28 1.28 Fighting a Knight squad - Part 4

"We surrender."

I never expected that he would say those words. I looked around and everyone looked curious to know what was happening down here. I looked towards the duke who was smiling while looking at us.

"Really captain? We could have won if we had continued," said Vina in a disappointed tone.

"Yeah Garo, I would have easily beaten those girls," Fizz added looking a bit irritated.

Alisia and Fifi came closer to hear what the captain had to say while Vina went towards Mon and started healing him up.

"You only put your sword back in its stealth when the battle is over and the enemy is defeated. Why did you give up this early, Garo?" Alisia asked looking at the captain.

Captain took a long breath in and started speaking, "Can't you all see that we have been defeated in not just one but so many ways. We have gotten weak by fighting mindless monsters. We became overconfident in our abilities and underestimated our opponents. Because of that, one of our friends got injured, and it was clear that this kid held back during his attack."

Captain paused for a while and looked at his team members. Everyone had lowered their heads in shame after hearing his words. "We may have more skills and experience than them but they have proven us lacking even in that regard. They have clearly beaten us in teamwork and coordination. We were too confident that we didn't even analyze our opponents while they stayed focused. We could have won by going all out and using our equipment, but what's the point of such a hollow victory?"

He paused again and looked towards the duke and said, "We were here to test them but they have shown us our own weakness instead. We've failed, they clearly won."

Our team had also gathered around to listen to what the captain had to say. I wasn't exactly sure if we had won because there wasn't any official announcement yet. I wasn't even sure if this world had the culture of making an official announcement of victory.

"We've won?" Sistina who was standing between Marina and Nina asked with a confused look.

"Yes, you have. Now declare your victory like knights and magicians," captain Garo replied.

"Knights do that by raising their swords while magicians raise their staffs and wands. If magicians don't have those they raise their right hand," said Alisia sensing our confusion about declaring the victory part.

Ronald raised the sword that he had in his right hand so we all followed after him and raised our hands while Arica raised her sword.

A loud cheer was heard from the crowd. There were some people booing too but the cheers overwhelmed the boo. Everyone in our team looked at each other and smiled. Princess Anna hugged Princess Eliane while Ronald and I did bro handshake.

Captain Garo came towards Ronald and offered his hands for a handshake. Ronald accepted the offer and they both shook hands. Another loud cheer was heard from the crowd.

After the handshake, we all returned to the waiting room that we were at before the match started. Captain Garo's team returned to their waiting room too.

When we got inside, the old butler was already there. 'Man, the butlers in this world are soo cool!' is what I thought when I saw him there.

"Congratulation on your victory. Please follow me to the guest room," he said with a slight bow after which we followed him to the guest room. It was the same room where Miss Lilith brought us during our first meeting.

"Please rest here for a while. After things are ready, I will come to take you to the throne room. There you will receive your rewards," the old butler said with the light bow and left the room.

"Phew! I had never even imagined that it would turn out this way," said Princess Anna looking relieved while sitting on the sofa. We all sat on the sofa after her.

"Hehe, you should have been there to see Nara's reaction when the captain said 'We surrender!'. It was priceless. I am glad I was close enough to see it properly," said Arica in her usual teasing tone.

'I was simply shocked alright!'

"Arica, don't tease him like that. Just imagine yourself in his place," said Sistina looking annoyed at what Arica said.

"I think Nara did very well. I couldn't even defend against the 'wind slash' even after Princess Anna tried to block it with 'Earth wall'," said Ronald looking a bit disappointed which was unusual for him.

"I-I think you did well, you even decided the formation. All I did there was stand while everyone defended me," said Marina in his usual low voice. She looked a bit sad.

"You did that because you were acting as the bait which was the most important role during the match," said Nina trying to Marina feel better.

"Yes, the main thing here is we won, and we did it together," said Princess Eliane.

"Yeah, everyone did their role which is why we won," Princess Anna added.

While we were talking, we heard someone coming towards the room so we all looked towards the door.

It was Miss Lilith who came inside saying "You did good kids," and sat on the sofa in her usual place.

"Even the duke was surprised to see your development. I think he will give you guys a good reward today," said Miss Lilith after she sat on the sofa.

"Well, I don't care much about the reward, the best thing is that we won and now we can train together," said Princess Anna in a happy tone with a smile.

"Yes, I am glad it turned out this way too," Princess Eliane added with a smile.

As we were talking, the old butler came back. After he said "please follow me to the throne room", everyone including Miss Lilith followed him.

When we entered the throne room, the duke was sitting on the throne. The nobles were standing while leaving a way for us to enter in the middle. There was a red carpet in the middle that led to the throne on which we walked. Captain Garo and his whole team were also there among the nobles. Mon was there too so he had probably recovered from my attack before.

When we reached in front of the duke's throne, everyone except Princesses and Miss Lilith bowed. The duke's butler went and stood in his usual position on the side of duke's throne. After duke said "be at ease" we raised ourselves up.

"You fought bravely and earned this victory. I will keep my promise to Lilith, but along with that, I would like to give you all some rewards," said the duke in a loud formal tone.

After the old butler clapped his hands, the maid brought two trays. One of them had two long swords with golden stealth while the other had 5 wands and a pair of gloves. All of them had duke's seal on it.

'Guys carrying wands sounds lame, I don't think I will ever be using this'

"These weapons have magic gems embedded in them that will enhance your magical abilities," said the duke after we all picked our weapons.

The swords were for Arica and Ronald while the gloves were for Sistina. The gloves were made of metal but it wasn't exactly similar to Gauntlets, they were a lot lighter. The rest of us got wands.

'Having a magic gem doesn't me feel better. Guys carrying wands are sill lame.'

"Now to the main part," the duke paused after saying that and looked our faces and started speaking again, "I will be making you all Knights and Magicians of this dukedom".

Some noises could be heard in the background but the duke was not done speaking yet so we all kept our concentration on him.

"But that will be after you complete your training with Lilith. This means, you don't have to attend the academy but you will have to complete her training to become knights and magicians."