Chapter 376: Listening
Chapter 376: Listening
The soldiers walked away from Lyerin, their footsteps heavy on the compacted soil as the faint glow of the night’s crescent moon cast elongated shadows across the landscape.
The tension among them was palpable, their silence loaded with unspoken thoughts.
They didn’t march far before a soft murmuring began to ripple through the group, their voices hushed yet urgent.
One of the soldiers, a burly man with a deep scar etched across his left cheek, glanced over his shoulder to ensure they were out of Lyerin’s earshot before speaking up.
“I’m not sure about this,” he muttered, his voice low but firm. “Listening to that man… it feels like playing a game where only he knows the rules.”
Another soldier, a wiry man with sharp features and a perpetual scowl, responded quickly, “What choice do we have? We’ve failed too many times. Every attempt has been a disaster, and that beast is still out there. If Lyerin really knows how to handle it, maybe we should consider it.”
The scarred man scoffed, shaking his head. “And you think he’s helping us out of the goodness of his heart? That man enjoys watching us struggle. He’d probably laugh if we all got slaughtered out there.”
“But he hasn’t lied to us,” interjected a younger soldier, his voice tinged with both hesitation and hope. “Every time he’s given us advice, it’s made sense. We just… we haven’t followed through properly.”
“That’s exactly the problem,” said another voice, a woman with a commanding presence and a no-nonsense demeanor. She adjusted the hilt of her sword as she spoke, her tone measured.
“We’ve been second-guessing him at every turn. If we keep doing that, we’ll never know if his strategies actually work. For all we know, we’ve been sabotaging ourselves by ignoring him.”
A murmur of agreement began to ripple through the group, but the scarred man was not so easily convinced. “And what happens when his ‘strategy’ gets us killed? He won’t lift a finger to save us. He’s made that clear.”