Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?-Chapter 498 - 10 Threat Index

Although they were all rated R4, the threat indices of the girls varied significantly, dynamically represented on the monitoring screen by six lines of different colors that continuously updated over time.

Nora and Eleanor’s threat indices were the most stable: Nora remained around 5%, and Eleanor was at 12%, their lines on the monitor resembling a flatlined heart rate curve with hardly any fluctuations.

Thira, or more precisely, Theodora, the former little Empress of the East Solomon Empire, had a threat index that fluctuated between 30-40%, which was relatively normal.

In stark contrast were Sigrdrifa and Medea:

Sigrdrifa, the carefree, airheaded girl with white hair, had a threat index that was anything but harmless, like her husky-like demeanor suggested; her line jumped wildly between 60-90%, as if riding a ferocious roller coaster.

Especially when she uttered "Blek_Imperator," her threat index finally broke through 90%, startling the priests so much that they hurriedly went to inform the Cardinal. However, a few minutes later, the line gradually declined to around 70%, leaving the relieved priests with a sudden sense of being ridiculed.

As for Medea, her threat index was consistently high and stable around 94%, causing the priests to hardly bother paying her extra attention—her monitoring data was closely watched by a specialist, and should it rise by another 6% and breach into Keter level, they could directly report to the Pope for strike approval.

Finally came "Unstable Miss" (a nickname the priests had given Peggy).

As someone who had once erased the existence of Verona City, this black-haired girl nearly drew the attention of most priests in the monitoring room: her threat index was like a vicious catfish, sometimes surging up to the dangerous margin of around 80%, and at other times, lurking in the low water range of 20-30%, with her fluctuations being wildly capricious.

Whenever her line suddenly rose, everyone immediately tensed up; when it fell again, they would let out a sigh of relief. Over time, it wasn’t long before some couldn’t take it anymore, incessantly excusing themselves to catch a breath, using drinking water and visiting the restroom as pretexts.

Of course, it hadn’t escaped notice by some priests that when Peggy engaged in conversations with Thira and Nora, her threat index tended to stabilize and decrease; but when talking with Medea and Sigrdrifa, it sharply increased.

This confirmed an eternal life lesson: One takes on the color of one’s company.

Please stay away from those two dangerous elements, Unstable Miss! The priests collectively pleaded in their hearts.

"I have a bold idea," a priest, new to the shift, finally couldn’t stand it anymore and blurted out.

"Stop it," another priest scoffed, "Create an accident to separate them? There have been no less than ten people who have suggested the same idea as you."

"All rejected?" the newcomer was shocked.

"The higher-ups won’t approve, they don’t dare take the risk."

The priest sighed and then abruptly asked:

"What about the other three?"

"Their Squad Leader has stayed in his room, we don’t know what he’s doing, and the two underage girls are playing games in the game hall."

"Their threat indices?"

"The man’s at 7%, and both girls are only at 5%."

"That’s still normal," the priest muttered.

————————

In the game hall, the second level.

This was a seemingly more elegant study, obviously belonging to someone much wealthier than the couple who had committed suicide previously.

An old man lay in a pool of blood, a gaping hole on his temple, the blood beneath him having soaked the carpet and wet the pile of books beside him.

The handgun that had caused the wound was held in the corpse’s right hand.

"Another suicide?" Mia looked towards the nearby desk, "He even wrote a suicide note."

Miel walked to the desk, stared at the suicide note for a while, which generally stated that the professor had previously made some inappropriate remarks in public, causing adverse social opinions. He deeply felt ashamed and fearful, and could only atone by taking his own life.

"Undoubtedly a suicide, right?" Mia declared the case solved instantly.

Miel didn’t respond but picked up the professor’s gun-holding right hand from the pool of blood and sniffed it near her nose.

There indeed was a faint smell of gunpowder. The game was quite realistic.

"So, the reason for suicide is also confirmed," Mia said and reached for the suicide note on the desk but Miel stopped her:

"Wait!"

"Look at this!" She picked up a manuscript from the sofa, "This one appears to be written by the professor too, but the handwriting is different."

"I really didn’t notice any difference," Mia glanced and said curiously.

"Look here, there are clear ink scrapes," Miel said.

"Ink scrapes are normal, if you have too much ink coming out when you’re writing and you accidentally touch it before it dries, it leaves a smear," Mia dismissed.

"No, no, no." Miel pointed at three places on the manuscript, "Look closely, here, here, and here, the ink scrapes all scrape from the letters to the right." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"So what?" Mia was perplexed.

"In what situation would scrapes to the right be produced?" Miel took a pen in her left hand and pretended to write in the air, "Like this for instance..."

"Wait!" Mia exclaimed in astonishment, "Why are you holding the pen with your left hand?"

"Because this professor was a left-hander," Miel replied, "Only a left-hander would hold the pen in the left hand. Since the text is arranged from left to right, while writing the letters, the left-hand holding the pen moves from left to write over the freshly written text, which occasionally can cause ink scrapes."

"Um... Wow!" Mia finally exclaimed in amazement, "Miel! How is your brain so sharp? I never knew!"

We’ve been best friends for nearly a year, and you have the nerve to say you don’t know me? Miel was speechless and continued her analysis:

"Take a look at the other manuscripts on the bookshelf, there should be similar issues."

The two girls started shifting through the bookshelf, didn’t find any more manuscripts but discovered several economic books with the professor’s notes on the pages marked with bookmarks, which also had similar scrapes.

Miel picked up the professor’s left hand again and indeed found traces of ink stains on the back of his hand.

"So this person really was a left-hander." Mia said.

"However, this suicide note." Miel flicked the letter on the desk, "There are no similar traces. Not only that..."

She pointed at the professor’s right hand, and said, "Even the hand holding the gun is the right hand."

"So it’s forged." Mia realized, "Both the suicide note and the way the gun was held, all of it was forged, right? This professor was actually murdered."

"And finding this real murderer is the biggest challenge of this level," Miel said.