May Soul Dissonance Bow Before Me

Chapter 98

“They have good instincts…” TCF!Rex mumbled and TCF!Rei, who was seated beside him, nodded in quiet agreement. After being oppressed and controlled by the Empire almost all their lives, TCF!Rex and TCF!Rei were well aware of how the Empire operated so by this behaviour was obvious to them that those bastards and Adin were scheming something terrible once again. However, the fact that TCF!Toonka's soldiers found it strange meant that they were paying attention, and it meant that they had sharp senses.

The war was dragging on and they now had to guard this weird pillar of fire. For this soldier who was a citizen of the Whipper Kingdom and hated magic, this pillar of fire reminded him of the magic used by the mages in the past.

TCF!Harol sat quietly, he remembers these soldiers had changed their opinions just like he and TCF!Toonka had about magic and their hatred for it – now they all had a more selective hatred toward the magic that hurt them and their people, rather than the magic wielded by those who had saved them and fought alongside them, mages did not bother them anymore becasue they won their civil war and because Cale had shown them that not all magic was evil.

“Bad! Our Commander-nim still brought all of the injured soldiers with him. He even gave a bit of those precious potions to the ones with serious injuries.”

TBOAH!Harol's eyes shook slightly, and he gulped, but he didn't dare to look toward TBOAH!Toonka, who was frowning deeply and watching everything that was happening in this record with unwavering concentration.

The soldier relaxed a bit after hearing his friend speak. Commander Toonka did not throw away the injured this time. It was different than how he had acted during the Civil War in the Whipper Kingdom.

TBOAH!Toonka was contemplating how he would have solved this situation if he had done the same thing as his counterpart – he didn't understand how doing things like this had made his counterpart stronger, but he was certain that it had.

TBOAH!Toonka began to wonder what would have happened next if he had thought about doing the same back then… he was sure that in their final battle it would have meant that they would have had more soldiers, but at the same time, TBOAH!Toonka knew that he did not have the resources to heal the injured soldiers and even if he hadn't thrown them away, they still would have succumbed to their injuries and died.

However, his expression soon stiffened up again.
“…But they are all dying.”
They didn’t have enough potions and there was a limit to what a doctor without healing abilities could do. It was painful listening to the moans of the soldiers who were dying without a chance to return home.

“See… I was right.” TBOAH!Toonka told himself and acknowledged that like himself, TCF!Toonka could not help them. TBOAH!Toonka also could not see another way to avoid or fix this on his own. So, he concluded that TCF!Toonka was only able to earn the loyalty of more strong soldiers because he had an ally that could make up for the area he was lacking in, by bringing healers and more potions, Cale fulfilled that role.    

“Why are you saying such negative things? The Commander-nim and Chief-nims will find a way for us soon.”
The soldier put on a bitter smile after hearing his friend’s response. He had participated in the war due to his anger about magic, but he was starting to see the reality of the situation as time dragged on.

TBOAH!Toonka flinched. This was a sentiment his soldiers had shared too. The war that dragged on was hard and hellish for everyone, including him. However, seeing this from the perspective of his subordinates just felt different, and it hit him harder than he thought it would. Grinding his teeth and clenching his fists, TBOAH!Toonka felt the Goddess' power encircle him again – as if she were trying to chain him down or something, but when he shouted in his head for her to release him, she had calmly told him that this was what a ‘hug’ felt like. TBOAH!Toonka had been so taken back by her gentle words that he stopped fighting her power after that.