Crown 4

Eichi: That will do for now.

Switch had the highest probability of winning against Valkyrie in the first round. ES is quite proud of its resident magicians.

Usually they use their the technology they’ve developed only to make people happy. Now, however, they have a just cause to lift that fetter on themselves.

One of our precious comrades, Himemiya Tori-kun of fine, has been kidnapped. By the contemptible Ran Nagisa of Eden, the White Team’s commanding unit, no less.

Because of this, Switch is burning with anger. They will fight with all their power to deal a massive blow to the White Team they so despise.

He’s so passionate, I would even say he’s going a bit too far... ♪

Wataru: Natsume-kun is an actor, after all ♪

Eichi: I’m sure he would be happier if you called him your apprentice, don’t you think?

Wataru: I have no recollection of accepting him as my apprentice, not now nor in the past. He decided that he wanted that role all on his own.

However, he cannot and should not become me.

His nature and inclinations differ from my own—I could teach him some trifling skills, some cheap tricks, perhaps.

But that boy’s life is his own, and he is still young. He needn’t waste his life and his talents following the footprints we left behind.

We do not want to put limitations on him, nor do we want to hold him back.

He ought to break free of the Five Oddballs and carve out his own path.

Of course, we will help him wherever he needs it. We will stand behind him as a family would.

But atop the stage he is not one of the Five Oddballs, but rather Sakasaki Natsume of Switch, a unit he created just for himself.

Eichi: ......

Wataru: Ah, I see now. I think I’ve pieced it together: this must be how you feel about your Princess, Eichi.

You don’t want him to be simply an inferior copy of yourself.

Eichi: He has more than enough talent and zeal.

That said, the reason I wouldn’t allow him to see me as I truly am was not just because I didn’t want him to imitate me.

I was ashamed. I wanted to make myself look good in front of him.

And there is something deeper than that, a performance of sorts. I would liken it to the way you delight in the praise of your mask, Wataru.

I wanted to show him what I believed to be the most beautiful, the most noble, the most ideal version of myself: the idol who sparkles brilliantly on the stage.

But for as much time as we spent in each other’s company, both as fine and as friends, that was probably always going to be a pipe dream.

But no matter what came to pass, whether my gilt be peeled off or my faults be exposed—

Hey, Wataru. I wanted to be an idol.

I wanted to be the ideal person he could look up to...

Wataru: I have no doubts the Princess would accept every part of you without question, including the darkness of your true self.

There is no point in blaming yourself for every flaw in your personality or way love life, not now.

And I am in no position to so arrogantly lecture anyone else on the matter.

The world has already moved on. What we must take away from it is to give every effort so as to never repeat our mistakes of the past.

Eichi: I understand that. It’s what I always strive for. It’s something I learned from my childhood friend, who has faced down his failures and mistakes, and who has continued to grow earnestly and honestly, like a fool.

Ah, it’s only now that I’ve come to envy his shamelessness.

Wataru: Fufufu. I’m sure your beloved childhood friend is thinking the same thing about you.

Eichi: That’s the thing about old friends. That which we’ve acquired over the years get absorbed into us as we dye ourselves in each other’s colors.

There’s no meaning whatsoever in someone who only looks the part of a childhood friend.

Wataru: Is that sarcasm directed at me? Because I asked Tomoya-kun for that at SANCTUARY?

Eichi: And at myself. There’s no significance in a mere façade. Appearances alone do not a family or an idol make.

I’ve been poring over this, trying to find what one needs to achieve that.

Wataru: ......