He who Protects the Transforming Heroines from The Shadows - Chapter 24 - Relay

“And that’s how it turned out. At the very least, we managed to avoid one of the worst possible outcomes.”
“I see…”

Listening to Soleil’s explanation while sipping from a PET bottle of green tea in the divine realm, Eito muttered that much before letting out a small burp.

“…Hello? Were you even listening to me just now?”

Frowning, Soleil called out to the boy who had been at the center of her earlier discussion with Ralva.

“I was listening. That’s why I said ‘I see.’ Are you an idiot?”

With a sigh, Eito snapped the cap shut on the bottle, peering out from under his overly long bangs with a pitiful look in his eyes.

“Who are you calling an idiot!? I was just locked in an invisible battle of wits with Ralva, you know! Do you think someone like that could be an idiot!? And what’s with that attitude!? Are you mocking me!? Burping—burping in front of a god!? That’s blasphemy! Bow your head before meeeeee!!”

Soleil snapped. She couldn’t allow this insolent, shaggy-banged brat to keep acting this way. As a god—by nature a being who should be revered—Soleil had no tolerance for insults or mockery.

“Now, now, now, calm your jets, Two Holiday”
“That only makes it more irritating, you know!?”

Eito’s bizarre retort earned an angry tsukkomi from Soleil. Realizing this could go on forever, she begrudgingly calmed herself and continued.

“Ahem! Anyway, the point is this: your existence will be reported to the top 10 ranked Lightguide Princesses and Guardians. Well, in the case of the Lightguide Princesses, the 4th and 10th ranks are both Japanese, so in practice, only 8 new people will learn about you.”

The Japanese Lightguides and Guardians were excluded, since rumors about Spriggan had already spread among them.

But Eito couldn’t understand why it was such a big deal if eight more people learned about him.

“And what happens if they find out about me? Sounds like useless info to me.”
“True. As you say, nothing will immediately change. Those eight are all overseas, after all. Unless a Dark Thrall or Darkling shows up in Japan that the local Lightguides can’t handle, there’s no reason for them to come here. However…”

Soleil paused, then explained the risk.

“Once they learn about you, they may decide you’re an enemy. Especially the one ranked third—Teitoku aka ‘the Admiral.’ Knowing her personality, she would almost certainly label you as a threat.”

With a serious face, Soleil laid out the potential risks. One word in particular caught Eito’s attention.

“‘Teitoku? Is that what the third-ranked Lightguide Princess’ name is supposed to be? Sounds ridiculously Japanese…”
“Ah, right—you don’t know about second names. This ‘Admiral’ is her second name. Though, as you say, it also functions as her Lightguide Princess name.”
“…Huh?”

Eito’s jaw dropped. He’d been listening, but none of it made sense.

Seeing his reaction, Soleil gave a wry smile and explained in detail.

“Normally, I’m the one who names the Lightguide Princesses. That’s the rule, but they’re allowed to choose their own names if they want. The same goes for Guardians. Now, here’s the important part: once they rise to the top 10, they’re granted a second name. These second names are given either by me or Ralva. From then on, that second name became their official Lightguide Princess name.”
“…Why do the top 10 have to switch to using their second names?”
“Oh, the reason? It’s because it’s a clear mark of strength. The rankings are determined by purifying power, records against Dark Thralls and Darklings, and combat ability. To honor those who rank in the top 10, the second name becomes a symbol. If they ever fall out of the top 10, they go back to their original Lightguide names.”
“Huh… I see.”

Somewhat convinced, Eito thought of the Guardian he knew: Kounomiya Kouji.

Kouji was ranked 10th among the Guardians. His Guardian name was “Knight.” Which meant, of course, that Kouji’s Guardian name was actually his second name.

(Then… what was his original Guardian name, I wonder…)

He was a little curious, but there was no way he could ask the person himself. If he did, the only response would be, “And how exactly do you know that?” followed by questioning.

Besides, after the cold way he had treated Kouji, he no longer had the right to approach him about anything.

“It’s a little late, but to answer your earlier question about whether a second name counts as Japanese—the answer is no. The meaning is the same, but in her country, the third-ranked Princess’ second name is адмирал.”
“Oh, so she’s Russian then.”

If he remembered right, Admiral in Russian was also pronounced Admiral—ɐdmʲɪˈral. Eito wasn’t especially skilled in foreign languages, but he knew that word simply because it sounded cool.

“My, I didn’t expect you to be so knowledgeable. That’s right, she’s Russian. …Nationality doesn’t matter, of course, but she is very strict. To her, anyone who uses the power of darkness—”
“Is very likely an enemy, huh….”

Eito finished Soleil’s thought aloud.

The power of darkness. That was the power used by the Reizeroll side: the Dark Thralls and Darklings. And also the power he himself used when transforming into Spriggan.

Up until now, because he had been using that darkness power to help the Lightguide Princesses, people had written him off as just some mysterious guy with monstrous strength. But with his indiscriminate attack in yesterday’s battle with Reizeroll, that reputation had surely collapsed.

“…It was bad luck that the god of the Guardians saw that fight yesterday. Even if it wasn’t by my own will, the fact remains that I attacked them. You’re going to tell the Lightguide Princesses about that too, aren’t you?”
“…Yes. If I tried to cover it up, Ralva would become suspicious of me. I can’t withhold that information. —Anyway, my explanation has gone on long enough. Could you finally tell me what exactly happened to you during yesterday’s battle?”

Soleil had told Eito the results of her meeting with Ralva, but in truth the reason she summoned him to the divine realm was to hear this.

“…Yeah. Though honestly, I don’t know what happened myself—”

Eito, now serious, recounted what he could about the final part of the battle.

That his body had been controlled by something or someone.
That, for some reason, he didn’t need to speak words to use his power.
That he’d shown various new applications of the darkness power.

Listening to his account, Soleil put a hand to her chin, thinking it over carefully.

“I see… So you remained conscious and retained your memories, but your body was being controlled by something or someone else. In other words, that attack which completely shattered the barrier was not carried out by your will, correct?”
“Yeah. The weird thing, though, is that the plan to break the barrier was exactly the same. From the start, I’d thought of making Reizeroll drop her guard, then breaking the barrier that way. Of course, doing it like that meant I’d risk hitting the others too—but I had planned to use the darkess power to protect them. That part was different.”

He added that as a clarification while answering her.

“I see… That is strange. Well, everything about this is strange, but still…”

“Strange” wasn’t quite the right word—perhaps “irregular” would be better. Then again, Eito’s very existence was already irregular, but this situation was a different kind of irregularity.

“Like I said, the only thing I can say for certain is that I felt something writhing inside me. I don’t know what it was, but that’s all I can be sure of.”

Something had suddenly begun to stir within him. That was the beginning of everything, as he remembered it. It was a sensation only he could understand, and “writhing” was the only word that felt right.

“…For now, let’s set that aside. There’s too much we don’t know. What matters more is whether something like yesterday will happen again.”

Yes—the real issue was whether Eito’s “rampage” might repeat itself. If it did, the ones he was supposed to protect—Youka and Miya—might also be harmed. If that happened, it would all be meaningless.

“Yeah, I know… But honestly, I don’t. All I can do is be careful when I transform, but that’s about it.”

Eito understood what Soleil was getting at. But the truth was, he simply didn’t know.

“…I thought so. I’m sorry, Eito. It’s just, this is the first time I’ve ever heard of such a thing happening, so I don’t think I can be of much help…”

Hearing Eito’s answer, Soleil let out a sigh as she spoke.

She hated herself for being useless at a crucial moment, but bluffing here wouldn’t help anyone. Soleil honestly admitted that she couldn’t be of much use to him.

“Don’t worry about it. I mean, this isn’t really something you should feel responsible for, right?”
“No, I’m the one who gave you that power. That makes it my responsibility.”

With an expression that made it clear she believed this was only natural, Soleil declared firmly. And Eito realized once more just how serious this goddess really was.

(Maybe this is one of the reasons the Lightguide Princesses respect her so much…)

Eito, who normally wouldn’t think such things, felt a bit embarrassed for having that kind of impression of Soleil. He tried to cover it up with a casual remark.

“Y-yeah, you’re serious all right… Anyway, that’s all I had to say. Oh, and one more thing—”

His lips curled into a faint, defiant smile.

“If I ever get branded as an enemy and have to fight the Lightguide Princesses or Guardians, that actually makes things easier for me. I’ll try not to fight if I can help it, but if I have no choice, I will fight back. That fine with you?”
“…That can’t be helped, I suppose. But please, don’t injure them. With your power, you should be able to avoid that much.”

The chances of such a situation arising were low, but if it did, Eito would have no choice but to defend himself. So Soleil allowed it, with conditions.

“Yeah, I know. Honestly though, I’d rather not deal with anything that much of a hassle in the first place…”

He said it in a cool tone, but that was his true feeling. Being the type who hated hassle, the idea of fighting outside of necessary battles was just plain annoying.

“You’re right about that…”

Soleil sighed again, this time in genuine agreement with him.

“…Either way, I got what you’re trying to say. Do you have anything else to say? If not, I’ve got nothing more either, so I’ll be heading out.”
“No, nothing more from me. I’ll return you to the surface now. …Ah, I did forget one thing. Even after being attacked, Youka and Miya still trusted you.”
“…!”

Hit with that statement out of nowhere, Eito’s eyes widened beneath his bangs.

“…I see. Not that it matters, but they’re still as hopelessly softhearted as ever.”

He muttered the words in a stifled voice.

To him, those two really didn’t matter. The only reason he protected them from the shadows was because the goddess in front of him had forced the job onto him. That was all.

Yes—that was all.

“…I see.”

Soleil smiled softly, as if she understood everything.

Eito’s body began to glow—signaling the start of the teleportation.

“…Oh, one more thing I forgot to say. Thanks for teleporting them out yesterday. If you hadn’t, they would’ve been in real danger.”

Eito honestly expressed his gratitude for yesterday. It was something he had meant to say ever since then.

“Think nothing of it. —Until we meet again, Eito.”

With a smile befitting a goddess, Soleil saw him off.

♦

“Well then, I suppose I have letters to write.”

After seeing Eito off, Soleil prepared a desk, chair, paper, and pen for the task.

This time, since the number of recipients was relatively small—ten in total (the 4th and 10th ranked were Japanese, and thus likely already knew about the existence of Spriggan, but they still had to be informed, as that was the result of her meeting with Ralva)—she chose to communicate by letter.

With smooth strokes, she wrote the same contents in each letter, in the language of the respective recipient.

The existence of Spriggan. Information about his power. Everything Ralva had grasped, written down truthfully and without deceit.

“This should be sufficient…”

Ten sealed letters lay completed before her. All that remained was to deliver them to each of the Lightguide Princesses. Of course, Soleil did not know their personal addresses, as that was considered private information.

Thus, she relied on a convenient method: once she sent them, the letters would be delivered directly to the intended recipient. As a goddess, Soleil possessed at least that level of authority within the divine realm.

“…I only hope that many of them will choose not to brand Eito as an enemy.”

Though it had not been of his own will, the letters also stated that Eito had launched an indiscriminate attack. That alone was more than enough for some to recognize him as an enemy.

And yet, Soleil couldn’t help but pray otherwise.

She did not want that boy to suffer any more than he already had.

Carrying her wish, the ten letters were wrapped in light and delivered to the Lightguide Princesses on Earth.