My Students Regret It After I Retired

26 – Revenge in the Same Way

Leo stared at the distance for a while. The name Enas didn’t sound like a lie. Of course, since it was an anonymous community, he had to be careful; someone could be impersonating Enas. However, he didn’t need to think deeply about it. The reason was simple, he had no intention of talking.

[LEO: Not Leos. Don’t even know who that person is.]

Leo regretted carelessly choosing LEO as his nickname at the start. But he quickly brushed away those thoughts. This was an anonymous community, after all. Unless he admitted it, there was no way to find out his real identity.

‘Even if I talk about gates, I’m not the only gate expert.’

Even outside the Empire’s institutions, information about monsters was already being sold on the black market for huge sums. Leo was just the one giving out information for free to earn points, but that didn’t mean that knowledge about monsters was exclusively held by him.

‘Well, even that’s just a tiny fraction of what I know.’

Whether it was the Red Gate or mutant monsters, the information circulating in the market was just a tiny fraction of Leo’s knowledge. Someone might pay a fortune for even that, but Leo had absolutely no use for it.

After thinking through various aspects, Leo came to a conclusion.

‘I no longer have the time to look after my former disciples.’

He was already struggling to take care of Benedict and Heresia by his side. So why would he need to accept a disciple who didn’t trust him, didn’t contact him, and now contacted him so belatedly? Leo felt there was no reason to.

‘They probably just want information about monsters.’

-Gnashing…

As forgotten memories surfaced one by one, Leo barely suppressed the anger rising within him. Disciples who hadn’t even bothered to submit a petition on his behalf, disciples who hadn’t said they believed him, and disciples who hadn’t contacted him even on his release day.

Leos made a vow on the day of his release. To consider that his old disciple no longer existed.

[ENA: Really…really, are you not Leos-nim? There’s something I absolutely have to say.]

[LEO: I don’t know who you are, but go tell that guy. I’m not him.]

[ENA: I understand… I’m sorry…]

That was the end of the contact with Enas.

*

“Leos-nim, you seem troubled, is something wrong?”

Herisia tilted her head and approached, and Leos shook his head slightly, lying down on the bed and closing his eyes.

“Please rest a little… you’ve been going all over the place lately, you must be exhausted. It might just be wear and tear on your body and mind.”

“Herisia! It’s more like you keep chatting away, and that’s why brother can’t rest! So noisy!”

“What?! I’m just worried about him, okay! What do you even know!”

“I don’t know anything! But I know one thing! You’re incredibly noisy right now!”

“Y-you’re being louder than me!”

I looked at the two of them in turn and said.

“Please, be quiet. I’m begging you.”

“Yes, sir!”

“Okay…”

Bendict immediately went to a corner and squatted down, and Herisia scurried to the opposite side. Soon, Bendict’s face began to turn bright red.

“You crazy b*stard. You can breathe. Are you defying me now just because I told you to be quiet?”

“Puhah….! Brother told us to be quiet, so I was just trying not to make any breathing sounds. There was no other intention….Uwaaak! Brother! Brother! Your ear! It was torn last time! !”

Benedict mumbled, touching his ear, a mournful look cast towards the ground.

“I was just thinking about my brother…”

I glared at him, and Benedict immediately clamped his mouth shut with his right hand, going into mute mode.

‘Haaah…’

Looking up at the ceiling, a sigh escaped me.

‘Lately, so many b*stards have been looking for me. Bellin contacted me first, and then Enas got in touch too.’

When Bellin reached out, it was just pure rage, but with Enas, the feeling was more…complex. In a way, my disciples were also tricked by Bellin.

But conversely, they chose not to believe me, trusting only Bellin’s words. We have shared memories, so the thought of retaliation never crosses my mind. However, it’s equally absurd to consider rushing in to help them. After I screamed myself hoarse about my innocence, they couldn’t even bother to reach out, let alone offer a hand. How could I possibly risk my life again for those who abandoned me?

‘Too much time has passed to talk.’

Three years had gone by from imprisonment to release. Counting the trial time, it was an even longer stretch of confinement. All that time, I was utterly alone.

‘No… well, to be precise, I was with this dumbass.’

I looked at Benedict, and he grinned, opening his mouth.

“Boss. You seem to be in better spirits?”

“This punk…”

I moved towards Benedict, and he flinched, clutching his head. A fierce determination to protect his ears from being ripped off. I flicked his forehead and spoke as if it was nothing.

“Thanks. Even though you’re lacking in many ways, you always have my back. Now that I think of it, you’re the only one who believed me while I was in prison.”

“Boss… are you trying to commit suicide? No way, Boss! Please! Please don’t die! They say people change when they die… uuuwaaah!”

Benedict cried, looking at his tattered ear.

“Why do you keep hitting me after praising me! If you’re going to hit, hit my body! My ears can’t even be trained…”

“Instead of hitting your body, can I go full force?”

As I made a show of raising my fist, Bendict said with a gentle look,

“Haha! Brother, I like my ears getting tugged!”

Heresia, beside him, shook her head and said,

“You used to say that a real man should never bow down no matter what. But you can’t do anything in front of Leos.”

Bendict cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Heresia, you don’t understand, but all the guys who messed with Leos are dead… they say he killed hundreds of people in prison alone… I don’t want to be mixed up in that.”

“L-Leos really did that?”

“Yeah, I’m telling you? The warden with a life sentence got on Leos’s bad side a few times, and the whole block became a pool of blood…”

Bendict was spewing unbelievable lies, but Leos was too exhausted to argue and just let him talk. The slippery Bendict, and Heresia beside him listening intently. Looking at them, a small smile escaped me.

‘Not bad.’

I still can’t forget how it felt when I got locked in the isolation cell for causing trouble in prison. In that quiet void, for months I didn’t even know how much time had passed. That’s when I first realized. That I, too, am someone who gets lonely. That I need someone to be by my side.

That my protecting someone is not for their sake, but a selfish act based on my desire for them not to leave my side.

‘I’ll protect them. No matter what happens.’

These are the ones who, even after hearing that I’m being chased by the Empire, chose to stay by my side instead of cutting ties and running away. I was planning to take responsibility for them until the end. At least for Bendict and Heresia.

-Beep…beep…

Just as I was thinking that, life signals were detected nearby. Instead of going outside to check like before, I immediately launched the upper-tier artifact, the Spirale, into the air to check the location of the life signals.

‘People…?’

About twenty people, covered in blood, were slowly walking towards the safe zone.

‘Enemies?’

Leos began to closely observe the other side. But they weren’t armed at all, so it was hard to consider them enemies.

‘No, they’re not unarmed, they’re disarming themselves as they walk over.’

A closer look revealed dozens of swords piled on the ground near the edge of the safe zone. Like defeated soldiers surrendering to an enemy general in battle, they walked with bare hands, their bodies slumped.

‘This is strange.’

If the enemy had been armed, he would have bombed them immediately, but these were people Leos didn’t recognize, and they were clearly showing no intent to fight. More than that, their bearing and movements were those of professionally trained individuals.

Leos lowered the Spyrel, speaking to them through the speaker.

“Stop. Any further approach and you’re dead.”

As Leos finished preparing to drop the Spyrel mana bomb, one man stepped forward, trying to shield himself with his body. Then the leader, behind him, laughed, saying,

“Paron, don’t do that. If anyone dies, it should be me first. What good would it do if you died before me?”

“Lord Lakart…”

Lakart, the commander of the Imperial Purge Squad, pushed Paron aside and walked slowly forward. As if to prove he was unarmed, he had taken off all his outerwear, leaving only his trousers and shirt.

-Thud.

-Thud.

The man walked step by step, finally reaching right below the Spyrel. A position where, if the mana bomb was dropped, there would be no escape, only death.

Standing there, Lakart spoke.

“You’re Leos, aren’t you? I saw the Interloper. And I’ve seen your old records. There was only one conclusion. You’re the only one who could have created this safe zone and be doing this kind of thing now.”

-Crack… crackle…

An intense energy began to surge from the Spyrel, ready to launch the mana bomb at a moment’s notice.

Lakart, as if he didn’t care if he died, spread his arms wide and spoke.

“Won’t you join us in tearing down the Empire? If you want, we can expose all the Empire’s wrongdoings and stir up public opinion.”

“Why the hell should I?”

“Because you can pay them back in kind.”

“…”

“The pathetic Empire that framed you and made you suffer. If I help, you can pay them back the same way. Those b*stards who let you rot in prison for over three years.”

A moment passed, and Leos slowly walked toward them, gripping his chainsword.

“Explain it in detail. If you lie or talk nonsense, I’ll kill you on the spot.”

Lakart grinned brightly and nodded.

“One week. If you give me just one week, I can perfectly incite the Empire’s people. Using this Gate incident, you see.”