The Survival of the Third-rate Villain

After hunting with the Old Man again in the Northern Forest after a long time...

"Time for a bath."

Raye washed himself in the nearby river.

He hadn’t taken a bath even once when he was stuck in the dungeon mansion...

But he had managed to take some on his way back to the academy, making stops at inns.

Even so, Raye still felt dirty, so he was really excited about taking baths now. And he figured it would probably stay that way for a while.

Anyway, after taking a long bath...

"Let’s eat."

Raye returned to the cabin and ate lunch with Old Man Rey.

And while they were eating...

"The cape you gave me became ragged. Sorry."

Raye said that.

The Old Man had already seen the cape. After all, Raye had come back wearing it yesterday.

It wasn’t in good condition, that was for sure.

Glancing at Raye...

"Did it help you?"

The Old Man asked.

And pausing his meal to respond...

"Yeah, a lot."

Raye replied.

The Old Man nodded his head.

Then, before returning to his food...

"Then it’s all good. Don’t worry about it."

He said that reassuringly.

"..."

Raye smiled.

And after that, they both continued eating.

-This is some nice deer meat!

Zephyrus commented in the background as he ate with Pyro.

-Meep meep!

Pyro replied, agreeing with him.

*****

After lunch...

Raye headed to the library immediately.

’It’s been a while.’

He thought on the way.

And when he reached his destination...

Everything seemed normal.

The students, the place, the atmosphere—everything.

’I bet they didn’t even notice I was missing.’

Raye thought as he stood in front of the library entrance, looking at the students.

And then...

Tap—

He entered.

And as soon as he walked through the entrance...

"Oh, I haven’t seen you in a while. I thought you went missing or something."

Someone greeted him!

It was the library receptionist.

"..."

Raye was surprised. He hadn’t expected anyone to notice his absence.

Though, acting casually...

"Erm, something unexpected happened."

He replied.

"Well, I can see that. This month has been pretty chaotic, after all."

The receptionist responded, shaking her head.

"Anyway, glad to see you back. I enjoy watching students like you who are diligent about reading."

Then she added quickly.

"See you around."

She said with a smile.

"Yeah, thanks."

Raye responded.

And with that...

Tap- tap- tap—

Their small talk ended.

’I didn’t expect someone to approach and talk to me. That’s new.’

Raye thought.

Tap- tap- tap—

Then he continued toward his usual table.

...

At his usual place...

"Hello."

Lena was there.

"Pretty shocking to see you here. I thought you wouldn’t be around for a few days."

She said.

After sitting opposite her...

"Meh, I’m pretty behind with studies, and I don’t have anything else to do anyway."

Raye replied.

"Hmm..."

Lena looked at him for a few moments.

And then...

"Ask me anything if you get stuck. I’ll help you."

She said that casually before returning to her book!

"..."

Raye was silent. He didn’t expect her to offer help.

But then, nodding his head...

"Okay, I’ll do that. Thanks."

He replied, grateful.

*****

Raye studied with Lena for over four hours.

He frequently asked her questions, knowing the opportunity to study with one of the most intelligent main characters didn’t come by often.

So he took full advantage of it...

Oh, and by now, he’d stopped worrying too much about interacting with the main characters.

His life had already been threatened too many times for the butterfly effect to scare him anymore.

Not that he intended to change the story.

He just figured if it was beneficial to him and the relationship was good, why not, right?

Anyway, that’s that...

Currently, Raye was on his way to Kyle’s shop.

"I wonder how he’s doing."

He mumbled while walking.

’I’ve been gone for a month, so the shop has probably changed a lot.’

Raye thought curiously.

And feeling expectant...

Tap- tap- tap—

He hurried his steps.

And after a while...

Tap-

He reached Kyle’s shop.

*****

"..."

Raye was speechless as he looked at Kyle’s shop.

The small stand that had been there a month ago was gone.

Instead...

There was a full-on bar standing in front of him!

’Am I in the wrong place?’

Raye wondered.

But as if to answer his question...

"Brother Raye!"

Kyle came out of the building and ran toward him.

"..."

"Welcome! Let’s go inside!"

Kyle said after reaching him.

"This is the shop?"

Raye asked, surprised.

"Heh."

And proudly...

"Yep."

Kyle replied with a smile.

And as if that wasn’t enough of a shock...

"Surprised?"

Devin suddenly came out of the bar and approached Raye!

’What the fuck is going on?’

Raye asked in his head.

...

...

Sitting inside the bar, Kyle and Devin explained everything.

Apparently, after Raye went missing, Kyle became desperate to find him. He tried risky trades and partnerships for money.

Money that he would use to search for Raye.

But then Devin, hearing about this, stopped Kyle.

Devin understood Kyle’s feelings but knew nothing good would come from his actions.

Luckily, as a noble—even from a declining family—Devin had connections to merchants.

And so, he teamed up with Kyle. Kyle used his family’s resources, while Devin reached out to his contacts.

At first, people were reluctant to partner with or invest in them because of their age.

But they changed opinions with their performance.

And knce given the opportunity, they expanded the business rapidly!

"So now, Devin and I own the shop."

Kyle concluded.

"Crazy..."

Raye mumbled, stunned by their story.

Then looking at them...

"So this place isn’t fully paid off yet?"

Raye asked.

Devin nodded.

"Yeah, we mortgaged some of my family’s land to get a loan. We need to pay it off by the end of the year."

Then he explained.

"I told him he didn’t have to do that, but he insisted."

Kyle added.

Looking at Devin...

"Thanks."

Raye thanked him.

"It’s nothing."

Devin replied casually.

But then...

Fwip—

Raye took out a cloth bag from his spatial bag.

Thud—

And then he tossed it onto the table.

"...?"

Kyle and Devin were confused.

Before they could ask...

"Pay off the loan."

Raye said that.

Hearing his words...

"Huh?"

Kyle’s eyes widened.

Fwish—

The be quickly grabbed the bag and opened it!

"Wha..."

Revealing rare gemstones worth up to 100 gold coins each—and there were over ten of them inside!

"..."

Kyle was speechless.

"Are these from the dungeon you got stuck in?"

Devin asked, astonished.

"Yep."

Then Raye replied.

"We can’t accept this. You risked your life for it."

Kyle protested.

But with just a shrug...

"Just consider it my investment in the business."

Raye said that.

"And as thanks for helping the Old Man, I heard you guys took care of him a lot."

He added with a soft smile.

"..."

Kyle and Devin frowned, exchanging glances.

But after thinking about it...

Devin nodded his head.

Then finally...

"Fine."

Kyle said that!

He wasn’t confident about taking this much from Raye before.

But now, it’s different.

"I’ll make sure you profit from this. I’ll make you rich."

Kyle said, his voice filled with resolve.

And with a smirk on his face...

"Great, that’s exactly what I’m expecting for you guys to do."

Raye replied casually.

*****

After that, Raye ate together with Devin and Kyle.

They also gave him a tour of the shop...

It was just a one-floor building, but to Raye, it was still impressive—especially since he knew where this shop had started.

’This didn’t happen in the game.’

Raye thought to himself.

Something outside the original game scenario had occurred, but nevertheless...

"Haha..."

He couldn’t help but chuckle softly, feeling genuinely happy about it.

’The shop became a tavern, huh.’

Raye mused, looking around.

The place was lively and filled with people.

Some were drinking ale, while others enjoyed roasted meat.

’The atmosphere is nice.’

The customers looked cheerful, and the shop was spotless.

"..."

Raye smiled silently.

Then, as he turned his gaze toward Kyle, he felt a sense of pride well up inside him.

His eyes shifted to Devin, and a wave of gratitude followed.

’These guys weren’t significant in the game, but look at them now. They’re this talented.’

He thought with admiration.

...

... Enjoy exclusive adventures from empire

After eating for a bit...

Raye left the shop and immediately headed back to the cabin.

And by the time he got there...

It was already about 7 PM.

In his normal routine, Raye would’ve started his repair of the cabin as soon as he came back.

But today...

"Ehhh..."

He’s feeling kinda lazy to do it.

Like, he’s not just feeling it...

And luckily for him...

"Hello!"

Jerusha arrived early!

"Oh, you’re not working?"

She asked, seeing Raye just sitting on a tree stump.

"Nope, I don’t have the energy to."

Raye replied, shaking his head.

"Well, you do need to rest."

Jerusha said.

"..."

Then Raye frowned.

Just thinking about resting and not doing anything... It’s already boring him.

So instead...

"What if I just show you the new skills that I created?"

He suggested that.

And hearing his words...

"What?!"

Jerusha’s eyes shone brightly.

And excitedly...

"Yes, show me!"

She exclaimed that.