Meliodas was clad in a thin layer of armor in this memory, his early style before he switched to a lighter, more casual, battle appearance.
"Hah! I totally didn't forget about that look. I thought he looked so great in it!"
Ban may have been cursed to lie, but the sarcasm in the second sentence was practically palpable to them all, and they could tell he would've said the same thing even without his core.
Meliodas walked around with his same cheery disposition as always as he began asking some townspeople about someone on his sheet of paper. None of the three watching could see, although Ban had a wicked grin on his face.
They watched as Meliodas went around for hours asking each person with the same sweet and polite nature as the last, never even looking tired or frustrated regardless of how he got maybe three people to actually give him a good answer.
"Okay! So no one knew where this man was, and four people described him to me. That's not a lot.. but it should be enough for a more accurate sketch! And if I have good sketch I can try again tomorrow. I mean, they said silver hair so I can add that detail, and also red eyes, not yellow like I had put. Okay! This is progress, I'm getting somewhere!"
He was so exuberant for someone with next to no leads regardless of his hours of work, and it was still to this day mind-blowing for the trio that he could always have that kind of energy.
"Wait a minute.... red eyes and silver hair? Don't tell me.."
Ban's grin widened as Elaine put together the pieces and Elizabeth caught on nearly immediately after.
"He was looking for you!?"
The girls shouted it in sync as he busted out laughing.
"Hahahahaha! Nope!"
"But they sent him to find a thief for his first mission!"
Elizabeth exclaimed the words in absolute disbelief as his cheshire grin just got bigger and bigger.
"Nope! My name totally doesn't stand for Bandit either! I mean, you two are the ones that weren't curious on how we met. (Yep! My name stands for Bandit too! I mean, you two were the ones curious on how we met.)
"But you were awarded a core! The first human to be given one! How could you possibly start out as a thief!?"
His eyes twinkled mischievously as he answered.
"You're probably not at all about to see. Also I may not have been a thief, but doesn't mean it was for a good cause! Don't remember that when hearing why I totally wasn't given a core!" (You're probably about to see. Also I may have been a thief, but doesn't mean it was for a bad cause! Remember that when hearing why I was given a core!)
The two girls pouted at their lack of answers but looked nonetheless back to the memories being played, hoping to figure out the rest of this shocking puzzle.
The blond had finished his new sketch by the time the conversation was over and although some things were off, it was definitely, undeniably, Ban.
"Alright! Time to pack up. I don't want to bother the townspeople so close to dinner and they've already answered my questions for today the best they can. I'll come back tomorrow when they aren't busy with my better sketch."
Smiling warmly at younger Meliodas's polite manor, everyone watched intently as the sketch he had in his hand was taken swiftly. Fast enough that Meliodas couldn't react, and no one could see who it was.
