I Reincarnated as the Captain of a Battleship in a Robot Anime, but at This Rate, I’m Going to Be Assassinated – Chapter 34

Chapter 34: I Think It’s Less Scary If I Raise A Lot Of Flags, But I Don’t Know How To Raise Flags
  “My, my, Ojō-sama’s unrestrained nature really keeps me on my toes……!”
  
  Right after Franny left, Yuri was the only one who started to panic, gesticulating for no reason, trying to clean something and then stopping, it was amusing.
  However, Shougo was actually starting to panic as well. At first, he was just dazed from fatigue and tension, so he brushed it off, but when he thought about it calmly, Franny had dropped a huge b*mb.
  Moreover, Shougo wasn’t that insensitive.
  
  ‘No, but…… when she says it like that, it’s embarrassing.’
  
  Yuri, for whatever reason, has feelings for him. Whether or not it was born from the chaos of the extreme situation, he wasn’t going to argue about it now.
  He should ignore irrelevant talk about how couples who last long because of the suspension b*idge effect don’t exist.
  
  ‘Wait, why am I assuming we can even be in a relationship? And Yuri, please calm down.’
  
  When she’s embarrassed and her attitude is obvious, he doesn’t know what to do. After all, he’s a man who’s never been in a relationship with a woman. He can’t do anything romantic like stand up and hug her or hold her hand, and the thought of doing so doesn’t even occur to him in the first place.
  But the mutual awkwardness would subside with time. That would create another awkward atmosphere, though.
  
  “Um, Yuri?”
  “Yes!?”
  
  How long had the silence lasted?
  Shougo averted his gaze and muttered.
  
  “F-for now…… how about something to drink? Tea might be a bit later…… but we have time for instant coffee. Are you okay with coffee?”
  “Y-yes…… Yes, thank you very much. Ah, I’ll prepare it. You must be tired.”
  
  No matter how flustered she was, she was someone who had worked as a maid. There were actions ingrained in her body. She quickly lined up the cups and dissolved the powdered coffee in hot water.
  He thought that even in this future, instant coffee was still powder. It was prepared in no time.
  
  “There are ways to make instant coffee taste good, but that takes time……”
  “No, it’s fine. This is a warship, the hot water is shared. The filtration and purification system is top-notch.”
  “I see. There wasn’t any strange smell.”
  
  Once they had a cup of coffee and calmed down, they both felt more at ease.
  That said, the atmosphere was still somewhat distant.
  Shougo took another sip and looked at Yuri. A bespectacled intellectual. That’s exactly what she was, and there was no doubt that she was beautiful. And, what should he say, she had a good figure too.
  She was basically taciturn, or maybe she didn’t talk more than necessary, or maybe she was intentionally keeping her words to a minimum as part of her role as a maid, he didn’t know, but her quiet demeanor was her default.
  The fact that she panicked like that might have been a gap in her character.
  
  ‘Well, surprisingly…… she does match my preferences.’
  
  She wasn’t a young girl. But it would be rude to call her middle-aged.
  A mature woman. That’s what suited her best.
  
  ‘I would have been more relaxed if I wasn’t in an unrealistic environment like a battlefield. It’s not like I can say that, since I’m the one who dragged her into this……’
  
  As he had said many times, he couldn’t drop her off, and Yuri understood that.
  
  “Are you still not used to it?”
  
  Shougo was staring intently at Yuri when he suddenly noticed something. She hadn’t touched her coffee yet.
  Her hands seemed to be trembling slightly.
  It was obvious that she was afraid.
  
  “Ah, I’m sorry.”
  “No, that’s a natural reaction. It’s normal.”
  
  If he thought about it calmly, it was Yuuki and the others who were strange for being able to act normally in this situation. Franny, in particular, was too quick to recover mentally. Even though it had resulted in a fight to the death with her father, she had begun to maintain the atmosphere from when they first met.
  It was certainly reassuring that she understood what she had to do.
  On the other hand, Yuri was still suffering from the stress of fear.
  But he couldn’t blame her. This was normal.
  
  “We’re going to launch a surprise attack on a military base. If it goes well, it will be a small-scale battle. Of course, in the worst case, we’ll be exchanging heavy fire. I just wanted to let you know that much and have you prepare yourself…… I’m sorry, it seems like I’m saying something cruel.”
  “……No. No, I understand. In battle, I’m a burden. It’s embarrassing to say, but even in the battle just now, I…… I could only tremble here.”
  
  Yuri began to speak in a low voice, as if muttering to herself, as if mocking herself.
  
  “To be honest, I don’t understand why I have to be involved in something like this. I was only entrusted by Danna-sama with Ojō-sama’s education and care. I don’t know anything about the military or politics. I was just told to do so, and I did…… ”
  “That’s right. It’s not your fault. But there are people who are in power who use those who work diligently for their own ambitions. We have to do something about it.”
  
  They dragged her in for their own convenience and then came to k*ll her for their own convenience.
  It was unreasonable to expect her to accept that.
  In a sense, she was the only civilian. She was an ordinary person. He had to create an environment where she could take a long vacation before she was crushed by fear.
  Not everyone had a strong spirit like the protagonist.
  
  But then, should he just leave her alone until the battle was over?
  That wasn’t right either. Shougo thought. That would be postponing the problem and neglecting the issue that should be addressed now.
  He had encouraged the boy Yuuki, no matter what the outcome would be. That might have been what made him so positive now, and he must have gained the trust of his subordinates, including Mark.
  He had been doing a lot of unexpected things that they found amusing, but it was all about fighting.
  He hadn’t talked about ordinary, everyday life.
  
  “……Yuri, you haven’t slept, have you?”
  “S-sleep!?”
  
  Yuri suddenly looked like she was about to jump up.
  Shougo wondered what she was doing, but he understood immediately.
  
  “I-I mean, you haven’t rested, have you?”
  “Oh, ah, yes, yes. That’s right, yes. I’m sorry.”
  
  Yuri started to fidget again, fixing her hair that wasn’t even messy, and adjusting her glasses.
  
  “I haven’t been able to…… sleep……”
  “That’s no good. Sleep is important. Sure, you might be scared, but if you lose your physical balance, it puts even more strain on your mind. You should know that much if you’ve worked as a maid, right? Even a nap would be good, you should get some rest…… I’m here for that too.”
  “That’s true, but…… I’m sorry. I’m still scared. I’m afraid that while I’m asleep, this ship will be shot down, and then……”
  
  Yuri stopped mid-sentence, feeling like she was saying something rude again.
  So she hurriedly covered her mouth and looked at Shougo.
  
  “……? Jowain?”
  
  But there was no reply.
  When she looked closely, the man in front of her was asleep, slumped over in his chair.
  
  “T-this person……”
  
  For some reason, Yuri felt a surge of anger.
  He was asleep while she was pouring her heart out!
  What kind of person was he!?
  
  But even as she thought that, she realized that it might have been unavoidable, considering the battles they had been through.
  Yuri didn’t know how demanding the duties of a captain were, or how much fatigue a soldier endured. She only had the image of soldiers as scary and barbaric people.
  That hadn’t changed. It was hard to overturn an image she had once formed. Above all, they had been targeted by those soldiers.
  But at the same time, they had been saved by those soldiers, and now they were drifting along, starting a war with them.
  
  “I don’t understand…… how did this happen?”
  
  Yuri sighed as she looked into the cup with the remaining coffee.
  And then she gulped it down in one go. She was well aware that it was a breach of etiquette, but she didn’t care.
  And as she looked at the captain who had fallen asleep again, she thought.
  
  “He’s not that impressive……”
  
  His mustache didn’t suit him, and his hair was styled to look younger than it was. There was no doubt that he had European features, but they weren’t particularly sharp.
  He certainly wasn’t handsome. One might even say he was unremarkable.
  But…… she could tell that he was trying his best right now.
  She could understand that he cared about them.
  He had shown genuine anger at the attack on them and had said that he would take revenge. And he was doing just that.
  He didn’t look like the kind of man who would do such noble things, but his actions spoke for themselves.
  
  “……No, I mean, what am I doing? Am I taking that girl’s words seriously?”
  
  She remembered Franny’s joke.
  That she was in love with this man. Yuri had been in love once or twice, but she wasn’t sure if this was the same as that.
  Honestly, he was a dull man.
  But still……
  
  “I don’t think there’s any lie in his actions.”
  
  She couldn’t help but feel that most of the words that came out of his mouth were based on impulse.
  But it was also true that he was trying his best to keep them, running around excessively.
  That was truly amazing.
  Then, his appearance seemed favorable.
  
  “But……”
  
  What did it mean that he fell asleep in front of a woman?
  Yuri sighed. And she shook her head.
  What had she expected? Yuri took a blanket from the captain’s cabin’s temporary bed and covered Shougo with it as if to dispel her thoughts.
  And she cleared away the empty cups, washed them briefly, and began to tidy up.
  But when even that was done, there was nothing left to do. The master of the room was still asleep.
  
  “……Even if you tell me to sleep……”
  
  Muttering to herself, Yuri sat down again across from Shougo for no reason.
  
  “……He has a carefree face.”
  
  He was asleep with his mouth open.
  His face was somehow funny.
  As she gazed at his face in a daze, Yuri realized that she was feeling somewhat calm, and then…… she slowly fell asleep.