"Are you the astrologer priest, Kleonides?"
"Y-Yes, Divine Envoy."
"Next life, try divining your own future more."
===
"Are you the healer priest, Glycera?"
"What do you want?"
"Revenge."
===
"Ophius, magistrate of law."
"Philoxenus, commander of the guards."
"Nicarite, the grand councilor's chosen successor?"
===
Every time Mortis read out a person's name, it wouldn't be long before that person died.
In the end, after half a day, her little notebook was finally cleared out.
Who would have thought this ordinary notebook would become a Death Note?
After so many years, it was the first time Mortis felt she could live so freely!
Ever since Tribios was born, she had a weakness and was forced to compromise with those in power. Now that all those scheming villains had gotten what they deserved, it truly felt as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
"Is that all? Don't leave any threats behind."
Lucian spoke calmly while wiping the blood that had splattered on the back of his hand.
After killing so many people, his emotions hardly fluctuated.
Once one gained great power, it was hard not to get a little carried away, especially since deep down, he knew this was just a script, like playing a game.
'When you kill NPCs in a game, especially the villain NPCs, you really can't feel any guilt.'
'Or maybe I was never a good person to begin with?'
As Lucian pondered this, Mortis responded to his question.
"Yes, that's all. All these names were the key figures who had grown too powerful. They controlled too much and couldn't be brought under control."
Mortis then lit a match and set her notebook on fire.
"Thank you... Thank you very much..."
Mortis continued softly while watching the flames burn her notebook.
"If I hadn't met you, I would have been dead by now, and Tribios might have been hurt by them too... How could I ever repay you?"
As she spoke, Mortis looked at Lucian, her beautiful eyes gentle and sincere.
"Do you remember what I said I liked the first time we met?"
Instead of answering Mortis's question, Lucian asked one of his own.
Mortis thought for a moment and then answered.
"You like beautiful things... like me...?"
After saying something so embarrassing, Mortis immediately blushed.
"Haha, what I want is simple..." Lucian laughed lightly. "You just have to show your beauty only to me—that's enough as thanks. Can you?"
Faced with such a teasing, intimate question, how could Mortis—a woman who had never been in love or a relationship—possibly resist?
As a result, her lovely face grew even redder, so embarrassed she almost melted.
"Mm... of course..."
Mortis replied in a voice as soft as a mosquito, lowering her head and not daring to meet Lucian's eyes. Even though it didn't directly state their relationship, she still understood the meaning behind the words.
Lucian reached out and tucked Mortis's hair behind her beautiful, elf-like ear.
Mortis did not resist his intimate gesture, but her heart was pounding wildly.
In truth, she herself was surprised.
They had known each other for less than two days, and she was not the type to fall easily, but she really felt like she had been tied to him by a god's red string.
Remembering those warm moments with Tribios, the scenes where he had saved her, stood up for her, the way he smiled—it was all too hard to resist.
"MURDER—!!!"
As Lucian and Mortis were lost in their lovey-dovey moment, someone suddenly shouted, and soon, the lower floor of the Temple of the Three Fates broke out into noise and chaos.
Needless to say, someone had discovered the corpses.
Lucian had, in fact, deliberately left the corpses on display as a warning to everyone—it was meant to intimidate them.
"It's the astrologer priest! Lock down the building!"
"Hey, the magistrate is also dead!"
"L-Lady Nicarite's been killed too!"
Shouts and warnings from the guards and priests echoed all around, causing the people working at the temple to fall into panic.
Before they could react, they were already surrounded by guards who formed layer after layer, sealing off the temple completely.
It was important to know that everyone who died today was a top figure in the political and religious leadership of Janusopolis, so with them gone, Janusopolis's governance was left like a headless chicken.
Mortis suddenly grabbed Lucian's hand.
"Janusopolis will be in chaos for a few days. I need to seize this chance to reclaim my power, so I probably won't be able to come home... Could I ask you to take care of Tribios for me in the meantime?"
"You'll be alright by yourself?"
Lucian asked hesitantly, raising his eyebrows.
"Fufu, you've already helped me so much." Mortis gave a confident smile. "If I can't do something like this, I'd really be useless."
Lucian had to admit, Mortis's beautiful, married-woman face was truly stunning when she smiled.
"Alright." Lucian nodded and smiled back. "I'll take good care of Tribios and wait for you to come home."
Upon hearing his simple phrase, 'wait for you to come home,' it went straight to Mortis's heart.
At this moment, she understood clearly—she really had fallen into this man's trap and probably would never get out.
And so, after they parted, Lucian returned to the Archive of Prophecies, opened the hidden door, and went back to the basement room where Tribios lived.
When he entered, he found the red-haired little girl already awake, writing and drawing at a small desk.
'Now that I'm Tribios's guardian, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do.'
Lucian was stumped for a moment.
It was only natural.
In the first place, the System hadn't told him the conditions to complete the script or given him any mission as a guide, so he had no idea how to complete the script at all.
"Lord Divine Envoy, are you looking for Mama? She's not home."
Tribios's childish voice quickly pulled Lucian out of his thoughts.
Her tiny figure, like a little butterfly, ran up to Lucian and looked up at him with her big, shining eyes.
Seeing this, Lucian nearly had his heart melted by this adorable creature.
Feeling overwhelmed by all this sweetness, he felt like some strange new side of himself was awakening.
Of course, it wasn't anything weird—maybe something like a fatherly side?
More importantly, he had to remember that this little girl would one day split into a thousand!
If a thousand adorable little Tribios surrounded him, he would definitely get diabetes.