My Childhood Friend Is An Archmage Chapter 60
Translated by d6y (ko-fi)
Chapter 60
I say to make friends, but he uses magic to make a fake one instead.
"I told you to make friends, not create them! If that was the case, you might as well go to an employment agency and get a servant!" I grab Lancer by the shoulders and shake him back and forth.
He snaps his fingers, as if he had an epiphany. "Ah, so we're going to the employment agency now? To find someone to be my friend full-time?"
"Please don't force violence on me." I raise a clenched fist to punch him again.
After a lot more nagging from me, Lancer sprawls out on the bed.
"But I don't need any other friends besides you, Skyla."
"No, you do."
I say hastily, recalling the story of Princess Bliss that Prince Cade told me. My heart suddenly starts to pound in my chest.
I'm afraid.
I'm afraid of Lancer facing a tragic death like her. I need to stop it.
It wasn't just that I was worried about Lancer being banished to the north. I fear that later if something went wrong, he would be left walking alone to his path of destruction.
At my determination, Lancer eventually nods in agreement. Though he sticks out his lower lip in displeasure. "Okay, Skyla. I'll make a friend if that's what you want."
"Okay, good choice."
"But how do you make friends?"
"Huh?" I widen my eyes at the question mark flying at me.
I didn't expect Lancer to ask me how to make friends.
"Is there a way to make friends? Or do I just write a letter and say, 'Please be my friend'?" Propped up by his arms on the sheets, Lancer looks up at the ceiling and asks.
"...."
I can't tell if he's joking or serious. But then again, he doesn't know how to tell a joke.
I clear my throat before explaining. "Well, making friends is, uh… how should I say this… it starts with the smallest of things, like having wet clothes at the same time. And then, if you like each other, you become acquainted… later, even if you don't say it, you care for one another… cherish each other…."
"Then what?" Lancer stares at me as I ramble on. He's waiting for me to finish, but I don't know how to continue.
Then it hit me.
I have no friends.
Like Lancer, I have only one friend.
Sh*t.
"What's wrong, Skyla? Why are you suddenly quiet?"
"I told you not to go to bed with shoes on." I scold him for nothing.
"Oh, right." Lancer is only aware now that he hasn't taken his shoes off, and teleports from the bed where I'm standing.
To use such a high level of magic just because he doesn't want to take his footwear off…. He really is a master of wasting magic.
"Come to think of it, Skyla, do you have any friends besides me?" Lancer approaches me.
What? Do I have friends other than him? Of course, I do. Of course, I have friends besides him.
I cross my arms and smirk.
Let's see, my friends beside him are….
I close my eyes and focus my mind to call up my 'friends list'.
But to my surprise, no one comes to mind.
"...."
Why… why aren't there…?
Now that I think about it, I didn't have any friends when I was at the academy because all I did was study… after I graduated, I kept in touch with Lady Aronia, who was in the same academy, from time to time. But now she's mad at me and won't stop talking sh*t behind my back.
Then, Phoebe….
I cross off the thought.
Phoebe doesn't reveal her true self to me much. She can be considered treating me like I'm a goddess instead of a friend.
The face of Prince Cade, disguised as Viscount Artisina, flashes in my mind but I quickly shake my head.
That bastard… hell no. He's a flirt who fled to another country because of an arranged marriage and is now trying to hit on me….
The intimacy Viscount Artisina feels for me is probably many times higher than the intimacy I feel for him.
I'm a little timid to call a relationship with different levels of intimacy a friendship.
A friend other than Lancer….
"Do you have any friends other than me?" He presses me to answer.
I can't say, "Now that I think about it, no. I don't have any friends either, hehe!" so I hastily sell the honourable name of this empire.
"R-Ryan!"
"Hmm?"
"L-Lord Ryan! I mean, the crown prince! I'm friends with His Highness The Crown Prince!"
Upon hearing my response, Lancer cocks his head. "You've never met him except for that one dance you had with him at the ball…. Oh, so one dance is enough to be friends?"
"...Dancing together is one way." I stammer, not wanting to bend my pride.
"Hmm, I see. So all those ladies who asked to partner with me at the Imperial Ball wanted to be friends with me. I didn't know that…."
As Lancer speaks, an idea comes to my mind.
Yeah, a ball! Now that I think about it, there weren't many opportunities for him to meet other people.
His range of activities in the city is occasionally going for a walk on the lake with the Soli and Kaerun Duchies or just me, or seeing a play.
He's never shown his face at gatherings, let alone at a common tea party. Hence, there's no place for him to encounter a potential friend.
Yes! I'm going to a ball so Lancer can meet other lords and ladies his age!
The best thing to do is to take him to a ball. Since balls, unlike gatherings and tea parties, are attended by a large unspecified number of people.
However, the Imperial Ball had just been held.
A great deal of preparation was required for a single ball, so no noble family would be hosting a ball for at least another month.
Then, there are gatherings and tea parties….
On second thought, tea parties tend to gather only nobles of the same gender, so…
A gathering it is!
With newfound determination, I jerk my head towards Lancer. "Lancer, would you like to go to a gathering with me?"
"Sure, let's go!" Lancer agrees more easily than I expected. He probably doesn't know what a gathering is exactly like. I guess he said yes because I asked him to come with me.
It doesn't matter, though. My current goal is for him to meet lots of other people anyway.
Whether or not he knows what he signed up for, it'll be fine.
"Alright. Get a butler to bring me all the gathering invitations in your name."
Lancer immediately summons him and relays my instructions. A few moments later, the butler comes into the room.
With bad news.
"...You threw them all away."
"Yes. I'm sorry." The butler apologises, breaking out in cold sweat.
This is ridiculous.
"How could you throw away mail addressed to your youngest master? Did Duke Soli tell you to do things this way?"
"That's because… Young Master has never attended a tea party or a gathering in his life, so invitations to him have always been discarded like this."
Sigh. There's nothing I can do about it now.
All the invitations are gone, and there's no point in trying to make the butler take responsibility for what has already happened. Besides, this is the Soli Duchy, not Kaerun. There's nothing I can do as an outsider.
Frustrated, I dismiss the butler and flop down on the couch.
A fidgeting Lancer sits down beside me, taking my hand. "I'm sorry…I should've kept the letters…. Do you want me to turn back time to this morning?"
"If you do that, your soul will split in two and you'll die."
I snap at him for suggesting to recklessly use taboo magic.
In response, Lancer sulks. "What else am I supposed to do? Skyla, you wanted to go to a gathering…."
I didn't want to go, I wanted to introduce you to someone who could be your friend, mate.
Sighing inside, I glance to the side. What should I do?
"Hey, Skyla…." Lancer mumbles.
"What?"
"It's almost dusk…."
"So?"
"It's past time for dinner… and I haven't actually eaten anything since this morning…."
Ah. I check the cuckoo clock on the wall. Before I knew it, time had passed and darkness was cast down.
"Sorry. I'm sure you're hungry, why don't you go to the dining room and get something to eat?"
Lancer's parents, Duke and Duchess Soli, are busy people. So he usually ate dinner alone, or occasionally with me at Kaerun Duchy.
"And you, Skylar?"
"I'll go home and eat… ah."
Come to think of it.
…Wouldn't there be an invitation to a gathering for me?
In my excitement to send Lancer to one, I forgot that I could take him as my partner to a gathering I'm invited to.
As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I turned to him. "Are you hungry?"
"Huh?"
"Are you so hungry that if you don't eat something right now, you're going to die?"
"It's not that bad."
"Great. Do you wanna have dinner at my place?"
And of course, Lancer is delighted.
"Okay. I'll ask Rachel to pack my pyjamas then."
"...?"
Why would you pack your pyjamas?
