The Survival of the Third-rate Villain

"Haaaaaa..."

I yawned after waking up.

It has been two days since I left the academy.

And now, I'm currently in an inn, renting my own room...

No, I haven't reached my destination yet.

We're just in a nameless village...

Before reaching our destination, we need to pass through this place and another forest.

And because we haven't had a comfortable rest for quite a while, we decided to stop by the village and rent a place for the night.

After all, we want to be in top shape before entering the forest, which could be full of bandits or even monsters.

Also, the merchant rented a room for the escorts to use. It's pretty big, but the fact that I'd have to share it made me rent my own room.

I have a few coins to spare, so I didn't mind it that much.

Anyway, after waking up...

"Good morning, Pyro."

I greeted the sleepy Pyro, who was lying on the pillow next to my head.

-Meep...

Pyro responded quietly.

Fwii—

Then he hopped onto my right shoulder.

I fixed my bed after that.

And when I was done...

Creak—

I exited the room to meet with the others.

*****

The inn we're staying at has a restaurant downstairs.

And going there myself to get breakfast...

I encountered Timmy and Reggie.

Just like me, they are escorts for the merchant too.

"Good morning."

"Morning."

They greeted me after seeing me.

In the past two days, I'd gotten close to the other escorts, especially these two, because they're near my real age.

"Good morning."

I greeted them back.

-Meep...

And Pyro did the same. They could see him.

Anyway, I sat down at a table with them, and after that...

We ordered our food.

Though, as we were waiting for our orders...

"Are you guys planning to enter the Mist Forest?"

A resident approached us and asked that. It was an old man waiting for his order too.

"Yes, is there something wrong, mister?"

Reggie asked.

And menacingly...

"You should be careful."

The old man said that.

'He's probably sick in the head.'

I thought, looking at him.

"There's a terrifying monster living in there."

And then the old man added.

"What? What's in there?"

This time, it was Timmy who asked a question.

Looking at him while squinting his eyes...

"I don't know, but people go missing there."

The old man responded in a whispering tome.

"..."

Timmy and Reggie fell silent. They were nervous.

And just then...

"Here's your order."

Our food finally arrived.

Then, looking at the old man and shaking his head...

"Don't take his words seriously. People do go missing in the forest, but it happens rarely. It's probably the doing of a bandit group, not some monster."

The server said that.

"I'm not lying!"

The old man rebutted to the server.

And following that...

The two of them started arguing.

"..."

I ignored them and just ate on my own.

"Ugh, nevermind."

"I'm too hungry for this..."

Timmy and Reggie did the same.

...

...

"I'm full."

I mumbled to myself after eating a simple meal—just two fried eggs and rice.

-Meep!

Pyro, now energetic, said the same. He had just eaten his fill of my mana for the day.

Anyway, after that...

"I'll go on ahead."

I excused myself.

"Oh, see ya!"

"Don't be late later, the boss might get angry."

Timmy and Reggie said.

At their words, I nodded my head...

"Got it."

Then I responded.

And with that...

Tap- tap- tap—

I left the inn.

*****

Outside the inn...

I found myself in a quiet place.

After all...

"..."

I'm currently at the entrance of the so-called Mist Forest.

"It does look eerie, not gonna lie."

I muttered to myself, looking at the forest and remembering the old man's words earlier in the inn.

-Meep...

Pyro thought the same way too.

Anyway, I looked at the surroundings for a while.

And after that...

"[Wind Blade]"

I started using magic to drain my mana.

Fwish—

I'm not really far away from the village, but casting magic here wouldn't cause problems for the residents.

No one's around, after all.

...

...

Thud—

After exhausting my mana, I went back to my room.

And there...

"..."

I meditated.

-Meep! Meep!

Pyro kept guard.

I didn't want to skip training, it'd be such a waste.

I didn't have anything else to do anyway, with no technology around.

*****

After a few hours of meditating...

-Meeeep!

Pyro chirped loudly and broke me out of my stupor.

"Hmm?"

I slowly opened my eyes. Looking at Pyro...

"Is it time already?"

I asked him.

-Meep!

Then Pyro replied, nodding his head.

At his response...

"Hup..."

I immediately stood up and started preparing my stuff.

After I was done with that...

Fwip-

I wore the cape Old Man Rey gave me.

Creak—

And then I left the room.

Thud—

...

...

Going down the inn...

"Ah, right on time, young sir!"

I saw the merchant we were escorting.

The other escorts and group members were with him too.

So, without further ado, I approached and joined them.

"We're leaving immediately?"

I asked.

And with slanted eyes and a sly smile...

"Of course, time is money, after all."

The merchant answered me.

"..."

'This guy's such a weirdo.'

I thought.

Tap- tap- tap—

And then I left the inn.

Tap- tap- tap—

The others followed suit.

*****

Outside the inn, we checked the carriages and loaded our stuff into them.

And as soon as we were done...

"Let's go!"

-NEIIIGHHH!!!

We resumed our travel.

And as we were leaving though...

"I warned you!"

The old man from earlier this morning appeared and shouted that.

"..."

I frowned as unease settled over me after hearing his words.

But then...

"Whatever."

I just muttered that and ignored it.

...

...

...

A few minutes later...

"..."

We entered the Mist Forest.

And it's creepy as fuck in here, that's for sure.

"Oof, maybe that old man was actually telling the truth."

Timmy then said.

He's in the same carriage as me.

Why? Well, he just wants to talk, and I appreciate some company in times like this.

Anyway...

"..."

Reggie just remained silent.

He's here as well, for the same reason as Timmy.

Just then...

-Meep...

Pyro voiced out his concern as well.

The three of them look really tense.

"Let's stay vigilant."

I said and patted Pyro on the head.

"Got it."

"Roger."

-Meep.

Reggie, Timmy, and Pyro responded in order.

They weirdly follow my words well.

Moving on...

We stayed on guard throughout the journey.

...

...

Though...

"..."

Nothing dangerous actually happened.

The night came peacefully, and we decided to set up camp in the forest.

We're planning to continue our travel tomorrow.

*****

Around 9 P.M.

We finished setting up the camp...

I sat down on a log.

Fwip—

I threw a piece of wood not far in front of me.

And with a flick of my fingers...

"[Ignite]"

Fwoosh—@@novelbin@@

I made a small campfire.

'This is nice...'

I thought as I felt my body heating up.

It's cold as fuck here in the forest, the cape the old man gave me isn't enough.

Anyway, as I was resting...

"Guess there was nothing to worry about, huh."

Timmy approached me and said that. Then he sat beside me.

"Maybe the old man was just trying to scare us off."

Reggie then appeared and sat on my other side.

They look fine now despite being really nervous earlier.

"We didn't encounter any monster or bandit on the way. That's new."

Timmy stated.

And hearing his words...

"Yeah, we're really lucky."

Reggie followed.

They're really happy about the situation.

"..."

It wasn't the case for me, though.

'It's too quiet.'

I thought.

Something feels very off. Not encountering any bandit is one thing.

But not seeing any monster in a place like this? That's just plain suspicious!

'Also, I haven't seen any animals either.'

"There's definitely something wrong here."

I whispered to myself.

-Meep...

And Pyro agreed with my words.

Anyway...

I kept my thoughts to myself.

I don't want to bring unnecessary worry to the others, especially since I can't even back up my words with solid evidence. It's just my gut feeling.

Also...

"..."

"..."

Seeing Reggie and Timmy silent, looking around, I know they notice something is amiss too.

Even the other escorts are aware of this.

So with that...

'Let's just stay alert.'

I thought to myself.

...

*****

Around 11 P.M.

"Reggie, you're up."

Raye woke Reggie from his tent.

"Hmm? Ah..."

Reggie, still sleepy, stretched his whole body and yawned.

"Haaaaa..."

And after that...

"I'm all good now. You can leave it to me."

He said that to Raye.

Raye, feeling extremely tired...

"Got it."

He simply responded and started heading to his tent with Pyro.

He had just finished his watch duty.

And now, he was passing the baton to Reggie to keep an eye out while the others were sleeping.

Anyway, entering his tent...

"Goodnight."

Raye immediately laid down and closed his eyes.

-Meep...

Pyro did the same.

And not long after...

"..."

-...

They fell asleep.

They were sleeping really peacefully.

They were so tired, after all.

And because of that...

Rustle, rustle—

They didn't hear the movements just outside their camp!