The Lumberjack And His Goblin Daughter.

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Past two hills from their meeting place, a simple small house stood on a hill with neatly arranged wooden stairs to get to the top of the hill where the house stood. Entering the courtyard, you can see several plants arranged neatly in a pot decorating the yard which is surrounded by a wooden fence. The house itself looks very old if you look closely but it looks very nice for a small old house.

"Welcome home," said Ravan, giving warm greetings to Nana, who kept hugging him in his arms.

Nana's eyes were immediately amazed by the view from the yard of the house, which is located on the highest hill in the area, making Nana able to see the view from the face of the Aeron kingdom which is surrounded by a very beautiful hill. In the west, you can see Mount Wakafuji standing proudly showing a thick pile of snow on top of its peak which is 7000 meters above sea level. In the north, there is a village which is located not too far from where they are showing small houses with wheat fields and gardens that adorn the face of the village. There is not much to see from the east to the south because the area is still a dense forest but from a distance, it appears a promontory from the coast belonging to the kingdom of Dalian and a road connecting the two kingdoms. Then in the southeast, you can see tall buildings sticking out of the horizon, casting a shadow of a city in the distance that is none other than Kaulian city which is one of the outermost cities of the vast Aeron kingdom.

"Wow," said Nana in amazement with all the beauty she saw "let's clean yourself first, you're so dirty," said Ravan as he lowered Nana from his arms and took his hand into the house. Nothing to say about the interior of the house, one room, smooth wooden floors, a fireplace with a chair to relax beside, a dining table with one chair, bookshelves, cupboards, and a medium-sized mattress, very simple but very comfortable is the word that can be revealed to judge how antique the little old house was.

Ravan tells Nana to wait while he goes to the back to prepare water for a bath. Meanwhile, Nana's head was still spinning admiring the whole house. For her, this is the first time she can be and live in a real house after spending almost her entire life in a cage. Her eyes stopped when her gaze caught a sword and shield that was displayed above the fireplace, she remembered that Ravan said he was a former knight made Nana imagined how Ravan was when he was a knight and the image her head caught was Ravan seen wearing a full set of manly armor with elegant robes while holding both swords and shields like a hero.

Nana can't stop thinking how cool Ravan is like a knight in her mind but unfortunately, she has to wake up from her daydream thanks to Ravan telling her that the water for bathing is ready.

"I've put a change of clothes for you in the basket that is above the charcoal box, I don't have clothes for little girls so for a while you have to wear the existing clothes I have," he said while handing a towel to Nana.

Nana thanked him and immediately entered the bathroom. She took off all the dirty rags that were on her body and immediately got ready to wash up but Nana suddenly remembered one thing, she didn't know how to bathe properly. During her life she was only pelted with water every week by her owner so she didn't know how to clean herself. Nana takes the towel and wraps the towel around her body then she walks outside to call Ravan and ask his help. Ravan, who is preparing firewood in the fireplace, laughs knowing that Nana doesn't know how to clean herself, and finally Ravan gives a hand to help Nana to help her take a shower.

Ravan used to work in an orphanage while still serving as a knight and he is used to taking care of orphaned children who are still struggling to bathe themselves and this is a very easy job for him to fill his spare time while waiting for his next mission.

According to research, goblins become more and more similar to humans as time passes thanks to their biology and psychology who prefer women from outside their species who are mostly humans and elves make their appearance change little by little throughout thousands of years, that explains why Nana is seen very pretty for a goblin. Her sharp nose, wide eyes, brown hair, and pointed ears made Nana look like a princess from the elven kingdom if her skin wasn't green. However, even though her skin is green, Nana looks very beautiful and will probably be even prettier when she grows up.

After bathing, Ravan puts on his very big shirt on Nana for temporary clothes and because Ravan does not have a comb, Ravan has to use his own hands to tidy Nana's hair which turns out to be so voluminous and it feels a little difficult for Ravan to tidy it up with both hands. Ravan then tells Nana to wait at the dining table while he returns to preparing firewood for cooking.

The dinner this time is chicken soup from Ravan's hometown called sayasop. A stew with chicken cut into small pieces and added with special spices from Ravan's hometown gives a distinctive fragrance so that this food gets the nickname as a perfume that can be eaten by travelers who have come to their hometown. The fragrant scent fills the whole house, which is only one room, and anyone who is there will be hungry to smell it, including Nana, who is waiting at the dining table.

Night fell, all the lights were turned on and dinner was ready on the dining table with steaming steam. Nana's stomach had been ringing a long time ago and saliva immediately flowed in her mouth when a bowl of warm sayasop was served in front of her. "Don't hesitate, eat as much as you want" said Ravan. Nana thanked him and ate the fragrant chicken soup. The warm sauce with spicy flavors flowed down her small throat, the taste of the soft chicken meat mixed with the savory sauce blended into her mouth, the more she ate the soup the more tears streamed down her eyes. For the first time in her life, Nana was able to taste delicious, decent food. She was very grateful with tears of joy streaming down her tiny cheeks. Ravan gently grabbed Nana's chin and using a handkerchief he wiped Nana's face which was wet with tears "If you eat while crying, your food will become salty due to your tears," said Ravan while gently wiping Nana's face.

Nana quickly dropped her spoon and her hands moved quickly to hug Ravan very tightly. "Woah Woah !! What's the matter suddenly hugging me while crying" Ravan said in shock "Nothing, just ... thank you for saving me and willing to accept and take care of me ... I thought I would die when I met you for the first time but you saved me, healed me, cleaned me, gave me clothes and food even though I was a goblin, I might have become meat in a wolf's stomach if we didn't meet so I am very grateful to you, papa "Nana said in her sobs while hugging Ravan tightly.

Ravan put both hands on Nana's head and hugged her softly while rubbing her head gently "there there, it's okay, you are safe now" Ravan said trying to calm Nana who was still crying in his arms "You can stay here forever if you want and I will. continue to be the one to look after you "Ravan said in a soft voice

"I want to stay here with you, papa," said Nana lifting her head looking at Ravan in his arms looking hopefully

"Of course and I will forever be your papa, my little daughter Nana," said Ravan with a warm smile returning Nana's hopeful gaze while stroking her head affectionately.

Nana smiled and happily hugged Ravan tightly and said "papa, you are my hero"

After dinner, Ravan told Nana to sleep on his bed while he still had something to do. Ravan gently lulls Nana on his bed and after Nana falls asleep, Ravan walks out to get something left in the forest, namely his ax and the wolves he killed this afternoon. The forestry area that Ravan lives in is known as "FOREST WHO NO ONE CARE" by the local people. Because the forest in the area is very rarely explored, no one wants to enter the area even for bandits, so it doesn't matter how long an item is left behind there it will remain there because is hard for anyone to pass in the area. But for Ravan, the area is like his own home because he has lived there for many years, he has explored the forest to the point of knowing and memorizing every side and piece of the forest.

After returning with his hands pulling the handcart full of the wolf's body that had been drained of blood, Ravan immediately took a knife and skinned the wolves and cut their meat, and stored it in the warehouse under the hill his house. After showering and changing his clothes, Ravan finds Nana still sleeping very soundly on his bed. Ravan walked as calmly as possible and took a pillow and a blanket from the cupboard and put them on his lounge chair. He choose to sleep there because he didn't want to disturb his sleeping little daughter "maybe I should make a bunk bed for both of us" he thought as he lay down on his favorite chair and began to fall asleep.

Goblins are creatures that are more active at night, they are semi-nocturnal and only have six hours of sleep per day. That's why for Nana, even though she is still a child but she only has 7 hours of sleep so she wakes up from her sleep in the middle of the night and finds Ravan sleeping on a chair with the blanket falling off his body. Nana gets down from the bed and fixes Ravan's blanket in the right position. After finishing, Nana walked back to bed but her steps stopped halfway when a thought suddenly crossed her head. Nana was silent for a moment before she finally turned around and returned to Ravan's place. Nana pulled the blanket back and she climbed into Ravan's lap who was fast asleep due to exhaustion. Nana used all her strength to pull the thick blanket so that it could cover them both and after they were wrapped in the blanket, Nana huddles herself and push her head against Ravan's broad chest. The girl was not sleepy because her bedtime had passed so she will spend the night in her father's lap until sunrise.

"Thank you, papa, now I know a place where I can go home" she whispered in his father's arms while singing a song that Ravan use to lulls her to sleep. Her gentle and soft voice filling the night with a lovely and calm melody of the lullaby song she heard from his father a while ago, making that night, so peaceful.