My Students Regret It After I Retired

79 – A New Ability

Saying sorry felt inadequate. Knowing the countless hours Leos had spent for them, how could she ask for forgiveness with just a few words for not trusting him?

Sirna had always been the one to stand back.

She’d never been proactive, always living a life pushed by what others said. So even in this moment, coming here, she hadn’t done anything proactive herself.

She had waited for Enas to apologize to Leos first, and because she hadn’t acted as assertively as her, she couldn’t even bring herself to say sorry. She thought she didn’t even deserve to ask for forgiveness. But still, the girl opened her mouth.

“I’ve… I’ve regretted it for so long. Not believing in you, Leos-nim.”

Sirna apologized countless times to Leos after that. Leos just listened to her, and then cut her off.

“I’m telling you to prove that you’re not a Shadow Unit.”

“I’m not a Shadow Unit. I was just ordered to join the newly established Gate Management Headquarters, and I followed that order. Coming here today was also because of Keltazar’s orders… or maybe I am a Shadow Unit. Since I ended up moving with them. I’ll accept whatever punishment you decide, Leos-nim.”

Leo stared at her determined eyes for a while. When Leo asked if she was a Shadow Unit, he wasn’t talking about the current moment. He was asking if she was involved in the trial manipulation incident by colluding with Keltazar and Belin. But Leo didn’t correct this. The answer was already clear. Sirna wasn’t a Shadow Unit in the past.

Leo released Sirna from her restraints.

“Go if you want to go, or stay. Do whatever.”

Then he opened the door and left immediately. If she wasn’t a Shadow Unit, then there was no need to kill Sirna, his former disciple. She hadn’t stepped forward and done anything, it was just that he had not believed in her. He decided to think of her as a stranger. There was no other emotion surging up.

“…”

Even after Leo had left, Sirna silently shed tears in the room for a long time. Instead of going outside, she chose to remain inside. Even if it meant she might die, she wanted to be with Leo like they used to be.

‘This time… this time I have to be the one to take the lead…’

She’d lived her entire life doing what others told her to do. Following the set path. But this was the moment, the very first time, she was breaking away from the pre-determined tracks.

*

Leos re-entered Enas’s room and released her restraints as well. She looked at him with a hopeful glint in her eyes. But Leos only offered a dry, emotionless statement.

“I know now that you’re not allies of the Shadow Syndicate. So from now on, you’re on your own. Flee, or find a way to survive.”

“Can I… stay here?”

Enas asked, her expression desperate, but Leos was firm.

“This safe zone is open to anyone I deem acceptable. Whether you stay or not, that’s your decision, and you don’t need to ask for my approval or permission.”

“…”

Enas fell silent, and Leos spoke to her clearly.

“Enas, we can’t go back to how things were. You know that, don’t you?”

Leos didn’t bother adding more. Their relationship was beyond further explanation now.

“I… if I could turn things back to how they were, I would. I’d do it even if I had to stake my life. If only I could be of help to you, Leos-nim…”

“I won’t interfere with whatever you decide to do. But remember this one thing. If you get in my way, then you become my enemy.”

“I won’t interfere. Never.”

“Then live your life as you see fit. I won’t care.”

With that, Leos left the room. He met with his former disciples and completely settled their relationship. He had heard what needed to be heard, and said what needed to be said.

He knew the reasons, he heard the circumstances. He didn’t believe all of it, but most of it was likely true. But even so, it was hard to treat them the way he used to because too much time had already passed.

The worn-down emotions he felt back then when he cherished and valued them had not returned. When he looked at them now, he no longer felt that they were the precious people they once were.

He didn’t feel that he would willingly throw away his life to save them. It was too late to go back to being comrades.

*

As Leo stepped outside, Racart, who was waiting, offered him water and spoke.

“Is everything settled?”

“Who are you asking about?”

“Bendict and that girl, both of them.”

Leo took the water, drank deeply for a while, and then opened his mouth.

“Everything is settled. Bendict was indeed a member of the Celestial Assembly. But it seems he’s turned his back on them now. That’s why I decided to trust him. He told me the truth first, and he saved us.”

“I see.”

At Racart’s reaction, Leo asked, as if puzzled.

“Aren’t you going to say anything? I said we’re accepting a former member of the Celestial Assembly as a comrade?”

“I’m not an idiot either. I could sense that Bendict had persuaded the Imperial Guard to save us.”

“How did you know?”

“I sensed a power from the Imperial Guard Captain. But that guy officially claimed not to have any powers. If he’s hiding his power even from the Emperor, and even secured the Captain’s position with that hidden power, the only conclusion is that he’s one of the Celestial Assembly.”

“…”

“If the Imperial Guard Captain is a member of the Assembly, then it makes sense why they withdrew. Bendict must have persuaded the captain inside an alternate space of power that we couldn’t see. I don’t know how he persuaded him, but one thing’s for sure, he must have told them to stop chasing us at this point. There’s no way the Imperial Guard would stop pursuing us just because of a sandstorm. To put it simply, we survived a situation where we should have been hunted down and killed. I don’t believe in miracles, so someone had to have intervened. I just became certain that that someone was Bendict.”

“Still, you must be worried. It hasn’t been long since you met Bendict, has it?”

“It hasn’t been. But I saw his eyes. Every time he looked at you, he always had a guilty expression. It was hard to understand. Why was he acting so dumb yet looking at you so sorrowfully? I thought he was romantically interested in you.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. That’s disgusting.”

Racart laughed loudly, then moved closer to Leo and spoke.

“That’s what I thought. But now that I know the whole story, it’s obvious, isn’t it? The reason for that look was because he kept feeling sorry to you. Guilt is a powerful force that binds people. So he won’t betray us again.”

“Honestly, I’d say it’s fifty-fifty. There’s a chance Bendikt could flip back to their side, you know.”

Rakart stared at Leos, dumbfounded, and questioned,

“Then why did you forgive him and take him back?”

“Because I believed in the time we had together.”

“…”

“What I trust isn’t the Bendikt standing next to me now. It’s the way he’s been with me all this time. And he even confessed everything first, so there was no reason for me to cast him out. That’s all.”

“That’s a load of crap. If you really only half-trusted Bendikt, you’d have killed him right away. You wouldn’t even be standing here.”

“…”

“You can be honest. Do I look like someone who’d judge? I never said it, but actually, Faron’s a traitor too. He used to be the Emperor’s subordinate. He was a spy who switched to my side.”

“I knew.”

“What? Since when? And you just let it slide knowing that? Why?”

“It’s the same reason you’re not saying anything to Bendikt. I could see that you believed in him. If someone receives that much trust, then even if they had other intentions, they’d change them after seeing you. And most importantly, I could kill him anytime if he caused trouble.”

“Ah…so it’s a bit different from me? I don’t think I can kill Bendikt. He’s definitely strong. But the other reasons are similar. I also trusted your judgment because it seemed like you believed in Bendikt. Now, be honest, how much do you trust Bendikt?”

“I trust him over 90 percent. That he won’t go back to their side.”

“Still not being honest.”

Leos chuckled and corrected him,

“I trust him completely. That dumb b*stard is too stupid to be a triple agent, that’s for sure.”

Rakart nodded, as if he knew it all along, and gazed at the distant palace.

“We killed all of the Shadow Unit. Aside from Keltazar, a core force of the kingdom is just gone. That’s a huge win.”

“Yeah. But we also have to kill all of the Imperial Guard that the Heavenly Assembly has taken over. Only then can we strike at the Emperor.”

“Right. That’s right.”

Lacard added.

“I wish I could awaken my own power too. Isn’t there any power like that? Something that lets you awaken someone else’s?”

Leos momentarily considered Keltazar’s case. Keltazar had shown signs of power blossoming while talking with Leos.

‘Could it be… is there some hidden ability within my power? Even if emotions are agitated, it doesn’t make sense for power to bloom like that.’

Leos recalled the moment. The subtle feeling of resonance between his own energy and the signs of Keltazar’s power blooming.

“…”

Looking at Leos, who stood with a serious expression, Lacard said,

“Why are you listening so seriously? I know too. That there’s no such ability that can make someone else’s power blossom. I’m just saying it out of regret. Feels like I’ve realized today that there’s a wall humans can’t cross.”

-Thump!

That instant, Leos’s heart started pounding wildly.

-Thump!

-Thump!

In the intense agitation, as if a bomb had dropped, Leos looked back. It was toward the place Keltazar was. He felt a sensation of something’s energy resonating with his own.

-Thump!

-Thump!

After a few throbbing thumps.

[Influenced by you, Keltazar’s power has bloomed.]

[A hidden ability awakens.]

Keltazar’s ability bloomed, and at the same moment, a hidden essence of a new ability began to awaken within Leos.