"My bad, I misspoke—totally my fault."
Saito Takao was quick to apologize. He knew better than to risk upsetting Myoukou while he was still working to earn her affection. After all, getting a heavy cruiser out of the build was already lucky enough.
Hikaru had been about to congratulate him on his good luck, but with that awkwardness hanging in the air, it didn't feel like the right time. Instead, he motioned toward Glowworm. "Glowworm, say hi."
Glowworm tilted her head, then cheerfully extended her hand toward Myoukou. "I'm the G-class destroyer Glowworm! If it's okay with you, I'd like to be friends!"
During WWII, Royal Navy ships and Japanese ships were bitter enemies. But between shipgirls, there was clearly none of that old hatred. Myoukou shook Glowworm's hand with a polite smile. "Hello. You're… a little different from what I imagined."
Shipgirls were highly perceptive. They could see through the sincerity or deceit of a person's heart, and they had an almost supernatural sense of each other's presence. Myoukou could sense it—despite being a newly born shipgirl and a mere destroyer, Glowworm somehow felt even stronger than she was. That was just… weird.
Myoukou seemed eager to keep chatting, but Glowworm wasn't about to leave the comfort of her commander's warm embrace. Takao thought about bringing up Kamizawa as an inspiring example for a "fellow unlucky commander," but he wisely held his tongue in front of Glowworm. Instead, he shot Hikaru a meaningful look and headed to the front to find a seat.
Not that Hikaru needed comfort. What he was dealing with now was far more immediate: hugging Glowworm—who was still wearing a wool sweater—was like cuddling a space heater. It was midsummer, and even though the air conditioning in the hall was blasting, his shirt was soaked with sweat.
After some coaxing, he managed to get Glowworm—who was still clinging to his clothes—to sit beside him. That gave him a chance to finally test the power he was receiving from her.
Commanders could share strength with their shipgirls. Kamizawa, for example, was supposedly strong enough at level 80 to tank a nuclear blast head-on. So what kind of power would a level 143 commander like Hikaru have?
Leveling up got exponentially harder the higher you went. Just going from 80 to 95 took as much experience as going from 1 to 80 combined.
143 wasn't a top-tier player back then, but Hikaru wasn't some clueless newbie either. He wasn't a no-life grinder, but he'd definitely put in the hours.
If that strength had really transferred into this world, then yeah—he'd be considered a monster.
He closed his eyes and focused on the flow of power.
The energy was pure—fearless, brave, unyielding. It perfectly matched Glowworm's personality.
But there was way too little of it. Nowhere near what he'd expected.
That can't be right. Even if she was his only shipgirl, Glowworm had reached over level 90 under his command. The power share shouldn't be any worse than Kamizawa.
Hikaru opened his eyes and looked at her.
"Glowworm, what level are you right now?"
She'd set her wand aside and was hugging a giant donut. Hearing the question, she blinked in surprise. "Ninety-six. I haven't leveled up at all since Commander disappeared."
Hikaru frowned. "Can you share more of your strength with me?"
Glowworm turned red, as if something had occurred to her. She hesitated for a moment, then gave a small nod. "I can… if you and I form an Eternal Pact."
An Eternal Pact? Hikaru was about to ask what that meant, but someone else cut in.
"Aha! Caught in the act! First thing I hear when I walk in is you trying to marry a destroyer. I already called the MP!"
It was Kamizawa. He'd been delayed outside for a while—nearly three hours.
Hikaru glanced at the bashful Glowworm, then at Kamizawa, and smirked. "You married a destroyer too. If the Military Police are coming, they should start with you."
The MP—Military Police—was the enforcement branch under each regional fleet command, staffed entirely by shipgirls. One of their core duties was punishing commanders who acted inappropriately toward destroyers and submarines—basically, little girls. Usually they'd issue warnings. For serious violations, the punishment started at three years minimum. Death penalty? No way.
Kamizawa plopped down next to Hikaru and wiped his sweat-covered forehead with a dirty hand before grabbing a pig trotter from the plate and chomping down. "Arrest me? Who dares! Sure, I married Glowworm, but you know the ring just means recognition. I never laid a finger on her. MPs can't touch me. And even if I did, so what? Let them come! Oh, and call me senpai, got it? We commanders don't care about stuff like rank."
Takao turned around and grinned. "If Kamizawa-senpai had a choice, I'm sure he wouldn't have married a destroyer."
Kamizawa glared. "Say that again and I'll bash your head in! Don't you dare disrespect destroyers!"
They really did seem close—joking around like this.
Kamizawa pointed a finger at Takao. "That's my nephew, always goofing off. The fact that even a slacker like him can build a shipgirl means the heavens are blind."
Takao waved his hands. "C'mon, don't say that, Kamizawa-senpai. I've got no advantages at all. Hikaru, do me a favor and keep this quiet, okay? I don't want anyone knowing my uncle's a destroyer-marrier. So embarrassing."
Hikaru was a bit confused. What was there to hide? But as the conversation went on, it all started to make sense.
After what happened with Wilhelmina on the front lines, Kamizawa had taken the fall. He'd been pulled from his front-line post and removed from base command. Not that he minded. According to him, this was a chance to settle down. He claimed he'd train Wilhelmina until she evolved into a mature, sultry big-sister type, then build a voluptuous flagship next—and live the dream with girls on both arms.
Big-sister version or not, that was clearly a fantasy. In fact, Kamizawa got kicked several times by Wilhelmina for saying it out loud.
Still, Hikaru hadn't expected the man to be so… eccentric. For someone holding the title of Junior Marshal, Kamizawa was anything but poised and serious. He was in his thirties at least, but acted like a teenager.
That said, the relationship between commanders and the state was always a bit tenuous. Per Fleet Command rules, commanders weren't even allowed to participate in international conflicts. Yes, even with the threat of the Abyssals looming, humanity was still plagued by infighting.
The reason? If shipgirls were forced to fight each other over meaningless internal disputes, they might become disillusioned… and fall into the Abyss.
Because of that, Kamizawa had taken a position at a Commander Academy—a joint operation between national authorities and Fleet Command. With his experience and power, he was more than qualified. It wouldn't be surprising if both Hikaru and Takao ended up calling him "sensei."
"Honestly, this year's batch of students is awful," Kamizawa said as he crunched down another bite. "Nine hundred sixty-seven people built today, and only thirteen successfully summoned shipgirls. The rarest was that toilet-fish, and we didn't even get a single battleship. Total non-luck zone."