The Munchkin Magic Genius is Laughing

When Cloria spoke, Lunia stared at her with blank eyes.

“Research Director Cloria… what are you saying all of a sudden…?”

Cloria spoke to her with precise pronunciation, as if Lunia hadn’t heard properly.

“Didn’t you hear? It was you who proposed expelling Jeff, wasn’t it?”

“Director Cloria. How can you suddenly do this…? Back then, you clearly said that since we had used Jeff’s ability to the fullest, we should expel him to avoid getting caught…”

As Lunia spoke, Cloria glanced around slightly, then walked right up to her and whispered.

“Lunia, be careful with your words. If someone hears your story, they might misunderstand it as being true.”

“You’ve decided to abandon me, haven’t you?”

Lunia’s expression hardened. She looked at Director Cloria with resentful eyes and shouted.

“Director Cloria. How can you do this to me? Do you think you can escape alone? No. You also stole Jeff’s achievements just like I did. After receiving all the compensation and pension for the patents, do you think you can get away with denying it now… Let’s work together to find a solution. I’m telling you, if we continue like this, we’re really in trouble…!”

Cloria chuckled and spoke to Lunia.

“Lunia, you seem to be misunderstanding something, so let me tell you, the people in the upper levels of the magic tower who approved our documents, and the people in the magic tower court who dismissed all of Jeff’s objections. You haven’t forgotten why they helped us, have you?”

Even if Jeff raised objections to the magic tower superiors about unfairness, his objections were always dismissed or erased before reaching the Tower Master. This is because not only Director Cloria but also her connections reside within the magic tower.

“Lunia. It would be good to think carefully if you want to take foolish actions. If you try to implicate me, you won’t end up just being expelled like Jeff. It won’t end with just your death. I’ll make sure your friends, family, and everyone you know bear the responsibility for your actions.”

“….”

Lunia was about to say something but shut her mouth. It was because she knew Cloria’s cruelty better than anyone.

“What… what should I do….”

A clear declaration of surrender. Defying Director Cloria any further is not a way for her to survive. She sought to find out what actions she should take and which path among those actions would allow her to survive.

“Now you’re being reasonable. I’m glad you understand me well, Lunia.”

Director Cloria waved her magic wand slightly. Then the surroundings began to darken.

“Lunia. Listen carefully from now on. Currently, there’s no one in the magic tower who knows that ‘Movement’ is Jeff’s skill. That damn Jeff released ‘Movement’ as he left, and it’s a situation where various artifacts are presumed to be causing problems due to the aftermath. If we’re not careful, we might end up taking the blame for everything.”

She used magic to create a hologram of the magic tower. There, the magic tower was slowly tilting to the side.

“The biggest problem, more than anything else, is that the magic tower is tilting. I don’t know if Jeff intended this, but the magic tower is tilting very slightly. If this continues, it might completely collapse in less than a few months. If the magic tower completely collapses, even if I utilize my connections, I won’t be free from responsibility. I’d like to blame everything on you, but if the magic tower collapses, the Tower Master won’t handle things generously as usual. In the end, everything will be exposed.”

Cloria made the model of the magic tower disappear, then pointed her wand at Lunia.

“I propose a deal. I’ll somehow solve the issue of the magic tower tilting. So, you take all the responsibility for expelling Jeff.”

“….”

The two biggest problems right now are:

The magic tower is tilting because Jeff released ‘Movement’ and left the magic tower.

After Jeff was expelled from the magic tower, he ranked first in the academy instructor exam, causing Tower Master Cellora to look for those responsible for expelling a capable person.

Director Cloria is proposing that she will solve problem #1, so Lunia should handle issue #2 on her own. From Lunia’s perspective, since she had no choice anyway, it wasn’t a bad proposal.

“What should I do?”

“Fill out the documents as I say. You, Lunia, proposed to expel Jeff, and I merely gave my approval. Anyway, on the approved documents for Jeff’s expulsion, only your name and mine are written. No other details are written, so if we do this, you’ll have to take all the responsibility. In return, I’ll try to stop the situation where the magic tower is collapsing. How about it? Isn’t that a not-so-bad proposal for you?”

“I understand….”

Lunia accepted and began to write using her mana. A document acknowledging that all responsibility lies with her.

“Director Cloria. As you’ve probably heard already, we need to go to the Tower Master together….”

Cloria had already known that the Tower Master was looking for her and Lunia by utilizing her connections in the upper echelons. That’s why she responded so quickly.

“Let’s go. I hope you haven’t forgotten what I said. You know what happens if you say nonsense in front of the Tower Master, right?”

Lunia silently nodded.

◈◈◈◈◈◈

“Tower Master. Director Cloria and Researcher Lunia have arrived.”

The Tower Master merely wiggled her fingers to indicate they should enter. Because her mood was extremely bad right now, she expressed herself more sharply than usual.

After a while, the secretary showed Cloria and Lunia in, and they stood before the Tower Master. Tower Master Cellora looked at them, remained silent for about 10 seconds, then spoke.

“You obviously know why I called you here, right?”

Since she had already given them time to solve the issue of the magic tower tilting, encouraging them to try to solve it, the only matter left was Jeff’s expulsion. Cloria answered the Tower Master’s words.

“I heard you called us because you had something to say about the matter of expelling Jeff.”

“Yes. You understand well.”

— Whoosh!

The Tower Master displayed all the documents recorded in scroll form in the air.

“Jeff’s peculiarities documented in the papers. 1-element magician, over a year in the magic tower with 0 patents filed, 0 inventions, 0 proposals submitted, according to the records you’ve noted, Jeff is no different from trash whose entry into the magic tower is questionable, right?”

Cloria kept her mouth shut and watched the Tower Master’s expression. Lunia, too, was frozen with words by her tremendous presence.

Tower Master Cellora spoke with a chilling expression.

“The documents you’ve recorded clearly show that Jeff should normally be incapable, but why did he rank first in the Riness Academy instructor selection, especially in a test hosted by Inspector Mellin? Do you think that’s an achievement possible for a mere 1-element magician who couldn’t create a single thing in a year? I can only judge that you expelled a capable person.”

Cloria gave Lunia a signal, and Lunia answered.

“It’s certain that Jeff is a 1-element magician. Also, I’ve heard the rumors that Inspector Mellin is impressive, but without knowing exactly what she evaluated, he might have just recorded first place due to luck.”

Cellora used telekinesis to throw a wine bottle nearby. The bottle, which brushed right past Lunia’s head, shattered.

— Crash

“Who are you to babble such things? Cloria. Do you share the same thoughts as Lunia?”

“No. Actually, I didn’t have much time to observe and judge Jeff. I had little time to be inside the research institute as I was training magic and conducting various experiments outside, so I simply accepted Jeff’s expulsion based on the information Lunia conveyed to me.”

“Ah… so what you’re saying is that Lunia is the origin of all this. And you have no responsibility?”

Cloria affirmed with silence.

The Tower Master closed her eyes for a moment as if thinking about something, then spoke.

“Lunia. So, are you claiming that he just got lucky and received a perfect score in the first-stage exam?”

Lunia had no choice. If she admitted that Jeff was capable, it was clear she would have to take responsibility for all of this. In the end, she could only utter words to avoid immediate responsibility, along with a glimmer of hope.

“Y-yes. In fact, Jeff was someone who showed almost no results within the research institute, and it’s a clear truth that he is a 1-element magician. I’ve even heard that the Riness Academy is conducting this instructor exam in pairs. It must be the ability of the person accompanying him, not Jeff’s ability.”

Cellora pondered for a moment, then replied.

“In pairs, you say. That’s the first I’ve heard of it. Has it changed from this year?”

In Cellora’s expression, the anger began to gradually disappear. However, her suspicions were not completely gone.

“I see. If he just tagged along with a teammate, then I suppose he could receive a perfect score in the first stage. Anyway, since the second and third stage exams haven’t been conducted yet, we’ll be able to know Jeff’s true abilities then.”

Lunia, thinking she had gained the upper hand, nodded and replied.

“That’s right. Surely, he recorded a high score in the first stage thanks to his teammate, and it’s certain he’ll record a miserable score in the second and third stages.”

Cellora thought for a moment, then replied.

“For now, you can leave. When the results of the second and third stages of the Riness Academy instructor selection exam come out, we’ll talk again. Lunia. Don’t forget that I’m letting this pass to this extent because of the merits you’ve accumulated so far. I hope your insight isn’t wrong.”

Then, the Tower Master handed over an elaborately designed invitation and spoke.

“Riness Academy gave an invitation to observe the second and third stages of the instructor selection exam. Visit in person and record for yourselves how Jeff’s performance is, what kind of achievements he made, or if he couldn’t achieve anything. There are a few others at the scene besides you, so you should record honestly.”

“Yes… I understand.”

Cloria and Lunia exit the Tower Master’s room. Unlike Lunia, who wore an expression of relief, Cloria’s face wrinkled.

“Lunia, what on earth are you trying to do?”

“Pardon?”

“If Jeff receives good scores in the second and third stage exams, how are you planning to handle the aftermath?”

“Director Cloria. You don’t need to worry. I just found out through the Information Guild what the content of the second and third stage exams at Riness Academy is. It’s cooperation and competition. Jeff, that guy, only knows how to enhance artifacts, and has never shown combat abilities, right? Even if his ability to enhance artifacts with ‘Movement’ is excellent, the fact that he’s a 1-element magician remains unchanged. They say the first stage was about inference and judgment, and I’m sure he just tagged along there. You don’t need to worry… fortunately, the Tower Master doesn’t seem to know yet that ‘Movement’ belongs to Jeff… In the second and third stages, if he gets beaten to death by other applicants and gets eliminated, the person with him won’t be able to handle it alone. Then Jeff’s evaluation will naturally go down again, and the Tower Master will say that my judgment was right.”

Research Director Cloria pondered for a moment, then nodded.

“Well, we need to go to Riness Academy. Looking at the invitation, there’s still some time until the second stage exam starts. Let’s go and see Jeff, that guy, fall apart, and record it.”

◈◈◈◈◈

Riness Academy. Before the second stage exam starts, they say there’s a brief waiting period until everyone invited to the instructor selection exam arrives.

Jeff was sitting in his seat, filling his mana through meditation. Ariel approaches beside him.

“Mr. Jeff, earlier you told me that you can use an enhancement skill called ‘Movement’, right? You also said that’s how you unlocked the mana lock.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“But… is this Movement only applicable to artifacts? I’m just curious suddenly.”

Jeff shook his head and said.

“No. Using Movement, I can enhance various objects including skills and living beings, not just artifacts.”

Jeff looked at the mass of mana floating in his hand, which rotated while changing from 1-element, to 2-element, to 3-element, and back to 2-element.

Jeff looked at it and added.

“Come to think of it, I’ve hardly ever enhanced skills with Movement. Since I was always enhancing artifacts when I was at the magic tower… Now in the second and third stage exams, I’ll show you something interesting.”