"Thank you so much for going out of your way to stay at my place. Even with school on break, I can't believe you’d go this far for me..."
"Don't worry about it, don't worry! We're friends, so it’s only natural! Besides, as long as I'm with you, I can serve as your alibi. We can give that old guy Rommelo a real piece of our minds if he tries anything!"
Lying side-by-side in En's house that night, Melt struck a firm Muscle Pose as she spoke.
En gave Melt a grateful smile for the encouragement, but her expression soon clouded with a hint of loneliness as she murmured softly.
"Friends, huh... Sanga and Batz were my friends, too..."
"...Are you still bothered by what those two said?"
"It’s not so much what they said as it is about them. To you, it probably looked like they were just being cruel, but I can’t help but think it’s only natural for Sanga and Batz to resent me..."
"Eh...?"
Melt’s eyes widened in surprise. En was indirectly defending the very people who had come to sabotage her attempt at a fresh start and a clean break from her past.
En gave her friend a weak, weary smile and began to explain.
"I’ve known them for a long time. We met in a town far from here and spent years together, stealing to survive and drifting to new lands before we could get caught... that was our life. I was the one who did the actual dirty work, while Batz used his talent for Magic Items to back me up. If things turned ugly, Sanga was our muscle. We were criminals, but we were a good team."
"...How were they as friends?"
"...I think they were good friends. We watched each other’s backs when things got dangerous. There were times I don’t think I would have made it if not for the three of us being together. Having survived all that... I think there was a real bond there. True friendship."
"Even so, you cut ties with them. It’s because you felt you couldn't keep going down that road, right?"
"Yeah... Meeting the Master showed me that even someone like me could change, so I decided to try and start over. I cut ties with them as a way to prove to myself that my thieving days were over—a way to break from my past... but it isn't that easy. And—"
"...And?"
"—I keep thinking that instead of saying goodbye, maybe I should have asked them to come with me."
En murmured the words, regret etched on her face as she looked back on that parting.
Even if it was for the sake of her future, she couldn't help but feel guilty for leaving behind the only companions she had ever known to choose a different path for herself alone.
If she hadn't said goodbye then... could the three of them have found a way to start over together?
Melt spoke up as En sat there, drowning in the thought that she deserved their resentment for moving on without them.
"I get why you feel that way, En. It just shows how much they meant to you. I'm sorry for badmouthing them when I didn't know the full story."
"No, you’re not to blame, Melt. Sanga didn't exactly make a good impression... But precisely because of the history we share, I really don't want those two to be involved in this robbery."
"Are you suspicious of them? Do you really think those two are behind this?"
"Eh? Oh, right... I probably shouldn't say things like that. Ahaha, I was just calling them my friends, and here I am being so heartless..."
Something about En’s reaction felt off to Melt.
She furrowed her brow slightly. En didn't just seem worried about a potential grudge; she had the air of someone who had actual confirmation that they were involved.
She chose not to press her, though. Melt didn't want to back her into a corner, especially not now. Guessing that En was being evasive because the truth was too painful to speak aloud, Melt decided to let the matter go for the time being.
"...Hey, Melt. Can I ask you something?"
"Hmm? What is it?"
As Melt was mulling things over, En spoke up, her voice trembling with anxiety.
Sensing a desperate, pleading quality in her tone, Melt watched as En looked her straight in the eye.
"Do you think I can really start over? Can someone like me—someone who's spent her whole life neck-deep in crime—actually walk an honest path...?"