"Please, you must help me find them!" the woman pleaded, her tearful eyes beseeching and searching for sympathy – something Gray did not have to offer. "How stupid I was to leave them all alone like that! All I wanted to do was give them some sun! Next thing I know, they're gone!"

He looked over at Erza, but she was listening intently. He felt like smacking his forehead. The woman went on: "I saw someone running off to the west but I was too frightened to journey into the woods alone. Please... can you help me?"

Erza took the woman's hands in hers and sniffed emotionally.

"Of course we will. Fairy Tail mages never leave a contract unfinished. We shan't rest until you are reunited with your Jumbo potatoes."

"Gods bless you! If I don't have them for the next batch of my famous Potato Bread, I don't know what I'll do!"

Gray smacked his forehead. They'd travelled three hours by train to arrive at a small town called Goldenloaf. All for a lady who'd had her potatoes kidnapped.

An entire day of my life I'll never get back. Ugh.

"Of all the quests you coulda picked," he began once they left the woman's house, "you picked this."

"Yes."

"Potato thievery."

"Indeed."

He glared at her. "Why?"

She looked back at him. "Because the woman needed help and I wanted to provide it. Do you not want to accompany me?"

"It just seems petty."

"No such thing, Gray. Either everybody matters or nobody matters."

Sighing, Gray rubbed his face and swallowed his groan. At least he'd be getting paid, he reminded himself.

"Fine. Let's just get this over with."

"That's the spirit!"

The woman had decided to sunbathe her potatoes on a table in her lawn. The terrain was grassy, so tracking wasn't all that difficult. It was the only thing Gray derived some satisfaction out of.

"See, the grass is flattened completely in some places," he said as he knelt to study the scene. "But the colour isn't any different."

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning that if it was flattened by a rock, it'd lose pigment after a while. Since it's the same colour as the rest, it's been flattened recently." He stood up. "There's a pattern to the flattening, too." He pointed. "Right, left, right left."

"Footsteps," said Erza. Gray nodded.

"Yeah. And judging from the stride, it's a pretty huge potato thief. Maybe an ogre. Or a troll."

"With a taste for potatoes." Erza summoned a sword. "Right. Let's follow the tracks. See where it leads us."

The tracks led to a small cave not fifty yards from the town. Gray and Erza exchanged a look and shared a nod. It was time to go in and probably face whatever called the cave home.

So they rushed in, fully expecting a fierce fight.

And found a troll seated on an oversized wooden chair, staring longingly at a pile of potatoes on an equally oversized table. He seemed happy to see them.

As it turned out, the troll used to do the usual troll thing – guard a bridge and ask for a toll. But word had gotten out that he was a vegetarian, and the others in the Troll Bridge Toll Association (TBTA for short) started mocking him. Eventually, he quit and set up shop in the cave, but business was down, and he'd taken to petty thievery.

"Mee wurst troll evurr," he lamented. "Nobuddy pay brijj tole! Me not sceary enuff!"

Then he just started sobbing.

Gray stood there not knowing what to do. Admittedly, this was one of the most bizarre things he had ever encountered. Part of him wanted to awkwardly pat the troll's shoulder and tell him everything would be all right, but he also felt bad about having to take away the potatoes. He didn't want to make him sadder than he already was.

Erza, however, shared none of his hesitance.

"You poor thing!" she exclaimed and pulled the troll's head into her breastplate. The sickening crunch made Gray blanch. "I'll cook you the best vegetarian meal you've ever had and you'll never go hungry again!"

What followed was truly a spectacle. Erza summoned her suitcases of ingredients, and, true to her word, fixed up a purely vegetarian feast for the troll, who was now crying out of happiness. He ate a hearty meal and complimented Erza repeatedly in his broken, troll way and she soaked up every bit of it, though modestly.

You sell-out.

But that did the trick, for the troll gave away the potatoes willingly. Gray took them back to the woman while Erza made sure the troll ate every last morsel.

The lady was tending to her garden when he arrived, and she shot to her feet and ran to the garden gate.

"You have them! You have them! Oh, I can sense they're with you!"

"Yes, Ma'am," Gray replied and handed her the satchel of potatoes. "Here you go. Your long lost Jumbo potatoes. All accounted for."

"Oh my goodness," she screeched and snatched the satchel from his hand and peered inside and counted. Then she looked up at him, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "You found them! Ohhh, I could kiss you!"

Gray held up his hands and backed away. "No need for that. Just, uh, doing our job."

"But as promised, I owe you a–oh." She stopped, staring at something over his shoulder. "Oh my."

Puzzled, Gray looked back, and sighed. Erza was returning, accompanied by the troll. She explained the troll's situation to the townsfolk and had them employ the troll as a guard, to be paid for his services in vegetables.

Problem solving was a skill that Erza had mastered. Just not in the conventional way. What was conventional, however, was the promise of a reward, and Gray was looking forward to getting paid. That would've made all this... ridiculousness worth it.

"For your efforts, I present you with my first batch of Famous Potato Bread!" The woman beamed at them as Gray saw his hopes and dreams crumble before his eyes. "More valuable than Jewel! Enjoy!"

Erza took them almost reverently. "We certainly shall. Much obliged."

The troll even gave her a hug as a parting gift. Gray looked on sourly. She'd had a more profitable day than he did and all he wanted to do was go home to sleep this experience away.

"So, Gray," Erza began as they left the town behind, heading for the train station. "Are you ready for the next quest?"

"Say what now?"

She fanned out a stack of quest requests and smiled at him. "This is a good opportunity for you to get better quickly. You can do so while helping people. Win-win."

Gray's shoulders sagged and he sighed deeply.