The Survival of the Third-rate Villain

After making sure that Raye and the others are following her...

Bam!

The staff started dashing to pick up the pace!

Raye and the others did not get left behind, of course.

BAM—!

They kicked off onto the ground and started running really fast too!

"[Haste]"

Fwoosh—

Lena used a spell on herself to make herself faster.

And so, after just about half an hour of running...

TAP—

The staff, Raye, Lena, Lycus, Leon, and Allen got out of the Northern Forest!

They encountered some monsters on the way, but the staff took care of them casually.

*****

TAP—

After getting out of the forest...

"Haha, welcome back, guys!"

Bryan immediately greeted Raye and the others with a big smile on his face.

Sariel and Ramiel were just standing behind him, smiling too.

’Can’t you make it less obvious that you’re happy?’

Raye thought, seeing Bryan smiling ear to ear.

And then, looking around... 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

’Whoa... Guess the headmaster is not the only one that can’t hide his feelings.’

Raye said that in his head.

After all, he saw the staff from the other academies glaring at him, clearly annoyed!

’They’re not hiding the fact that they hate me, huh.’

He added with a smirk.

And subtly looking back at them...

"Heh."

He just muttered that and shrugged his shoulders, pissing the people from the other academies even more!

"…"

Lena, Lycus, and Leon noticed this scene.

’He’s really good at making people he hates hate him too.’

They thought in unison, looking at Raye.

Moving on...

"Anyway, you must be tired. There’s a tent there for the eliminated students. You guys can rest there."

Bryan suddenly said that, pointing to a huge tent behind where the professors and staff are sitting, watching the competition happen.

"…"

Raye and the others looked toward it.

And before they could even say anything...

"Ramiel, Sariel, guide them."

Bryan instructed that.

"Yes, sir."

"Ehhh..."

Sariel and Ramiel responded respectively.

"Thank you, headmaster."

Raye and the others then thanked Bryan, slightly bowing their heads.

And with that...

Tap- tap- tap—

Tap- tap- tap—

Tap- tap- tap—

They started following Ramiel and Sariel to the tent.

...

Tap—

Raye stepped inside the tent.

And the first thing he noticed...

"Huh?"

Were Ignis and the students from the other academies that were in [Set A] too!

"Ah! Nice to see you guys, haha."

Raye said, smiling and laughing.

He’s this bold because he knows Ramiel and Sariel will protect him.

’This kid is really something else.’

Ramiel thought, looking at Raye and understanding what’s on his mind.

’He’s a good kid, but he still annoys his opponents too much.’

Then Sariel followed.

"Tsk..."

Ignis and the students from the other academies just clicked their tongues in annoyance and glared at Raye.

And after that...

Swish—

They looked away from him. They just decided to ignore him!

On the other hand...

Tap- tap- tap—

Lena, Lycus, Leon, and Allen just walked past Raye, ignoring him taunting the students from the other academies.

They were tired, and by this point... They already got used to Raye doing stupid stuff like this!

But then, as they were heading to the empty beds to rest...

"Huh?"

They noticed Josh Harris, a classmate of theirs from [Set B]!

And he’s not alone...

Joshua, Ravien, Lian, and Stephen—all of their classmates from [Set B] are here!

Meaning...

"They’ve been eliminated, huh."

Raye said as he walked behind Leon and the others.

"They were ambushed the same way as us, but unlike us... They were probably caught off guard and eliminated."

He added.

"…"

Lycus and the others kept quiet. They didn’t know what to say.

And just then...

"…!"

Josh and their other classmates looked in their direction.

"Oh, hi guys."

Joshua mumbled weakly.

"We’ve heard what you did in Set A. You guys are amazing."

He said.

"Thanks."

Lena simply replied.

"Yeah, thanks."

And then Lycus and the others followed.

"…"

Not Raye though. He just remained silent.

But, opening his mouth...

"You guys are probably tired like us. We’ll leave you now to rest."

He muttered that.

"…"

Lena and the others looked at him like he was cold-hearted.

Though, contrary to their expectations...

"Haha, thanks, Raye."

Joshua and the others thanked him for it.

"…?"

Lena and the others were confused.

And Raye noticed this...

"Staying in front of them and talking normally is like saying we already expected them to fail—like we’re rubbing salt into their wounds. Let’s give them some space."

He whispered under his breath, explaining his intention.

Tap- tap- tap—

And then he started walking away without waiting for the others!

"…"

Lena, Lycus, Leon, and Allen were silent.

They thought of Raye’s words deeply.

And after a while...

’He’s right.’

They admitted that.

And so...

Swish—

They looked at Josh and their other classmates again.

But this time...

"…"

They didn’t say anything. They just nodded their heads at them.

And with that...

Tap- tap- tap—

Tap- tap- tap—

Tap- tap- tap—

Lena and the others followed after Raye.

"…"

Josh, Ravien, Lian, Joshua, and Stephen remained seated on the folding beds.

They were silent, just looking down at the floor.

"…"

None of them talked, even after a few minutes!

But then, breaking the silence...

"I will start focusing on my training after this."

Ravien mumbled that!

"I’ll even ask Professor Ramiel to train me."

He added!

(Whoa, calm down... Are you sure about that?)

"…"

Josh and the others looked at Ravien, hearing his words.

"…"

They didn’t say anything.

Though, after a while...

"Haha..."

Josh laughed.

"This is what we get for being complacent with our above-average talents and being lazy to train."

He said with a bitter smile.

"…"

The others silently agreed with him.

And then, opening his mouth again...

"I’ll join you, Ravien... I’ll train much harder too."

Josh declared that!

And with him saying that...

"I’ll join too."

"I wouldn’t ask Professor Ramiel to train me, but I’ll increase my training’s intensity too."

"Erm... I can try a bit harder, I guess?"

The other three followed!

"Let’s not get left behind by Raye and the others."

Ravien muttered.

"Yeah!"

And the others replied.

They now felt a little bit better...

’That’s good.’

Raye, who was on the other side of the room, thought of that after seeing them energetic.