The Munchkin Magic Genius is Laughing

Inside the quiet magic tower research lab. A spacious desk. Lunia was sitting there.

She was slumped over the desk, thinking about her future life.

If things continue this way, she would likely take the blame for everything. But even though she didn’t want to just stand by and wanted to do something, there was nothing she could do.

After considering various thoughts, Lunia decided to frame her thinking in a way that was comfortable for her.

‘Jeff… it might not be Jeff’s ability, right? It might not be because of that Movement skill… the cause might not be that, but something else….’

As Lunia tried to think this way, she stopped her thoughts again.

If it’s not Jeff’s ‘Movement’ skill, then why did all the core artifacts in the magic tower suffer critical damage as soon as he left? Moreover, Jeff said it when he left. That they would have to struggle from now on, that he was the only one who could perform maintenance when problems arise.

It felt like the more she tried to escape, the deeper she was sinking into the swamp.

Even if she tried to deny it, even if she didn’t want to admit it, everything converged on one fact.

‘We need Jeff….’

Jeff needs to come back. Jeff needs to return to the magic tower and resolve all the problems that have occurred. Otherwise, there’s no hope for the magic tower. No, there’s no hope for her life.

Tower Master Cellora will never let this matter pass quietly.

It would be fortunate if this ended with punitive damages. If the magic tower were to collapse, the authority of the magic tower would not only be buried in the ground but would also be ridiculed worldwide. Would they just lightly punish the individual who initiated such a situation? Perhaps Tower Master Cellora might torture them until death, using all means available to her to make them suffer to the point where dying would be preferable.

She was scared. Scared, and scared again.

Crunch… crunch… Lunia chewed her nails to pieces. As her anxiety reached its peak, her legs naturally trembled, and numbness began to spread across her face.

‘I need to solve this… I need to solve this somehow…’

Her thoughts, verging on obsession. A person came to her in that state.

“I’m the Tower Master’s secretary. Would it be possible to have a word?”

Lunia hesitated for a moment. She had the foolish thought that if she pretended not to be there, would Tower Master Cellora’s secretary just go away?

But the Tower Master’s secretary wasn’t so easily dealt with.

“Ms. Lunia. I came knowing you were inside. If you deliberately refuse the request, I will force the door open and enter.”

With a creaking sound, the door finally opened. Lunia, with a seemingly flustered expression, spoke to the secretary.

“What are you saying, Secretary Benero? I was deeply engrossed in research, so I couldn’t properly hear the call from outside.”

“….”

Benero immediately thought about Lunia’s statement that she couldn’t hear, yet she knew there was a call. It seemed suspicious that she was avoiding even before he had stated his business.

But he didn’t bother to show it or speak it out. Benero was merely conveying the order given by the Tower Master.

[I said, find the person who expelled the magician named Jeff. Find them and bring them to me immediately]

That’s what the Tower Master had said. Upon Benero’s investigation, it was Research Director Cloria and Researcher Lunia who had proposed the motion to expel Jeff from the magic tower.

Based on the fact that Jeff had almost no achievements in the research lab, they proposed Jeff’s expulsion, and the request was forwarded to the superiors, confirming Jeff’s expulsion.

“Ms. Lunia. I’ll ask you directly. Why did you propose to expel Jeff?”

“J-Jeff?”

Lunia’s eyes wavered. Could it be they already found the cause of the phenomena occurring inside the magic tower?

If they’ve discovered that Jeff was the one who controlled, maintained, and serviced the artifacts and the Source of Life in the magic tower, the situation would be the worst. If it’s revealed that there are artifacts that only Jeff can repair, and that they stole his achievements and expelled him, it would be immediate dismissal at the very least.

Benero continued.

“I hear Jeff is taking the Riness Academy instructor exam. And, he received the highest score in the first stage. While the magical skill level of Riness Academy can’t be said to be equal to the magic tower, Inspector Mellin there was the Tower Master’s first priority recruitment target. Yet, why did you expel Jeff, who passed the selection process with an overwhelming time difference, and ranked first in the exam of such an inspector?”

As soon as Benero spoke, Lunia realized. They don’t know that the management of the magic tower artifacts was all due to Jeff’s ability.

Thinking it was a relief, Lunia quickly made an excuse.

“Jeff didn’t achieve any results within the research institute. Director Cloria and I tried a lot to support the marginalized Jeff, but he always just consumed experimental materials or the magic tower’s financial support without producing any significant results. Therefore, I thought he wasn’t compatible with the magic tower, and merely proposed his expulsion.”

Benero’s expression distorted for a very brief moment.

‘Why… why is that…?’

Lunia, who couldn’t understand the reason, deliberately maintained a calm expression and waited for his words.

Finally, Benero spoke.

“I will take you to the Tower Master. If what you’ve said is true, please explain it directly to the Tower Master and convince her. Ah, before we go, I have a personal curiosity, can you answer me?”

Benero slowly turned his head and questioned Lunia. Lunia nodded as if to say ‘ask away’.

“Recently, there’s that artifact enhancement ability that you and Cloria have been in charge of, right? It’s causing problems, but you can fix it soon, right? There are many complaints from various places.”

Lunia flinched, trembled, and then answered.

“O-of course I can fix it. There have been problems many times before, haven’t there? Each time, we’ve fixed them well, so of course we can fix it this time too. So there’s no need to worry.”

The Source of Life or artifacts in the magic tower have an extremely complex elemental system. Because of this, even with Movement applied, they occasionally caused problems.

But each time, Jeff completed the maintenance simply by placing his hand on them and muttering something. That’s why she misunderstood. She thought it was a very simple task.

“I understand for now. Regardless of Jeff’s expulsion, please fix the internal artifacts of the magic tower as soon as possible. Until now, you’ve maintained them so well for over a year, so there’s been no talk of responsibility yet, but this time, as the period is especially long, the Tower Master is very concerned.”

“Don’t… don’t worry. We… we’re planning to cast enhancement magic on the artifacts in a beneficial direction for the magic tower, so there seems to be some side effects because of that influence, but once this work is done, they will become even more useful than before.”

Benero was silent for a moment, then replied.

“I’ll trust you since you’ve done well so far. I hope there won’t be any more disappointments for the Tower Master.”

It felt like a knife was being stabbed into Lunia’s heart. Benero was pretending to smile gently, but he was holding out a knife.

Since they’ve solved it many times before, they should naturally solve it this time too. And if they can’t solve it, they’ll have to endure the Tower Master’s anger.

Gulp….

Lunia swallowed dry saliva. Benero walked ahead and spoke.

“Come to think of it, I think it’s against etiquette to treat Ms. Lunia and Director Cloria, outstanding research institute members who enhanced the magic tower’s artifacts and improved the quality of life at the magic tower, carelessly.”

Benero bowed his head, apologized to her, and said.

“I’m sorry. I’m not escorting you, but would like to request that Ms. Lunia, along with Research Director Cloria, ‘visit’ the Tower Master directly.”

Benero’s changed attitude. He was ‘respecting’ Lunia and Cloria.

The reason was simple. The various enhancement magics that have provided tremendous convenience to the magic tower. He was reminded from the previous conversation that it was Cloria and Lunia who had developed them.

Lunia, forcing a smile, said.

“I’ll… I’ll bring Research Director Cloria and visit right away.”

“Please visit within an hour.”

“Yes.”

Creeeeak… the door closed, and as the Tower Master’s secretary, Benero, disappeared and the sound completely faded, Lunia hurriedly opened her door and ran.

Running out with a clatter, she grabbed a magician and spoke.

“Selina. Where is Elite Magician Selina?”

Elite Magician Selina, who had tried to repair the ‘Source of Life’ together a few days ago. She planned to ask her a favor. To provide testimony that would prove the legitimacy of expelling Jeff. To testify about how incompetent he was.

She thought that since Selina was a kind person, if she asked with a troubled expression, she would somehow agree.

But.

“Elite Magician Selina has gone to the academy.”

“What? Why would Elite Magician Selina go to the academy…?”

“I heard that Elite Magician Selina’s younger sibling ranked first in the first stage of the academy instructor selection exam this time. After hearing that, Elite Magician rushed out with an anxious expression, saying she was worried about who her sister was with. She had clearly said until dawn that due to her sudden night shift at the magic tower, she couldn’t go to the selection exam together, but within just a few hours, her sister found someone new to participate in the exam and even ranked first, so she was concerned that her sister might have teamed up with someone connected to the Dark Association…”

“…I understand for now.”

Upon hearing the word ‘first’, Lunia immediately thought of Jeff.

‘Didn’t they just say that Jeff also ranked first in some academy?’

She thought about it briefly but shook her head. Surely, there’s no way Elite Magician Selina’s sister and Jeff could be taking the exam together. Assuming that Selina’s sister was taking a different academy exam, Lunia sorted out the urgent situation.

‘Of all times, she’s away now….’

It’s the worst situation. This is because Elite Magician Selina was one of the few in the magic tower who, without any faction, belonged to the neutral side. While she had excellent magical skills, she had a moderate inclination, not belonging to any faction, so if anything were to happen in the future, she should have been the top priority to recruit as she could be free from faction conflicts. But, of all times, she’s away now… the situation is not good.

Lunia had no choice but to head to Director Cloria.

“Director… I have something to talk about.”

“Come in.”

Hearing Director Cloria’s words, Lunia immediately opened the door and entered her room. Then she spoke directly.

“Director. It seems Jeff took the academy instructor exam after leaving the magic tower.”

“So what? So he ended up going to an inferior place like the academy. It’s a place that suits Jeff’s inclination perfectly.”

Director Cloria said with a smile. But Lunia replied as if it wasn’t a joke.

“Not just any academy, but Riness Academy. And I heard he ranked first in a test hosted by Inspector Mellin… The Tower Master, upon hearing this fact, is asking us to explain why we expelled Jeff… I don’t know what to do about this.”

At that moment, Cloria’s expression stiffened. Then, she spoke to Lunia.

“Lunia. What are you talking about? ‘We’ expelled Jeff?”

“What…?”

Lunia stared blankly at Cloria.

Cloria spoke firmly to Lunia.

“The one who proposed to expel Jeff. It wasn’t me, but you, wasn’t it?”