The move to the second district was good and all but there was a problem. Since it was a district for Valkyrie it meant that he was the only man there. Even more so most of them being around his age, a few small groups curious about him being there became a large one.
"This is where you'll be staying. It's a newer building and all of the notes we have about blacksmiths have been put inside." Scarlett turned to Shu who was holding all of his belongings, two items in a small bag.
They were standing in front of a three story building. It wasn't small but all the full sized homes next to it made it look so. Still, it was bigger than anything he ever thought that he would live in.
"I'll come back to check up on you later." She said already turning away back the way she came.
"Huh? You're just gonna leave?" He suddenly felt like a rabbit dropped into a lion's den.
"You haven't figured out exactly how to use the class yet, and I'm a busy woman. You'll be fine." Scarlett left him with a knowing smile, the scary expression she held yesterday completely gone.
And he was right to have been worried. He got there early in the morning and only managed to enter his new home once the night had fallen. It seemed like everyone in the entire district stopped by to see who he was.
Though he couldn't really blame them much considering women had their class checked at birth, and if they were a candidate they grew up inside of this district.
The first floor was a workshop, there wasn't really a front door but rather a forge built about half a step into the ground. Anvils, a furnace, weapon stands, and a lot of free space for stone countertops to place items. Inside the countertop was a set of cubby holes which he assumed was to hide things out of sight.
[Skill learned: Basic Repair]
[Skill learned: Basic Knowledge]
[Skill learned: Basic Teaching]
"So that's what this place was for." Looking around the open room a little more he could guess that it was a work area made to be watched. A few wooden benches had been placed against the wall, and the upper walls hung down a little to create shade.
Having the main forge be outside would have been a problem. A) for his focus and B) because it'd mean terrible weather would make working just as terrible.
Shu stepped into the door that made this outside work area into a half room then found himself standing in a workshop similar to one outside. In the middle of the room was a large furnace with four separate openings.
[Skill learned: Basic Crafting learned]
[Skill learned: Blacksmith Language]
[Skill Learned: Armor knowledge]
[Skill learned: Heat Resistance]
[Skill learned: Flame creation]
"Armor knowledge? I don't remember hearing them talk about it." He didn't put much thought into it, rather just moving to the next part of the inside. Workstations and tools lined the walls, stacks of chopped wood standing in between each one.
It was possible to open a few windows up to which he guessed was to let heat escape from the building. A single one around the door so that he could see outside. The biggest thing in the room aside from the furnace being storage containers for created weapons.
[Skill learned: ???]
"Blanked out? Why the hell would I get a skill if I can't read it?" He scratched his head but decided to let it go, his exhaustion outweighed his curiosity. For now he just wanted to finally get some sleep.
Shu climbed the stairs in the back to the third floor and looked around the place for his bedroom. There had been about seven of them so he just grabbed the one at the end of the hall. It only took a few seconds to fall asleep.
. . .
In the morning his eyes felt heavy, which by itself was an improvement from how they usually felt. Most mornings he woke up dead like a log, today he woke up feeling lazy. Says a lot to the quality of the bed.
He went through his morning routine, taking a bath and being surprised by how clean it was, brushing his teeth- happy to have a new brush, putting on clothes without holes in various places, and cleaning himself up. He looked at himself in the mirror feeling like a whole new man.
His once messy hair had been tied back into a low pony to stay out of his way while working, he couldn't fix the resting bitch face of his eyes but they looked healthier, and his skin looked a lot cleaner. It made the scars on his face stand out more. "A few more days and I won't look like a vampire."
The bedrooms were on the third floor, a kitchen being on the second. The reason for bringing this up is that he heard noises from the second floor while moving down to the first. He had thought it was his mind playing tricks on him due to hunger but the sound of footsteps gave him pause.
Slowly he opened the door and found a woman in a maid outfit placing a plate down on the table. She had this motherly aura surrounding her, and looked far too beautiful to simply be a maid.
Long soft brown hair tied in the back to create the look of ribbons, oval shaped glasses sitting over kind green eyes, and a blindingly sweet smile where two black moles sat under her lip.
"Oh, you've woken up early." She finished putting down the plate then bowed her head to him. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am Vermillion Reyas daughter of the noble Reyas family. I am here to act as your maid and assistant."
"Reyas?" To be honest Shu wasn't surprised, rather he somewhat expected this. He was more hung up on the fact that she said noble family. What type of noble family acted as servants?
"The Reyas family is a former knight family who decided to become more personal with our lords and ladies. While we are now servants we still hold quite the ability to protect." Vermilion pumped one of her arms gently, slapping it, but kind of frowned a little. The moles made it look like an upside smile. "Although I'm not very well suited for combat."
"That's neat." He wanted to die. Who replies with just a 'that's neat' after being told something like that. He mentally kicked himself in the ass then started moving towards the plate of food. His legs controlled by his stomach. "Well I'll be in your care."
"Likewise, I hope that things can go smoothly between us."
He nodded his head in response to her words and sat down to eat. He was half way through his food when he realized that she wasn't eating.
"Not hungry?" He swallowed his food, taking an extra moment to make sure it'd all gone down.
"I couldn't possibly eat at the same table as you." She folded one hand over the other with a smile.
"Huh? Just eat." His bluntness about it seemed to give the woman a bit of shock. So much that she visibly shook a little.
She managed to recover enough to speak, but was still clearly confused. "It is not customary for servants to eat with their masters. I wou-"
"Ahhh if my maid doesn't want to eat with me then my mental state will fail…" He feigned falling back in his seat and threw an arm up over his face to cover it. "Then I'll get depressed, I'll stop being able to eat, and I'll get sick!"
He dropped his arm enough to peek at her, his poor acting was a critical hit as suddenly she seemed stressed. In the end she relented and ate peacefully with him.
From stories that he's heard being a maid wasn't a job anyone could do, it required rigorous training from childhood. In short his demand to eat with him probably went against everything she had learned up to this point.
If just that was enough to start a small argument he was curious about how everyone else treated their maids.