The number of reservations for <The Fundamentals of Magic> tallied that night far exceeded expectations, thanks to the unexpected incident spreading the word even faster.

‘Marquis Lycaon must have sent a letter of protest to Froy.’

With this level of impact, the entire capital was likely buzzing.

Though the imperial family’s reaction seemed quieter than expected, she decided to focus on the tasks at hand for now.

In the dark night.

Rosha quietly observed the shrine placed on the table.

The miniature crystal shrine, slightly smaller than a side table, absorbed the moonlight and emanated a soft glow.

Gazing around the room, slightly brightened by the beautifully scattering light, she thought.

‘It’s time.’

Time to meet the Guide God.

The ‘Guide God’ says to hurry before all its hair is plucked out.’

Umm… Koko was still tearing at the deity’s hair, it seemed.

Even without the God’s urging, she had intended to visit soon anyway, as she had many questions.

About the sacred relic ‘Hildor’ whose name she had barely learned during the second trial, or the potential power of her ability [The Guiding Lantern].

Moreover, whether the God had known that Hardmode would unfold upon her return.

And if so, just how far ahead could it see?

‘I may not be able to find out everything, but I should still ask.’

Rosha infused mana into the crystal shrine engraved with the Guide God’s insignia.

Likely because she had maintained the golem’s mana storage device as much as possible when crafting it, a considerable amount of mana was required, but the more used, the more stable the ‘diving’ process became.

-For convenience’s sake in this world, they use the term ‘diving’ – it’s essentially repeating deep meditation to enter your consciousness.

-Maintaining contact with the shrine allows the gods to guide your consciousness to its abode.

In other words, diving was a necessary process to enter the God’s domain.

Before long, the mana-infused crystal shrine shone brilliantly.

Placing her hand on it, Rosha slowly inhaled and immersed her consciousness.

Sssshh-

Her consciousness plunged far deeper than the breathing techniques or meditation used to accumulate mana, guided by a familiar energy.

‘It’s not my first time, but the path is too convoluted to remember.’

With closed eyes, Rosha simply followed her instincts. Her swiftly ascending consciousness abruptly plunged even deeper.

And finally.

-You have arrived at the Guide God’s abode. Time limit: 26 minutes.

There was always a time limit in the God’s domain.

Something about the maximum duration she could endure.

However…

“…The time limit has increased?”

Initially, it was a mere 3 minutes or so, later extending to 8 minutes, but this was the first time it reached double digits.

Why? Was this also due to Hardmode?

“It’s proof that your consciousness’ presence has grown. Come to my abode now.”

Hearing the God’s voice, Rosha opened her eyes with a start.

A river of stars cutting across the sky. Star clusters adorned like faint mist. An innumerable twinkling she could never tire of gazing upon.

A majestic yet familiar sight unfolded before her eyes.

From her feet stretched an endless desert up to the horizon. Above the land of pure sand loomed a vast night sky, heavily pressing down with its myriad great and small starlight.

‘The desert… it’s been a while since I’ve been here.’

Though she had experienced two worlds, she had never actually visited a desert.

However, if this place resembled a real desert, then deserts must undoubtedly be lonely, desolate places.

“…”

A stillness as if time had stopped could be felt.

In this realm ruled by sand, sky and stars, Rosha diligently followed an unusually bright guiding star.

Here, the guiding stars didn’t point north but served as markers towards a specific location.

Following that star soon revealed a small oasis and a white palace. And seated at an outdoor table before the palace was a strange young boy wearing excessively flowing robes.

…Huh?

“You finally came. I thought my neck would snap from waiting.”

Now that she thought about it.

The voice she had heard earlier did sound rather childish, unlike the God’s form she remembered.

Hurrying over, Rosha asked:

“Why have you become so young? You didn’t used to look like this.”

The Guide God gazed up at her with dry bluish-gray eyes.

Looking no more than seven years old, yet his expression was extremely stern despite a ruffled platinum-haired parrot angrily clutching and refusing to release his wavy locks.

‘He used to appear as a full-grown man, but now… he’s cute.’

His chubby cheeks made her want to pinch them. As if sensing her thoughts, the God narrowed his eyes and retorted:

“Your gaze is impure. I don’t like it.”

The Guide God, it turned out, was even more of a curmudgeon than Koko. If the two were ever together, they would likely make an invincible curmudgeon combo that would send shivers down deities’ spines.

For now, even that aspect seemed adorable to her.

After glaring at Rosha for a while, the Guide God answered her question about his appearance with a half-resigned tone.

“Why, you ask? It’s because I used too much power at once.”

“Where did you use it?”

“Hildor.”

…She didn’t expect that name to come from the God first.

“It’s all because of that damn Hildor.”

Unfazed by Rosha’s flinch, the Guide God seemed to have a lot pent up and readily told the truth.

Among sacred relics, Hildor was a top-grade item lacking nothing in performance or achievements.

While such a sacred relic should never be carelessly removed, it had succeeded by completely obscuring its functions and disguising it as a nameless object.

“…Is such disguising even possible?”

“Of course. You should know that too, having destroyed something ‘set’ to be indestructible. There’s nothing impossible in this world.”

The God shrugged and continued:

“I heard about that from Koko. Not bad at all.”

“Khrr khrzz mrreung (Don’t call me Koko).”

Koko hissed while tugging the deity’s hair taut. He didn’t mind being called Koko by Rosha but disliked it from the Guide God.

However, Rosha had no time for their bickering. She quietly pondered.

‘Why do I have an innate ability like [The Guiding Lantern]?’

The power to read compositions and frameworks, to ‘alter settings.’

Unlike ordinary innate abilities possessed by others, this was the Guide God’s power, as evidenced by the word ‘Guide’ in the ability’s name.

As if aware of her question, the God spoke:

“Anyway, since preparing Hildor was so difficult, make good use of it. I put in quite an effort.”

“…Why go to such lengths?”

“Obviously to evade the blue window’s attention. And…”

After briefly rolling his eyes, the Guide God seemed to make up his mind and continued:

“Because you’re currently undergoing Hardmode. That’s a challenge to the blue window, so as your god, it’s only proper for me to help you to the utmost.”

…A challenge?

She had only known Hardmode to be a higher difficulty setting, never imagining it held such significance. Had she known, she would have never accepted it.

Of course, she didn’t really have a choice either.

“…”

Come to think of it, there was one more thing she wanted to ask.

After a brief pause, Rosha whispered in a tiny voice:

“…Hardmode. Did you know it would begin after my return?”

She hadn’t expected a different answer.

The Guide God had consistently seemed to look ahead, making various arrangements to help her.

Yet hearing the actual response was far more shocking than anticipated.

“Of course.”

The God’s face, bathed in the pouring starlight, was as desolate as the desert.