Chapter 205 A Picture of a Happy Goblin

As Hermit basked in the warmth of his dreams, blissfully unaware of the world around him, Suzuka walked up to the sink, her steps soft. She couldn't resist the urge to tease the goblin a little. Her hand hovered above his bald head, and with a sudden, swift motion, she delivered a light but sharp smack, just enough to stir him from his delightful dreams and bring him back to the harsh reality.

Hermit's eyelids fluttered, and he blinked as he awoke, his big, glossy eyes staring up at Suzuka. His soft, fat lips curved into a bewildered smile as he mumbled, "Muma Kaka...? Is that you? Hermit missed you."

Hermit's smile widened in his groggy state. He wiggled his ears in delight and extended his arms, yearning for a hug.

 "Muma Kaka! Hermit loves Kaka! Give Hermit a hug, please!" he pleaded, his simple heart filled with warmth and tenderness.

Suzuka's voice held a hint of mockery as she said, "Well, well, you sleepy little goblin. I think you had enough beauty sleep, have you? Stop daydreaming and get out of the sink already."

Hermit blinked a few times, his mouth agape and his tongue flicking out as he stammered, "M-M-Master! What, where, why? Was it a dream? Muma Kaka? Yummy wumpkins in goblinland!?"

Suzuka chuckled while walking out of the restroom, her tone not entirely unkind, as she replied, "No you stupid baby goblin. Just you and me. Now get up and dry yourself."

With that, Hermit, still a bit groggy and confused, climbed out of the sink, his limp body and wet skin shivering as he grabbed a paper towel and clumsily patted himself dry. After absorbing so much water, Hermit now looked better. The gentle warmth of the hot water had been a rare and treasured treat for him, and he was momentarily revitalized, his skin now bearing a healthier shade of goblin green, and the extreme wrinkles caused by severe dehydration had shrunk, making Hermit appear a few years younger, though he still retained his lanky and scrawny goblin physique.

Suzuka's voice echoed from the other room, "Hurry up, Hermit. We've got business to discuss."

Hermit's eyes shone with newfound energy and enthusiasm as he replied, "Oh, Master Helen, Hermit thank you for nice warm! No more wrinkly gobbie! Hermit feel good!" He couldn't help but bounce on his toes a bit, excited by the simple pleasure of being warm and clean. In goblin farms, his only way of cleaning was his tongue or ice-cold rain.

Hermit glanced at his reflection in the mirror, his face showing the joy of being clean and comfortable for a change.

 "Hermit... Hermit looks not so old and wrinkled now," he mumbled to himself in amazement.

Suzuka listened to him with a bemused expression. With a faint smirk, she said, "Well, at least you don't look like a wrinkled prune anymore."

Hermit's optimism waned, and he quickly finished drying himself, hanging the soggy paper towels over the sink's edge next to his wet clothes to dry. After a deep breath, he exited the restroom, still naked. He was used to walking naked when he was a slave or when he was living in the forest.

He giddily scampered toward Suzuka, who was sitting at her table and scribbling something in her notebook. Hermit's eyes sparkled with delight as he saw the paper and a pencil. With a cheerful gleeful yelp, he cried out, "Master Helen! Hermit knows a little how to write and read! Master, please. Gift me a precious treasure of paint thingy and a bundle of papers! Please! Master, I want to write my diary! Something to remember so I would not forget."

Suzuka regarded the goblin's enthusiastic request with a stern look, her fingers tapping thoughtfully on the tabletop. 

"A diary, huh? What do you plan to write in it, Hermit? Your grand adventures as a goblin errand boy?"

Hermit's tiny chest puffed with pride as he nodded vigorously, "Yes, master! Hermit wants to write about adventures and friends and kind humans! It will be a record of happiness, Master!"

With a faint smile, she reached over to her desk, picked up a small notebook, and handed it to Hermit along with a pencil. 

"Here you go, Preacher Hermit," she teased.

 "Now you have your very own diary."

Hermit took the gifts with pure joy, his face beaming.

 "Yay! Yupeee! Thank you, Master! Hermit will cherish these gifts forever!" Naked and clutching his newfound treasures, he dove under Suzuka's bed and carefully stashed his new diary and pencil, already envisioning all the tales and thoughts he would fill its pages with.

With treasure secured, Hermit crawled out from under the bed and scampered toward Suzuka, with curious puppy-like eyes gazing at her. He asked, "Master Helen? What are you doing?"

Suzuka ripped a page out of her notebook and showed it to Hermit. He took the page with his minuscule hands, his tiny spindly fingers clutching the paper. He looked at it, a drawing of a house with a goblin next to it for size reference. Hermit admired her art; it was a pretty picture. He asked, "Master! Pretty picture! Pretty form! Is that a house for a goblin?"

Suzuka nodded and said, "Yes, it is, Hermit. If you agree to talk and tell us what we need to know, and when the goblin slaves are rescued, all your fellow gobbos will get their own houses like the one I just drew."

Hermit gasped in joy hearing such miraculous promises. He looked back at the drawing and admired it some more. The picture of the house was practically the same as a regular average dog house. But to Hermit, who was living a hellish life in breeding farms, the simple prospect of owning a roof over his head brought tears to his eyes. To a goblin slave like him, even living in a dog house felt like living in a palace.

 Hermit whimpered in joy, "A... a house? Our own house! It's beautiful! Hermit never owned anything, Hermit was the one everyone owned and used! This... this is... too good to be true! Can it? Can Hermit really be allowed to be so happy?!"  

Suzuka continued, "Oh, yes Hermit! You will get to live in your own house, but that's not all. You will even have your own bowl for water and food, a soft pillow to sleep on, and a warm blanket to cover yourself on these chilly nights. And let's not forget a bathing bucket, might even be with warm water like you enjoyed in the sink a moment ago."

Hermit's heart skipped a beat in joy from such luxury promised to him. Although it was no different from living as a farm dog, the thought of having even the basics filled him with hope and happiness. Hermit was overwhelmed with gratitude at the thought of such luxuries. The simple drawing of a goblin-sized house represented a world of difference from his current life. With a trembling voice, he looked up at Suzuka, his eyes glistening with appreciation. 

"Master Helen, that's... that's more than Hermit could ever dream of. Gobbos... we never had such things before. We never had water given to us or food! We drank our pee-pee and ate poo-poo! Evil goblins of our farms did not care for our well-being, the only cleaning we had was our lapping tongues or a bones-cracking cold rain. This, this is a dream come true!"

Suzuka smiled, her eyes reflecting a hint of deceit as she gently patted Hermit's bald head.

 "I know, little goblin. That's why I'm offering it to you and your kind. But remember, the key to all these nice things is cooperation. If you help us help your fellow gobbies, it's a win-win situation for all of us."

Hermit nodded enthusiastically, the prospect of making his life and the lives of other goblins better driving him forward. 

"Yes, yes! Hermit will help, and gobbos will do as told! We want peace and houses and soft pillows! Hermit is ready, Master Helen. Hermit will help. For peace and gobbos' dreams!"

Suzuka's smile widened as she saw how easy to manipulate and how naive Hermit was. 

"I'm glad to hear that. Now, are you ready to start this process and help us bring your fellow gobbos into a brighter future?" She said with an evil undertone in her voice. 

He clutched the little drawing of the house and goblin that Suzuka had made for him as if it were the most precious treasure in the world.

 "Master Helen, you are too kind," he said in a voice filled with awe and admiration.

 "This gobbie is so grateful. I promise to help you in any way I can. And we, gobbos, never break our promises, master. Gobbos will talk, for gobbos do not like the breeding farms. We want houses, and water, and food bowls, and blankets, and soft pillows, and everything Master has drawn."

Suzuka nodded with a fake reassuring smile.

 "Good, Hermit. I knew you were a smart goblin. Now, we will need your help to locate the breeding farms and the refugees. But for now, I think it's time for your meal, little buddy."

Hermit beamed with joy and bounced up and down in place.

 "Yay, mealtime! Delicious morsel! Hermit is so hungry. Yammy, yammy!" His naked green body trembled with anticipation as he jumped on his toes and clapped his little green hands in delight.

Suzuka reached into the drawer with an air of casualness, but when she revealed what lay inside, it was like a treasure chest had been unlocked. Her slender fingers brought forth not one, but two colossal sandwiches, each a work of art. The scent of freshly baked bread, savory meats, and tantalizing sauces wafted through the room, transforming it into a haven of deliciousness.

Suzuka placed the sandwiches in front of Hermit, who looked like he might pass out from sheer excitement. The smell of the delicious, homemade submarine sandwiches filled the room, making Hermit's mouth water uncontrollably. 

His reaction was nothing short of comical as he stared at the sandwiches, his eyes bulged out of their sockets like oversized boulders. His mouth unhinged with an exaggerated jaw-cracking pop, revealing a cavernous maw that could swallow mountains. His tongue, now an uncontrollable, floppy mess, rolled out of his agape mouth and tumbled to the ground like a wet noodle, trailing a glistening string of saliva behind it, flopping on the ground like a fish out of water.