Two days later.

Northwest of Lobet City, at Giant Stone Ridge.

Exquisite maid shoes stepped onto sand- and gravel-strewn ground. Hot wind tugged at her skirt, kicking up dust.

“According to the map, Giant Stone Village should be just ahead,” Suran said after comparing the map with the surroundings.

Originally, Hushang of the trio handled navigation.

For two days on the road, the trio had been energetic and chatty, sharing wilderness tales while sighing, “Ah, adventurers truly belong in the wild!”

But as the mission site drew near, they all froze. Without a word, they handed the map to Suran and let her lead.

“C-can we… see the target? That ‘Granite Stone Giant’?” the trio asked timidly from behind.

“I don’t think so,” Suran replied. “The mission says we must eliminate all targets ‘pretending to sleep.’ If so, they won’t be easily visible.”

“Oh right… we were so nervous we almost forgot the hint…”

“Let’s scout the area first. We’re very close to the target zone.”

Under Suran’s lead, the group pressed on.

Soon, a village came into view.

With few trees around, villagers had built settlements using rocks as natural walls against beasts and sandstorms.

But this village was in ruins.

Protective stone walls lay shattered, leaving vast crumbling remains. Houses were crushed under boulders; debris and oddly shaped stone fragments littered the ground.

“This must be ‘Giant Stone Village’?” Suran glanced around calmly. “It’s completely destroyed. The villagers likely evacuated.”

“How tragic… imagining those who couldn’t escape when the rocks fell…” The trio sighed softly, taking in the devastation.

“Help… help… help…”

A faint cry drifted from the village into everyone’s ears.

“Someone’s still inside? Trapped under rubble?!”

Hearing it, Hushang panicked and bolted straight into the village.

“Hushang! It’s too dangerous alone—come back!” Ruby cried, watching him recklessly charge ahead.

Seeing he wouldn’t stop, Ruby turned urgently to Suran:

“Maid Sister, Hushang’s old village was destroyed by a mudslide. He couldn’t save his younger brother buried in the rubble. That’s why he rushed in—he saw the same situation!”

“Maid Sister, we have to call him back!”

“Hush. Don’t panic.” Suran raised a delicate finger to her lips.

Hushang quickly found the cry’s source—beneath a rubble pile.

“Buried… wait, I’ll dig you out!”

He dug barehanded without hesitation. His palms bled from sharp edges, yet nothing lay beneath.

“W-what… how?” Hushang stammered, muttering, “The cry… it came from right here… nothing?”

Just then, the voice returned—same tone, now twisted:

“Blood… hehe… sweet, sweet blood…”

But the real shock came next.

The voice issued from a round stone buried under rubble.

It had eyes and a mouth. Hushang’s blood on its surface vanished—as if consumed.

“M-monster!!” Hushang gasped.

The stone burst into laughter. The ground trembled. Scattered stones reassembled into limbs and torso. The laughing stone became the head. A massive, terrifying stone giant loomed before them.

“Blood! More blood!!”

The giant raised a foot to crush Hushang—

A blur flashed. Suran appeared before it, skirt fluttering. A dagger spun on her fingertip, then shot straight into the giant’s “heart.”

The tiny blade pierced deep, exposing the glowing magical core.

“You—”

The giant recoiled, reaching to block and cover the core. But Suran was faster. Before it finished the word, she yanked the core free.

She landed gracefully, walking away without looking back. Behind her, the giant collapsed with a thunderous crash, dust and gravel flying.

“D-defeated? Just like that?”

Hushang slumped to the ground, still reeling from the horror of a talking stone becoming a giant—already gone.

“The threat is cleared. Stand up,” Suran said, approaching him.

“Y-yes!” Hushang scrambled up, brushing dust off, steadying his breath. “So scared… never expected a trap. Maid Sister, when did you know?”

“When I saw the village, I counted the rubble’s quantity and size,” Suran replied, gesturing to the ruins. “Giant Stone Village used rocks for walls. Rebuild them to normal height? Extra stones remain. Assemble those extras? They form a stone giant.”

“Add the ‘pretending to sleep’ hint—the answer was clear.”

The trio stared, dumbfounded.

“Maid Sister… beyond your insight, even thinking to reassemble the stones shows more experience than most adventurers…”

“Basic reasoning,” Suran said calmly.

“But Suran—did you notice something odd?” Lyasis spoke up. “Stones awakened by magic grow a heart-like core, yes, but their minds are usually simple.”

“Pretending to sleep is one thing. But this one shattered itself, faked cries, set a trap to lure us, and craved blood. That’s unnatural.”

“Exactly!” the trio chimed in. “Stone giants are brute-force brutes! How’d it get so cunning?”

“And bloodthirsty? Absolutely monstrous!”