The End of the Beginning
Oura.
The other sword that knights wield in countless media. If mages channel mana to cast magic, knights strengthen their bodies and weapons by using mana.
That cliché had been the standard plot device in most fiction.
Lee Dam had thought the same would hold true in this world that housed magic.
But her assumption shattered the moment she stepped inside the Magic Tower and several days had passed.
Those who could manipulate mana were forcibly recruited by the towers and shipped off against their will.
So Lee Dam had believed every mage capable of meaningful mana control would be hauled straight to one of the towers.
In other words, knights were nothing but mana-less idiots.
Oura, she figured, simply wouldn’t exist in this world.
“Oura is usable?!”
Lee Dam had been stunned the first time she saw a knight using mana and oura in this world.
But that shock vanished almost immediately.
“T-this much is possible.”
Commander Winston scratched his head, looking thoroughly embarrassed.
“This much? That’s all?”
It was worse than useless—practically zero utility. Lee Dam stared in confusion, but Winston and the others only looked at her oddly.
Apparently, knights treated oura as nothing more than a surface-level technique.
And because magic and knights were opposites, oura had never advanced much—thanks entirely to the continent’s vast backdrop.
“Why? …Because if you overuse mana, the towers will come and drag you away.”
“Eh?”
“It’s basically the same as casting magic, after all. So the knight orders deliberately forbid oura training. We can’t risk valuable personnel suddenly being spotted with mana talent and hauled off to the towers.”
“……”
“That’s why knights don’t use oura. Me, for example, I’m one of the better ones at it.”
She could brag about oura right in front of the mages, but something felt off about it.
Strange situation indeed.
Mastering mana meant getting dragged to the towers.
Simple observation wasn’t enough.
Anyone with even mediocre mana talent should just go outside and play knight instead of wasting their time here.
“C-could you keep this a secret? The threshold is pretty close. My salary’s barely enough to support my aging parents.”
Plus, being recruited by the towers didn’t mean you could take care of other family members.
For example.
If Winston suddenly had magic talent and got dragged to the towers right now, his parents would have no choice but to starve to death on their own.
“I get the meaning.”
Lee Dam nodded.
She already sensed where this was going.
But sadly, in Lee Dam’s Blade Plan, oura was completely useless.
“What a waste of time.”
Winston’s shoulders slumped as he stepped back, clearly hurt.
Lee Dam’s sharp gaze swung back to the Fire Magic Tower mages.
“Listen. I’ll give you exactly one week. I’m not telling you to finish it. Just make something at least better than this.”
Her hand snatched the dummy from Winston’s grip.
Flaming mana erupted, but it was instantly suppressed. A thin yet scorching blade formed in an instant.
“This is what I want. Make it easy to wield. The kind a gorilla like me can swing around. Just pour enough manpower in and it’ll be done.”
“Understood.”
“Shit, you guys claim you’re cooperating partners yet you take everything and give back nothing. What the hell are you thinking? And if—after this entire week—you still have nothing?”
Lee Dam poked her finger forward, grinning fiercely.
“I’ll march in here wearing Knight Armor myself and turn the Fire Magic Tower into a sea of fire. Let’s test just how practical our Knight Armor really is, you bastards.”
The expressions of Guardian Sella and the Fire Magic Tower mages turned ashen.
They were the mages who had collaborated with Lee Dam the most, aside from the Iron Tower mages.
Even though her words often sounded like empty boasts, Lee Dam was the most sincere person when it came to actually saying them.
Which meant.
If she really walked in wearing Knight Armor, she might cause absolute chaos.
Of course it wouldn’t turn the entire tower into a blazing inferno—suppression would come early—but the sheer audacity of this woman terrified them.
“Understood.”
Lee Dam walked out amid the mages’ farewell, Winston trailing right behind her.
“By the way, Lady Lee Dam.”
Winston, who had been staring at the Fire Tower’s staff following them all the way out with embarrassment, called out carefully.
“What?”
Lee Dam walked with her arms crossed, chin propped on one hand, deep in thought—unlike her usual self.
She looked unusually serious.
“Do I really need to use the Blade sword? It’s embarrassing to say, but the Gérard Kingdom’s forging techniques are quite advanced. The blacksmiths are skilled, and while plate armor is heavy for defense, the sword is more than enough to cut through an opponent.”
“……”
Lee Dam glanced sideways at Winston.
Deep sighs and disdain were written all over her face.
“I literally just held it myself, you bastard… Aaaah, you damn gorilla.”
“……”
“Your head’s filled with pine nuts? Rip out that useless prick and replace it with a pine nut. Looks about the same size, too.”
“K-Khuh! L-Lady Lee Dam!”
“Hah.”
Frustrated, Lee Dam explained to Winston.
“Listen, what did I just show you earlier?”
“Eh? It was extremely hot, flashy, light, and……”
“Yeah, light. That’s the point.”
“Oh.”
Lee Dam flicked her fingers, nodding.
“The reason knights can’t fully show their skill is because armor and sword weight drag them down. Knight Armor is being made as light as possible to solve that problem while still maintaining strength—stronger defense than thick plate armor, thanks to purer iron.”
“But won’t cutting power lag behind? Without strength, just swinging it will still slice things.”
Winston unconsciously drew the battlefield in his mind.
Thanks to Knight Armor, movement would be far lighter. The battlefield would become a flexible playground.
And that scorching cutting power was simply incomparable to any blade—Gérard Kingdom round shields or Boulian Republic iron shields would be sliced to ribbons without resistance.
Could it really stop knights from other nations without restrictions?
Impossible.
Something felt off.
Warmth rose inside Winston’s chest, and hope bloomed deep in his heart like a flame.
Prince Legion must have said exactly that.
A weapon that could end the war.
Truth be told, Winston had been somewhat skeptical of those words.
This war had dragged on since his father’s time.
Everyone had long stopped believing it would ever end, and the battlefield had become a meaningless grind where casualties stacked day after day.
Countless young men fell, and the exhaustion of this endless war had spread across the entire continent.
On the front lines, young men fought desperately against enemy blades and bullets.
At the rear, women and the elderly endured starvation caused by the war’s ripple effects.
Ordinary times felt like a distant memory. This was simply the norm now.
“M-Mage-sama—.”
Winston’s lips trembled as realization hit him.
He unconsciously stopped walking.
Lee Dam had taken a few steps ahead but turned when she heard him call.
“Hm?”
“Will the war truly end?”
“What?”
Lee Dam furrowed her brows, exclaiming in disbelief.
“Aah, you idiot. Once Knight Armor is completed, the very first thing it’ll achieve is ending the war. Once everyone gets beaten up a few times, they’ll surrender on their own, right?”
“……!”
Winston’s eyes widened in shock, tears welling up.
End the war.
She had spoken the dream word.
Everyone longed for it, yet the question of whether it would ever come remained.
“A-ah….”
Tears streamed down Winston’s cheeks.
A world where knights no longer drew swords.
The absolute ideal he had never dared to hope for.
Her words may be rough, and following her thoughts is exhausting—
Yet.
She was fighting on the front lines of peace more than anyone else.
She was leading the way to victory over war more than anyone else.
“Knight Winston.”
He placed a hand over his chest and declared with all sincerity.
Blood had already been spilled too much.
Peaceful surrender was impossible.
Then.
The person who would shed the most blood would be him.
So that her research and efforts wouldn’t go to waste.
“I will stand by until the day peace arrives.”
And if peace did come.
“Ah, good. Well said.”
Lee Dam chuckled and nodded.
“I was thinking about oura earlier. It’s useless as is, but maybe if we approach it from a different angle…”
“A different method?”
“In vehicle design, the most important part is the core, right? The engine?”
“……I don’t understand.”
Lee Dam ignored him.
“Knight Armor can use its current armor shape, but the vehicle can’t. It strictly needs an engine.”
And.
Lee Dam pointed at Winston and grinned.
“You’re going to be my engine.”
* * *
Archmage Randelf.
An elderly man with long white hair, a flowing beard, and deep wrinkles—an imposing presence.
He was the head of the Magic Tower, leader of all seven tower masters.
The woman who had come to his room was Iron Magic Tower Master Beldora Millennium.
“You summoned me?”
Her usual composure was absent; she looked unusually serious.
She wore a crisp gray robe.
Bowing deeply, Beldora greeted Randelf, who stroked his beard and asked.
“The Iron Magic Tower has been rather noisy lately. Even the Exchange Day drew a lot of attention.”
“Yes, it seems the arrival of new mages has brought fresh energy.”
She was being praised.
Well, the bastard causes chaos inside but looks like a treasure outside. No wonder Beldora gives her antics some leeway.
Outside, the results were clear and explosive.
“Knight Armor, was it?”
“Yes. A next-generation armor for knights. As I mentioned at the last meeting—”
“You cooperated with the Fire Magic Tower to create the sword as well?”
“……That’s correct.”
Something felt wrong.
She had expected praise, but now every question felt like she was being commended.
“The Knight Armor’s specs have already exceeded the standards I was told.”
“Ah, at the time we didn’t know pure iron could achieve that level of practicality. Pleasant surprise.”
“Hmm, and the contract with the Gérard Kingdom for the Exchange Day has already been signed, right?”
“Y-yes…”
A chill ran down her spine. Beldora’s words grew shorter, but Randelf simply declared as if he already knew everything.
“Reduce the specs. Knight Armor is something that could have a huge impact on the battlefield. Play it down with the Gérard Kingdom.”
“……”
“Remember this. Our Magic Tower’s role is not to lead wars to victory, but to maintain balance.”
That had always been the case.
When the Water Magic Tower developed a healing potion with too much effect, when the Fire Magic Tower created a bomb that turned the surroundings into a sea of fire, when the Darkness Magic Tower developed a magic tool that plunged a region into darkness—all were discarded in the name of balance by the Archmage.
The Knight Armor unveiled by the Iron Magic Tower was now in the same unacceptable range.