LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 9
Chapter 9: Trollian Roulette (1)
‘Stinson?’
The sentiment of reunion didn’t last long.
Whoosh!
His [Ice Spike] flew straight toward my heart.
‘……!’
There was no dramatic scene where I subtly twisted my upper body to evade it.
I threw myself onto the ground with all my strength.
Thud!
Swish.
I quickly got up and adjusted my stance.
There was no need to ask, “What the hell are you doing?”
The intent to kill was evident from the force behind his ambush.
Negotiation wasn’t an option.
“……”
Stinson was just as silent.
He only stared with an expression that seemed to say, Did you really dodge that?
Tap!
Stinson, towering at nearly 190 cm, charged at me again.
For his size, he moved surprisingly fast.
Fwoosh!
Fwoosh!
This time, his attack wasn’t as threatening as the first.
The darkness didn’t bother me at all, and…
Swish.
‘I can dodge this.’
The so-called Stone Grunder effect.
Even if Stinson had human eyes adapted to the dark, he was still slower than the brute force of Stone Grunder’s instinct-driven punches.
It was no wonder that guy considered me a promising student.
“...Seong Jinyu.”
Stinson halted his attack and took a step back, finally speaking.
“What’s this about all of a sudden?”
I seized the chance to ask the question burning in my mind.
What was with this ambush after half a year?
“It seems you’ve grown quite fond of life here.”
What nonsense.
I hadn’t slept properly in days and was barely holding myself together.
“Do you enjoy scraping by, buried among monsters?”
What was he talking about? This guy was practically a lapdog for the trolls.
The memory of him casually stabbing Pedro still made my stomach churn.
“You’re the last person who should talk, stabbing your own kind while sucking up to trolls.”
“Sucking up? Me? Ha!”
“Look at you. Even your laugh is troll-like.”
“...Let’s end the banter here.”
Shing!
Stinson drew [Ice Spikes] again—this time, dual-wielding them.
Dual blades? That’s a new trick.
“Hey, we’re both Moiran now. If I report this, we’ll end up holding hands in court, you know that, right?”
“Doesn’t matter. Die.”
Damn it, this guy really didn’t hold back.
No way to buy time with words.
Where the hell was the patrol?
Tap!
The icy spikes came at me, targeting my neck and waist simultaneously.
Swish!
Thwack!
‘Argh!’
I dodged the one aimed at my neck, but in doing so, I exposed my waist.
The blade grazed me lightly, but even that shallow cut sent a searing pain through my body as frostbite-like sensations spread.
‘…If only I had a blade.’
Even a rusty iron sword like the one at Stone Grunder’s house would’ve made a difference.
The only upside was that Stinson’s [Ice Spikes] had relatively short reach.
Thud!
I closed the gap and landed my first effective hit.
This was it.
It felt different from the endless battering I’d done on [Steel Skin] all day—it had a satisfying impact.
“You damn rat!”
Stinson, clutching his jaw where I’d struck him, swung his dual blades in a frenzy.
Slash!
Slash, slash!
For a moment, his erratic swings threw me off, but [Eyes of the Dark Priest] quickly read his movements.
The tide of battle began to shift in my favor.
Whack!
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“...I don’t recall you having this level of physical ability. Could it be that you’re…!”
“What are you talking about!”
Somewhere, I’d read advice about fighting opponents bigger than you: target the jaw relentlessly.
It wouldn’t cause severe brain damage, but it would stimulate nerve cells enough to knock them out.
Thud! Thud!
“Guh! Ack! Kaak!”
With repeated hits to his jaw, Stinson started letting out strange groans.
He must’ve been living with trolls for too long.
...I needed to press my advantage.
After several more exchanges—
Crack!
A resounding impact rang out, and the sensation in my fists confirmed a clean hit.
“Ugh…”
Thud!
He collapsed, unconscious.
‘…Did I almost die again?’
This was the second time today I’d narrowly avoided death.
Sure, [Eyes of the Dark Priest] helped me read his movements, but that initial ambush had been dangerously close.
Once again, my life was spared thanks to [Survival Instinct]’s early warning.
But…
Why hadn’t the headache stopped?
Despite the danger having passed, the persistent throbbing raised my suspicions.
As I pondered, lights flared ahead, accompanied by voices speaking Trollian.
“Kruk! Over here! There’s been a fight!”
Soon, a group of trolls appeared.
They checked Stinson, who was sprawled out on the ground, to confirm he was still alive.
Then they inspected the insignia on my armband to verify my identity.
“This is Maloktor of the Zul Dron Patrol Unit. You are under arrest for charges of violence and public disorder. You’ll need to come with us.”
‘Wow. That was fast.’
What a mess this was turning into.
***
Clink.
The cold, faintly oppressive sensation of handcuffs felt just as terrible as I remembered after half a year.
‘Seriously, I’m the victim here!’
‘Don’t you see the knife wound in my side?’
That’s what I would’ve said if this were the real world…
“Stop whining. If you’re innocent, tell the guards.”
“…Understood.”
Given my current status, there wasn’t much I could do.
If I acted out, who knew what might happen.
I quietly followed the patrol unit.
They might not look like much, but these guys had the authority for on-the-spot executions.
Of course, that was mostly reserved for slaves and humans turned into Moiran.
Sigh. Life was cruel.
Creak.
“Get in. We’ll call you once your case officer arrives.”
The nearest guard station doubled as what modern terms would call a "detention center."
Specially crafted cuffs, enchanted to suppress abilities, bound my wrists.
Trolls in patrol uniforms bustled outside the iron bars.
I sat with my back to the wall, deliberately rolling up my clothes to expose the frostbitten wound on my side.
“Ugh…”
Stinson woke up.
He seemed disoriented, probably thinking, What’s with this unfamiliar ceiling?
“Stinson,” I said.
“Cough! Cough!”
Blood still pooled in his battered mouth.
“What happened to Pedro?”
“...Is that really what you’re concerned about right now?”
Stinson looked puzzled, clearly not expecting the question.
The guards would handle the formal testimonies, but this had been bothering me for a while.
“You said Pedro was hiding something and took him aside.”
On the first day of our transfer, Evelyn had been taken by a troll warrior, while Pedro, injured, and I had followed Stinson.
After being dragged to the shaman’s house and subjected to an exhausting interrogation, Pedro had vanished.
When I asked the shaman about it later, they said Pedro left with Stinson.
“...Did he die?”
I asked, knowing what the answer was likely to be.
After all, someone who should’ve shown up at the language academy hadn’t been seen for ages.
“Why should I answer that?”
“Did you kill him?”
“This conversation is going nowhere.”
Stinson closed his eyes, as if deciding this wasn’t worth his time.
But I wasn’t about to let it go.
“How pathetic. Do you feel no guilt at all? Do you sleep well at night after stabbing your own kind in the back and kissing troll ass? I’m genuinely curious.”
“...You crazy bastard. Aren’t you the same?”
“I haven’t abandoned humanity. Unlike someone else.”
That much was true. ...At least I liked to believe so.
When newly captured humans joined the academy, I always took the time to encourage them, instilling hope.
No matter how cruel or unfair it seemed, I’d tell them to survive first—living was the only way to see another day.
It was for this reason I kept attending the academy without complaint.
They needed someone like me, a small beacon of hope amidst their fear.
That’s what being a teacher means.
“I’m not a traitor like you, Stinson.”
“……”
What a pitiful comparison.
“Pedro Lopez, 26 years old, Mexican national. He served as a captain in the Mexican Army before waking up here on the same day as you.”
Huh?
“...He’s alive. Don’t ask me anything more.”
His tone left no room for further questioning.
That was our last exchange before the interrogation began.
Creak.
“Human! Step out.”
Following the guard’s instructions, I was escorted to another room where a surly-looking troll was seated.
He was referred to as the deputy commander here.
Damn, look at that scowl.
As Stinson and I sat down, the interrogation began under the troll’s watchful eye.
Thirty minutes passed.
An hour.
Two hours.
The same pattern repeated.
I described what happened in detail, while Stinson denied everything.
Having almost been killed on my way home, I was furious.
Yet, Stinson remained as brazen as ever, refusing to budge.
Not surprising—attempted murder among tribe members was a major crime, often punishable by decades in prison.
The first to lose patience was the ugly deputy commander.
BANG!
“Enough of this crap! Stop repeating yourselves!”
“I’m innocent. Bring me evidence if you have any.”
Stinson didn’t flinch, glaring defiantly at the deputy commander.
“You bastard!”
Suddenly, the troll seemed to get an idea. He hastily called over his subordinate.
“Is the commander gone for the day?”
“Yes, sir. Just saw him off.”
“Perfect!”
The troll’s lips twisted into a hideous grin.
Was that supposed to be a smile or a grimace?
“Grox! Go fetch that item from the storage.”
“By ‘that item,’ do you mean… here?”
The subordinate looked visibly uneasy.
What was he planning to bring out?
“Yes. These are just slightly better than slaves anyway. Bring it out.”
“...Understood.”
“And get the remaining off-duty troops stationed outside!”
After calling for reinforcements, the deputy commander muttered as he sat back down.
“We’ll need someone to clean up the corpses.”
‘…’
This time, he was definitely smiling.
***
[Totem of Judgment]
The item brought in wasn’t something for battle or healing.
It was a traditional cylindrical totem, but with large arrow slits on either side and a grotesque set of scales carved into the center.
Underneath the scales, a sentence was scrawled in Trollian:
“Those who speak the truest and most valuable information will be protected by the totem. All others will face punishment.”
In short, it was a mix of a lie detector and Russian roulette.
“Kruk… Been a while since we used this.”
Now I understood what the deputy commander meant earlier about cleaning up corpses.
“...What the hell…?”
“……”
Even Stinson, who had maintained a poker face until now, seemed visibly shaken.
Was this really how public officials who lived off our taxes behaved?
“You’ve gone awfully quiet! Just a moment ago, you were both shouting about who was right and wrong!”
The troll sneered, clearly enjoying the situation.
“Don’t worry. The Trouble-shooter is here.”
Warnings flared in my mind, but I forced myself to stay calm.
I had done nothing wrong.
I was walking home when Stinson ambushed me with his abilities, trying to kill me.
In self-defense, I subdued him.
Therefore, the totem’s arrows shouldn’t end up in my skull.
“Why aren’t you moving? Put your head in the slot already!”
Right. Damn it.
Stay calm, Seong Jinyu. You’ve got this—
Scrape!
When neither of us moved, the deputy commander’s goons grabbed us by the hair, shoving our foreheads into the arrow slits.
Now cuffed and forced to kneel across from each other, Stinson and I glared at the totem between us.
“......!”
“Start with the big guy!”
Thankfully, they chose Stinson to go first.
With these things, going second was always an advantage.
“...Moiran language instructor, Seong Jinyu…”
Stinson hesitated before speaking.
My mind spun as I prepared myself for whatever accusation was coming.
Fine. Let’s do this. I’ll crush you—
“...is a Multifaceted Ability User.”