After learning that Arot is in a tough spot Luke and the others increased their speed and soon reached near the entrance of the Goblin village.
As soon as they reached there, they saw the corpses of many goblins and some soldiers lying around dead. At a distance, they saw some soldiers fighting mobs of goblin.
Seeing this Sofos ordered all the knights to help them and along with Luke and one of his knights he moved towards the hobgoblins as they were some distance away fighting someone.
As soon as they reached there they saw that one of the hobgoblins was swinging his club towards Arot, who was barely standing there with blood all over his body and armor.
**BOOM**
Luke's P.O.V-------
As the hobgoblin was swinging his club I saw a fireball being shot towards him from Sofos. It reached the Club quickly and burnt it into ashes.
So Sofos is a Sage. Sages are a group of people who use magic without weapons. They are more effective in wide-area attacks where they will cause more damage and besides sages and knights do not go along with each other. So if he has so many knights following him he must belong to a high-ranking noble family.
Leaving the thoughts aside I rushed towards Arot to check his condition.
Luke: Sir Arot, are you fine?
Arot: Kid, seeing my condition do you think I am fine?
Luke: Sorry Sir. Don't worry we have reinforcements. They will take care of it. You need to get treated.
Arot: Don't worry my injuries are not lethal. I will live. I am just exhausted.
While conversing, Sofos and one of his knights were engaged in a battle with the two hobgoblins. The knight was defending them in the front while Sofos was behind the knight unleashing his fire magic on them. Slowly they were killed after being burnt.
Arot took so much time to defeat one of the hobgoblins, but Sofos was able to kill both of them quickly with some help from his knight.
Sofos: Peter check the area for the remaining goblins. I want none of the goblins to be alive.
Saying his orders he came near Luke and Arot.
Arot: Sorry for not being able to greet you your highness and thank you for your help. This would have been my last battle if you would not have helped me.
Sofos: Don't worry Sir Arot. I am impressed by you and your determination and skills as a knight. I offer you to join my squad. No need to reply now I will stay here for a week to investigate the situation and find the remnant goblins. You can think about it and then answer me.
Arot: Thank you, Your Highness.
Luke: Even I thank you, Your Highness, for helping us in the middle of your journey.
Sofos: As I said, it is my duty. But if you want to thank me, you can share your last name.
Luke: I am Sorry, Your Highness but I can still not accept this request. You can ask me for anything, I am willing to do it for you.
Sofos: Don't worry, but I will keep your request as collateral. I may request you something in the future.
Luke: I swear on my family's name that I will fulfill your request as long as it does not involve hurting the innocents.
Sir Sofos smiled hearing my reply. He is a bit strange. It always feels like he can read me like an open book. But one thing that I am confused about is that he is a Sage, but he has many knights following him.
Luke: Pardon me Your Highness, but can I ask you a question?
Sofos: Yes, you may.
Luke: Why do you have knights following you?
Sofos: Why do you think I will not have knights following me?
Luke: You are a Sage and as far as I know knights and sages do not like to work with each other.
Sir Sofos looked at me for a second and then asked
Sofos: You look like you belong to a knight family. What do you think about sages?
Luke: I have only heard about them so I cannot judge them based on rumors.
Sofos smiled hearing this and said
Sofos: So you will not understand even if I were to answer your question. But take my advice only trust what you know and what you know should be correct and verified.
Luke: Thank you for your advice, Your Highness.
Sofos: May I ask which academy you belong to?
Luke
Sofos: So why did you not go to another academy?
Luke: Because I want the best and I will have it. Dragonia Academy not only ranks first in the empire but nearly all the upper class nobles and even royalty go to that academy. It is the best place to make connections.
Sofos thought for a bit and smirked, but something was wrong about that smirk as if he was plotting some evil plot.
Sofos: I can give you that chance If you fight one of my knights in a duel I will give you the letter of recommendation. With this letter, you can get a scholarship to the academy. Do you agree?
Luke did not know what to feel. This was a golden chance for him but his chances of getting a scholarship were slim. I mean how can I defeat a full-fledged knight? But this was my only opportunity to get admitted into Dragonia Academy. I have to accept it.
Luke: You Highness, thank you for this offer. I will do my best to win the duel.
Sofos: Ok the duel will take place a week later on our last day here. But I will also attach some conditions for your scholarship.
Luke: Can I ask what are the conditions, Your Highness?
Sofos: Yeah sure, I have two conditions. First, if you obtain the scroll you will never open it. Second, you will have to attend the academy as a commoner. No one can know about your identity.
Luke was relieved after hearing about the conditions. He thought "Well these conditions are fine and besides I was always going to hide my identity".
Luke: I will agree to your conditions.
Sofos: OK then we will camp here for a week to investigate the goblins. If you want you can stay here and train.
Luke: Thank you, Your Highness, but I will have to reject your offer. I want to go to the village to know about the well-being of Bleny and the others.
Sofos: Sure, but you are welcome anytime.
Saying so he left where his knights were scouting the area.
Sofos's P.O.V----------
I offered him a recommendation to the Dragonia Academy. Well, he is different from other nobles. He is wise, strong-willed, and most importantly good at heart. He would make a fine ruler. But he still has his flaws. I will make him understand the world better. He must understand the plight of the powerless where the powerful bath in riches.
Peter: Your Highness, do you think he deserves your recommendation? We do not know about his family. If something goes wrong you will be blamed.
Sofos: Don't worry even when I do not know about his family, I think I can guess it. The same temperament, the same kind heart, the same smartness. He reminds me of her in more ways than one. Even if I am wrong about his family, I do not think they will blame me to help a potential future knight. Besides he may have left his family but his family still has not left him.
Peter: If you say so, Your Highness. Should I inform Reik about the delay in our arrival?
Sofos sighs hearing this.
Sofos: I can't even attend to my matters due to my duties. My goal has to wait for a week more. Alright, inform Lord Strine about the delay in our arrival.
Peter: Sure, Your Highness. I will inform send the message right away.
Sofos: Make sure the message does not get interrupted by someone else. So send one of our knights with the message.
Peter: Yes, Your Highness.
Saying this Peter went to arrange the knight that will deliver the message to Lord Strine. Meanwhile, Sofos is in his thoughts, "Don't worry father, I will keep our promise at any cost".
---------------
Meanwhile on the other hand Luke left Arot in the makeshift temporary camp made for the injured soldiers and knights. When he entered the camp he saw just 5 soldiers there. Out of 20 soldiers that had come to rescue the children only 5 were left alive. Even the 5 were critically injured.
Arot: Kid, when you return to the village, tell them that we will bury the soldiers here itself. Their parents will not be able to witness the bodies of their sons like this.
I nodded as I understood what he said. When we entered the village we glimpsed at the bodies of our soldiers. Some missing their arms, legs, and other flesh in the body. Their bodies had bite marks all over them with their insides being spilt out from their body signifying that it was chewed upon by goblins during the battle.
I did not want to stay for their funeral as I did not know if I would be able to see it. Besides, I have to sort things out about the memory I had, and also I want to know what happened to Charmander. When I woke up he was not beside me. I have lost Caterpie. I do not want to lose Charmander too. So I want to visit the area where I fought the goblins and lost my partner.
Thinking so I left the goblin village.