Elder brother's garrison

Page 1940

"Hmm?" Little White stopped and turned to look at Richelieu. "What's wrong?"

“Admiral Lu Lin… um… I…” Richelieu clutched her chest, looking conflicted. She mustered her courage and asked anxiously, “Will I… remember Jean Bart tomorrow?”

"Ah..." Little White listened to Richelieu's words and gave Richelieu a slight smile. "Don't worry, I'm here."

"..." Hearing Xiaobai's affirmative answer, Richelieu finally breathed a sigh of relief and felt at ease.

Xiao Bai and his group left the hot spring and disappeared into the night.

Richelieu stood at the entrance of the hot spring, looking at the deserted path for nearly five or six minutes before slowly turning around and beginning to clean up the hot spring.

Having worked as a maid for the past two years, Richelieu's cleaning skills have become increasingly adept.

Because he had already cleaned the place very carefully before, the second cleaning was much easier. Richelieu simply drained the water from the pool, wiped the floor with a dry cloth, turned off the bright yellow lights, carefully closed the door, and then left the hot spring.

On his way back to his dormitory from the hot spring, Richelieu saw a tall figure exuding a cold, deep-sea aura.

Frederick the Great slowly approached, dragging his chains.

As soon as Richelieu saw Frederick the Great, he quickly stood by the roadside, lowering his head and not daring to look directly at the Deep Sea Dean who possessed a terrifying aura.

This was not the first time Richelieu had encountered Frederick the Great. In his daily life at the newbie naval base, Richelieu had brushed past her countless times. Richelieu always held deep fear and awe for this Deep Sea Dean, who was rumored to possess great power and who had not yet been fully subdued by the Admiral.

She never dared to meet Frederick the Great's eyes, which were covered by bandages.

Fortunately, Frederick the Great never crossed paths with Richelieu. Whenever she appeared dragging her chains, Richelieu would simply stand respectfully by the roadside and wait, while Frederick the Great would treat her as if she were invisible and walk past on his own.

But this time, there seems to be an exception.

Crack, crack...

The clanking of Frederick the Great's chains stopped before Richelieu.

Richelieu waited for a long time, his heart trembling, but the cold, ocean-devouring presence before him showed no intention of making a move.

After a long while, Richelieu slowly raised his head.

Frederick the Great was indeed standing in front of her, tilting his head and quietly looking at her through a layer of gauze.

So close!

Richelieu's heart skipped a beat.

This was Frederick the Great's first visit to Richelieu.

In the darkness, Frederick the Great's skin was exceptionally pale. Beneath the thick white bandages, one could vaguely see her sunken eyes, as if two magnificent jewel-like red lights were peering intently at Richelieu through the veil. Frederick the Great was voluptuous and tall—one could even describe her as imposing. Women of such stature, even just standing before someone, would usually instill a sense of inexplicable pressure, let alone Frederick the Great, a cold, turbulent, quiet, and conspicuous deep-sea creature devoid of any human aura.

Richelieu could even feel Frederick the Great's gaze cutting into his face, causing him some pain.

Chapter 2707 Saying Goodbye to the Past, A New Beginning

Richelieu considered herself a battle-hardened ship girl in some sense, but her experience was of no use whatsoever against Frederick the Great.

She never used to look at herself.

Why did it suddenly happen tonight...?

“…Excuse me…” Richelieu swallowed hard and asked nervously, “…Do you need cleaning services?”

"..." Frederick the Great did not reply; she simply looked at Richelieu in silence.

Richelieu dared not speak, much less run away; he could only quietly lower his head and endure Frederick the Great's gaze.

This feeling of being trapped in a cage and stared at by a giant beast lasted for a full half minute.

Finally, Frederick the Great seemed to have grown tired of looking at her, and she finally turned her gaze away, her bare feet continuing to drag the heavy chains.

"……Congratulations."

In the darkness of night, Frederick the Great uttered two simple words and departed.

Although Frederick the Great's movements were slow, they were exceptionally fast. In the blink of an eye, her body merged into the blackness and disappeared.

Richelieu raised his head in confusion, looking in the direction Frederick the Great had left.

Did she just congratulate me?

--Congratulations?

—Congratulations… to myself? Does she also know that Admiral Lu Lin has taken me as a ship girl?

So she was looking at me for so long just now to confirm this?

Richelieu looked at his hands in confusion.

Richelieu pondered for a moment, then lowered his hands and continued to stare in the direction where Frederick the Great had departed.

“…Thank you, thank you.”

Richelieu tried to speak into the deserted path.

All Richelieu received in return was the sound of tamarisk bushes rustling in the wind among the roadside plants.

Richelieu listened to the rustling sound around him and fell silent.

Frederick the Great was congratulating himself just now, wasn't he?

Could it be that... Frederick the Great wasn't actually such a cold-hearted person?

It's so dark now, and I'm still a little scared to face Dean Shenhai like that if I chase after her. But if I run into her again next time, I'll muster up the courage to thank her properly...

Richelieu felt a sense of relief as he thought about this.

Richelieu returned to his dormitory.

Richelieu's dormitory is not in the ship girl dormitory building, but in a small bungalow with an area of ​​about fifty square meters. Interestingly, this bungalow was specially built for Richelieu by the newbie naval base. Lexington's explanation was that Richelieu was a distinguished guest of the newbie naval base, so how could she live with the ship girls? Therefore, for the most basic courtesy, they built a small house with a farmhouse style for Richelieu, hoping that Richelieu would not look down on the newbie naval base because of this.

Lexington's account is certainly unreliable.

The reason Richelieu was given this ordinary little courtyard near the center of the naval base was simply because its location was suitable for a maid's life of working from sunrise to sunset, and it was also convenient for the other ship girls in the naval base to keep an eye on her. As for the living environment—strictly speaking, although it couldn't compare to the exquisite little houses where the ship girls in the new naval base lived, it was at least spacious enough for one person, with a certain supply of water and electricity, no pest problems, and even the public Wi-Fi of the new naval base. Most importantly, the house was free, much better than the expensive and dilapidated little houses Richelieu rented in human society, and Richelieu had no complaints about it.

Back at his dormitory entrance, Richelieu pushed open the door and turned on the light.

It was quite late, and the lights were bright, like a lighthouse in the darkness.

During the two years Richelieu worked as a maid at the naval base, she saved up a little money but spent very little. As long as she went to the cafeteria, the base reimbursed her for food and clothing. As a full-time maid, she didn't have much time to go shopping or spend money in human society. Looking back on those two years, Richelieu only seemed to have spent money on some furniture like sofas and mattresses, and the latest 512GB smartphone for herself.

This phone is an Apple brand.

Back in human society, Richelieu saw an advertisement for this phone and always wanted to save up to buy one for himself. However, after paying rent, utilities, food, and various strange expenses such as transportation fees, property fees, and even protection money from thugs, there wasn't much left of the money he earned from his stall each month. So, this little wish was put off again and again.

Ironically, this wish was fulfilled after he was captured by the newbie naval base.

Richelieu looked at the small house she had lived in for two years, closed the door behind her, and slowly walked to the coffee table in front of the sofa. She bent down and took out a snack box from under the coffee table.

Xiaobai asked Richelieu to go home and pack her things, which meant that Richelieu should prepare her luggage. Starting tomorrow, she would probably be moving from this small house to the official ship girl dormitory.

A new beginning.

Opening the snack box, she found Richelieu's various documents from human society, as well as bank cards, public transport cards, and a phone book with contact information. These items were originally intended as basic necessities for Richelieu to live in human society after leaving the rookie naval base; they were her backup plan.

Richelieu silently looked at the ornaments in the snack box, took out the bank card, looked at the remaining items, and sighed.

"...These should never be needed again."

"Speaking of which... the previous admiral served for almost ten years, yet there isn't even a single photo of her..."

Richelieu rummaged through the snack box for a while, then said quietly.

Speaking of photos...

Richelieu looked up at the coffee table.

There was indeed a picture frame on the coffee table, and a photo was tucked inside the frame.

However, the person in the photo is not Osmanthus, but a photo of Richelieu and Succouv. Succouv is standing in front of the fountain in the middle of the garden, next to Richelieu, who is wearing a revealing anime maid outfit. Richelieu is blushing in the photo, looking as shy as if she is about to commit suicide on the spot.

This photo was taken by Lexington when he met Richelieu and Sukow chatting.

According to Lexington, this is a rare moment of remembrance, and although he may feel ashamed now, he may cherish it even more in the long run.

Richelieu didn't understand this at the time. She only thought that Lexington had heard Succouv talking badly about Admiral Lu Lin, so she came out to play a prank using her unique little tricks. When the photo was finally taken and delivered to Richelieu, Richelieu once thought of throwing it into the furnace and burning it as a piece of her dark history. However, looking at the hot spring in the photo and Succouv in the photo, Richelieu just couldn't bring herself to do it.

After all, this is the first photo of her life.

I really couldn't bear to burn it.

That wretched Lexington, look what they've done to someone's first photo ever!

Richelieu picked up the photo frame and looked at it for a while, his gaze flickering, before gently putting it down.

There was also a flower basket on Richelieu's table.

These were cultivated by ship girls who specialized in flower cultivation, whom Admiral Lu Lin had recently found in human society. They were fresh, cute, vibrant, and healthy. Every now and then, she would send a lot of them to anyone who didn't dislike flowers, including Richelieu. It was said that the greenhouse where that ship girl lived was like spring all year round, and every time you entered, you could see an exquisite maid surrounded by flowers.

Richelieu reached out and touched the little flower, then his gaze fell on a business card on the corner of the table.

The business card had the name "Akashi" written in large characters, a phone number in the lower right corner, and a cat paw-shaped stamp.

This business card was given to me by the owner of the small shop in the naval base.

Richelieu still remembers that after learning about her ordeal, this ship girl named Akashi secretly came to her residence one day to promote her business. She even said that if one day the newbie naval base granted a general amnesty and finally let her go, she would support her return to human society with as much material support as possible. Of course, the support would be charged, but as long as the money was right, the service quality would definitely satisfy Richelieu.

Richelieu, of course, also kept this business card.

Richelieu raised his head and looked around.

In addition, the room was filled with all sorts of gifts from the ship girls, such as a swimsuit and diving goggles from Surcouf, a star bracelet from Fubuki (which cost five yen at the Akashi convenience store), a beer crate from Washington, calligraphy and paintings from Yatsen, a piece of aluminum from Bismarck, and the "Yurugi Ship Girl Super Deluxe Special Edition" that almost every ship girl in the naval base had received before, and more...

Richelieu seemed completely unaware until today, when Shiro reminded her, that her little room seemed to be filled with quite a few things belonging to the ship girls.

Richelieu rested his head on the sofa behind him, looking at the small house in front of him.

My gaze drifted through the windowpane, looking up at the sky and gazing at the moon.

……

Early the next morning.

When Richelieu's good friend Succouv passed by Richelieu's house, she was surprised to find him squatting in front of it, staring blankly at a blazing brazier. Richelieu hadn't gone to work early as usual; instead, he was staying there, doing something that piqued Succouv's curiosity.

"Oh? Richelieu, good morning." Succouv walked over curiously, staring at the brazier in front of Richelieu. "What are you doing?"

In Richelieu's brazier, one can vaguely see a charred biscuit tin.

Is she burning something?

Sukup stared at the brazier for a long time.

"Ah... Succouv, good morning." Richelieu heard Succouv's voice, snapped out of her reverie, looked up at Succouv and said, "I'm saying goodbye to the past."

"Huh? Saying goodbye to the past? What do you mean?" Sukup blinked his big eyes.

"...Sukuf, I'm leaving here."

"Oh, so you want to leave here? No wonder you want to go... Eh? Wait, what did you say?" Succou nodded subconsciously, but then her eyes widened. She quickly moved closer to Richelieu. "You...you...you're not thinking of running away, are you? No way! You know how terrible the security measures are in this naval base. You definitely can't escape! Besides...the admiral is petty! If she catches you, she'll punish you severely! You might end up like me, with your ship rigging filled with little stars of spiritual energy! Making your legs go weak every time you see her!"

Sukuv hugged his arms and tried to persuade Richelieu.

“…Succouff, I didn’t mean I’m leaving the naval base.” Richelieu shook her head and said to Succouff, “What I mean is, I’m going to your official ship girl dormitory—last night, Admiral Lulin brought my sister Jean Bart to see me. She asked me if I would like to become her ship girl, and I agreed.”

"..." Sukup stared blankly, "Huh?"

“From today onwards, I am an official ship girl of this naval base.” Richelieu thought for a moment, then turned to Succou and said.

"...So, that means..." Succou stammered for a while, then suddenly became serious and asked with a sharp look in her eyes, "So, that means—the Admiral used your sister to coerce you into becoming her ship girl, is that right!"

Chapter 2708 Onboarding

"Huh?" Richelieu turned his head, staring blankly at Succouv. "What?"

“I mean—” Succouv quickly moved closer to Richelieu, grabbed her arm, and asked with concern, “If I remember correctly, the name Jean Bart should be your Richelieu-class ship, right? So the admiral really did use your sister to coerce you and force you to join our naval base, right?”

“No, no… it was voluntary.” Richelieu quickly shook his head. “Actually, Admiral Lu Lin is very kind to me, she’s a good person…”

"It's here! The woman who was fooled by the sophisticated deception has spoken!"

"Sukuf, you've misunderstood Admiral Lu Lin."

"Ahhh, I don't want to hear it, I don't want to hear it—you've ruined my best friend in just one night, what did the Admiral do?!" Sukup shouted, clutching his head.

“Admiral Lu Lin really didn’t do anything…” Richelieu explained.

"Didn't the admiral tell you that if you want to see your beloved little sister in the future, you have to become my ship girl first?"

"Uh……"

“See, I told you!” Succouv pointed at Richelieu. “Isn’t this pure coercion?”