After Shizuku left the armor shop, she walked back the way she came. She felt very exhausted from trying on different sets of armor. Nora had a spell called painting that allowed her to create pictures of what she saw. And as her muse, Shizuku was her model for her armor. She expected to see her image in the window in the not-to-distant future.

“Your back. I already filled you up with a mug of blood.” Margret walked over with a wooden mug in her hand and gave it to Shizuku.

“You are a lifesaver!” Shizuku smiled and took the mug. She gulped down the blood and felt shocked when she found that it tasted like strawberries…. “Margret this blood?”

“Ah. That is a special blend. Of earth dragon blood and dark pixie blood. How was it?”  Margret asked curiously.

“It tasted very good. It was alike a strawberry shake.” Shizuku was very surprised that blood had so many different flavors.

“I am not sure what a strawberry shake is, but from the look on your face, my guess is it is very tasty. I am glad you liked it. I got a whole bucket of it from Mitch earlier, who said he was lucky enough to get some dismantling work. Since blood is basically useless, he set it aside and brought it over when he was done. You should stop by tomorrow and thank him.” Margret took the empty mug from Shizuku and smiled.

“I will. Thanks, Margret. You are really treating me very kindly. If you need anything, let me know.” Shizuku was very grateful for meeting so many kind people. 

“Cute girls should always be spoiled. Plus, I have always wanted a daughter, so just think of it as me showering you with my motherly instincts. Anyway, you are going to the guild tomorrow, right?” Margret asked.

“Yeah, I want to get up early if I can,” Shizuku replied. She did not know what to expect at the guild, but she hoped she could sign up without issues.

“I will knock on your door when the suns up. If you want to get a good request, you will need to learn to get up as early as possible. The registration process will also take about an hour since they will need to see some of your skills to make a proper ranking, but have you had any proper training?” Margret was worried about this since Shizuku had just arrived in this world. Having no fighting experience was not a good thing when trying to register at the guild since they will not allow you to register if you can not complete the basics.

“Ah…. Umm… Yeah, I have yet to even open my status menu yet.” Shizuku frowned slightly. She had been meaning to do it earlier but got stuck modeling for Nora.

“Then how about you do it now? I may not look it now, but I used to be an A Rank Adventurer. If you are alright with it, I can give you a few pointers tonight before bed.” Margret wanted to do what she could to assist Shizuku since she was new to this world. The church had tossed her out without even so much as a simple explanation about how to open her own status menu. She felt some pity for the girl.

“I would love that.” Shizuku smiled and nodded. “I will be back down after I put these clothes away and check my status menu.”

Shizuku turned and began walking towards the stairs before pausing her steps and turning her head to Margret once more. “Thanks again. I really do not know how to repay you.”

“Just come back alive, sweety. Dungeons, even low-level ones, are dangerous places. Monsters respawn at any moment, so it is not safe to stay in one spot for too long. I will explain more later on while I teach you a few pointers. You can at least make F Rank when you sign up.” Margret shooed Shizuku upstairs before turning around and walking back towards the counter. The only person in the inn at this time besides the two of them was another man with a scar over his eye. He sat at a table not too far away.

“Margret, that girl…. She will not have it easy…” The man said.

“I know. All I can do is try to help her as best as I can. A vampire in a human kingdom will never have it easy. Luckily, she has the fact that she was summoned as a kind of barrier. But once she enters the dungeons, she is fair game…..” Margret went silent for a moment before looking at the man. “Duglous, let me ask a favor.”

 “No need. I already planned to track and protect the little lass. I know you already care a lot for her, and I owe you a lot myself, so just think of it as me paying back a few favors.”Duglous answered before Margret could even ask.

“Then I will be counting on you,” Margret replied before pouring a mug of ale, bringing it to his table, and setting it in front of the man. “On the house.”

In her room, Shizuku set her clothes aside and sat on her bed. She then brought her finger to her mouth and bit the tip, causing it to bleed. “Status Open….”