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

Mia put the bouquet of flowers aside and took her tool bag off her shoulder.

The little blue flower clipped to the tool bag strap swayed slightly, looking a bit wilted, but Mia glanced down at it and carefully moved it to a position where it wouldn't be touched by the tools before walking to the low-magic axle.

The group of people who had been arguing so loudly just moments before, as if they were about to tear the roof off Taylor's blacksmith shop, had quieted down considerably, not because they had suddenly become reasonable.

The main reason is that Joseph Grantham had just sat down at the wooden table and finished writing that temporary dismantling and inspection confirmation form, which everyone had signed. At this point, it would be somewhat undignified for him to start yelling and cursing like he did earlier.

Especially since there is a Royal Academy professor standing in this room right now.

Karl stood to the side, his lips twitching as if he wanted to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the old blacksmith next to him coughed, forcing him to swallow his words.

After all, it's not appropriate to say anything now, as Mia has a powerful mage standing behind her, holding a confirmation form that she just signed.

If he continues to be stubborn, he'll appear as if he doesn't even know how to read but insists on commenting on document format.

Mia's eyes were already on the low-magic axle. Joseph had thought she would be nervous, but as soon as she touched the tool, she seemed to calm down.

The Mia who had turned red with excitement was gone; standing by the wooden table was a blacksmith's daughter who had grown up by the hearth.

Mia circled the device on the wooden table. It was much more complicated than she had imagined. Based on her previous experience, she carefully disassembled the outer metal casing.

Inside, there are nested metal axles, with thin, hair-like silver wires along the edges. Several thin, translucent gaskets are stuck in the seams, making it look like it would break at the slightest touch.

She took a glowing stone out of her toolbox and lit it. White light slowly shone through the stone, illuminating the low-magic axle and making the tiny gaps inside clearer.

She first checked the outer axle, gently touching a few spots with her fingertips, and then brought her face closer to smell it.

"The smoke isn't coming from the outer casing."

The man in goggles paused, then asked, "Are you sure?"

"There are no new burn marks on the outer shell." Mia pointed to a dark mark next to her. "This is old, probably left from a previous test run. The new burnt smell should be inside, but we need to open it up and check it again to make a more accurate judgment."

The man in the goggles' expression changed slightly.

The bearded merchant immediately said:

"Did you hear that?! It wasn't us pretending it was broken outside!"

"I didn't say that." Mia looked up at him. "I just said the smoke didn't come out of the casing first."

  

The bearded merchant was momentarily speechless. He opened his mouth, seemingly wanting to continue arguing, but seeing Joseph sitting next to him, he ultimately held back.

Mia moved the glowing stone closer and, using the light, continued to look inside. There was a layer of translucent crystalline grease, a thin layer of crystalline grease covering the outside of the low-magic crystal core.

The members of the Dwarf Merchant Guild tensed up, and the man in goggles quickly reminded them:

"That's the grease layer, used to isolate dust and stabilize the output of crystal nuclei. Don't touch it with hard objects."

"I know," Mia said.

She could tell that this thing couldn't be poked with anything hard because it was already cracked. If she poked it any further, the whole thing might come off, and then, let alone repair it, she wouldn't even be able to figure out where it was originally damaged.

Mia switched to a thinner copper needle and tried to gently scrape along the edge of the crystal, but to her surprise, it was blocked by something unseen underneath and she couldn't scrape it.

"What kind of material is this?" Mia asked.

The man in goggles immediately leaned closer. "Where?"

"It seems like something is stuck under the crystal."

"What is it?"

"I don't know." Mia frowned and held the glowing stone closer. Only after the light shone in could she vaguely see a small black thing under the translucent crystal.

If Mia hadn't been used to looking at the tiny cracks inside the iron, she probably would have just ignored them.

"A small black blob, like burnt glue?"

The man in the goggles finally changed his expression. He turned to look at the other two members of the Dwarf Merchant Guild, who then squeezed over.

"Move aside a bit," Mia said, frowning, pointing with her small copper needle at the black spot under the crystal.

"Here, it's stuck between the buffer plate and the inner axle. When the axle rotates, the buffer plate will definitely be squeezed off-center."

The man in goggles bent down and squinted for a long time.

"Jingjiao".

"What?" the bearded merchant asked.

"Crystal slag is the hard lump left after the resin is sintered at high temperatures. It usually doesn't appear here, unless..."

"So it's your stuff that's broken?" The bearded merchant immediately seized on the key phrase.

"I didn't say that!" The man in goggles was furious, his face turning red. "If it's external pressure, it could also cause the buffer to shift, leading to localized overheating!"

"So you mean we were pretending to be broken?"

"Can't you let people finish speaking first!"

Joseph coughed again, and the two fell silent once more.

Mia looked down at the black crystal and asked softly:

"Can this be taken out?"

The man in the goggles had a very unpleasant expression.

"Normally it's possible, but you need to soften the outer layer of grease first. You can't pry it off forcefully, or you'll damage the buffer sheet as well."

"What should we use to soften it?"

"Stabilize the heat source," the man in goggles said.

"Ideally, a very stable fire spell would be best. Ordinary furnace fire won't work, but a magically heated needle would be fine. However, Miss Penny took the spare tools with her, and we don't have any right now... uh..."

As he said this, he suddenly seemed to remember something and slowly turned to look at Joseph.

The bearded merchant also turned to look at Joseph.

The local subway craftsmen turned their heads in response.

Even the young apprentices at Taylor's blacksmith shop all turned to look at Joseph.

The man in goggles said respectfully:

"If a great mage were willing to use a stable fire spell to soften it, perhaps the buffer could be saved."

Joseph remained expressionless.

Stable fire spells?

Do you think he can cast stable fire spells?

His most reliable spell right now is that he can consistently not cast spells!

Forget about fire spells, he even uses flint to light his fireplace now.

And do these people have some misunderstanding about the Great Magician?

Even a great magician isn't a roadside omnipotent repairman. Just because something in a device needs heating doesn't mean he can reach out and conjure up a small, constant-temperature flame.

Is this reasonable?

The problem is, he can't say that; he is now Joseph Grantham, a certified Archmage of the Association.

The people present looked at him as if he were an advanced flint that could automatically produce fire.

Joseph even seriously considered whether it would be impolite to turn around and leave now.

"Fire-based softening is indeed a solution."

To avoid an awkward silence, he decided to say something pointless to save face.

The man in the goggles' eyes lit up.

"However," Joseph changed the subject. He was becoming more and more adept at using this word. It was like a small protective barrier; he would affirm things at the beginning and then try to shift the blame later.

"However, this is not my task for repair; it should be Miss Taylor's assessment after inspection."

Everyone was taken aback.

Joseph continued, "If I were to take action now, it would only taint her observations."

The shop fell silent for a moment.

Joseph looked at Mia, his tone so calm that he himself was somewhat impressed with himself.

"Mia, you've already identified the problem, so it's your turn to finish it."

The man in the goggles also changed his expression.

So that's it! Professor Grantham didn't want to disrupt the students' independent observation process!

Is this the great mage's way of restraining himself?

If he were to soften the resin now, the problem would certainly be solved, but then Miss Taylor's previous inspection and judgment would become the result of the great magician's assistance.

How can we then prove that Miss Taylor can independently handle low-magic structure problems?

He wants his students to go through the entire disassembly, inspection, and judgment process; that's true teaching!

A complex sense of respect suddenly arose in the man wearing goggles.

This Joseph Grantham, at least for now, certainly doesn't seem like one of those academic gentry who only know how to intimidate others with their titles.

The bearded merchant nodded thoughtfully.

Although he didn't understand the observation process, he did understand a little bit.

A great person is a great person. He could have taken action directly, but he chose to have his students practice. There must be a deeper plan behind it.

No wonder they can teach new magic.

Mia stood by the wooden table, somewhat incredulous.

How could the gentleman believe her to this extent?