Chapter 1098
Chapter 1098: The Guardian
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
After the group of soldiers dispersed, the old man returned to the train . Lightning flew into the cab from the rear window and landed silently on the floor of the compartment .
The old man stood in front of the dashboard, transfixed like a silent statue, gazing at what lay in his hand .
Watching his lonely back, Lightning wanted to console him, but words somehow abandoned her .
The old man did not see Lightning until she touched the half-open blind .
"Ah, you were the little girl the other day . . . " said the old man who blinked in surprise .
"My name is Lightning," Lightning said as she took a step back . "Sorry, I . . . "
"I see . You came to comfort me, right?" The old man said, grinning . "That's OK . I'm not that old yet . I don't need a little girl to comfort me . To be honest, it's a little embarrassing . That's a convenient ability you have . You can go wherever you want . "
Lightning was a little relieved after she noticed that the old man was not as disconsolate as she had thought . She said, "I, I'll knock before I come in next time . "
"I'm not blaming you, child,' said the old man as he took down a foldable desk off the wall and wiped it with his sleeve . "Come, sit here . I'll make you a cup of tea . This is the only thing I have here to entertain guests . "
"Thank . . . you," said Lightning, as she slouched toward the table and sat down . On the dashboard lay a Neverwinter identification card .
"I'm Broocher, or you can call me my nickname, Mr . Howler . The lads on the train all call me by that name . " The old man placed a cup of hot tea on the table and asked, "Did you attend the memorial?"
Lightning nodded and then shook her head . "I just stopped by and watched for a few minutes . . . "
"That means you didn't lose any of your friends, which is good . "
Lightning clutched the cup and asked, "Your son . . . "
"Oh, that was Robert, my third son . He died when they tried to seize the artillery," Broocher said placidly . "The commander says he was very brave . "
"He was," Lightning muttered . She had heard everything about the battle from Sylvie . It took a great deal of courage to charge at the spearing demons with no firearms or the support of the God's Punishment Witches .
"My third son used to be the timidest among my four sons . When he was a miner, he never stood up for himself no matter how harsh his foreman treated him . He would only complain about him to me in tears," Broocher said with a sigh . "You must be wondering why I don't look very sad, aren't you?"
At a loss for words, the little girl stammered, "No, I . . . "
"That's OK," the old man consoled her . "I know this will come one day . . . but my three sons told me one thing once . "
"What . . . did they say?"
"They said they wanted to defend Neverwinter and everything in their native town that they earned through their hard work . " The old man sipped the tea and continued, "To be completely honest, I didn't understand at first and asked them why it had to be them instead of others . "
Lightning was asking the same question within herself .
Broocher seemed to know what she was thinking . He answered, "They said that others had made their sacrifices . "
"Many people were killed during the battle against the demonic beasts when they were just members of the Militia . People died all the time when they fought against Duke Ryan and the church . If everybody relied on others, we would have been still working at the mine, living like animals," the old man said . "There's no battle without blood spilled . Everybody has his own turn . If nobody wanted to come forward, we would have been at the mercy of our enemy — that was what they told me . "
"I'm not sure if my three sons are right, but I'm sure that this is their own choice . " He took a deep breath and went on, "They were adults, and they knew what they were doing . That's enough for me . Compared to my eldest son who died of a chill, my third son would be remembered by the army forever . What do I have to be sad for?"
Lightning remembered what the conductor had said the other night . "They used to be as frail and weak as mice . However, after they joined the army, they changed a great deal . That's where my confidence in the First Army comes from . An army with people like that would not be so easily defeated . "
"So that's the reason . . . " Lightning thought .
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