Silence hung in the air. Breaking the stillness, I spoke to Song Hojung.
âIâm not here to listen to excuses. Letâs be honestâitâs true, isnât it?â
Whether it was because he thought Iâd go and wreak havoc, or perhaps feared the young leader would fall under the influence of the Azure Dragon Division, or for any other reason, Song Hojung ultimately didnât trust me.
Had he truly understood, he wouldnât have acted so recklessly.
âWere you trying to avoid implicating the division? Or did you genuinely believe you could handle it alone? Whatever the reason, your actions were wrong.â
ââ¦â
He had no response. It didnât matter.
âIâve already told the Azure Dragon Leader. My role is to take responsibility for all of you. Youâre not the ones responsible for me. And beyond thatâ¦â
I lowered my gaze, breathing steadily to keep any murderous intent from surfacing.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âIf youâd just told me sooner, do you think this mess wouldâve happened?â
To be fair, things probably wouldâve gone sideways even if heâd been honest. Perhaps it wouldâve been a little less chaotic⦠but not by much. Still, this wasnât the point right now, so I pressed on.
âAnswer me.â
ââ¦Iâm sorry.â
âTsk.â
Further conversation felt meaningless. Clicking my tongue, I mulled over the next step. Honestly, I wanted to strip him of his position as vice leader and end it there.
âEven so, itâs tricky to hand this over to someone else.â
Song Hojung was still the better choice, relatively speaking.
After all, finding someone among the Allianceâs warriors who wasnât a spy was harder than one might think. Knowing that the Red Dragon Leader had sent someone trustworthy made this decision even clearer.
In the end, it felt like I was letting him off the hook because of the Red Dragon Leader.
âFor now⦠youâre relieved from your duties.â
âB-but, Leaderâ¦â
âLeave. And donât concern yourself with the affairs of the Azure Dragon Division anymoreâIâll handle it.â
Ignoring whatever else he tried to say, I dismissed him with a wave of my hand. This was far enough.
Song Hojungâs lips trembled as if to say something, but he eventually exited. Turning, I fixed my gaze on the remaining individual.