Meaning of そうして


I can't completely understand the meaning of そうして in the following dialogue.
As far as I can guess it is similar to こうして, but what is the point of using
そう?

> 雪隆：「ああ、そうだ。あの八角と慧の戦いを見ただろう？上位校の騎士たちはやっぱり強かった・・・」
>
> 雪隆：「上位の騎士団との連戦を続けるよりは、奇襲で一気にケリを付けたほうがいいと判断した」
>
> 雪隆：「結局、上位の騎士は一部仕留め損なってしまったがな」
>
> 慧：「すまない。それは私の純粋な力不足だ・・・」
>
> そうして淡々と話す俺に、みんなが動揺しているのがわかる。

雪隆 is the speaker, 俺.

Translation attempt:

> I understand that everyone is disturbed by me, who is speaking indifferently
> **like this**.




First, I assure you that your translation is already good. You understand the
sentence structure perfectly. One might question if your word choices of
"disturb" and perhaps "this" are best, but it is good that you understand that
「そうして淡々と話す俺」 is a relative clause. If you had, as some would, placed a "mental
comma" after the そうして, it would have cost you a lot.

Regarding そう vs. こう, it is often a subtle choice. While I should not make a
hasty comment by reading just a few lines from an entire book/story, we tend
to use そう/その/それ to keep a certain distance between the narrator and the events
decribed by him/her. "Objectivity" would be another word for "distance". This
is usually the same even when the narrator is the first-person.

> "~~~ by me, who is speaking (as) matter-of-factly as that."




First, I assure you that your translation is already good. You understand the
sentence structure perfectly. One might question if your word choices of
"disturb" and perhaps "this" are best, but it is good that you understand that
「そうして淡々と話す俺」 is a relative clause. If you had, as some would, placed a "mental
comma" after the そうして, it would have cost you a lot.

Regarding そう vs. こう, it is often a subtle choice. While I should not make a
hasty comment by reading just a few lines from an entire book/story, we tend
to use そう/その/それ to keep a certain distance between the narrator and the events
decribed by him/her. "Objectivity" would be another word for "distance". This
is usually the same even when the narrator is the first-person.

> "~~~ by me, who is speaking (as) matter-of-factly as that."

