Sia was diligently swinging her sword when she heard the sound of rustling from the bushes. In a few steps she repositioned herself a short ways inside the tunnel effectively limiting the directions enemies could potentially attack her from. Her tail rocked from side to side as she keenly watched the area in front of the cave while maintaining a defensive posture.
Jellal, who had been hiding in the bushes monitoring Sia, was secretly impressed by her dedication and decision making. Even though she was obviously excited to see some action she didn't act rashly, instead choosing to move to a more advantageous position.
Sia is ready for whatever enemy she might have to face when Jellal struts out of the bushes carrying some horned rabbits in one hand while dragging a boar with the other. Disappointment flashes across her face but disappears almost instantaneously as she greets Jellal.
The duo use tables to block the entrance before moving toward the dining hall, putting the table blockades back in place along the way.
When they arrive at the dining hall first thing they see is Kira and Vincent sitting at a table relaxing. Jellal drops the boar and horned rabbits on a table before taking a second look around the room. Not seeing Meredith anywhere he furrows his eyebrows before going to look for her.
Planning to start by looking in the prison area he headed down the hallway glancing in his room as he was walking past. His steps grinded to a halt as his search had ended before it had a chance to begin. In his room Meredith is sleeping soundly without a care in the world. Drool stretches from the corner of her mouth to the bed below while her chest lightly moves up and down with her breathing. Jellal is left unsure of what to do when looking at her sprawled out on the bed like she owns the place.
Letting out a sigh he walks over to the bed and gently shakes her shoulders. A muddleheaded Meredith props herself into a sitting position before rubbing her eyes with her hands. A yawn and a light stretch later her brain finally turns on as she notices Jellal standing right in front of her.
[Good morning.]
The little girls completely unguarded and naïve response leaves him speechless. He manages to stop himself from retorting that it's the middle of the day but can't hold himself back from face palming while shaking his head and heaving a sigh.
[What are you doing in my room? You should know better than to sneak into other peoples' rooms without their permission.]
[Ugu, sorry. I saw you looking at that bag and wanted to know why you were doing that, so I …]
Meredith responded to his interrogation in a mosquito like voice while hanging her head, unwilling to look him in the eye. Looking at the little girl who knew she did something bad and was waiting to be punished Jellal couldn't bring himself to be too hard on her. Reaching out his hand he lightly patted her head before turning around to leave.
[You'll have to have a timeout later, but for now we need to find someone to make lunch.]
Jellal headed to the prison area to find someone to clean and cook the game he'd brought back. Meredith chased after him, sticking close behind him as if she were his shadow. Upon entering the room he went to his usual spot and asked for a volunteer who knew how to clean and cook game. In the end none of the captives were willing to come forward leaving him disappointed in their uselessness. Giving up on asking anything of the remaining captives he shrugged his shoulders before heading back to the dining hall.
After entering the dining hall he asked his few somewhat reliable subordinates to clean and cook the game he'd brought back as well as make some gruel for the rest of the captives. Beth, Sia, and Meredith all volunteered to make lunch while Sia and Kira both claimed that Kira's cooking was border line inedible. Just like that Kira was promoted to gruel master and put in charge of the food the useless captives would be fed.
Beth was in charge of preparing the boar and rabbits to be cooked while Sia and Meredith were in charge of the actual cooking. They began shifting the ingredients they would use from the storage to the kitchen while waiting for Beth to skin and dismantle the game. Luckily she was used to this sort of job and finished it in no time at all.
Kira left her concoction to heat up and joined Vincent and Beth in the dining room. The only thing left to do was to wait for the others to finish making their food so they lounged around in the meantime. Occasionally Kira would go back to the kitchen to stir the gruel.
When Meredith and Sia brought out their lunch everyone couldn't help but swallow their saliva as stabbed their forks in the pork chops. Looking at the plate in front of him Jellal almost couldn't hold back his tears; finally he would be able to eat a proper meal. He savored every bite of the pork chops and fried potatoes, eating until his stomach was about to burst. He gave a satisfied belch as he waited for the others to finish their meals.
When everyone had finished they grabbed the pot of gruel and a bunch of bowls to feed the useless captives. Kira even made an offhand comment about how the gruel turned out nicely which caused Sia to worry for the wellbeing of the poor souls who were going to have to eat it.
Because of how useless he found the remaining captives Jellal refused to give them any silverware and only reluctantly gave in and allowed them to use bowls. Seeing the difference in treatment his subordinates broke out in a cold sweat, thanking their lucky stars they made the right choice.
They distributed bowls of gruel one by one going down the cells one at a time. The prisoners appeal for proper eating utensils was adamantly ignored leaving them sip from the bowls or not eat at all. When they got to the final cell they realized they had forgot about the abnormal security on the prisoner in the last cell.
[So, what's the deal with her? The treatment she received makes it seem like the rest of you are important guests instead of captives.]
Despite him soliciting for information no one was able to give a clear answer. From all accounts she was here before any of the others had even been captured. They had also never seen the bandits feed her causing Jellal to feel that there was definitely something special about her.
Jellal unlocked the cell and cautiously walked in front of the captive while looking at her inquisitively. He carefully took off her blindfold revealing a pair of beautiful blood red eyes staring at him suspiciously. Going through a lot of extra effort not to move her head around, he removed the gag that was keeping her from speaking with much difficulty.
[I hear you've been here longer than anyone else. I would be grateful if you told me how and why you were captured by those incompetent bandits. Ah, there's food? If you'd like some feel free to try it, though given your present condition someone might have to feed you by hand.]
[Fufufu, I am Evangeline Youngblood a noble vampire. Humph, a lousy bunch of humans are no match for a true vampire like me, they just got lucky and kidnapped me while I was sleeping. Now that I've answered your question hurry and release me.]
[Kekeke, a vampire is it? I've heard that vampires are able to use blood magic on top of being able to regenerate if they're injured. Regardless of the number of shackles you should have been able to escape, so why didn't you? Also don't vampires need blood to survive? If I unshackle you it'll be troublesome if you start drinking attacking people to satiate your hunger.]
[We vampires are noble beings; we don't go around attacking others like lowly beasts. And we don't need blood to survive; it's just that our bodies are naturally acclimated to it so it's much easier on our bodies than eating normal food which takes us forever to digest. Since I've answered your questions you should release me in return, right?]
[If you want me to release you then you have to agree to a few conditions: First, no blood sucking without my permission. Second, you must never reveal any information about me or this hideout to anyone. And third, I want to personally witness your blood magic and regeneration. If you can agree to that then I don't mind letting you out.]
[Alright deal, but it takes a lot of energy to regenerate so regular food won't cut it, I'll need blood. … Also, I may or may not have already sent a signal to my family not long after I was captured so it's hard for me to say I'll abide by the second condition.]
[Since that was something you already did before I came here I can't really complain about it. If there's someone who's willing to donate blood for you then I'll allow them to eat normal food rather than the gruel that's reserved for useless people.]
Jellal made sure to speak the last line loud enough for everyone in the room to hear it. Looking back over his shoulder he could see the conflicted expressions on the captives' faces as they stared at the bowls of gruel they were eating. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of wizardry Kira used on that pot of gruel to make these stubborn fellows seriously consider allowing themselves to act as a blood bag for Evangeline just to get away from eating it.
The first one to volunteer was Meredith, but Jellal quickly shot her down, telling her to be more prudent and to think things through before she decides to do something. Seeing how eager she was to help others he started worrying that someone would end up taking advantage of her innocence so he silently made up his mind to teach her to be more cautious of others.
The second person to volunteer was surprisingly Vincent which caused him to be at the center of a lot of questioning stares. Facing such stares he cracked under the pressure and admitted that he thought it would be interesting to feel what it's like to be bitten by a vampire, though he was blushing while saying it so it's hard to know whether he was speaking the truth or not.
With a blood bag acquired Jellal began unlocking the chains and shackles one by one. It took a few minutes to take off all the chains and shackles since he was being careful not to accidentally get her stabbed by the spiked shackles. Even while unshackling her he never let his guard down so he'd be ready just in case she decided to turn on him. Thankfully she was true to her word and didn't make any moves to attack after she was set free.
Since nobody else volunteered to become a blood bag they had no reason to stay in the dreary prison area so they left to return to the dining hall which they'd been using as a sort of common room. Along the way they passed by Jellal's room which Evangeline immediately tried to call dibs on. Jellal was going to make a joke telling her if she wanted to share a bed with him she just had to ask and not use such a roundabout method but stopped himself when he remember she was a vampire and would most likely sleep during the day most of the time.
Since Evangeline's cell didn't have a bed in it due to the way she was being chained he decided to let her snatch a bed from the living quarters to put in her cell. Even if he was fine letting them out he isn't trusting enough to let anyone other than Meredith outside their cells when he was sleeping.
When they got to the living quarters Sia had the brilliant idea of taking an extra mattress back to her cell. Jellal wasn't enthusiastic about her once again trying to take something of his without permission.
[Kekeke, when did I say you could take a mattress back as well? Last time I checked we were here to get a bed for Eva, not you. I let it slide when you took one of my swords without permission because I had asked you to act as a guard while I was away and borrowing a sword would be in line with my request, but there aren't such circumstances this time.]
Sia finally realized that she was doing something inappropriate and relinquished her grasp on the mattress as her ears drooped dejectedly. Vincent seemed to have noticed that the part their little goblin overlord was upset about wasn't her taking a mattress but her doing so without his permission.
After a bit of pondering he decided to throw Sia a lifeboat and asked if he could take a mattress back to his cell. Jellal naturally couldn't care less about a mattress and told him he could take as many as he wanted. Sia finally took the hint and asked to bring back an extra mattress as well. Jellal's gut reaction was to turn her down but when he saw how excited she was over a mere mattress he changed his mind and gave her permission as well.
Beth and Meredith didn't want to be left out of the bed bonanza and also asked to join in on the extra mattress give away. Beth got permission right away while Meredith was firmly denied since he had already decided that she would be using his bed which is by far the best one available in the hideout. Evangeline used the opportunity to make an appeal for permission to use the bed during the daytime but she lacked the rapport necessary to stake a claim for usage of the bed.
The other captives were shocked when they saw the group of sell outs come back with extra mattresses, pillows, and blankets. They began questioning if it was the right choice to stubbornly hold out against the little goblin when the ones who listened to him got treated so much better. Of course, this was all a deliberate ploy by Jellal to get them to come around to his side, after all what good are a bunch of people who only eat away at his food stocks without providing him with anything in return. Seeing some of them trying to think up ways to be useful so they'll be treated better he secretly smiled knowing that his plan had been a resounding success.
With their beds taken care of they returned to the dining hall. Jellal was about to go back to his room to continue investigating the suspiciously plain bags when he remembered the various berries, herbs, and mushrooms he had collected when he went out hunting.
Taking the samples out of his belt pouches he asked his subordinates if they were able to identify them. They were as reliable as he'd hoped they would be and were able to easily tell him about the different plants that he'd collected. He was quite thankful that the people the bandits had captured were mostly merchants and adventurers who naturally had to have a lot of information on such things due to their line of work.
Most of the berries and mushrooms were edible so he put those in the food storage after giving them a taste test. The herbs were used mostly for potion making as he had expected. Since he didn't know anything about making potions he decided he would keep them in the treasure room and deal with them at another time.
After setting the herbs aside he was left with a few types of berries and mushrooms that were considered dangerous to eat due to being poisonous or causing some other kind of unwanted effect on the body when ingested.
He was about to throw them out when a lightbulb flickered on in his head.
'Adaptability! If I eat something poisonous shouldn't adaptability help my body adjust so I won't be affected by the poison? It should be the same for the berries that cause temporary paralysis and other negative effects. Kekeke, isn't this the perfect opportunity to try to gain the legendary immunity to negative status effects? I'll definitely have to try it out tonight when everyone else is locked up and I don't have to worry about them stabbing me in the back while I'm vulnerable.'
Since he didn't have any reason to stay in the dining hall he decided to return to his room for now. Meredith followed behind him still acting as if she were his shadow. When he entered his room she hesitated before stopping just outside after remembering how he had scolded her for entering without his permission earlier.
Plopping down on his bed he looked curiously at the little girl fidgeting outside his room. Seeing her acting so nervous he suddenly felt he may have scolded her a bit too much earlier. He tried to make his voice as gentle as possible to avoid scaring her away.
[What is it?]
[Um, ca-can I come in?]
He gave her a light nod to acknowledge her request. Seeing this, her face lit up as she trotted over and parked herself next to him on the bed. Thinking about how easily she entered a strangers room without thinking about what might happen he couldn't help but sigh at her lack of awareness.
[I don't suppose you came here for no reason, right?]
[You see the thing is, I knew you were curious about those bags so I thought I could be of some help.]