The Morning Dew. Located near the eastern gate, it seemed to have a perfect balance of cost effectiveness and good service. As I entered, a warm, homely smell coupled with the spices from the cooking meal wafted into my head. My stomach was kind enough to remind me I had not eaten since my arrival to this world, annoucing its discomfort to the world.

The receptionist put down the book she had been leafing through (oh, how I wish I could read!) and turned her attention to me.

"Well, ain't this surprising. MA!! We got us a customer!"

"What? You best not be yankin' my chain, cause if ya are, the switch is a coming. We ain't had two customers in a day since your Da moved on!"

I was a little surprised. The lady in front of me and her mother were apparently the owners of this inn, but this town must have less visitors than I thought. Still, why in the world do they have southern accents?

"MA! Just come out an' deal with 'im!"

The kitchen doors swung open and a motherly figure stepped out. Drying her hands in her apron, her eyes opened wide as she saw me.

"Sweet Charn almighty, we got us a guest!"

"I told ya Ma, didn't I? I"ll watch the grub so it don't burn."

They switched places. The mother pulled out a book, pen and ink, probably to keep a log.

"One night costs 2 large copper, and meals are 5 copper a day. How long will ya be staying here?"

"Let's make it a week to start. I may be staying longer, but that should be good for now."

The money system was a bit wierd. there were coppers, which were the lowest denomination. 10 coppers made one large copper, 10 large coppers were one silver, and 100 silver were one gold. An average day's wage were about 5 large copper, depending on what type of business you ran.

"That'll be one silver without meals, and 1 silver, three large and 5 small copper with with meals."

"I'll take the meals."

Doling out the money, it seemed that for odd numbers the system rounded up rather than down. very useful, making my money strech that much farther. The manager counted out the money, then put it into a coin pouch on her purse.

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"Hey Fran! Set another place!"

"Just a second Ma!"

"Here's yer room key. Fran'll call you when supper's on."

Looking at the key, I realized I couldn't tell the chicken scratch on it from anything else. I decided to just try to match it with the symbols on the door. Walking upstairs I passed by the healer from the stadium. She pretty much froze midstep and stared at me.

"Fancy meeting you here."

I always wanted to say that! My mind was giddy with the chance I had been presented.

"Um, yeah. I-It's a weird coincidence, isn't it?"

So cute! She was blushing and stammering, avoiding my eyes. I never understood those MC that were so clueless that they could ignore signs like this. It was so painfully obvious, but I had very little experience in this area. I would just let her set the pace.

At that moment, a loud growling filled the hallway. A single look at how her face turned a deeper shade of red confirmed it. She was extremely hungry.

"Are you going to be joining us for the meal?"

"No, i-it's fine. I have some food with me, s-so..."

Her stomach made a big complaint at that moment. Cue internal sigh.

"If you can't pay, let me treat you tonight. It's obvious that you haven't had a big meal in a while."

Her eyes widened.

"N-no! I can't ask you to do that. You already helped me earlier, so I..."

"Honestly, I have more money than I know what to do with. It does me no use if it just sits there."

"E-even so, i-if you sp-spend it on me, I-I...."

As she got more flustered, her stuttering increased, as well as her movements. the hood on her robe slipped a bit. and my eyes were drawn to one key point: FOX EARS!!

She didn't seem to notice, but that drove the point home. Animal girls are life. Furries were a no go, but humans with animal ears and tails..... I'm getting sidetracked.

"Fine, if you can show me which room is mine, we'll call it even."

"Eh?"

A confused look spead across her face.

"I can't read the language here, so I don't know which room this points to."

She took a look at the key and pointed to a room a little ways down the hall. The room seemed clean enough, and had a candle already burning inside. While I was taking a look around, a shout reverberated throughout the inn, music to my ears.

"Grub's on!"

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I ran into that man again. I got so nervous I could barely speak. What would he think if he knew I was going to go see if I could scrounge up some scraps? I had barely any money to my name, and 5 coppers for a day of meals was too expensive for me. It took the village a year to come up with a gold to register as a dungeon diver. I couldn't waste money, and this would be my last night I could pay for the inn too...

"If you can't pay, let me treat you tonight. It's obvious that you haven't had a big meal in a while."

His words shook me to the core. Here was someone who cared enough to help out someone like me, a poor village girl, in exchange for some basic information. I only wish I could pay him back more...

The meal was delicious. The man introduced himself as Gabriel Bloodbourne, and he had a very easygoing personality. He didn't seem to care for what others thought, explaining himself that what he did now was done "on a whim." Deal with the present rather than worry for the future is how he explained it. If only I were like that, being able to act however I liked...

Unfortunately the meal was over quickly, but a thrill ran through me as we went back to our rooms. Seven words were enough to set me on fire: "See you at the ranking test, Sina"