Idk I can't picture L actively killing, seems out of character. Since he's apparently not compelled to solve cases out of any moral obligation, I don't see him being desperate enough to do something as drastic as killing a suspect. The Kira case might be different, since his ass was on the line, but I still can't imagine him doing it. "But although the cliche says that power always corrupts, what is seldom said ... is that power always reveals." He is already a pretty powerful guy, rich (cont.)
(cont.) rich and accountable to no one, unlike Light at the beginning of the series. I think that if he was the kind that would murder to solve a case, the lack of a Death Note wouldn't be the thing stopping him. I'm not sure if he wouldn't idk kill a hostage that he sees as more of a liability tho 👀 am I crazy to think that?
Also, in small addition. I'm under the suspicion that "if we are wrong, then we just have to say sorry" is the kinda of bs that Near would've learned from L, and murder is not exactly something that you could just apologize for. That last one wasn't a point, just a fun headcanon. Sorry for spamming your ask box.
Thanks for the thoughts, I think you're right in that he normally wouldn't go that far to solve a case! It's true that he's already super powerful and not accountable to most people in canon, so he probably could've gotten away with murder already if he wanted to. But if he had used the notebook out of curiosity and then found out it actually worked, he would have to consider the fact that he was now a murderer already and know that he had this very sneaky and fairly undetectable method of doing away with people as a weapon in his arsenal. I think it depends on the circumstances and how far L is being pushed or what's at stake for how tempted he might be to ever use it for the first time, or use it again in the future. I dunno, it's harder for me to imagine L testing out the notebook on his own the same way Light did or other characters might. In canon he wanted to test it using death row inmates to do the writing in it and such instead. I don't think he would take life to solve a case unless it was an extreme situation, but I also don't believe he sees himself as a morally upright person, nor often feels tons of guilt for anything he does. I think it's highly situational with L for stuff like this, so hard for me to elaborate on without specific circumstances to refer to.
I also think that sounds a bit like something L might say as good advice to Near, haha. His apologies in the manga were rare and usually seemed more like a "cover my ass so I can't be called out for something" type response than sincere regret for his actions to me.