Chương 24: Goblin Is A Goblin?
The sun drops below the horizon as the moon claims sole ownership of the night sky. In a cave that once served as a bandits' hideout a group of people sit around a table having a discussion.
[What do you think's going on? Usually the little goblin overlord would have already chucked us back in our cells by now, excluding Meredith of course.]
[Who cares, if it's not here right now we should use this chance to escape this damned place.]
[Escape? Running around in a forest at night is a big enough pain in the ass, and you want to escape when we have no way of knowing where we are? Not to mention the hordes of monsters running around thanks to the miasma. If you want to escape be my guest, but I'm not leaving this place just to die pointlessly in the woods without anyone knowing I've died.]
[I'll have to agree with Anri on this one. What's the point of escaping if we're just going to die? Besides as long as no one does something stupid like they did today our lives aren't in danger … I think.]
[Humph, you two are just cowards. Do you all really want to sit around waiting to die in this place?]
[Can it! Even if we die at least someone else will know and be able to tell our families. If we die out in the forest our families will worry themselves to death without getting any closure. At the very least Meredith will make it out of this alive since it seems fond of her. If worst comes to worst she can relay news of our deaths back to the city.]
[And you think that thing will just let her do that? I bet it's just into little girls like that. It's already a miracle that we've remained untainted after spending more than a minute around a goblin and you think it'll remain like this indefinitely? I for one will pass on such humiliation.]
[Things aren't that bad here. We only get locked in our cells at night because the goblin's paranoid about being attacked in its sleep. Besides, with how strong it is it could've killed us at any time it wanted, but it's only killed the people who provoked it first so far. Compared to outside, it's a lot safer here as long as you don't do anything reckless.]
[I can't believe you guys. It's a goblin for fuck's sake, and a talking one at that. Since when have goblins been able to speak? I'm telling you there's something strange about that thing and I don't want to stick around to find out what it is. You all heard how it talked about humans. Didn't you see how disgusted it looked as it talked about humans as if they're worse than dogs? Yet you trust it enough to say it's safer here than outside?]
[I hate being here just as much as you, but throwing our lives away isn't the answer.]
[Fine, I get it. Then why don't we try something else, like poisoning it? That way we could take this place under our control so we can all escape when we feel we're ready.]
[Don't bother wasting your time. Last time it came back from a trip outside I saw it eating some poisonous berries like they were a regular snack food. Not to mention, getting caught would mean getting the death sentence.]
[So we can't escape, kill it in a head on fight, or poison the bastard. What can we do other than wait around hoping to be rescued? Don't tell me you want to walk up to it and say "hey I know we're prisoners and all but can you let us go?"]
[Ironically I think that may be our best shot at getting out of here. The little overlord was abundantly clear how it felt about humans earlier so it obviously isn't keeping us around because it particularly wants to. With that said, it must have some reason for keeping us around. If we can figure that out maybe we can find a way to use it to our advantage. So, any ideas?]
[It doesn't like or trust humans in general, right? So aren't we being kept around because it doesn't trust us not to lead an army here to take revenge if we're set free?]
[Hmm, so it's like that. Basically we either need to convince it to trust us, which I don't see happening, or we need to somehow find a way to get all of us far enough away from this place without knowing the route so we won't be able to find our way back even if we tried. It's a long shot but I don't think it's impossible.]
[So you're saying we ask to blindfold ourselves while it leads us out of the area? Will that really work?]
[We're supposed to trust a goblin to lead us through a monster infested forest while we're blindfolded? Are you insane?]
[I don't mean to play the spoilsport but a major part of any plan we come up with is the goblin acting the same as it usually does. Usually we would be locked in our cells at this time of night, meaning there's something strange going on with the goblin.]
[That's why I was saying we should escape while we have the chance.]
[But what about everyone else? You can't just leave them behind.]
[Why not? What have any of them ever done for me?]
[Can you give it a rest already? We aren't escaping and that's that. I guess trying Vincent's plan wouldn't hurt, but we should discuss it with the others first. Before that we need to see what's up with the goblin.]
[I nominate Kira to go and check.] [I second that.] [Agreed.]
[Why do I have to do it?]
[Normally it would be Meredith but since we don't know if something is wrong we can't very well send a little girl to check things out can we?]
[You also didn't have to spend all day with monster corpses like us … and there's that crap you called food you made for us to eat before we started helping.]
[That's- hey, what's with those looks! I did my best you know. You can't single me out just because a little food. Guys?]
Drawing the short end of the stick Kira begrudgingly stands up. She mumbles to herself as she starts walking to the living quarters to look for Jellal. She gulps down her saliva as she nervously moves forward at a snail's pace.
As she treads deeper into the living quarters she starts noticing some irregularities with the mana in the area. This discovery truly shocks her since she's never been particularly skilled at sensing mana. Never in her wildest dreams could she imagine a magic phenomenon powerful enough that she would notice it without trying to.
She inches her way forward until she reaches the last bend leading to the deepest part of the living quarters. The mana in the area surges violently making it hard for her to breathe. Her feet stop in place as she tries to build up the courage to move forward. Thinking about how the miasma affects monsters a tinge of fear creeps into the back of her mind.
Composing herself she eases forward, taking a few seconds between each step. At long last she peeks around the bend to the depths of the living quarters. Startled she jerks backwards and hides behind the bend, losing the progress she had taken so long to make.
Shaking her head she tries to expunge the images from her mind. She considers going back to the dining hall but she eventually manages to convince herself to continue on with her mission.
'I'm just imagining things. The only ones in this cave are us captives, Sif, and the goblin overlord as Vincent would call it. The stress of checking on things by myself just caused me to hallucinate that's all.'
After brainwashing herself into thinking she saw an illusion due to stress she clenches her fists before going back around the bend. As she looks to the depths of the living quarters she's stunned by what she sees. She blinks repeatedly and pinches her skin but it isn't an illusion or a dream.
In the center of the room a pool of blood forms a whirlpool. As the blood spins in circles rather than spraying out it stay together as if bound by some invisible force. Occasionally an object will momentarily be formed from the blood appearing within the whirlpool. Sometimes it's a flame of blood burning on top of the pool's surface, other times bloody lightning crackling as it streaks through the blood, yet they always return to the blood from whence they came.
A figure sits motionless in the middle of the swirling blood pool. The man's skin appears to be nearly clear with a very slight tinge of pale green mixed in giving him the appearance of a statue carved from crystal. His skin makes one feel as if they should be able to see through him but leaves them unable to causing a sense of incongruity.
His glossy white hair was shorter in the back yet relatively long up top with it falling over to one side. The hair was slightly wavy yet spikey at the same time. It seemed to fall perfectly in place almost contradicting its spikey and wild nature giving an almost unnatural feel.
A pair of short, slightly bushy eyebrows sat scrunched close together above a small, slightly hooked nose. His slightly round face was accented with a pair of long, marginally pointed ears that are wide at the base before jutting out wide. The jagged edges on the bottom of his ears make it look as if something has bitten chunks out of it.
'An intruder? How did they manage to make it so deep into the cave without anyone noticing? The only entrance is blocked off so we should have heard them if they broke in. Unless there's an entrance that no one knew about it could only mean they were already here. The only one who comes here is the goblin so it's possible for them to stay here without us knowing but I doubt that monster wouldn't notice someone that stands out so much.'
Kira stared at the figure trying to discern his identity. Looking over his well-defined yet lean muscles she couldn't help but praise him inwardly for his physique. As her eyes scanned down her face turned beet red when she finally noticed he was completely naked.
She jerked her head to the side in embarrassment as she took her eyes off him for the first time since coming here. With her eyes on a different part of the room she finally noticed Jellal's trademark cape lying to the side with its straps broken. The belt he usually wears sits not far from it in two pieces, one of its pouches also ripped open along with it. The poisonous berries he likes to snack on strewn across the ground for anyone to take.
'Hmm, these are the little goblin's things, but where's the one in question? Could the intruder have killed it? No, how could that be? The goblin was able to kill a shadow wolf one on one and even wiped out those rebels earlier with ease. With its strength we would have known if it was in a major fight. The only way we wouldn't have noticed is if there's a huge difference in strength and that guy was able to kill it without a struggle. I refuse to believe such a scary figure just randomly showed up in a cave. Ah, ah I give up. Why bother wasting brain power on something I don't know the answer to.'
[Um, excuse me, anyone home?]
Giving up on doing mental gymnastics Kira tries to communicate with the stranger but to no avail. Either they can't hear her or they're choosing to ignore her. Regardless there's nothing she can do about it other than accept the silent outcome.
Violently rubbing her head in frustration she takes a glance at Jellal's broken belt. She sinks into thought as she comes to a crossroads. Does she go back to the dining hall to tell the others, or does she stay here and hope she eventually gets a response from the stranger?
Once again looking at the broken belt she makes up her mind. If she goes back without some sort of evidence she's been here they'll think she's lying so first she needs proof.
She nervously slides over to the belt. Keeping her eyes fixed on the intruder she reaches down and brushes her hand along the ground in the belt's general area. When her hand finally bumps it she cautiously grabs it before slowly backing away. As she takes her small steps back she doesn't move her gaze from the intruder.
When she reaches the wall she uses her right hand as a guide as she continues backing away. Once she makes it around the bend and the intruder is no longer in sight she turns around and legs it. As she sprints at full speed through the tunnel she looks back over her shoulder paranoid she'll be chased.
In the dining hall the workers are sitting around a table impatiently waiting for Kira to return. They stand up as sound of frantic footsteps rings out from the hallway to the living quarters. They anxiously watch the tunnel as their nerves tense up.
They become even more apprehensive as a sprinting Kira rockets into view intermittently looking over her shoulder as she franticly charges ahead. Kira bursts into the dining hall while looking behind her one last time. As her feet come to a rest she hunches over panting heavily from overexerting herself.
[What's wrong Kira? Did you sprint all the way back?]
The group circled around Kira as she struggles to catch her breath. After chugging a glass of water that was sitting on the table she started doing her best to recount what happened in the most believable way possible.
[I went all the way to the deepest part of the living quarters where the little goblin usually spends its time. When I got there I found some naked stranger sitting in a whirlpool of blood. The little goblin's cape and belt were broken and lying on the ground so I tried to talk to the stranger, but I didn't get a response. I didn't want to stay there with some unknown stranger so I grabbed a piece of the goblin's broken belt as evidence and ran back here.]
[Did someone say blood?]
While Kira's telling her story Evangeline struts out from the other tunnel as if summoned by the mention of blood. Meredith follows close behind her wearing the frilly white dress that Jellal left for her. Using her left hand she holds the raggedy doll in her embrace as her right arm rests on Sif's back, her hand tightly gripping its fur.
[Hmm, what's up with all of you?]
[The little goblin overlord didn't show up to usher us back to our cells like usual so we thought something might be up with it. We sent Kira to go look but she came back saying she didn't find him and that there was an intruder in a blood whirlpool. I'm paraphrasing of course, but that's the gist of it.]
[How exciting! It smells of adventure! Mathias, Meredith let's go, adventure's afoot!]
[This isn't the time for adventure. We need to figure out what's going on in this place.]
[Then, does that mean you're coming, or are you staying? I don't understand.]
Vincent's attempt to rein in Evangeline is brushed aside as she sets her sights on adventure. Holding his head in his hand he looks around at the others as they nod coming to a silent consensus.
[Yeah, we're coming. It's better if we go and have a look for ourselves after all.]
The troupe marches through the tunnel as they make their way to the depths of the living quarters. When they get close they're hit with the same surging mana Kira was hit with making it hard for them to breathe.
In truth they had only half believed what Kira had told them, and if it wasn't for the piece of Jellal's belt they wouldn't even have given her that much credit. Now that they're faced with such a strange phenomenon they can't help but look over at Kira who's wearing a smug grin on her face.
Making their way around the bend they start to feel tense remembering Kira's story. Crossing into the final room they can't believe their eyes. Not only did she not lie to them she seems to have downplayed it to a considerable degree.
Evangeline looks on curiously at the ever changing blood whirlpool as various bloody shapes appear and disappear. Meredith grips Sif's fur even tighter as she looks at the broken belt, cape, and berries scattered all over the ground.
They move closer with extreme caution unsure what to do.
[The keys should be in one of the pouches of the belt right? Why don't we grab them, let everyone out of their cells and book it first thing tomorrow morning?]
The novice adventurer still had plans of escape as she threw out another plan for consideration. Her partner Anri opened her mouth to retort but upon realizing her plan was actually sensible for once she remained silent.
[And when did I give you permission to touch something that belongs to me?]
Jellal's eyes shot open as he looked between the adventurer and Kira, who was still holding half of his belt. His big pupils looked like a violet kunzite gemstone shining brightly despite their exceptional clarity. His eyes had a crystalline rainbow reflection faintly visible as if opal were mounted in his eye sockets.
Seeing how Kira instantly dropped his broken belt a toothy smirk flowered across his face revealing razor sharp teeth that would put wolves to shame.
[Why are you all here? Do you need a superior being such as myself to tuck you in at night to make you feel safe, kekeke?]
As soon as his ego reared its head they finally understood that the person in front of them was actually their little goblin overlord, after all the chances of two individuals with such a massive self-important personality showing up in a remote, random cave like this is basically zero.
Instantaneously they showed the same exact look on all of their faces. To get them to make the same face without any coordination can be attributed to Jellal's very nature which elicits such reactions. Of course if the look on their faces could speak it would scream at the top of its lungs "Be more normal!"
[What're you standing around for? You should know where you're cells are without me having to lead you by the hand. Shoo, off with you. I'll be over to lock you up in a few minutes.]
As they begrudgingly take their leave Jellal starts testing out his new body. It doesn't take long for him to realize the change is massive.
'Such a ridiculous change should be reflected in my status right? The only problem is what kind of nonsense will come along with it.' [status open]
Name: Jellal Race: Gaia Kin (Goblin) Gender: M Age: 0 Level: 0
HP: 2500/2500 DEF: 580 STR: 650 AGI: 650
MP: ???/??? MGD: ??? MGA: ??? Points Available:
Skills: Adaptability; Danger Perception; Concealment; Parallel Thinking; Sawsmanship; Battle Born; Berserk; Regeneration; Mercy; Normal;
Special: Named Monster; Heart of Darkness
'I knew that bastard scum humping, poo stain, dirtbag con artist was messing with me this whole time.'
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