My Students Regret It After I Retired

11 – The Most Dangerous Safe Zone in the World

Just as I was about to go outside, Heresia asked as if something had suddenly popped into her head.

“Um, Leos-nim, now that I think about it, you showed such overwhelming results at the gates, right? Didn’t the Empire try to call you back or anything?”

I didn’t bother telling Heresia about the existence of the Empire’s Shadow Unit, nor that they came to capture me and were annihilated. I thought there was no need to get into it deeply, so I just answered simply,

“The Empire came looking for me. And I killed them. The blood you saw in the bunker was from those guys who were tracking me from the Empire.”

Bendict, who had been listening beside us, came running over in a flurry of excitement.

“Boss! Is that for real! You really gave those Empire b*stards a taste of their own medicine!”

“Don’t make a fuss. You know, I only killed a few.”

“Heh heh, as expected of you, brother! To think of killing those Empire b*stards. I wanted to kill them all myself when the Empire wouldn’t properly punish that con artist, but I couldn’t. You’re different, brother!”

Unlike the smirking Bendict, Heresia asked with a worried look.

“But… if the Empire is chasing us, shouldn’t we keep quiet? Of course, Leos-nim killed all those who chased you initially, so we have some time, but after the initial pursuers, a second wave will come…”

“That’s usually the case. That’s why I was lying low in the bunker for a while. But it’s pointless now. A few hours ago, the Red Gates started a chain reaction.”

“A chain reaction?”

“Simply put, the area has become hell in the last few hours. The radius of the opened Red Gates is at least 200km. Until now, monsters weren’t pouring out, but starting with the chain reaction first detected a few hours ago, monsters will start pouring out of all the Red Gates within the radius. Maybe even within an hour.”

“…That…that many? Shouldn’t we run?”

“Run where? In a situation where Red Gates are opening in chain reactions, we’re in the center of the Red Gate vortex. Within a 200km radius is full of monsters, there’s no way we can escape.”

“How about just hiding? I know Leos-nim is strong, but unlike before, you’re alone now… I’m worried…”

“Among the mutant monsters, there’s one called a ‘Divringer’ that can detect humans within a radius. It has the ability to detect the human species itself. If you get caught by that guy, you’ll be under concentrated attack, even if you’re inside a bunker, not a cave. It has a tendency to attract monsters, so if you ignore it, the area around the bunker will literally become a monster hell. Then we’ll be completely isolated inside, waiting to starve to death while thousands of monsters are surrounding the bunker.”

“Then how about… not destroying a full 1km of the Red Gate? What if the Empire finds out and chases you again…”

“1km is the minimum value. Considering the detection range of Divringers, the monster with human species detection ability, we need that much range to ensure that if it comes out of the Red Gate and walks around, it can’t reach us.”

Even while talking, I was checking my weapons. A few hours might seem short to some, but to me it was a comfortable amount of time, so I wasn’t particularly hurried, but I still believed it was important to minimize the time.

Logically, no matter what they say, I could just leave them and go out to destroy the gate, but if I just left without giving them any information, it seemed they might unnecessarily follow me or cause problems, so I conveyed some of the definite information I knew.

“…”

Heresia got up from her seat as if she couldn’t help it.

“Then I’ll help too. We don’t have much time, right?”

“Brother! If you were in such a rush, you should’ve told me! I’ll help too.”

I knew it would be like this. If I had left them be, they might have started thinking all sorts of useless things and gone outside. I felt relieved and said to them.

“I don’t need you. Even when I worked at the Gate Management HQ, it was always the Red Gates. Especially the mutated monsters, I handled them all. You being here is actually just a hindrance. So stay inside and wait.”

The words were a bit harsh, but they were the truth. In a situation where life and death were decided in seconds, there was no room to explain the habits and traits of Red Gate mutants, one by one, to keep them safe. Factors like raw strength or physical prowess were irrelevant. If you didn’t know their habits and traits, anyone could get taken down.

“…Then, I’ll make some artifacts that might be helpful…but…you have to come back safely. Run if things get too dangerous.”

“Brother! If you think it’s getting dangerous, yell! Even if I’m a hindrance now, there might be an emergency situation where I might actually be needed! I’ll go out, even if it means risking my life!”

“Alright.”

With those words, Leos headed out.

*

Left in the cave, Bendict looked worried and asked Herisia.

“Brother seems a little rushed. Did something else happen? Even if the monsters are pouring out, with Brother Leos’s skills, couldn’t he just kill everything in sight while running away… there’s no reason to push himself like that…”

“It’s because of us, isn’t it.”

Herisia muttered, huddled in a corner, hugging her knees.

“If it was just Leos, even if a human-detecting monster like a Devourer appeared, he’d just kill it right away and easily run around. But we’re just baggage that’s attached to him… He’s probably pushing himself like this to keep us out of danger…”

“…”

Bendict listened to that, and after thinking deeply for a moment, he quietly self-deprecatingly said.

“So that’s it. No wonder he had to overthink. One’s a naive little bug, the other a dummy who only knows how to work artifacts.”

“What? A dummy who only knows how to work artifacts? That’s rich coming from a musclehead like you!”

When Herisia flared up, Bendict chuckled and replied.

“Now you’re back to normal. Don’t stay all sulky like that. You know how amazing brother is, right? He’ll be back soon. And if he doesn’t come back for too long, then we can go help.”

“Well… that’s true. Leos’ abilities are so outstanding… still, I can’t help but worry.”

“You like him?”

“Wha… What?!”

Heresia frantically pounded on Benedict’s meaty arm, but Benedict ignored it, continuing to tease her.

“Well, it’s no surprise that our dear elder brother is so good-looking, and has such excellent abilities, and even has a thoughtful personality… or is it not so great? Anyways, he’s really popular!”

Heresia, face bright red and huffing, turned toward the cave entrance as a loud sound echoed. A Red Gate chain reaction. Monsters began to pour out from the Red Gates that filled the sky.

The scene looked as if hell itself were opening up.

“I hope they’ll be safe… I’m worried…”

*

50 minutes. That was the time it took Leos to completely eradicate all the Red Gates within a 1km radius.

‘Took longer than I thought.’

Leos roughly wiped the mutant blood from his body with a cloth, then placed his hand on a Red Gate.

◈ Legendary Gatekeeper [EX] : You can seal the mana of a Gate you have defeated.

[Use the trait?]

“Use it.”

[The mana of this Gate has been completely sealed. Monsters will no longer respawn here, even with the passage of time.]

With this, he had sealed all 15 Red Gates within 1km. It took a little over a minute per gate, but the time it took to travel and to perform the seal had made it take longer than expected.

‘Still, plenty of time.’

It took longer than he had thought, but the chain reaction was still in progress. The Gate chain reaction spread sequentially from the edges inward.

In other words, monsters were currently pouring out of the Red Gates starting from the area outside of where Leos was located.

‘Is it better to be in the center then? If it had started in a vague area, we wouldn’t have had time to prepare.’

Thinking as positively as he could, Leos walked towards the cave. Then,

-WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!

I spotted something flying overhead and immediately concealed myself.

‘The Empire’s aerial surveillance artifact.’

‘They probably deployed that artifact to find me. Maybe the Empire will even realize this area is part of my domain.’

But as I watched the monsters pouring from the sky, I thought,

‘So what if they know I’m here? What the hell are they going to do about it?’

In just about another hour, no human could reach this place from the outside.

This is the most dangerous place in the world, but ironically, the safest safe zone within the Ferren Empire.

All they can do is watch. I was curious about the Empire’s reaction. What schemes were they concocting now?

‘It won’t matter anyway.’

-WHOOSH!

Leos hurled a rock from the ground, shattering the artifact in the air, then walked into the cave.