The Survival of the Third-rate Villain

Coming up on the 2nd floor...

I was immediately greeted by a fairly large hallway.

And there...

"Ugh..."

There were five doors.

Two on each side and one in the middle.

"You’ve gotta be kidding me."

I grumbled, looking at them.

-Meep...

Even Pyro wasn’t happy at the sight of them.

On the other hand...

-That’s the room dedicated to me!

Zephyrus said, pointing at the middle room with his small wings. He was delighted.

I looked at the happy Zephyrus with a slight frown on my face...

’It’s because you didn’t suffer with us on the first floor.’

And then I thought that to myself.

-Meep...

Pyro was looking at Zephyrus weirdly too.

Though, we just let him be because we know the reason why he’s acting like that.

So, moving on...

"Let’s check the rooms."

I decided to check what was inside the rooms.

But before I could even leave my spot...

-The first rooms on each side are safe.

Zephyrus suddenly declared that.

"Huh?"

I looked at him with a questioning gaze.

But with just a confident smirk on his face...

-Go check them.

Zephyrus said.

"..."

I stood still for a while, just looking at him.

But after a few seconds...

"Fuck it."

Tap- tap- tap—

I walked toward the first room on my right.

Gulp—

I swallowed a mouthful of saliva, nervous.

-gulp...

Pyro did the same.

And after steeling ourselves...

Creak—

I opened the door!

And there...

"..."

I saw what seemed to be a library!

"What the heck...?"

I muttered in awe.

-Meep...

Even Pyro was dumbfounded.

Except for the fact that the books were scattered everywhere...

The room was clean!

No blood, no dust, and no monsters!

-There’s a protective charm made by a very famous shaman back in the day, built into the walls of this room and the other one.

-Though, the charm wasn’t strong enough to ward off the vile demon...

Zephyrus explained as Pyro and I stared at the room in silence.

Looking beside me...

"Why did they want to protect this room?"

I asked Zephyrus.

-This place holds the very history of the family. It’s important to them since everything is recorded here, and there are treasured books inside.

And he casually answered.

My ears perked up after hearing the word "treasured."

’I’m gonna go look for them later.’

I thought as I looked behind me and saw the first room on the left side of the hallway.

Then, curiously...

"What about this?"

Tap- tap- tap—

I approached the opposite room.

Standing in front of the door...

Creak—

I opened it.

And there...

"..."

I saw a fully furnished bedroom!

It was clean and ready to use. There were even two big beds inside!

"Wow, what is this room?!"

I asked excitedly.

-It’s the room of the children.

But the answer I received left me speechless.

"..."

I already knew the reason why this room was protected with a charm, even without Zephyrus telling me.

"..."

Respectfully, I bowed to the room.

-Meep...

Pyro copied me.

And seeing us like that...

-I’m starting to like you more, young human.

Zephyrus muttered.

I ignored him and entered the room.

"I’ll be using everything here, I’m sorry."

I apologized.

-Don’t worry. I’m sure it’ll be fine with them.

Then Zephyrus said that reassuringly.

"..."

I just smiled at his words.

And after that...

"I can get proper rest here."

Poof—

I laid down on one of the beds.

It was soft. It even smelled nice, despite more than a hundred years passing.

’I’m sure there’s self-preserving magic cast in this room.’

I thought.

Anyway, with me having a comfortable bed...

"Haaaaa..."

I yawned, becoming sleepy.

-Meeeeep...

Pyro felt the same.

We both knew we could rest here because of the charm.

And then, to top it off...

-I’ll stay on guard. You two rest.

Zephyrus said that.

He sounded really dependable.

"Thanks, I’ll just sleep for a bit."

-Meep...

Pyro and I responded.

And after that...

"..."

-...

We two fell asleep.

*****

After waking up...

"..."

I felt refreshed as fuck!

-You guys slept like a log for hours.

Zephyrus said, flying in front of my face. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

-You must’ve been really tired, huh.

He added.

"Yeah, really tired."

And I nodded my head in response.

-Meep...

Pyro was still sleepy, so I just let him be for now.

Instead, I looked around...

And saw a huge-ass cabinet beside the bed.

Creak—

I opened it.

And saw that it was full of clothes for nobles, and they were for males!

"This is just about my size."

I mumbled as I took a comfortable-looking white shirt.

I then removed my already ragged clothes.

"Hup."

And changed into the new ones I got from the cabinet.

Fwip—

I equipped my armor back...

Swoosh—

And wore my black cape on top of it all.

"I’m all set now."

I said.

Creak—

Thud—

And then I left the room.

I picked up the sleeping Pyro on the way and put him in the spatial bag.

Zephyrus was perched on top of my head, sitting on my hair like it was his nest.

-Your head is a good nest, you know.

I’m just letting him be for the time being.

...

Anyway, now that I was back in the hallway of the 2nd floor...

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"Let’s go check the other rooms now."

I decided to continue scouting the floor.

Tap- tap- tap—

I immediately headed to the second room on the left, just beside the room I came out of.

And standing in front of its door...

Creak—

I opened it.

And inside...

-Kek!

-Kieek!

-Ke ke ke...

There were six gnolls!

Gnolls are tall, hyena-like humanoids with coarse fur, sharp-toothed muzzles, and glowing eyes.

Their wiry frames and clawed limbs exuded savagery, enhanced by scavenged armor adorned with gruesome trophies.

They are E- rank monsters.

And looking closely, they are all well armed!

As a matter of fact...

"Their equipment is better than mine..."

Looking at the rusting blade of my sword...

"Haaaa..."

I let out a sigh, disappointed.

And then...

Tap—

I entered the room!

-What a bold decision.

Zephyrus said.

And with a shrug...

"A better equipment would help me a lot."

I replied to him.

"Watch Pyro for a while."

I then followed, putting my spatial bag on the ground.

And with an annoyed tone...

-I’m not a babysitter.

Zephyrus mumbled that as he flew off my head.

And without looking back at him...

"Don’t worry, this won’t take long."

I confidently declared those words.

I didn’t wait for Zephyrus’ response anymore.

Instead, I took a stance...

-Kieeeeee...

-Kieeek!

-Ke ke ke!

The gnolls already noticed me as soon as I entered the room earlier.

And now...

-Ke ke ke!

They were surrounding me with nasty smirks on their faces.

Anyway, looking at them with cold eyes...

"[Lit On]"

I mumbled.

Swoosh—

And my sword’s blade was immediately engulfed in fire!

The fire wasn’t raging violently. I had learned how to control its output now.

And so, my mana wasn’t depleting as fast as before.

-Kieek?!

-Kek?!

-Keeee!!

The gnolls were shocked, seeing my skill.

They stopped in their tracks, hesitating to approach me.

And not missing that opportunity...

"[Flash]"

I immediately used the special skill Zephyrus and I created!

Bam!

I kicked off the ground.

And in a split second...

-Kieee?

I was already in front of one of the gnolls!

SLASH—!

I swung my sword with [Blaze] horizontally!

Tap—

And when I landed on the ground...

Thud—

The head of the gnoll I just attacked fell and rolled on the floor.

Thump!

And its body followed after.

"Hmm, I’m still not used to the speed."

I mumbled, looking at the dead gnoll on the ground that I had just killed.