Chapter 502 - 501: The Arrogant King

Chapter 502: Chapter 501: The Arrogant King

The Bullywugs stopped nearly fifty meters ahead of the group, at the entrance to a massive cavern.

Then, a Bullywug Knight, mounted on a giant frog, approached them.

The Bullywug shouted in a loud voice, "Halt, RIBBIT, you intruders! Halt!"

The Bullywug’s speech was grating, as if he had a wad of phlegm stuck in his throat. Colin, however, was somewhat surprised that this creature could actually speak the Common Language of the Surface.

Durkin glanced at the Dwarves behind him, then stepped forward and said tentatively, "We only wish to pass through. We mean you no harm."

"Pass through? RIBBIT, are you a merchant caravan?" the Bullywug asked, confused.

"Yes, we’re a merchant caravan passing through, heading to Mist Harbor with our goods," Donkexes quickly chimed in.

The Bullywug shot its tongue out to lick its eye, then said, "RIBBIT, you must meet our king! Only he can decide!"

Dorn’s voice suddenly sounded in Colin’s mind. ’Durkin is asking for your thoughts.’

Colin replied mentally, ’These Bullywugs aren’t strong. Wiping them all out wouldn’t be difficult. Of course, the final decision is up to you. I’m just a guard.’

After the explanation, Durkin nodded at the Bullywug. "We agree to meet your king."

Hearing this, the surrounding Dwarves immediately began to murmur amongst themselves.

But Colin didn’t think it was anything to worry about.

Compared to Orcs, the combat prowess of Bullywugs wasn’t actually that high.

These swamp-dwelling creatures lacked heavy Armor. Their weapons consisted of things like Short Spears and blowguns, and their armor-piercing capabilities were rather pathetic. The Dwarves on his side, on the other hand, were a bunch of walking tin cans.

Besides, there were only about a hundred Bullywugs in front of them, not a particularly large number.

Even if a fight did break out, Colin didn’t think it would cause any major problems.

On the contrary, he actually felt it was unnecessary to meet their so-called king. ’Durkin must have his own reasons for this, like building connections for retaking the Undercity later on.’

The lead Bullywug leaped off its giant frog and said to them, "Follow me, RIBBIT, you insolent intruders, for an audience with our king."

Just as Durkin was about to step forward, the Bullywug held out a hand to stop them. "RIBBIT, no weapons! No more than ten of you can come!"

Colin, who was concealed by the Disguise Technique, exchanged glances with the others.

Everyone except Colin handed their weapons over to the other Dwarves.

Just then, Balende, the perpetually noisy one, stepped forward. He pointed at Durkin and bellowed, "I have to go too, to make sure this fellow doesn’t sell us out to these monsters!"

Once the Bullywug Knight confirmed everything was in order, the group of nine began to walk toward the Bullywugs’ position.

As they walked, Kase and the others in the group deliberately stomped their feet to make more noise.

After all, even though Colin could control his Armor, walking in it still made some slight noises.

Perhaps their noise successfully masked the sounds Colin was making, as the guiding Bullywug Knight raised no objections.

The group made its way to the front of the Bullywug crowd.

The view before them suddenly opened up. To the left, at the end of the tunnel, was a large cavern.

The first thing that caught their eye was a temple standing inside the cavern.

The temple resembled a pyramid, carved with serpentine decorations. It had a style reminiscent of an American pyramid—or, as it would be called in this world, "the style of the Snake-men."

Around the temple was a patch of solid ground where dozens of stilt-huts had been built. Bullywugs moved back and forth between the huts, busy with tasks like caring for their young and mending Fishing Nets.

’That must be the Bullywug settlement,’ Colin thought. ’It’s a shame Dorn and the others had to lead from the front. If they could have scouted a little farther ahead, we might have been able to avoid this whole group.’

At that moment, the ranks of the Bullywugs parted to form a path.

The Bullywugs on both sides of the path lowered their heads in a show of great respect.

The largest of the Bullywugs rode forward on a giant frog. The rather corpulent creature sat leisurely on the giant frog’s back, staring at the group with the uniquely vacant, bulging eyes of a frog.

The Bullywug Knight who had spoken earlier proudly raised its head and announced, "Be honored to have an audience with the great Lord of Muck and Mire, the King of All Frogs, the Master of Croaks, the Emperor of Kelp, and the Protector of Tadpoles! CROAK! You will never again in your lives see such a magnificent monarch!"

Colin struggled to suppress the urge to laugh.

Combined with the Bullywug’s appearance, his words were utterly ridiculous.

The moment he heard the word "Bullywug," Colin had pretty much guessed this would happen.

Goblins, Kobolds, Bullywugs...

These kinds of weak monsters found in the wild all shared a peculiar inferiority complex, though each expressed it differently.

Goblins vented their inferiority by torturing other intelligent beings to display their own power. Kobolds, on the other hand, would avoid being discovered by humans at all costs out of fear of retaliation.

And Bullywugs, out of their own sense of inferiority, would elect a so-called king.

All the Bullywugs in the tribe would do their utmost to flatter and praise their king. They would even go out of their way to capture nearby intelligent creatures and force these outsiders to bow and worship their king, all to alleviate the tribe’s deep-seated sense of inadequacy.

It was because of this trait that when Bullywugs attacked passersby, they usually chose to capture them alive rather than kill them outright.

Any unlucky captives simply needed to join the Bullywugs in praising their king and offer up some sort of tribute, and they could usually leave unscathed.

While they were hardly saints, compared to all the other ghouls and fiends out there, they were relatively harmless.

"O great King of the Swamp." Donkexes bowed with considerable smoothness. "As humble merchants, we only hope to earn your pity and be granted permission to pass through this swamp."

"CROAK... Lies!" the Bullywug king exclaimed with a haughty expression.

He spoke in the Common Language with a pretentious southern drawl, "The Lord of this Swamp has already heard that your party numbers as many as thirty. CROAK! While that is far fewer than my subjects, it is still a great many. You are no merchants, but clearly a group of wandering refugees! Am I not correct, CROAK?"

Donkexes reacted quickly, lowering his head and saying, "O great and wise Lord of the Swamp, your deduction is entirely correct."

"I imagine you’ve never seen such a vast kingdom before!" the Bullywug king said smugly. "If each of you hands over one piece of gold, CROAK, you may pass."