Chapter 194 Mushrooms In The Moonlight

Tears welled up in Hermit's large, terrified eyes, spilling over and mixing with the white filth on his cheeks. His thumb worked tirelessly in his mouth, a feeble attempt to seek solace in the midst of his distress. He mumbled and sputtered, his words coming out in a broken, disjointed fashion.

"I... I n-need my gobbie friends," Hermit stammered, his voice quivering, "Gobbie friends, yes, yes! Gobbie friends are... are fluffy, fluffy like clouds! Yes, they are! Gobbie friends play hide and seek in mushrooms... mushrooms in the moonlight! Moonlight, so pretty, pretty like shiny rocks! Gobby friends make Hermit feel safe. I want to hide, hide in safety! Where's my leafy blanket? I want to hide, hide from the scary town. Leafy blanket, where are you? I want to count my shiny rocks! Shiny rocks where are you!"

Hermit continued, his voice rising to a teary wail, "Gobbie friends! Gobbie friends! Where are you? Hermit needs you! Gobbie friends, tell them, tell them to stop! Stop hurting Hermit! Gobbie friends, please!"

Hermit's cries echoed through the darkened alley, a heartrending plea for the comfort and companionship he so desperately craved. 

Suzuka walked over to David, her expression a mix of pity and frustration. She whispered, "This damn goblin is broken, he went completely crazy. He's talking a complete nonsense. We better take a few steps back and give him some space, just a few minutes so that he could get his shit together."

David's concern deepened.

 "And if he doesn't get better? What then? I can't bring him back to Larry like this. I need this freak in good condition. He may look physically fine, but he is talking nonsense."

Suzuka sighed, "Can't help you with that, your own fault for putting him through the torments, David. Frankly, I feel like this goblin has reached his limit. All the cruel things that were done to him might just be catching up with him, and his mind finally gave in. Simply put, he's gone nuts. But hey! Let's give him a few minutes, shall we? Who knows, maybe he'll pull through."

David settled on a wooden crate nearby, his frustration clear.

 "Say, Helen. What was that outrageous talk about housing goblins in town? What kind of madness were you telling that goblin? Are you telling me that more of these freaks will pop up in our town? That is crazy! Crazy talk! I hope you said that just to sweet talk the goblin and all you said is a lie."

Suzuka's eyes narrowed, and she leaned in close, her voice a dangerous whisper, "You don't have to worry about that, David. Forget you heard anything."

David persisted, "Come on, Helen. Don't talk about something so crazy and then keep it a secret."

Suzuka's tone turned icy, "Ask Larry about the details, and you didn't hear it from me. If you rat on me, saying that you heard about it from me, I will break your fingers."

David wisely backed off, nodded hastily, and retreated, his eyes fixed on the goblin who had cried himself into an exhausted sleep.

 Hermit, wrapped in the comforting cocoon of his meaty ears, continued to drift in and out of a fitful slumber, his goblin form twitching with the residual horrors of his memories. His fragile form shivered and quivered on the cold, damp stone pavement, a pitiable figure.

Suzuka, irritated eyed the sleeping goblin with a mixture of frustration and impatience.

 "Oh, that's just great," she muttered, her voice dripping with sarcasm, "that little shit fell asleep. I swear, I will give him a good smack over the head. Maybe that will bring him back to his senses!"

But David gently said, "No, wait," he urged, "let him sleep a bit. We need him to be sane, and maybe after a short nap, he'll start to feel better. If not... well... shit, I don't know."

Suzuka found a sturdy box to sit on, leaning against the alley's cold stone wall, and said, "Alright, alright, that might be a good idea. I'll take a nap as well. Wake me up if any trouble arises. And this goes without saying, you're keeping watch over him. Do not let him wander off, the last thing we need; is him lost in the town."

David nodded in agreement.

 "Yes, I know, I'll keep a close eye on him."

Hermit was in the grip of a haunting nightmare, his frail form twitching and contorting as he relived the horrors of his past. His limbs occasionally flailed in the air, as if battling unseen demons, while his meaty ears throbbed and twitched in rhythm with his distress.

Amidst the chaos of his dream, Hermit's mumblings were barely intelligible, a disjointed chorus of pleas and desperate ramblings.

"God...dess," he mumbled, his voice a pitiful whine, "please... spare... hatchlings. Not... not like me. Not... town's cruel... hands."

His thumb, still sucked rhythmically for comfort, now twitched in his sleep. Hermit's nightmares seemed to transport him to a time long past, a time when his heart still clung to hope. In the dream, he was begging the goddess to protect the goblin hatchlings, to intervene, to spare them from the same cruel fate he had suffered at the hands of the town's ruthless dwellers.

"Goddess," he continued in his slumbering stupor, "hear... me... save... the little ones. Keep them... safe... far from... town's cruel grasp."

His voice trembled, a pitiful whimper escaping his lips as he begged the divine presence in his dreams for mercy. His subconscious mind was a battleground, where the memories of the town's cruelty and the fear for the goblin hatchlings waged a relentless war.

After half an hour, Hermit finally stirred, his consciousness clawing its way back to reality. With a loud, guttural cough, he jolted awake, his wide goblin eyes darting around in confusion.

"W-where...?" Hermit's voice emerged as a hoarse, bewildered croak. He blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of his surroundings in the dimly lit alley. His gaze remained clouded with remnants of his nightmares.

He stirred again, the cold stones beneath him biting into his naked, gnarled skin. He shivered uncontrollably, his goblin frame ill-suited for the chill of the night. 

"Brrrrrr! C-cold! W-w-where are my clothes? Hugh?!" Hermit chattered, his teeth clattering together as he tried to fend off the biting cold, bewildered by the abrupt shift from the torment of his past to the harsh reality of the present.

"Nasty town... bad memories... not telling," he muttered, his thumb finding its way back to his mouth for solace.

 "Hermit... Hermit is scared, but Hermit won't tell... too cruel... too cruel for goblins."

Suzuka jolted awake from her nap and couldn't contain her frustration any longer. She stormed over to the shivering goblin, hearing him mumble nonsense, and decided she'd had enough of his antics. In a swift motion, she scooped Hermit off the ground and bent him over her knee, delivering thunderous claps over his buttcheeks.

"I've had enough of your games, Hermit!" she snapped, her voice filled with irritation.

 "Snap out of your stupor! How long will you act like you have some mental illness? Hmmm!?"

Hermit squealed with each thunderous clap on his butt, his cries echoing through the alley alongside the sharp slaps.

"Wreeeeeeee! Reeeeeee! Eeeeeeeek! Eeeeeek! Stop! Master Helen! Stop! Wreeeeee! Hermit will be good! Hermit will behave! Reeeeee! Reeeee! No more! No more! It stings! It burns! Reeee! Wreeee!"

Suzuka, who had delivered only a single clap, couldn't help but roll her eyes at Hermit's over-the-top reaction. It seemed that, even in the midst of confusion, the goblin had a knack for exaggerating his peril.

Hermit's gaze dropped, and his meaty ears drooped dramatically, nearly touching the ground, as he muttered in a pitiful tone, "Master Helen! No more! Hermit remembers... Hermit remembers! No more claps! Mercy to the buttcheeks!"

Suzuka, having successfully disciplined the goblin with a single thunderous spank, tossed him aside like a discarded rag doll and rose to her feet with an air of satisfaction. 

She said, "That's a good boy. That's more like it. Now, behave! Or more spanking will meet that filthy butt of yours!"

Hermit's cries gradually subsided, but he continued to clutch his throbbing buttcheeks, sniffling as he slowly regained his composure. His eyes, still wide with fear, darted around the alley as if seeking escape from the madness that surrounded him.

Slowly, Hermit's goblin wits began to return, and he nodded weakly, his voice a feeble plea, "Yes, Master Helen. Hermit will be a good boy. Please! No more abuse! My old body and mind can't endure anymore. Please, no more, no more! Mercy on the butcheeks!"

Suzuka asked, "Old? By the way, not that I care or anything, but how old are you?"

Hermit whimpered, his voice trembling, "Since the day I hatched from my egg I have walked as a goblin slave for... for twenty hot seasons and... twenty-one cold. I am a very old goblin, Master Helen. I outlived..."

Suzuka interrupted with a disbelieving scoff, "Pfff! What? So you are twenty-one years old?"

Hermit admitted with a weak and pitiful, timid nod, "Yes, that is true, Master."

She delivered a playful whack to the back of Hermit's head, scolding him, "Stupid! Goblins live over a hundred years if not killed! You, filth, are like weeds! You hatched from shit, you eat shit to grow! You sleep in shit! You are like plants, like annoying grass that grows on fertilizer. Twenty-one years is not old for a goblin!"

Hermit shrugged timidly and whimpered, "W-what? H-Hermit is not old? B-but Hermit was the oldest in the breeding farms. I... I assumed I was very old because there was no older hatchling than me."

 Suzuka couldn't help but roll her eyes at Hermit's newfound revelation. She muttered under her breath, "Well, now you know. You're a young goblin. You're welcome."

Hermit's head drooped even further, his eyes fixed on the ground as if he had just discovered a priceless treasure hidden in the cobblestones beneath his feet. His lips moved in a silent mantra, repeating to himself, "I am not old... Hermit is not old... not old but still young..."

Suzuka watched him for a moment, a pity in her gaze. It was clear that, in Hermit's empty goblin head, this revelation held immense significance, even though in the grand scheme of things, it changed very little about his harsh existence in this unforgiving world.

His gaze remained fixed on a spot on the ground, his eyes empty and vacant. It was as if he had glimpsed a hidden truth about himself, a revelation that had shaken the very core of his identity, even though there wasn't much going on in his typically empty goblin head.

Suzuka, growing impatient with Hermit's dazed state, snapped her fingers repeatedly near his ears, creating a sharp, rhythmic snapping sound. She said, "No time to sleep. Wake up, goblin! We've got a lot to talk about."

Hermit's eyes fluttered, and he slowly emerged from his trance, blinking as he refocused on his surroundings. Suzuka's next words, however, brought him back to the stark reality of his appearance.

"First things first," Suzuka said, "wipe that disgusting white filth off your face, and... well, all of your body. You're disgusting to look at, more than usual."

With an annoyed look on her face, she picked up Hermit's stained shorts and tank top from the grimy alley floor and thrust them toward him.

Hermit, still groggy from his mental journey and trembling with newfound self-awareness, clumsily accepted the clothes. He began to attempt the task of cleaning his body, but it quickly became apparent that his coordination was as lacking as his self-esteem.