ragginovel Chapter 341: Frog Incident
Chapter 341: Frog Incident
The rough skin.
The soft squishy texture.
The memory was unbearable.
Ever since that day, he had been unable to tolerate frogs of any size.
"...Yeah, I’d hate that too."
Qiong Xing was relieved that Leander understood.
Even someone perfectly capable of picking up a frog with their bare hands would probably change their mind after having one smack directly into their face.
Even after the frog was no longer in sight, Qiong Xing could not relax.
Feeling somewhat embarrassed, he allowed Leander to carry him all the way back home.
"Mama! Welcome hom... huh?"
Lian had come running out to greet him as if she had been waiting eagerly for his return.
However, the moment she noticed that Mama was being carried, she tilted her head in confusion.
Elias who had followed her outside looked equally surprised.
"What happened?"
"Well... a lot happened."
It was embarrassing, but after explaining that he had encountered a frog and had to be carried home because of it, both of them smiled wryly and simply said they were glad he was alright.
"Still, I didn’t know there was something Qiong Xing was afraid of."
"Of course there is. Wouldn’t it be stranger if there wasn’t?"
Qiong Xing had never met anyone who was completely free of dislikes or fears.
When he pointed that out, Elias nodded in agreement.
"I suppose that’s true."
Then Elias turned toward Lian.
"See, Lian? It looks like Mama has things he’s bad at too. Does that make you like him any less?"
"No. Lian loves Mama."
"That’s right. So don’t worry so much about things you can’t do."
"Okay!"
Qiong Xing had no idea what they were talking about, but judging by Lian’s cheerful mood, she clearly was not disappointed in him.
That realization made him quietly breathe a sigh of relief.
Being told that being afraid of frogs was uncool would have hurt far more than he cared to admit.
"So, I’m sorry, but if any of you see a frog, please don’t touch it. If you do, I won’t be able to go near you for a while... no, I won’t go near you at all."
"Eh?"
Unlike the stunned adults, the children obediently nodded.
"Okay!"
Meanwhile, every adult present silently made a vow never to touch a frog.
Being unable to touch Qiong Xing was practically the same as death to them.
"That includes you too, Fenrir."
"Yeah, yeah. I got it."
Since he had agreed, Qiong Xing trusted that Fenrisulfr would keep his promise.
Feeling reassured at last, he went to bed that night.
Unfortunately, the dream that awaited him was a nightmare involving a gigantic frog crushing him beneath its weight.
Needless to say, he woke up the next morning in a very bad mood.
...
"That smells amazing."
"It’s making me hungry!"
"Hey, hey. If you keep getting in the children’s way, we’ll never finish."
Qiong Xing scolded Leander and the others, who were hovering around the children making karaage and doing little more than distracting them.
Unfortunately, Joa who had been watching the entire exchange immediately turned his attention to Qiong Xing instead.
"And you need to sit still. Don’t move."
The one who had been doing the scolding ended up getting scolded himself.
Obediently, Qiong Xing sat back down in his chair.
"How’s the bleeding?"
"I think it’s probably stopped by now... no, apparently not."
He cautiously removed the hand covering his nose, only to see blood immediately begin dripping again.
Startled, he quickly pressed his hand back against it.
Since he had almost no experience with nosebleeds in his previous life, he still was not entirely sure how to judge these things.
"That’s why I told you to stay still. Don’t move until it stops."
"I never expected to get a nosebleed. Well, I suppose it’s better than breaking my nose."
"It’s not better! You scared everyone half to death."
When blood had suddenly started pouring from Qiong Xing’s nose, everyone around him had panicked far more than he had.
People had been shouting over one another, asking if he was alright and whether his nose was okay.
There had been so much commotion that he could barely understand what anyone was saying.
"It was surprising, wasn’t it? Well, thanks to Lingxiao, I discovered that my reflexes aren’t actually very good."
The reason Qiong Xing was sitting there with a nosebleed while being lectured by Joa traced back to only a few minutes earlier.
After returning from the hunt, he had enthusiastically announced that it was time to make karaage and started heading toward the kitchen.
At that exact moment, Lingxiao had launched himself at him from behind.
Instinctively, Qiong Xing had tried to catch himself.
His hands had gone out properly.
The problem was that, after the traumatic encounter with the frog, he had spent the entire walk home clinging to Leander with all his strength.
By the time they arrived, relief had caused all the strength to drain from his arms.
So when he planted his hands on the ground, his wrist folded awkwardly beneath him, and despite his efforts, he ended up making very close friends with the floor.
As expected of a frog.
To think it had indirectly caused one of the very few nosebleeds he had experienced in his entire life!
His hatred of frogs only grew stronger.
"Don’t just say, ’I understand.’ Lingxiao’s at fault too, but you need to be a little more..."
"Mama, we’re done!"
"Yes, very well done. From here on, it gets dangerous, so let’s leave the rest to your papas, alright?"
The children’s proud announcement immediately cut off Joa’s lecture.
Qiong Xing smiled and praised them while quietly celebrating the interruption.
Qiong Xing was saved by Lian’s perfectly timed raised hand and call for attention.
If not for that interruption, Joa’s lecture probably would have continued for quite a while longer.
The children had worked hard and completed everything up to the frying stage, so Qiong Xing left the rest to the adults and asked Joa and the others to take over.