When Wiley questioned us about how we managed to hunted down the Fangblade Tiger, three voices suddenly came to our rescue.
"Miss Sylvie, we didn't see the Fangblade Tiger anywhere in the southern forest. Is this quest even real?"
"We even set out early in the morning for this."
"We searched the entire forest and found nothing. Did it run away?"
Everyone turned toward the group of men talking—the same three who kept looking back at us this morning.
But… they mentioned the Fangblade Tiger. Did we accidentally steal their quest?
Sylvie walked up to them.
"My apologies, the Fangblade Tiger has already been hunted down. The guild master is holding it right now."
If she hadn't mentioned that Wiley was still holding the tiger, I might've forgotten—when was he planning to put it down?
"W–WHAT!?"
The trio shouted in unison, eyes widening at the sight of the Fangblade Tiger in Wiley's hands. Then came a barrage of frenzied questions.
"Wasn't this a Blue-Rank quest!?"
"There shouldn't be any other Blue-Rank adventurers here except us!"
"Who stole our quest!?"
"This was our Digoman's chance to get famous!"
"Hey! Was it you!?"
They began interrogating the nearby adventurers.
Blue-Rank? Is that an adventurer rank? And their party name seems to be Digoman.
Everyone denied responsibility and turned their eyes toward us.
The trio followed their gaze.
"Don't tell me it was those two kids!"
"EXACTLY!!!"
Everyone agreed in perfect unison.
So rude! Are we going to be hated now?
"That's impossible. They're just kids—and not even adventurers."
One of the men thought everyone was joking, but the other two stared at us with strange expressions, as if remembering something.
"Wait… the black-haired boy and the white-haired girl…"
"Hey! Aren't they the kids we saw this morning, riding that weird thing!?"
At the mention of that, Wiley looked at them.
"Weird thing?"
"It's—"
This was going to take forever. I cut in.
"Wait, I'll explain. Lina, take the bicycle out."
"Mm."
Lina took the bicycle out of the storage hole.
The trio pointed at it excitedly.
"That's the one!"
"They were riding it and zoomed past us!"
"Their legs were moving nonstop!"
"Quiet!"
Wiley quieted them so I could talk.
"This is a bicycle. It's an easy-to-use vehicle that can pass through narrow paths and lets you travel quickly."
Everyone stared at it with curiosity. Even Wiley asked,
"Karen, did you two make this?"
"Yes. Because we lived far from here. If we walked, it would take days."
"Which village are you from?"
"Savapadi Village."
"Savapadi… isn't that the one closest to the border!?"
"Yes."
So he knew about Sawapadi Village.
He didn't know the village was destroyed.
"When did you leave?"
"Yesterday morning. It rained on the way, so we stayed overnight in the forest."
The others began whispering again, half-doubting our words.
"The border is almost 100 km away… that fast?"
"No way…"
"This bicycle thing is amazing!"
"So you camped in the forest last night, and that's when you hunted down the monsters?"
Will brought the topic back. I explained.
"Actually, the monsters were fighting over territory. Their roaring woke us up, so we took the chance to catch them."
"I see. Since they were noisy, you hunted down them?"
"Right."
Wiley nicely summarized it.
The trio said nothing, still staring at the bicycle.
"I understand. So… how does this bicycle work?"
Wiley seemed very interested. I looked at Lina.
"Lina, can you show them? Just ride around the wall once."
Since I needed to explain things and Lina wasn't good at explaining, she would demonstrate instead.
"Mm."
I asked the others to make way.
"Excuse me, please give her some space."
They stepped aside, and Lina rode around the wall.
Wiley then asked,
"Karen, why doesn't it fall while moving? But it falls when stopped."
"Because learned to balance. When riding, you automatically keep the bicycle upright. At first you fall because you haven't found the sense of balance, but once you do, you won't fall even on bumpy roads."
Honestly, I had no idea. I just said what felt right.
"Can I try?"
A request I had to refuse.
The bicycle was made for mine and Lina's height. Wiley's legs were too long—and he might break it too.
"I'm sorry. It's made of wood, so… it might not be suitable."
"I see. Then let's find someone close to your height. I want to hear how beginners feel when learning."
Although Wiley had given up on trying it himself, he still wanted to hear a beginner's impression.
I turned to Lina to ask for her opinion—after all, the bicycle belonged to her, and I couldn't agree on my own. Understanding what I meant, Lina nodded her approval.
"…Alright."
I searched for a suitable person—short, light, preferably female.
I found one.
"You, the lady with the black staff."
She looked slightly taller than me, with a small, slender build. She wore a red cloak and a witch's hat.
"…Me?"
She pointed at herself.
"Oh, it's Lukie,"
Wiley called her name, and she walked toward us nervously.
"I'll teach you. First, sit on it."
"O-Okay!"
I pointed at different parts of the bicycle as I explained.
"Hold the handlebar firmly with both hands. If you want to stop, pull this brake lever. The bicycle will slow down. Try pulling it first, then try moving your feet forward."
Lukie pulled the brake lever and tried to move, but the bicycle didn't budge. She let out a surprised noise.
"Wha… huh? It won't move?"
I wanted her to learn how to stop first—otherwise she might panic when she needed to stop and crash the bicycle.
"I'm teaching you how to stop first because it's important. You can release the brake now. Next, push the ground backward firmly with your foot and lift your feet afterward. If you can move about one meter, it means you're close to getting the balance."
"Okay, I'll try… It's so hard to stay balanced."
Since Lukie was practicing, we should take the chance to finish what we came for—selling the monsters and registering as adventurers. I call Wiley.
"Guild master, can we return to the original matter now?"
"…Ah, Sylvie."
Wiley responded a beat late—Sylvie also reacted a beat late.
"Y-Yes! Guild master. Please come over here, Mr. Karen and Miss Lina."
We returned to the counter, and Sylvie began calculating the price of the monsters.
"The Sugrith Tiger is 50 copper coins, and the Fangblade Tiger is 1 silver coins. After deducting the dismantling fee, the total will be 1 silver 30 copper coins."
So the dismantling fee is 10 copper coins per monster?
"By the way, what is the purpose of magic core?"
Why did the guild buy magic core? There must be some use for them.
"Our guild resells them to other locations, where they're processed into magic tools."
"Magic tools?"
"For example, this hair dryer. There is a wind-elemental magic core inside. If you inject mana, it blows out wind, allowing you to dry your hair quickly."
Sylvie took out a tube-like device. Her hair began fluttering, even though I couldn't feel any wind from where I was standing.
Then she handed it to me. I examined it—the handle had a green stone embedded in it, presumably the magic core. But I wasn't sure how to inject mana.
(Inject mana? Could it be the same as using non-elemental magic?)
I tried gathering mana into my hand. Suddenly, wind blew out from the device. It felt nice and cool.
Lina watched the hair dryer with curiosity, so I pointed it at her face. Her hair fluttered with the wind; even her bangs lifted and revealed her forehead. She quickly covered her face with her hands and got mad. So cute.
I handed the dryer to her and explained how to use it. Sylvie continued explaining about magic tools.
"Magic tools are mostly daily-use items made for people who don't have certain elemental."
"That's amazing."
The person who discovered this use for magic core must've been a genius. Maybe there are magic tools that can control fire temperature too. As for earth-elemental magic tools… I couldn't think of any.
"Miss Sylvie, how much is the reward for the Fangblade Tiger quest?"
I wanted to switch to receiving the request reward instead. Since it was a dangerous monster, the reward should be higher. From what the trio said, Blue Rank seemed pretty high.
"You mean the Blue-Rank request taken by Digoman? That one is 10 silver coins."
"Can't we treat it as if we completed the quest?"
"I'm sorry, but since you two are not adventurers yet, we cannot count it as your achievement."
Too bad—rules are rules. At that moment, Wiley approached us.
"I heard your request. Sylvie, change it to count as their completion."
Wiley agreed to my request, but Sylvie became frantic at his decision.
Beside me, Lina placed the hair dryer on the counter.