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

"I'm not here to argue with Karl, nor do I need to prove that I wasn't sent back by the academy."

Mia couldn't help but glare at Karl as she spoke.

"Although he really deserves a beating."

Carl's face darkened instantly. The local blacksmiths around him wanted to laugh but didn't dare to, since Joseph Grantham was still standing there. These men usually argued in Grey Iron Alley, and anyone could roll up their sleeves and hurl insults at anyone.

But with the Royal Academy professor standing there, still the great magician whose name has been circulating throughout the town recently, no one can quite figure out what kind of temper he has.

Mia quickly looked away and said seriously:

"I just wanted to see exactly what was wrong with it. I've been taking things apart with my dad since I was a kid. Even if I can't fix it, I should be able to take a look and see what's wrong."

Mia's ears turned a little red after she said that, because it didn't sound very impressive, but it was the safest thing she could say right now.

You can't exactly say in front of so many people that although she's not good at magic, she's quite experienced at breaking things, can you?

Joseph looked at her nervous yet serious expression, which she was trying to maintain by pretending to be calm, and sighed inwardly.

Alright, things have come to this point, there's no point in stopping us anymore.

On the other hand, if we could take apart something like a low-magic axle, examine it, and come up with some decent-sounding structural terms, we could write them into the review materials later. That might not be a bad idea.

But despite his thoughts, Joseph glanced at the dwarf merchants and the bearded merchant, then at the local blacksmiths beside him.

When something breaks, the client is anxious, the supplier is panicked, and onlookers are waiting to see the joke. In the end, all it takes is for one person to touch it, and the pot will fly onto that person's head like a magical pet that has come to claim its master.

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His identity has been exposed as he stands here. If Mia touches this axle, a whole host of versions of the story will immediately circulate outside.

A milder version is that Professor Grantham led his students to observe the Dwarf Merchant Guild's new low-magic device on-site, but perhaps tomorrow the head of the New Magic Revival Project will personally guide the repair of the low-magic axle. An even more outrageous version might be that Professor Joseph Grantham used new magic to damage the Dwarf Merchant Guild's display device.

Just thinking about it made Joseph feel like the money he hadn't even had a chance to translate into a better quality of life was waving goodbye to him.

The association's review a month later was already troublesome enough. He couldn't afford to create another after-sales dispute for himself. Mia was a key figure in his project. What would happen to his project if she had a mental breakdown?

Joseph thought about it more and more and felt that this matter couldn't be resolved by simply talking about it.

"It can be disassembled and inspected."

Joseph suddenly spoke, and Mia looked up, her eyes lighting up.

The man in the goggles' eyes lit up, the bearded merchant visibly relaxed, and Karl's expression darkened further.

Mia paused for a moment, then looked up at Joseph.

Joseph continued:

"But you need to write it down clearly before you read it."

"Write it down clearly?" The man in goggles was taken aback.

"right."

Joseph glanced at the low-magic axles on the wooden table, then at the people from the dwarf merchant guild and the local merchants.

"This is a temporary disassembly and inspection, not a formal repair. The device is now malfunctioning, and the person in charge of debugging cannot be contacted temporarily. The Dwarf Chamber of Commerce and the local installer have a dispute over the cause of the malfunction."

Before the responsibility is clarified, any further action could make the original problem even more complicated.

The man in goggles immediately became serious, and the local businessmen exchanged glances.

Joseph continued:

"Therefore, before Mia gets started, we need to write a temporary disassembly and inspection observation confirmation."

"Confirm what?" the bearded merchant asked.

Of course, the priority is to make sure this pot doesn't fall on his head.

Joseph thought this to himself, but of course he couldn't say it out loud.

"Confirm the scope of disassembly and inspection."

Joseph said:

"We only check external damage, the position of the buffer, etc. We will not perform calibration, repair, or restart. You will need to handle these matters yourselves."

The man in goggles listened with his eyes growing brighter and brighter.

"Yes, yes! We can't restart! We absolutely cannot restart now!"

He immediately turned and glared at the bearded merchant.

"I already said we can't arbitrarily change the core structure!"

The bearded merchant was not to be outdone:

"What about the Buck people? It's one thing if they can't understand the manual, but surely the person in charge of debugging should be able to, right?"

"Mr. Buck's disappearance does not mean the Chamber of Commerce is shirking its responsibilities."

Just as the two sides were about to start arguing again, Joseph coughed softly, and the shop fell silent once more.

Joseph suddenly realized that this feeling was quite useful; no wonder the old professors at the college liked to cough during meetings.

Low cost, high effect, and makes you look like a great magician.

"Furthermore, any further disassembly during the inspection process must be agreed upon by both the Dwarf Merchant Guild and the client. Taylor's Blacksmith Shop's inspection results do not constitute a repair commitment."

He was about to add that his presence and breathing nearby did not constitute technical guidance.

But that sounded too much like something a great magician would say, so Joseph held back.

He rephrased it in a more human way: "I was an observer, recording this temporary observation process."

The man in the goggles' expression changed. He had originally just wanted Mia to take a look so he could retrieve the item before the exhibition tomorrow.

But now, hearing this, he suddenly realized that Professor Grantham was indeed very meticulous.

This professor could have easily used his status as a member of the Royal Academy to side with the human merchants and put them, the dwarf merchant guild, but he didn't. His first reaction was to clearly define the responsibilities and protect the truth.

New things like low-magic axles are easily misunderstood in human cities.

When a malfunction occurs, everyone's first reaction is that the Gnome Guild's technology is unreliable, or that low-magic machinery is a scam.

But now, Professor Grantham is demanding a clear description of the scope of the disassembly and inspection. What does this mean?

This shows that he didn't want the rough handling by laymen to contaminate the fault site, which is what makes him a true expert in technical accidents!

The man wearing goggles felt a surge of respect.

As expected of a great mage who could propose a new magical revival project, even when just passing through Grey Iron Alley, he handles things in a completely different way than ordinary people.

No wonder Miss Penny said before that although humans are just as cunning as goblins, there are still a few honest people who occasionally emerge.

The man in goggles immediately said, "Sure, we can sign a temporary disassembly and inspection confirmation form."

Joseph nodded slightly. He had originally wanted to say a disclaimer, but it sounded a bit too direct. The temporary inspection and observation confirmation form sounded more neutral.

The bearded merchant's idea was even simpler.

The Royal Academy professors want to keep records? Great! Records are good! If the Dwarf Merchant Guild tries to renege on their debts later, it won't be so easy.

He immediately replied, "I agree too."

After he finished speaking, fearing he might seem too hasty, he added:

"Our local chamber of commerce is certainly willing to respect Professor Grantham's professional judgment. As long as the Dwarf Chamber of Commerce doesn't try to shirk its responsibility."

"We never intended to renege on our debt," the goggles-wearing man said immediately. "The inability to contact the craftsman was an accident, and our chamber of commerce will definitely resolve this matter."

"An accident?" The bearded merchant sneered. "The device breaking down is an accident, the technician going missing is an accident. Your Dwarf Merchant Guild really knows how to pick the days for your accidents."

"If you had installed it according to the instructions, this wouldn't have happened!"

"Who can understand your instruction manual?"

"That's a standard mechanical drawing!"

"This standard is probably for dwarfs!"

Seeing that the two sides were about to argue again, Joseph coughed lightly once more.

Shut up on both sides at the same time.

Several local blacksmiths and apprentices around them exchanged glances.

So, before the people at the Royal Academy repair something, they have to write down the entire scope of their responsibility?

Back in the day, there wasn't such a strict rule when it came to working in Gray Iron Lane. Whoever took the job would start working. If it was fixed, they would get paid; if it was broken, they would argue. If they couldn't figure it out by arguing, they would resort to shouting and fists.

But Professor Grantham's approach did seem to make a difference.

An old blacksmith stroked his chin and muttered to himself:

"Can we do this for larger items too?"

The apprentice next to him asked in a low voice:

"Master, will we have to write it down when we repair carriage axles from now on?"

The old blacksmith glared at him:

"You should learn to recognize all the characters first."

Mia glanced at Joseph furtively.

Her father once said that a craftsman shouldn't just look at whether something is broken before starting to work. At that time, Mia only half understood what he meant, and she just thought that adults were really troublesome.

If the iron is broken, it's broken. Just fix it, right? But now she suddenly seems to understand.

The gentleman first wiped the table clean for her, silencing the group of people who wanted to talk nonsense, before letting her see the piece of iron.

She suddenly felt a little more at ease.

Joseph, of course, had no idea that Mia had gone through his process of exonerating him again in her mind.

He glanced at the young apprentices in Taylor's blacksmith shop and casually pointed to a short guy who looked rather clever.

"Could you find me a piece of paper, please?"

The short apprentice quickly ran behind the counter to rummage through things. Taylor's blacksmith shop had just moved in, and the counter was a mess, as if it had been ransacked by a group of dwarves. After searching for a while, he finally found a stack of old account paper with slightly crumpled edges and a pen with almost dry ink. Joseph took the paper and pen, sat down at the wooden table, and quickly finished writing a temporary inspection and observation confirmation.

He called all the others over to sign their names, and after the last name was scribbled on the paper, Joseph then gestured to Mia:

"We can begin."