"Clan Leader, are you afraid? You are afraid of failure and of bearing the consequences of failure." Fuma Kotaro's voice turned chilling. "How can a man who is the Clan Leader harbor cowardice? To fear before even fighting is the greatest taboo in war!"
"Yes, Fuma Family Head, you are right. I am afraid. Of course I am afraid. Ever since the day I succeeded as Clan Leader, not a single day has passed without me feeling fear," Minamoto Wakasei said sincerely. "In the original plans for my life, there were never such words as Shieki Eight Families and Clan Leader. I should have left this country and been selling sunscreen on a beach in Montalivet, France... but I had no choice other than to shoulder the mission of the Clan Leader."
"From that moment on, the rise and fall of the family and the lives of all our kinsmen became a heavy burden pressing down on my shoulders. If my willpower is not firm enough, the family could plunge into an abyss of eternal damnation. Once I make a wrong decision, hundreds or thousands of our people might bleed and die." Minamoto Wakasei fired off a series of rhetorical questions. "Is the position of Clan Leader truly a supreme power? Is it not more like a responsibility? A responsibility that makes one walk as if on thin ice. Fuma Family Head, you say that anyone harboring cowardice is unworthy of being the Clan Leader, but in my view, someone who feels no compassion for the sacrifice of their kinsmen is even less qualified to be the Clan Leader.…
Chapter 454