The Divine Throne of Shipgirls

Commander Noboru had vanished—something no one had expected.

At first, she assumed it was just the Commanders being difficult with her, or perhaps trying to isolate Hikaru, and had deliberately hidden Commander Noboru away.

But Fleet Admiral Gorou swore on his honor that no such thing had happened.

So then—where exactly had Commander Noboru gone?

A living, breathing man couldn't just disappear into thin air. Especially not when, earlier, people had specifically arranged to carry him to a high-class stateroom to recover from his injuries right after she arrived via helicopter.

Wakayama Shogo returned, looking deeply concerned. "Both Commanders who were assigned to take care of Commander Noboru, are also missing."

They couldn't have left by boat. With so many people on board, someone would've seen it.

Many had personally watched as Commander Noboru was carried on a stretcher into the lower decks.

So where had they gone?

Murong's brows slowly rose as she swept her gaze across Marshal Heizou and Fleet Admiral Gorou. A chill began to settle across her face.

"Should I have not come here at all?" Murong's voice turned icy. "Or is it that someone doesn't want me to see Commander Noboru?"

Fleet Admiral Gorou's beard and hair bristled like an old lion whose tail had been stepped on. He roared furiously.

"Search the ship! I don't believe a few full-grown men can just vanish into thin air!"

Immediately, thousands of crew members sprang into action.

Except for those posted in critical areas, everyone was assembled on the decks in neat formations for a full headcount.

The assigned military constables wore tense expressions as they went from person to person with clipboards, interviewing every Commander who had seen Noboru being transported.

It was exhausting work. Especially since many of the Commanders were already seething with pent-up frustration, with nowhere to vent. If not for Fleet Admiral Gorou's iron orders, the situation would've already descended into chaos.

Another team of constables began a thorough sweep of the Silent Horizon, deck by deck, room by room, not even sparing the corners—feeling with hands and feet to make sure nothing was overlooked.

It wasn't paranoia. After all, many supernatural powers could render people invisible.

There was always the chance Noboru was simply stashed somewhere under a cloak of invisibility. Maybe—just maybe—he was trying to play a joke on everyone.

Fleet Admiral Gorou fumed:

"If that brat dares treat this kind of matter like a joke, I'll rip his damn head off and use it for a football!"

"I'm in too," growled Marshal Heizou. "If he really dares disrespect us like this and tarnish the honor of our command, I'll cut his head off and use it as a piss pot!"

With both Marshals swearing blood oaths, the rank-and-file soldiers became even more vigilant, terrified that one misstep would get them chewed out—or worse—by a furious Marshal.

It didn't help that there were more marshals than Captains aboard the ship. Out of thousands of Commanders, there might only be one or two hundred Captains. That only made the investigation more difficult.

In truth, everyone—even Gorou and Marshal Heizou—hoped that Noboru would suddenly pop out from some obscure nook. Even if he said he'd done it as a prank, they were ready to play along.

After all, he'd just lost his shipgirl—a newlywed, no less. They could chalk it up to grief-induced madness and beg Murong to forgive the incident. She probably would.

After all, Noboru was a hero who'd lost his wife in battle. Who could bring themselves to blame him for lashing out in his pain?

That was also why so many had been hostile toward Hikaru earlier. 

Which made the attention now on Hikaru all the more intense—and complicated.

When Shun approached him with a stiff expression for questioning, Hikaru quipped, "What, do I look like your prime suspect?"

Shun hadn't forgotten his grudge against Hikaru for "stealing Yamato." And after the Battle with Abyssal Barbarossa, where Shun had schemed to push Hikaru's shipgirls into combat, trying to get rid of him quietly—it had only deepened their rivalry.

If Hikaru's shipgirls had failed, or died in battle, Shun would've been satisfied.

But not only had they not perished—they had turned the tide of the war on their own, accomplishing what tens of thousands of other shipgirls couldn't. In one astonishing fight, they'd carved their names into legend.

[End of Chapter]

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