When Vil asks Jade about their friendship he responds that he didn’t know Azul very well when they were younger and does not remember much.
Vil seems suspicious of how Jade does not “remember or know anything about such an important event in (his) life,” and his vague response is possibly a misdirect due to Jade and Floyd having signed an NDA concerning their earlier years with Azul.
Marja refers to Jade, Idia, Grim, Sebek and the prefect as Epel’s friends and Jade neither confirms nor denies it.
Jade refers to the group of Rook, Malleus, Grim, Riddle and the prefect as his “best friends at Night Raven College,” but Jade very often does not tell the truth, and this might fall under the “school friends” category.