The Survival of the Third-rate Villain

"Hmm, I haven’t had this for a while."

Raye mumbled.

He’s eating roasted Giant Boar meat!

He had just killed the Giant Boar in under two minutes!

And while he used up a lot of his mana...

"I missed this taste."

Raye was uninjured!

-Meep!

Pyro approached him happily.

And with a smile on his face...

"Here."

Raye gave him a whole chunk of roasted meat, different from what he was eating.

-Meep! Your journey continues on empire

Pyro excitedly started devouring it.

And then, flying over to eat with Pyro...

-You’ve really gotten strong.

Zephyrus said that to Raye.

Raye looked at him.

And with a nod of his head...

"Yeah, I didn’t expect this much of a change either."

Raye responded.

It’s been almost a month since he had left the academy.

’By now, Act II should be finished, meaning that classes will continue soon, and the filler arc will start.’

Raye thought, eating.

"I wonder what the old man and the others are doing."

And then he mumbled that, curious.

He really misses them.

And so, thinking about reuniting with them...

"I should hurry up and get out of this place."

Raye declared that.

Fwip—

He stood up.

Tap- tap- tap—

And then he started walking up to the 2nd floor again.

And with a resolute expression on his face...

’I should train for the last time with Ivan.’

Raye thought that.

-Wait for us!

-Meep!

Pyro and Zephyrus exclaimed, following after him.

*****

At the academy, or to be exact...

Back in the cabin.

"..."

Old Man Rey is silently sitting on a chair.

And it’s not just him there...

"..."

Jerusha, Devin, Kyle, Lena, and even Lycus are also in the cabin!

"..."

They were silent, not talking and just looking at Old Man Rey with sad eyes.

And as to why Lycus was here, well, when he heard about Raye’s disappearance...

He stepped up and proposed to help find him. It was his way of repaying Raye for helping him with the goblin problem before.

That’s right, the people inside the cabin had gathered with one goal.

And that is to find Raye’s whereabouts and bring him back!

Anyway, the atmosphere inside the cabin was solemn.

It was quiet...

And the first to break that silence...

"The lower class stopped revolting now. The academy compromised with them, and a fair class re-evaluation will take place soon."

Was Lena.

"In three days, the academy’s security will return to normal, and so... We can finally leave and search for Raye outside."

She added in a serious tone.

Lena worked with Leon to stop the students from the lower class from destroying the classrooms and facilities.

She also helped convince the academy to hear out the protests of the students and conduct another re-evaluation.

And so, because of her, Act II ended much faster without a problem.

Lena did all of this for their plan to search for Raye!

They couldn’t leave Zion Academy with such chaos happening, after all.

The staff decided to lock down the academy to prevent revolting students from getting help from the outside.

"Thank you, Lena."

Jerusha said, looking at Lena.

And Lena just nodded at her.

Just then...

"I’ll handle all the expenses."

Kyle spoke.

"Don’t worry about the price, I can handle it."

And declared that with confidence!

Kyle, who was really worried about Raye, did his best to gather money.

And in doing so, his superior business skills awakened, his store is blooming now!

Anyway, Jerusha nodded at Kyle.

And then, opening her mouth...

"Me, Devin, and Lycus will go look for him."

Jerusha said that.

"I’m sure that guy is okay."

Devin mumbled.

"I agree, he’s not weak."

And Lycus followed.

"I’ll stay here and try to get help from the academy to search for Raye."

Lena then declared.

And so, with all their roles decided...

"We’ll leave in three days, get ready."

Jerusha said that.

And looking at all of them...

"..."

A weak smile appeared on Old Man Rey’s face.

’Brat, you have good friends, so you better be safe.’

He thought.

And then, opening his mouth...

"Thank you."

The old man thanked Jerusha and the others.

"Ah, it’s nothing."

"We’re doing this because we’re Raye’s friends."

"I’m just here to repay a favor."

"..."

They were flustered by Old Man Rey’s words.

Then, just smiling at them...

"Wait here for a bit. I’ll make rabbit stew for everyone."

The old man said that.

...

*****

The 27th day since he left the academy...

"Fuuu..."

Raye was now standing in front of a staircase that led up to the 3rd floor.

-Meep...

Pyro was perched on his shoulder, nervous.

-Good luck, young human.

And Zephyrus was sitting on top of his head, resting.

’Ivan said that the boss monster is a ghoul with its mind still intact, just like him.’

’And that it’s using their family treasure, so I should be careful.’

Raye thought, remembering Ivan’s words.

And after preparing himself...

"Well, here I go."

Tap- tap- tap—

Raye headed up to the third floor.

...

Upon stepping onto the 3rd floor...

-Grrrr...

-Graaaah...!

-Gruuu...

"Huh?"

Raye was surprised to see the hallway full of ghouls!

They’re not inside the room, they’re just scattered all over the hallway!

And upon sensing Raye’s presence...

-GRAAAAH!!!

-GRRRR!!!

They mindlessly rushed at him!

"Ugh, I need to fight as soon as I get here?"

Raye grumbled.

SLASH—!

And then he cut down two ghouls with a single diagonal slash!

Ghouls are just F rank monsters. They’re fragile with their rotting bodies, and they are stupid too... Ivan was just a special case, retaining his sanity after turning into one.

And so...

SWOOSH—

SLASH—!

Raye handled them easily. He didn’t even need to use a skill, just pure swordsmanship!

Ghouls are basically zombies. A corpse of a once-alive person gets exposed to too much contaminated mana, turning it into one.

-These guys were the servants of the family.

Zephyrus said while still on top of Raye’s head.

SLASH—!

"I know."

Raye said, cutting down another ghoul.

He already got an idea that the ghouls were the servants of this mansion because of their ragged clothes—they were for maids and such.

’Ivan would be devastated to see his people like this.’

Raye thought.

And with a frown on his face...

Fwip—

Raye withdrew his sword and went into a back stance.

Swoosh—

Gusts of wind covered his legs.

-Graaa..hh!

And looking at the tens of ghouls rushing at him...

"[Flash]"

Bam!

Raye propelled himself at them!

Swish—

His figure disappeared, leaving only an afterimage!

And then...

SLASH—!

He reappeared at the end of the hallway, at the very back of the horde of ghouls!

His sword was now drawn, like he had just swung it!

And without even looking behind him...

"Time to clean up this place."

Raye said that!

And after that...

Thud- thud—

Thud—

The ghouls started dropping to the floor like flies!

And ignoring that...

Tap- tap- tap—

Raye checked the rooms on the 3rd floor.