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When I heard the word “rock,” the first thing that came to mind was a golem.

Fungusbee was isolated by the endless swarm of golems.

Even if they were just mushrooms.

And Karem briefly swapped the word “mushroom” for “rock” in his thoughts.

“Wow. That’s terrifying.”

“What do you mean?”

Catherine shot a sideways glance at Karem as she followed the soldier.

“Well, I was talking about the rock. The rock. I was wondering if a horde of golems was coming like in Fungusbee.”

If they were mushrooms, it would be one thing. But if the body was solid stone, it was clear that even seasoned adventurers wouldn’t be able to leave a scratch on it.

“Indeed, if it were a rock golem, that would be true. A mediocre fighter would just become an obstacle, and even experienced ones wouldn’t be able to relax.”

Returning her gaze, Catherine nodded as she tapped her staff against the ground.

“There are experts in the caravan who could slice a rock like cheese, but there wouldn’t be no casualties.”

Just changing the material made everything so terrifying.

Murmurs of water golems and fire golems suddenly crossed my mind.

If we needed to destroy the core, where would it be located?

“Still, it’s not a rock golem like you think.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Even without seeing it yet.

“Think about Princess Alicia.”

Karem understood immediately.

“When she comes running, the floor vibrates even from a distance. What if it were a rock golem?”

“You’d hear the rumble even three days away.”

“Normal rock golems are about as big as a decent inn. Even if it were a quarter of that size, you’d feel the tremors half a day away.”

Catherine deliberately tapped her staff against her fingers to make her point.

“More importantly, the magical energy is too stable for a natural occurrence.”

“They mentioned it was a case of magical energy saturation, right?”

“Exactly.”

Catherine asked the soldier guiding her outside the camp, “Have you received any reports regarding the magical energy?”

“No, there were no such reports.”

“How did you come to know of the scouting party’s disappearance?”

“The scouting party that went out yesterday hasn’t returned this morning.”

The soldier tapped his helmet with his hand.

“So, we immediately organized a search team, and… they say they found traces of the scouting party not far from the camp.”

“Traces, you say?”

“The Snowrunner that the scouting party was riding.”

*

*

*

We circled around a forest that jutted out over the meadow atop a cliff. Inside the depression of the forest, there were many people besides Catherine. Alfred, surrounded by guards, nodded to the surrounding horses.

“Is that the troublesome rock?”

And at quite a distance across the way.

A massive rock the size of a three-story inn was sitting there.

It was suspicious to anyone who looked at it.

“Atanitas. You’ve arrived. And yes, that is the rock in question.”

“There’s definitely something strange about it.”

“Are you judging just based on the rock?”

“Look around.”

Catherine elbowed Karem and pointed her staff at the area surrounding the rock. Some of the tall grass appeared flattened as if something had dragged across it.

“The indications are too clear to say it was the wind that broke the stems. My lord, has any conclusion been reached during my visit?”

“At least one has, though there’s only one person who is confident about the identity. However, I’ve never heard the claim before.”

Alfred cast his gaze toward one side of the crowd. An elderly adventurer, whose attention had been caught, began to pound his chest.

“Oh, dare I spout nonsense before anyone! That is a mimic!”

Karem reflexively turned his gaze back to the suspicious rock.

Indeed, no matter how one looked at it, it was a huge boulder.

Only a handful among those present concurred with the old adventurer. The surrounding crowd looked incredulous.

“It looks like nothing but a rock.”

Despite varying descriptions of mimics across different tales, there was one consistent feature without exception.

That they usually disguised themselves as treasure chests.

Moreover, their nesting grounds were mainly in dungeons.

The mimic of Europa was similar.

Yet the object before me, as large as a three-story building, was nothing more than a rock with a smidge of moss.

“If it were just one person, it might be possible, but a number of people are claiming it’s a mimic.”

“If it were indeed a mimic, that would make sense.”

All eyes, particularly those who had previously doubted the mimic claim, turned toward Catherine, who had crossed her arms.

“In that case, it’s only natural that such traces would remain.”

“Are you saying that rock chunk is a mimic?”

“Yes. It is a mimic. It’s my second time seeing a creature as massive as that, no, perhaps my third. Yet, I swear, I can never adapt to seeing it.”

At this point, the skeptical expressions of those who doubted started to waver. Among those present, everyone knew who Catherine was. Her reputation was a guarantee.

Still, how could one possibly see treasure in that?

It was merely a chunk of rock.

“Ha! What did I tell you? That’s a mimic, I swear!”

“If you don’t believe me, let the Snowrunner be the judge! If I’m wrong, I’ll pay double the cost!”

The only sage-level grand wizard and former S-Class adventurer of Coldon, known as the Great Frost Spirit, was a guarantee that had kept people on their feet.

Most of them, that is.

“Ha! Do you think shouting like that intimidates anyone?”

“I’ll wager my Snowrunner. I actually need one more as a backup.”

“I’ll raise you a boar! Make it a double wager!”

No matter where you are in the world, there are always those willing to jump into the flames. And with money on the line, even more so.

Two Snowrunners and one boar.

Preparations were quickly finished as the animals jumped in surprise when their owners swatted their rumps, charging toward the rock. The crowd’s gaze followed the three animals’ behinds.

“But seriously, is it really a mimic?”

Karem briefly recalled the mimics he had encountered in his previous life.

Treasure chests with tongues and teeth, or a lean figure wearing a treasure chest as a disguise, or even a giant crab monster nesting atop a treasure chest.

“Yes. A mimic can grow continuously as long as it receives a steady supply of food, only dying under one condition.”

Catherine’s gaze was fixated on the three animals racing toward the rock, relishing their freedom.

“Only when it has been defeated and regurgitates all the gear it has consumed over time.”

“But if it grew that large, would the chest… ah, the rock?”

“Yes. It can no longer find treasure chests that fit its body—and when dungeons become cramped, the mimic is finally compelled to leave the dungeon.”

Catherine pointed her staff at the boulder.

“Then it absorbs soil and stone around it into its mass, growing larger. As it devours more casualties, it continues to expand.”

Catherine didn’t need to finish her thought.

There was no need for her to.

Crack—crack—crack—

The rock split into eight pieces.

And Karem witnessed a completely new type of mimic, unlike anything he had ever imagined.

Swoosh! Swishhh!

Tentacles, resembling those of a slug but much thicker, sprouted out, sporting hundreds, maybe thousands of suction cups.

The eight tentacles simultaneously wrapped around the horse, Snowrunner, and boar.

Crack! Crunch!

That was it.

The animals, once the bets and baits, met their demise just like that.

The tentacles snatched up their prey, slowly dragging them back into the rock. Once all the tentacles disappeared inside, the pieces of rock fit together like a jigsaw puzzle and reverted to a boulder, as if nothing had happened.

Only the grass, bent by the tentacles, remained as a trace.

“…Are you telling me that’s a mimic?”

“Yes.”

“Not a land kraken or anything?”

Karem clearly saw the unique horizontal pupils of a cephalopod positioned behind the rock pieces and tentacles.

No one responded to him. Even the seasoned knights and veteran adventurers seemed flabbergasted by the current scene, blinking their eyes in astonishment.

Only those who had bets regarding the mimic made noise, but even they seemed equally taken aback.

“Hmm, when I think about it, it does resemble something similar. There might be a link to octopuses and squids.”

“…Upon closer inspection, certain features do seem to match a mimic.”

“Dear heavens. There are more creatures as grotesque and gigantic as that?”

“Squid? Octopus? What sort of monster is that?”

You don’t know what a squid or an octopus is?

What kind of nonsense is that?

Wait, it’s actually not out of the question, is it? Definitely. While shrimp and crabs can sometimes be seen around Winterhome, I have never seen a squid or an octopus.

With the bizarre exterior that hardly seems like a typical animal.

Rumor has it that there are those who are familiar with them.

Perhaps they’re relatively common in Iceland or Seophone Island, but rare elsewhere.

“Miss Catherine, do you not eat squid and octopus?”

“Hmm? Well, aside from Servianus, I don’t eat them in other regions. I can’t blame those reactions, though. More importantly…”

While responding, Catherine glanced around to address the noisy crowd. She then cleared her throat, as if to draw attention.

“It’s quite fascinating to think about the treasures it must hold, considering its size.”

“Treasures, you say?”

“Yes. When a mimic is defeated, it tends to spit out the gear taken from its previous victims. That’s why it’s hard to come across such a massive one.”

People’s gazes shifted as the confusion of seeing a land kraken diminished in the face of Catherine’s mention.

“My lord, what shall we do? The caravan won’t leave for a few days yet.”

“That’s certainly true.”

As soon as Catherine brought it up, Alfred instantly grasped the implication behind her words.

“If that creature is blocking the center of the meadow, traversing through the forest would be impossible. And if we were to go around it, there’s no guarantee it wouldn’t target the caravan instead.”

Alfred Felwinter quickly seized upon Catherine’s words and surveyed the expectations in the crowd.

People often call this greed.

And the Duke was particularly good at it.

“Unexpectedly, I must issue a hunt command.”

“What do you plan to do about the rewards?”

“To motivate the caravan participants, it would be best to add a hunting bounty in addition to the participation rewards, distributing the byproducts to all who join.”

“It can be collected en masse for convenience and then allocated based on various factors.”

“In that case, we might need to exclude some of the skilled ones, like Sir Churchill.”

“Then I will also abstain.”

As Alfred and Catherine exchanged words, the gazes of the adventurers sparkled as if seeing gold coins.

Even the soldiers and knights escorting Alfred showed interest.

Indeed, whether it was a land kraken or a dungeon monster, it no longer mattered to them.

A mimic grows in proportion to the amount of victims it has consumed.

Then how much treasure, loot—or rather, equipment from its victims—could be hidden inside that boulder, larger than most inns?

‘I absolutely have to participate.’

The atmosphere and expressions of those following Alfred transformed entirely as they returned to the camp. The notion of retrieving all the treasures was received with delight.

It was also well known that the Duke of Iceland, known for his extravagance and meticulousness in calculating costs, never broke his promises.

Of course, it would take some time, but that was something everyone could wait for.

“I never imagined a mimic could look like that.”

“Hm? You think it’s disgusting?”

“No, more than that…”

Karem briefly reflected on the image of the mimic he had just seen.

The giant tentacles and those hundreds, thousands of suction cups.

Its appearance teetered between a squid and an octopus.

Certainly, Karem had never much cared for cephalopods in his past life.

However, that didn’t mean he didn’t have his fair share of favorite dishes.

Takoyaki, spicy grilled squid, smoked squid and octopus, seafood jjampong, sautéed squid and octopus—all those delicious dishes from various places.

Suddenly.

His mouth watered.

He had never encountered anything as massive as that in his previous life, but wait. Wasn’t it similar to those giant squids used in jjampong?

All remnants of his prior resistance vanished.

And unsurprisingly, Catherine, who was closest to him, sensed the change in Karem’s gaze.

“Karem. You’re not thinking—”

“…Do you think mimics might be edible?”

“Mimics aren’t toxic, but no. Really?”

That look was one that would stay in everyone’s memory if they had witnessed Karem’s sudden impulsiveness.

Meeting Catherine’s horrified gaze filled with dark, ravenous desire, she wasn’t horrified of him directly.

But she was horrified by herself.

‘Servianus cuisine is delicious… No, wait. What am I thinking?’

Karem was repulsed by the fact that he was secretly finding it oddly appetizing.

Realizing he had been tainted, he was aghast.

“So, are you not going to eat?”

“…Let’s first hear what you plan to make.”

 

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