In response to the admiral's question, the independent shipgirl shrugged nonchalantly, her expression unchanged. She placed the book back on her knee, smoothed her hair behind her ear, and continued reading without the strands interfering.

"Enterprise might be upset for the whole night... But this thimble was originally mine, so it's not a problem for me to take it back."

"So where did Maersk find it?"

"Sorry, I don't want to say."

"You can't even tell me, your admiral? Is it that secret?"

"I think a woman with secrets is more charming, don't you think, Admiral?" Sacramento blinked, looking at her admiral with a curious expression, and said seriously.

"Although I can't argue with that, I wish you all could be more open with me. I always feel like you're hiding something from me. Even though you seem happy, I really doubt your private relationships."

Faced with Sacramento's indifferent expression, the admiral could only smile bitterly and tap the table.

"Since I don't even know what my subordinates are thinking, I'm not a very good admiral."

"Ah, well."

Sacramento touched her lips and smiled.

"If we really opened up to you, Admiral, you wouldn't be able to handle it. So it's better this way."

"Ha ha ha, that's not a very funny joke."

"I've never lied, you know?"

"Okay, okay, let's leave it at that."

The admiral smiled and waved to Sacramento, who was sitting in the chair.

"Thank you for keeping me company for so long. I feel a bit better now. I'll go first. If anything happens, come to my office. I'll check the historical records and assess the strength of the deep-sea fleet."

"Um, good luck, Admiral—Is that how you say it?" Sacramento tilted her head, looking at the standing admiral, a bit uncertain.

"If you can't say it, don't force yourself."

It's not very interesting.

The admiral smiled at Sacramento, who was sitting in the chair, picked up the white naval cap from the table, and put it on his head, walking towards the door.

"Take care~"

Sacramento raised her hand and waved lightly at the admiral's departing back.

"Ah, don't read too late."

Nodding at Sacramento, the admiral's figure left the room.

The room instantly became incredibly empty. Except for the sound of Sacramento flipping pages, the place that had been occupied by over a dozen people an hour ago was now completely silent.

"......Such a worrisome person."

After confirming the admiral had left, the girl sighed and continued reading the thick book, sitting in the chair.

The gold-embossed 'Behavioral Psychology' on the cover and the white-gold thimble on her left ring finger reflected on the ground, creating an overlapping halo. Along with the light from the ceiling, it seemed to subtly describe something.