It seemed he had almost taken it for granted that she had the ability of foresight.

‘Well, I was quite suspicious when dealing with the golem earlier.’

In fact, Rosha herself knew she couldn’t hide her ability from Froy forever. Considering this, she had lasted quite a while.

After briefly surveying the surroundings, the man approached her and whispered:

“I can roughly guess why you hid your ability. It’s a dangerous power that many would covet.”

“…”

“However, since you already know of my ability and have benefited from it sufficiently, it seems you could now show me your ability?”

He coaxed her discreetly, like an investigator who had secured the crucial evidence.

Befitting his goal of uncovering the truth surrounding this world, Froy was someone overwhelmingly suited to delving into secrets.

After a moment’s contemplation, Rosha met the man’s vivid purple eyes and requested:

“Then, would it be possible to call the healer who treated me before to come here?”

“A healer? Ah, because of the injured people?”

“Yes. If you can do that, I’ll show you my ability.”

She was going to show him anyway, but if she could get help with the quest in the process, she had to take it.

‘Since it says no fatalities must occur within the village… it’s fine if it’s outside the village. If possible, it’s better if no one dies at all.’

Froy, who had been quietly watching her eyes, nodded lightly.

“I see. Although you seem to have a very weak heart, considering you were shooting people to death earlier, that’s not too difficult a condition.”

“…”

“But I’m a little disappointed. While newcomers receive such consideration from you, I don’t get the same feeling.”

“That’s because…”

Unable to say it was because of the death penalty, Rosha closed her mouth.

Surprisingly, the man watching her squinted and asked.

“…Or is there something else I don’t know about?”

The two silently locked eyes.

Rosha thought she had calmly accepted it through her 35 years of life experience, but Froy was quite the expert in psychological warfare, having been once banned from the imperial palace by the Emperor.

“There’s definitely something.”

“…”

What did he eat to become so sharp?

‘Let’s try to deflect it for now.’

Rolling her eyes, she abruptly used [The Guiding Lantern].

Confirming that her crimson eyes were slowly glowing golden, the man let out a dry laugh.

But even that reaction turned to amazement before the ‘lantern’ she had lit.

“This is…”

Golden speckles appeared in Froy’s purple eyes as he held her hand. At the same time, a whole other world began to unfold before his sight.

Saaaaaa-

One by one, clusters of golden light began to rise from ordinary spots around the village.

Houses with wooden boards stacked over the windows, and bustling women carrying warm towels. Amidst the injured lying or sitting to receive treatment, dazzling golden light sprouted as if an illusion.

It was a brilliant and breathtaking sight.

Yet no one except the two of them reacted to this phenomenon.

Realizing this, Froy came to an abrupt stop.

Suddenly, the golden world where the woman beside him stood felt terribly lonely.

Beautiful yet desolate.

Far-reaching yet solitary.

Was this the fate of one with the ability of foresight?

As the man looked around, Rosha felt her optic nerves gradually heating up, muttering inwardly.

‘For this trial, who should I take?’

How could she ensure everyone survived and cleared the trial safely?

[The Guiding Lantern] was an ability that showed her the best direction when at a crossroads of choice.

A mysterious power that only worked for the one who possessed the ‘light’.

-One day, by the light of the lantern, you will be able to peer beyond the veil of the world.

The Guide God would occasionally say such things, but at her current stage, that was too far in the future. For now, she could only move forward, dispelling the crisis before her.

Confirming the flickering golden line, Rosha tugged on the man’s hand and took a step forward.

“Come this way, Froy.”

Since she had agreed to show her ability, she might as well show it clearly.

Just in time, the cluster of light gathered and formed a golden line that began to move like a shooting star.

It elegantly brushed past her and Froy, then circled around Cassis, who was about ten steps away. Then it silently extended towards the black carriage.

“Ah, is there something you need me to do?”

The coachman, seated on the driver’s bench, politely asked Rosha and Froy as they approached.

The golden line lightly touched the coachman’s shoulder as he spoke, and then…

‘Huh?’

Seeing it unhesitatingly enter the carriage, Rosha muttered:

“Shouldn’t we go over there?”

“Yes?”

Whether the coachman asked or not, Rosha opened the carriage door to confirm the ‘lantern’s’ destination, and deactivated her ability with a dumbfounded expression.

For the five people to accompany her on this trial:

Herself, Froy, Cassis, the coachman the ‘lantern’ had passed by, and the last one it had chosen…

There, Heres Lycaon was bound by ropes, looking at her as if finally asking to be untied.

* * *

Not long after, the five people chosen by the ‘lantern’ were walking along an overgrown mountain trail.

“Hey, that bird is talking!”

Ah, make that five people and one bird.

Rosha looked at Heres, who was noisily fussing over Koko perched on her shoulder since earlier. Cassis, holding the end of the rope binding him, replied disdainfully.

“Of course it talks, it’s a parrot, you idiot?”

“Not that kind of talk, real talking!”

“So there’s fake talking too? It does talk, I’ve seen it. So shut up and walk quietly, kid.”

They strongly disliked each other, but it was quite amusing how their conversation levels matched.

Listening to their exchange, Froy’s subordinate coachman Lovell spun his finger beside his temple and said:

“Heres Lycaon, huh. Seems his head has been spinning from all the hardship. How can a bird talk like a human?”

“I can too!”

“…Huh? It really does talk like conversation? A rather smart parrot?”

Koko puffed out his chest proudly at Lovell’s gaze.

Of course, he knew it was more convenient not to be caught talking, but he seemed to enjoy the current situation where he was being praised just for the fact that he could speak.

It was fortunate that he was in the form of a parrot.

Anyway…

‘I understand there’s a benefit to bringing Heres along, but I don’t understand why it’s beneficial.’

Rosha thought as she watched Heres nipping at Cassis’s calves.

The lantern had openly pointed him out, so he couldn’t just be dead weight, but she couldn’t see his usefulness.

If she had known, she would have brought Duke Feriel instead. The old man seemed to have a natural talent for handling mana, even if he didn’t have any special abilities.

It was then that Froy, who had been silently walking beside her, spoke up.

“It seems we’re almost there.”

He was right. The sensation of mana had been growing stronger.

Indeed.

They were ascending the mountain trail towards the crevice leading to the second trial.

The area from which the strongest magical power was emanating after the notification that the trial would begin.

-Is it near that cliff over there? That’s where the entrance to an abandoned mine is located. No one has gone there for over ten years since the ore vein dried up.

Fortunately, the crack had appeared not in the village itself, but near a cliff close by, and there were no demons suddenly emerging like in the first trial.

It was simply rippling like a serene lake, gradually consuming the environment of this land.

Cassis, who had been warily looking around since earlier, muttered in a dumbfounded tone:

“Why are there crystals growing on the path?”

Indeed, as he said, crystal-like formations could be seen here and there.

Not only that, as they approached the crevice, the surrounding plants were gradually becoming transparent and solid like crystals.

Rosha lightly tapped a branch extending downward at a corner with her finger.

It looked like a delicate crystal sculpture.

‘If the trial isn’t cleared within the time limit, this whole area will be swept up like this.’

Of course, by then, she would already be dead from the Hardmode death penalty.

They continued forward.

Carefully avoiding the grass that had turned into razor-sharp crystals on the narrow path, they came upon a small cliff trail wide enough for a single carriage to pass through.

The huge rift on the cliff face had engulfed the entire mine entrance, rippling in a black color.

It was the passage leading to the second trial.