My Students Regret It After I Retired - Chapter 94



93 – Top-Tier Elixir, Hemina’s Heart

The Imperial Swordsmen, the Emperor’s arms and legs, or rather, more than that.

All of the Imperial Swordsmen were dead, all killed by Leos. Now that there were no Imperial Swordsmen remaining, the core of the Emperor’s forces had been wiped out, and all that was left was to strike the Imperial Palace.

But there was something that had to come first.

‘I have to save Benedict.’

Massed ability artillery fire slammed into Leos, leaving him riddled with immense internal and external injuries in a blink. He’d butchered about fifty members of the Heavenly Assembly, but the damage racking his body was enough to put him practically at death’s door.

Bennedict, using his support-type ability, took all of Leos’ damage directly onto himself.

Bennedict was dying.

‘Gotta hurry. Faster.’

*

“Hemi-nim! Hemi-nim!”

One of the people in the safe zone urgently called out for Hemina. Hemina, wondering what was wrong, went outside, only to find a commoner she barely knew, one of the residents of the safe zone that Leos had set up, seeking her.

“What’s the matter?” Hemina asked, her tone flat, but the resident spoke.

“Leos-nim is urgently looking for you. He sent word through a transmission spell and will arrive soon.”

“I’m going, right now.”

Hemina didn’t ask anything else before she started running towards Leos.

‘Leos-nim is looking for me…? What happened? Is he reconsidering what I confessed last time?’

Hemina had confessed her feelings to Leos, but was rejected not long ago. Leos said he didn’t have the time. That he had no time for love, no room to waste on emotions.

It was a bitter thing to hear. She had made a fan gallery of Leos, collected his photos, wrote about him daily, thought of him every moment, and finally met him. And after she worked up the courage to tell him, she was turned down. It would be a lie to say it didn’t hurt.

‘He avenged my dead family, and even saved me when I was about to die.’

There were countless reasons why she liked Leos. But the biggest reasons were that he avenged her family and saved her life. It was true that those two things resonated deeply.

He had dragged her up from the depths of despair, allowed her to move forward, gave her a reason to live.

That’s why Hemina decided she would love Leos no matter how he behaved in the future. Even if he told her not to love him, even if he said he wouldn’t love her back, even if he continued to push her away, she would keep loving him.

She wouldn’t expect anything. She wouldn’t have any expectations. Just giving was enough.

‘Heart… just stay still…’

Hemina’s heart began to race. It was rare for Leos to seek her out directly. What could be the reason he was so urgently looking for her, someone who was neither a combat soldier nor a support staffer?

A light blush began to tint the girl’s cheeks.

She soon saw Leos’ face and realized he was looking for her for a reason different than she expected.

“Leos-nim… What… What’s wrong…?”

Leos’ expression was crumbling. The steadfastness he always possessed, the courage that never faltered in the face of any threat, was now collapsing in real time.

His voice filled with fear, Leos gripped Hemina’s shoulder tightly and said,

“Hemina, I need to talk to you.”

“Ah… it hurts, Leos-nim…”

Leos finally realized he was holding her too tightly, apologized briefly, and quickly pulled her to a corner.

“Hemina, can you help me? No, please, you have to help me. You’re the only one who can.”

“T-tell me. I’ll do anything…”

Leos was restless. His gaze still lingered on Bendix, who was suffering outside.

“Bendix, you know my comrade? He’s been hit by an ability. His external wounds are mostly healed, but his internal ones aren’t. The mana inside him is tangled and twisted, beyond repair. Healing magic and potions are useless. I even tried a replica elixir, but it didn’t work. I need a supreme-grade elixir right now.”

“A supreme-grade elixir…? I don’t even have one…”

“Please, Hemina. Can you check every Interrunner store for me?”

“Just a moment. You know there are no supreme-grade elixirs in the standard stores, right? And a replica elixir is 15,000 points… I’ll check the administrator store first to see if they have any.”

Hemina urgently activated her distance device, accessing the Interrunner administrator function and frantically searching. Her hands moved so quickly she was beginning to sweat, then suddenly, she stopped.

“Huh…?”

Administrator-only store.

Hemina’s accumulated points weren’t exactly abundant, so this wasn’t a space she frequented. That meant she certainly hadn’t had the leisure to poke around every nook and cranny like she did today.

A tucked-away spot. In a very secluded store stall, she spotted a top-tier elixir.

[Top-Tier Elixir x3: Purchase Cost -500,000P]

A top-tier elixir she’d assumed she couldn’t buy even if she spent hundreds of thousands of points was listed at a price of -500,000 points. It was unbelievable. A cost that was negative, not positive.

With a hesitant heart, Hemina pressed the purchase button. And then…

– You have purchased a top-tier elixir.

– You have acquired 3 top-tier elixirs.

– Top-tier elixirs can no longer be purchased.

– The top-tier elixir item will be removed from the administrator’s shop.

– You have been given a penalty of -500,000 points.

– Penalty points have exceeded 1 million.

– Restrictions are being activated.

– Your life must be linked to another. If the linked person dies, you will also die. However, if you die, no harm will come to the linked person.

‘What…is this…?’

It was an entry she’d never seen before.

A massive penalty. If the linked person died, she would die too. But her own death wouldn’t cause the linked person’s death.

A penalty, solely for her.

‘Who…should I link with…? Leos-nim…?’

Leos was currently in the middle of a war. He was in a situation where his life was threatened constantly, a man who could die tomorrow for all she knew.

The leader of the rebel forces. That was Leos.

To link one’s life to such a person was a foolish act, like throwing one’s own life into the dirt.

But Hemina’s hesitation was brief.

– Life linked to Leos. If Leos dies, Hemina, you will also die simultaneously.

– Due to the set constraint, penalty points have been eliminated.

Penalty points accumulated from purchasing the highest-grade elixir. And Hemina, forced into a life link because of those points. Her reason for linking to Leos was nothing special.

‘If Leos-nim dies anyway, I’d have no reason to live either.’

For her, it was Leos from start to finish. There was no need to link to anyone else. She would live when Leos lived, and if Leos died, she would die with him.

– You can always check the location of the person to whom your life is linked.

Hemina smiled faintly at the message.

‘This isn’t a penalty.’

The ability to check the location of the one to whom you’d linked your life at any time, that’s what it meant. Nothing more, nothing less. But for Hemina, it was a more precious ability than anything else.

Because it meant she could help when Leos was in danger.

Hemina closed her eyes for a moment, then slowly moved the mana within her body. Soon, the highest-grade elixir appeared before her.

‘Three…Let’s leave two just in case. If I just give it to Leos-nim, he’ll surely use it to save his comrades like he did this time. When Leos-nim is in danger…that’s when I’ll give it…’

Hemina quickly handed the highest-grade elixir to Leos.

“Leos-nim, here.”

“Thanks.”

Without another word, Leos quickly grabbed the highest-grade elixir and began pouring it onto Bendict. Bendict’s pale complexion quickly began to recover, and the pained expression on his face had already turned serene.

“Haa…”

Leos, as if released from tension, slumped to the ground. And looking at Hemina, he spoke.

“Thanks, Hemina. If it weren’t for you, Bendict would have died. Did the administrator’s shop have a top-tier elixir?”

“Yeah, I didn’t know either, but they had it.”

“How much was it? I’ll give you all the points I’ve earned from being an Interrunner, and all the ones I will earn in the future.”

Hemina shook her head, looking at Leo, who was expressing his gratitude.

“No, I don’t need the points. In the first place, I didn’t buy this with points. And, I have to bear a huge restriction because of buying this.”

Leo’s expression rapidly hardened. With a guilty look, Leo said,

“I’m sorry. I’ll compensate you. Tell me anything you want, in any way. I’ll do anything. If you ask for my arm or leg, I’ll cut them off for you.”

“No. Why would you cut off perfectly good limbs?”

Hemina grabbed Leo’s hand, then kissed him on the cheek, smiling brightly.

“I have a huge restriction now, so it’s okay for me to get this much compensation, right?”

Leo stared blankly at Hemina.

He wordlessly, just stared for a long time at her blushing face and smile.