The Survival of the Third-rate Villain

A week had passed...

And the academy started again.

Raye and the main characters are now sophomores.

There was no class placement this semester as it was just held before...

So they based the class placement on grades and performance this time.

The [S Class] remained as it is.

Most classes did, actually.

Only in [C Class] and [D Class] were there changes.

Anyway, today is the first day...

And currently...

"Ugh, back to school."

Raye is standing in front of the classroom door, complaining.

’Professor Ramiel will work us to the bone again.’

He grumbled in his head before entering the room.

Creak—

Thud—

*****

Inside the classroom...

Raye talked with Lena and Lycus, waiting for the class to start.

The students in this class are divided into groups.

They’ve all been classmates for five months now, but there are still walls separating them.

Not that it bothers them...

Anyway, after a few minutes...

Creak—

The room’s door opened.

And then, the devil entered...

"Yo! You guys missed me?"

It was Ramiel. He had this annoying grin on his face.

"Ugh..."

The students groaned just by seeing him.

"I’ll take that as a yes."

Ramiel said, hearing them.

"Anyway, we all already know each other, so let’s not bother with the introductions again."

He followed.

And casually...

"I have an announcement to make."

He declared!

"Huh?"

And before the students could even react...

"We’re going to have a friendly competition with the other academies, and the students from the S Classes are guaranteed to join."

Ramiel announced that!

’He’s really straight to the point, huh.’

Raye said in his head. He already knew this from the game, so he wasn’t surprised.

On the other hand...

"What?!"

"With the other academies?!"

"A competition?!"

His classmates weren’t the same.

"..."

Lena was frowning.

"A competition against the other academies, huh..."

Meanwhile, Lycus, Leon, and Allen had their eyes wide open. They were excited for this event.

Though, their excitement was short-lived...

"Anyway, that’s that. Let’s go to the training ground and prepare for the upcoming events!"

Ramiel exclaimed with a mischievous smile on his face.

"Huh...?"

"On the first day? Again?"

"This sucks!"

Of course, the students weren’t thrilled about this.

"..."

Raye, Lena, Lycus, Leon, and Allen had small frowns on their faces.

They were cursing Ramiel in their heads.

Though, just then...

"Ah!"

Ramiel paused and remembered something.

He looked at Raye.

And opening his mouth...

"I almost forgot, you go to the headmaster’s office first."

He said.

"Hm?"

The others looked at Raye...

"..."

And they all remembered what he did about two weeks ago.

’He’s probably about to receive some nice rewards for protecting the orphanage.’

’Lucky, he doesn’t have to deal with Ramiel’s bullshit as soon as the academy starts again.’

they thought.

"Oh, okay."

Raye stood up and answered.

And while containing a smile...

’Sweet, I’ll take my time getting back to class.’

Raye thought.

"Okay, everyone else... Follow me to the training grounds!"

Ramiel shouted.

Creak—

Thud—

And then he quickly left the room.

"Tsk."

"This is shitty."

And while grumbling...

Tap- tap- tap—

The students, except Raye, all started to follow after him.

"See you later."

Lycus said to Raye before going.

"..."

And Lena just waved goodbye at him.

"See you."

Raye muttered.

And after that...

Tap- tap- tap—

He started heading to the headmaster’s office.

Creak—

Thud—

*****

After a while of walking...

"..."

Raye was now standing in front of the headmaster’s office.

And without much thought in his head...

Creak—

Tap—

He entered the room.

"Hello, long time no see."

Bryan, sitting behind his table, greeted Raye as soon as he came in.

"It’s nice to see you again."

Raye greeted back with a slight bow.

"Sit down here."

Bryan then instructed, looking at the leather chair on the opposite side of his table.

And silently...

Pat—

Raye complied.

"Do you know why you’re here?"

Bryan asked.

And with an uninterested look on his face...

"Well, yeah. It’s pretty obvious."

Raye answered.

’This kid is really, really straightforward.’

Bryan thought with a smile.

"Well, that saves me the trouble of explaining, then."

He muttered.

"You’re here to be commended for the action you took in protecting the orphanage."

"I actually wanted a ceremony to be held to reward you, but it would be pretty stupid to do so as you’re the only one being rewarded. The ceremony would be at most five minutes long. The preparation would be much longer and harder."

Then Bryan added.

Hearing his last words, Raye was glad the ceremony didn’t happen.

’I’m fine as long as I receive the rewards. I don’t need a stupidly fancy ceremony held for me.’

He thought.

And just as he did...

Tap—

Bryan placed a fancy-looking silver ring between him and Raye, on top of the table.

"...?"

Raye looked at it curiously.

And as he was doing so...

"That’s a high-end spatial storage."

Bryan suddenly declared that with a proud smirk!

"...?!"

Raye’s eyes widened in surprise upon hearing that.

But that’s not all...

"The royal family also rewarded you two hundred coins for your achievement. It’s inside the ring."

Bryan added!

"..."

Raye was speechless.

But then, the corners of his lips raised...

And soon, a smile rested on his face!

’Jackpot.’

Raye thought.

"You can take it now."

And as soon as he heard that from Bryan, without hesitation...

Fwip—

Raye took and wore the ring!

It was on his middle finger of his right hand, and the size of the ring magically adjusted to fit perfectly!

’Neat.’

Raye said in his head, looking at it.

He thought he was done here and was ready to leave.

But, as he was admiring the ring on his hand...

"Raye, there’s actually another reason why I called you here."

Bryan suddenly said that.

Hearing this...

"Huh?"

A confused look appeared on Raye’s face.

"You’ve heard that students from the other academies are coming, right?"

Bryan asked.

"Yeah."

And Raye nodded in response.

"..."

Bryan paused for a moment.

And after looking at Raye straight in the eyes...

"I want you to be our secret weapon."

He declared that with a serious expression on his face!

"Huh?"

Raye muttered, unsure if he just heard that one right.