I 100% believe that if Ash had gotten a chance to talk to Max one last time, Max would've told him that that "lynx and a rabbit can't be friends" thing is nonsense, because neither Ash nor Eiji were animals; they were people with autonomy (somewhat) and Eiji didn't see him as a lynx, just like Ash never saw Eiji as his "salvation" as Blanca claimed. He never once apologized to Ash, and got to retire (again!) after making a living off killing people and ruining Ash's life