My System Just Exploded, And You Ask Me to Become a God?-Chapter 34 --Underestimated

Everyone present fell into a heavy silence.

As the saying goes, "One sentence awakens the dreamer"—

They had all been too caught up in their anger to truly consider the strength of the Rogue Thief Kid.

That's right. The strongest among them was only a mid elite mage.

Even if they wanted to take action against the Rogue Thief Kid, they likely weren't a match for him at all.

Meanwhile, the faculty and students of Ilan Royal Academy wore awkward expressions, their feelings incredibly complicated.

After all, this Rogue Thief Kid had stirred up trouble at the academy for years.

Almost everyone had suffered at his hands—

Yet strangely, no one had ever been seriously hurt.

It felt as if the Rogue Thief Kid had been deliberately provoking them... to force them to grow stronger.

Someone suggested requesting the help of the First Grand Duke Ilan, but Headmaster Simar firmly rejected the idea.

Rogue Thief Kid was far too terrifying. They didn't want to risk provoking someone like him.

In the end, it was Old Mage Peter who stepped forward.

He borrowed an archmage-rank magical artifact from Bruce.

Everyone was stunned—

The Pyrothian Kingdom had brought out a serious weapon this time!

An archmage-rank magic item, combined with the coordinated effort of so many elite mages,

could potentially even take down an archmage-rank powerhouse!

The people of Ilan Royal Academy silently watched the Pyrothian Kingdom's preparations but did nothing to stop them.

Steward Dulin also brought out an archmage-rank artifact—

a mirror that could dispel illusions and reveal one's true appearance and magic rank.

He winced slightly as he did,

because the mirror consumed a portion of the user's mana each time it was activated.

Once its energy was depleted, it would become just an ordinary mirror.

But there was no helping it.

After all, his young lady had suffered such humiliation—there was no way he could let this go unanswered.

Thus, every student who exited Ilan's Study Hall

was required to undergo inspection by the magic mirror.

A long line soon formed in front of it.

Ilan Royal Academy had neither the will nor the power to stop the process.

Before long, Joad and the other two had joined the line.

Joad stared at the mirror. He knew perfectly well they were searching for him—

yet his heart remained calm.

His concealment technique had reached a level of near-perfection.

And if by chance he were discovered—

well, he could simply silence everyone and eliminate all witnesses.

Harvey was just ahead of him in line and quickly completed the inspection.

Then it was Joad's turn.

Joad walked forward calmly, ready to be tested.

But Steward Dulin, upon glancing at him, waved impatiently.

"You can go. No need for inspection."

...What?

Joad was dumbfounded. He frowned and asked,

"Why not?"

"No reason. Just go."

Steward Dulin waved him off again, clearly uninterested.

After all, he'd tracked Joad numerous times over the years.

He believed he understood Joad completely—there was no point in wasting the mirror's precious energy.

"...Seriously? Everyone else is being checked. Why not me?"

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"Stop wasting time. Just go!"

Steward Dulin snapped and dismissed him, then continued checking the other students.

Wait...

Why?!

Joad was feeling deeply frustrated. He'd spent all that time thinking about how to slip past the mirror...

Only for them to completely ignore him.

Were they underestimating him?

And in front of so many people too—

How humiliating!

Just then, Senior Elsa walked over and tried to comfort him:

"Joad, don't be discouraged. Work hard on your meditation, and next time, maybe they'll test you too!"

Joad looked at her helplessly and replied,

"Senior, if you don't know how to comfort someone... you can choose silence."

"Oho~ Our little Joad is growing up! Even knows how to act shy now~"

...

Joad stood at the back of Ilan Royal Academy's group,

but sensed something was wrong with the atmosphere.

Headmaster Simar had already left to request the presence of the First Grand Duke Ilan.

Everyone was waiting for the mirror to reveal the identity of the Rogue Thief Kid.

Yet after all the inspections, there was still no trace of him.

"This... how is this possible?"

Old Mage Peter from the Pyrothian Kingdom stared in disbelief.

"Rogue Thief Kid... isn't among them?"

Steward Dulin's expression darkened. The mirror had finished inspecting everyone,

yet the result was baffling.

"Could he... have escaped ahead of time?"

Someone guessed.

But they were quickly refuted:

"No way! We've been guarding the area. No one has left!"

"Unless... he used an invisibility spell!"

Invisibility?

Everyone looked at one another. That wasn't just any ordinary magic.

Just then, Headmaster Simar returned—

accompanied by an old man: the First Grand Duke Ilan himself!

Simar took a deep breath and swept his gaze across the crowd,

his eyes lingering on the Pyrothian Kingdom and Mington Principality delegations.

"Everyone... isn't it time we settled some scores?"

Settled scores?

The others looked confused.

"Headmaster Simar, what do you mean by that?"

Someone couldn't help but ask.

Simar's face darkened, his voice laced with anger:

"What do I mean?"

"Someone attacked the students of Ilan Royal Academy!"

"How should we settle that account?"

Old Mage Peter frowned slightly.

"Headmaster Simar, competing for a legacy is normal in these situations."

"Injuries and casualties are to be expected."

Simar let out a cold laugh.

"That may be true."

"But..."

"Why did someone intentionally target and kill our ordinary students?"

"This wasn't just competition—this was murder!"

Hearing this, Steward Dulin finally relaxed a bit.

Thankfully, it had nothing to do with him.

He immediately began escorting blonde Mary away from the brewing chaos.

Mary had indeed attacked, but she hadn't killed anyone.

Simar turned to Old Mage Peter, his tone ice-cold:

"Many of our ordinary students from Ilan Royal Academy were killed."

"How do you Pyrothian Kingdom intend to answer for that?"

Peter's expression shifted.

"Headmaster Simar, what exactly are you implying?"

"Those students are already dead—what more do you want?"

"You're not expecting us to pay with our lives, are you?"

Simar stared at him coldly.

"Pay with your lives? That won't be necessary."

"But your Pyrothian Kingdom must give us an explanation."

Bruce quickly stepped forward to smooth things over:

"Headmaster Simar, I understand your anger."

"This matter—let's talk it through..."

"We can offer Ilan Royal Academy some sort of..."

But before he could finish, he was cut off by Peter.

"Bruce, don't bother!"

Peter roared, his magical aura erupting.

"Simar, don't push your luck!"

"Do you really think the Pyrothian Kingdom wouldn't dare destroy your Ilan Royal Academy?"

The faces of Ilan's faculty and students paled at the threat.

But then—smack!

Peter was sent flying again.

The First Grand Duke Ilan stepped forward, his face ashen with fury.

"What's wrong? Still haven't learned your lesson from last time?"

Seeing Peter slapped away once more, Bruce could only sigh.

Even he and Peter, both elite mages, were no match for a knight of archmage rank.

Peter tried to struggle—

But the Grand Duke's immense aura crushed him to the ground.

"If I don't get an explanation today—none of you are leaving!"

The professors and scholars of Ilan Royal Academy immediately sprang into action,

pinning down the members of Mington Principality and Pyrothian Kingdom.

And then—

the First Grand Duke Ilan struck again, slamming his fist hard into Peter!