Lee Dam's Nemesis
“Ah, the little shits are all huddled together like that.”
Normally, when everyone lines up like this, the atmosphere around them gets serious and everyone stays quiet. But for Lee Dam, that kind of silence had been too much of a breeze.
She poked her hand into her pocket and muttered while scanning her surroundings.
“Did the Magic Tower really have this many mages? We just didn’t know because everyone was holed up in the tower like a hikikomori.”
“…Lee Dam, can you please keep it down a little?”
“Mm?”
The man standing beside her asked carefully. He hadn’t really wanted to say anything, but his seniors had given him subtle hints, so he had no choice but to intervene.
“It hasn’t even started yet.”
“That’s true, but… they’re all staring at us from the other towers.”
“I know. Look, that guy over there is even slightly bowing, right? He’s standing, I bet.”
Lee Dam pointed with her hand. The man was from the Wind Magic Tower. He jumped in surprise and straightened up in a clumsy pose.
The Wind Magic Tower had way more women, so the surrounding mages glared at him with irritation.
“I should’ve been a little more suited to the Water Magic Tower, huh?”
“…”
“The robe color matches my hair perfectly. Right?”
“Haa, please, Lee Dam. I’m begging you. Keep quiet.”
“Tsk.”
Well, at least he listened.
She had no interest in drawing attention. To be honest, she was a little bored, and she also wanted to warn that guy who had been staring at her earlier.
At that moment, the wrinkled old man climbed onto the podium.
It was obvious he held a very important position. Wearing only a single white robe, he was the living symbol of the overall leader of the Magic Tower: the **Archmage**.
“Dear fellow mages of the Magic Tower, today’s meaningful day is about to begin.”
“Haa.”
As expected, Lee Dam didn’t listen from the middle. She didn’t want to hear the principal’s speech either, so she preferred lying face-down in the back while chatting with the teacher.
The surrounding mages gave her a look of slight discomfort for pretending not to listen, but the Iron Magic Tower mages didn’t even care.
They had already long since decided she wasn’t someone worth managing.
It had been about an hour by now.
“Fuck, an hour is fucking long as hell.”
Lee Dam was squatting on the floor, casually doodling.
The floor wasn’t the dirt of our schoolyard; it was grass.
She used her mana to draw detailed pictures on the grass.
“What design should I go with for the next Knight Armor.”
At least for her, that was easy. She had no trouble deciding on a design.
She didn’t follow creators’ works out of respect or awe toward them. That would be stealing.
But taking motifs from them, or paying homage, always resulted in fresh, new designs.
“I wanna make one with Zakku.”
But she couldn’t make it right now.
Zakku had to be a bit sloppy and mass-produced in feel, after all.
The current Knight Armor wasn’t mass-produced; each one was a unique, important item. Adopting a mass-produced design would be a shame.
“Thwip.”
Mana flowed along her fingers, completing the Knight Armor design.
“Should I add horns on top?”
It didn’t sound bad. It was the symbol of the King of Kings, after all.
“Ambiguous…”
Still squatting, Lee Dam called out to the man beside her.
“Hey, look at this.”
“…Lee Dam.”
“How is it? Personally, I think adding horns would be cool, right?”
“Haa, please just—”
“It’s not good at all.”
“Eh?”
The answer came from an unexpected direction. From the Wind Magic Tower mages.
Lee Dam had unintentionally stood at the edge of the line, so they could see her clearly.
“Oi, from another tower—”
“Shut up, you bastard.”
Before Noman could say anything, Lee Dam had hurt his feelings. She looked at the mage beside him and asked.
“You think it’s not good? Then what’s your favorite feeling?”
“I-I think the smooth design without horns is much prettier.”
“Hmm, really? But isn’t it a bit boring?”
“That’s—”
“Exactly.”
At that moment, another Wind Magic Tower mage nodded.
“It’s boring. I think horns are better. But how about attaching them to the shoulders instead of the head?”
“It gives off the feeling of strengthening the armor’s charging power?”
“Exactly.”
“Haa…”
A small smile crept up the corner of Lee Dam’s mouth. The mana doodles divided into two, and each man’s proposal created a different design.
“Perfect. Great idea. Men really do understand each other.”
“…”
“…”
Lee Dam smiled with satisfaction.
It was only natural for otaku.
They got happy when they talked about what they loved.
Lee Dam was exactly like that now.
‘As expected, it’s King. It lights a fire in men’s hearts. It allows for unification, after all?’
Her muttering smile looked quite bright and innocent, like a pure child, in complete contrast to her usual delinquent look.
“…”
“…”
“…”
The gazes of the surrounding male mages focused on Lee Dam. Especially the Iron Magic Tower mages, who had been secretly wishing she would be like this all along.
“Well, then. Next up. It’s time to announce the pre-determined meeting order from each country.”
Finally, the Archmage’s speech time was over. The Archmage stepped back, and the prince of the Gérard Kingdom stepped onto the podium first.
“What the hell? Why are you all suddenly so tense?”
Lee Dam tilted her head, wondering what was going on.
As she slowly stood up, the blonde prince appeared on the podium.
Unlike when she had been listening to the speech, the other mages looked visibly nervous.
Noman briefly explained when she asked.
“We’re finally setting the negotiation order for each country. In practice, the higher the number, the better the deal gets.”
“Hmm?”
Lee Dam crossed her arms and looked at the prince. For a moment, she felt like their eyes had met.
But the prince didn’t seem to notice and immediately began speaking.
“Priority One: Iron Magic Tower.”
As expected, a cheer suddenly erupted from the Iron Magic Tower.
“Waaaaah!”
“Iron Magic Tower!”
“That’s ours!”
“Holy shit.”
Lee Dam covered her ears and frowned.
She roughly sensed the mood.
‘Ah, this is it.’
Griffindor 50 points.
Exactly.
The prince was declaring this just like Dumbledore.
It went the same way after that.
The alchemist from the Exstep Alliance named their priority as Iron Magic Tower, and a thunderous cheer erupted.
Finally, the minister of the Boulian Republic also named Iron Magic Tower as priority one, and the atmosphere became a complete festival.
The first move had completely been taken by the Iron Magic Tower on Exchange Day.
***
“So what? Are they coming right now?”
Lee Dam yawned as she returned to the Iron Magic Tower and asked Noman. Since they had been named priority one, the heads of the various countries would soon come to smash their heads on the Iron Magic Tower, right?
Noman shook his head.
“We have nothing to do now.”
“Eh?”
“Negotiations will be handled by the Tower Lord. Probably today, a contract with the negotiation conditions will arrive. We just need to wait.”
“If the contract conditions are coming, then I should definitely be there. Why would the Tower Lord decide it alone?”
Annoyed, Lee Dam headed toward the Tower Lord’s office.
“Lee, Lee Dam?!”
“Is the Knight Armor complete? It’s incomplete. That’s still far away. I need to discuss with you what support you should receive.”
Because they had just returned, there were still many mages on the first floor. Lee Dam pushed them aside without hesitation and went up the stairs.
“Haa! Don’t forget that you’re an apprentice mage!”
“Paki.”
On the way up the stairs, Lee Dam raised her middle finger.
Noman wondered if her crazy energy was the reason she had been chosen by the Black Sun.
In the sect, they worshipped her as the saintess… but in Noman’s personal view, she wasn’t a saintess but the biggest delinquent among delinquents.
Clunk!
Lee Dam tripped as she climbed the stairs, grumbling. The mages on the first floor watched her fall gracefully.
She sprang up and shouted in irritation.
“Fuck, the stairs were invisible because of my fucking huge tits! What the hell kind of physical operation rate is this?!”
Then, with a fierce glare around her, she scanned the surroundings. If anyone was laughing at her, she would cut their limbs off.
But the mages who had suffered from Lee Dam many times before already knew and deliberately closed their eyes.
“Fucking hell.”
Thanks to that, Lee Dam had no one to vent to and dusted off her robe.
“Painful as hell.”
It hurt too much.
Even though this body was too fragile, she grumbled and climbed the stairs again.
Clunk!
“Fuck, this is bullshit!”