"Not bad, quite the spirit~"
The red-haired Director, with the Crocodile God’s head serving as a footrest, cheerfully inquired while facing the terrified Three-Headed Canine Deity in front of her,
"After I die, what do you plan to do? Give me a hard bite too?"
Not just one bite, I’d wish to bite you a thousand times! Ten thousand times!
*Thinking such things in his heart was one thing, but saying them in front of this woman would be asking for trouble.*
The Three-Headed Canine Deity, who had been beaten by the Red-haired Director countless times, knew full well when to follow his inner guidance. Facing the tightening hair around him, he quickly wagged his tail happily, causing the surrounding swamp to bubble noisily.
"I mean, when you really... come, I’ll make sure to greet you at the gate personally!"
When guarding the gate, he had to fight this red-haired woman out of duty, or else abandoning the gate would easily damage his Authority. But now that he had been beaten by her, he considered his duty fulfilled and saw no need for another beating.
Escaping the confines of the Gates of Death, the Three-Headed Canine Deity swiftly transformed from a stubborn watchdog into a submissive, obedient dog. His three dog faces, larger than dining tables, were full of flattery as he said, "Madam Olivia, are you done and planning to return? Need me to open the gate for you?"
"No, I haven’t finished my business."
Turning down the Three-Headed Canine Deity’s offer, the Red-haired Director, with a faint smile, said,
"If you could guard the gate the way you are now, I wouldn’t have to hit you so often."
"Well... My Authority involves dividing life and death, letting you in directly wouldn’t sit well with the Dominators..."
"Mmm, I understand your predicament, so I never hit you too hard... Alright, let’s leave the small talk at that for now."
After gazing at the massive doors that had shut again in the distance, the Red-haired Director composedly inquired,
"You said Leon visited the Realm of the Dead three years ago, is that true?"
Leon? That man with the heavy demonic scent, right!
Recalling slightly, the Three-Headed Canine Deity quickly nodded his massive head as he said,
"I guarantee with my Authority, he definitely came once, and that time, the scent of death was very strong. It’s certainly not the feeling of being briefly captured by the Road of No Return after using an Anomalous Object to escape death. It was the kind of death that’s very thorough, very complete!"
The Red-haired Director frowned at this and continued to question,
"Then how did he return back then?"
Upon hearing the Red-haired Director’s question, the Three-Headed Canine Deity couldn’t help but secretly roll his eyes.
Isn’t he from your Virgin Branch? How your guy came back from the Realm of the Dead, shouldn’t you ask him instead of me?
*Although he had a rant he wanted to voice, the situation was more daunting than a Great Dane, forcing the Three-Headed Canine Deity to stick his tongue out and respond with a smile,* "I’m not really sure about that. I only know for sure he died once three years ago. Didn’t you notice he didn’t have a Crows of Death Report over his head? His should have flown with him into the depths of the Realm of the Dead three years ago."
The Red-haired Director nodded, narrowing her eyes slightly as she asked,
"Angsi, you are the True God with the strongest perception in the Realm of the Dead, I’m asking you, is Leon’s soul closely bound to his body?"
"What I mean is, is the soul in his body actually the original soul of that body?"
The Three-Headed Canine Deity hesitated slightly before speaking unsurely,
"It should be... right?"
"What do you mean by ’it should be’?"
The Red-haired Director frowned and said,
"Give me an accurate answer, either yes or no!"
The Three-Headed Canine Deity tucked his tail between his legs as he cautiously replied,
"I didn’t sniff anything off, really. That death three years ago might have caused some disruptions to his soul, making his past memories very jumbled, but his soul and body should be unified."
*Just some memory chaos? That’s good, that’s good...*
Upon hearing the Three-Headed Canine Deity’s answer, the Red-haired Director couldn’t help but feel a slight relief in her heart.
She originally intended to quietly follow behind to ensure Leon and the other person could safely leave the Realm of the Dead, but after overhearing the conversation between Angsi and Leon, she couldn’t resist coming out to ask a bit.
After all, the Purification Bureau is humanity’s last line of defense. If someone from the Old Soil or somewhere else had really infiltrated, it wouldn’t be a joke. As the Director of the Virgin Branch, regardless of how unwilling she was to doubt Leon, she had to be extra cautious about this.
Now with the Canine God’s response, Leon’s "innocence" was preliminarily proven, allowing her to feel slightly at ease. After all, whether Emma could overcome her inner hurdle ultimately depended on whether Leon could offer assistance.
Reflecting on the scenes she witnessed along the way, especially Emma, who usually didn’t like physical contact with others, peacefully resting on Leon’s back, the Red-haired Director couldn’t help but sigh deeply.
According to the agreement between the Purification Bureau and the Master of Starry Skies, Cleaners are allowed to make up to three blessed wishes on their birthdays. Her first wish today wasn’t actually to drink that bottle of Leon’s wine but to resolve Emma’s issue.
Following her inner guidance, for this wish to come to fruition, it ultimately had to depend on Leon. As long as she refused to let him and Emma leave the Realm of the Dead swiftly, allowing the opportunity for him to understand Emma’s unspoken past, there was a likely chance to solve Emma’s problem...
*Come on, Leon, whether you can prevent Emma from doing something foolish is all on how you proceed from here!*
*I have risked such bad luck on my birthday, three times consecutively, just to gain this chance to resolve the issue, so don’t let me down!*
Oh, speaking of the three misfortunes arising from the three wishes...
Instinctively touching her still slightly burning lips, the Red-haired Director furrowed her brows slightly.
The Master of Starry Skies’ curse on a Cleaner using "wishes" would instantly trigger as soon as the user followed their inner guidance to complete all the tasks required to fulfill the "wish."
According to the sequence of the three wishes being achieved, assisting Leon in obtaining a handy Anomalous Object was the first to be completed, so the misfortune resulting from that wish would appear once Leon acquired the Anomalous Object.
By the timing... would that mean losing her first kiss to Leon? Could that really be considered misfortune?
As for wanting to taste the flavor of that bottle of wine, it was today the second fulfilled wish. The misfortune as a result was very apparent; she had just tasted the flavor of that wine, only to be intensely burned, with her lips still somewhat swollen.
Emma’s matter was the last to be resolved. Logically speaking, her misfortune should have struck around their departure from the Realm of the Dead, but why hadn’t anything unfortunate happened up until now?
What on earth was this last misfortune?