"I lost count of the number of rookies I led to their deaths. I didn't even know most of their names. None of them even got the sort of graves Gius, Rheam, Trad, and Makavil got—and they died brutally!"
He paused for a moment, tears gathering in his eyes, only for them to evaporate from the heat radiating off his body.
"I didn't want to live after all that... All those lives on my shoulders, because of my arrogance, foolishness, and poor leadership. There were days I thought about ending it all, because what was the point of going on when everything that mattered to me was gone? Pride, dignity, self-worth—all eroded."
He drew in a shaky breath, his eyes glistening in the cold light of Yuuto's aura.
"But then… you were there..."
