Free Web NovelChapter 26: Chapter 26: Andrew Peed His Pants
Lilian’s little face was bright red as she charged out of the crowd like an angry little lion.
The young princess’s long golden hair seemed to rise slightly with anger. Because her emotions were so intense, tiny sparks of Fire Element magic even began to appear in the air around her.
"Have you no shame?!" Lilian pointed right at Andrew’s nose and exposed him in public without holding back.
"You were the one who got so scared by the Magical Beast that you peed your pants! Then you abandoned us and ran away crawling and stumbling!"
"And now you actually have the nerve to slander Arthur here?!"
"Did you even wash that piss smell off yourself, ’young master’ of the Walter family?!"
The moment Lilian said that, the whole square fell into dead silence.
Then a few students who could not hold it in let out quiet, badly suppressed snickers.
"Peed his pants??"
"Oh my God, seriously? The son of the Minister of Finance..."
The students around them did not dare laugh out loud, but the whispers between them, along with the strange looks they kept throwing toward Andrew’s legs, made him feel even worse than being killed.
Andrew’s face instantly changed from red to a dark purplish color, then turned deathly pale.
"You... you’re lying!!" Andrew shouted in anger, jumping up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Under normal circumstances, he would never have dared yell at the little princess of the Kingdom of Oran. But at this moment, under the double blow of humiliation and jealousy, Andrew had completely lost his mind.
"That was swamp water! Not pee!" Andrew roared hysterically, trying to defend himself with that weak excuse.
"And that Arthur!!" Andrew suddenly turned his head, his hateful eyes fixed on the black-haired boy standing not far away.
"If you’ve got guts, then step forward!!"
"What’s so impressive about hiding behind a woman?!"
"You’re a liar who got where you are through dirty tricks. You don’t deserve to be a mage at all!"
Hearing those harsh insults, Lilian completely exploded with anger.
"I’m going to burn that filthy mouth of yours to ashes today!" the little princess shouted. She raised her small wand sharply, and a bright red fireball instantly formed at the tip.
The students around them quickly backed away in fear, afraid of getting caught up in the anger of an A-Class mage.
But just as Lilian was about to throw the fireball right at Andrew’s annoying face, a long, pale but very strong hand gently rested on her shoulder.
"Arthur?" Lilian froze for a moment. She turned her head and looked at the boy stopping her, confused.
Arthur still had that maddeningly calm expression on his face. He did not even glance at the furious Andrew.
"Let them be," Arthur said. His voice was not loud, but in the noisy square, it sounded unusually clear.
"But... but they said those things about you!" Lilian’s eyes were already red with anger and grievance.
"If a stray dog on the street barks madly at me, do I have to get down on the ground and bark back at it too?" Arthur yawned and said it in a lazy, almost sleepy tone, but the words hit like a hammer.
Stray dog.
Arthur did not even see Andrew as a real person. In his eyes, this kind of NPC, who could only vent his useless rage with insults, was not even worth a 1st-Level spell.
"The truth of magic has never been something you can shout out with your mouth." Arthur patted Lilian on the head and casually put out the fireball at the tip of her wand.
"Come on. I’m starving. Tonight I want the grilled ribs from the academy cafeteria."
After saying that, Arthur put his hands in the pockets of his robe and slowly walked past Andrew and the crowd of onlookers.
From beginning to end, Arthur did not give Andrew a single real glance. That deep, complete indifference hurt far more than any cruel curse ever could.
Andrew stood there frozen, feeling like a clown putting on a desperate performance on stage while the audience ignored him completely. His handsome face was twisted to the limit.
"Arthur! Stop right there!" Andrew let out a furious roar and rushed forward, ready to go all out against Arthur.
But he had barely taken one step.
A freezing wind suddenly sliced past Andrew’s scalp.
Crack... crack...
A clear Ice Wall made of bitter cold ice suddenly rose from the ground and blocked his way completely.
The temperature around them dropped by more than ten degrees in an instant.
Andrew shivered all over and turned his head stiffly. Elena was looking at him coldly.
In the eyes of this S-Class genius girl, there was not the slightest trace of friendship now. There was only chilling disgust and contempt.
"Andrew, put away that pathetic jealousy of yours," Elena said. Her voice was as cold as ancient ice that never melts.
"I know better than you whether Arthur is a liar or not."
"And the way you look right now is disgusting."
After saying that, Elena even frowned in disgust, as if just looking at Andrew was enough to dirty her eyes.
She lifted her chin proudly and followed after Arthur, leaving Andrew standing there alone in front of the crystal-clear Ice Wall.
The students around him, who had been agreeing with Andrew just a moment ago, all fell silent. No matter how foolish they were, they could see that something was wrong.
If Arthur really were just a cheating trash, how could the proud "Academy Ice Rose" defend him so strongly?
Humiliation, anger, bitterness, jealousy... all kinds of dark emotions kept growing and boiling inside Andrew’s heart. In the end, they turned into a poisonous fire that wanted to tear Arthur apart completely.
"Good... very good..." Andrew stared in the direction Arthur had gone, his eyes bloodshot with rage.
His nails dug deep into the soft flesh of his palm, and bright red blood dripped onto the white stone floor.
"Since all of you insist on protecting him..."
"Then I’ll make sure this liar loses everything in front of the whole academy!"
Andrew suddenly turned around and strode toward the academy’s academic affairs office, with his frightened followers hurrying after him.
...
Nothing happened that night.
Arthur enjoyed a nice meal of grilled ribs, then went back to his dorm and had a great night’s sleep. He was even building a brand-new 3rd-Level control spell model in his dreams.
But when the morning sun once again lit up Lancelot Royal Academy of Magic, a storm aimed at Arthur had already fully taken shape.
...
Academy Central Square.
There stood a huge Obsidian magic notice board. Normally, it was only used for important school announcements or to post the schedule for public lectures by senior Archmagus.
But this morning, hundreds of students had packed tightly in front of it. From time to time, shocked gasps and heated arguments could be heard from the crowd.
When Arthur passed by the square, yawning and slowly rubbing his eyes, he immediately sensed that something was wrong with the atmosphere.
Every student who saw him coming quickly stepped aside as if they had seen a plague, making a wide path for him. And the looks in their eyes were full of contempt, suspicion, mockery, and anger.
"Look, the big liar is here."
"He actually dares to show his face?"
"He’s brought shame to the entire Kingdom of Oran!"
The sharp, nasty whispers buzzed around Arthur’s ears like flies. Arthur stopped walking and lazily looked up at the huge Obsidian notice board, following everyone’s gaze.
At the very top of the board, someone had used glaring red magic dye to write a long article. The red letters shone strangely in the sunlight, as if they had been written in blood.
Arthur narrowed his eyes slightly. The title was huge and clearly meant to stir people up.
Shame of the Dawn Class: The Shocking Truth Behind the Double-F Failure’s Fake Forbidden Spell!!
The corner of Arthur’s mouth lifted a little. What kind of cheap clickbait headline from some third-rate tabloid was this?
With mild amusement, he quickly scanned the contents of the article. Although it was signed anonymously, the hateful tone in every line made it obvious even without thinking hard that it was Andrew’s work.
The article went on at great length about Arthur’s [three great crimes].
