The trip back to the main island which he had now decided to call it was going to take a while, that much he knew. The bus he had previously used and was now currently using felt strange yet it wasn't because it was unpleasant or anything. It just felt unnaturally normal compared to his experiences in the past when he did decide to take a bus, but compared to the other buses this was one didn't need a driver since it was self automated from what Enterprise told him and because of that one piece of information he expected... more. He barely encountered self automated things in his past before becoming stranded so he may have had high expectations.
Besides how normal the ride was, Enterprise along with Vestal told him about the Azur Lane which was formed to combat the Sirens, the beings which had apparently been the cause for Enterprise being stranded in the first place. The Azur Lane was once a coalition between the Iron Blood, the Sakura Empire, the Royal Navy, and the Eagle Union who were the core members of the Azur Lane at the time though there were other factions like the Northern Parliament that was also a part of the Azur Lane. As he continued to listen intently he couldn't help but continuing petting the Meowfficer, Justice. She simply reminded him far too much of a cat with her tendencies and especially appearance.
But just like Justice reminding him of a cat - probably because she was one, or at least had the traits of one - the names of these factions reminded him of the worlds military, or the navy to be more specific, it mostly began clicking in place when the names of famous ships from World War II certain nations were in said factions. From what he scarcely knew, Enterprise was a United States ship and in all honestly he could only see her being a member of the Eagle Union, the others just didn't exactly make sense for a US ship. Additionally from his meager and almost nonexistent knowledge of ships, everyone he had met or at least heard of their names, they all seemed to be ships from around World War II.
Going by that information the Eagle Union was or at least from the United States. The Sakura Empire also belonged to that of Japan or more specifically Imperial Japan and he came upon that answer because he himself lived in Japan so drawing similarities between them wasn't that hard though he only had a name to work with. The easiest to guess was the Royal Navy and he believed that they were aligned with the Unitied Kingdom since their navy was called the the same thing, the Royal Navy. The only two he couldn't draw similarities between would be the Iron Blood and the Northern Parliament, he didn't know if he had met anyone from either faction and even if he did they weren't just going to tell him that sort of information anyway. So, unlike the other three factions where he at least knew their capabilities to an extent, these two were completely unknown to him.
Back on the topic at hand, the Azur Lane was a united front, the war against the Sirens changed from a losing one to winning one though casualties remained high in the human population, she even told him that humanity was believed to have almost nearly gone extinct at one point and the news made his heart churn. Though the newly formed Azur Lane began winning more and more battles, it didn't take long before two of its factions - the Iron Blood and the Sakura Empire - to defect from the Azur Lane and even began fighting against them under a new banner called the Crimson Axis.
Unlike World War II, these nations were all previously official allies and were all fighting against a common enemy though he didn't refute the thought that like Japan, or Imperial Japan in this case, was allied with Germany at the time, also more specifically Nazi Germany during World War II. So did that mean that in a sense, the Iron Blood were the parallels of Germans?
Forgetting that thought for a moment he focused back on their history lesson. The Sakura Empire and Iron Blood may have defected from the Azur Lane but they were the only defectors which meant that the Sakura Empire and Iron Blood were the only members of the Crimson Axis at the time and even when they left the Azur Lane and began fighting against them, the Azur Lane still outnumbered the Crimson Axis both in numbers and firepower causing most of the higher ups to turn a blind eye and push them aside in favor of the Siren threat.
As time passed on, one of the factions outside of the Azur Lane that chose to remain independent was the Iris Orthodoxy, though their independence didn't last for long. It had eventually collapsed and some of it's members from a group called the Templar Knights were split, the Iris Libre which had officially joined the Azur Lane and the Vichya Dominion which had still remained independent though recent reports suggested that the Vichya Dominion was beginning to work with the Iron Blood though the reports were before Enterprise had went 'MIA' as Vestal had told him.
Adding on to the growing list of enemies that fought against the Azur Lane and joining with the Crimson Axis was the Sardegna Empire. Vestal had basically summarized that the Sardegna Empire boasted that a profound history and magnificent feats of art and that they lived up to their history though he assumed it was in the art of war.
With more factions being explained to him he couldn't help but notice the similarities between the factions and nations or more specifically their likely origins. The Templar Knights, unlike all the past factions he had previously guessed, he had a more personal experience with them, their swords to be more exact as he remembered having some Noble Phantasms from that time. This time he knew for a fact, that they were French or at least were from France or the like.
The Sardegna Empire were also rather easy to guess since there was an Italian island bearing the same name in the Mediterranean Sea.
What was once an outnumbered battle against the Azur Lane had became a stalemate since over the time all of the factions related to the Crimson Axis had not only gain more members but also began to gain an unexpected boost in technology and thus firepower just enough to outmatch those of the Azur Lane's, though a majority of the higher ups within the Azur Lane knew or at least suspected that this boost was related to the Sirens though that had yet to be confirmed.
Once the topic about the factions was mostly explained to him, they moved on to the topic of Sirens. Not much was known about the Sirens but one thing humanity learned about them was that peace was never an option to begin with. The Sirens along with their advanced technology easily overpowered humanity as a whole and no matter how many ships that humanity managed to sink, the numbers of Sirens never seemed to dwindle, in fact, they only seemed to grow. Even what was once thought impossible by many scientist was made possible by the Sirens advanced technology because with that technology they even managed to manipulate the environment and weather around them with certain devices though not much is known about these devices.
His short history lesson was ended by the stopping of the bus they were on indicating that they had arrived at their destination. When they had arrived at their intended destination Vestal decided that now was the time to inform her of requested appearance by the higher ups within Azur Lane, with the news of the return of the Grey Ghost, it was inevitable that it would soon reach their ears.
Their trip was rather aimless since they had no destination in mind and Enterprise already finished the problem with her missing rigging, all she had to do now was wait. She just didn't know how long she had to wait but she hoped she didn't have to wait for long.
They eventually stopped walking and ended up in a more commercially focused area with a large fountain in the middle yet not many people were around, "Vestal, are you sure we should leave Shirou behind by himself?" She directed her attention to the man in question, Shirou who was looking around the area in silent awe, holding the meowfficer in his hands as comfortably as he could so he wouldn't wake her up.
"You worry too much Enterprise, I've been assigned to take care of you but that doesn't mean I've been more lax! I've already asked Belfast to come and take care of him during our absence." Vestal responded though Enterprise couldn't help but feel as if they were treating him like a child. She ignored that thought and remembered Belfast, one of the many maids within the Royal Navy and the head maid and as her duties as head maid she oversees the other maids. She supposed that if it was someone like the head maid from the Royal Navy then all would be fine, though calling the head maid herself for a situation like this was unwarranted and above all unneeded, she herself was fine enough.
And she trusted Shirou enough to not give her a headache while she was gone and so far he hasn't done that yet.
She had her misgivings, but she eventually relented. It wasn't like she had any say in this either way since Belfast was already on her way here. Turning around to face him she spoke, "Shirou, I've been called by my higher ups to meet them. HMS Belfast will take care of you while I'm gone, if you need anything don't be afraid to ask her." Once finished with what she was saying Vestal and her nodded as Enterprise soon began to follow after Vestal in a direction that Shirou had no idea where it lead.
As he watched them walk away he now had no idea what to do while he waited for 'HMS Belfast' though he supposed he should just call her Belfast. With nothing to do he decided to simply sit down on a nearby bench and patiently waited, there was no need to cause trouble for this Belfast by just roaming off and causing her to go search for him. He let out a sigh as he continued to pet Justice.
She was incredible small for a human, in fact, she was the shortest person he knew. She even possessed cat ears and a tail! He had simply just assumed that she was living up to the name of 'meowfficer' a bit too much and didn't think much more about the matter.
"Are you Sir Emiya?" It would appear he didn't need to wait long and he looked up to the source of the voice and saw a person that could easily be described as a maid. She was tall slender person with admittedly large assets which was beginning to look like a trend around this base. Her white hair reached her waist and behind her head was a tied French braid and her eyes seemed to be a purplish navy blue. For her maid outfit she wears a blue sleeveless maid dress with frilly shoulders and bottoms, a white crop top, a blue buttoned waist-corset and a white frilled lace-trimmed apron wrapped around her waist with a long anchored themed-garter dangling on each sides, white frilled arm gloves underneath a metal gauntlet, white stockings, black ribboned pumps and a maid headdress on top of her head. It wasn't the strangest thing he saw so far but the metal gauntlets on her arms attracted his attention the most.
Though of all things he expected in a military base like Azur Lane, a maid was by far the least expected thing he would of guessed. Either way he nodded in response to the maid, "I am, and you're Belfast?"
She lifted her apron slightly and did a curtsy, "I am at your service."
"I'll, uh, I'll be in your care." He couldn't help but be embarrassed as he scratched his head, something that may have become a habit. He wasn't exactly sure when the last time he was ever treated like this was, or if he was ever treated like this, ever.
She let out a small and melodious laugh, "Shall we resume your tour then? I presume Enterprise and Vestal have left out much to be explored."
He nodded as he got up from the bench, still trying his best not to wake the sleeping Justice as Belfast watched with an interest at the sight of a meowfficer this far away from the Cattery, "After you."
The clicking of both her and Vestals footsteps echoed throughout the empty hallway as Vestal guided her to the destination. These 'higher ups' would vary each and every time she met them and she had practically lost count of the many many times she had met a new person. The sound of Vestals footsteps suddenly stopped and so did she and she found themselves both standing in front of a door that didn't stand out at all though it fit well within the halls.
Though this door was no different from the many other doors they passed on their way here, Enterprise recognized this specific door simply because of the amount of times she had to come here. She could already hear the sounds of people arguing right behind the door and it didn't take much effort. She opened the door and entered without hesitation while Vestal remained outside.
"Captain, I understand that we must deal with the Siren threat as soon as possible, but for the last time, with no one here to manage the base it'll be far more difficult to do so! And no, we can't just send anyone here." An easily identifiable American accent reverberated throughout the room as he slammed the dusk in front of him but each sound that came from him sounded distorted.
Over the course of the war between the Sirens and the Azur Lane it was without a doubt easy to guess which side was winning, but even if the Sirens were winning humanity wasn't so simple to lie down and accept defeat. They won their fair share of battles and some even decided to take some Siren technology to use it for themselves though they mostly used what meager technology they could scavenged and merged it into their own technology and existing projects and that decision either enhanced it or became a new discovery.
The decision wasn't shared with the public of course due to many reasons ranging from simple backlash or a divided humanity, though the backlash existing within the military was already worrying enough and many may have looked down on such actions but even so, mankind was greedy, it was only a matter of how greedy.
Each person in this room was here, but not physically there besides Enterprise herself, each person a translucent blue as their images shimmered and she could see the objects behind them that were in the room. Humanity may have made leaps and bounds with technology but by integrating Siren technology into human technology those leaps and bounds suddenly began to soar, this was one of the results and it was in its testing stages. Everyone present in the room directed their direction towards her and stared, it was the voice that had just spoken earlier that broke the silence.
"USS Enterprise." The distorted voice belonged to the person she had heard earlier before entering, their uniform signifying the rank of captain. He only curtly addressed momentarily, acknowledging her existence within the room before leveling his glare back at the person he had been shouting at earlier.
A bark of heavily distorted laughter echoed throughout the room causing the glaring women to only glare harder as the man she directed her glare at ignored her, "Ah! The USS Enterprise, it is strange to see you as a human but I have heard of your many feats! Though how would you compare to one of our battleships eh?" The person in question who was being glared at was also a captain who was a part of the Northern Parliament of she knew the uniform they would wear.
"Need I remind you that we serve only as captains in name, Dimitri. If the ships of the Azur Lane wish to work without a leading figure then they are permitted to do so without complaint. They are just as capable without a leader or dare I say more than capable without one then with one." Unlike the other two commanders he was more composed and was trying to be the mediator between the two of them, he was even drinking tea for some reason though his uniform identified him as one of the captains of the Royal Navy and he brought the both of them back at the tropic they were discussing earlier.
"Bah! You're no fun Benjy, especially you Jimbo!" Dimitri only crossed his arms and scoffed as 'Benjy' corrected him with a 'Benjamin' as he completely ignored him and 'Jimbo' gritted his teeth at the words of a fellow captain.
'Jimbo' only grew more irate by the moment, "Of everyone that could have come here it had to be you... and the name is James." He silently wailed as he corrected Dimitri.
Benjamin coughed into his hand and brought forth a new subject, a subject that she was called here for, "USS Enterprise, I understand that you went missing over the course of... a month or so, correct?" Enterprise nodded in response.
"Then is it also correct that you went on a sortie by yourself before you went missing?" She nodded once more.
Benjamin looked at a piece of paper in his hands before looking back up, "And the missing rigging?" This time she didn't immediately nod and only moments later she nodded but more slowly confirming the loss of her rigging. He let out a sigh at the news, "If that is the case th-"
"Bahahahaha! This is- This is too silly that it is beginning to hurt my sides!" Dimitri's loud laughter immediately cut Benjamin off from what he was saying and he was even holding his sides.
"Captain Dimitri, now is not the time I'm afraid."
Dimitri only waved him off, "I know I know, continue on."
Benjamin sighed and looked towards James as he continued in his stead since the fleets of the Eagle Union were mostly out of his jurisdiction, they may have been allies but someone at the rank of captain could only do so much, "As protocol dictates, Enterprise, you are to remain out of combat until your rigging is too be recovered. You know the rest." He monotonously finished what he had said and also hadn't said much, he knew that Enterprise out of all the other ships within the Eagle Union was more militaristic to say the least and because of that she knew the regulations and the thought of her breaking said regulations didn't pass his mind, the times that she did he could practically count on a single hand. "Oh and before you go USS Enterprise, was there a 'Emiya Shirou' who was stranded with you?"
She briefly nodded in response as her thoughts drifted to the man in question, wondering why he had asked her about him and her mind currently ablaze searching for an answer as to why as a man such as him was asking specifically about Shirou but chose not to let anything show on her face.
"Tell him to pack up anything he has, if he even has anything. I'll be coming here personally in a while to pick him up and to see personally how the naval base has been faring." If Enterprise were to be blunt, she didn't like the captain, in fact, her dislike of him was steadily growing. What he said had far too many implications and put her heart in unease. Was he coming here for Shirou because he was Japanese, no, he wouldn't. But how did he find out about him anyways? She hadn't written any sort of report and she doubted that anyone else here would, besides Prince of Wales, but she usually and always sends her reports to the Royal Navy, not the Eagle Union.
She couldn't find an answer, and due to a lack of an answer her thoughts began to drift and wander to find an answer yet nothing viable had come up. She didn't know how he knew about him but she had a feeling that she knew why he wanted to meet him.
The girls or 'ship girls' has most humans seemed to call them belonged to the Navy, one of the branches within the military and unlike humans could perform inhuman feats and were also a large part of why the navy was so strong compared to the other branches. It was because they didn't share the same technology as them and because of that the other branches so they didn't have their own form of 'tank girls', 'plane girls', or even 'gun girls' but even then when they did share the technology it just wasn't compatible so something like a gun couldn't obtain intelligence and a human form, it was like it was specifically made for them with no one else in mind.
As bad as humans may something's be when coming up with a name, they were still a dominant race that were on the planet, but once 'ship girls' became a factor they steadily, yet over time, managed to gain political power due to both powers, the achievements they made in battle, and their unwavering loyalty to humanity. And because of that newfound political power they had a say in a deal of many things and unlike the other Factions the girls within the Iron Blood and Sakura Empire somehow managed to gain even more say in even more important matters but it wasn't until more recently when they gained a say in the entire nations decision was when they betrayed them. It wasn't just the Sakura Empire and Iron Blood that betrayed them they just didn't go rogue, the nations behind them followed after and the relations between nations were heavily strained and war between the nations might happen again.
The news was shocking and unbelievable enough that they even managed to pull out their forces too deep within the Azur Lane confirming the suspicions of many.
So it was possible that seeing a Japanese citizen within Azur Lane territory had already sparked something. It was now just a matter of what they saw him as, a normal citizen dragged along with the nations decision or some spy, a particular bad one.
"You're dismissed, USS Enterprise." James had unintentionally drawn her back to reality and stopped her from thinking about the situation further.
Before leaving though the captain had said something that had caught her attention, "Before leaving, you said that you were coming here in a while, doesn't it take at least a few days to reach the port?"
"You are correct, but I took the liberty upon myself to prepare all the necessities and gathered a small escort, I even cleared my schedule ahead of time. Does that answer your question?" James swiftly and without question answered the question and she nodded in response before finally leaving the room, though making sure not to do so too fast lest she alert them something was strange.
All three captains watched quietly as she left and as they did so no noise was made from any of them. "So, Shirou Emiya," Dimitri tested the way the name sounded all the while drawing their attention, "He's Japanese ain't he?" How'd you know he was here anyway?"
"I have my sources." James cryptically answered them as Benjamin gave him a flat stare.
"Did you use the cameras in the port?" Benjamin rhetorically asked him as James still retained his posture.
"...Yes." He coughed loudly into his hand pretending as if this had never happened, "Back to the topic at hand, with the help of the other captains we managed to gather the best minds and soldiers from the United States, Britain, and even Russia-"
"How come I do not know of this?" Dimitri was quick to interrupt at the newfound information, especially so since other captains were involved and Benjamin himself looked rather proud.
"Because you're a drunkard, now let me finish." He coughed once more as he retaliated at Dimitri, "As I was saying, with these great minds and soldiers that the captains were quick to find, produce, and recommend, it was decided by the people at the top unanimously that the program is to be held at the United States and with the building finished, it is up to us the best of the best within the ranking of captain to disappoint the top brass and make sure the transitions move smoothly.
In response Dimitri brought up Russia's current plight and Russia's most concerning issue, "James, you know as well as everyone else that Russia is being screwed by the Sirens, they practically surrounded us so if you have a plan on transporting my people you should tell me now."
"I know captain, and you aren't the only one frustrated with the situation. You remember when I said I was coming here personally through that thick skull of yours? Well, as awful as it may sound it isn't the only reason I'm coming here, I plan on sending a naval task to escort your people back here safely since the top brass wants to finish this project as soo as possible, so we don't have much time for any other choices.
"You mean to tell me that your going to lead ships straight into the enemy and get possible everyone killed including yourself?" He questioned him but still retained his rather lax disposition, if anything he sounded like he wasn't believing a single word.
"I'm afraid not, Captain." Benjamin spoke up for James who was already growing tired at the sound of Dimitri's voice, "James himself will not be leading the operation, he will only be visiting this port and shall be coming straight back as soon as possible, we are busy people after all."
Benjamin managed to continue, Dimitri choosing to remain silent and not interrupt like he usually would, "Dimitri, you know as much as I do that this matter cannot be delayed any longer, time is of the essence and I'm afraid we are running out, we need someone here, someone to lead these girls. As shameful as it is, we are not ideal candidates.
Dimitri only smirked at him, throwing taunting remarks his way, "But weren't you singing praises about the ships earlier about not needing a leader? Or do you need someone to control from behind the scenes eh?
Benjamin ignored his mocking words entirely and silently muttered a "As blunt as always" before turning and flickering away.
Dimitri only watched on quietly and his smirk turned into a frown as he stared at the empty space that Benjamin's hologram once occupied. He let out a sigh and rubbed his nose, he was getting too old for this. He even wondered why someone at the rank of captain were attending these meetings. Was this meeting even important? It was after all, one of the few times the members of the Azur Lane could contact each other without worrying about Sirens and the possibility of them intercepting their calls.
"What are you looking at? Run off now." Dimitri told James before he softly followed after, his hologram also disappearing. James said nothing and let out a sigh of his own before being the last to leave.
As Enterprise exited the room she came to see that Vestal remained in the same area choosing to wait for her and Vestal, upon seeing her exit and the cold expression she held on her face, her curiosity got the best of her, "Did anything happen in there?"
Enterprise stiffly shook her head, "Nothing important, they likely called me here for formalities and nothing else. But... Shirou is going to leave the base when captain James visits."
"Do, do you know when he will?" Vestal herself seemed shocked at the news and she even if they didn't know each other for too long it didn't stop her from sympathizing with his current situation.
"...Soon."
Enterprises answer shocked her, to arrive to the port within such a small time period was impossible, unless... he was already on his way before telling her, Shirou Emiya just so happened to be involved. She left the matter there and continued to follow Enterprise back outside the building, both of them remaining silent throughout the whole way. A vibration quickly halted her movement and she pulled out a phone, most if not all of the girls had a phone in the base and all of them used an app called Juustagram and everyone posted about something. The cause of her phone vibrating was one particular picture taken inside of the Royal Navy's building by one UnicornI72 with the captions "Big brother makes amazing food...!"
"E-Enterprise...? " Vestal quietly called for her staring at her phone in minor shock at the image. She held a questioning gaze as she turned to face her, "I think you should look at this." She slowly told her as she showed what was currently on the screen to her.
Enterprise herself was both baffled and confused at the sight that greeted her and she already had to deal with enough as is. It was an image that was taken by Unicorn, a light carrier who was a part of the Royal Navy and she was in what looked liked a tea party with Shirou and Belfast serving the food though Justice was on Shirou's shoulder desperately reaching for food, though what was most surprising was that Queen Elizabeth there indulging herself as she ate happily alongside Warspite who seemed to be doing the same but their normal regal disposition and posture that they always held was broken as they gorged on the food presented to them.
From something serious to something straight out of a gag, Enterprise sometimes wondered if this was all some convenient TV show, because if it was then she disliked everything that was now happening.
Belfast dutifully led the young man called Shirou Emiya around the base and she learned of why she was even doing so in the first place earlier before she even met the young man. She had received a message on her... Juustagram account from Vestal, though it took her a while to even look at said message because she just simply wasn't used to device but she had to admit, it was beginning to grow on her. It especially had it's uses besides just sharing pictures, it allowed for direct conversation and messaging unlike the usually telephone, it was even specifically made for them so it would be rude of her to deny the gift.
When she finally viewed its contents, it was a rather brief text telling Belfast that Enterprise had finally returned with a... something called a happy emoji? And that she should come meet them so she could look after the person who had helped Enterprise while she was missing. She couldn't possibly refuse the request and now here she was, walking around the base with Emiya and receiving curious stares which was to be expected, he was a new face after all and new faces were a rare occurrence here, especially so if they were human.
They didn't remain silent as they walked around the port though. They would often talk about things that remained on topic of their tour such as the buildings they had passed and if they were to go off topic Belfast did her upmost best to provide a smooth transition that wouldn't derail everything and thus causing an inconvenient atmosphere, it was just one of her many fortes as the head maid.
One of the conversations she successfully guided eventually led to the topic about the both of them. Prior to meeting Shirou she didn't know much about him and the only thing that she knew about Shirou Emiya was that he had helped Enterprise while she went missing in action, how exactly? That she did not know.
But after talking about themselves she learned that they were stranded on an island and he had found her in the water unconscious. He would later take her in and allow her to stay in his camp he had set up over the course of an unknown amount of days, he had no way to keep track of time besides checking the sun and moon. Overall he dismissed the event as nothing important or anything to worry about which she begged to differ, but she had inadvertently learned more about him as a person.
He was selfless, more selfless than any human she had ever seen in her life and that itself was already surprising. She had also learned that he wasn't one for the limelight, shying away from it whenever possible and would always divert that limelight to someone else or down play the entire situation, and when he couldn't he would often become embarrassed though she didn't have much evidence supporting this. Besides the fact that he had mentioned that the meowfficer that was with them, Justice, had already been calling him 'commander' something that he had relented on dealing with, something that had peaked Belfast's interest but choosing not to comment.
The most surprising thing for her though was his adaptability or survivability, either one could be used to describe the person in front of her. He was stranded for a long time, a couple months or weeks, he had eventually stopped caring about the date and how many days had passed. If that were true, he had already and rather quickly built a camp with it's own cabin within a short timeframe and was stocked on food that would last him a couple weeks before he had to go back out and gather more food. It wasn't much, but she managed to have a firm grasp of his character and he was already proving to be different from the rest and more interesting.
Belfast wasn't the only one to learn about the other though, Shirou himself had learned more about the maid that acted as his guide. She confirmed that she was in fact a maid, the head maid more specifically and she had the duty of doing quite literally everything while guiding the other maids something that he would already be having problems with in the first few days, he wasn't exactly good at leading others. He also heard from her that as the head maid she was hardly rivaled at anything and wasn't even that old compared to other maids though he had no idea how old she was specifically. Unlike Belfast who was keen and observative, Shirou could be consider the opposite. He wasn't as good at judging ones character and he would even sometimes take things at face value, meaning he believed her completely and hadn't doubted her for one second.
They had continued their walk as many of the girls that they had passed by were interested at the new face, but they had chosen not to go meet him and instead decided to presume doing what they were doing previously and with no interruptions whatsoever Belfast had practically gave him the tour at an astounding speed all the while explaining things to him. They had eventually stopped and had reached the Royal Navy's main building which Belfast know at the back of her hand. Something that her and the other maids also took pride in because it was them that took care of everything within the building and the people.
To Shirou's eyes the building looked grander than everything here, it simply stood out too much yet at the same time somehow managed to fit in and the only thing he could compare the mansion to was the Einzbern's mansion. Calling it anything less would practically be undermining it since it was large, at least compared to everything he's seen here and like the Einzbern's mansion, there weren't too many building around the location.
Belfast herself didn't miss the way his attention was drawn to the building, how could she not? His stare was rather obvious to see and she was checking if he himself found the place 'nice' to put it in simpler terms, "Are you curious?"
Broken out of his stupor he stumbled on his words as he tried to formulate a response and settled on a simple response, "Yes, I am." He told her honestly as she watched in amusement as he in turn let out a sigh, how many more times was this going to happen? It wasn't his fault that it's been who knows how long since he finally found a semblance of civilization.
Though the building certainly looked grand it wasn't exactly off limits to everyone, it was more... restricted per say. "Then would you like to see the inside?"
He was quick to refuse the offer as he even waved his arms in front of him to further emphasize the point, "I can't, I don't want to intrude."
With his movement and how Justice was now practically wrapped around his shoulders, he had unfortunately woken up the sleeping meowfficer and she woke up with a yawn and opening her eyes to the building in front of him and unlike him she knew what this building exactly was, "C-Commander! Are you taking Justice inside!?"
She jumped off his shoulder in excitement and ran up to the building bubbling in joy, "Justice has never been here before! Nyahahaha, Justice knew commander was the best!"
"Then it'll be my pleasure as the head maid to guide you." She simply ignored what he had said and opened the doors leading to the inside of the building and walked in dragging him with her to his dismay as she watched in amusement as the meowfficer ran around the building yet being mindful enough to break anything or dirty anything, at least not too dirty.
When he was now fully inside there was practically no going back now, it would be rude to just leave now so he reluctantly and obediently followed after Belfast. And when he was inside the building it practically could put everything he just saw outside to shame. Everything here was simply luxurious or rather, meant for royalty from its sheer looks alone.
"There are dorms nearby here, but Queen Elizabeth wouldn't settle for anything less than this." So maybe it was still a sort of military base after all, no one had exactly and explicitly told him it was one so he had to go off on clues like the names of the girls and even then he didn't know much about ships in general but the name Enterprise was a big clue, that and he was brought here on a battleship, one you would almost always see in the navy and it didn't look like it was going to leave anytime soon, but there was a chance he was wrong. And had she said Queen Elizabeth?
"Is something wrong?" Belfast asked him diligently as she looked at him, noticing his silence as she told him about the many things about the building he was currently in yet nothing too important.
He shook his head realizing how rude it was of him to just ignore her even though it may have been unintentional and thought that he had heard her wrong. His ears must of been playing tricks on him since it wasn't long ago when the only thing he heard was the sound of the beaches, it just wasn't simply possible that Queen Elizabeth would be here, it just didn't make sense, "Nothings wrong, I'm just... getting used to everything."
She understood what he had meant, it wasn't everyday that someone would get stranded with the Enterprise and then suddenly gets a tour of a port belonging to the Azur Lane as a civilian after all, it was basically unheard of, in fact this would be the first time it ever happened, "I understand, but I need to tend to my duties as head maid soon so this tour will have to end, it has been a pleasure, Emiya Shirou, allow me to escort you out." She was already walking back to the front entrance where they had initially entered and he would've followed after her, that is, if he wasn't the person who he was.
He was Emiya Shirou, a boy who had lost everything he had at a young age and because of his father he was given a new identity, a new purpose. And one of those purposes was to help people and it wasn't because he had something to gain out of the situation, it was a simple answer. It wasn't wrong to help people, and it could also be said that he enjoyed doing so which was a bonus, though he met his fair share of... critiques.
So if there was any chance to help someone he latched onto that chance though he didn't do so as blindly when he began making his first steps, "Belfast, do you need any help?"
She turned around and stared at him with a curious expression, "...Pardon me?"
He didn't know if he had said something wrong, or if he was being too quiet so he repeated himself again but this time more louder and more straightforward, "I want to help you."
"Huh? oh um, very well, follow after me then." His bluntness had managed to throw her off, which wasn't his attention whatsoever. For Belfast, the reason she had been thrown off was of his offer, he simply offered her his help, something that most people, at least humans, wouldn't do because they were fully aware at how capable she was at almost everything. The only help she did receive from them was more of a necessity like maintenance for her canons.
After hearing her affirmation he followed after her and found himself within a different part of the mansion, something he knew within a single glance. It was a kitchen, a kitchen that any chef would give up anything, and he meant anything, to just be in this very kitchen and be able to use it. He didn't see himself as a fully fledged chef since he was completely self taught, but it didn't stop the slow and bubbling amount of anticipation that began to swell up in his chess.
"If it would be rude of me to ask, would you assist me with preparing for today's tea party?"
A tea party, something Shirou didn't have much experience with but it just proved to be another obstacle that he couldn't allow for any failures or slip ups, "I already told you I wanted to help, I can't go back on my word now."
"Enterprise, slow down, please?" Vestal ran as quickly as she could to catch up to her. She knew that or at least had an idea that Enterprise may have formed a friendship with Shirou Emiya, which was strange, but to be this worried about him? What had they gone through?
"We don't have much time left, I need to do something to help him, it's the least i could do for him." She remained adamant as she continued to speedily head off to the direction that she knew he would be in. The mansion that belonged to the Royal Navy, and Queen Elizabeth.
"But... but why are you putting so much effort into this?" Vestal asked tiredly and raggedly, desperately trying to keep up, it wasn't often that she was deployed since she would mostly stay at the port and conduct repairs and such.
Enterprise quickly answered, "I..." or at least she tried to, "I... don't know." Saying it would be to return his kindness would be easy and reasonable since it was true, but it wasn't the reason she was looking for. She knew that compared to her other sisters that she wasn't the most sociable, she knew that she didn't interact much with other people, and she knew that ever since the Iron Blood and Sakura Empire's betrayal she was only fixated on that to the point her sisters began openly expressing their concerns.
Maybe... maybe she wanted to help him because she was selfish. Shirou had helped her for no reason besides her needing help and because of his selflessness she managed to gain at least some closure with the betrayal and she managed to even form a sort of bond with him, something her sisters would often tell her to do. She had no answer and she wasn't planning on giving an answer anytime soon, that could wait till this matter was resolved and then It could wait some more.
Without missing a single pause in step every since she stepped out of the building that held the meeting, she was already approaching the mansion and it grew larger and larger as she approached it. She was unfamiliar with the layout of the building so she went with the faster option that didn't involve her getting lost in the process. Running around the building, jumping over a fence and into the dense green of nature, and continuing her pace until she came upon the exact place she was looking for.
A tea party with Shirou serving Queen Elizabeth and even Warspite snacks. "Enterprise? What, what are you doing here?" He quickly conveyed his confusion at seeing her here coming out of the trees with messy hair and clothes, leaves scattered about her body and a faintly exhausted face.
Next Update: Not your Ordinary Doctor
Finished On: 05/08/21
Felt like I broke the lore a lot, but considering the lore within Azur Lane this can be considered 'accurate', but without Shirou... maybe. Well, as master Yoda said, "Do, or do not. There is no try." Though what I do need to do is change that update schedule of mine, it's starting to look one update every month plus a couple extra days. Also feel rather rusty, a bit too rusty.