Will You Be my Friend?

"Raza, do you remember where you will be going?" Alden asked Raza during breakfast.

"Yes father," Raza answered.

"Good. The academy is on the other side of town, otherwise, I would take you. Remember to respect your teachers and make friends. It's important to have a good reputation since after this, you will be entering the real world," Alden reminded Raza.

Raza was now 18 years of age. He completed basic schooling three years ago, so he had spent the last three years shadowing his father's work.

Of course, he continued his personal studies and his training as well. Just about six months ago, he finally completed his first functional gun. It was a simple revolver, but it was a large step in the right direction, and it was thanks to his Reward Shop.

He saved up all of his points to get a single thing. Explosion magic. He used this as a substitute for gunpowder, and depending on the amount of mana he put into the magic, it was even more destructive. Unfortunately, the gun itself could only handle a certain amount of power, so he had to practice a lot in order to control his magic. His new goal was to make assault rifles.

"Brother, you have to send letters to keep in touch!" Raymond looked at him.

"It's not like I'm leaving town. I'll just come back on the weekends," Raza sighed.

"What! That's no good! Your father just said to make friends," Vivian chimed in.

"I will make friends, but the weekends I will spend by myself. Preferably at home," Raza responded.

"You're missing the point," Alden sighed.

"Brother Raza, can you buy candy when you come back?" Dove asked.

"And can you buy more art supplies too, Brother Raza?" Blythe asked.

"I'll still be in town. It's not like anything I get will be any different than the things that Father buys you," Raza sighed, but still made a mental note.

"Raza, you have to spend time with your peers in order to make them your friends," Vivian sighed.

"That seems counterproductive," Raza looked at his mother.

Everyone simultaneously smacked the palm of their hands on their foreheads. Raza was a lost cause. He was extremely intelligent and loved his family, but he had no social skills. This was funny to Dove and Blythe, but everyone else worried about his future. After breakfast, everyone went their separate ways.

Alden took Raymond, Dove, and Blythe to school. Since no one was home during the day, Vivian would often spend time on her hobbies or visiting Lady Ange. Raza walked to the academy.

Raza wanted to see the town. It wasn't like he never had the freedom to explore, but he was never interested in exploring before. Since he had to go to the other side of the city, he figured it would be best to explore a little. He wanted to be prepared in case he would have to run or chase someone. A habit that he still had from his previous life.

The city was a lively place. It was filled with vendors, shoppers, nobles, commoners, and everything in between. Raza also saw some beast folk, but they were mostly treated like scum. Of course, the sight didn't bother him since he didn't care about nobodies.

Raza took the time to make note of every alley, sketchy figure, and even the merchants that he passed by. The greedier the merchant, the easier to bribe if the time ever came. Raza was very familiar with how the underworld worked, and based on what he knew about this world, he doubted that it would be any different, just with magic.

"Let me g… hmmm!"

Raza heard a muffled scream come from an alley. He looked down and saw a mugging taking place. A chubby man was holding a girl about Raza's age by the arms while a taller, much skinnier guy was examining her face.

"A noble's daughter by herself. She's even cuter than what the description says! Now we just have to confirm that she never laid with a man," The man smiled.

"Yeah, we're sure to catch a pretty penny with her!" The chubby one laughed.

'A classic case of trafficking. In broad daylight too,' Raza sighed to himself.

Raza used to be completely submerged in gang life. Although most of his jobs involved collecting debts or fighting turf wars, he wasn't completely unfamiliar with other fields of work. He ran through an important checklist in his mind.

'She's not family… X,' Raza was about to continue with his day when he remembered something.

…

When he was 16, his parents sat him down to have a conversation.

"Raza we understand that you don't show interest in people, but there is something important that we cannot let you continue without knowing," Alden frowned.

"What is it, Father?" Raza met his father's gaze.

"As Marquess, we have access to a lot of resources and power that most people only dream of. However, we should not horde it for ourselves. I will tell you what my father told me. If you have the power to help someone, do it. Think about the costs later."

…

Raza still remembers the faces of his parents when he was told this. He sighed. It was a naive mindset for a merchant to have, but he couldn't deliberately disobey his parents. I opened his inventory and pulled out his revolver.

'I'll only use two bullets… Maybe three," Raza inwardly sighed.

Meanwhile, the skinny guy finished his inspection.

"Ya know what, we will never get a chance like this again. So what if we lose a few coins?" He smiled.

"I like where your head's at, bro!" The chubby one smiled.

The woman closed her eyes as tears flowed down her cheek. She knew that her fate was sealed.

Bam!

A loud noise echoed throughout the alleyway. The woman opened her eyes and saw that the skinny man was nowhere to be found. No… that wasn't right. She looked down, and her eyes widened as she saw the man lying in a pool of blood. There was a circular hole in the temple of his head, and his eyes were wide open.

"Let's make this quick. I have to get to school," Raza called at the end of the alley.

The chubby man looked at his friend's lifeless body and began to panic. His breaths became hollower, and his eyes widened. He no longer cared about his mission. He just wanted to live! He let the girl go and began to run.

Bam!

The chubby man fell to the floor with a similar hole in the back of his head. Blood slowly seeped onto the floor.

'No chants or circulation of mana was used. He used that oddly shaped weapon in his hand. Who is this man?' The woman looked at Raza in wonder.

Although she was thankful that she was saved, she was afraid of him. He killed two men and didn't even bat an eye.

'They're dead, I didn't waste any bullets, and I should be able to make it to school on time. Cool,' Raza shrugged as he put his gun away.

He turned around and began to walk away. He was thinking about the adjustments that he should make to his gun. It was too loud, and the recoil was too much. He could also improve the barrel so that his accuracy would improve. As Raza was thinking to himself, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"I said wait!" The woman turned him to her. "Didn't you hear me calling you?"

"No, I didn't," Raza sighed. "You're saved, so go do something girly or something"

Something about the way this man spoke to her with zero respect caused her to be annoyed. She was never the defensive type, nor did she ever flaunt her title, but in this one case, she will. 

"I am Drifa Montgomery of the Montgomery household. Since you saved me from…" She didn't want to think back since it made her sick. "Since you saved my life, I wish to reward you," She nodded.

'Shit, I save a girl from a duke family. I should made a run for it after saving her,' Raza did not care about her title.

Raza stared at her for a moment before speaking. He wanted to keep things simple. Especially since he just killed two people, and his gun wasn't exactly the quietest of weapons.

"Do I get to pick the reward?" 

"Yes," She agreed.

"Can you be my friend?" Raza asked.

"Heh? That's it?" Drifa was surprised.

"Yeah."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Then I guess I can do that," She was taken aback.

She fully expected this man to use this situation to his advantage. It was the opposite, actually. He just wanted to be her friend. How thoughtf…

Bleegh!

Drifa threw up on the floor. The fact that two people were killed just settled in, and it was too much for her to handle all at once. Raza on the other hand let her process what had just happened. He never felt anything when he killed people, but he knew that most people were traumatized when they killed their first person. He doesn't even remember most of his victims' faces.

'Mother, Father, I just made friends with a Duke's daughter. Does that mean I can spend my weekends at home now?'

These were the thoughts that Raza had while he was watching his new friend throw up. Of course, he didn't offer to comfort her or anything. He just watched and waited.