I Became the Teacher of a Troll Tribe

Chapter 14: The Envoy (3)

Four pairs of eyes blinked, their gazes darting back and forth, unsure of where to settle.

Once at the dark aura swirling around my blades.

Then at my admittedly handsome face.

It was as if they were trying to confirm whether the owner of this ominous power was really me, Seong Jinyu.

“I’ll explain later.”

“G-gooooo!!!”

“We will proceed as planned to Iron Jesro.”

First, I had to restore the envoy’s lost sense of purpose.

“……!”

“Gromnar, can you truly bring yourself to cut off Stone Grunder’s head?”

“Krk, I… can’t….”

“That’s enough. You’ll be deployed to the battlefield, but focus on the rear.”

To overcome our numerical disadvantage, we needed to maximize every bit of our strength.

“Stone Grunder!”

“Krk!”

“Other than the knight, no one can hurt you. Go wild.”

“GOOOOOO!!!”

That roar was the most thunderous one I’d heard from him yet.

“Morgan, as acting leader, you’ll take on the knight with me.”

“…Interesting.”

Though his grin was more of a smirk, it was the first time Morgan looked motivated since our humiliating encounter with the mercenaries.

“Toka, once we reach Iron Jesro, you’ll be the most important person in this mission. You are the key.”

“……!”

“Stay hidden and safe. We’ll be back soon.”

“U-understood! Please, everyone, be careful!”

With Toka safely concealed in the bushes, all preparations were complete.

Below us, the Imperial envoy passed along the ridge, their wagon creaking softly.

It seemed they had heard Stone Grunder’s earlier roar, as they stopped briefly to scan their surroundings.

After maintaining a degree of caution, they began to move again.

Clatter-clatter—!

Now was the time.

“GOOOOO!!! HUMAAAAANSSSS!!!”

At my signal, Stone Grunder leaped down the slope.

THUD!

“It’s an ambush!”

“Trolls! Hold your formation!”

“Stay calm!”

Drawing a massive amount of attention, Stone Grunder immediately became the center of their focus.

CLANG!

CLASH!

CRAAACK!

“HUUMAAAAANSSS!!”

While the Imperials focused on [Steel Skin] Stone Grunder, Gromnar infiltrated the rear.

“There’s another one in the back! Aghh!”

Slash!

Thud!

“……Krk!”

With Gromnar disrupting their formation, the knight finally began to move.

“Pathetic insects.”

BZZZZT!

The knight’s greatsword suddenly shone with a bright light, crackling with electricity.

ZAP! BZZZZZT!

Electric currents began to surge outward, dancing around the blade.

‘…Well, that’s a relief.’

I breathed a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, this wasn’t an aura knight.

Instead, the knight appeared to be using [Electric Charge], a combat enhancement trait.

Even so, it was enough to pose a significant threat to Stone Grunder and Gromnar.

Now it was our turn—time for the humans to step in.

I positioned myself above the knight, ready to drive my blades straight through his skull.

TAT! TATAT!

Two figures—Morgan and I—launched ourselves off the ridge, descending rapidly.

“Get a taste of this.”

BZZZZZZT!

The dark aura around my dual blades clashed with the knight’s electric-charged white sword.

And then…

“Urgh!”

The knight’s finely crafted greatsword shattered into two pieces.

However, the knight immediately twisted his body to deflect my attack, dodging the brunt of it.

‘As expected, finishing him in one strike was too much to hope for.’

But that opening was all Morgan needed.

Thud!

Morgan’s dagger plunged deep into the knight’s back, piercing through a joint in the armor.

Despite the chaos, our acting leader had landed a precise, calculated blow.

“This is no ordinary group of pests… You’re traitors, aren’t you?”

The knight’s gaze burned with hatred, even as blood dripped from his wounds.

Somehow, he’d armed himself with a new weapon in an instant.

“Shut up.”

Ignoring his taunts, I dashed forward again, unleashing a flurry of strikes.

KIIIING!

When he blocked my left-hand blade…

SHINK!

I used my right-hand blade to exploit the opening, driving it deep into his side.

This was a technique I had honed during sparring sessions with Stone Grunder—a simple but highly effective tactic.

“Guhhh!”

“It’s been ages since I’ve brought down a knight. Though, to be fair, you’re probably just a squire at best.”

Morgan joined me, and together, we gained the upper hand.

The knight, now riddled with wounds and with Morgan’s dagger still embedded in his back, stumbled as he desperately tried to fend us off.

“Y-you filthy traitors!”

CLANG! CLANG! THUD!

‘Got him.’

Finally, my aura-infused blade found its mark, piercing through his armor and into his abdomen.

I leaned in, driving the blade as deep as possible before releasing my grip.

“Y-you… bastard…”

Even with the sword lodged in his stomach, the knight refused to fall.

His fiery gaze bore into me, his sheer willpower undeniable.

It must’ve hurt like hell.

STAB!

Morgan’s dagger pierced through the knight’s throat, silencing him once and for all.

“Pfft!”

Morgan spat on the corpse, finishing with a mocking flourish.

“L-Lord Reagan has fallen!”

“T-that’s impossible…!”

“Aghhh!”

When I turned around, Stone Grunder and Gromnar were holding their ground impressively.

“HUMAAAANNNSSS!!!”

Yeah, yeah. I get it. You’ve worked hard.

TATAT!

Once again, I was reminded:

A group without a leader is nothing but a collection of powerless individuals.

***

“Ah, ahhh….”

Thud!

The last struggling enemy collapsed, and the battle was over.

At some point, Toka had rejoined us.

“Jinyu…”

‘…This is awkward.’

The way she looked at me was unsettling, like she was staring at a monster.

She must’ve seen everything from her hiding spot.

This can’t get out at the academy… How am I going to keep her quiet?

“Krk, I’m going to rest for a bit.”

Gromnar, who had fought valiantly despite his injuries, lay down beside the healing totem.

If I were the director of this battle, he’d undoubtedly be the MVP.

He had earned his rest.

After the fight, we looted the wagon and collected the spoils of war.

“Gromnar! Here’s the antidote, and some potions too!”

Toka quickly brought the supplies to Gromnar’s side.

“I can smell the stench of humans!”

Stone Grunder, meanwhile, had taken a liking to a pair of Imperial double axes he found stashed in a corner of the wagon.

And as for our acting leader…

“……”

Morgan had been staring at me for a while now, a piece of jerky from the wagon in his hand.

For someone who claimed to despise the Empire, he seemed to have no problem indulging in their snacks. Perhaps they reminded him of home.

I, however, had my own prize: the coveted Spatial Pocket.

A rare item, not something you could buy no matter how much money you had.

‘I never expected to get my hands on one so easily.’

As the one with the most contributions in the battle, I didn’t have to feel guilty about claiming it.

“Human! Why not just toss their entire tent into that thing?”

“Hey, can you store this too?”

For a moment, I felt like a warehouse keeper, but I didn’t mind.

The more I used the Spatial Pocket, the more I realized how incredible it truly was.

Testing its capabilities and gleefully storing everything I could, I lost track of time.

Before long, night had fallen.

After some deliberation, we decided to camp on higher ground for safety.

Everyone was utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally, after the day’s events.

We set up the Imperial tents we had looted, creating a temporary campsite that actually looked decent for once.

Around the perimeter, I placed eight defensive totems, one for each direction.

These were meant to serve as a precaution in case we couldn’t stand watch properly.

Though not as effective as direct surveillance, they’d have to do.

No one objected.

We were all too drained to argue about standing watch.

Under the dome-shaped roof of the tent, everyone crawled into their sleeping bags.

The moment I’d been dreading was drawing near.

‘…Will I be able to talk my way out of this?’

It was undeniable: the “ordinary language teacher” Seong Jinyu was actually an aura user.

Nobody in Zul Dron would believe it, yet here we were.

Naturally, questions and demands for an explanation were inevitable.

I had prepared a few possible explanations, but the key was whether I could fool Morgan.

“Human.”

It was Gromnar.

The moment had come.

“Do you really intend to head back to Iron Jesro?”

Oh, that’s what this was about?

If I had to answer…

“I do.”

Since I wasn’t the official leader, I redirected the question to Morgan.

“……”

“What about you, leader? What’s your stance?”

“At first, I thought returning to Zul Dron wasn’t a bad idea. After all, there’s no telling what would happen to us if we returned like this.”

Indeed, going back as failures was asking for punishment.

Even as a Swahali, Morgan’s Imperial origins would make him an easy scapegoat.

The more you have, the more you fear losing it.

“But now, I’ve changed my mind. While we didn’t achieve our original goal… Krk, thanks to Seong Jinyu, we stopped the Imperial envoy from reaching Iron Jesro. That alone gives us leverage.”

“Krk.”

“If we had let them proceed and they succeeded in forming an alliance, we would’ve been heavily condemned by the entire tribe.”

No one disagreed.

Attacking the Imperial envoy had been our only viable option.

“Lockhart’s death complicates matters. Even if I, a human, were to lead the negotiation, it would lack credibility.”

Morgan grew somber at the mention of Lockhart.

For all his cunning and ruthlessness, Morgan was surprisingly affected by the loss of the leader.

“…Thus, I propose we return to Zul Dron. Seong Jinyu, what do you think?”

Oh, for crying out loud.

Why does he keep asking me?

“Iron Jesro.”

“GOOOOO!!!”

“……Why?”

Lockhart was a good leader.

Over the past week, he had balanced the roles and stamina of the envoy with precision.

His death was tragic, but…

“Lockhart’s death actually works to our advantage.”

The envoy, sent for diplomacy, had been attacked while passing through their territory.

The leader was killed, and the attackers even included members of their own race.

Even if those dwarf mercenaries had severed ties with their kind, it didn’t change the optics.

Even as an unofficial envoy, we had every right to demand accountability.

“That’s… an interesting perspective. Krk!”

As for Morgan’s concern about lacking credibility, it wasn’t a dealbreaker.

Half of our envoy was still made up of trolls, and the Swahali rank, as a troll-specific title, carried considerable weight.

They couldn’t outright ignore it.

“But what about the mercenaries? There’s no guarantee we won’t run into them again. And if they find out we’ve returned, they won’t let us go so easily next time.”

This part had been bothering me as well.

If we encountered them again, mercy wouldn’t be an option.

We had to avoid them at all costs.

The bigger question was why those mercenaries were in Naplen’s Grasp in the first place.

‘The Imperial envoy.’

It hadn’t even been a few hours after we parted ways with the mercenaries that we encountered the Imperial envoy.

[“You seem to be moving with very impure intentions. You understand what I mean, don’t you?”]

‘Impure intentions, huh.’

Looking back, it seemed likely the mercenaries had been hired by the Empire.

Their lack of loyalty or obligation explained why they had let us go.

‘…They were probably waiting for the Imperial envoy there.’

The realization hit me.

I shot up from my sleeping bag.

“Morgan! We have to move now.”

“What? What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“They’re coming.”