My Students Regret It After I Retired

24 – Bombardment

Keltazar, who had been sitting at his desk, rose and spoke,

“Has the investigation I ordered before been completed?”

Zareid, the leader of the Empire exploration team, gathered the data and submitted it while answering,

“Confirmed. It appears, based on multiple testimonies, that the protective zone in the central area is real. We haven’t yet determined the cause of this phenomenon, but it’s safe to assume that there are some enclosed areas with gates in the central region.”

“Didn’t you use the exploration artifacts? I want to see with my own eyes.”

“We did use them, but they were all shot down by mutant monsters. It’s an area impossible to explore with typical artifacts. It would require at least a high-level artifact to withstand the attacks.”

“High-level artifact…are there no aerial floating high-level artifacts within the Empire?”

“There are, but they can only be used with His Majesty’s permission. He refuses to authorize it under the current circumstances. As you know, the aerial floating high-level artifacts are all being used to explore around the imperial family…”

“His Majesty has reason to worry, what with Redgates possibly appearing even near the Imperial Palace.”

Keltazar said this while grinding his teeth. Even if high-grade artifacts were rare, using every single one of them solely for his own safety… But realizing he was harboring impure thoughts, Keltazar quickly shook them off and said,

“In the end, we’ll have to go ourselves.”

“Please leave it to us. Isn’t that what our Imperial Exploration Corps is for?”

“Can you handle it?”

“Of course.”

Keltazar paused in thought for a moment, then tapped the desk a few times before speaking.

“A safe space has appeared inside the Redgate vortex. It could be a natural phenomenon, or it could be someone’s deliberate doing. If it’s the latter, it’s probably that damn Leos. If it’s in the center, high-grade Redgates would be generated there, and he’s the only one who can seal them.”

“Don’t worry. I know a bit about this man, Leos. They say he displayed overwhelming force during the time monsters were rampant, but that’s all in the past, isn’t it? Trust our exploration corps.”

“It’s been quite a while since Feradin, the 30th team leader of the Imperial Shadow Unit, went missing while searching for Leos. He wouldn’t have fled, so he must be dead, probably killed by someone. I have a bad feeling. What if he was killed by Leos?”

“That’s not likely. Feradin was a man of exceptional ability.”

“…Alright, nothing’s been confirmed, so it’s best not to dwell on useless talk.”

Jared spoke to Keltazar, who had a serious expression.

“Keltazar-nim. Even if Feradin was killed by Leos, it’s not a big problem. You know the power of our exploration corps, don’t you? We’re specialists in exploring, escaping, hiding, and killing if the situation allows it. We’re the experts in this field, so please leave it to us.”

“Alright, I’ll trust you this once.”

Keltazar rose from his seat and handed Jared several chunks of gold. Jared grinned and took them.

“I will give you triple what I have given you now when the job is finished.”

“It’s an honor. Even without compensation, I would give my life for the Empire.”

“Don’t say things you don’t mean, just go.”

As Jared was about to leave, chuckling to himself, he suddenly remembered something and spoke to Keltazar.

“Oh, by the way, any news from the Imperial Eradication Squad?”

“A message came from Paron, the one we planted in the Eradication Squad. He says they’re exploring inside the Redgate Vortex. He was told to find Leos and bring him to me.”

“Is it really necessary to do things doubly like this? Especially when you’re already sending us?”

“It would be good if you all found Leos, but the primary mission is to confirm the safe zone at the center of the vortex firsthand. There’s no harm in double duty. And it wasn’t my command for the Eradication Squad. They took it upon themselves.”

“That’s peculiar. I definitely don’t understand what’s going through the Eradication Squad leader, Rakart’s head. That b*stard is always poking around, never talking about what he’s thinking.”

“Whatever the reason, I’m sure it’s for the Empire this time too. Paron didn’t mention anything strange, and Rakart has always acted like a loyal dog of the Empire.”

“That’s a relief then.”

*

The exploration team leader, Jareid, mumbled, clutching a gold nugget in his hand.

“Hah… this is why I do this. Gold is just so great. Even with the country falling apart like this, its value doesn’t change. Karek, if this job goes well, they’re giving us triple our current pay.”

“Keltazar definitely has an eye for talent. He knew our capabilities were outstanding, which is why he invested in us so heavily.”

“This is practically a freebie, I almost feel bad. It’s not even like we’re fighting monsters. We just have to go to the central region and check if there’s a safe zone, right?”

Karek, who had been listening to Jareid’s words, spoke with a worried tone.

“It’s best not to let your guard down too much. There are many reports coming in about people being attacked by mutated monsters. No matter how much we try to avoid them, I expect there will be some casualties.”

“Casualties, my ass. Only idiots get caught. We’ve got all the best people when it comes to agility, how are they going to catch us? Unless they start bombing us from the sky.”

“…That is true, but still…”

“Eh, if things get too dangerous, we just run. And if we have some extra time, we could kill that guy Leos and get extra pay. It’s a win-win.”

The vice-captain, Karek, just nodded silently. In fact, although he spoke as if worried, he knew that the exploration team was full of people with extraordinary agility, and that even if something happened, they could respond flexibly, so there was no real danger to their lives.

“By the way, I looked into that guy Leos, and it seems the trial he faced for harassing his disciples was due to an Imperial plot.”

“Ah, so it wasn’t something that he actually did?”

“Yeah. Turns out a lot of others in other agencies already knew about them. I wasn’t particularly interested, so I hadn’t looked, but when you actually pull the information network, it’s not exactly hard to find.”

“Why bother with such a pain in the ass method? Just kill him.”

“Well, didn’t public opinion lean in his favor a bit back then? It’s impossible to know His Majesty’s mind, but I suspect he was worried about that man’s growing influence.”

“Nah, no way His Majesty the Emperor would give a damn about someone like that.”

“But isn’t the Emperor incredibly sensitive when it comes to the Inter-Runner?”

“…Yeah, I guess, the way he’s been going on and on about banning that one community. I can’t figure out why. It can’t be shut down unless you catch the administrator, anyway.”

“Isn’t it because it’s the only community not under Imperial control? If they were to plan a riot there, things could get tricky. The Emperor has always been wary of anyone who doesn’t pledge loyalty having influence. He’s obsessed with it.”

“Yeah, that’s what I don’t get. Using such a complicated method to deal with that community, and Leos… And can you really ban the Inter-Runner? Practically everyone working within imperial agencies uses it.”

Saying that, Zareid trudged into the Redgate vortex. After travelling several dozen kilometers, he could sense a considerable number of people nearby.

Zareid, as if remembering something, immediately charged forward, killing those hidden in an instant, and then checked the distance.

“Ah…Not him either. He wouldn’t be out here in the periphery.”

He sighed, then immediately started taking pictures.

“What are you doing?”

“Why? They were gonna get killed by monsters anyway.”

“It’s not the killing I’m questioning. I’m curious why you’re taking pictures…”

“Oh, some dude is doing some interesting things. It’ll be good to have something to enjoy while we go.”

[TAZ]

[Title: Killing one by one until I find LEO.]

[Body: If you don’t want to die, bring the distance to the spot we designate and bury it.]

[Attachment: Proof_photo.PNG ]

Jareid posted on the Interrunner, then spoke.

“There’s this parasite on the Interrunner, hogging the popular posts and acting like a king. We calculated it, and it looks like he racked up over 10,000 points in less than a week? We’re busting our asses, and we can’t even get 5,000, you know? If it were ours, we could’ve made a blueprint for a high-grade artifact.”

“…Using shops in the Interrunner without reporting to the Empire is illegal.”

“It’s not like we don’t know that. If we cared about that from the start, we wouldn’t even be on the Interrunner. And we might get abandoned by the Empire someday, right? We gotta stock up on weapons and stuff for when that happens. It’s good to have fun doing it too.”

Jareid spread out his teammates, searching, muttering to himself.

“If we just kill that LEO guy, we could pull in a bunch of points in an instant.”

“Wouldn’t it be better not to provoke him? He doesn’t seem like an ordinary guy from what I’ve seen.”

“What’s he gonna do? He’s in the central area, and we’re on the outskirts.”

Jareid’s notification popped up, and he checked it. He was curious to see how this LEO guy, who was getting so much attention, would react.

But disappointingly, only other people’s comments were there, not one from LEO.

“He’s a moron. The previous post he made was probably fabricated.”

A few hours passed, and then a new post from LEO went up.

[LEO]

[Title: Found you guys at last.]

[Body: I clearly said I’d kill all you b*stards.]

[Attachment: photo.PNG]

There was a picture of himself being photographed from above. The problem was, the picture showed something that looked like a mana bomb falling.

“What the hell is that…!”

The moment Jareid looked up at the sky.

“How…?”

Dozens of mana bombs were being dropped from the sky.