My Childhood Friends Are Trying To Kill Me

Then came the next quest window.

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※Quest Story Progress: 10%

The quest was carried out in the same way as Kalix’s.

It was a great pleasure to succeed so easily. It was a bit of a surprise too, but…

Lelia accepted the quest and moved on to the rewards items.

The ticket was put off until later, and the random gift box was opened.

[ I got useless ingredients last time, but what about this time?]

Lelia opened it with anticipation, and she received an additional ‘Special Recipe Puzzle Piece’.

[I’m glad, it’ll come in handy later…]

Lelia breathed a sigh of relief, she looked at Romeo and then out of the window. Before she knew it, they were almost at the Imperial Palace.

[Now, the important thing to do is the sub-quest.]

The holy relic Ruth has, and the special store. 

When the special store opens, she can use the lottery ticket like before. Scratching the ticket was a gamble, and you could win the jackpot or nothing at all.

You can get very rare items. You can also get a huge amount of crystals or gold.

Or ingredients for special recipes.

Lelia was guessing what she could potentially win based on her long experience with the game.

Meanwhile, the carriage arrived at the Imperial Palace. 

Romeo invited Lelia to join him for tea and dinner as he was still in a good mood. They stopped by her room first and then headed to Romeo’s room. There they found Kalix, who was there before them. 

Fortunately, this time he was wearing clothes. 

[Editor: Fortunate for who? D: ]

Romeo sat on the sofa in the drawing room and drank tea from his cup, and Kalix was lying on the long sofa opposite him. He was so big that his shoulders were sticking out, but he didn’t seem to mind. His eyes were closed and he had a frown on his face. 

[I don’t think he’s sleeping comfortably.]

Sitting diagonally from him, Lelia stared at Kalix.

[Maybe your eyes hurt.]

That part kept bothering her.

Soon enough, Kalix will lose his ability to see.

Whenever she had time, she wondered if there was anything she could do for Kalix.

She looked at the recipes in the alchemy menu with hope, but there was nothing to help with his vision. 

It wasn’t that there was no way.

Holy relic, or the Philosopher’s stone.

Either one of them could cure Kalix’s eyes.

The two relic pieces fulfil the wish of the individual who owns it. Lelia and Ruth have already used theirs once. Putting those two pieces together can make one more wish come true. Lelia had a goal to break the Golden Words spell and confess to her friends, she considered that more important than fixing Kalix’s eyes. So Lelia decided to go for the other way, the Philosopher’s Stone.

It’s going to take a long time because there’s a lot of recipes… But it wasn’t impossible.

Lelia looked at Kalix with compassion.

It reminded her of their childhood.

Kalix wasn’t small back then, but she didn’t expect him to grow this much. The same goes for Romeo.

Even though Lelia is not short, there is a big difference.

[I can’t even dream of carrying him like when we were kids.]

Far from carrying him, it seemed difficult to even support him.

While she was thinking about it, Kalix’s eyes opened wide.

“You’re here?”

Kalix woke up all disheveled and greeted Lelia.

Lelia hesitated to ask something she was thinking about.

“By the way, Kalix…  Ah…”

“Wait… Hey, don’t call me that while you’re dressed as a man. It’s a little creepy.”

Kalix looked serious, Romeo grabbed his stomach and laughed.

[You told me to call you that. You know what I want to call you?]

The once-Captain was very hurt, but she held it in.

“Then shall I call you Brother?”

“Brother…?”

As soon as she said it, she thought, “Oops.”

Come to think of it, Kalix said that she reminded him of his childhood friend ‘Leo’.

A person who looks exactly like the boy who once called himself their captain is calling him brother? This might be way too much to bare for Lelia.

“All right, call me Brother.”

Before she could take back her words, Kalix allowed it.

Lelia tightened her lips for a moment and shivered before barely speaking.

“By the way… yesterday… Why did you go for a walk with Julianna? Is it okay to ask you?”

“What? You took a walk with a woman? And the princess no less?”

Romeo reacted quickly to Lelia’s words. His eyes were full of mischief, ready to tease Kalix right away.

“Oh.”

Kalix’s forehead wrinkled. He talked rapidly, and as he tried to get his words out as quickly as possible.

“Oh, yesterday… Because of her… She followed me and talked to me. She wanted to take a walk. I wanted to refuse, but I thought it would be annoying if I followed you. Also, I can’t speak poorly of her as she is a Princess.”

“…….”

Lelia speculated after hearing that.

[Why on earth did Julianna think of going for a walk with Kalix?]

She couldn’t figure out why.

The reason why Lelia asked Kalix this question was because of the sub-quest.

She has to help Ruth confess his love.

Lelia sighed deeply.

[I don’t have much time.]

She thought it would be better to visit Ruth right after dinner, but it ended up being unnecessary. 

After dinner, Ruth came to Lelia’s room first.

“I’m sorry to come all of a sudden, but I couldn’t help it.”

Ruth’s face was a little flushed.

[The last time we saw each other. you stared daggers at me.]

Now he was being friendly with her.

Lelia was unhappy, but she somehow struggled to put on a friendly face. It was a smile for the quest.

The two decided to talk while walking near Lelia’s room. A short walk down the corridor led to a small pathway. They eventually sat on a bench in front of a small fountain. 

Ruth, who had been twisting his words during the walk, got to the point as soon as he sat down.

“I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Is… this an extension of the request you made yesterday?”

“That’s right.”

Fortunately, Ruth started explaining without needing prompting. Lelia was willing to hear him out.

“If there’s anything I can do, I’ll try to help you.”

“Really? Now that I see it… You were a very loyal person.”

Ruth looked excited and tapped the corners of his mouth excitedly.

“What’s your request?” asked Lelia.

[You want me to listen to how you plan to confess?]

“Actually, just a while ago, Princess Julianna came to see me.”

“Really?”

“Yes, she asked me out of the blue if I’m close to you.”

“…….”

Lelia felt nervous for some reason.

“So… I’m sorry, but I said that we’re close friends.”

“Did she honestly believe that? We just met for the first time yesterday..”

“Oh, yes. It was the first time we met, but we built a deep friendship through words… That’s what I told her.”

“…….”

Lelia looked at Ruth strangely.

What a weird kid…

Well, she understood. Ruth was a man who fell deeply in  love with Julianna, in other words he lost his mind. What Lelia heard scared her stiff, and then Ruth confessed to something else.

“In fact, I said we were close enough that I call you brother… I’m sorry.”

“……?”

“Um… Anyway… After hearing the story, Princess Julianna believed me. Her ladies-in-waiting are in love with you.”

“Me?”

“Yes, as I said before, men like you are popular among aristocrats these days.”

“…….”

Oh, so…

Lelia nodded as she recalled the painting she saw with Romeo this afternoon. She felt uneasy. 

[What am I supposed to do?]

Romeo said he was relieved that she would never be caught, but Lelia felt differently.

Her heart raced.

“So I said I’d bring you with me to the tea party Princess Julianna is hosting. That is my request.”

“…….”

[You want me to go to a tea party with you?]

Lelia furrowed her brow.

Princess Julianna’s Tea Party…

A tea party with all the ladies there.

[What if I get caught?]

Lelia bit her lips nervously. Ruth waited for Lelia’s answer with an anxious look.

“When is the tea party?”

“Two days from now.”

“Alright…”

“Really?”

With Lelia’s permission, Ruth got up and danced back and forth in euphoric delight.

Then he said to Lelia;

“As I said to Princess Julianna, I really want to be a close friend with you. There can’t be a more loyal man in this world.”

“…….”

Lelia smiled forcefully as she watched the jittery Ruth.

[I can’t help it.]

By helping Ruth confess his love she can gain a relic and the store system.

[Only then can I fix Kalix and confess the truth to my friends.]

Lelia convinced herself by explaining why she had to do this. Otherwise, she thought she would say no right away.

Brotherhood.

She didn’t care to be friends with Ruth, who used the word ‘crippled’ to describe one of her friends, one of brothers.

She’s a woman in the first place, so it’s impossible to be a brother.

Ruth is the male lead of the original story, but not all of his traits were good.

For Lelia, Ruth already felt like a villain.

[Editor: I feel the same way Lelia!]

[Just finish the quest.]

Ruth suddenly looked serious and asked.

“Before that, I have a man-to-man question for you.”

“What…?”

At those words, Lelia was feeling agitated. That was because she was feeling deeply guilty by the phrase ‘man-to-man’.

“You don’t really like Princess Julianna, do you?”

“…….”

“Princess Julianna  is a beautiful and attractive woman by all accounts, but I don’t want to have her as a lover.”

Lelia sighed deeply.

“You don’t have to worry about that.”

Ruth’s face lit up again at her words.

***

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