“Thank you so much for staying. I know classes are suspended, but you didn’t have to…”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry! That’s what friends are for! You have an alibi if I’m with you, and I can argue with that Rommelo guy!”
Said Melt while doing a muscle pose, when they were laying down in her place at night.
Ehn smiled, thankful that Melt was trying to cheer up, but she mumbled with a somewhat sad expression.
“Friend… Delta and Cross were my friends too…”
“…So what they said really did bother you?””
“It’s less what they said, and they themselves. It might seem to you like they said awful things, but I think it’s natural for them to resent me, so…”
“Eh…?”
Melt was surprised. They came to get in her way of getting a fresh start after she cut ties with them, but Ehn was defending them in a roundabout way.
Ehn turned to her with a weak smile, and spoke about them.
“We met in a town far from here, and I’ve known them for a long time. We stole to make a living, and moved somewhere else before people caught on… We kept repeating this all these years. I was the one who stole, Cross supported it with his talent to use magic items, and Delta provided the muscle if it came to that. We were a good team, even if an evil one.”
“How were you as friends?”
“…I think we were good ones. We helped each other when we were in danger, and there were times that I feel might’ve been really bad if the three of us weren’t together. We got through all that together so… I think we did have a bond.”
“But you still left. You knew you couldn’t go on like that, right?”
“Yes… I met the owner of the cafe, and he taught me that even I can change, so I decided to try. Leaving them was in part a way for me to tell myself I was done with stealing, and parting with my past, but… It really isn’t that easy. And..”
“…And?”
“I shouldn’t have said goodbye to them. I should’ve told them to come with me.”
Ehn’s face was painted with regret when she remembered leaving her bad friends.
She was parting with her past, but she still regretted leaving two people she at the very least felt were her friends, and moving on alone.
Ehn really wondered if rather than saying goodbye, they could’ve walked towards a new future together.
Maybe it made sense for Delta and Cross to resent her for that… She thought, and Melt responded.
“I get how you feel. Those were your dear friends. Sorry for talking like I know everything.”
“No, you didn’t do anything wrong. Delta didn’t make a good impression… But our relationship means I don’t want them to be involved in this case.”
“Do you suspect them? So those two really are related to this?”
“Eh? Ah, yes… I shouldn’t say that. That’s pretty heartless considering I was just calling them friends…”
…Melt thought there was something a little off about Ehn’s reaction, and frowned a little at how it felt like she knew they were involved.
But she decided not to ask about it. She did not want to press her, and figured she was being evasive precisely because she did not want to talk about it.
“…Can I ask you something?”
“Hn? What?”
As Melt thought about that, Ehn turned to her with an uneasy expression.
She looked directly at Melt, as if clinging to something.
“Can I change? After all the bad things I’ve done, can I really get back to the right track…?”
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I find ehn more and more suspicious