The Survival of the Third-rate Villain

The next day...

"Haaaa, I’m still sleepy."

Raye woke up and immediately fixed his side of the bed.

"Hmm?"

-...

-...

Zephyrus and Pyro are still sleeping, so he just let them be.

And with that...

"Breakfast."

Raye went out of the cabin.

SWAAAA—

And then he started preparing a rabbit stew for everyone.

...

After a while, Raye finished cooking.

And just on time...

"What’s that?"

Old Man Rey came out of the cabin, smelling something nice.

Then, looking at him with a smirk...

"You’ve been cooking for me ever since I came back, so I woke up early to return the favor."

Raye responded.

"Come on, it’s still hot."

And then he invited Old Man Rey to eat with him.

Old Man Rey smiled...

"Okay, I’ll help you prepare the table."

He said.

"Thanks."

Raye replied.

And after laying the table and the utensils...

"Let’s eat."

"Thanks for the food."

They started eating.

-Hmm, that smells nice.

-meep...

Zephyrus came out of the cabin with Pyro riding on his back shortly afterward, and they joined Raye and the old man for breakfast.

*****

Immediately after eating...

Raye washed the dishes and started doing his chores, like chopping logs and whatnot.

Also, he doesn’t plan to go with the old man in the Northern Forest today.

And so, Raye made Zephyrus accompany Old Man Rey in his stead to make sure he’s safe.

-Hmm, well, I do like the forest so I’ll go.

Zephyrus has no problem with it.

Though...

"I don’t need it, I’m not that old!"

Old Man Rey didn’t like the idea that much. He’s 71 years old.

"Zephyrus can use [Wind Blade] too, he’ll be useful."

Raye argued.

And hearing his words...

"Ugh... Fine."

The old man finally agreed to go with Zephyrus.

He doesn’t like wasting arrows after all.

And with that sorted out...

"I’m going now."

-See you later.

Old Man Rey and Zephyrus headed to the Northern Forest.

"Take care, you two. I’ll be going now as well."

Raye said to them, and then he left to go to the library.

And lastly...

-meeep...

Pyro was left alone in the cabin, sleeping on Raye’s bed.

...

...

Around 8 AM...

Raye got into the library...

And inside, he sat on his usual spot.

There were barely any students in there, it was quiet.

Anyway...

Raye picked up books about artifacts and the history of the Rakon Empire from the shelves on the way.

He’s planning to study about the Wallace’s Family Treasure, which he obtained from the dungeon, hoping to uncover its other abilities.

So without wasting any more time...

"Hmm, let’s see..."

Fwip-

Raye got into reading.

...

*****

Four hours later...

"Haaaaa...!"

Raye stretched his body after reading three whole-ass books.

"Ugh."

His body was kinda sore...

"Well, that was interesting."

Fwip-

Raye mumbled, closing the last book he just read.

He didn’t learn much about the other abilities of the Wallace’s Family Treasure.

But he did learn its name!

It was written in the Rakon Empire’s history book.

More than a hundred years ago, the Wallace Family was blooming and was becoming strong, they were known for their spirit guardian, Zephyrus...

And their family treasure, the Celestria!

The people in the past believed that the Celestria changes its form to reflect the heir’s personality.

’They didn’t know that the wielder actually had complete control over its form.’

Raye thought to himself, slightly shaking his head.

Also, apparently...

Ivan’s sword was a treasured sword that was granted to the Wallace Family by the twenty-seventh emperor of the empire when they became a noble!

"No wonder it was sturdy and fancy looking."

Raye muttered.

And then, with a sad smile on his face...

’I’ll use it well, Ivan.’

Raye said that in his head.

...

...

"Lena didn’t come, that’s weird."

Raye said, walking out of the library.

Normally, Lena would join him as he was reading or she would be there waiting before him.

But there was no sign of her in the library today.

Which is weird...

"Hmm, where should I go now?"

But Raye didn’t put much thought into it.

’Lena could take care of herself.’

Raye thought.

Anyway...

"..."

Raye stood silent outside the library, thinking where he should go next.

He’s done studying, but he’s not in the mood yet to head back to the cabin.

After all, it’s only 12 noon...

Raye initially thought of visiting Kyle and Devin in the shop, but they are currently doing a deal this time around.

He knows of this because the two of them had filled him in on their schedule and plans for this week.

So that’s a no go.

But just then...

"Ah."

Raye thought of something else.

He looked in the direction where the Xapham Hall is.

Then opening his mouth...

"I could go and watch the sophomores’ practical examination."

Raye mumbled that.

Their physical examination would start at 1 PM.

So without further ado...

Tap- tap- tap—

Raye started heading there.

*****

Arriving in Xapham Hall, inside of one of the indoor training grounds where the Physical Examination would take...

"Oh, I can see some freshmen students as well."

Raye said that after looking around.

"..."

He received a few glances from the students, but no one really talked about him anymore.

’It seems like my bad reputation is disappearing, that’s nice.’

Raye thought as he tries to find a place to sit on.

And as he was doing that...

"Raye?"

Someone called his name.

Raye recognized the voice, so looking in their direction...

"Sup."

Raye greeted Jerusha with a smile.

"What are you doing here?"

She asked him.

"I’ve got nothing to do."

Raye replied simply.

"Also, to cheer for you."

And then he added that with a grin.

Hearing his words...

"Is that so?"

Jerusha raised her brow.

"Mhm."

Raye just silently shrugged as a response.

And seeing him do that...

"Whatever."

Jerusha said with a smile on her face.

"Come take a seat with me."

And then she invited him.

"Where? You’re standing too, just like me."

Raye said.

And while smirking...

"Just follow me."

Jerusha responded to him confidently.

Tap- tap- tap—

She started walking away before Raye could even respond.

"Meh."

So Raye just followed after her.

Tap- tap- tap—

...

After walking for a bit...

"Here, see!"

Jerusha stopped in front of an empty resting area.

Which was strange...

Considering that the room was packed, with some even standing! And the resting area had benches that could seat six people!

"..."

Raye immediately noticed that something was weird.

So he looked around.

And just as he expected...

"Ugh, who’s that?"

"That’s that bastard freshman, right?"

"What was his name, Roy?"

He saw a lot of male students glaring at him!

’Ugh, so they’re reserving this whole area for Jerusha, huh.’

Raye thought, frowning slightly.

"For some reason, I can always find myself an empty place to sit on."

And then he heard Jerusha proudly and innocently declared that.

Bringing his attention back to her...

"Come sit."

Raye saw Jerusha sitting on a bench.

Pat- pat-

She was signalling him to sit beside her.

’Is she doing this on purpose?’

Raye thought, feeling the stares at him.

But then, shaking his head...

’Nah, she just really doesn’t know most of the students like her.’

Raye said that in his head. Jerusha’s character is like that, after all.

"Haaa..."

So after just letting out a sigh...

Fwoop-

Raye sat down beside Jerusha.

"Hehe."

Jerusha laughed lightly when he did so.

’Well, at least she’s happy.’

Raye thought.

He decided to just focus his attention on Jerusha, ignoring the prickling stares at him.

*****

After a while...

The first part of the sophomores’ practical examination began.

The task was the same as the freshmen’s.

They also need to make the professors leave the circle beneath them, but the only difference was that the professors had a much larger area to move in!

Anyway, just like yesterday...

Sariel handled the event with the other professors, the headmaster was just watching...

And with that, the order started with the [D Class].

Jerusha, well, she’s in [S Class]...

It was obvious.

And so, it’ll be a while before her turn.

"You sure you’ll wait with me?"

Jerusha asked, looking at Raye.

"Yeah, why?"

Raye responded.

"Well, it’s just that... Isn’t it a waste of your time?"

And then Jerusha followed that, slightly embarrassed.

"It’s not a waste."

Raye casually answered.

And then to reassure her...

"You can just teach me more about spirit magic while we wait."

Raye added that.

"Hmm, okay."

Jerusha smiled, hearing his words.

"Thanks."

She said.

And Raye just shrugged his shoulders as a response.

...

Raye and Jerusha talked the whole time, passing by time.

They mainly talked about spirits and academics, but they had fun.

And then suddenly...

"S Class, it’s your turn."

They just heard Sariel announce that!

"Oh?"

"Huh?"

Raye and Jerusha were shocked.

"I didn’t notice."

Raye mumbled.

"Me too."

And Jerusha replied.

"Anyway, I’ll be going first!"

Then she added that, immediately standing up.

Though, instinctively...

Fwip-

Raye grabbed Jerusha’s hand!

"Huh?"

Jerusha was surprised.

"Huh?"

Raye was surprised as well.

He doesn’t know why he did that!

But then, looking at Jerusha...

"Umm, good luck."

Raye said that, letting go of her hand.

And meekly...

"Thank you..."

Jerusha responded.

And after that...

Tap- tap- tap—

She hurriedly walked toward the arena!

After she was gone...

"Ugh... Why did I do that?"

Raye cringed in embarrassment.

He’s feeling a lot of intense stares at him, but he just ignored them all.

On the other hand...

"..."

Jerusha was slightly blushing.

Thump- thump- thump—

Her heart was beating quite fast.

She doesn’t know why...

Raye’s words of encouragement played in her head again and again.

She was grinning ear to ear.

And while she was like that...

Tap-

Jerusha stepped onto the arena.

"Fuuu..."

And then, she volunteered first in the magic combat section!

...

...

...

BOOM!!!

Jerusha won immediately as soon as the match started.

Her time was even faster than Raye!

She even sent the professor fighting for the magic combat section into a time out because they needed healing!

’Oh no, I got too excited.’

Jerusha thought, worried.

But when she looked around...

"..."

And saw Raye looking at her with thumbs up...

Jerusha’s worries disappeared.

"Hehe."

And a smile appeared on her face.