A bustling city. Buildings made of brick and mortar. The citizens of Vandale, within the capital city of Vespa, went about their daily business as per usual. The only difference was that a white-haired girl with ruby-red eyes was catching all their attention as she slowly sauntered down the road. 

Shizuku still had a lot to learn about this world, but she first needed to find a place to stay. After being pretty much forced out of the cathedral with coin and letter in hand, she knew she was now on her own. She wore priestess robes since that was the only clothing they had for her. While she did wish to find some easier clothes to move in, she decided it would be best to first find a place to stay. 

The smell of meat filled Shizuku’s nose, causing her mouth to water a little. She let her nose lead the way as she made her way to a butcher’s shop that had a roadside stall on the outside. “Can I help you, lady?” The muscular man standing behind the counter asked.

“Ummm….” Shizuku licked her lips when she smelt the scent of blood coming from the meat. She realized the thing that was making her salivate was the blood and not the meat itself. “Do you…. Ummmm….” Shizuku was still trying to come to terms with this new urge to drink blood welling up inside her. Normally, she would have been disgusted by the idea of drinking blood, but she chose vampire, knowing full well that she would need to drink the blood of others.

The butcher looked at Shizuku, who seemed to be hesitating and sighed. He knelt down, picked up a mug, walked over to a bucket not too far away, and scooped up a red liquid from within. “Here. On the house. I would normally toss it away anyway.” 

    Shizuku’s eyes lit up as she looked at the mug that was filled to the top with the liquid gold. “Are you sure? I can pay you….” 

“It’s fine. Drink up. If you want more, let me know. I normally have pig blood at all times, so you can come get some when you need. We do not get many races around here, and many are prejudiced against them, but there are many who are not, including me. I know you vamps need to drink blood, and instead of causing trouble for the people, it would be good if you  just came to my shop.” The butcher replied with a smile. He really did not have any issues with the other races. He could care less. To him, a customer was a customer.

“Thank you!” Shizuku held the mug in her hands before slowly putting it to her lips. The red liquid flowed into her mouth, causing a strong taste of bacon to attack her taste buds.  A big smile and a look of surprise could be seen on her face as she looked at the butcher. “Good! Taste like bacon!”

“Haha! Good! The names Mitch. Normally, I am the only one here, but sometimes my wife Gale will be here. Just ask her if you need anything.” Mitch could tell that Shizuku was a good girl and nothing like the stories. Her honest expressions and how she acted told him a lot about people. He had been dealing with people since he was a little one, so he knew a good person when he saw one.

“My name is Shizuku. And Here.” Shizuku took out a gold coin and put it on the counter. 

“This… I said it was free, and plus, this would be enough to buy all the meat in my stall!” Mitch tried to give the gold coin back, but Shizuku shook her head, refusing to take it.

“A person who does good deeds deserves to be treated in kind. You held me, so I hope this will help you. If you still feel reluctant to take it, then just think of it as future payment for the blood I will be taking. It is also my gratitude for being the very first person from this world who was kind to me.” Shizuku’s smile never faded as she finished her drink and passed the mug back to Mitch. 

“You…. You were summoned?” Mitch asked in a low voice.

“Mmm… I, too, was human. But when Goddess Yunni gave me my class and gift, she also changed my race. Maybe she wanted the church here to see the good in the other races, but well, they booted me out as soon as they could.” Of course, Shizuku would not speak the entire truth.

“Figures as much. While we do live here, not many like the priests and priestesses. We are all just trying to make a living and nothing else. But kicking out a person you just summoned when the one you worship is the one who changed her race. Our goddess is very kind. She is someone who looks over all races, not just a single one. We citizens of Vandale worship our goddess, not the people of the church. Only some are willing to believe in the crap church is spitting out. 

“Anyway, if you need an inn, I would suggest Margret’s place. She is like me and my wife. So she will give you a deal. But I am afraid it will be hard for you to find a job.  If you have any combat ability, I would suggest the Adventurers Guild and go dungeon diving or kill some monsters in the forest outside the capital. This will give you plenty to live off of.” Mitch did not say it, but even he could not hire Shizuku if he wanted to. It was one thing to be kind to her as a customer, but to hire her to work the counter would hurt his business. Those who dislike the Fallen would refuse to come to his shop anymore.

They would say the shop had been tainted by the Fallen and that all his goods were cursed. He had seen it happen before when a werewolf was hired at a shop. Someone picked a fight with the man and angered him, triggering his transformation, which caused a huge disturbance. In the end, even though the werewolf was innocent, he was still arrested instead of the man who started it all just because he was a werewolf.

“Also, Shizuku…. You need to be careful. Those who hold grudges against your kind might try to cause you trouble. You will be the one to get arrested no matter the cause.” Mitch warned. He did not wish to see a good girl like Shizuku get in trouble.

“Thank you. I will take your words to heart. Umm… what time do you close? I might be back for dinner.” Shizuku licked her lips.

“Haha. Don’t worry. I will actually run this bucket of blood up to Margret before dinner time. This way, you will have it on hand. Just come by and tell me when you run out, and I will send more over.” Mitch was all smiles. “Oh, right. To get to Margret’s place, go to the end of the road….” 

After getting directions from Mitch to Marget’s place, Shizuku bid him farewell and headed towards the inn.