‘End of chapter.’

Noah made a satisfied expression as she turned the yellowed page of the book. She had finished another chapter — specifically, chapter 500.

The girl sighed. That was the last page written. The book in hand had over 100,000 pages, but only 10,000 were written. The reason? Maybe the author died before finishing? Or was he simply lazy? No, it was nothing like that, the truth was… the book had a life of its own. Yes! A life of its own. 

The thing in the maid's hands was something known as the Book of Legends. According to Sophia, it was an object from the Gods’ Era. The Sophiette family was also known for keeping such things in their lands, such as the Green Orb and the Black Sword.

What made that book so special, besides the fact that it had a life of its own, was that the book itself decided what was written on its millennial pages. Boring stories were out of the question. It was an object that selectively told the best and greatest stories since the creation of the world.

Each chapter was a historical event, like chapter 50, ‘The Decline of the Royal Family’, or chapter 80, ‘Luminus streix Astaroth’. Noah remembered every word written. She was the only person, other than a Sophiette, to touch that book.

At the same time that she was happy, the maid also felt a slight sadness in her chest. That book had been with her since she arrived at the Sophiette mansion, saying goodbye to it was like saying goodbye to a long-time friend. The girl's delicate hands slowly turned the pages back and forth, like an act of farewell.

Besides being selective, the Book of Legends was also well organized. All chapters, averaging 20 pages, were divided into fragments — like arcs in a webnovel.

Adventure number 500 in the book was entitled ‘The Revolt of the Half-humans’. In chronological order, it was the most recent story. It happened 20 years ago. Briefly, the pages showed the story of how the race of half-humans, despised as the half-breeds, got back on its feet because of a powerful leader.

Kawaii Kyuto, the rebel leader, used an unknown weapon and single-handedly eliminated an army of a thousand slaveholding humans. After the battle, the newly freed half-humans scattered to several different realms. From that day on, no one ever despised the race protected by the little purple-eared girl.

However, the rebel, Kawaii Kyuto, disappeared just as she appeared, but she eternalized her name in history, with the nickname ‘Lady of a Thousand Deaths’. It was an interesting story. If it wasn't written in that book, no one would believe it.

“Huh?”

Hearing the sound of turning pages, Noah's attention turned to the object on the table. The girl's eyes flashed with abnormal speed in a few seconds. Quickly, the maid took the book in hand, feeling the breeze caused by the pages on her face.

The pages settled down after a few minutes. The book was open exactly at the yellowed page number 10,001.

A glow revolve all over the paper and black characters were inked on the sheet. Noah was witnessing a miracle. The Book of Legends was writing another one of its great stories. The girl's heart leapt as she read the title of the chapter, but not in a good way. It was unbelievable, after all…

‘|Chapter 501|

|The End of the World|

|Fragment 01: The Death of the Saint of Heretics|’

‘Saint of Heretics.’ Noah only knew one person with that title: the young foreigner who once told her ‘I will bring Raul back’.

What was happening to him?

Before she could even throw the thought to the back of her mind, the book began to type rapidly, as if skillful fingers were typing the characters. The girl's eyes ran over the page, reading the contents superficially.

The first paragraph told how the young man, Kurone Nakano, and his group got lost on their way to Eragon.

The words appeared as Noah read. Before long, three pages were filled by the black ink, making it impossible for the girl to read simultaneously. ‘It can't be!’

The words written there foreshadowed the death of Kurone Nakano, and somehow this was connected with ‘the end of the world’. Was there a possibility that he was dead? Noah would only know by reading, but she had no such courage. 

“L-Lady Sophia!” she shouted, desperately jumping up from her chair.

She had had few conversations with Kurone, but just those few times, she ended up liking the young man. Of course, not ‘liking’ in the romantic sense. Except for Raul, the girl had never had another friend in her age group. Most of the young men who tried to approach her were with marriage proposals. How many nobles had she rejected? The girl lost count!

Being a servant, Noah was also constantly humiliated, but as long as she had Sophia by her side, she didn't need anyone else. For this, she was grateful to Kurone, who helped free the marquise.

Clenching her fists, the girl locked the door to her private library and ran and ran and ran desperately. She needed to reach the Marquise as quickly as possible. Yes, she was the solution! Sophia Sophiette Sophys III was the strongest person she knew. Probably the mistress would manage, after all, she…

╬╬════════════╬╬

“I am a failure!” said Sophia.

“Ahh! We've already searched almost everything. It was definitely robbery,” Ana pointed out, indifferent to the contractor's frustration.

The only hope at that moment was to wait for Ari and Alan to return, who had split up to cover a larger area.

The witch's group, Ana, was hastily hired to search for the lost priceless object: the Cyan Orb. It was a relic created by the ancestor of the Sophiette house, Karllos Sophiette.

Sophia shook her short pink hair. How could she lose this object right away? 

If it fell into the hands of someone malicious, the kingdom would be in trouble, and the only one to blame would be the irresponsible Marquise. Why? The answer was simple: the Cyan Orb had a stock of infinite mana within itself. The creator, Karllos, used it as a mana reserve. Thanks to the object, he was able to use magic that a human body would never be able to handle, due to the great consumption of mana.

The descendants of Karllos were responsible for ensuring the safety of the magical relics created by their founder. This was the most important duty of every member of the house, and Sophia failed miserably in guarding one of the most important objects.

Not only had she lost the Orb, but she had also damaged the Black Sword in the fight against the orc in the Grain village. She had definitely been the worst Sophiette in history. The old man must have been turning over in his grave at that moment, in disgust at his great and often great-granddaughter.

“Ari! Alan! Have you found something?” shouted Ana, seeing her companions approaching.

“Damn, I haven't found anything!” Alan sighed, letting his shoulders slump exaggeratedly.

The marquise looked hopefully at the girl beside he. Perhaps the swordsman was useless, but archers could find a needle in a haystack two hundred meters away.

The hooded girl, Ari, stopped next to Sophia and spoke:

“I didn't find the O-Orb, but I did find clues about the possible thief.”

That was something. Seeing the noblewoman's curious look, the shy archer took a deep breath, cast her shame to the back of her mind, and continued:

“Apparently, the theft happened while you were in the capital. The thief entered and left without leaving a footprint, literally.”

“What do you mean by this ‘literally’?” asked the marquise, even more curious about the girl's emphasis.

“The thief entered the mansion without touching the ground.”

“In other words, he wasn't human,” Sophia concluded.

“My guess is…”

“L-Lady Sophia! Lady Sophia! L-Lady Sophia!” Shouts coming from the maid holding a book reverberated and interrupted Ari's speech.

“N-Noah! Calm down! Is that the Book of Legends?! Don't tell me that this relic is damaged too! Then I'll end up doing something stupid…”

“N-no…! It’s… Ku-Kurone… Kurone…” the girl tried to force her vocal cords, but the result was almost inaudible.

“Calm down. What does Kurone have to do with the book?”

There was no time to lose! Noah dug her nails into the brown cover of the book and forced her vocal cords to obey she:

“Kurone will die, and the world will end!”

The expressions of both Ana and Sophia changed rapidly. Kurone Nakano was a young man they had a relationship with, although it wasn't a very deep one, however, they had both spent enough time with the young man to call him a companion, but what the hell did he have to do with the end of the world? Had Noah touched beer again?