Ch.61Fun Competition (1)

# “Why on earth is she here…?”

I’d been thinking she wasn’t ordinary.

For someone to speak so boldly in a place where Magic Tower Masters were gathered—it would be stranger to think she was just a normal human.

I had expected something like this to some extent.

But still…

“I thought she’d just be visiting briefly as a guest…”

I’m foolish for being so certain, but I didn’t think someone who had risen to become the master of the Iron Tower would be this corrupt.

I assumed it was just someone high up in the Iron Tower who had done this.

“Who would have thought the Iron Tower Master herself would directly orchestrate something like this?!”

I feel like screaming.

As I glare at her with clenched fists, she seems to know she’s done wrong, whistling and avoiding my gaze.

“So you do know you’ve done something wrong…?”

“A-ahem…”

Despite having just met, I immediately understood how to deal with this woman.

She’s the type who takes advantage if you treat her kindly.

“Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

“Hmm.”

She rolled her eyes around, then picked up a book and showed it to me.

“…”

“Chu… churai…?”

It was a drawing depicting Irina and my daily life.

I silently took it and examined it.

It wasn’t anything inappropriate.

If it had been, I would have cracked her skull open, so that’s fortunate.

She seemed to know this too, watching my reaction nervously.

“Hmm.”

Since she didn’t know anything about me, it was mostly a comic drawn through imagination, but it was surprisingly accurate.

If nothing else, the rumor that I cherish Irina is widely known, so based on that, most of the comic showed me patting Irina’s head.

I like this.

“Who drew this?”

“Um… I did.”

“…?”

What the…

Finding it hard to believe, I checked the artist’s username.

– IronTowerBrat

“Huh.”

That’s quite the username.

Not inaccurate though.

“Is this really your username…?”

Showing it to her in disbelief, she seemed embarrassed as she turned her reddened face away without a word.

“So you do know it’s embarrassing…”

“W-well, what about you!”

“Me?”

Why me all of a sudden?

“Your username is ‘SuperGeniusTruePrettyBloodMage’! It’s famous!”

“…!”

She knows my username…?!

I stepped back in surprise.

Come to think of it, that’s right.

“If she’s drawing things like this, does that mean she’s interested in me?!”

I wasn’t in a position to judge either.

Of course, unlike her who directly chose the name “IronTowerBrat,” mine was a case of using it as a joke thinking I could change it later, only for it to become permanent. So I had some dignity compared to someone who directly thought of themselves that way.

“Hmph, you’re in no position to mock others when you can’t defend yourself~”

Thinking she’d regained the upper hand, she smirked and slid closer to me.

Her posture, her expression…

“She really is just a kid…”

Or perhaps she knows this culture well and is deliberately acting this way.

I’m curious about what she’s really like, but right now, getting out of this situation is more important.

In times like this, rather than getting naturally swept up in distractions…

“Let’s stop this pointless conversation. I came here to ask about this building and these things.”

“Tch…”

When I cut her off and drew a line, she clicked her tongue in disappointment.

That was close.

I almost got caught up in this female brat’s pace.

“So.”

“Hmm… I guess you’re going to ban it right away? That’s a shame…”

“…”

As if this wasn’t her first time, she muttered regretfully.

Normally, one would apologize or beg for forgiveness, but this Iron Tower Master was boldly saying how sad it was that such cultural materials would be erased, asking me to overlook it—I was speechless at her audacity.

“This is giving me a headache…”

I hadn’t actually planned to ban it immediately.

But seeing her so brazenly asking me to overlook it makes me want to lie and shut it down completely.

But…

“Sigh… get it together…”

This is a golden opportunity to make a lot of money.

I need to negotiate to remove only the absolutely unacceptable parts and milk this for all it’s worth.

Judging by how many people were wandering around this building earlier, it was clear this could bring in significant money if handled properly.

“It seems this is for domestic consumption. How about doing some business with me?”

At the word “business,” the Iron Tower Master’s eyes lit up.

“Oh? So you’re bringing up ‘business’ with me?”

“That’s right.”

“So that means you’re giving permission, right?”

Is that how it works?

I felt strange seeing her so happy as if she’d already received permission when I hadn’t even started discussing terms.

By now, I was getting curious.

“Why are you so eager to draw me?”

It was strange.

There are plenty of other subjects, aren’t there?

Just take Eterna—drawing her would be quite popular.

Of course, since Eterna is practically untouchable, they couldn’t draw anything inappropriate, but they could at least make comics, novels, or even figurines based on her image.

Even then, anyone trying to make such things about Eterna would be considered crazy, but if they were worried about that, they wouldn’t be doing this in the first place.

Even without that, there are many people to draw.

If they drew comics about the Empire for people in the Magical Kingdom who don’t know much about it, they could get quite a response… Even I, who has little interest in this area, can think of many subjects, so why focus solely on me, the Blood Tower Master who probably wouldn’t even care?

That part didn’t make sense to me.

But the Iron Tower Master responded with a puzzled expression.

“You don’t seem to know your own value.”

“Value?”

“Yes. How amazing you really are.”

But to my question, the Iron Tower Master made an incomprehensible statement and chuckled.

“Who do you think is the most famous person in the Magical Kingdom right now?”

“Well… Lady Eterna, of course.”

“You really don’t know.”

The Iron Tower Master laughed and pointed at me.

“It’s you, Midir Tepes.”

“…Me?”

That was impossible to believe.

“How could it be me?”

“If you really don’t know, that’s impressive in its own way. How little attention do you pay to your surroundings?”

My expression soured at the Iron Tower Master’s words.

It’s true I don’t pay much attention to my surroundings, but even so…

“Think about it. The first person in the Magical Kingdom to give such a speech at their inauguration, then disappear for a month—that alone would attract attention. Then you suddenly reappear and push aside Lady Eterna to become the owner of TowerInside. Anyone would think you’d inherited a throne or something.”

“That’s…”

“Plus, you’re obviously showing how close you are to Lady Eterna, so it’s impossible not to be interested. Then you suddenly become active, and everything you do leaves a significant mark on the Magical Kingdom. You even became the first Magic Tower Master in history to directly teach the tower’s mages… After all this, expecting not to be famous is just greedy.”

I stammered, unable to come up with any rebuttal to the Iron Tower Master’s words.

There wasn’t a single incorrect statement.

“As for why I’m interested…”

The Iron Tower Master looked at me with a smile.

“We’re… nakama (comrades), aren’t we?”

“?”

What the hell.

“…Huh?”

What did she just…

“I’ve never met someone like me before. Seeing someone who’s clearly putting on a concept but working harder than anyone for their tower… it’s like looking at myself.”

“C-concept…”

“When you beat up the Red Tower Master, it felt so satisfying… and when you taught all the Blood Mages that Blood Strengthening Art or whatever, it became really famous among other mages.”

“…”

“There are probably a lot of people who personally respect you. I’m one of them.”

I had a blank expression as she said this with a bright smile.

While everything she just told me was certainly positive.

I was stuck on one word.

“Concept…?”

No.

How the hell did she know?

My true nature, which no one except Eterna had ever detected, had been exposed.

And to a stalker-like woman who had only been watching me from afar.