The Survival of the Third-rate Villain

"Ugh, fuck..."

Raye cursed as soon as he woke up.

-Meep!

-What's with you passing out again and again? Are you sick?

And just like before, he was greeted by Pyro and Zephyrus.

"I'm not sick. I just need a proper break."

Raye answered as he slowly stood up.

And what he was saying was true!

The reason Raye passed out so often was because he couldn't get proper rest—ever since he fell in the hole!

I mean, how could he?

There were monsters everywhere, and there was no safe place to rest!

Even when he was sleeping, he couldn't get comfortable because he needed to watch out for unexpected situations!

Raye actually just needed to rest!

Anyway, moving on...

"Ugh, food..."

Raye was really hungry when he woke up.

He immediately headed toward the Giant Boar's body.

And upon reaching it...

Swish—

He cut off a chunk of its meat and immediately roasted it with Pyro's power.

Fwip—

Raye didn't forget to season it, of course.

And after cooking it...

Nom—

He immediately started eating.

Gulp—

-Meep!

-I want some too.

Pyro and Zephyrus joined him.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

*****

After eating his fill...

Raye left the mansion and headed to the spring to drink water.

Outside the mansion...

-Ahhh, it's been so long since I've been out of the mansion!

Zephyrus exclaimed, flying around excitedly.

He didn't care that they were buried underground.

-Meep!

Pyro jumped on the ground, doing his best to follow Zephyrus.

And noticing that...

-Have a lift, little one.

Swoosh—

Zephyrus summoned a gust of wind and carried Pyro with it!

And with that, they were now both flying in the air!

-Meeeeep!

Pyro was having a blast.

And seeing that...

"..."

Raye couldn't help but smile.

'Now, he won't be alone even when I'm resting.'

He thought.

Then, looking at Zephyrus...

"Are you a resident of the mansion or something?"

Raye asked that. He was curious about this for a while now.

Hearing his question...

-Hmm?

Zephyrus stopped flying around and looked back at Raye.

-You could say that.

He said.

-To be precise, I was the guardian of this mansion.

And he casually added that!

Curious and having nothing better to do...

"What happened?"

Raye followed up with a question.

And with a casual smile on his face...

-It happened maybe about a hundred years ago...

Zephyrus began telling his story.

-The residents of this mansion were nobles, and I was like a deity for them.

-I protected them from harm and helped them grow. That's why I was given the title of guardian.

He said with a bragging tone.

-I was the symbol of this land.

Zephyrus added, smiling sweetly.

But then suddenly, his face turned grim!

-Until that demon bastard showed up.

Zephyrus mumbled.

"..."

Raye was surprised. He could feel an unexplainable shift in Zephyrus' presence.

Then after a small pause, the story continued...

-A fucking demon calling himself a noble invaded our lands.

Zephyrus muttered, anger evident in his voice.

-He massacred the people and cursed the land in a day. And after that, he attacked the mansion!

He exclaimed.

"..."

Raye could only stay silent and listen to him.

-I was about to confront him.

-But to protect me from the demon...

Zephyrus paused briefly...

-The family I was protecting sealed me up in a tin jar so the demon couldn't sense me and I could survive.

And then he continued, a frown on his face.

-They were apologetic the whole time. After all, they were just leaving it to fate for someone to free me.

Zephyrus looked at Raye...

-Then you came and freed me.

And then he said that.

-The next thing I knew, the mansion I once loved had become a dungeon.

-That's all.

"..."

Raye was speechless. He didn't expect such a story from Zephyrus.

'I wonder what would've happened to him if I hadn't transmigrated into this world.'

He thought, looking at the flying white chick in the air.

"I don't know what to say."

Raye said, awkwardly scratching his cheek.

And with a small laugh...

-Don't worry. Just your presence and the fact that you listened to my story is enough.

-Telling you my story made me feel a lot better.

Zephyrus said that to Raye reassuringly.

And at that very moment...

"..."

-...

The bond between them grew stronger.

*****

After their small talk...

Raye drank his fill of spring water and returned to the mansion with the others.

'So Zephyrus was a resident of the mansion, huh.'

'No wonder he knew where the enhancement pills were... He probably knows other secret stuff.'

Raye thought as he walked toward the end of the hallway.

Anyway, after reaching the end...

"Hup! All better."

Raye suited up again.

He changed out his armor since it was heavily damaged from his fight with the Giant Boar.

And after that...

"This should be enough."

He just took a one-handed sword.

'No more dual wielding.'

He thought.

And with all that done...

"I should grind here on the first floor for a little longer."

Raye decided to attack the left and middle rooms again.

*****

(Raye's POV)

I stayed on the first floor for a couple more days.

I trained my skills with Pyro, raising my proficiency with them...

Experience new tales on empire

And honing my control over my new skill. I named it [Blaze], by the way.

Also, Zephyrus and I are working on a special skill.

'Flying sounds good...'

I thought, remembering the times I saw Jerusha fly away from me.

But that kind of skill requires a lot of mana.

And as usual...

'I don't have enough.'

So with that, I decided to work on something else.

*****

It's been 15 days since I left the academy.

I've been killing monster wolves and Kobolds these past few days, and now I'm sick of the sight of them.

For me, dealing with them has become a chore...

You could say that I've now mastered the first floor—if this were a game.

I also asked Zephyrus about the items I could acquire to get stronger...

But he said there were no more on the 1st floor.

After all, this is where they used to greet guests and strangers, so they wouldn't hide things like that here.

He said they hid items like that somewhere else where others couldn't enter.

And that's understandable.

So with no more hesitation...

Tap—

"Time to go."

-Meep!

-Finally! I was dying of boredom here on the first floor!

I climbed up to the 2nd floor of the mansion with Pyro and Zephyrus.