My Childhood Friend Is An Archmage Chapter 42
Translated by d6y (ko-fi)
Chapter 42
Lancer's gone?
As soon as I heard my parents, I ran to the drawing room.
There, Duke Soli, Duchess Soli, and Hubert were gathered.
The three of them didn't bother to change and were still dressed as they had been at the ball.
"Oh, Skyla!"
Duchess Soli, who had been fidgeting, rushed to me the moment she saw me. Her eyes were burning red.
"Skyla, I am so sorry to come in unannounced at this time of night. But I can't find our Lancer no matter how much I look so I came here to see if you were with him…”
‘Is Lancer not here either? Where on earth is he? Oh, dear Lancer…’
The Duchess did not speak after that. It seemed like she realised I wasn't going to give her the news she wanted.
"Calm down, Duchess." I held her hands to soothe her. "The last time I saw Lancer was a couple of hours after the ball began. When was the last time the Duchess saw him?"
At my question, Duchess Soli merely shook her head and said nothing.
"Duke Soli!"
The door burst open once more to reveal my parents who followed me in late. Both of them were out of breath from hastily running down the stairs.
"Hah, hah… Duke Soli, my daughter doesn't know where your youngest son is.. hah… either. Goodness my breathing"
"I've been told, Duke Kaerun." Duke Soli replied somberly.
"Skyla, the Duchess and I spent the entire ball entertaining Her Majesty, and only returned to the ballroom after it had officially ended." Duke Soli appeared unhappy as he spoke. When I listened to his thoughts, I could see why.
‘We should've been more careful. I thought it’d be fine if we left Hubert alone with Lancer…’
My gaze turned to Hubert. Sitting on the sofa, his face was as pale as a boiled dishcloth. His ghastly complexion wasn't simply due to worry about Lancer.
‘Aish… my hangover is killing me...'
Hubert, how much wine did you have with your friends?
After casting a pitying glance at Hubert, who looked like he could vomit at any moment, I spoke calmly. "I haven't seen Lancer since I got back from the ball, that's all I can say for sure."
"Then where else could he be? Do you have any idea of where he might be?"
Duchess Soli questioned me urgently. She wanted to hold onto a rotten rope.
(Holding onto a rotten rope means doing/believing something knowing it may likely fail, as an act of desperation.)
But unfortunately, I couldn't give her the answer she wanted. Not even I knew Lancer’s whereabouts.
My mother carefully spoke out after observing us, "Duchess Soli, I don't think I should be asking this but… why don't you go back to the ballroom and look for Lancer since according to our Skyla, that's where Lancer was last seen?”
"Duchess Kaerun, we stopped and asked all the remaining nobles and servants there, but none of them said they'd seen Lancer, so he's probably not in the palace."
At Duke Soli's words, my father raised a question, "Then shouldn't someone have seen Lancer leave the palace? Did any of the gatekeepers there see him leave?"
Duke Soli shook his head, "Duke Kaerun, as you know, Lancer is an archmage. So, it's possible he used magic to get out of the palace..."
"Father, that would be impossible. You know how well-defended the palace is…” Hubert argued with his father. He seems to have taken great pride in the palace’s defences as he is an imperial knight.
"Guys, do you know how many mages there are in the imperial court? The many magical defences built to prevent an easy invasion from a country where magic is common like the Hebnia Kingdom? The Imperial Palace's defences are the best in the world. It's so thorough that not even a rat can get in-"
Before he could finish his sentence,
BANG!
Deafening explosions rang out in unison, and the floor began to rumble and shake.
"Huh? What’s going on?"
"Is it an earthquake?"
Everyone in this room, including me, was in chaos.
It was like a giant dragon was moving beneath the ground. I could barely keep my balance.
The chandelier hanging above the room was moving uncontrollably like a branch in autumn caught in a gale.
Bam! As I began to panic, a shrill sound of something breaking filled the room. A sharp noise of shattering glass struck my ears.
"Sh*t, Skyla!"
"Save my daughter!"
At once, two people launched themselves at me.
With a yelp, I stumbled to the ground.
‘No, my daughter must live!’
‘Mommy will protect you!’
My parents' inner voices sounded so loud I couldn't tell if they were caring or angry.
When I finally opened my eyes, I saw my parents completely covering my body. They were both shaking, desperately trying to hide my head with their bodies.
"Don't move, Skyla! Mom and Dad will give their lives to protect you!"
"Even if we die, you must survive! You are the only treasure that my love and I have left in this world!"
I sighed as I stared blankly at the ceiling at my parents' words.
"It's heavy, so I'd appreciate it if you'd move out of the way." The feeling beneath their bodies was not pleasant. I felt like a dough about to be thrown into the oven.
But my parents wouldn't listen to me at all. "Nonsense! Didn't you hear this mansion collapsing?! We're all going to die, so of course you must be saved by us-"
"Duke Kaerun… I'm sorry to break the mood, but it's no big deal, a picture frame just fell off the wall." Duke Soli's voice rose from behind.
Huh?
My parents slowly got their torsos up and turned their heads towards him.
Sure enough, the large frame hanging in the centre of the drawing room had fallen to the floor. The frame was made out of glass so it had shattered with a loud crash.
"..."
Embarrassed, my parents coughed and scrambled to their feet.
By now, the vibration that shook the mansion had completely disappeared.
"Duke! Duchess! Are you all alright?!"
"Lady Skyla!"
The late servants rushed into the drawing room. None of them bothered to knock, given the urgency of the situation.
"All is well. Is anyone hurt?" Why does my father want an outcome report on what happened 30 seconds ago?
"Well, I don't know, but most people are sleeping in their rooms, so I don't think there are any major problems," Austin reported, wiping away a cold sweat.
"Just in case, send the servants out to see if anyone is injured, and call in a doctor to treat them if necessary."
"Yes, sir."
"What happened, anyway? Was it an earthquake?"
"I don't think so," Hubert said from by the window.
All eyes turned to the view outside the window where he stood.
“...Something seems to have happened in the palace."
Hubert pointed in the direction of the Imperial Palace, which boasts the tallest walls in the capital.
It was dark, as the sun hadn't risen yet, but I could make out parts of it in the moonlight. The walls were crumbling and acrid smoke was rising from parts of the collapsed walls. All and all it didn't look good.
Hubert… I thought you said the palace's defences were the best in the world.
"These rat bastards from the Hebnia Kingdom managed to invade the Imperial Palace! I knew it!"
My father clenched his fists and grind his teeth, then grabbed the firewood tongs hanging above the hearth and yelled,
"It’s war! The empire has been invaded! Austin, wake up all the knights of the Duke of Kaerun! Tell them to get their gear, we're going to the road of patriotism!"
Horrified, Duke Soli hastily stopped him.
"Stop it, Duke Kaerun! We can't assume this is the work of the Hebnia Kingdom!"
"Then who else could have broken the imperial palace's defences that had hundreds of mages built it if not the army of the Hebnia Kingdom? How many beings in this world can break the magic of mages? Unless they are archmages-"
My father stopped talking midway as if he realised something.
At that moment, I heard the same thought spring into everyone's heads like soap bubbles blown by a child.
'No way.’
‘That can't be…’
'Please, someone tell me that's not it..’
"....Could it be Lord Lancer?" Austin, the clueless butler, added presumptuously.
What was truly unfortunate was that no one in the room could refute him.
"..."
A chilling silence fell over the drawing room.
The Duke and Duchess of Soli couldn't even be pleased about finally finding their youngest son.
‘Did Lancer break the palace walls? The Empress will not leave him alone for that.’
'As soon as the sun rises, I should kneel before the Emperor and beg. I don't mind if the duchy disappeared as long as he spares Lancer’s life...'
It was the same with Hubert, Lancer’s older brother.
‘Lancer, you bastard. You're already making me unemployable...'
As Lancer’s family sits in silence with their concerns.
"Let's go to the Imperial Palace."
I was the first to break the icy silence.
"Wait, Skyla! Where are you going now?"
My mother caught me as I left the drawing room and headed for the carriage.
"It was Lancer who did this, we have to pick him up."
"You have no proof that he did it!"
‘Of course, it only looks like he did it!’
I let out a shallow sigh.
“I also wish it wasn't Lancer, but the way things are going right now, it looks like it is, so we need to stop him before things get any worse, and I'm probably the only one who can do that."
"That's true, but..!" My mother was at a loss for words. I could hear her thoughts.
‘If Lancer is out of control, Skyla would be in danger!’
It wasn't that I didn't understand where she was coming from, but I had no intention of being her obedient daughter right now.
Suddenly,
"I'll come with you."
Someone came from behind me.
"Hubert?"
"I'm an imperial knight, and also the brother of that bastard Lancer." He straightened his back and puffed out his chest. He looked a bit flustered, but at least he looked a bit cool too.
‘How was that, Skyla? Aren't I cool? Hire me as the next commander of the Knights of Kaerun!’
Well, getting too snobbish doesn't look cool.
"Duchess Kaerun, on the honour of my knighthood, I will bring Skyla and the Lancer to- woooah!”
Hubert suddenly fell to the ground as if he was struck by an invisible hammer.
The sound of queasiness and his stomach turning could be heard.
Ah…
Seems like he’s unable to overcome his hangover.
"......."
"......."
My mother and I silently turned away from the vomiting Hubert.
"I'm just going to take Phoebe and some knights with me."
"Wise choice."
And so, roughly ten minutes later, me, Phoebe, and a hastily assembled group of the knights from the Duchy of Kaerun along with their commander were on horseback galloping towards the Imperial Palace.
