A single piece of paper suddenly appeared on the desk one day, long long ago.

At that time, Xenon was exhausted. His immortal body showed no signs of age, but mentally he had been depleted for a long time. The clues he had tracked for years while building the Information Guild had grown faint. By now, even those who remembered that incident had all died and disappeared.

He was sick of having to periodically relocate to avoid suspicion about his ageless appearance. He wanted everything to end. How long would he have to continue this life? There was no end in sight. If only he could… But Xenon couldn’t die. It was both a blessing and a curse, a gift she had given him through her sacrifice.

That’s when a single sheet of paper appeared, causing great ripples in Xenon’s red eyes. A letter without a sender, just like the current one.

[You will find what you yearn for in Breilin.]

At that time, Xenon mobilized every resource at his disposal to find the person who sent the letter. But he never found them. All he learned was that it was impossible for even the most skilled mage to break into Xenon’s room.

‘What I want…’

Perhaps that’s why he became fixated on a letter he would normally have crumpled up. Because it made the impossible possible. Like when he gained his immortal body. Or maybe he was just desperate to grasp at any straw.

Eventually, Xenon relocated to Breilin. Another reason was that people around him had begun to take notice. Moving before his immortal body was revealed was inevitable. It wasn’t strange that the place happened to be the village mentioned in the letter.

However, Breilin was completely different from what Xenon had expected. A village surrounded by deep mountains, eerily quiet, seemingly disconnected from the world. It was desolate, like it was waiting for its time to fade away at the edge of the world.

Xenon gradually grew bored. What he wanted was clear. An end to this endless life—death. But this village was the furthest place from death. Doubt slowly consumed him, making him wonder if he had fallen for someone’s prank.

Then one day, Rudis appeared. She looked like she had dropped into the world from nowhere, finding everything strange and frightening. Fumbling even the most basic tasks, it was hard to tell whether she was innocent or simply foolish. But Rudis never stopped helping others, doing whatever they asked. Even if it came at her own expense.

Watching Rudis, Xenon recalled a memory from long ago. The woman who had given him immortality was the same way. Innocently naive to the point of seeming foolish, unable to refuse anyone’s request, ultimately sacrificing herself.

Xenon helped Rudis. At first by chance, later naturally. It wasn’t particularly troublesome. Simple hints were often enough. Meanwhile, even when the time came to relocate, he couldn’t bring himself to leave. He told his subordinates that no one suspected him so he would stay longer, but the real reason was different. It was because of Rudis. Eight years passed this way.

Then, on the first day of spring, a new letter arrived. Just like before, suddenly appearing on his desk.

[What you want is in Rudis’s possession.]

Reading the clearly engraved phrase, Xenon burst into laughter. He was finally getting closer. To his own death.

Without hesitation, Xenon ordered his subordinates to investigate Rudis. The results were astonishing.

The Token of Pathos, said to grant its owner’s wish.

At one time he had cursed it, at another time he had craved it. The sacred relic he had tracked for centuries, devoting everything to find.

Xenon had thought the Token of Pathos had been destroyed. No matter how hard he searched, he couldn’t find even a trace of it.

To think that what he had been looking for all this time was with Rudis.

It wasn’t in its complete form, but that didn’t matter. Or rather, it was expected. Otherwise, there would be no reason for the restoration method to be written in the letter.

‘What I want…’

But now, in the empty room after Rudis had left, staring at the door through which she had disappeared, Xenon couldn’t be certain.

Whether what he truly wanted was death or something else. Or perhaps…

Xenon fingered the letter again and took a deep drag of smoke. Like the smoke dispersing in the darkness, his mind was in turmoil.

* * *

Walking home, Rudis wrapped her arms around herself. The dawn air was cold, and the dim sky was streaked with red. Because she always fell asleep at 2 AM and woke up at 6 AM, this was her first time being out at dawn. Somehow it felt more desolate than when she entered the mountains at night to hunt monsters.

‘I should drink a potion when I get home.’

Rudis blamed Xenon, telling herself it was all because of her depleted stamina. Even though she had drunk premium potions five times, it clearly wasn’t enough. Having not slept at all, perhaps that was natural.

‘Who treats people like that?’

While grumbling and walking briskly on shaky legs, she heard a wolf’s howl from somewhere. This too was a sound she had never heard before. She was familiar with monsters’ screams but had never heard a wolf howl.

Oh no…

Rudis instinctively checked her waist. She had none of her hunting accessories with her. How could she have left behind such expensive items? Except for the first necklace she had received as a gift, all of them had been bought with money she had saved up with great effort. Since they were purchased from Noah, their effectiveness was guaranteed.

It’ll be fine.

Her trembling hand gripped the knife handle. It was cold, probably because it was still spring. Definitely not because she was afraid.

Rudis walked boldly, staying alert to the slightest sound. Soon she reached the front of her house.

Or rather, the entrance to her farm—it wasn’t quite the front of her house. The actual house was still quite far, but at least this was her territory. As soon as she stepped across the farm boundary, she felt relieved.

‘I wonder who they are. The other three people.’

Rudis naturally thought of the villagers. Thomas from the general store was secretly in love with Shasha. Ralph, who was preparing for marriage with Sandra, wouldn’t be one either. Surely not Colin the blacksmith? He was already having free and wild romances with five people, so he wouldn’t add her to that list. Then was it Kuku the carpenter? No. His face was a bit…

In an otome game, the most important thing was the face. Even with the genre change, the importance of appearance remained constant. Even if someone was as crazy as Xenon, a handsome face and good physique would make you want to embrace them. So Kuku was definitely out.

Who could it really be…

While pondering this and walking, she noticed a huge shadow standing in front of her house.

Could it be a monster?

And one larger than any she had seen before.

‘Strange. Monsters had never come near the house… No, I wouldn’t know since I’ve never been awake at this hour.’

Rudis crouched down and held her breath. An unfamiliar fear crept up her spine. Fortunately, what she held in her hand was the dagger said to have been used by the Legendary Mercenary. One with devastating power in a single strike.

‘I’ll charge on three. One. Two.’

Tension filled her fingertips as she aimed the knife. With something this size, she had to settle it with a single strike.

“Ahhh!”

Before she could count to three, the massive shadow, backlit by the red sunrise, pounced on Rudis.

* * *

“Gasp!”

Rudis thrashed her arms and legs violently, but there was nothing there. Her fingertips were just sweeping through empty air.

Catching her breath and looking around, she recognized the familiar wooden ceiling and the soft feel of bedding. This was definitely her bedroom.

Rudis sighed with relief. But at the same time, she was dumbfounded.

‘What’s going on? Even if I understand fainting after being attacked by a monster, I should have woken up at Noah’s altar… but this is my house?’

She was confused. She tried to piece together what had happened, but too many questions were tangled up to be unraveled.

‘Come to think of it, yesterday I didn’t fall asleep automatically even after 2 AM.’

Rudis’s expression darkened rapidly.

‘Does this mean I’m really going to die now?’

Waking up at Noah’s house had been her most basic and reliable safety mechanism. No matter how critically she was wounded by monsters or how depleted her stamina became, when she opened her eyes, she was always at Noah’s altar.

‘How am I supposed to fight monsters now?’

Fear suddenly washed over her. Unlike when she first started, she was much stronger now, and there weren’t many monsters that threatened her life. But still, it felt like the final shield protecting her from all those threats had disappeared.

‘Wait! More importantly, how did I get into my house?’

Belatedly, the biggest question occurred to her. She had clearly fainted after being pounced on by a monster, so how was she now lying in her bed?

Rudis slowly turned her head to look around. Someone was there. A massive figure she hadn’t noticed until now, surprisingly.

“Iska?”