Chapter 47: Chapter 37: After the Battle…

Echoes of Fire and Shadows

Chapter 37: After the Battle…

---

 -----Fred’s POV-----

After the whole ordeal with the bandits was over, we returned back to the camp with Ophelia in tow, who I had invited to have a chat over a drink and a meal.

The moment we returned to the camp, Julius was immediately swarmed by his mother, my daughters, Mia, and the little Leaf, all of whom were deeply worried about him and relieved that he was safe and sound, which I completely understand, but the kid was in no real danger. 

Tiria and I trained the kid, so I know EXACTLY what he is capable of. Even without me there, he could have easily dealt with those bandits on his own… He was the one who came up with that plan to act like normal peasants to fool them and seal their magic, after all.

Who would have thought that the little scared boy that I found in the forest all of these years ago would become such a fearsome warrior? I truly believe that his real parents and his grandparents were a bunch of fools for underestimating him and thinking that he was talentless.

I know that in the future he will be the kind of man that most people would want to trust their backs to in a fight. Well, he is already becoming that kind of man.

Though I must add if he truly were to be in a dangerous situation, I know when I have to intervene. I don't want to brag, but I can easily recognize when a situation is above a person’s capabilities. If I didn’t know how to do that, I’d never been the commander of an order of knights.

Anyway, Ophelia was pretty surprised to find that Old Man Tian was traveling with us to the capital. The old man obviously kept his mouth shut about the motives of our trip and Julius being friends with the little princess. By the time the two of them finished exchanging pleasantries, the sun was about to go down and the girls had taken Julius to play somewhere near the camp, which meant that we adults were free to have a conversation and drink to unwind for a bit.

My lovely wife, Ophelia, the old man, and I were all sitting at a table near the campfire. Lilia, Ophelia, and I were drinking a little bit of honey beer, the specialty drink from the Nebandia Earldom, Ophelia's home region, while the old man was drinking a cup of tea. The knights brought us a few barrels of the honey beer after they had set up their own camp for the night a few hundred paces away from ours.

We have heard a few screams every now and then but that's just the bandits being interrogated. It was nothing outrageous, so we didn't really pay much attention to that.

Instead, Lilia and I, like the good parents we are, haven't stopped flaunting our three children to Ophelia. It was a good thing that Ophelia is a good mutual friend of ours from my days as a knight and Lilia's days in the Imperial Academy, so she didn’t mind us bombarding her with stuff about our children. On the contrary, she also started talking excitedly about her own teenage son.

Well, she isn’t that excited anymore, mainly because of the booze… She's a little bit tipsy…

"Sheesh… I wish I could go back in time to see my little Alby again when he was Julius’ age… He is so cold to me nowadays, even though he was the sweetest little boy! Now he is all extremely serious and stoic all the time and doesn’t even hug me anymore!" Ophelia said before emptying the contents of her mug in one gulp and putting it back on the table with sadness. "You really need to enjoy them while they are at that age before they become teenagers and they start ignoring you! Julius is so adorable just like my little Alby was… He went overnight from ‘I love you very much, Mommy’ to ‘Mother, don’t bother me’... It is so depressing and I didn't even get a warning that he was going to be like that!" Ophelia complained while tears were forming in the corner of her eyes.

"He is in a complicated age. A young man like him must be surely focusing on how to bring pride to his parents and trying to appear independent and reliable in front of a woman he fancies. That and his studies must have made him stressed so that's why he might be acting cold towards you. You must give him space." The old man said with a serene expression.

Or he is just a rebellious teenager like my little brother and my little sister were… Dear gods, I hope that Liliana, Luna, and Julius don't have anything remotely close to a rebellious phase… 

It would seriously break my heart if my little girls and my dear boy started hating me and cursing me out all of a sudden…

If the girls inherited something from my family then…-

As if she was reading my thoughts, my dear wife held my hand and looked straight into my eyes with her mesmerizing gaze. She quickly smiled to reassure me even though I hadn't told her anything.

Gods, I love this woman.

"Are you sure, Professor Tian!? Are you sure my little Alby doesn't hate his mommy!?" Ophelia suddenly stood up and shouted with desperation. "Esquire, didn't I tell you to keep serving me until I can't move anymore?" She grabbed her mug and looked at the young girl sitting near us.

"Yes, ma'am! I'm sorry, ma'am!" The girl hurriedly took the mug from Ophelia and rushed towards the barrels of honey beer.

The girl was barely 1.60 meters tall and didn't look any older than 14 years of age. Her dark blue hair was arranged in a ponytail and her bangs almost covered her brown eyes. She was wearing a very simple heavy plate armor with no cape and no elaborate designs, meaning that she had just started working as an esquire. She had a longsword hanging on her back.

Sheesh… That brings old memories… To think that I started in the same position as that young girl…

As I saw the girl nervously serving more beer into the mug, I took a sip of my own delicious beer while reminiscing about the past.

"Ophelia, I'm sure that Alberis is just embarrassed. He is just a few months shy of joining the military as an officer and he is going to participate in his last tournament this year." Old Man Tian made a brief pause as he elegantly took a sip of his tea. "I don't think I need to remind you that you were not a saint either while I was teaching you etiquette when you were Alberis' age. I have been resisting the urge of pointing out how ironic this conversation is. You must be aware that your mother and I had the same conversation twenty years ago." Old Man Tian let out a laugh.

Ophelia's son, Alberis is coursing through his last year at the Blaise Academy. 

By imperial decree and as the tradition dictates, all noble children no matter their position must serve three years in the military as officers in order to keep the quality of the Empire's armies. After those three years, they can choose whether they want to continue their education in the Imperial Academy, continue their military career, or inherit their family title.

Since I was disowned by my father at 15 years of age, I almost didn't graduate from the Blaise Academy and I couldn't join the military as an officer. I had to start from the bottom and work my way up.

"Ugh… This and that are different things! My mother was constantly trying to arrange tea parties for me to get engaged and I didn't want to…" Ophelia replied while flustered.

"You speak as if you haven't tried doing the same thing to your son." Old Man Tian added before drinking his tea.

"That's also different! I only want him to find someone who is suitable enough to be with him! My mother just wanted to marry me off so I wouldn't follow through with my plans of becoming a knight!" Ophelia said with anger before quickly changing the topic. "Sigh… In any case, since you guys are coming to the capital, why don't we go to see the next tournament together in about one or two weeks from now? My Alby is participating, so I reserved the closest seats to the action! I would really like to have you there with us! The food and drinks will be on me, of course! You can consider it as payment for helping me with the bandits, otherwise, I might have missed the entire thing because of them!" She said with increasing excitement and gratitude, the anger from before was nowhere to be found.

Hoho… So our children might face each other in the tournament? Heh, fate can be really amusing sometimes. 

"Aren't you this year's Headmistress of the Blaise Academy? Wouldn't that have been catastrophic?" Lilia said with a raised eyebrow.

"Hahaha… I'm just the headmistress in name only, in practice my husband takes care of everything there, so he's the real headmaster." Ophelia shrugged. "But despite that, I still have the obligation to make a speech at the start of the tournament… There's that and the fact that I obviously don't want to miss seeing my son showing off, so you really did me an enormous favor today! So please let me repay the favor by inviting you! Let's see my boy doing his best together!" Ophelia nodded to herself proudly several times.

"We were already planning to go to the tournament, so we'll accept your invitation." Lilia smiled at Ophelia before moving from her seat to sit on my lap. "Since the Crown Princess is graduating this year, it would be a waste not to go and witness such an event." Lilia said before taking my mug out of my hand and emptying its contents and giving me a wink.

Gods, I really love this woman with all my heart…

"Oh! I had forgotten that there was that too! This tournament is going to be special in so many ways! You really saved my butt today! We can talk to Eliana and watch the tournament together like the good old days when the three of us were studying at the Imperial Academy, Lilia!" Ophelia almost seemed like she was about to jump from her seat thanks to her drunken excitement. "Hmm… But I seriously wonder who is going to represent Her Highness in the tournament… Eliana apparently submitted the inscription form to the previous headmaster last year, so I don't know anything about Her Highness Marina's representative. Curiosity is really killing me! I want to know if it is my little Alby or not! I mean, it would explain why he is not telling me anything about his life lately…" Ophelia started rubbing her chin and thinking hard.

Both Lilia and I simply looked at each other and smiled. Hahahaha! Ophelia is in for a big surprise!

"Here's your drink, ma'am." The young girl from before returned placed the mug in front of Ophelia.

"Good job! Keep those drinks coming!" She smiled at the girl before looking at us again. "Speaking of repaying the favor, I just thought of something good!" Ophelia immediately grinned after taking a look at the girl and then looking back at us.

"Oh? And what would that be?" I asked while looking at my lovely wife.

"How about I set up your son with one of my nieces? He seems pretty strong and his etiquette is almost at the level of the royal family thanks to a certain someone." She shot a glance at the old man. "I think he would be a pretty good nobleman." Ophelia said with confidence after drinking almost half of the contents of her mug.

"The boy is talented and a hard worker on top of that, but he still has a long way ahead of him before having perfect manners." Old Man Tian said with a serious tone, though you could see in his eyes that he was proud of his student.

"Professor, your perfectionism scares me, you know? The boy and his sisters have better manners than most noble children their age! They could easily get exceptional grades in our classes, you know!?" Ophelia said with annoyance.

"I would prefer it if you drop the topic, Ophelia. I don't want my students to hear something like this and settle for their current abilities. One should always strive to improve, no matter how experienced." The old man said with a harsh tone.

"Professor Tian, you should already know that our children won't fall into conformity, especially Julius!" Lilia spoke proudly about our children.

Yeah, conformity is something that I would never think about when talking about Julius. That boy is definitely the kind of person that will never stop wanting to improve himself.

The twins have also been putting a lot more effort into their studies and their magic ever since Julius came into our lives. So they are pretty motivated and hardworking too.

Though I must admit that sometimes it scares me how much effort the kid is willing to put into things, especially his training… Maybe I should start making him take it easy for a while…

"I am aware of that. But my opinion is that it is better for them to not get ahead of themselves." Old Man Tian nodded.

"Alright, alright, I get it… Back to the topic, what do you think, you two? My niece over here could make a good wife for him. We would finally be related, you know?" Ophelia was smiling from ear to ear while looking at my wife and me. I could tell that she was already pretty wasted. "What do you think of the boy from earlier? He was cute, right?" He said while looking at the young girl.

"Huh! Umm… Well… How do I put this!? Awawawa… Uck!" The young girl was caught off guard, so she was very flustered and embarrassed. She was so embarrassed that even made some strange sounds and bit her tongue after that.

"Sorry about that. She's a bit shy most of the time and a little clumsy too, but she's a great dancer and singer and a skilled fighter. She also knows the basics of cooking, sewing, and even a little bit of housekeeping. Don't forget that she's also the first daughter of Viscount Shtrel, don’t you think it is a good deal? I think your son and her would make a cute couple." Ophelia, in her drunken daze, was convinced that we would be on board with the idea.

"Aunt Ophelia isn't he a little too young!? Mother will get mad at you for trying to marry me off to a child who is not even a noble!" The young girl was still very flustered and embarrassed because of Ophelia. "Ah! I didn't mean to offend you or your children, Mr. Skull Crusher! Please don't hurt me!" The girl suddenly looked at me with an expression of fear and panic.

"Sigh… Missy, it is not like I beat up every noble that points out that I and my children are commoners, you know? We are well aware of our social standing." I said in order to calm her down. "Also, just call me Fred. The Mr. Skull Crusher part is unnecessary." I said in a dejected tone.

My words had no effect on the girl… She was still looking quite terrified of me… I couldn't help but let out another sigh.

Hmmm… Now that I remember, Julius is actually the prince of an entire race, so maybe I should have gotten a bit offended for his sake? I don't think he would care that much about it, to be honest.

"Neris, you can't be too nitpicky like your mother! That's why it took her so long to get married to your father! Also, it is not like you are going to marry their son right now! That being said, I don't think your mother would be too furious if she finds out that I got her daughter engaged to the son of the mighty Skull Crusher!" Ophelia had a mischievous expression on her face while trying to convince her niece... "Neris is going to participate in the tournament too, so you could take this opportunity to see how she performs before making a decision!" Ophelia quickly turned to face us and gave us the thumbs-up.

Sigh, this kind of thing is tiring… At least she didn't ask to marry my daughters to her son like some other nobles did when we still lived in the capital…

"Ophelia, you should already know our stance about the nobility and marrying off my children without their consent. Don't take it personally, but we…-" I was about to reject her offer, but I was interrupted.

"If she performs well in the tournament and Julius is on board with it, we might consider your offer. I also only want the best of the best for my child, you see~." Lilia was the one to interrupt me. She spoke with a mix of pride and amusement.

"Miss!? A-A-Are you sure about this!? Your son is too young!?" Neris looked at Lilia with an expression of utter shock.

"It is settled then! We can talk about the specifics after the tournament! I'm confident that Neris will blow your expectations! My Alby and Neris will take first and second place easily!" Ophelia crossed her arms and smiled from ear to ear. She was very pleased with my wife's response…

"We'll have that talk if she performs well during the tournament and if she and my Julius like each other." Lilia pointed out while smiling just like Ophelia.

For some reason, I get the feeling that my dear wife is trying to enter into some sort of weird competition with Ophelia… Maybe the stories I was told by Eliana about their competitiveness during their academy days weren't much of an exaggeration as I originally thought…

"Honey…?" I looked at my wife with confusion.

"Shh! Shut up and stay quiet! This is way too good to be true!" Lilia suddenly leaned closer to me and whispered. She was using a spell to prevent the others from hearing what she was about to say. "That girl is so adorable! She's so diligent, serious, and has a good head on her shoulders, she's perfect! I definitely want her as my daughter-in-law!" Lilia said with sparkling eyes.

"Are you kidding me? Please tell me you are kidding…" I couldn't help but look at her with even more confusion…

"Why would I?" She asked while tilting her head.

"Because that's…-" 

Before I could even tell her anything, she started pinching my nose and just smiled at me again.

"Of course I'm kidding, Fred! I mean I do like the girl quite a lot and I'd definitely like her to be my daughter-in-law, but this is just a joke from Ophelia. Trust me, I have known her for longer than you, I know when she's messing around." Lilia just giggled and dismissed the whole ordeal. "Although an engagement with House Shtrel would really have been incredibly good for Julius had we accepted the position of Duke that His Majesty offered you before, don't you think?" She asked with a playful look on her face.

Ah… She's just drunk… Thank goodness…

My dearest wife is a lot of things, a renowned magician, a caring wife, an excellent mother… But even as her husband, I cannot deny that she is really weird whenever she gets drunk, and that's coming from a bad drunk like me…

She gets more handsy than usual with me, starts talking nonsense while staring at the horizon and making strange jokes about absolutely everything while keeping a straight face.

For example, she was the one that was vehemently against me accepting the title of Duke His Majesty offered when Lilia and I had just gotten married... I would have never accepted, but she was adamant that she didn't want our children to live in such an environment. She didn't want to experience seeing our children stuck in a bunch of loveless marriages. 

The last time she got drunk was that very same night when I rejected the Emperor's offer… She started saying things like maybe we rushed into rejecting his offer and maybe we should have accepted…

She made me so confused that night that I thought I was going crazy… That confusion didn't last very long as she started getting really handsy with me after telling me that she was joking.

And that's pretty much what led us to have the twins a year later.

Speaking of the twins, I guess I am responsible for dinner and the children tonight… At least Lilia is having some fun. I guess it is not bad for her to act like this every once in a while. 

"You should know that having secret conversations at the table is distasteful, especially when we are negotiating something important!" Ophelia said with mild annoyance. "Neris, be a good niece and serve me more beer." Ophelia handed her empty mug to her niece.

"Ah! Please fill mine too, dear!" Lilia raised our mug trying to get Neris' attention.

Of course, the poor girl didn't react because she was still pretty much in shock since she didn't know that her aunt and my wife were just joking…

"Honey, I think you've already had enough for tonight." I still tried to take the mug from her, but she quickly got up from my lap and ran towards Neris…

"Don't be so boring, Fred! Let me enjoy myself tonight with our friend!" Lilia whined.

"That's the spirit! We are drinking all night long to celebrate!" Ophelia got up from her seat too and wrapped her arm around Lilia.

"Yes! Let's celebrate!" Lilia also wrapped her arm around her while raising the mug into the air. "Professor Tian, join us too! Drink at least a little!" She said to Old Man Tian.

"I appreciate the offer, but I must decline. I'm too old for these kinds of sudden parties. I'd prefer to leave the fun to the younger ones." The old man replied. "That being said, I will take care of preparing dinner tonight. If you'll excuse me." He finished his tea and rose from his seat, quickly bowing before leaving towards the wagon with our supplies.

Oh, that's good… It is better if the old man is the one to cook. One less thing for me to worry about. Now I only have to take care of these two drunkards and the children.

"Yahoo! The professor is cooking today! We are going to eat like royalty today!" Ophelia said with excitement.

"I mean, the professor's food is pretty tasty. But he doesn't even come close to what my son can do! Hehehe~." Lilia didn't miss the opportunity to brag. 

"Oh!? Your son can cook and he is better than the professor!?" Ophelia seemed surprised. "Did you hear that, Neris? You'd be able to eat tasty things if you marry their son!" Ophelia said to her niece, trying to convince her again.

"..." The girl was looking beyond embarrassed. She simply took the mugs of the two drunk women and left without saying a word.

Sheesh… I pity her right now…

While I was making sure that those two drunkards didn't accidentally fall into our campfire and looking at Ophelia's niece with pity, I felt a familiar presence return to the camp.

You are reading story Echoes of Fire and Shadows at novel35.com

"We are back…" Said Julius in a flat tone.

The moment I turned my head to see them, I was left dumbfounded.

Liliana, Luna, Mia, and Klein were all keeping their distance from Julius and covering their noses. Both of my daughters seemed like they were about to puke any second now.

Julius, on the other hand, was standing in the middle of them while holding a teary white-haired fairy in his hands. Both Julius and Leaf were covered from head to toe in some strange and slimy substance. Julius' arms were also covered in a bit of blood… He was just staring at us with a deadpan expression on his face.

What the heck happened to them?

"Oh, gods! My boy, what happened to you!? And your clothes!? Eww! Why do you smell so bad!?" Lilia immediately rushed to examine our son in a panic, almost pushing Ophelia to the ground, only to stop herself a few steps before reaching him to cover her nose.

"Kiddo, did you two fall into a pool of slimes or something?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not exactly…" Julius said. "Have you ever seen a giant frog, Dad?" He then asked.

Huh…? A giant frog? What the hell? Did he find a new type of monster?

"I don't think I have…" I said to my son with befuddlement.

"I have a bit of a long story for you…" Julius said with a flat tone.

---

-----Julius' POV-----

A few minutes earlier…

After the battle ended with the bandits and we returned to camp feeling victorious, I was quickly taken away from there by my sisters, Leaf, and Mia who were previously pretty worried about me. We ended up taking a stroll in the opposite direction from where the bandits came from. Surprisingly Klein even came with us.

Thanks to the girls who were practically glued to me, it was so easy to forget about the fact that I almost murdered someone and the battle I had just fought…

All of them were pretty considerate to me and didn't ask a single question about what had happened there, which I truly appreciate. Even Klein was being less sassy than usual and didn't really care about Mia trying to be more affectionate with me…

It really made me feel a bit guilty having worried them so much, but I was also happy that they cared about me that much.

It really warmed my heart so much that I decided to buy them some gifts when we reach Mutm.

Anyway, after walking and just talking about pretty much anything other than the bandits, we managed to find a large pond and some cool rock formations under a tall oak tree.

We decided to hang out there and just have a little fun throwing pebbles at the pond before going back to the camp.

The girls were the ones throwing pebbles at the pond and having a competition, while Klein and I were just watching them while sitting on the rocks near the pond.

"It's my win again!" Leaf said proudly while standing near the edge of the pond.

"Leaf! We said that using magic was unfair and against the rules!" Luna complained as she ended up being in third place.

"You're way taller than me and you don't see me complaining! Just accept your defeat honorably!" Leaf said while smirking.

"It is not like a little bit of magic would make you win, you were just unlucky sis." Liliana, who ended up being second place, patted our sister's shoulder before sticking out her tongue mockingly.

"Ugh! It will not stay like this! I want a rematch!" Luna was seriously mad about losing.

"You are really getting fired up about this, Luna… I guess I should get serious next round and win!" Mia, who had come last, said with a smile filled with confidence.

"Weren't you being serious already this round? How come you couldn't even land a single rock despite being so close to the pond?" Klein said with a deadpan expression.

"S-S-Shut up! I was just bluffing! I'm gonna play seriously this time!" Mia got angry at her brother and blushed due to how embarrassed she was. Her long and red bunny ears were moving according to her mood and everything. Even her tail was moving angrily.

Hehehe! My girlfriend is so cute when she's embarrassed~!

"Don't get mad at me. It is not my fault you have a terrible aim." Klein said to his sister.

"Oi! Don't make me go there to teach you a lesson!" Mia got mad at Klein. She was stomping her feet on the ground with fury.

"You should try to focus on at least landing a pebble if you have that much energy to get angry at me." Klein replied with an amused expression.

I laid down on my back while ignoring their little argument and just started the sky and the clouds.

Despite having been my first real battle with experienced people not even an hour ago, I was feeling at ease in this place with my friends.

Here, I could forget that I had almost taken the life of a despicable monster and just enjoy this time with my friends.

(Though… This battle really gave me the confidence I needed.) I thought as I remembered my life as Crux.

No matter how many times I leveled up, my stats increased, or the strategies I came up with, I always ended up losing against my Dad and Auntie. No matter how much I improved, I ended up losing hundreds of times against them… Because of that I never really got that feeling that 'I am strong' like they were or anything like that despite being able to hunt monsters alone in the forest around the village.

For the first time ever, I actually feel like I am strong. Now that I have experienced my first actual victory, I can tell that even when I protected the girls from those adventurers, I never felt this good.

I couldn't contain my desire to smile from ear to ear and shove this achievement onto my bio grandparents for doubting me.

But what made me happier than that was that I knew that if push comes to shove, I had the strength to protect my loved ones.

I felt like the little voice in the back of my mind that was constantly whispering that I was inadequate and weak had been finally silenced.

(Pyxis and Droam would be proud of you! I am proud of you!) Lia said to me via telepathy.

(Thank you. That is good to know.) I smiled as I closed my eyes to imagine the Goddess in my mind.

After that day when Lia revealed what was going on back on Earth and the deal with the Gods of Earth, my relationship with her was complicated for a few days.

Even after the talk with my mom, things were a little tense between us. Of course, it didn't take long for us to start talking like we normally did before she revealed the truth to me.

To her credit, since she has fulfilled almost all of the conditions I have imposed on her, she gained a lot of my trust back. She hasn't gained my full trust yet and I sometimes feel angry about being lied to by her, but she's on the right track to getting all of my trust back. It will take a while before that happens though.

(I'm sorry that I ignored you during the battle, Lia… I really thought I was doing the right thing and allowed myself to be controlled by my anger…) I apologized while imagining Lia's big crimson eyes staring back at me.

(Don't worry about that now! I mean, to say that the guy was scum is an understatement and I really hope Skell gives him a terrible punishment!) Lia said. (I really panicked back there, you know? If you had killed him, I don't think I would have been able to bear it if you had developed more trauma because I couldn't stop you…) Lia spoke with a voice that was filled with guilt.

I could really feel the pain and regret coming from Lia's voice. She obviously felt regret about not intervening and helping me out with my grandparents deeming me talentless and all that jazz…

I can understand where she's coming from now that the situation has been resolved. It is a bit weird for me to admit this, but in hindsight, I haven't been exactly what you'd call stable ever since I recovered my memories from Earth.

With my memories and emotions all over the place thanks to my childish hormones, I can understand why Lia would be so worried about me getting even more fucked in the head if I killed Rexon.

Reincarnation sure is a bitch huh…

(I'm really sorry for making you feel that way.) I apologized again. (And thank you for worrying about me as always.) I thanked her as I opened my eyes and looked at the sky with a broad smile on my face.

(I'm always here for you. You're one of the best things that have happened to me in a pretty long time, you know?) Lia replied before giggling.

Ahh… I wish things could stay this peaceful for just a little longer… 

"Oh! Froggy! Hello Mr. Froggy!" I heard Leaf speak with increasing excitement.

"Eeeek! Don't come any closer!" Luna let out a primal scream of fear.

"Keep it away from me!" Liliana shouted.

"Aaaah!!! It jumped! It's coming towards us!" Mia was panicking.

As I raised my upper body, I was able to see the creature that had made them scream. The frog was a common-looking green frog, barely a little larger than Leaf. The small animal was barely less than a meter away from Leaf.

"Shesh! You are a bunch of scaredy cats! Froggies are very friendly and cute, you know?" Leaf said to the other girls. "Hey! Let's play Mr. Froggy!" Leaf turned her head and looked at the frog.

At that moment we all simply watch in silence.

"Croak…" The frog simply croaked in response, clearly not interested in playing.

In a few moments, I would learn that I was very wrong about that statement.

The frog suddenly shot its tongue toward Leaf. The small white-haired fairy was snagged by the frog’s slimy tongue. 

"Wait, Mr. Froggy! I don't like this game! Aaaaaaaagh…!!!" Leaf yelled as the frog's tongue snapped back bringing Leaf to the mouth of the small animal, trapping her inside…

"Ah… It ate her…"

(Ah… It really ate her…)

Both Klein and Lia spoke at the same time with a tone of disbelief.

"Leaf! Hold on! I'll save you!" I immediately yelled in a panic as I got up and ran towards the place where the girls were.

Luckily, since the frog was not that big, Leaf's legs up to her thighs were sticking out of the frog's mouth. I could easily help her out of there.

However, it turns out that I was very wrong about that too…

All of us could only watch in horror as the frog was suddenly enveloped in a thick cloud of dark blue mana that came from inside its mouth. The frog started growing in size very quickly as soon as that phenomenon started.

"Umm… I am not hallucinating, right? This is actually happening in front of us, right?" Mia asked with a fearful expression.

"Ahh…" Liliana and Luna were looking extremely pale as they watched the frog grow.

"Holy shit…" Klein said while getting increasingly scared.

In just a moment, the frog who was previously just about the same size as Leaf was now the size of a two-storied house…

All of us could only look at the 6 meters tall and 3 meters wide monstrosity of a frog that stood majestically in front of us, staring at us with those enormous reptile eyes…

"Heeeelp! Juli! Heeeeelp!" Leaf, whose legs had also just as big as some normal human ones, was kicking the frog and screaming desperately to get my help.

As soon as she screamed, the poor Leaf was then completely brought into the frog's mouth.

"CROAK." The monstrous creature then let out the most mundane yet terrifying deep croak that echoed through the vast plains. At that moment, the frog suddenly started staring at us with greedy eyes.

Oh shit! I know where this is going!

"Run! I'll keep it entertained while you run away as fast as you can!" I shouted my orders and unsheathed my sword in the blink of an eye. "Don't look back! I'll save Leaf somehow, but don't let it catch you!" I shouted at the others as I prepared my magic to attack.

Fortunately or unfortunately in my case, I was the next target of the frog… The moment I shouted for the others to run, the frog's tongue had already reached me…

Oh fuck… This will not go well…

I was immediately pulled into the frog's gigantic mouth, not giving me the slightest chance to escape…

---

Now…

"And after five agonizing minutes inside the foul beast, that's how I basically tore a way out with my sword combined with my fire magic to save Leaf and escaped from the frog's stomach. The end." I said with a deadpan tone as I finished relaying the tale of our misadventures…

"Sniff…" Leaf cleared her tears as I finished my tale.

"..." All the adults merely looked at me with expressions of disbelief.

"Now if you don't mind, I'm really tired, so I'm gonna skip dinner, take a bath, see if these clothes can be saved and I will go to sleep. Good night everyone, please enjoy yourselves…" Not caring about their looks of disbelief and started walking away while carrying the poor teary Leaf in my hands.

After what I had just gone through, I didn't have the mental fortitude to endure sharing again the details about our miraculous escape from inside the monstrous amphibian… I don't think I'll be able to eat food for a while either…

I have a newly found respect for frogs now…

---

Chapter 37: After the Battle…

END

You can find story with these keywords: Echoes of Fire and Shadows, Read Echoes of Fire and Shadows, Echoes of Fire and Shadows novel, Echoes of Fire and Shadows book, Echoes of Fire and Shadows story, Echoes of Fire and Shadows full, Echoes of Fire and Shadows Latest Chapter