“No! I wouldn’t… Mug someone!”
“Mug…?”
Yuugo whispered while grimacing, as he heard something serious come out of Ehn’s mouth, who was close to tears.
She desperately pleaded her innocence, but the guards looking at her did not seem to be listening.
“Don’t lie. There have been a lot of passerby being mugged around here recently. And we have eyewitness testimony that states you were there.”
“It would be better for you if you admit it soon. You did it, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t! I didn’t do anything like that!”
“Then can you tell us what you were doing at the time? Or anyone who can vouch for your alibi?”
“Well… If it was late at night, obviously, I was at home sleeping! I live alone, so of course I don’t have anyone who…!”
“See? You really did it didn’t you!?”
The guards pressured Ehn with a considerably stern tone, seemingly completely convinced she was guilty.
Was that because of the witness testimony… Regardless, Melt was her friend, so she could not stay back when they spoke as if certain of her guilt.
“Hold on! Don’t you think it’s weird to talk like you already know Ehn did it!?”
“Ah, Melt!!”
“Hn? Who are you two…?”
Asked one of the guards, who both had quizzical expressions when Melt jumped into this white-hot argument.
She was furious, and flared up at the guards.
“ Ehn is a regular girl that’s hard at work! Don’t you think it’s awful to assume she did it and pressure her like this!?”
“Melt…!”
Ehn’s voice sounded emotional, as she saw Melt complain at the guards to protect her.
But the guards snorted and brushed aside what she said.
“Is that a uniform from the Luminous Academy… You’re not involved, so can you be quiet? Leave this to the adults, the pros.”
Said one of the guards, who seemed to be higher in age and status than the other.
Melt was about to flare up even more, but the owner of the cafe stepped in.
“Rommelo, right? Sorry, but I also don’t think Ehn did it. She helps me get ready to open the cafe early in the morning, and clean it after I close it. Despite what she did before, can you stop assuming she did it?”
The burly owner protested with a glare in his stern face, making the guards shrink back a little.
But still, the middle aged man called Rommelo did not back down.
“Still! She is without a doubt the prime suspect! Should I detain her to do a proper investigation!?”
“That’s also not right! Not to mention that you will continue to corner her until she says she did it, like you’re doing now! We can’t hand her to you so you can force her to confess!”
“The lady is right. I’m looking after Ehn, so I’m not handing her to you.”
Rommelo tried to detain Ehn, but Melt and the owner of the cafe would not let him. Both glared at him, showing no intention of backing down.
Yuugo completely missed the timing to join in, so he was watching from the outside, but he heard a new voice behind him.
“How about you leave it at that, Rommelo? You’re being a little too pushy, don’t you think?”
“Hnn? You…!?”
Yuugo was startled by this voice, and when he turned around, he saw a middle aged man that looked a little slovenly, but had the aura of a good person to him.
He thought he heard this voice before, and Rommelo spoke to this man with an irritated tone after being called out by him.
“Jinba? What are you doing? Are you going to protect this criminal?”
“We don’t know if this girl is a criminal yet. And you can’t detain her without decisive evidence. Don’t you think you should back off for now?”
“Tch…! Let’s go. But I’ll be back with evidence.”
Rommelo’s spirit was dampened by the arrival of the man called Jinba, and he left after saying those parting words to Ehn.
It seemed things were settled for the time being. Yuugo felt relief and took a deep breath, feeling tired despite not doing anything, and Jinba spoke to him.
“I didn’t expect to meet you again like this. Did you get dragged into something weird again, Blaster boy?”
“Hn? Hn…? Ah!!”
It seemed the man knew not only his name, but also that he used Blaster, so Yuugo figured he was not someone who knew Yuugo before the reincarnation.
He tried to remember who he was… And it suddenly hit him.
“You! You’re one of the guards that fought with us when Skull…!”
“I see you remember me. This seems odd, but how does it concern you two?”
Yuugo failed to notice right away because Jinba was not wearing his uniform this time, but he was the captain of the guards that fought the Bull Golems with them.
He realized that Yuugo was confused because he was taking too much information all at once, and laughed before turning to everyone present.
“It seems we have a tricky situation here. How about we talk a bit to sort this out?”
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“Don’t lie. There have been a lot of passerby being mugged around her recently. And we have eyewitness testimony that states you were there.”
Her or here?
Both kinda works tbh.