My Students Regret It After I Retired

4 – Don’t even think about going back alive. I’ll kill you all here.

On the blood-soaked battlefield, I pulled out the radio and spoke quietly.

“This is A1. Mission successfully completed.”

[Report the number of survivors.]

“Including myself, A2 and A3, three in total. The other seven are all dead.”

[What’s the number of enemies killed?]

“An estimated 75. We’d need to do a more thorough count to know the exact number.”

[Excellent. Cut off the enemy’s ears and return.]

After the man’s order crackled through the radio, I wordlessly began cutting off the enemy’s ears. It was just a way to estimate how many they had killed.

“A1, looks like it’s just us left alive again.”

“A2, shut up. There might still be enemies around.”

“So what if there are? You’ll just kill them all anyway.”

A3 in the corner silently cut off the ears of the dead. With each rustling sound, the sharp smell of blood and splatters of gore spread in every direction.

“A1, how long will we survive?”

“I don’t know. Don’t think about useless things like that. If we lose this war anyway, we’ll all die.”

I looked up at the crimson sky.

Ever since the war started, the sky had always looked red, as if it were diseased. It was hard to tell whether the sky was red or if my mind was just playing tricks on me.

A1, A2, A3

These designations were reserved for the elite. If I died, my number would be given to the next in line. In short, if I died, A2 would become A1.

Initially, the first number I was given was 2350. Since the war started, the 2349 so-called elite before me had all died, and now I had inherited the first number. A1. It was a number forged by the deaths of 2349 people.

‘How long will I have to repeat this crap?’

I’d killed countless people. Comrades died, enemies were killed, and that whole process repeated endlessly, as if it would never stop.

I looked at the crimson sky and muttered,

“I want to live.”

“A1, did you say something?”

“No. Let’s pull back now.”

After retreating back to base, my profile was updated.

[Codename A1 Total kills: 3750]

A1, or the monster who killed the most people on the battlefield. That’s what they called me.

*

Leos was lost in a reverie, drifting back to the past, before snapping back to reality.

‘Why am I needlessly thinking about the past…’

A1, who massacred countless people in the war. That time in the past was already long gone. Since being possessed by this novel, I hadn’t fought against humans, let alone killed anyone. Perhaps that’s why my past, those hellish days, had been forgotten.

But, that memory etched itself anew as the battle drew closer.

“Leos! I have something to say! Come out, quick! It’s me! Your former student, Peredin!”

The man was shouting, yelling his lungs out, but it only made Leos more wary.

Right now, several Red Gates had begun to go berserk, causing monsters to roam wildly around the area. And that wasn’t all. Due to the sudden appearance of these monsters, people were stranded, and now they were looting and pillaging for food and resources, making it a dangerous zone. In this kind of place, to announce your position so blatantly could only mean one thing.

‘He’s confident.’

It was an act that only someone confident and certain they could kill whatever they encountered, whether monster or man, would do.

‘What should I do?’

If I just stay quiet here, Peredin might not find me after all. That would be the best way to avoid a fight and save my life.

‘But if I do that, I won’t be able to get the information I need.’

There were two things I needed to know.

First, how Peredin found my location.

Judging by the way he was yelling my name, he already knew I was in the vicinity. But the fact he didn’t break into the bunker directly meant he didn’t have my precise location either. Even without the exact location, the fact that he managed to get this close was a problem.

‘Did he track my distance? I’ve blocked all GPS functionality.’

There were some guesses I could make, but I needed to hear it more definitively.

Second, why Peredin is affiliated with the Imperial Shadow Unit.

Peredin was definitely a member of the Gate Management Bureau. Even the information available back then showed no particular abnormalities; he was an utterly ordinary Gatekeeper. For such a man to become an Imperial Shadow Unit member just a few years after I was imprisoned, that didn’t make sense.

‘Then, does it mean he was a member of the Imperial Shadow Unit from the start? Even before he joined the Gate Management Bureau.’

Why would an Imperial Shadow Unit member secretly infiltrate the Gate Management Bureau? A sense of unease settled over me. I had to find out those two things, even if it was risky. I made my decision.

-Thud

-Thud

I started walking slowly out of the bunker, making a slight detour, just in case, so they wouldn’t know I’d come from there.

“Why did you come all the way here?”

“Oh! Leos! There you are! Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you?”

As Peren tried to close the distance, I kept my space and asked,

“You’ve got some new faces with you. I don’t sense any other energy nearby, so this is all the personnel, then?”

“Ah…these people? Don’t worry. These are the reinforcements the Empire sent after the gate incident. I’m still working in a department related to the Empire… Well, maybe you wouldn’t know, Leos.”

Peredin smoothly made his excuses.

‘He probably thinks I don’t know the mark of the Imperial Shadow Unit.’

The Imperial Shadow Unit was a department kept absolutely secret from the public. Being called the ‘Shadow Unit,’ most civilians were completely unaware of their existence. If I hadn’t been reincarnated into this novel with prior knowledge, I wouldn’t have been aware of the Imperial Shadow Unit, nor its logo. I probably would have just assumed they were another ordinary Imperial department.

“I see. Anyway, is this all the personnel? I have some food and was going to share a bit. I needed to know if there were more people so I could bring more food.”

“Oh, really? Leos, you’re so kind. There are ten of us, including me. And are you living with anyone, Leos? Are there any of your companions nearby?”

Peredin spoke with a smile on his face, but I knew. The guy was also sizing me up. Peredin was wary of my possible forces.

“No, I’m alone. Wait here, and I’ll go get the food.”

“Can I come with you?”

As Peredin slowly closed the distance, I put my hand inside my coat, gripping the dagger, and said,

“No, it’s a bit inconvenient to reveal my location. It’s better if you stay here.”

“Haha…Leos, you’ve changed so much over time. When we worked together at the Gate Management Headquarters, you didn’t seem like such a suspicious person. Is it because of the way the people around me are dressed? You know.”

“No, it’s not unusual to wear dark clothing when performing covert missions.”

“So, you don’t trust me?”

Peredin narrowed his eyes at me. I spoke plainly to him.

“How did you find me?”

“Ah…is that what’s bothering you? It’s easy. Your Distance. I guess you turned off the GPS function, but you sent a text message not too long ago. Texting or calling can reveal a rough location. If you’re worried about it, you could modify it a little…anyway, I’ll take care of that part if you come with me.”

Peredin spoke with a sly smile. The guy still thinks he can trick me, it seems.

‘A classic method of mixing truth and lies, luring the other person in.’

But I didn’t think it was bad. Peredin only thinks I’m wary of him, not that I know for sure he’s part of the Imperial Shadow Corps and am completely hostile toward him.

“I see. So, assuming you found my location through signals emitted from my Distance, why did you come looking for me? It’s questionable why you’d come to this already dangerous place because of the Red Gate.”

“I need your help.”

Peredin walked slowly toward me, his expression changing. With a surprisingly earnest look, he spoke dramatically.

“Leos. I think it’s truly unfortunate that you were imprisoned. If that b*tch, Bellin, hadn’t made a false report, you would still be revered by the people even now. I definitely believed you were innocent. Even the other disciples believed in your innocence! But because of Bellin…because of Bellin, we couldn’t do anything but keep our mouths shut. She used manipulation and fabrication to make it impossible to intervene.”

“Get to the point.”

“…”

Peredin stared at me for a moment, then spoke with a slightly sharp voice.

“Our Empire is in crisis. We can manage to subdue the high-level Red Gates, but we can’t seal them completely. Because they’re not sealed, monsters keep reappearing after a while, and a lot of soldiers are dying needlessly. I need your help. Seal the Red Gates with your power. Your disciples, the ones who trusted you and followed you, are still in the Empire.”

“Ah…so that’s why you came.”

“Yes! That’s right! Leos? We were good, weren’t we? Back when we were devoting ourselves and working for the Empire! How happy we were. It’s unfortunate that a small incident occurred and you were imprisoned, but that’s in the past. The Empire is calling for you now. The Empire! No, the people need your power!”

Only after knowing all the truth did I pull out the dagger from my clothes and grip it in reverse, pointing it at him.

“Leos…? Hey Leos, what are you doing?”

“Imperial Shadow Corps. You shamelessly walk around with the logo of a trash group that kills innocent people for the sake of the Empire, and you say that to me. If the Imperial Shadow Corps are looking for me, the reason is obvious. You just want to exploit me, right?”

“Hah…”

Feredin’s expression shifted in an instant, his voice turning cold.

“How do you know about the Imperial Shadow Unit? No. Someone like you wouldn’t just tell me so easily. I guess I’d have to cut you up a little to get an answer.”

“Do you really think you lot can handle me?”

“’You lot?’ These guys here could kill hundreds of ordinary people. You’ve been hunting monsters so much, Leos, you’ve lost touch with reality. We’re professionals here. Professionals at killing people. We’re not the same as some bug like you who only kills monsters! Can you even kill a person? If you kill us, you’re a murderer. That tag will follow you for the rest of your life…”

—*Thwack!*

I threw my dagger, and it struck the head of one of the Imperial Shadow Unit members hiding in the corner, the man collapsing without even a scream.

Staring at the dazed Feredin, I said flatly,

“Now there are nine left.”

“Don’t even think about going back alive. I’ll kill every last one of you here.”