"Sit still and don't move."
Inside the bathroom, warm steam drifted through the air as Lucian's hands moved steadily over Cifera's body, rubbing and scrubbing away the dirt that had accumulated over who knew how long.
Earlier, when he had heard the loud clattering noise coming from the bathroom, he had thought the Flame Reaver had somehow broken in.
However, the moment he arrived, what greeted him was the sight of the foolish little cat having turned the entire bathroom into a complete mess.
Buckets had been knocked over, water was splashed everywhere, and various bathing supplies were scattered all across the floor.
In the end, he still had to handle everything himself.
Cifera now sat quietly in the bathtub, not daring to make a sound, nor daring to resist.
After being caught making such a mess, she had originally thought Lucian would get angry, beat her, and then drive her away, but not even in her wildest dreams had she imagined that he would instead carry her into the bathtub and personally scrub her clean without saying a single word of scolding.
Faced with such unexpected gentleness, she naturally did not dare to ask for anything more. Even when the scrubbing stung a little, she simply gritted her teeth, endured it in silence, and never uttered a single complaint.
Now, she suddenly found herself missing the time when she had been knocked unconscious, because when she woke up, she had already been cleaned without having to endure any of the pain.
Soon, after all the dirt on her body had finally been scrubbed away, Lucian's movements naturally became much gentler, making the rest of the process very comfortable, almost enjoyable.
As time passed, the warm water, the rising steam, and the steady rhythm of his hands gradually relaxed her tightly wound nerves without her even noticing.
With droplets of water still clinging to her long eyelashes, Cifera unconsciously closed her eyes, almost falling asleep in the warm bath, but when the base of her tail was gently scrubbed, she suddenly jolted awake and visibly trembled, her cat ears twitching instinctively along with her body.
Even so, she did not struggle, though her small face had now grown a little redder than before.
Lucian's movements, on the other hand, remained completely natural from beginning to end, and anyone watching could easily tell that he was simply bathing a child, without the slightest trace of improper thoughts.
It was only natural, for the girl before him was, after all, only eight years old.
He could not bring himself to think otherwise.
"Lucian, I'll just eat one less meal every day, save up some money, throw it together with whatever I steal, and then use it to gamble..."
Cifera lowered her head and spoke softly, a firm expression adorning her little face.
"Once I win 50,000 Balance Coins, I'll be able to pay you back."
Hearing that, Lucian looked at Cifera's earnest expression, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
If someone called her a good cat, her mind was filled with stealing and gambling.
If someone called her a bad cat, she still knew how to repay kindness and help the weak.
"Cifera, look around you..." Lucian said, pointing around the spacious room with his chin before gesturing toward the understated but obviously expensive furnishings. "Do I look like someone who's short on money?"
"So, you're rich?" Cifera asked, blinking her big blue eyes in surprise. "Your money... did you scam people outta it or win it through gambling?"
It was not strange for her to assume that, since Dolos was, after all, the city of thieves, infamous for gambling, fraud, and theft.
Lucian smiled faintly, then leaned forward slightly until he was looking directly into Cifera's curious eyes.
"Yeah, I stole it from those nobles who were hoarding all the city's wealth during the war."
"They were living it up in their fancy manors while the rest of the city rotted in stench and decay."
"They were stuffing themselves with all kinds of fancy food while regular people were out here struggling just to fill their stomachs."
"They ended up making a lot of kids homeless, just like you."
"So yeah, I take their dirty money and use it for something good."
Cifera quietly listened to every word, and as time passed, her eyes gradually grew brighter.
Suddenly, she stood up in the bathtub, not even caring that her naked body was fully exposed before Lucian.
"I get it!" Cifera exclaimed, excitedly pointing at Lucian. "You're a rogue! My grandma said a rogue is someone who uses shady methods to do heroic stuff!"
As soon as she finished speaking, it was as though she had suddenly found a goal worth pursuing for the rest of her life.
"I wanna be a rogue too!" Cifera declared, her voice crisp and firm. "I'll steal from those crappy nobles and help people who are starving!"
If others heard her dream of becoming a thief, they would probably scold her on the spot, but Lucian naturally did not mind.
Because to him, as long as her goal was not purely evil, Cifera, as the protagonist of this script, could do whatever she wanted and was free to walk whatever path she chose.
Upon further contemplation, the hometown of this little cat, Dolos, was likely one of the key points in the script's completion conditions, since nearly all the regrets and hardships of her childhood stemmed from this place.
"Cifera, what's your wish?"
Lucian intended to use that question to confirm his speculation.
Cifera lowered her head and thought carefully for quite a while before finally giving her answer.
"If I could make a wish... I wanna change Dolos, so there wouldn't be so many homeless kids, nobody would have to go hungry or get beaten anymore, and those nobles couldn't just do whatever they wanted."
Hearing this, Lucian nodded in quiet satisfaction, as though he had just confirmed something important.
"Alright, wish granted. Now it's time to sleep."
Lucian lifted Cifera out of the bathroom, carefully dried every drop of water from her body with a soft towel, changed her into clean, comfortable pajamas, and then carried her back to bed.
It was already late at night, so, filled with hope for the future, Cifera immediately fell into a deep sleep.
Just a few seconds after lying down on the bed, her eyes slowly closed, her expression became peaceful, and she even unconsciously smacked her lips, mumbling something quietly under her breath.
Lucian, who sat at the bedside watching her sleep, sighed softly before letting out a gentle smile.
Now, this troublesome stray cat had finally begun to resemble a proper house cat.
After quietly watching the sleeping Cifera for a while longer, Lucian finally stood up, walked out of the bedroom, and gently closed the bedroom door behind him. As soon as the door clicked shut, the gentle smile on his face quietly faded, replaced once again by calm indifference.
He walked over to the window, looking out at the dim lights scattered throughout Dolos before shifting his gaze farther into the brightly lit noble district that loomed in the distance like a massive beast quietly waiting in the darkness.
"Well, her wish's gonna take some effort..."
Before his voice could even fade away, Lucian's figure seemed to merge seamlessly into the night, disappearing without a single sound, as though he had never been there at all.
===
Dolos, Noble District.
In the upper center of the noble district, the area was heavily guarded, with guards posted every few steps and lights blazing as brightly as day.
It was only natural, for this was the district where the nobles and the core of the church resided—the very heart of power and the place from which the fate of the entire city-state was decided.
At this moment, inside a dim hall illuminated only by flickering lamps, the most powerful figures in Dolos sat around a long obsidian conference table.
A great noble, the high priest, and the city lord—each of them, if placed outside, could shake Dolos with a single step. Now, at each of their feet, a beautiful female slave knelt obediently with her head lowered, silently serving as a display of their status as those who stood above all others.
Outwardly glamorous, yet privately filthy, such was the daily life of Dolos's upper class.
"It looks like the Chrysos War is coming to an end soon," the great noble said with a frown, his chubby chin and bulging belly shaking as he spoke. "Someone called Imperator has already subdued many city-states, so the opportunities to make money are becoming fewer."
"What's there to worry about? We've already monopolized Dolos's wealth," the city lord responded with a crooked smile as he leisurely swirled the wine in his goblet. "Even if the war ends, it won't affect our fortunes. As for those lowly commoners, there's still plenty we can squeeze out of them."
"Damn it..." the high priest cursed with an irritated expression, his fingers unconsciously tapping against the tabletop. "Didn't you hear? About a month ago, one of my men had his brain dug out. Even until now, we still haven't found the damn culprit! It's absurd!"
"Probably those fools who call themselves the Rogues of Dolos, a bunch of rats not worth mentioning," the great noble said nonchalantly, looking completely uninterested. "Catch one, torture one to death. Simple, right?"
"Rest assured, everyone—this place is secure and heavily guarded," the city lord said confidently, the crooked smile on his face widening even further. "Even if you gave them ten thousand times the courage, they wouldn't be able to harm you in the slightest."
As those words fell, the three men exchanged relaxed smiles, completely unaware that before this day was over, everything they possessed would disappear forever.
===
Early the next morning, bright sunlight poured down from the sky, bathing the city of Dolos in a gentle golden glow and bringing warmth after the chilly night.
Cifera, who had slept soundly through the night, rubbed her sleepy eyes, stretched her petite body, yawned as she woke up, then climbed out of the warm bed.
Wearing her soft new slippers, she padded over to the window, planning to get some fresh air and check whether there was anything good to eat on the stone table today.
However, the moment she pushed the window open, a wave of noise rushed in.
It was not the usual marketplace clamor, nor the familiar sounds of merchants calling out to customers, but countless voices filled with shock, disbelief, and confusion.
"What's going on?"
Cifera curiously poked her little head out and saw that far more people than usual had gathered in the clearing. Every one of them stood frozen in place with astonished expressions, their eyes fixed on the center of the clearing.
At the center of the clearing, a priest dressed in luxurious white robes, his face as pale as paper and devoid of any trace of composure, ascended the highest platform under the escort of fully armed soldiers, clutching a gold-trimmed parchment scroll tightly in his trembling hands.
Facing the ever-growing crowd, the priest took several deep breaths to steady himself before loudly making his announcement.
"People of Dolos!"
"Hear this great proclamation!"
"Last night, divine grace descended!"
"Dolos has welcomed its most noble and unquestionable new city lord!"
"He is benevolent! Powerful! Wise!"
"Under his glory, Dolos shall usher in a new future!"
As he declared, the priest's voice wavered with tension before he paused, swallowed hard, and then continued.
"From today onward, the Council of Nobles and the Holy Church swear loyalty to the new city lord and submit to him for all eternity!"
"From this moment onward, the will of the city lord is the highest law of Dolos!"
"Yesterday, the former city lord, the former high priest, several priests, nobles, and their associates—a total of 2,733 individuals—were sentenced to death by hanging for their grave crimes!"
"And their bodies... their bodies have been hung upon the city walls as a warning!"
As soon as those final words fell, the entire street fell into dead silence, as if even the air itself had frozen in place.
===
[A bonus chapter for every 300 Power Stones.]
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