Chapter 462: Holy Book

Kouhei frowned slightly as he tried to process what Petra had just said, because the term "Holy Book" sounded important enough that he immediately assumed it had some enormous significance behind it. At the same time, he had no idea what she was referring to, and the more he thought about it, the more he suspected that it was probably something completely different from what the name initially suggested.

"Holy Book? What exactly is that?" Kouhei asked. "I am assuming you are not talking about the kind of book I'm thinking, considering the way you referred to it."

Petra gave him a small nod, almost as though she had expected him to make that exact assumption.

"If you were thinking that it was the Bible, then you are correct that it is not," Petra confirmed. "The Holy Book is something that dates back so far that the records contained within the Bible cannot really be compared to it. The difference between them is simply too large."

Kouhei raised an eyebrow as he listened.

"Then what kind of book are we talking about here?"

"Think of it as a record containing information about the entire universe," Petra explained. "It contains information about how the universe itself came into existence, how Yesh and Ayin came to be, what kind of relationship they have with one another, and countless other things connected to the origin of existence itself."

She paused for a moment before continuing, seemingly trying to find a simpler way to describe something that was anything but simple.

"Calling it a history book would probably be the easiest explanation, although that description does not really do it justice," Petra continued. "Its history includes the creation of the universe itself, as well as events that happened long before anything resembling ordinary history could even exist. The problem is that nobody would actually be able to understand the words written inside it."

Kouhei's expression became slightly more serious.

"Why would nobody be able to understand them?"

"Because the one who wrote them was someone who is... technically not even existing."

Kouhei stared at Petra for several seconds.

That explanation had somehow created more questions than it answered.

"Technically not even existing?" he repeated, trying to make sense of the phrase. "How can someone who does not exist write a book?"

Petra looked like she was about to answer, but Yuka spoke first.

"The book writes itself," Yuka explained.

Kouhei slowly turned his attention toward her.

"The book writes itself?"

"That is correct," Yuka said. "The Holy Book is not only called the Holy Book, but also the Book of Beginning and the End. It is essentially a never-ending book that continues writing itself as existence progresses."

Kouhei remained silent.

Yuka continued explaining the matter with a calm expression, apparently finding the whole thing much less unbelievable than Kouhei did.

"It records everything until the dawn of everything," she said. "Once the end finally appears, the book will stop writing itself."

Kouhei's eyebrows rose even further.

For some reason, he found that particular explanation much harder to believe than anything else they had told him so far. The idea of an ancient book was already strange enough, but a book that could somehow record the history of everything by writing itself was on another level entirely.

"So you are telling me that there is literally a book somewhere that keeps writing its own history?" Kouhei asked.

"Essentially, yes," Yuka answered.

Kouhei looked away for a moment and rubbed his forehead.

He had encountered plenty of strange things since his circumstances had become what they were, but even by those standards, this was difficult to accept. Gods, supernatural powers, impossible creatures, and other bizarre phenomena were one thing, but an apparently self-writing record of the universe was something that sounded like it belonged in a completely different category.

"You know computers, don't you?" Petra asked.

"Of course I know computers," Kouhei replied.

"Then think of the Holy Book as something that functions according to a similar principle," Petra explained. "Whatever you do on a computer, the computer can collect information and store that information as data. The Holy Book does something similar, except that the information it stores concerns the entire world and, ultimately, the universe itself."

Kouhei stared at Petra.

"Somehow, that explanation did not make it sound any less ridiculous."

Petra smiled.

"I never said it would."

Kouhei sighed quietly.

He understood the principle Petra was trying to describe, at least on a basic level. A computer could gather information and preserve it, while the Holy Book apparently did something similar on an absurdly larger scale. What he could not understand was how something like that had come into existence in the first place.

"Where are we supposed to find this thing?" Kouhei eventually asked.

Yuka shook her head.

"It is not an item, Kouhei-sama," she said. "The Holy Book is a person."

Kouhei's eyes widened.

"A person?"

"Yes," Yuka answered. "A person who possesses the ability to retain the knowledge of the world."

Petra nodded in agreement.

"That is why the person is called the Holy Book," she explained. "The power itself is considered a holy ability, and the person essentially serves as the Book of Knowledge."

Kouhei listened carefully as Petra continued.

"The person who becomes the Holy Book has a body that functions almost as though it were a vessel for knowledge itself. Information can be preserved within them in a way that an ordinary human being obviously cannot accomplish."

"So the person is basically a living library?" Kouhei asked.

"That is a rather crude way of putting it," Petra replied, "but it is not entirely wrong. However, there is an important limitation," she continued. "The Holy Book is still fundamentally a human being. That means the host cannot simply live forever, despite carrying knowledge that may have existed for countless centuries or even millenniums."

Kouhei's expression became more thoughtful.

"So what happens when the person dies?"

"The knowledge is transferred to another person," Petra explained. "After the current host dies, the accumulated knowledge passes into another individual, who then becomes the next Holy Book. The process allows the knowledge to continue existing even though the previous host is gone."

Kouhei leaned back slightly.

To be honest, he had no idea what he was supposed to make of any of this.

The whole concept sounded strange from beginning to end. A human being carrying the accumulated knowledge of the world, a book that somehow wrote itself, information that continued being recorded as history unfolded, and the knowledge being transferred between hosts after their deaths was far beyond anything he would have considered normal.

Still, strange did not necessarily mean useless.

If the Holy Book truly contained the information they needed, then this could potentially be their last realistic opportunity to find an answer.

"Where do we find them?" Kouhei asked.

Petra smiled.

"Fortunately, the Book is very close to us right now," she said. "The current host is from this country, after all."

Kouhei immediately became more attentive.

"Then we should go and find them."

He had barely finished the thought when Petra raised one hand.

"There is a slight problem with that plan."

Kouhei stopped.

"What kind of problem?"

"The person is currently affiliated with the Church."

Kouhei's expression immediately changed.

"The Church?"

The Church was not some insignificant organization that Kouhei could simply walk into without thinking about the consequences. It possessed enormous influence and a reach that extended across the world, meaning that deliberately interfering with someone under its protection could easily create a much larger problem than the one they were currently trying to solve.

"The person you are looking for is named Aegis," Petra explained. "She is a nun."

Kouhei's expression immediately became more complicated.

"A nun?"

"That is correct," Petra said.

"So the person who can potentially answer all of our questions is someone working for the Church."

"That would be the situation."

Kouhei slowly rubbed his chin.

This was becoming considerably more troublesome than he had expected.

Making the Church an enemy was something Kouhei absolutely wanted to avoid if he had any choice in the matter. He had too many people around him to think about, and deliberately dragging them into a conflict with an organization that powerful would be irresponsible.

"There has to be another way," Kouhei muttered.

Petra smiled.

"Fortunately, I already have a plan."

Kouhei looked toward her.

The expression on Petra's face immediately made him suspicious.

It was not an ordinary smile, either. She looked far too entertained by whatever idea had just appeared in her head.

He noticed the expression but decided to ignore it for now.

Whatever Petra was planning, he needed to hear it before he could decide whether it was completely ridiculous or merely somewhat ridiculous.

"I have a plan as to how you can possibly get to her," Petra said.

Kouhei narrowed his eyes slightly.

"What is that plan?"

Petra brought one hand toward her mouth as though she were trying to suppress a laugh.

"Kuhi..."

Petra nearly burst out laughing, but she caught herself before she completely lost her composure. Her shoulders shook slightly as she tried to suppress the laugh, while the amused expression on her face made it painfully obvious that she was enjoying this situation far too much.

Kouhei stared at her, waiting for the answer.

Petra finally managed to compose herself and looked directly at him.

"Seduce her."