Commander's Rounds Volume 2

Entry 143: Curious Albion

The commander did his best to straighten his papers by thumping the stack together on the top of his desk. He looked over the top edge at Albion, a carrier who had come to him with a request of her own.

Albion and Centaur were a bit different than the other ships of the Royal Navy. For starters, they both resembled somewhat scantily clad elves, or, as Vanguard put it, "An isekai hero's 4th and 5th girlfriends." That wasn't the part that was relevant now. The more relevant part was the attitude that they had towards practically every single other ship in the base.

Both Centaur and Albion were ships that had been completed later than any other ship that existed in the war, so the two of them had the habit of calling every other ship "elder", even when it seemed nonsensical on the face of it. While it seemed normal enough for them to address ships like Rodney, Houshou, Yorktown, and Littorio in such a way, it made people do a double-take when they started to do the same to the Mutsuskis and even ships that never left the drawing board until Wisdom Cubes were able to bring them into existence.

They never really called any humans elders- Not himself, Albert, or Dr. Anzeel, so at least they were consistent in their strange ways.

At least, that's how it was until today.

The commander placed the papers flat on the desk, folding his hands together as he looked Albion right in the eyes. "So, you're saying that you'd like to follow me around?"

"Yes!" Albion said. And that was that, as though everything else was self-evident.

The commander briefly raised his eyebrows, even though he tried not to betray too much. "I have no problem with you asking, I'm just wondering why. This is the first time that you've asked to do something like this."

"Oh!" Albion's ears twitched, a visible indication that she was thinking. "...You see, I have been very diligent in learning from all of my elders, including my elder sister Centaur, and doing my best to pick up everything I can from everyone." She said. "However, some of my elders said that it would also be good to watch and learn from you, commander."

"I don't know how much I can teach you about being a good ship." He replied, and put his papers to the side. They were all good for the outbox, which meant more time talking to Albion. "After all, there are plenty of carriers who can tell you how to make the best use of your planes, not to mention how to best conduct yourself on and off the field."

"It's not as though you're not experienced yourself." She said. "...Besides, I should seek out guidance from all of those who have had some experience or other." Her long, pointed ears twitched again. "...But I suppose that would make you one of my elders, too?"

The commander raised his hand in preparation to say something, but he acted before his mind had any words to offer the eager but humble carrier. It was quite a thing for him to be called Elder by someone who had been around while television was going through its early teething issues, but at the same time, she had very little lived experience with being a flesh-and-blood creature with free will. How ships interacted with each other now was far different than it was back then, even if one only counted variety. "So, I'm just wondering what you think you'll get out of this?"

Albion bowed again. "Even if you can't think of anything specific you can teach me, I think there may be some insights you can show me without consciously doing so. I have gotten the impression from my other elders that if they found you to be distasteful as a commander, they would not tolerate you as one for very long." Albion stood up straight and put on a smile for him. "...But since that has not come to pass, I believe that they find you satisfying, correct?"

To some degree. The commander felt the sudden urge to put his feet up on his desk, but he didn't want to seem unprofessional even for a moment in front of this curious but enthusiastic fairy. "The other ships have a way of making their displeasure known, yes." And he was sure part of that displeasure would involve him being tied to one of the port cranes while the Kansen waited for their replacement.