"So this is… the rice we planted ourselves?!!"
Uvogin witnessed the entire process with his own eyes—especially watching the rice grow from the moment it was planted until it matured.
The feeling of exhilaration rising inside him surged even stronger.
It felt incredibly satisfying.
"…."
Machi still didn't say much.
But the slight curve of her lips and the faint brightness in her eyes were enough to reveal her current mood.
"Alright, there's just one final step left."
Arvin Locke tossed each of them a small sickle, both included with the planting kit.
"Cut down the rice and put it into the chimney opening on top of this machine."
At this point, no further instructions were needed.
Uvogin had already rolled up his sleeves and stepped back into the field with renewed enthusiasm.
Machi followed close behind.
As they looked at the golden rice stalks, both of them instinctively swallowed.
They could almost smell the fragrance of the grain already.
Their stomachs had been empty to begin with—
And after two hours of labor and waiting, they were now even hungrier.
Now that the results were right in front of them, they couldn't hold back any longer.
They rushed forward, swinging their sickles.
Snip—snip—snip!
Soon, the only sound filling the room was the constant cutting of rice stalks.
Before long, piles of harvested rice began stacking up in front of Arvin Locke.
"Once the rice goes into the machine, it'll automatically remove the husks, steam the rice, and finally turn it into sticky rice cake…"
Arvin Locke dumped the rice into the chimney-like opening of the machine.
As the machine began shaking, he pulled the lever.
Then—
When Uvogin and Machi finished harvesting all the rice and climbed out of the field—
"What's that…?"
They saw it.
As the machine rattled and hummed, a square block of sticky rice cake, carrying the fresh aroma of glutinous rice, slowly popped out from the bottom outlet.
Thin wisps of steam rose from it.
In an instant, the fatigue in Uvogin and Machi's bodies seemed to vanish.
Their eyes locked onto the freshly made sticky rice cake.
And then—
Drip.
One after another, steaming hot sticky rice cakes continued popping out from the machine's lower opening.
"Mm…"
Arvin Locke casually picked one up and tossed it into his mouth.
The fragrance of glutinous rice mixed with the chewy, sticky texture…
"Not bad~~~"
As he savored the taste, he nodded toward Uvogin and Machi with a smile.
Uvogin: "..."
Machi: "~~~"
Clang!
Both of them tossed their sickles aside.
Then they lunged forward like hungry tigers pouncing on prey.
Chomp! Chomp! Chomp!
Uvogin grabbed three sticky rice cakes at once and stuffed them into his mouth.
He chewed noisily as the sweet, sticky aroma filled his mouth and rushed up through his nose into his brain.
"So good~~~"
He barely managed to mumble those two words before shoving more cakes into his mouth.
If the cakes weren't so sticky—making them easy to choke on—Uvogin would've swallowed the whole pile in one go.
Even so, every time one popped out of the machine, he grabbed it immediately.
Machi's eating style wasn't nearly as wild as Uvogin's—
But her cheeks still puffed out as she stuffed them full.
"These taste better than the sticky rice cakes from the church."
She managed to say that during a brief pause between bites.
This was the second sentence she had spoken since meeting Arvin Locke.
"When you make something yourself, it naturally tastes different."
Arvin Locke smiled and picked up another cake, tossing it into his mouth.
The taste was indeed good.
Though it was a bit dry—having something to drink alongside it would've been even better.
Uvogin and Machi didn't reply.
They were too busy devouring sticky rice cakes.
Meanwhile, Arvin Locke glanced at the numbers displayed on the Sticky Rice Cake Maker.
The upper number was steadily increasing.
The lower number remained fixed at 219.
In other words, the rice they had harvested could produce 219 sticky rice cakes.
Originally it should've been 259, but because Uvogin and Machi were inexperienced, some of the rice hadn't grown properly.
Still, two hundred was more than enough.
If divided equally into three portions, that would be 73 cakes per person.
But clearly…
Arvin Locke glanced at Uvogin, who was still inhaling sticky rice cakes like a storm.
The big guy had absolutely no intention of sharing food that had already reached his mouth.
Still, that didn't really matter.
After all…
The really good stuff was still coming later.
Eventually—
After all two hundred sticky rice cakes had been produced and then quickly devoured by Uvogin like a raging whirlwind—
"Burp."
Despite not feeling particularly full, Uvogin still gave a satisfied belch.
"That was great—absolutely great!!"
He happily looked around for a stick to pick his teeth with.
But after scanning the nearly empty house, he had no choice but to give up.
Meanwhile, Machi wiped the sticky residue from her face.
Her eyes quietly shifted toward Arvin Locke.
After all—
Only once people have filled their stomachs do they begin to think more deeply.
For example:
Who exactly was this person in front of them?
Why had he gone out of his way to treat them?
And what about the Sticky Rice Cake Maker that appeared out of thin air, along with all those strange invention tools?
All of it made people instinctively start thinking.
Machi might be the quiet type, but she had already begun analyzing things.
And Uvogin—
Although he appeared loud and straightforward, his mind was actually quite sharp.
Unlike Machi, who preferred silence, he chose a far more direct approach.
He opened his mouth and asked.