My Students Regret It After I Retired

75 – Even if It’s a Mirage Destined to Vanish

Like a bullet fired, Bendict shot forward, and soon encountered the main force of the Yellow Sword Order. He immediately stopped Enas from detonating herself.

Enas, who had been prevented from activating the detonator from behind, looked back with the hope that it might be Leos. However, it was Bendict, not Leos, who had stopped her. Her eyes were filled with disappointment.

“Don’t.”

“Don’t stop me. If I die, Leos-nim can escape. He wouldn’t even care about someone like me anyway. So, it’s right for me to help him, even like this.”

Seeing her give up, as if having lost everything in a relationship that could never return, Bendict couldn’t help but mix in a little lie.

“Leos-nim told me to save you.”

“Really? Really? Did Leos-nim really say that?”

The truth was a bit different, but if he didn’t say it, the girl before him looked like she’d press a detonator right then and there, so Benedict nodded. To tell the truth here was no different than pushing a person standing at a cliff’s edge with both hands.

‘Gotta live. Gotta live to do anything.’

Thinking that, Benedict made her step back.

“Hurry and get to Leos. I’ll handle things here.”

“But…”

“He’s looking for you.”

At those words, Enas turned and began running urgently. Benedict saw her eyes. For a fleeting moment, the life that had been dead in her eyes flooded back.

-Whoosh!

As Enas retreated, a spear thrown by someone from the Yellow Sword Order flew towards her, and Benedict lifted his foot, kicking it away. When Enas turned back, Benedict shouted.

“Run! Don’t look back, just run!”

Enas immediately started running towards Leos. She who had lost the will to live, at this moment, craved survival more passionately than ever before.

With Benedict taking position in front, Bartier, head of the Yellow Sword Order, walked forward and said.

“All Yellow Sword Order members, fall back.”

“But…”

“Fall back.”

The ambushers around them remained, but in an instant, Bartier had pulled back those who had been following behind. The reason was none other than he didn’t want his conversation to be overheard by the members.

Bartier cast a sound-blocking spell around them and spoke to Benedict.

“Benedict. What is this plan? You wouldn’t have started this without a thought, so let’s hear you out first.”

“…”

As Benedict stood there silent, Bartier, as if puzzled, walked closer and spoke.

“Surely you didn’t come out here for no reason? Didn’t the message reach you? Not long ago, Ritan, a direct subordinate of the Heavenly Assembly Lord, died at the hands of Leos. The Heavenly Assembly Lord believes Leos needs to be punished, so he ordered one of Leos’s companions to be killed. At this point, Herisia would be appropriate. Or perhaps you didn’t receive the message?”

“I received it.”

“Then why are you stopping us? Ah…”

Bartier nodded and clapped his hands.

“Did you already kill her before we moved? You can’t be seen as being connected to the Heavenly Assembly, so you must have killed her secretly. Excellent, Benedict. I had to mobilize this many troops just to kill her without leaving a trace, but you’re different.”

“I received the message, but I didn’t kill her.”

“What are you saying?”

Bartier’s expression instantly crumpled, and he began to radiate killing intent. Benedict, whose usual playful face was nowhere to be seen, simply spoke to Bartier without any expression.

“Don’t touch Leos. Don’t touch his companions.”

“Puhahahahaha!”

Bartier burst into laughter at Benedict’s words. After laughing for a long while, he abruptly stopped, his laughter ceasing completely, and whispered to Benedict with a murderous look.

“Benedict, are you joking? It was funny enough, so stop it now.”

“I’m not joking.”

“…”

Bartier finally realized the gravity of the situation and drew his sword from its scabbard. He then activated his ability. In an instant, sword aura began to erupt from the blade.

“Benedict. You’re always someone who makes wise decisions, right? So, why are you acting like this? The Heavenly Assembly Lord values you highly. It’s thanks to you that we’ve been able to learn so much about Leos. If you continue like this, you could rise even higher within the Heavenly Assembly. Why are you doing something so futile?”

“When I said it was hard, he sincerely comforted me. If I came back beaten, he took revenge, and when I was angry, he listened silently. Sometimes, when I said something stupid, he’d pinch my ear and tease me, but the warmth I felt from his hand was comforting.”

“…”

“He is someone who knows to appreciate the small things. He is someone with an overflowing affection for his companions. He is someone who doesn’t hide or conceal himself. More than anything, I’ve realized one thing while working with Leos. This man, even if I willingly went to hell, would curse me as a moron but come to save me. He has become someone precious to me. That’s why, I don’t want to disappoint him either.”

“Don’t talk shit!”

Bartier’s sword aura flared even more intensely as he shouted,

“Bendict, you’d stake your life on such childish games? The Celestial Master is absolute. No one can defy him, no one can defeat him. No matter what you do, annihilation is all that awaits you. Not one will survive. Your corpse will vanish without a trace, and before you die, you’ll suffer horrendous rumors. Is it worth it? Are you really willing to die like that, distracted by such petty play?”

“Splendid. If it’s for His Eminence, I can endure that much.”

“You’re a mad dog.”

Bartier swung his sword, and Bendict, in an instant, injected mana into his arm, deflecting it with his enhanced body.

“Bartier. You are no match for me. I was the one who taught you in the first place.”

“Ughhh!”

Bartier, enraged, lunged at Bendict, but his abilities were completely ineffective. After a few brief clashes, the sword aura he exuded began to fade, and Bartier’s sword broke against Bendict.

Bartier stared at his fallen sword in silence for a long moment.

“Since there’s no one else here to witness what’s happening, let’s drop the charade, Bendict. You’ve been playing your part well, haven’t you? Your meeting with Leos in prison was all planned, everything about your story and actions was fabricated. Do you truly believe that Leos will still cherish you as before, even knowing all this?”

“I’ve already said, I’ll tell him everything truthfully when I return.”

“Master, then why are you doing this? Don’t you know how selfish and vile humans can be? There is no fool anywhere in the world who would spare and embrace a human who betrayed them, a person who approached them with impure motives.”

“Don’t call me master. If it’s discovered you had this conversation with me, you will die too. With the Celestial Master’s power, there may be a way for him to see everything happening inside here.”

“Get a grip! Being with Leos is just a pointless delusion! In the end, it will only lead to ruin!”

As Bartier screamed, Bendict looked him in the eye and said,

“It was enjoyable. Every moment spent with him. Acting like a thoughtless idiot, and even while he looked at me with disdain, he always took care of me. He’d call me a moron while wordlessly giving me his own share of food. Those times with him were so incredibly precious. If I had a family…I think this might be it.”

“They are false pretenses! A mirage that will vanish! Everything about you is fabricated, and you are merely a member of the Celestial Assembly. We’re oil and water, we can never mix. You may try to escape from this place alive, but you will die by Leos’s hand. I’m certain of it. He will torture and kill you, just to extract information about the Celestial Assembly. Haven’t you suffered enough? Why are you turning your back on the Celestial Assembly and willingly opening the gates of hell yourself? Knowing you will be consumed, why are you trying to fly towards the sun?”

“For over a decade, my life has been a sewer. A dark, underground abyss without a single ray of light. He was the first to show me light. Even if I burn to death, I will follow that light.”

“…”

Bartier swung his broken sword at Bendict once more. But predictably, it was impossible to cut through Bendict’s strengthened body.

Bendict’s hand, a blade, halted before Bartier’s throat. A mere ten centimeters further, and Bartier would’ve been dead. But Bendict didn’t do it.

“Why don’t you just swing and kill me? I was trying to kill you.”

“He doesn’t kill someone precious with his own hands. You were precious to me as well. I hated the Celestial Assembly, but I truly cared for you. So, I won’t kill you. Fall to the ground and play dead.”

Bendict began to cut himself with his own sword. The thought was, if he had no wounds, Bartier might be suspected.

“What foolishness is this? To save Leos, you’ll have to face close to a thousand Imperial Knights, as well as twenty or so members of the Celestial Assembly, and you think you can do that by cutting yourself?”

“Because otherwise, you’ll be interrogated and killed.”

“…”

Bartier clenched his fist tightly.

“Do you… do you think I’ll help you now? I don’t act like a cripple like you. I’m a man who calculates profit and loss, I won’t risk my life for such pointless things. I’m going to live a long time. I’ll get power and make a lot of money and live it up!”

Bendict stood in front of Bartier, smiling as he spoke.

“Then do that. Make a lot of money, don’t be ignored by people, and keep living like that.”

“…”

“Leos-nim would probably say this.”

Looking at Bendict’s eyes, which seemed to genuinely wish for his future, Bartier felt like his heart was being stabbed with a knife. He couldn’t say anything for tens of seconds. If he secretly pulled out the hidden dagger in his pocket and stabbed Bendict, he could complete his mission. But…he couldn’t bring himself to draw the dagger.

Instead, he opened his mouth.

“Is your behavior now… is it Leos’s influence? Or are you acting to get out of this situation?”

“It is Leos-nim’s influence. But I truly think so. I want you to do well. I don’t want you to die. Just as Leos-nim is precious, so are you to me.”

“If someone is truly precious… you shouldn’t say things like that.”

Bartier slammed his hand hard on the ground, then got up and stood in front of Bendict.

“You can’t handle all of them alone.”

“I know.”

“Eventually, you’ll die, and Heresia will die too.”

“I’ll try to prevent that.”

“No one can stop the Heavenly Lord. It’s practically suicide.”

“I know that too.”

“That’s why I will help you.”

“…?”

Bendict looked at Bartier, and the man clenched his fist tightly, adding,

“I will help you, Master. It’s the only way you can survive here.”