The first accusation said that during the entrance test, Arthur’s Magic Power crystal showed an absolute F-Class result. In the entire history of magic, there had never been a case like that where someone could cast high-level magic. So the so-called Forbidden Spell had to be nothing more than an illusion created with some ancient magic scroll.

The second accusation gave a detailed description of how Arthur had [shamelessly] used goblin alchemy explosives in Shadow Forest yesterday to kill Magical Beast, trying to prove that he had no real combat magic ability at all.

As for the third accusation, it was the most damaging one of all.

The article claimed that Arthur’s very existence was an insult to every true mage who worked hard, studied seriously, and trained through long meditation. It also said he was a serious stain on the thousand-year reputation of Lancelot Royal Academy of Magic.

At the very end of the article, in huge bold letters, was an extremely arrogant challenge:

[To protect the dignity of magic, and to erase the shame of the Dawn Class!!]

[On behalf of all true mages, I formally demand that the academy give Arthur a public Magic Power test and a real combat duel!!]

[If Arthur does not dare accept, then he should get out of Lancelot Academy immediately!!]

This article, full of extreme and provocative words, was like throwing a barrel of gunpowder into the academy. It instantly set off the noble students who thought highly of themselves and the mages who proudly called themselves geniuses.

In this academy, where rank meant everything, who could accept a bottom-level trash suddenly standing above everyone else?

The fire of jealousy Andrew started had finally turned the whole academy’s hostility toward Arthur into open anger.

"Get out of the academy!"

"We don’t accept liars!"

No one knew who shouted it first from the crowd. But right after that, more and more students raised their fists, and wave after wave of angry shouting rose up, as if it would swallow Arthur whole.

Just when the crowd was at its peak and things were about to get completely out of control.

A small figure in red forced her way in from outside the crowd.

"Everyone shut up!!" Lilian’s eyes were red as she spread her arms wide and stood firmly in front of Arthur, like a mother hen protecting her chick.

Elena followed close behind, walking over quickly with her Mithril Wand already in hand, cold air rising from it.

"You idiots are all being used by that coward Andrew!!" Lilian shouted at the crowd.

But a herd in a frenzy could not hear any voice of reason.

"Your Highness, are you really going to protect this liar too?!" a noble upperclassman shouted back bravely.

"Exactly!! If he’s not a liar, then let him accept a public duel!!"

Facing hundreds of hostile and challenging eyes, Arthur still stood there calmly, his expression so peaceful that it was almost unbelievable.

He was not angry. He was not panicked. Even his breathing did not change at all. He simply looked quietly at the red words on the notice board.

Then, under everyone’s stunned gaze—

Arthur let out a soft laugh.

It was a laugh full of real pleasure, like a hunter seeing a stupid bear walk into his trap on its own.

"Public duel??" Arthur slowly pulled his hand out of his pocket, his long fingers stretching lightly in the sunlight.

"If you’re all in such a hurry to die..."

"Then if I don’t give you what you want, wouldn’t that make me seem very rude?"

Arthur’s lazy, amused laugh sounded especially sharp in the dead-silent central square.

The morning breeze stirred a few fallen leaves and carried them slowly past the Obsidian notice board. The hundreds of noble students, who had just been shouting in anger, all froze for a moment after hearing those words.

None of them had expected that this Double-F Failure, despised by everyone, would dare speak to them in such a superior and mocking tone.

Who did he think he was?

"How arrogant!!"

"How dare you insult the entire Dawn Class, you damn liar!!"

"Get him into the duel arena and break both his legs!!"

After that brief silence, the crowd exploded into angry shouting even louder than before.

Those proud young mages were shaking with rage, wishing they could smash Arthur into a pile of flesh with a Fireball right then and there.

Lilian nervously spread her arms wide, glaring fiercely at the students around them like an angry little cat.

Elena tightened her grip on the Mithril Wand. Ice-blue Magic Power was already flowing quietly around the tip of her wand, ready to cast Ice Wall at any moment.

But Arthur, standing in the center of the storm, still kept both hands in his pockets, as if all the insults around him were nothing more than the buzzing of flies.

Just then, the crowded students suddenly split apart on both sides, like Moses parting the Red Sea.

Along with the strong and unpleasant smell of expensive noble perfume, a figure in a brand-new bright red mage robe strode forward.

It was Andrew Walter, the same one who had been scared badly enough to wet himself yesterday in Shadow Forest.

At this moment, Andrew had the twisted smile of a petty winner on his face. A few older students followed behind him, and one of them was proudly holding up a scroll made of parchment that gave off clear magical waves.

Andrew stopped less than three meters away from Arthur and pointed at him proudly with his chin.

"Since you didn’t run back to your little country farm with your tail between your legs, I guess that means you still have a tiny bit of laughable courage," Andrew said with a cold sneer. He grabbed the parchment scroll from one of his followers and snapped it open in front of Arthur.

"Arthur, if you still have even a little dignity as a mage, then sign this challenge letter!!"

Andrew spoke loudly on purpose so everyone in the square could hear every word.

"This is a formal duel challenge, already approved by Dean Beck!!"

"Three days from now, at the academy’s largest open-air arena!!"

"You must face three top geniuses from the Dawn Class in a row!!"

"If you lose, or if you don’t dare show up, then in front of the whole school you must admit that you’re a liar who cheated with alchemy explosives, and then get out of Lancelot Academy immediately!!"

Andrew proudly read out the rules of the challenge, as if he could already see Arthur kneeling on the ground and begging for mercy.

The students around them immediately burst into cheers, all looking at Arthur with mocking excitement.

Face three geniuses in a row??

For any new student, that was an impossible and hopeless challenge. The moment Lilian heard that condition, her face turned pale with anger.

"Andrew, you shameless coward! This is just a dirty war of attrition!!" the little princess shouted angrily, but Andrew cut her off with a sneer.

"Your Highness, he said it himself. He didn’t want to seem rude." Andrew gave a smug shrug.

Arthur ignored Andrew’s jumping and yelling. Instead, he narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at the open parchment.

At the bottom of the large challenge letter were dozens of elegant signatures written close together. Beside each name was a red wax seal marking one of the major noble families of the Kingdom of Oran.

There was the crest of House Wrathlion, the seal of House Silver-Eagle, and of course the Walter family’s Blazing Rose Standard.

This was not just a simple student duel.

It was a killing net woven together by the sons and daughters of the Kingdom of Oran’s highest noble families, all meant to crush Arthur.

And behind Andrew, there might even be the shadow of his ruthless and scheming father—the kingdom’s Minister of Finance.

Seeing through all of it, Arthur suddenly lifted the corner of his mouth in a clear, mocking smile.

"So much noise just to get a signature. You even needed to drag dozens of families into it to feel brave." In Arthur’s deep black eyes was the kind of look someone gives a complete fool.

"So this is the kind of upbringing the Walter family has—wasting time on cheap little tricks like this."

Those words landed like a loud slap across Andrew’s face.

"Stop acting tough!!" Andrew roared in anger, pulling a fancy feather pen from his robe and shoving it toward Arthur.

"If you’re a real man, then sign your worthless name right now!!"

"In three days, I’ll make you show your true face in front of the whole school!!"