I made up magic and taught a world-destroying witch?

As soon as Joseph got out of the car, he heard a hawker's cry and the clattering of mechanical parts coming from some stall.

The Grey Pigeon Market was more chaotic than Joseph had imagined. Stalls were packed together, some with stones on their roofs, and others simply tied to pillars with old ropes. When the wind blew, the entire row of stalls rattled loudly, giving off a kind of vitality that seemed ready to collapse at any moment but could still hold on for another year or two.

Some of the goods on the stall were spread directly on old canvas, and they all looked like scrap metal, but the stall owner insisted that they were treasures from the old magical era.

Joseph glanced at them a few times, completely unable to understand who was buying these things. But then he thought, since the town was so close to the Royal Academy Dean, the target customers were probably those suckers in the academy who had never seen the outside world.

Especially those young students who have just enrolled and think that even scrap metal might have academic value.

Fortunately, the air here isn't too bad; at least it's not to the point where you have to hold your breath to get through. But to call it fresh would be an insult to the word "fresh."

"Sir, where shall we go first?"

Mia stood next to him and asked. This guy was obviously more vibrant than he was at the academy today. Her red hair was casually tied into two braids, and a few strands of hair were blown around by the wind.

Joseph couldn't understand why, even with her hair tied up, she still looked like a red-haired lion that had rolled around somewhere and emerged from nowhere.

"Just take a look first."

Actually, he hadn't figured it out yet, and he didn't have much complete information about this place in his memory. He probably only sat in the carriage reading his thesis before and never really looked at the roadside stalls.

"Understood! Let's do an overall observation first!" Mia nodded and said.

Joseph glanced at her and thought that this girl could be really easy to fool sometimes.

The two followed the crowd into the market. A vendor was squatting behind his stall selling old parts, with half a blue flower in his mouth, which he had chewed so much that only a stem was sticking out.

Further ahead, several students dressed as college students were also walking and munching on flowers, their expressions quite natural.

Joseph fell into a brief moment of contemplation.

Are people in this world having a little too much freedom in their eating habits?

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Mia wasn't surprised; noticing Joseph's gaze, she immediately explained:

"This is a type of seaweed," she said. "You often see it near the White Dove Wharf. It's a bit crunchy when you chew it, and it tastes sweet and salty. People who work at the docks usually like to buy a bunch and put them in their pockets so they can chew on them when they're tired."

Joseph was momentarily unsure whether to call it vegetables, fruits, snacks, or a very bold offense against botany by the dockworkers.

Mia burst out laughing at his expression.

"Sir, have you never eaten here before?"

"I mainly observe its circulation patterns in the private sector."

"oh--"

Mia nodded and added earnestly:

"However, not all flowers are edible. Some will numb your tongue if you eat them, and some will give you strange dreams. I once ate one when I was a child and my dad chased me down half a street and beat me."

Joseph nodded; it was indeed something Mia would have done as a child.

Mia glanced at Joseph secretly and suddenly felt like laughing.

It seemed like she was discovering for the first time that there were things her teacher didn't know. Back in the academy, he always seemed to understand everything and had everything planned out in advance.

Whether it's a spell slot, a furnace, or a failed sample, when he said it, it was as if he already knew when that crooked, distorted framework in her mind would leak out.

But when they arrived at the Grey Pigeon Market, the gentleman would stare blankly at others chewing flowers.

For some reason, Mia felt that this kind of man seemed a little closer to the world she usually lived in.

He's no longer just the great magician on the experimental tower; he's become someone who rides out in a carriage, pauses for a moment when he sees Chao Hua, and takes a second look at the soup stalls by the roadside.

Mia suddenly felt a greater sense of responsibility on her shoulders. Her master must usually put all his energy into researching new magic.

Every day she faces theories whose names she can't even remember, and she's not even familiar with a fun place like the Grey Pigeon Market.

Today she was determined to show her husband a good look around, and ideally, let him try a piece of the grilled meat roll.

Of course, she decided against the flower. A great magician like Mr. might have a strange expression when he chewed it for the first time, since it didn't taste very good. She felt it was better not to take the risk.

Joseph was completely unaware that Mia had already planned a grand mission for him: to guide the great wizard to understand everyday life.

Just as the two were about to continue walking, they suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps beside them. A thin, small girl darted out from behind a nearby stall, carrying a large bunch of pale blue flowers. She bumped right into Joseph as if she hadn't seen him at all.

"oops!"

The girl cried out, and flowers scattered all over the ground.

Joseph felt the change in his coat pocket become lighter almost the instant she bumped into him.

He looked down at the girl, and she looked up at him too. They made eye contact briefly.

Joseph saw something very familiar in her big, watery eyes.

The next moment, the girl's tears came without warning.

"Sir, my floral scent!"

Joseph: "..."

This tastes so familiar. It's all about bracelets, fake antiques, broken jade, and souvenirs you accidentally knocked over at the entrance of a scenic spot. I never thought that even the other world couldn't escape this, and it's even been localized quite well, replaced by chewable flowers.

Just as Joseph was about to speak, the girl quickly shoved the remaining large bunch of flowers into his arms.

"Thank you for buying flowers, sir!"

After saying that, she turned around and disappeared into the crowd, moving as fast as a little pigeon with maxed-out agility.

Mia paused for a moment, while Joseph looked down at the Tideflower in his arms and then touched his pocket where a few copper coins were missing.

What is this if not forced buying and selling?

A spontaneous, informal trading model?

Mia finally realized what was happening and said in a panic, "Sir! She stole your money!"

"I know."

"Should we...go after them?"

Joseph looked at the little girl who had long since disappeared from the crowd, then looked down at the large bunch of pale blue flowers in his arms.

Chase? Chase what? This isn't a repeat offender who's been eating.

He, the empire's youngest archmage, head of a special project at the Magic Association, and a professor at the Royal Academy, chased after a little flower girl in the Grey Pigeon Market for a few copper coins, with a 99% chance of failing to catch her.

Once this scene gets out, the entire Royal Academy will probably be laughing all the way to the next academy assessment.

"Never mind," Joseph said expressionlessly. "Since we've already paid, we can't let it go to waste."

After he finished speaking, he handed the bunch of flowers to Mia.

Mia was taken aback.

"Give me?"

"Or should I use it to write my thesis?"

Mia's eyes lit up. She took the bouquet of flowers and looked at them several times. The flowers weren't actually that good; some of them were even wilted.

"Thank you, sir!"

After she finished speaking, she looked down and picked out the one that looked the most intact. After hesitating for a moment, she carefully clipped it to the leather strap on the outside of her tool bag. The pale blue flower looked out of place hanging next to her old tool bag.

But Mia seemed to like it very much. She looked down at it several times, and she couldn't suppress the smile on her face.

Seeing how happy she was, Joseph's initial pang of heartache suddenly lessened.

It's just a few copper coins, enough to stabilize a student's mood. It's not like it can't be included in the project cost. Let's call it the purchase fee for folk plant samples from Grey Pigeon Town. As long as the name is written correctly, there's no such thing as wasted money.

Of course, just because it doesn't hurt that much doesn't mean it doesn't hurt at all.

Grey Pigeon Town is truly a place of simple and honest people.

Joseph bent down and straightened his coat, then took the remaining change from his outer pocket and stuffed it into a small, awkwardly hidden pocket inside his mage robe. If this spot could still be stolen, the thief might as well give up on stealing copper coins at the Grey Pigeon Market and apply for a security job at the Royal Academy – that would be a much better career path.

Mia looked down and touched the floral pattern next to her tool bag, then asked:

"Sir, where do we go next?"

Joseph looked around. Eating was important, of course, but today's outing wasn't a real picnic, at least not in name.

The association's verification a month later is too troublesome. The only problem now is that he doesn't have anything that can truly explain the spell slots, since he really made it up.

Students talk and professors fill in the blanks – this kind of approach might work for a demonstration class, but when the association's review really comes, they can't just have Grace and Mia standing there with their eyes closed while he solemnly says, "Look, they have a box in their heads."

There has to be something, even if it's not actually being able to observe spell slots, at least it has to make people feel like they're trying to observe spell slots.

"Are there any places around here that sell used magical materials and recording devices?"

Mia blinked.

"Yes!" she exclaimed immediately, perking up.

"The entire Grey Iron Alley is lined with shops selling these things: old magic lamp wicks, secondhand chips, dwarven copper wire, small gears salvaged by dwarves, and broken equipment discarded by the academy."

Joseph's eyes lit up.

"A broken instrument?"

"Yes, I heard some are genuinely broken, some were broken by students who secretly took them out to sell, and some were cleared out from the warehouse. Whether they work or not depends entirely on luck."

Joseph was immediately filled with awe. Wasn't this just another world version of the electronic waste market?

What a great place! It's perfect for research projects. Regardless of whether it's usable or not, just buy it, unpack it, fill the table with it, and add a few charts. Anyone who sees it will surely say that Professor Grantham is working on a complex and difficult technical challenge.

"Let's go there," Joseph said.

Mia was about to nod when she suddenly seemed to remember something and slapped her head.

"Oh, right!"

"What's wrong?"

"I think my dad mentioned that he's thinking of opening a branch in Grey Pigeon Town," Mia said as she thought to herself.

"Because I always get requests from students at the college, they said it would be much more convenient to repair things if I could rent a small shop near Grey Iron Lane. I remember it was somewhere in that area."

"You're only just realizing your father's plan to open a branch here?"

"I was watching the stove for him when my dad said that," Mia said matter-of-factly.

"Once the furnace temperature rises, it becomes difficult for a person to remember other things at the same time."

This reason sounds very Mia.

"Let's go," Joseph said.

"good!"

Mia immediately perked up, tugged at the strap of her tool bag, and the floral pattern swayed back and forth along the edge of her bag.

Just then, the two passed a slightly wider intersection.

A makeshift stall was set up by the roadside, where several workers were chatting and drinking soup around a wooden table.

"Didn't come back again last night?"

"He hasn't come back. I told him not to let the kids go there lately. Didn't they lose a porter at the dock a few days ago?"

"Don't talk nonsense, didn't he go gambling at the dock himself?"

"Can you gamble without even bringing a bag?"

Joseph and Mia exchanged a glance and, in perfect unison, slowed their pace.

It wasn't because he suddenly had a surge of righteousness and decided to become a detective on the spot after hearing that someone had gone missing. It was mainly because when someone hears something like this on the street, they will instinctively prick up their ears.

Eating melon seeds is a basic human instinct.