Alex's expression turned into one of quiet certainty. "Where exactly did you stack the items?"
"Over there." Fudge pointed to one side of the room. Then, as if second-guessing himself, he added with a tinge of worry, "We only placed them against the wall. That shouldn't interfere with anything, right?"
Alex sighed and shook his head. "Putting them against the wall is exactly the problem."
Fudge looked completely baffled.
"The real core of the magic circle isn't the pillar," Alex explained patiently. "It's actually built into the floor and walls. The pillar is just a console and amplifier. If you pile up cursed items, especially ones leaking unstable magic, they can easily disrupt the runes embedded in the room."
"What?" Fudge and the two high-ranking witches beside him were stunned. They immediately looked down at the floor under their feet, and instinctively took a step back as if afraid of doing more damage.
Alex couldn't help but be amused by their reaction. "Relax. The runes are constructed from Ulim steel and refined mithril. They're extremely durable, walking over them won't cause any harm."
He made his way to the spot Fudge had pointed out earlier, pulled out what looked like a magnifying glass with runes etched along its rim, and knelt down to inspect the floor.
Just as he suspected, some of the runes had been disturbed. Residual dark magic from the confiscated items had bled into the lines, causing a few magic flows to become unstable.
Still, the problem wasn't too serious. Only a handful of rune nodes were blocked, and Alex knew how to fix that. A simple withdrawal spell would be enough to pull the excess magic out. The materials used were top-notch, and the circle's structural integrity remained intact.
After finishing his inspection, Alex frowned slightly, then glanced up at the three ministry officials with a strange look in his eyes.
They immediately grew tense under his gaze, especially Fudge, who felt a cold sweat beginning to form. As the person in charge of this facility, if something went seriously wrong in the alchemy room, the blame would fall squarely on his shoulders.
"What's wrong? Is it serious?" Fudge asked nervously, eyes flicking between Alex's expression and the floor beneath them.
Alex didn't respond right away. He rubbed his chin, looking conflicted. "Hmm… Do you have a circuit diagram of the circle? Or any kind of instruction manual for this alchemy room? Because from what I've seen so far, it's hard to make an accurate assessment."
"Wh-what?" Fudge stammered, visibly more anxious now. "What do you mean, assessment? Are you saying the rune circle is seriously damaged?"
"Let me see the layout first," Alex said, sidestepping the question. "Once I know the full structure, I'll be able to give you a proper answer."
"Layout? Manual?" Fudge turned to Minister Bagnold, clearly lost. "I don't remember seeing anything like that for this place…"
Bagnold sighed and stepped in to cover for him. "Alex, the original rune circle here was designed by Nicolas Flamel for the British Ministry nearly two centuries ago. Over time, the magic weakened, and decades ago, we had Professor Dumbledore reinforce it. But neither of them left behind anything like a circuit diagram or an instruction manual. That kind of knowledge is something only master alchemists understand, it's not the kind of thing they'd ever put in writing."
Alex raised an eyebrow. 'So the Ministry doesn't have a diagram or manual for one of its most important magical rooms?'
That meant he was the only one who could properly interpret or fix anything here. He could basically say whatever he wanted, and no one would be able to challenge him. 'Maybe this "alchemy desert" of Britain isn't so useless after all,' he thought to himself with a smirk. This could be his golden opportunity.
Putting on a look of reluctant hesitation, he turned back to the others and addressed them with a solemn tone. "Minister Bagnold, Directors."
After a pause, Alex let out a soft sigh, as if he didn't want to say what was coming next. "To be completely honest, it looks like some of the rune lines have suffered significant damage. You've been focusing too much on the central pillar and neglecting the actual framework of the magic circle. Storing those black magic artifacts here, even temporarily, definitely caused some magical contamination."
He glanced around the room once more, then added with a grave nod, "All in all… the loss isn't minor."
"What?" Fudge practically jumped, his whole body trembling as the words sank in. Cold sweat broke out on Alex's forehead as he realized the weight of the situation. "Then what do we do? Is that section of the rune circuit completely broken? Will it affect the detection array? The subject?"
Minister Bagnold and Amelia both turned to Alex, eyes full of tension. The alchemy room might usually sit unused, but during a crisis, it was essential for monitoring magic activity across the country. If word got out that it had malfunctioned, the consequences could be more than just political, they might be facing a serious security threat.
"Fortunately, I noticed the issue early," Alex said quickly, realizing his reaction had caused too much panic. He decided not to overdo it and dialed back the drama in his tone.
"So far, the magic pollution I've found is still limited in scope," he explained, trying to reassure them. "Of course, I won't know the full extent of the damage until I've inspected the entire alchemy room."
"Then how do we fix it?" Minister Bagnold asked, finally regaining his calm. "You must have an idea if you were able to spot the issue so quickly."
"That's right," Alex nodded confidently. "It's actually not too hard to fix. We just need to replace the worn-out materials, and the circle should be up and running again. While we're at it, I could do a full overhaul of the entire rune system. If we go that route, I can get its efficiency back to how it was when it was first built."
"I see." Fudge let out a long breath of relief, only for his brow to furrow again a second later as something clicked. "Wait… didn't you say the materials used to build this array were extremely rare?"
Minister Bagnold had come to the same conclusion and asked with a serious tone, "So what kind of materials are we talking about? How much will it take to repair that section of the array?"
"Honestly, not much," Alex replied. "The magic lines in the rune circuit are made of Ulim steel mixed with refined mithril. Based on what I've seen so far, I'd say around three ounces of Ulim steel and one ounce of refined mithril should do the trick."
The two female executives hadn't yet grasped the weight of those words, but Fudge's face went pale as his eyes bulged. "Only? Do you even know how expensive that is? I couldn't afford that amount of material even with a full year's salary!"