Chapter 176 - 161

I didn't expect this... After chatting with Brunei Anchorage's Admiral and Rondo, I discovered something shocking. There might be girls suppressing their feelings for me?! Have I been so focused on Zuihou that I completely ignored everyone else's feelings?

"I... can't believe that. They didn't show any-"

"No. You just didn't realize it. These girls may have been waiting to confess their love. But when you publicly announced your relationship with Zuihou, that's when they started to suppress their feelings. In a way, you destroyed their dream of spending their lives with their beloved." (Brunei Anchorage)

"But the oth-"

"The other bases might be experiencing the same problem. They just don't know it. Either that, or they chose to ignore it. Yokosuka doesn't have that problem, since they is no shortage of choices there. When there is a single male in the workplace, there is bound to be some sort of competition." (Brunei Anchorage)

No. That can't be right. Take Shigure and Yuudachi for example. They always act like little puppies when I'm around. It has been like this for years. I can't think of any sort of action they...

"You have a Shigure in Brunei, right? Does she act like a little puppy in front of you?"

"What are you talking about? Have you been making your Shigure partake in petplay? Whatever, I don't really care for your link. And no. My Shigure doesn't act that way. She acts like a normal girl. The nightmares are a bit of a problem for her." (Brunei Anchorage)

No way...

"What about your Yamakaze? Does she affectionately call you 'papa' whenever you are with her?"

"I don't have- Alright, what have you been doing to your girls?" (Brunei Anchorage)

"The Yamakaze in my office does need constant attention, but she doesn't say that to me." (Rondo)

"Then what about Avrora? Wait, Avrora is from Azur Lane."

Avrora acts weirdly in front of me. Its like she wants to say something. Is that her...

That can't be possible. I need more evidence.

I continued asking and comparing their girls with mine. While there are girls who share similar behaviors, there are a few of them who are different. We have already established that my Shigure and Yamakaze are different. There might be others who exhibit different behaviors.

If this is the case, haven't I become what I hated the most?! I always laughed and hated dense light novel and manga protagonists. Especially the ones that reject the love for another girl for the sake of another, despite their love for him. I just did both of those things. I have become on of those dense and stupid protagonist!

"What is he doing?" (Brunei Anchorage)

"Probably thinking about something really stupid. He must have realized he became what he hated the most. Or he is finally drunk." (Rondo)

"What does he hate most?" (Brunei Anchorage)

"A dense, light nov-" (Rondo)

"Don't say it!"

This is shocking news. I sworn to make my girls happy, but this development is causing the opposite to happen. Maybe if I didn't fall in love with- No. That is a different thing altogether. I can't just reject someone's love for another. Argh! I just did that last week!

"That's why, I created a harem. If it's for the sake of making them happy, I will gladly sacrifice my body and my sleep for them." (Brunei Anchorage)

"Minus the nonsensical part," (Rondo)

"Oi." (Brunei Anchorage)

"he has a point. I know you have your morals but if that's not going to fulfill your goal, you may need to compromise." (Rondo)

"Even so, Zuihou won't be happy about it. I know it."

"That's where you could be wrong. When I first started my little paradi- I mean, harem plan to make everyone happy, Bismarck strongly opposed to it. Back then, I discovered that Prinz Eugen had feelings for me. I was touched by her emotions and wanted to find a way to-"

"What he is basically saying is, talk to your girl. See if both of you agree to compromise. I know polygamy is illegal in Japan, but those laws don't apply to shipgirls. They have their own set of rules. Why do you think HQ allows multiple girls to be married to the same person?" (Rondo)

The IJN wedding ring. Those who achieved a commanding rank will receive a ring. Although the rulebook says it's some sort of 'limitbreaker' for shipgirls, it's mainly used as a typical wedding ring. Although only practiced by two Admirals so far, there is no rule banning the marriage of multiple shipgirls.

A harem... I know I can't make everyone happy, but being the source of unhappiness hurts my soul. I myself believe in 'one true love'. I don't like to cheat, and will feel extremely guilty of I'm on a date with another girl. Zuihou trusts me, and I trust her. Our feelings are mutual. If a rejection causes such an rejection within Zuihou-chan, I don't know how much it would affect the other girls. Crap, I feel bad for rejecting Rei's advances all this time. She might be a pain, but she is my trusted subordinate. Not gonna lie, but I might have a slight interest in her after all.

"For the time being, go home and rest. Try to bring up the topic with Zuihou as soon as possible. I don't think dragging this situation any longer will help any of you. If you agree not to create a harem, then find a way to reject the girls properly and maintain their psych. Most girls are sensitive to this kind of thing. Worst case scenario, they might fall into depression. That stuff will breaks your heart, I will tell you that." (Rondo)

"You seem pretty knowledgeable about all this. You sure you don't have a secret harem of your own." (Brunei Anchorage)

"Not me. My sister. I mean, my sister got rejected by her crush before. It wasn't pretty." (Rondo)

Right. I remember him talking about it. Rondo's younger sister held onto a crush throughout middle school and high school. His sister and the boy in question were always together. When she got the courage to confess, she was met with a rejection. The boy actually loved a senior from his basketball club. She didn't take the whole thing lightly, and eventually fell into depression. First, she would start to cry without warning. Followed by a loss of appetite, before she started locking herself in her room, which led to her skipping school and failing grades. He told me the scariest part was when they discovered her in a near-death state in the bathtub. Her wrist was slit and bleeding out. She tried to commit suicide. Fortunately, she survived. Right now, she seems alright. She goes back to school, albeit in certain days. Smiling, chatting happily with her friends, acting like a normal girl her age. But Rondo still believes that it is all a facade. Whenever he is back home, he can hear sobbing from her room.

I absolutely don't want that to happen to any of them. Oh no. What if Rei has been acting as if nothing's wrong this whole time?

"Anyway, it's time for you to go home. Get some rest, then try discussing with Zuihou. Okay?" (Rondo)

"Got it..."

"What about you?" (Rondo)

"It's been a while since I came here. I will spent a day or two around before flying back." (Brunei Anchorage)

Sorry for calling you. And thank you for the advice."

"Your welcome. If you need more relationship advice, call me anytime. But I ain't flying over for such things again. The ticket is expensive and the flight is less than comfortable." (Brunei Anchorage)

"You could use the private jet. We gave you one specifically for travelling." (Rondo)

"About that, I gonna need another one. The one I had kinda broke." (Brunei Anchorage)

"What did you do?" (Rondo)

"I sort of.. glanced its wing against a tree. And the whole thing sort of fell apart." (Brunei Anchorage)

He smiled anxiously, while Rondo sighed in exasperation,

"A.K.A you crashed it. How did you- Never mind. I can't help you with that. You will need to submit a formal request and investigation doc.u.ments to Logistics. If you are lucky, they might send you a new one." (Rondo)

"Oh come on. Is there any-" (Brunei Anchorage)

While the both of them discuss about getting a new jet, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. A message. I took a glance at the message sent by Rei,

"Zuihou and Zuihou-chan fell unconscious after-" (Rei's message)

I took my belongings, paid the bill for the three of us, and rushed out of the bar.

What happened? Please. Please don't like anything bad happen to them. Please be safe.