My Students Regret It After I Retired

68 – Actions, not words, may reach your heart

Enas.

She was one of the few who had trusted Leos since the beginning of the incident. Even when Bellin called Leos a criminal, even when he pushed the man as a criminal, tears streaming down his face, Enas always had doubts.

“There’s no way Master Leos would do that. Bellin must be misunderstanding…”

“Fucking Enas. Are we going through this again? What did I say last time? If you defend that b*stard, I’ll treat you like his accomplice and rat you all out, got it?”

Darek snapped, and Kozaric chimed in.

“Yeah, Enas. Come on, even so, Bellin isn’t the type to put on an act, right? How faithfully has he been working at the Gate Management all this time?”

“That’s the same for Master Leos… isn’t it…”

“What are you trying to say? That Bellin is faking it? That he’s ripping his own body apart while telling lies? That he’s risking his whole life just to bury an innocent person? Why would Bellin do that?”

“…Still, shouldn’t we hear Master Leos out?”

“Just try it. The moment you contact that fucking b*stard, you’re an accomplice. You keep trying to sway us, but it won’t work with us.”

The more she tried to defend Leos, the more Darek and Kozaric pressured her. Rek, who hadn’t liked Leos from the start, was happy about this incident, and Kozaric, who belonged to the Empire’s Shadow Corps, was one of the masterminds behind the whole thing. He regularly stopped Enas to prevent any unnecessary flaws in the case.

“…”

Even so, Enas tried to contact Leos, but Rek caught her in the act.

“Enas, for fuck’s sake, get a grip. Do you even know how Bellin has been doing lately? Fuck, you were friends with Bellin, right? You said you were happy that you were colleagues. You said you were friends you could rely on. How could you, his friend, do this? Are you so crazy over some guy that you’d throw away a colleague you’ve been with all this time and act like this? The moment you contact Leos, our relationship as colleagues is over. Everyone related to you will think of you as being on the same side as Leos. No. I’ll make them. I’ll make sure you and everyone around you are seen as being with Leos.”

Rek cornered Enas and whispered.

“The moment you contact that b*stard, we’re done for life. Think carefully before you decide. Your colleague, who has been through life and death with you for years, is harming himself and hasn’t eaten or drunk anything for days, and you’re going to betray us all by contacting that Leos b*stard just to see if he might be telling the truth? Or at least, just shut up and stay still.”

“I won’t…I won’t do it, okay…”

There was no way to resolve the doubt. She wanted to reach out, but she didn’t have the courage.

The will to throw away the colleagues who had believed in her until now.

Rather, because she trusted her colleagues too much, Enas couldn’t move forward. To her, both Leos and her other colleagues were precious people.

The current situation was just too heartbreaking. At the same time, she wanted to say just one word to Leos. Really, are you not that kind of person?

[Enas, do I seem like that kind of person to you? I’m telling you, it’s not me.]

“I knew it. It’s not like Leo-nim did that, right?”

[Yeah. So don’t think useless thoughts.]

In the empty room, Enas would often see hallucinations of Leos. But every time, she’d hear Belin’s pained screams.

“Heee-eeeeee! Kyaaak!”

“Be…Belin!”

Whenever Belin screamed, as always, Enas would rush to her and stroke her.

“Ca…Calm down, Belin.”

“Enas… Enas, I’m scared… Leos, that man appeared again… That man is going to…”

“…Leos-nim isn’t here.”

Leos was already in custody. Belin must have seen a hallucination too.

“Why… Why do you keep using the honorific ‘nim’ with that b*stard’s name, Enas. Don’t you trust me? Do I still look like I’m lying? You’re always like that, stepping back, trying not to lose anything. Even with me in this state, you still want to believe that b*stard.”

“…Belin, calm down, just for now…”

Enas hugged Belin tightly. But her gaze was always directed elsewhere.

[Enas, do you believe her? Are you doubting me?]

“No… No… I… I just…”

As the days passed, Belin’s condition worsened, and Kozarik and Lek’s questioning continued.

“Hand over your distance. You didn’t contact him, did you? Even with Belin in this state, you still can’t trust her, can you?”

“I didn’t… I didn’t!”

“Remember. Leos has no proof to prove his innocence, but Belin is proving it herself.”

“I’ll handle it myself…”

“Enas, remember, Belin is your comrade. You two went through life and death together…”

“I know! I said I’ll handle it! Please, just leave me alone! I get it, I get it!”

As Enas shouted back at Rek’s interrogation, Kozarik shook his head beside him and said,

“It’s not you who should be angry, it’s us. Think about Belin’s feelings. How would she feel seeing you so indecisive?”

“The trial hasn’t even concluded yet…”

“Your attitude is killing Belin a second time.”

“…”

Everyone was on Belin’s side, and Leos had no one. It wasn’t because someone was better. Belin’s normal behavior was impeccable, and it was generally accepted that a girl like that wouldn’t do such a thing for no reason.

What reason would she have to stab her own master with a knife, without gaining anything from it?

Unable to find an answer to that question, people began to believe in Belin more and more.

Her actions, words, expressions, and even the symptoms that made her appear as if she was trapped in trauma. While Leos was detained, Belin carried out her duties perfectly, and others began to be assimilated by it.

The seed of doubt had grown into a tree, and had taken firm root.

However, Enas still couldn’t get her bearings, being swayed this way and that like a dandelion seed in the wind.

‘It would be good if I could just meet him and talk.’

Every night, she witnessed Leos’s hallucinations, and after that, she would comfort Belin who would scream, the days repeating in this pattern.

The desire not to suspect Leos, and the desire not to suspect Belin, her comrade. These two feelings clashed, but Enas’s priority was always her feelings for Leos.

Always, Leos was in her heart.

The day of Leos’s trial.

Enas secretly went to the courthouse. Although she couldn’t enter, it was the place where she could find out the result of the trial first.

She’d hoped for innocence. She’d been sure of it. She couldn’t understand Bellin’s actions, but her faith in Leos came first. But the result was brutal.

[Name: Leos]

[Reason: Indecent Assault]

[Verdict: Guilty]

[Sentence: 3 Years Imprisonment]

As if a public trial, Leos’ sentence, reason, and verdict flashed on the display board. Enas’ legs gave way.

“No way… it can’t be…”

For a while, Enas was lost in despair, unable to rise from her seat. Even then, the hallucination of Leos came to her.

“Leos… it’s not true… is it? It’s not, right…? Something’s wrong… isn’t it…?”

“Kyaaah!”

Bellin’s scream echoed once again. Enas ignored it and asked the hallucination.

“Bellin’s doing that too… it’s all an act…? Just because she hates Leos… no… she always followed him so well… I don’t know why… what reason… but something’s wrong, right…?”

“Ah…”

Enas swiped at the space where Leos’ hallucination had vanished in an instant.

Painful days repeated, and as time passed, her emotions gradually healed.

Like the first day a loved one dies, you’re insanely sad, but as time flows, you overcome the wound, laughing and chatting with someone, Enas also gradually returned to her daily life, forgetting the shock and frustration.

But ridiculously, she would always collapse again whenever she saw a news flash regarding Leos. Hearing Bellin’s screams felt like her head would explode.

Listening to Rehk’s interrogations made her want to give everything up.

So, she ran away.

By not contacting Leos, by not writing a petition, by not going to see him even though she knew he was being released, she ran away.

Each time news of Leos reached me, I crumbled.

I fled, and fled again, but Leos, time and again, appeared before me.

As LEO, in the Interloper. As an enemy, in the first battle against the Dark Shadow Legion.

When Leos tried to kill me, it felt like my heart was breaking.

Even though Belin herself revealed his innocence, we were now beyond reach. But even so, I just wanted to say one thing. I’m sorry for not approaching you until now. I’m sorry for not finding the courage.

These circumstances piled up, making it impossible for me to go to you, even though I wanted to.

But the moment I saw Leos’s attitude, Enas was crushed. A situation where even a single conversation was impossible.

Leos, enraged at the sight of Belin, immediately dropped a mana bomb. If the mysterious shield hadn’t appeared, Enas would surely have died too.

Now I feel it. The relationship we had is completely over.

[Enas, be careful, if demon blood splatters on you, you could get scars.]

[It’s alright, it’s nothing.]

The Leos who worried about even the smallest thing, the one who always carried medicine to prevent scarring, was no more.

Since our relationship was irreparable, I longed for that time even more.

“Again… we’ve met again after all…”

The face I had grown so familiar with. As soon as I saw that face, I crumbled again.

The Dark Shadow Legion, the Gate Management Headquarters personnel, and the Imperial forces. Countless personnel considered elite were facing off against Leos. But this time, five swords hovered around Leos.

Whether they were artifacts or he’d gained some strange power, I didn’t know. But one thing was certain: today, one of those swords would be aimed at my heart.

‘Leos-nim…there’s one thing you don’t know.’

Over 700 soldiers advanced directly. These were the elites of the Dark Shadow Legion. But after them, the Emperor had dispatched additional troops.

[Thinking about it, 700 is a bit small. To capture Leos, or definitely kill him, we need to invest more manpower this time. Send in another thousand. And those ones, have them ambush him.]

A combined force of roughly 1,700 soldiers. And Leos’s forces seemed to number less than 100.

Enas looked at the parasitic explosive artifacts covering his body, and thought:

‘For this last moment, I’ll find my courage too. Let my actions, not just words, reach Lord Leos’ heart.’

Leos’s five swords started the battle by killing one of the Dark Shadow unit members.

Keltazar’s war cry echoed outwards.

“He uses strange powers. Taking Leos alive is impossible. Kill Leos, all of you! I repeat. The target is Leos! No matter what, we’ll kill that b*stard today.”

The second battle for the Dark Shadow unit and Leos’s group had begun.