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Knock, knock, knock!

「Mel?! Answer me!」

Knock, knock, knock, knock!

Potternuggets and Tessa stood by as I relentlessly knocked on the thief girl's door. The lack of response was starting to concern me.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

「Melyn! If you don't open this door in the next five seconds, I'm busting it down!」

And those five seconds came and passed. Not even a peep from her.

Reluctantly, I stepped back and prepared to break the door open. I only hoped Potternuggets would forgive the property damage.

Just then, I remembered something.

I plunged my hand into my pocket and pulled it out.

The lockpick Klon gave me...

Along with a tension wrench and Ysolva's handkerchief, I'd transferred this tiny metal pick from the last pocket to the current. I needed to mind my belongings after all.

And as for my coin pouch and weapons, well, there was no safer place than under my bed.

Unless the boogeyman was in dire need of some change.

「Lorenzo... is that what I think it is?」

The merchant caught sight of the tool in my hand.

「Uh... yeah... you wouldn't mind if I..?」

I mimed unlocking the door.

「Ah! Not at all! It's a better alternative to demolishing the thing after all.」

Potternuggets forced out an obviously tired grin. His patience was that of a Buddhist monk. If I were in his shoes, I'd kick me out in a heartbeat.

Why he didn't though, remained a mystery to me.

Nonetheless, I crouched down and began working my way around the door's lock.

For some odd reason, pin tumbler locks were ridiculously common around these parts. Thus provided you possessed the know-how, breaking into houses was quite easy...

Scarily so...

Click!

And that was my cue.

With the sole obstacle barring me from the thief girl bypassed, I rose and prepared to confront her. All the while, the merchant and his daughter watched with their hearts in their mouths.

I clenched the doorknob and gulped back my nervousness.

Slowly, I opened the door.

Creeeaaak...

The murk within was sliced through by the incoming light. And although it was dimmer than a moonless night, I could make out her shape in the corner.

Melyn—her countenance indiscernible in the gloom, yet her eyes subtly glistening like rubies shrouded in darkness. She gazed off into space, unconcerned with my presence.

I stepped inside and riveted my sights on the curtains. The somber lighting was certainly not helping this suffocating atmosphere.

Thus, I stormed over to the windows and let the evening sun spill in.

The thief girl, quietly sitting with her knees to her chest, didn't flinch one bit.

I turned back to her and went straight to the point.

「What are you doing, Mel?」

No answer.

「You can't hole yourself up in here forever you know...」

She continued to ignore me.

「At least eat something. Or change out of your Sentinel gear. You'll get sick at this rate.」

It was like speaking to a wall. But I wasn't having any of it.

I swiftly flounced over to her, seized her arm, and forcefully pulled her up. Even then... she stubbornly refused to stand. Her legs stayed limp as I held her aloft.

Infuriated by the sad display, I unceremoniously snapped at her.

「Are you trying to kill yourself, Mel?! Is that it?!」

I raised my voice and angrily shook her with every utterance.

「Rysef, Asthos, Klon, Lia, the Sentinels... all of them sacrificed themselves to keep your sorry ass alive! If you're willing to throw that away then—!」

「...alone...」

「What..?」

A murmur exited Melyn's lips. Leaning in to hear her better...

「Just leave me alone...」

I realized I wasn't getting through to her.

「What are you saying..? Do you seriously plan on rotting away here?!」

「It's none of your business...」

「It is my damn business! I promised Rysef I'd look after you!」

「So you're only talking to me because of him?」

Taken aback by her remark, I nearly loosened my grip.

「N-no that's not what I..!」

Had I said any more, I felt like I'd be painting myself into a corner. Pathetically, I bit my lip and stared at the floor, unable to think of a proper response.

「Let go of me...」

She mouthed with a defeated tone. At my wit's end, I decided to say the unthinkably stupid.

「Listen, I know how you feel... and I get that this isn't the first time you've seen your family taken away by the Church... but if you think there's no one left to grieve you, then you've forgotten about me and Lia. We care about you, so please stop hurting yourself like this...」

Suddenly, she violently pulled away and fell back to the ground. With her crimson eyes partially blocked by messy green tresses, she glared at me.

「What's with that... you "know" how I feel..? Don't you mean you just asked Lia about my private life behind my back..?」

「Huh..?」

Her voice was bitter and sardonic; a wry smirk marked her dry lips.

「You were always like that. Time and time again you'd tell lie after lie after lie...」

「No Mel, that's not..!」

「You're practically a walking ball of contradictions. Say one thing, do the opposite... then you'd always justify it with some cockamamie reason...」

「Mel... listen to me..!」

「But in the end...」

Melyn looked at me with contempt, as though she were gazing at trash.

「Your dishonesty ended up killing everyone. Right, Lorenzo?」

My knees nearly gave out. But combating my self-reproach that would've otherwise eaten away at me was an even uglier emotion.

Indignation, fueled by denial and disbelief.

「If you're so sure I killed them... why didn't you stop me..?」

「Why do you think..?」

「I won't know unless you tell me, you jackass!」

Unlike me, she was unaffected by my harsh retorts. I'd let my emotions get the better of me, and as a result, I was the one being pushed to my limit.

I shouldn't have initiated this one-sided squabble in the first place.

「I'm done with this. Get out and don't talk to me ever again.」

The thief girl stood up and shambled towards another corner.

「I didn't say you could go!」

Annoyed by her apathy, I quickly grabbed her by the hand. As I did so though, I instantly felt a twinge in my wrist.

She'd pivoted on her heels and twisted my hand, locking my joint.

「I said get out.」

The pain that shot through my arm was the last straw. Unable to control my temper any longer, I retaliated with a strike of my own.

BAM!

In order to counter her joint lock, I hopped off the ground and swung around to kick her square in the head.

Possessing reflexes faster than a fly though, she let go of my hand and instantly raised her arm to block the incoming blow.

In my rage, I didn't bother holding back. The force from my boot sent her flying to the other side of the room. Upon landing, I readied my fists and prepared for a long fisticuff.

Tessa gasped and turned to her father, prompting him to defuse the situation.

「Lorenzo what are you doing?! We're here to help Miss Melyn not batter her!」

「Don't intervene, Mr. Potternuggets. This is between me and her. It's about time I taught this selfish brat a lesson.」

The thief girl immediately responded with an attack of her own. She charged at me at full tilt and proceeded to knock my block off.

BAM!

The ensuing punch was more devastating than anything she ever hit me with.

So during our training sessions, she's been holding back huh? No matter, I'll show her not to take me lightly.

Just barely managing to block her bash, I responded in kind.

And we sprung around and traded blows like there was no tomorrow. While each of us landed a few good hits on one another, there was no definite winner in this battle of strength.

It was a stalemate, one that only prolonged the anguish inside me.

All Potternuggets and Tessa could do, was stand idly by as we duked it out over nothing.

Yet finally there we stood, opposite to one another, bruised and exhausted. The flames in our spirits had petered out considerably, and what remained were feelings of frustration.

And regret.

「You still... haven't... answered me... Mel...」

Out of breath, I wiped the sweat off my brow and faced Melyn.

「Why... didn't you... stop me..?」

The thief girl, in the same sorry state I was in, disregarded my question entirely and prepared to deliver another blow.

And though faint, my exasperation did endure our petty fight. Thus her refusal to engage in dialogue gave me the last bit of strength to beat some sense into her.

Speeding towards her, I built up my momentum and made ready to strike the thief girl again.

An unusual atmosphere filled the room. Neither of us wanted to brawl, yet we weren't willing to back down. We were simply dragged along by our obstinacy.

That is until our fists made contact with something else.

BAM!

A white floating shield separated the two of us.

This is..!

「That's enough you two!」

Lia had entered the fray.

She'd leaned on the doorway, wrapped in bandages, and standing before a surprised Tessa and Potternuggets. She tried her hardest to keep the chalk shield up.

「Lia!」

And the hostile mood no longer lingered. It evaporated like a puddle on a summer's day.

As the chalk shield fizzled into dust, Melyn averted her eyes and walked back to her corner.

Seeing the thief girl give up so easily, I couldn't help but grind my teeth and shout at her.

「Mel!」

No answer.

「I'm talking to you, Melyn!」

She continued to ignore me.

「It's because you were ignorant right?! That's why you didn't tell me off!」

Then, she stopped dead in her tracks...

「You were aware of what I was doing, but didn't dare speak up! You'd always rely on me, Rysef, or Lia! So God forbid you upbraid us! Maybe take a good look at yourself before lambasting me, huh?!」

She clenched her fists and curled her feet.

「But I won't truly know until you tell me, Mel! So tell me! Speak up! What the hell's going through your mind?! Quit pointing fingers and let me—」

「IT'S BECAUSE I TRUSTED YOU!」

Her scream reverberated around the room. Everyone was stunned, including me.

「I wanted to trust you... And if that makes me ignorant, then maybe you are right... It was my ignorance that led to this...」

Her voice broke as she went on.

「I was wrong to believe in you. But I was too late to realize that. And again I was forced to stand idly by as everything I knew burned to the ground.」

I stayed silent. Nothing I could do nor say could comfort her.

「What's the point of trying anymore? It's all going to disappear in the end.」

「That's not true Mel. You still have us...」

「I still have you now. But what of tomorrow..? I'm cursed, Lorenzo. Everyone around me dies. If you don't stay away, you'll die too. That's just how it is.」

「That's bullshit and you know it!」

It irritated me, how quick she was to resign herself to fate. In reality, the foolhardy and mulish thief girl was a child, lost and unable to think for herself.

「If you're trying to save me to uphold your promise to Rysef, then I implore you to stop. Let me face my sins alone. I foolishly allowed you to poke to hornet's nest. It all falls on me.」

「No, it doesn't. Your story's changing. I'm at fault remember?」

「It doesn't matter anymore. I'm through with living...」

「This isn't like you Melyn!」

「And I'm telling you. You never knew me. You never cared to know me.」

She was right. I didn't know her as well as I thought I did.

「Please... Lorenzo... Just leave me in peace...」

The girl before me was a stranger. Two years together was not nearly enough time to get to know her. My half-witted assumptions only led to a stupid confrontation.

As much as I wanted to save her... I knew it would be a fool's errand to try.

It was impossible trying to help someone you didn't know.

And it was even harder trying to help someone who didn't want help.

Understanding that, I tottered away from the thief girl and past everyone by the door. Gutted by my senselessness, I said not a word to anyone.

Not to Potternuggets. Not to Tessa. And not to my recuperating mentor.

「Lorenzo!」

Lia then called to me.

「Meet me at my room later. I need to talk to you about something.」

I nodded and exited down the hallway.

Far from the thief girl I thought I once knew.

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