My Childhood Friend Is An Archmage Chapter 78
Translated by d6y (ko-fi)
Chapter 78
I'm dumbfounded by what Hubert said. Special drill? What?
"When did you find out about it?"
"Half an hour ago, someone from the Imperial Knights came to see me," Lancer answers for Hubert.
Even a special drill seems a bit unfair. How can the knights, who have all gone home for the weekend, be given such short notice, hours before the drill is to take place?
It's a bit puzzling, considering how meticulous and organised the Imperial Knights were.
Just to be sure, I asked Hubert. "What happens if you don't go?"
"I don't know, but I don't want to find out."
‘I'll probably get a point deducted from my knighthood for disobeying orders. I'll end up as an insignificant knight, with no achievements to show for it. A tombstone with a rattle and the words ‘Hubert Soli rests in peace' on it....'
From the looks of it, Hubert is going to have to miss the drill.
"...I'm sorry, but I'm going to pack my things and go to the Imperial Knights right now." Sighing at the ground, he finally makes up his mind and stands up.
He begins to remove his coat with the jewelled brooch as if it's a cumbersome thing.
"Are you going straight away?"
"Not if training starts in just an hour."
"And what about Lady Artberry?"
"I won't be able to see her."
Grabbing a spare set of training clothes from his closet, Hubert quickly strips and begins to change. I'm not surprised; I've seen him naked since we were kids.
"A true knight strips from above," he says, "that's chivalry."
"That's a lot different than the chivalry I know."
Hubert takes me literally. "If you can't even obey the orders of the Imperial Knights directly above you, how can you call yourself a loyal servant of the Emperor? After all, the Imperial Knights are appointed by the Emperor himself."
With that, Hubert gives Lancer and me a sly glance. He asks us to leave him alone for a moment so he can change his trousers.
Bang.
Closing the door on the visit, I step outside and turn to Lancer.
"What happened?"
"What?"
"You said he got a visit this morning from someone sent by the head of the Imperial Knights, and that person suddenly asked him to return to the training grounds?"
"Yeah."
It's the second time I've heard the explanation, but I still don't believe it.
"Don't you smell something?"
"What smell? I took a bath myself...."
"No, not that smell. Do you sense anything fishy about this situation, at all?"
Lancer shakes his head.
Well, he's not the kind of guy to suspect others.
It's obviously Ryan's handiwork behind the scenes.
Normally, if there's a special drill, it would be more logical to announce it before the knights went home for the weekend.
But there's something odd about sending someone to contact them after they'd all gone home.
Hubert comes out of the door.
"I'll return to the knighthood like this."
He has changed into his training clothes and looks grim.
The well-dressed gentleman from a moment ago is nowhere to be seen, only a depressed, broken-hearted young man stands.
"Still, it's nice of you, little bro, to go out of your way for me…. I mean, I've never had a girlfriend in my life, and I'm grateful that you thought of me. Even when I'm at this age."
Hubert grabs Lancer by the shoulders and pats him on the back.
"I guess I can't have anything anymore."
‘Will I ever get a girlfriend before I die?’
Tears well up in his eyes.
Damn. Cheer up, Brother Hubert….
“I'm not about to cancel an appointment with Lady Artberry now, no matter how urgent. I'll leave it to you, Lancer and Skyla, to talk to her. Make sure she knows I'm sorry, and show her around the duchy. Please.”
"Yeah."
"Okay."
We answer simultaneously.
"Oh, and by the way."
Hubert steps back into the room, as if remembering something. After a noise of objects being thrown around, he opens the door again.
In his hand is a bouquet.
A cluster of tulips, each as brightly coloured as a ripe peach, it's simple and unadorned, but elegant in its own way.
Not bad for a bouquet picked by Hubert, who never had an eye for these things in his life.
"This… is meant to be given to Lady Artberry myself today, but I need you to deliver it for me, Lancer."
"Me?"
"Yes. You're one of the members of Soli Duchy, wouldn't it be strange if Skyla gave it to her?"
As he says that, Hubert is flustered inside.
‘I chose it because Lady Artberry's hair is pink, will she like it? I'm so embarrassed to ask like this.’
Hubert puts the bouquet in Lancer's hand.
It hadn't been there when I entered the room earlier. It seemed like he'd hidden it somewhere, not wanting both of us to see it.
"Tell Lady Artberry I'm sorry. Tell her I'll try to arrange another meeting with her some other time, okay?"
"Okay." Lancer nods and clutches the bouquet of tulips tightly.
With that, Hubert gives us a lonely backward glance, rides his horse, and rides off.
Clatter, clatter.
As he rides away to the sound of hooves and the fluttering leaves, I can see tears forming in the corners of his eyes.
…But wait.
Didn't Lady Artberry say that her brother, Carberry Youngsik, was also in the Imperial Knights?
Then she would know that the Knights were having a special drill.
Will she come to the Soli Duchy, knowing that Huberg won't be able to see her today?
Should I send someone to Count Vrans?
Given the circumstances, I might as well tell Artbery not to come to the Soli Duchy, for there's no point in a visit without a party to meet.
I was about to call someone to contact her, but then I remembered that we were in the Soli Duchy, not the Kaerun Duchy.
Rather than decide on my own, I should ask Lancer's opinion. After all, he's the one who arranged the meeting between Hubert and Lady Artberry.
"What do you think we should do? Should we let Lady Artberry come as is?"
"Yes, I think we should let her come." Lancer nods. "Big Brother told me to give this bouquet to her."
As he says this, Lancer has the air of a knight about to embark on an important mission.
I guess we don't need to send someone to Count Vrans.
"Lady Artberry from Count Vrans has come to visit."
Already?
I check the clock on the wall. 2:00 p.m. is when Artberry and Hubert originally planned to meet. But now it's only 1 pm.
Is she an hour early?
I turn to Lancer, wanting to see for myself how he will handle this situation.
My concern that he might make a mistake proved wrong.
"I've come too early, haven't I? In my excitement, I was worried I'd be late. So I left early, and here I am. My apologies."
Checking the time, Artberry blushes as she realises she arrived too early.
But Lancer reassures her that it's no big deal. "No, it's fine. But the part of the mansion I was going to show you is still being cleaned, so why don't you sit in the parlour and have a cup of tea first?"
With that, he deftly ushers her into the parlour and has someone serve her tea and cookies, which she seems to enjoy.
As I watch, I secretly marvel.
He's doing better than I thought.
I feel proud that I haven't been wasting my time teaching Lancer how to socialize.
It's not the only thing, Lancer's treatment of Artberry is not merely businesslike. He's polite, friendly, and at times even warm.
It's a far cry from the old Lancer, who can come off as cold and push people away.
What happened?
The old him wouldn't have been able to look at another person and say, "What's going on?" without feeling impassive.
Of course, that doesn't mean he's suddenly a witty conversationalist and more talkative; once they get past small talk about the weather and daily life, he stops talking.
Or, more accurately, he shuts up because he doesn't know what else to say.
"Lady Artberry."
I turn to her to help the speechless Lancer.
"I didn't expect to see you here as well, Princess. It's nice to see you." Artberry, seeing me, speaks first.
Though the words are friendly, she's puzzled.
‘Why is Princess Skyla here, and where is Lord Hubert…?’
Seems like she knows nothing about the special drill of the Imperial Knights.
"Lady Artberry, have you not heard anything from Lord Carberry?" I sneakily interrupt her.
"What? I don't think so, I don't know what you're talking about..."
"The Imperial Knights were informed that there was an urgent special drill today, so Hubert was rushed back to the training grounds. I thought you might know that since your brother, Lord Carberry, is also in the Imperial Knights...." I blurt out, glancing at her, curious to see her reaction.
At that moment, she bursts out laughing. "Oh, yes, I didn't know that! Does that mean that Lord Hubert has gone there now?"
Of course, she's thinking about something else entirely.
‘What? Brother went back to his nap, saying he didn't have to go to some special drill or something, but…. Was it actually that important?'
Dear Artberry, your brother is seriously unbothered.
