The Survival of the Third-rate Villain

After Jerusha left, I immediately headed back to the cabin.

Pyro came home with me.

And as soon as I lay on the bed...

"..."

I immediately fell asleep.

I was already exhausted, after all.

*****

The next morning...

"Haaa..."

I woke up feeling kind of refreshed.

-Meep!

Pyro greeted me.

"Good morning to you too."

I replied, smiling at him.

After that, I fixed my bed and headed outside.

I was going to make breakfast for the old man and myself.

And as I was in the middle of doing so...

"Early again, huh."

The old man appeared, clearly just waking up.

"Good morning."

I greeted him.

"Hmm."

The old man nodded sleepily as a response.

But then...

"Huh?"

He suddenly became sober.

"What's that?"

He asked, pointing at my shoulder... To be exact, he's pointing at Pyro.

'Oh, I remember Jerusha saying spirits would be visible to most people upon making a contract with someone.'

Though if they wanted to, spirits could hide themselves and would only be visible to those with high mana sensitivity.

Anyway...

"A spirit."

I answered the old man's question casually.

"..."

He was speechless, rubbing his eyes as if to check whether he was hallucinating.

Soon, though...

"Argh! Whatever!"

He gave up trying to understand and moved on.

"His name is Pyro, by the way."

I said to the old man.

And after that...

"Breakfast is ready."

We ate breakfast together.

-Meep!

Pyro joined us, feeding off my mana.

*****

After eating, I immediately washed myself in the nearby river.

I then put on my uniform and went on my way to the academy.

-Meep!

Pyro was with me, of course.

"Hide yourself."

I said to Pyro as I ran through the halls of Xapham Hall.

-Meep!

He replied, complying.

Fwiif~

After that, his presence immediately became hard to detect.

"That's good."

I mumbled with a slight smile.

And with that, I attended my first class.

'Alchemy'

...

...

Unlike yesterday, the Alchemy class started peacefully.

Professor Jacqueline discussed the effects of herbs and how to prepare them properly.

It was something I already knew from the game, so it was relatively easy.

I listened well to the lectures and answered questions.

I actively participated in the class to show that I'm serious about learning, and soon enough...

"Good job, Raye."

Professor Jacqueline started warming up to me!

'Let's keep this up.'

I thought to myself as I continued listening to the lesson.

And after a few hours...

"That's all for today, you are all dismissed."

The class came to an end peacefully as well.

*****

"That's cute."

Devin said, pointing at Pyro, who was resting on my shoulder.

"You can see him?"

I asked, frowning at him.

"It was hard, but I could feel something on your shoulder. So I concentrated really hard, then I saw that."

Devin explained.

"Why? Am I not supposed to?"

And then he asked.

"..."

I was speechless. He did something I struggled to do in a matter of minutes!

'This guy is something else.'

I thought.

Moving on, I shook my head...

"No, I was just surprised."

Then I answered his question.

"This guy's name is Pyro, a spirit I'm contracted with."

I added, kind of bragging.

Then, with a smile on his face...

"Hi, Pyro."

Devin said, waving at Pyro on my shoulders.

-Meep!

Pyro greeted him back.

"Wow, you're contracted with a spirit now. That's so cool!"

Devin exclaimed, turning his attention back to me. He genuinely looks surprised and impressed.

"Meh."

I just shrugged my shoulders at his words.

I didn't do something noteworthy, there's a lot of spirit mages in this academy, after all.

And all of them are stronger than me...

'I'm nothing special.'

Anyway...

Devin and I were on our way to Kyle.

It was lunchtime again, and we planned to eat there.

It's not fun being alone, so I just let Devin come with me whenever.

His company isn't too bad once you get used to how loud he is.

*****

After lunch, Devin and I went back to Xapham Hall to take our remaining classes.

I listened well to the lessons—they were as interesting as yesterday's.

I thought I'd be bored having to go to school again at my age, but the academy's subjects really fascinate me.

Anyway, after school...

I immediately headed to the library.

And right now, I'm reading books about spirit magic, hoping they could help me with the assignment Jerusha left for Pyro and me.

'She gave me until Sunday to create a skill with Pyro.'

Jerusha said she had something to do for a while and wouldn't be able to meet me.

'Though, I know she's helping the main character solve the first act, given that she's in the same year as the mastermind.'

Moving on...

"..."

I continued reading.

-Meep!

I let Pyro jump around the study table.

Just then...

"A spirit, huh."

I heard a familiar voice.

It was Lena.

"Got contracted with that little guy recently?"

She asked.

"How did you know?"

-Meep?

I asked back, as did Pyro.

Then with a smirk on her face...

"The books you're reading make it obvious."

Lena answered.

'Really observant.'

I thought, nodding at her.

"You're right."

-Meep!

I replied to her, as did Pyro.

"Of course, I'm always right."

Lena declared.

"..."

I just looked at her for a few seconds, staring in disbelief.

Fwip-

Then I went back to reading.

"Hey, stop ignoring me!"

Lena exclaimed, but I focused on the book in front of me.

*****

After spending a few hours in the library, I headed back to the cabin.

There...

"Right on time, dinner's ready."

The old man said as I caught him preparing the table.

"Let me help."

I said, giving him a hand.

-Meep!

Pyro just accompanied me the whole time.

After that, we ate dinner—the three of us, with Pyro feeding off my mana again.

...

...

The old man and I talked about what happened at school while we ate.

Today was just a normal day, so there wasn't much to talk about.

And after having dinner...

"I'll be on my way."

He headed to bed.

"Rest well."

I said to him before leaving the cabin and entering the northern forest.

*****

At the forest...

"Let's start, Pyro."

-Meep!

Pyro and I practiced and experimented on a lot of things, trying to create a special skill.

But after about an hour...

Poof-

"..."

-...

We didn't make any progress.

"This is hard."

I mumbled.

-Meep...

Pyro agreed, looking as dejected as me while perched on my right shoulder.

Nevertheless...

"Let's try again."

-Meep!

We didn't stop.

We continued, again and again!

Until my mana pool was drained and I was exhausted.

...

Around 11 P.M.

"Ugh, sleepy."

I mumbled as I returned back to the cabin.

-Meep...

Pyro was tired as well.

I immediately went to bed, and within seconds of closing my eyes...

"..."

I fell asleep.

...

....

This new routine with Pyro continued for days.

Before I knew it...

Sunday arrived.