It happened in the blink of an eye. One moment Melantha and her brother were setting the table for breakfast, the next they found themselves in a large, though dimly lit, room with maybe twenty or thirty other people.

No one seemed to know what was going on. At least not among the group Melantha found herself in. As she looked around she noticed some odd script like designs surrounding everyone on the stone ground. That's when three figures outside of the pattern start trying to get everyone's attention. "Great heroes of worlds beyond our own! Our kingdom beseeches your help in the foreseen tragedy destined to befall our lands soon."

Oh... they had been isekai’d to another world. That actually made sense, though such a large group was unusual. A whole group being summoned usually happened only when everyone was in the same spot and/or all knew each other, yet the only person Melantha recognized was her brother twin, Mishal.

 "We apologize for summoning so many of you, but we wished to increase our chances of getting at least a few people who are both able and willing to help.” The speaker wore a midnight blue, floor length robe while his two companions were in similar outfits excluding their robes being purple and red respectively. Honestly, they looked exactly like how Mel expected stereotypical mages to appear, thick gray beard and all. What most surprised Mel was just how loud and clearly they were talking to such a large group. Maybe they were using some sort of spell to project their voices? “We do not wish to force anyone to fight for us, though we are not actually able to return anyone until the danger has passed. Thus we will give those not participating, for whatever reason, supplies to live in our world. Any wishing to return to their own world when able, may return here if and when we succeed." There was a decent amount of murmuring, but the evident summoners seemed to cover enough of the crowd's potential questions, so no one seemed to be panicking for the most part.

One of the other figures spoke up. "If everyone could come up one at a time, we can find out your titles and figure out who will be our kingdom's heroes."

Melantha was a little excited; most isekai’d people in stories she had read gained amazing abilities. She also didn't mind helping out the summoning kingdom, as long as they didn't end up being crooked or in the wrong. She eagerly made her way into the semi-forming line with Mishal.
As they got closer, Mel could hear some of the titles other people had, according to some sort of device one of the summoners was using to read them out. Ranger, Soldier, Priestess, Tamer, Lancer, Elementalist, Master Strategist, Ninja, Berserker, Tank... There were so many really cool titles other people had gained when summoned. Then it was Melantha's turn. She was directed to put a hand on a sphere as the person looked at the reading. She wondered what amazing title and talent it would say she had.

"Storyteller..." They sounded less than impressed. "You can go down that hall to get some start-up living expenses. Someone will also go over what you'll need to know while living here."

"What about if I want to help out?" Mel asked, irked.

The person raised an eyebrow, seeming to be on the verge of rolling their eyes. "Ma'am, we have no need for someone to recount stories during our fight."

Well, there was no need to be so rude about it... Melantha was exasperated with the stranger’s dismissive response, yet didn’t push it any further. She figured she could at least hang back to find out what Mishal got. He was such a healing type, maybe he would be something like a cleric and be able to at least help out in a supporting role if he wanted. "Mother hen...?" His title seemed to confuse the person reading it, but Melantha just doubled over laughing. Mel was still chuckling when the two siblings made their way down the hall to a more brightly lit room.

Adjusting to the light, Melantha saw the place was set up like one of those taverns in those stereotypical fantasy stories. Or maybe it would be more accurate to compare it to an adventurer's guild since one of the counters seemed to be set up for information. That was probably the most logical place to start so she practically dragged Mishal that direction.
The young lady behind the counter gave a tired smile that Melantha was all too familiar with from her own years in retail. "Peaceful greetings. Please fill out this paperwork to be properly registered. Then my colleagues can get you any starting resources and world information you will need." Well, at least whatever magic was translating spoken words also seemed to work on written as well....

Melantha started filling out the form. It was honestly very basic, just questions asking about things like name, age, and job based skills. She finished quickly and glanced over to see that Mishal was still working on his. Well, Mish probably had more skills to write anyways.

She looked around at some of the other people who had also finished in the darker room already, and had since arrived in this gathering room. It was clear that at least a decent number of people had been summoned from worlds that were quite different from the one Melantha was familiar with. She saw some that seemed to be different kinds of reptilians, a few hybrids of different furry creatures, and some with wings or gills. There was even someone two tables over who had spiraling horns, which Mel was pretty sure were real as well. There were also the various ‘unnatural’ hair colors which, sure, Mel could presume were just dyed, but she didn't want to assume as much in light of all the other unusual physical features represented in the crowd.

Just as she was about to get caught staring at a guy who had patches of vibrant red scales, something plopped down from the ceiling on the table in front of her. Surprised, she looked down at it. It looked like an apple green blob. It took her a moment but as the form wiggled around in front of her, Melantha realized with amusement that it was… a slime?

The slime looked so cute and squishy. She wanted to try petting it, but she'd only read about such things in fiction and she didn't yet know anything about the creatures in this world. It could be dangerous or aggressive….

But it was so cute and, well… Melantha couldn't imagine the people who had summoned them here, letting anything exceedingly harmful into a room full of people; especially when none had any way of knowing if it was dangerous. She took a chance and lightly placed a hand on top of the slime. It started vibrating slightly, like the purring of a cat, and rubs into her hand. Yeah, no, Mel was even more sure now that it was harmless on top of being adorable.

Mel wondered if it would be okay for her to keep it. Without knowing anything about things in this new world, she wasn't sure if slimes here were sentient, seen as domesticated creatures or considered closer to vermin. Not to mention, if they were categorized as a sort of pet, maybe this one already had someone taking care of it. Which also brought up the question of what things the slime would even need to be properly taken care of… Maybe Melantha should just forget about it entirely. It seemed like a lot of effort.

Then the slime nudges against her hand some more. 

Melantha made up her mind on the spot and stood up, grabbing her form in one hand and scooping up the slime in the other. She then walked back to the counter from before.

Mel fidgeted slightly as she stood at the counter a moment before being noticed. “Um… I'm sorry to bother you but I had a question?” The woman looked quite bothered by needing to answer whatever additional questions Mel had.

“Yes?”

Melantha held up the slime. “I was wondering about keeping this little creature and, if so, what I need to know about taking care of it. We never had anything like it where I'm from…”

The lady's expression lightened slightly as if relieved it that at least wasn't something she thought was stupid. “Slimes aren't a super popular pet, but it’s not entirely unheard of either. That little guy looks to have only recently left its brood so I doubt anyone else has tamed it yet… If you're interested in raising it, there is a library in town that should have a decent amount of books that would have plenty of information that you can use to learn at least most of the basics you'd need. Assuming you are able to read.”

“Thank you very much, Miss. That reminds me…” Mel sets down the form. “I finished this. Do I give it back to you or someone else?”

“To me is fine.” The lady gave a slight smile. “You're more polite than some of the other summoned people.”

Mel chuckles. “Yeah, I have an idea about what you're dealing with at least a little so I'd rather not add to your problems. I used to work in a store, helping anyone who needed it with whatever they needed pertaining to buying things… The amount of people who were rude or difficult in some other way made me wish I could be honest about how I really felt about them instead of just smiling all the time.”

“So non-lethal murder…?”

“Non-lethal murder, for sure.”