Everyone rushed over, begging me to make a bicycle for them. With everyone talking at once—one sentence after another—I started to lose my patience. Finally, I shouted at the top of my lungs.
"Stop!"
Everyone fell silent immediately, and I quickly continued,
"Listen to me, I won't be making any more bicycles. It takes a lot of time to build even one, so… I'm sorry!"
Hearing that, everyone's faces turned visibly disappointed.
Seeing them like that made me feel guilty, as if I had done something terribly wrong.
Just then, Lina tugged my sleeve and whispered something into my ear—something that gave me an idea. I grabbed her hand and dashed out of the guild.
"Sorry! We have something to take care of!"
What Lina told me was that the dangerous monster in the southern forest—the Fangblade Tiger—had already been hunted down. That meant the rubber tappers could finally return to work. We needed to inform Gajeel right away.
We ran all the way to Gageel's forge. When we pushed open the door, the interior was still dimly lit, and as usual, no customers were inside.
We headed straight to the counter and called out loudly.
"Store owner!"
A moment later, Gajeel came out through the back door.
"Coming, coming—oh, it's you two. Didn't you say you'd come back in a few days?"
I quickly told him about the southern forest.
"I just heard at the Adventurers' Guild that the dangerous monster in the southern woods has been taken care of. Does that mean you can go collect rubber now?"
"Really!? Then I need to hurry and gather as much as I can! The more I study this stuff, the more excited I get. I even want to try making the tires myself."
Gajeel was thrilled. It looked like he had found some kind of passion during his research. That was fine by me—I had already formed a plan.
"We're coming with you."
I wanted to learn how rubber tapping worked. Rubber had countless uses—gloves, bands, hoses, and more.
"Alright, just give me a moment to pack up. I'll be quick."
After Gajeel finished closing up the shop, the three of us headed toward the southern forest together.
We arrived at the southern forest—Lina, Gajeel, and I—and soon enough, Gajeel located the rubber trees.
He pulled out the tapping tools from his storage hole. I had taught him how to use them before we set out; otherwise, it would've taken much longer to reach the forest.
Using the tools, Gajeel carved one neat cut after another along the tree trunk, then tied a small bowl beneath the cuts. Once the latex began to flow, it would drip into the bowl.
He repeated the same process on several trees. Drop by drop, the white sap gathered inside the bowls, but filling even one bowl took a very long time. By the time we finished, it was already noon.
"We'll come back after lunch."
Gajeel suggested we eat first. The moment he said that, my stomach growled. Lina and I immediately agreed.
"Sure."
"Mm."
We returned to town, and under Gagil's lead, arrived at a small restaurant. There weren't many customers, so we chose a table and sat down.
A staff approached, placed several booklets on the table, and greeted us with a smile.
"Here are the menus. Call me when you're ready to order."
Each of us picked one up. I flipped through the pages—so many different foods and drinks. Then Gagil called the server over.
"One chicken rice and a coffee."
He placed his order.
"I want chicken rice, and a lemon tea."
I chose the same meal, but a different drink. I had always loved lemon tea in my previous life, so it was my default choice.
"I also want chicken rice and lemon tea too."
Lina ordered the same. I had noticed earlier that she seemed troubled—probably because she didn't know what to pick.
"Let me repeat your order. Three chicken rice, one coffee, and two lemon teas. Correct?"
The server confirmed. Gajeel nodded impatiently.
"Correct."
"I'll take the menus back then. If you want to add anything later, just call me."
The server collected the menus. While we waited, I turned to Gajeel.
"Store owner, how's your business lately?"
Since it was obviously bad, Gagil shot me a displeased look.
"As you can see, there are no customers."
No wonder—his shop was so dark inside. Then I offered him a proposal.
"Have you thought about switching to selling bicycles? I think they'll sell really well."
"Is that so? Tell me more."
I told him everything that happened back at the Adventurers' Guild—how everyone wanted a bicycle.
"Oh? That does sound promising."
He looked genuinely interested.
"Do you want my help? If there's anything unclear, I can explain. Honestly, I'm worried that I forgot to write down some important details."
Before we could continue, the server brought our meals and drinks. We ate while talking.
"Sure, I have a lot of questions for you."
After finishing lunch, Gajeel called the server to pay the bill.
"That'll be 13 copper coins."
So cheap. Gajeel took some coins from his wallet and handed them over.
"Here."
"Thank you. Please come again."
The staff here were really polite—smiling the entire time. We stood up and walked out of the restaurant. I took out my wallet, intending to reimburse him for our meals, but Gajeel stopped me.
"Karen, I'm treating you. No need to pay me back."
"But that's not right…"
Before I could finish, he cut me off.
"Does an adult need a reason to treat someone?"
With that, I couldn't refuse anymore.
"Alright then. Thank you, store owner"
"Thank you, store owner."
Lina and I thanked him, and we returned to the forest to check the rubber trees. The bowls didn't look much different from before lunch.
"That's normal. Filling one bowl takes several days."
At that moment, an evil idea popped into my mind. I turned to Gajeel and asked him a question.
"Store owner, how long ago did the dangerous monsters appear?"
"About 10 days ago, I think."
"So, the rubber tappers haven't come to work in these 10 days, right?"
"...I don't think so. Are you suggesting... maybe it's possible? Let's go."
Gajeel understood my idea immediately and led us to the place, while Lina followed with a face that showed she half understood.
We arrived at another area with rubber trees, each tree fitted with a bowl, the place where the rubber tappers usually work.
Since the tappers hadn't come for 10 days, the bowls should have already filled with latex. Lina seemed to understand my plan, wearing an expression of "you are so bad".
I looked into the bowls, and sure enough, they were full of latex. Gagil then took out three buckets, one for each of us, and we began pouring the latex from the bowls into the buckets.
We only poured half of each bowl, just in case the adventurers' guild had already notified the tappers. If they came tomorrow and found the bowls empty, they would surely get suspicious.
Even so, the amount of latex was more than expected; the buckets were already full.
"Alright, let's head back quickly. I'm already looking forward to making it."
Gajeel urged us to return. After placing the buckets into the storage magic, we went back to the forge.