After Dumpy learnt how to talk, life became a lot easier for Leo who could now properly communicate with his frog and listen to what Dumpy really thought about him.
To his absolute delight, Dumpy seemed like a genuinely well mannered and obedient boy who never talked back to Leo or disobeyed him.
Infact, he always referred to Leo as 'Lord Father' and had a reverent tone when addressing him.
All this was a delight for Leo who thoroughly enjoyed the respect, however, unfortunately, Dumpy's behavior was not the same around others.
It was only when Leo took Dumpy out of the manor and mixed him with other NPCs that his true nature as a Swamp Frog came out, as it was only then that Leo realized why the Beast Taming manual put absolute emphasis on making the pet respect it's master, as Dumpy's behavior towards anyone he did not respect was absolutely deplorable.
On day 22, as Leo took him out towards the open fields just outside the Barony, the two of them passed-by some NPC farmers who politely bowed towards their Baron with joy, however, they had a small child who did not show Leo the proper respect.
Somehow, this enraged Dumpy as he pointed his sword towards the little kid and said "Show your ruler some respect, Mongrel" in an action which made Leo choke up on his own saliva.
The little child immediately began to cry, and Leo had to admonish Dumpy over his behavior, as he had no idea why his frog would even do something like that?
However, unfortunately for him this was not an isolated incident.
From that day onwards, whenever Dumpy came across an NPC that did not show Leo proper respect, Dumpy would unequivocally lash out at them with the harshest of insults.
Saying absurd statements like :-
"You dare meet eyes with the Lord Father? You filthy lowborn?"
And
"Lord Father, that woman there possesses a fairly broad waist. She's a prime specimen for your breeding. May I abduct her for you?"
Dumpy spoke of crimes that Leo could not even begin to fathom, giving Leo an extreme culture shock.
While the little one behaved like a cute innocent frog in front of Leo, that side of his personality seemed reserved for Leo and Leo alone.
In public, he turned into a raging tsundere beast, who could not tolerate the slightest insult to his Lord Father.
The most alarming incident, however, happened when Leo and Dumpy were just concluding their training session for the day where Dumpy was fighting against his final pack of wolves.
At that point, a player adventurer party approached them, recording in joy as they found the sword wielding frog to be a real novelty.
The adventurers, five in total, were dressed in various sets of armor and gear, each equipped for their task of wolf hunting.
Judging by their appearance, Leo assumed they were doing a mission to collect wolf hides for one of the local tailor shops in his Barony and hence paid little heed to them.
They didn't seem particularly impressive to Leo—mid-level at best—and certainly not strong enough to pose any real challenge to him, with his 400+ level advantage over them, however, this negligence on his part was a big mistake.
As the adventurer group approached closer, they eventually spotted Leo leaning against a tree trunk too, as their mouths hung out of their jaws when they spotted 'TheBoss'.
Bringing a finger to his mask, Leo signaled them to keep quiet, as he wanted no-one to disturb Dumpy's hunt. However, by this point Dumpy had already taken note of the adventurers approaching their location and was observing their attitudes towards his master more than his own fight.
Since Leo signaled for them to not speak, one of the players—a tall swordsman with a cocky grin—waved casually, as if greeting a fellow player rather than a ruler and this action of his, caused Dumpy to lose his cool completely.
Slashing through the few remaining wolves in haste, Dumpy freed himself from the task that Leo assigned him and immediately pointed his sword towards the adventurers.
Leo frowned, but before he could say anything, Dumpy showed his true colors.
The small frog's eyes narrowed dangerously, his demeanor changing in an instant.
The usual soft croaking and mild behavior were gone, replaced by a palpable anger that radiated from his small form as he said "You dare address Lord Father so casually, you wretched mongrel?"
Dumpy's voice, sharp and venomous, rang out across the field, startling both Leo and the adventurers.
Before anyone could react, Dumpy hopped forward, pointing his tiny sword with a fierce glare in his eyes.
"You filthy lowborn scum! Do you know who stands before you? You dare meet the owner of this land without showing the proper respect? Bow now, or face the wrath of my blade" Dumpy demanded, as his words completely stunned the adventurers, who could not fathom that the frog could talk.
"Hey guys…. I told you to not eat those wild mushrooms. Now I'm hearing a frog speak angrily to me…." One of the five adventurers said, as the other ones also questioned their own reality.
Everyone began wondering if there was something wrong with the wild mushrooms they consumed, but since the system did not warn them of eating a hallucigen, they believed it to be highly unlikely that this was an illusion.
"This is my final warning…. Bow!" Dumpy repeated, however, the adventurers, still stunned, only kept scratching their heads in confusion.
Finally, as a couple seconds passed after Dumpy's second warning, he attacked them without hesitation, killing all five adventurers within a couple seconds as the adventurers did not even stand the slightest chance to defend.
"Dumpy no!" Leo complained, as he never thought that his frog would actually attack other humans, as although up till now Dumpy had talked about attacking people who disrespected Leo, he had never really followed through with it until now.
However, now that he did…. Leo finally understood the true nature of the Ancient Swamp Frog.
And it was not as simple as he first thought it would be.
—-----
/// A/N - Chapter 4/4 for the day. ///