Subaru Natsuki, who returned from the new Three Kingdoms

But at certain moments, Parker would feel a chilling coldness inside him.

It's not indifference.

Instead, it's like a block of ice frozen solid through countless deaths—quiet, hard, and painful to touch.

This inverted similarity made Parker feel familiar, but it also made it uneasy.

Therefore, Parker was very close to him.

They were also very wary.

"Parker?"

Emilia asked softly.

Parker snapped out of his daze, smiled, and wagged his tail.

"It's nothing. I just find Subaru more interesting than I imagined."

Subaru Natsuki emerged from the black mist, his face showing signs of exhaustion from the depletion of his magical energy.

"Mr. Parker, how is it?"

"It works."

Parker stretched out his little paw and tapped his forehead.

"But don't use it recklessly. Your door is still unfamiliar, and overuse will make it very uncomfortable."

Subaru Natsuki nodded earnestly.

"Understood. Military strategy only produces fools, and magic is probably the same. You can't just read books; you have to practice in real combat."

Parker: "..."

Emilia: "..."

As always... This sentence sounds like I understood it, but it also sounds like I didn't understand it at all.

After training, Parker returned to Emilia's side to rest.

Emilia and Subaru Natsuki were the only ones left in the garden.

The wind blew through the flowers, and the sunlight that had been obscured by the dark fog shone down again.

Emilia looked at Subaru Natsuki.

She had a lot of questions she wanted to ask.

She had wanted to ask this ever since the day they met at the stolen goods warehouse.

I was just constantly interrupted by various things.

Now I finally have a chance to be alone.

"Pleiades."

"Ok?"

Did you... really know me before?

Natsuki Subaru paused for a moment.

The smile on his face faded a little.

"know."

Emilia gently pinched the hem of her skirt with her fingers.

"What was our relationship before?"

Natsuki Subaru thought about it for a long time.

It's not because the answer is complicated.

Rather, it's because those things are too far, far away for him.

He died in Lugnica and went through three kingdoms.

He died too many times during the Three Kingdoms period.

Time is shattered by death, and many memories are like old knives buried in the mud.

Still.

But it's so rusted that you can't even tell what it originally looked like.

"You saved me."

Subaru Natsuki said in a low voice.

"A long time ago."

"I don't remember the specific details very well anymore."

"But you saved me."

"Since you saved me, I should repay you."

Emilia's eyes widened slightly.

She had expected Subaru to give a more complicated answer.

For example, what they went through together.

For example, what exactly is hidden in her lost memories?

Komaru simply said that he had saved her, so he should repay her.

It's so simple it's almost clumsy.

His sincerity made her heart clench.

At the same time, another kind of bittersweet feeling slowly welled up.

Subaru clearly remembers her.

They still remember that kindness to this day.

But she couldn't remember anything.

"sorry."

Emilia said in a low voice.

Subaru Natsuki looked up.

"Ok?"

"I don't remember you."

Emilia tightened her grip and her voice became very soft.

"Subaru clearly remembers that I saved you, but I can't even remember when it happened."

She recalled the ice sculptures she saw after she woke up.

Those who should be related to her.

Those people who look so familiar, yet whose names I can't recall.

That feeling stayed with her.

It's like losing a lot of very important things, but not even knowing what they are.

And now, Subaru Natsuki is standing right in front of her.

He is not an ice sculpture.

He could talk, laugh, and call her by strange names.

But she still couldn't remember him.

"Did I lose Subaru once too?"

Emilia's eyes were already slightly red when she asked the question.

Natsuki Subaru was silent for a moment.

He then waved his hand, his tone surprisingly relaxed.

"What's there to apologize for?"

"I can't remember, that's all. It's not like you deliberately stuffed me into the closet and locked me up."

Speaking of this, Natsuki Subaru suddenly remembered the person who would appear beside him whenever he wanted to say "Return by Death".

Is that some kind of magic?

Chapter 34: 034. The Blue-Haired Girl and His Dog

“Subaru…” Emilia paused, taken aback.

Natsuki Subaru turned his attention back to the white-haired girl in front of him and said seriously:

"People are subject to unpredictable fortune and misfortune, and sometimes their minds don't cooperate. Since it wasn't your intention, you shouldn't be held responsible for this."

"If you keep blaming yourself for this kind of thing, aren't you taking the blame for God?"

Emilia blinked.

That's still a strange statement.

But the bitterness that had been weighing on my chest was actually eased a little by his few nonsensical words.

She couldn't help but chuckle softly.

"Subaru is a very special person."

“Even though I don’t remember you, Subaru is the one who comforts me.”

Subaru waved his hand.

"A drop of water in need is repaid with a spring of water. A life-saving favor cannot be ignored."

Emilia looked at him, and the happiness in her heart slowly softened again.

It was precisely because of this that she realized more clearly that Subaru Natsuki was truly different from others.

"Moreover, Subaru looks at me differently."

Her voice was a little softer.

"It's not that kind of difference."

Silver hair.

Half-elf.

She has the appearance of a witch.

She had heard about these things far too many times, and seen them far too many times.

Even though she tried to tell herself not to care, some gazes still felt like tiny thorns piercing her heart.

Subaru is different.

When he looked at her, there was never that frightening strangeness.

Even though he always told her to kill him three times.

Even if he speaks really strangely.

He didn't look at her with those kinds of eyes either.

Subaru is the only one who didn't look at me differently.

Subaru Natsuki frowned.

He suddenly became serious.

Emilia.

"Ok?"

"Remember this."

Natsuki Subaru raised his hand, as if giving a military order on the battlefield.