My Students Regret It After I Retired

54 – Former Disciple

Devigail stared into Leos’s eyes, a look of fury etched on his face until his last breath. Therefore, Leos did not regret his actions.

This one had shown, in his very being, that he had no awareness of his wrongdoing, nor any remorse.

Larcart, the commander of the extermination unit, walked up from behind and asked.

“Just in case, we’re still tracking the knights’ location. How about using Spirell to bombard and kill them?”

“Due to the excessive use of mana bombs in the battle a few days ago, it’s impossible to unleash a mana bomb capable of hitting thousands simultaneously. And it’s best to avoid unnecessary battles when the Empire’s main forces haven’t even emerged yet.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m just worried. Guys who do stupid things for money or goods like that always end up causing trouble again later.”

“Then, we’ll kill them when that happens.”

“Simple enough.”

Larcart simply agreed without another word. He knew that Leos’s abilities were more than enough to accomplish that easily, at any time. Even the sword Leos currently held. Larcart felt a mysterious aura from the blade and asked.

“A divine blade? Even within the palace, no sword possessed an aura like this. It feels far more transcendent, more fundamental than even a high-grade artifact. Where did you even get something like this?”

“I obtained it from fighting that b*stard.”

“Ah…”

Leos finished that sentence, and moved from the spot. Then nearby vagrants started to rifle through the corpses, picking up anything useful. Rakarth watched them, debating whether to chase them away, but decided to leave them be.

‘If Leos left them be, there must be a reason.’

Before he knew it, Rakarth had stopped questioning or arguing against anything Leos did. It was simply because the ability he showed was just too overwhelming. After spending so long as a death squad member, Rakarth had believed he was second to none in his abilities to kill or carry out operations. But compared to Leos, he felt utterly pathetic.

The more it happened, the more questions arose.

‘The Heavenly Assembly… just what kind of group are they?’

Even Leos, with his overwhelming ability and power, had been severely injured by them. What was the identity of this organization? Rakarth whispered to Pharon.

“Pharon, have you looked into the information on those guys I mentioned?”

“We are expanding the network currently. Since we have to both ensure the information about the Heavenly Assembly doesn’t leak out and find information about them, it’s far more complex than a simple information search. But don’t worry. There is no information I cannot find.”

“Alright, I trust you.”

Rakarth slowly walked forward, looking around.

The number of vagrants entering the safe zone had steadily increased. They didn’t talk much or get close to each other, but one thing was clear, they considered this place their haven.

It felt as if a small nation had been formed.

‘Not bad. It’s a good development.’

Rakarth felt that naturally assimilating the vagrants into their own forces wouldn’t be a bad idea either. After all, to attack the Empire and reorganize its order, they needed more justification. The powerless vagrants behind them might not be a military force, but they would serve as a great justification. Ever since the Empire’s Red Gate vortex annihilation plan had spread through the Interrunner, the Empire’s reputation had plummeted, with public opinion becoming increasingly negative.

But people had no alternative. No option to escape the Empire’s clutches and move elsewhere. But this safe zone being created could offer them a great alternative. Seeing numerous vagrants living in the safe zone without any issues, countless people would widely recognize the safe zone as the only place not under the Empire’s influence, where they could also protect their lives from monsters.

‘This level is appropriate for this stage.’

Thinking that he would be able to use them effectively in the future, Rakarth moved on.

*

The forces who’d stormed every Red Gate around the palace. The empire’s elite, all gathered in one place, had obliterated every single mutant monster, not to mention the common ones.

Drezar, soaked in blood from head to toe, emerged from a Red Gate and began to walk slowly.

The knights around him held their breath, silent, before one slowly spoke.

“What…what happened, Sir Drezar?”

They didn’t dare ask if he was okay. Asking a person who looked half-dead if they were alright would be nothing short of mockery.

“A mutant monster appeared in the Red Gate. Many comrades began to die, and at first, I, too, intended to die there, remaining in the gate and continuing to fight. But as I fought, and fought again, they grew weaker. The more allies died, the weaker their energy and combat abilities became.”

“…”

“It occurred to me…that perhaps that mutant monster’s strength depended on how many living people were in the gate. That it grew stronger with more people and weaker with fewer.”

“Sir Drezar, commander of the knights, you should rest for now.”

“I’m the only one who survived. I realized what I just said right before I was about to die. The men who rushed into the gate to save me…they died because of what I did.”

“Sir Drezar!”

A knight cried out, looking at Drezar with pity. He continued,

“It’s not your fault. I will report on the mutant monster. Please go inside and rest.”

“The emperor…he only sees us as tools.”

“…?”

Nearby knights looked flustered by his explosive words, but Drezar, unconcerned, continued.

“There is no future for this empire. If any of you value your lives, flee this place now.”

“Why are you saying such things, Sir Drezar…”

“Because it all feels so pointless…all this death, everything we were fighting to protect… it was just treasures within the palace…”

Drezar was about to speak further but simply fell silent. And then, slowly, he walked towards the palace.

“What will you do, Commander?”

A knight asked, and Drezar replied,

“I’ll stay. I must stay and protect this place. The Empire… that is, His Majesty the Emperor.”

His figure, looking almost mad, grew more distant. Only the loneliness emanating from his back spoke of his torment.

Following him, Keltazar and his party were also returning towards the palace, their bodies battered. Keltazar’s arm was hanging like a tattered rag, and beside him, several people were frantically using healing artifacts.

“Don’t any of you stand around idly. We’ve sealed all the way up to the mid-level Red Gates, but as I’ve said, the high-level Red Gates can’t be sealed except by that b*stard Leos. The unsealed Red Gates spew out monsters again every 24 hours. In short, this place will become a battlefield again within 24 hours. Reorganize the troops to protect the palace and secure weapons and supplies.”

“Understood.”

“Where are the former Gate Management Department personnel who were brought back?”

“They’re currently sealing gates a little ways off. Shall we bring them back?”

“Yes. We couldn’t summon them before due to the urgency, but bring them back now. We have tasks for them.”

*

Sirna, Enas, Rek, Kozarik.

Former disciples of Leos and now members of the Gate Management Department, reorganized by Keltazar. They walked in silence, having received the summons.

The reason being, that just recently, Leos’s innocence had been revealed through Belin’s confession.

Kozarik, who was on Belin’s side and belonged to the Empire’s Dark Shadow Squad, felt uncomfortable with the current situation and uttered a pointless remark.

“I don’t really understand why Belin… why Belin suddenly uploaded that video, but shouldn’t we hear him out? He could have been coerced or threatened into giving a false confession.”

“…”

Enas glared at Kozarik and whispered,

“Please, be quiet. Please don’t make me any angrier.”

“Heh… yeah, whatever…”

Kozarik immediately backed down. As a member of the Imperial Shadow Corps, Kozarik wasn’t lacking in combat ability, but Enas was a different story. Considering her movements, judgment, and sheer force of action, if she decided to kill him, Kozarik couldn’t be sure of victory.

Especially after that fight they had before.

He couldn’t shake the image of Enas charging headfirst, unarmed, at that monster spewing fireballs. A fighting style that knew no fear of death.

She was the type of person Kozarik found the most difficult to deal with.

“Um… Enas… are you… still in contact with Leos…?”

Sirna asked, and Enas shook her head.

“No… I asked someone named LEO on Interrunner recently if they were Leos, but they said they weren’t… but they uploaded a picture of their face not long ago, so what they told me was probably a lie.”

“So that means LEO is Leos after all…?”

“Yeah… I think so. And the fact that they said they weren’t is probably to avoid me…”

“Enas… look… if we meet Leos again, will we be his enemies?”

“…”

Enas was silent for a moment before opening her mouth.

“At the very least, he won’t think of us as allies.”

“I thought so…”

She asked, her eyes filled with sorrow.

“Enas… even now… even now if we apologized to Leos for the misunderstanding… if we said we were truly sorry… would he forgive us?”

At Sirna’s words, Enas fell silent, staring at Interrunner.

LEO.

The bulletin board where his posts were written.

[LEO]

[TITLE: Expanding the Safe Zone.]

[BODY: You can try to stop it, but everyone’s going to come anyway, so I don’t care who enters. I’ll just kill anyone who causes trouble. That means anyone who asks for my help, and anyone who looks like an imperial spy, too. So, if you’re confident you can survive on your own, live inside the safe zone. In return, make sure the posts I write get bumped to popular status regularly. Honestly, I need the points right now.]

Leos’s posts were immediately listed as popular whenever he wrote something.

That meant the number of people benefiting from Leos within the safe zone was increasing.

“Syrna…should we go…?”

“Go where…?”

Enas whispered with mournful eyes.

“To where Leos is…should we try to find him…”