Chapter 223: An Honorable Execution
The Silvermoon Knight and Allen stood outside the infirmary tent, listening to the brothers' argument within.
Though the siege had been brief, casualties were inevitable. The magitech cannons were no mere decoration—no matter how outdated, a single shot could still punch through several armored soldiers.
This wounded man had been particularly unlucky: shrapnel had torn off his right leg. He survived, but that limb was forever left outside the walls of Sweetdew City. Even so, he was fortunate compared to others. Several soldiers struck by the same blast hadn't even left intact corpses behind.
The accompanying priests had to conserve their divine power. They dared not expend it on regenerating lost limbs; that would have to wait until after the war, once he was sent back home.
For many soldiers of Lyon, being wounded in battle was the highest honor, a testament to their devotion to the Lord of Dawn. But this man's younger brother had been terrified by the gruesome injury, so much so that he claimed not to want to return to the battlefield.
What met him was a vicious slap across the face. To his elder brother, such cowardice was a stain upon their family's honor.
"Brother, I'm happy to serve as rear support. I'll give up all my inheritance rights. Everything I would have received, I'll donate to the army. But I don't want to go back to the battlefield. I can't even hold my sword steady… I really am afraid."
A red handprint burned across the boy's face. Tears filled his eyes. The memory of flesh and blood exploding under cannon fire made him tremble uncontrollably.
Not everyone could face death with courage.