My Students Regret It After I Retired

81 – For the Sake of Leos

Keltazar manifested his power.

It was the ability to summon undead. They said he could control up to 500 undead at full strength, making their addition to the force overwhelming.

That they were moving entities usable as tanks was a boon, and the stats of each undead were quite excellent.

“Keltazar. Use the undead to attack the monsters.”

To avenge the Emperor on the Celestial Society, Keltazar *had* to have this power. Keltazar, believing the lie that Leos could retrieve his power, obeyed Leos unconditionally.

“Attack.”

At Keltazar’s command, over fifty undead charged at once, tearing into the monsters. The monsters thrashed and a few shocks rippled through the air, but no harm came to their bodies. Outstanding attack power and resilience.

Though individually not as strong as a power-wielder, they were undeniably superior to humans. After quickly grasping their capabilities, Leos commanded:

“Dispel your power. And until I order you, do not leave this place nor use your power as you please. If you disobey, I will take your power back.”

“Understood…”

“Don’t just say it, think it through. If you act foolishly, you’ll lose the power to avenge the Celestial Society.”

“…I will obey.”

Keltazar lived for the Emperor. His fanatical obsession with the Emperor was too extreme for the average person to comprehend. This was why Keltazar was now reeling from an even greater shock.

There were countless assassination attempts on the Emperor, abominable acts all. But an even greater disgrace and insult was to manipulate the Emperor at will.

The fact that the Emperor, whom he worshipped like a god, was actually a puppet was hard for Keltazar to accept. It was simply that the Celestial Society had played a wicked trick, placing the Emperor in peril. The reason the Emperor had grown greedy and acted foolishly at some point, that too was because of the Celestial Society’s vile deeds.

Keltazar increasingly saw the Celestial Society as the root of all evil. A more dangerous entity than the traitorous Leos and a presence that needed to be eradicated from the Emperor’s side immediately, was the Celestial Society.

So, for now, he decided to cooperate with Leos.

“Fucking hell… if it wasn’t for that damned ability.”

Leos, who was attempting to betray the Emperor, was also Keltazar’s top target. But with the Celestial Assembly being priority zero, he decided to bury his personal feelings for now.

‘Once I kill the Celestial Assembly, I’ll kill you too, Leos.’

If Leos were to take back his ability, he would just throw himself into battle. Keltazar was prepared to die. But there was one thing.

Before he died, he had to take down those b*stards in the Celestial Assembly.

‘For the sake of the Emperor, who is being unfairly oppressed, and for the future of the Empire, the Celestial Assembly must be eliminated.’

That’s what Keltazar thought.

*

Leos immediately patrolled the perimeter of the safe zone, searching for people. He was looking for anyone who might be of help when they awakened their abilities. But most of them were weak, and the energy they exuded was faint.

“There’s Leos… I want to thank him…”

“Hey, idiot! Don’t you know Leos hates it when people bother him? Just stay quiet.”

A couple whispered, looking at Leos. Inside the safe zone, Leos was revered by many people. This was partly because he provided the safe zone for free, and also because he severely punished crimes that occurred within it.

Leos didn’t interfere much with life inside the safe zone, but there was one thing he dealt with harshly. If anyone looted or murdered, he would either beat them to a pulp or kill them outright.

It was a harsh method, but as a result, looters couldn’t approach the safe zone, and even those who had been looters before were forced to give up their dirty work.

“At first, I thought he was a scary person… but after seeing him for a while, I don’t think he is. I feel like he cares about us a lot. He throws us a lot of food and stuff too.”

Leos would often bring monster carcasses or edible chunks of meat, saying that it was better for people to eat them rather than have them rot and go to waste. While most monster meat tasted like garbage, there were some that tasted good, and all the carcasses that Leos brought seemed to taste like beef or pork.

Those who readily accepted the food were well aware of it. They knew that Leos was only supplying them with the delicious monster carcasses for their benefit.

Of course, despite that, no one crossed the line. No one asked for more food or for help.

Because it was one of the things Leos had absolutely forbidden.

Leos ruled by force, but he only gave them simple rules: use the safe zone as much as you want, but don’t loot or kill anyone. In fact, Leos didn’t interfere in anything else. That’s why public sentiment soared.

To most, Leos was a virtuous man who only used his power for the sake of justice.

“Isn’t there anything we can do to help Leos-nim? According to news from the safe zone lately, it seems that the imperial palace’s forces and Leos-nim are in conflict…”

“How can we help? We’re people who can’t even properly hold a sword.”

“The Interlanner… we have the Interlanner. We can post about what kind of person Leos-nim is on the Interlanner and ask for help from many people. Small forces combined become a great force.”

The man pondered for a moment, then agreed with his wife.

“Then let’s at least write something.”

The man wrote in detail about what was happening in the safe zone, and how Leos was now in danger. And he didn’t leave out how terribly corrupt the imperial palace was.

[The safe zone Leos-nim is creating, and the truth of the imperial palace.]

Leos’ good deeds began to spread among many. From him creating the safe zone by himself, to providing free space to protect the vagrants. And also that he’s created rules to maintain order, and that he is fighting against the imperial palace’s tyranny.

The post, which quickly climbed to the top of the trending list, also reached Leos.

“Who wrote this crap…”

Leos tried to go out immediately to find out who spread the information, but Rakart stopped him.

“Leos, think this through carefully. If we are going to fight the Celestial Assembly, we need not only our strength, but also the power of public opinion.”

“There will only be innocent victims.”

“Why do you think that?”

Leos told Rakart,

“People who see this post will come to the safe zone, filled with a sense of their own righteousness. Even if they come with their weapons and belongings, thinking they can help us, what can they do? They’ll just be ravaged and killed by the Celestial Assembly.”

“They won’t be ashamed of their deaths.”

“It’ll just be a meaningless death. We need to erase this, in case they flock here.”

“Nothing is meaningless. The more who fight, the higher the chance of winning.”

“What power do ordinary people have?”

“One or two, sure. But what if it’s tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands?”

“It’s impossible.”

“No, it’s possible. I think we could sway the opinions of hundreds of thousands. Everything you’ve done since you got out of prison has been for the people.”

Leos didn’t realize it. Even though he suffered so much and was so unjustly imprisoned, he was still acting for the sake of so many people.

Despite being lambasted by public opinion, despite being constantly mocked and ridiculed, Leos had freely provided safe havens to the people, and he’d wiped out all the marauding gangs that had infested the area.

Combined with the fact that Belin had previously revealed Leos’ innocence, seeing Leos act so selflessly would surely move many people’s hearts. That’s what Rakart thought.

Leos had a sudden thought.

[Ability Conductor]: Can awaken the abilities of those around you. However, this power only applies to those with an indomitable will that is beyond comparison. This trait only manifests in those connected to your destiny.

‘If lots of people come, the Ability Conductor trait might activate naturally. The more people tied to my destiny, the more ability users I could create.’

To fight the Heavenly Assembly, they needed as many ability users as possible. And to increase their numbers, they had to make maximum use of the Ability Conductor trait, even if they didn’t know how it worked. In the current situation, the only option was to create a sample group with as many people as possible to try and activate the trait.

“Alright, as you say, let’s watch and see if people come.”

Leos looked at the countless comments on the popular post and thought.

– Let’s go to the safe zone right away and lend our strength.

– The Emperor is still being a piece of shit. I’m going to help too.

– Is Leos the same LEO? The guy who was posting monster info on Interrunner. My brother survived thanks to him. I’m going to help him too.

‘What’s the criteria for being tied to destiny…?’

Leos slowly closed his eyes. Thinking that he would grow closer to them once people started to flock to him.

The more intertwined their fates, the more their Inherent Ability manifested, it was clear that their odds of success would climb.

*

Enas watched Leos from afar. Leos had said, “Leave or stay, do as you please,” so Enas decided not to leave.

‘Leos’s name is trending…’

Enas checked the Interrunner and found a post about Leos was gaining popularity. Slowly, Enas typed a comment.

– Leos… he’s always worked for the weak. Please lend him your strength, he’s saved more people than anyone else and lived justly…

After posting the comment, Enas thought to herself,

‘And Leos… I’ll help you from your side too. Even if you hate me, I will act for you until I die, so that…I won’t have any regrets.’