Chapter 180: Subaru Really Is an Angel! S·M·T!

"Rather than an apology, I'd much rather hear a thank-you..."

The instant Emilia heard those words,

she seemed to see, for just a moment, the Subaru before her overlap with a version of her own past self.

It was as if some careless words she had once spoken had come back around as a bullet, striking her squarely between the eyes now.

A wry smile touched the corners of her mouth.

But right after, she suddenly noticed something strange—

how could Subaru possibly know about a conversation that, for them, hadn't happened yet?!

Subaru hadn't even appeared in that viewing space, had he?

The thought made her heart give two unruly, heavy thuds, and a wild guess surfaced in her mind.

Could it be that Subaru, like the rest of them, also carried... memories of the future?

Emilia looked at Natsuki Subaru, opening her mouth urgently to say something, but he stopped her with a blink.

The gesture seemed to tell her this was a little secret meant only for the two of them.

Her heart lifted at that, filling with quiet delight. And what Subaru said next moved her even more—

"Except, this was something you once told me. So now I want to add something to it!"

"Compared to an apology, getting a thank-you from someone you love makes a person even happier!"

Subaru's eyes burned as he held her gaze, his voice unwavering.

Anyone could tell this look was nothing like the desire-clouded stare he'd given her earlier.

This time, his eyes were full of affection—love so intense it seemed almost solid enough to touch.

Faced with such a bold declaration, Emilia pressed a hand to her mouth in disbelief, eyes wide, tears shimmering at their edges.

It was as if she wanted to burn this moment—Subaru looking like he was glowing—into the very depths of her soul.

But Subaru's assault had only just begun. He suddenly took her hand and held it tight.

From that moment on, his words came like a rapid volley of cannon fire:

"You're afraid I'll stop loving you—that's completely wrong!"

"Your little strategy just now actually worked, you know? The second I saw Emilia-tan's smile, my heart wouldn't stop racing!"

"Even if it was a smile you forced yourself to put on, it doesn't matter—my heart would race just the same!"

"It has nothing to do with the smile itself, nothing to do with what you look like. It's simply because the one wearing that smile is Emilia-tan. Only Emilia-tan!"

Subaru pressed a hand to his own chest, then clenched it into a fist again, his expression growing more fervent, his voice rising higher as he went on.

"And another thing—you're afraid I'll abandon you. That's wrong too!"

"Remember when we first met? I told you, 'I am your knight.'"

"And a knight's foremost duty is to protect her smile, forever!"

Having said all this in one breath, Subaru drew in a long breath, then looked at Emilia with a resolve she'd never seen from him before.

"The person I want to protect for the rest of my life—her name is Emilia!"

With that, he snapped his fingers in front of her, striking a pose as he spoke.

"So then, this girl who looks like an angel—"

"Would you tell me your name?"

Emilia froze at the words... she really had frozen up far too many times since waking that morning.

But this scene in front of her, so achingly familiar, still made her lips press together, tears threatening to spill.

Still, she held them back. She couldn't let herself wear a troubled expression in front of Subaru, not now.

So she quickly wiped the tears from her face and gave Subaru a real smile, one that came straight from the heart.

"My name is Emilia. Just Emilia!"

Emilia lowered her violet-tinged eyes, pressed a hand to her chest, and introduced herself piece by piece—finding herself again in the process.

"I am one of the five Royal Candidates of the Kingdom of Lugnica."

"I am the silver-haired half-elf, followed by the Great Spirit Puck, who governs the Mana of fire—"

"I set out on this journey to save my people, trapped within Elior Forest!"

"My dream is to build a nation where everyone is equal, where everyone can live and work in peace!"

"But to accomplish something so great, I need the support of my knight."

Emilia's words shifted—she was no longer introducing herself, but the knight who had always stood beside her, supporting her, helping her: Natsuki Subaru!

"The very first time we met, I already liked him. He was kind, responsible, and looked so cool searching for my insignia!"

As she spoke, Emilia found herself remembering their true "first" meeting.

Subaru, back then, had been cornered and roughed up by three small-time thugs.

She'd stood at the mouth of the alley, blocking out the light, and sternly ordered the three brutes to stop—saving him.

That was where the two of them began.

Afterward, to repay her, Subaru ran all over with her, chasing down information, and little by little the two of them came to understand each other through it.

When she deliberately gave him the name of the Witch of Envy, he hadn't shown the slightest strange reaction.

That was partly because he was a traveler from another world—but at the time, she'd been so, so happy about it.

Then, after reaching the Slums, they'd run into death.

But Subaru never gave up.

Loop after loop, all for the sake of saving her.

In the loop where he finally succeeded, Subaru had looked at her, full of anticipation, and made a request.

She'd only known him a short while by then—they'd fought side by side, but she still worried this fierce-eyed man in front of her might ask for something outrageous.

Still, a promise was a promise, once made it had to be kept.

So, heart uneasy, she'd stared at Subaru without blinking, waiting to hear how he meant to spend this favor.

But—

"That's right. My wish is—tell me your name!"

Subaru had struck that same cool pose, asking for something so small, in a tone both calm and full of expectation.

Ah... Emilia's gaze, right now, felt like it might melt entirely with tenderness.

Just looking at the Subaru in front of her was enough to leave her hopelessly enchanted.

Her legs pressed together without her meaning them to, rubbing gently, her eyes growing hazy as she looked at him.

Quietly, she repeated to herself a phrase Subaru used to say to her often, one she'd never quite understood.

"E·M·T"

"It stands for 'Emilia Really Is an Angel,'" Subaru had explained back then, though she hadn't thought much of it at the time.

But looking back on it now, she'd never once thought of herself as any kind of angel.

If anything, it was Subaru—adorable Subaru, earnest Subaru—these different sides of him finally came together into a single phrase in her mind:

"Subaru really is an angel."

"S·M·T!"

Emilia whispered it silently to herself.

____

⚡ BONUS CHAPTER GOALS

✍️ 5 REVIEWS = +1 Bonus Chapter

💎 100 POWER STONES = +1 Bonus Chapter

🔥 P@TREON (Walnut-chan): Read +40 chapters ahead and get access to over 60 exclusive stories!

🔥 New history: DanMachi: Inheriting the Legacy of Alternate Versions — posted on The_Mikudayo