Chapter 94

The poker game was ultimately not played.

Selica ran away again.

You can run so well, why are you called Selica, why not call yourself Selica-Run-Run?

When returning to the Magic Research Institute again, Murphy had a feeling that a long time had passed, as if he had suddenly returned to the modern era from the last century.

The village trip made him physically and mentally exhausted. After taking a disinfection bath with Selica and arranging for people to go to the village for re-disinfection, Murphy fell asleep in his isolation ward.

This sleep was dark and dim.

In a trance, he seemed to see many pairs of eyes again.

Hanging outside the night sky, I don't know how far away, eyes of various colors, each with different expressions, either compassionate, angry, playful, or crazy.

Those eyes didn't move, staring at him.

Crossing the endless distance, as if crossing the time of billions of years, ancient and eternal, staring focused and patiently.

Murphy was scared awake, breaking out in a cold sweat.

After waking up, he found that he was clutching the fur of that unknown creature in his hand.

What is this thing?

After taking it off the base, the fur seemed to lose its magic, and it was no different from an ordinary piece of fur.

Murphy decided to let the scientists in the research institute study it first.

After another few days of isolation observation to ensure that Murphy and Selica had no risk of spreading the plague, the two were released.

Selica had already recovered. After a detailed physical examination, there were no major problems with various indicators. She only needed to rest for a period of time to fully recover.

And Murphy, because he had immunity before entering the village, was not infected with the plague from beginning to end. After resting for a few days, he was full of energy, but he couldn't go out during the isolation period. Except for occasionally watching TV and reading books, there was nothing more to do, which made him suffocated.

A few days later, the disinfection team that went to the village also returned. They were led by Alex, with more than a dozen experts and several house-elves assisting, and carried out repeated disinfection of the village for a week to ensure that the village had no risk of transmission.

They also brought back a few frozen Fire Ash Snake eggs. According to them, this thing was everywhere in the village, but most of them had hatched and burned out again.

After confirming that the village had no risk, Murphy felt relieved. The magic forest surrounding the village was still there, which should be enough to ensure that no one would accidentally break into it for a long time. Even if there were some sporadic plague bacillus left in the village, it would be difficult to spread out.

He shouldn't have to worry about a biochemical crisis for the time being.

As soon as the isolation ended, Murphy couldn't wait to devote himself to work.

He first let Laura take him to see those house-elves.

They were already familiar with the work in the research institute, nothing more than cleaning, cooking, running errands for researchers, etc. With the help of magic, they did very well, and because the researchers were very curious and gentle with the house-elves, the house-elves felt a care they had never received in the wizarding world.

Except for being fired by their former masters, which often made them sad, they were generally happy.

Murphy also saw Dobby, who was currently the only house-elf in the research institute with a real master, and was quite respected by other house-elves.

But Murphy fired him immediately and told him that he could negotiate with Laura about wages.

For this house-elf, being his master could not win his loyalty, so there was no need to do these vain things.

With the addition of these house-elves, the original Muggle staff were no longer needed. For the sake of confidentiality, they would all be dismissed.

But there were actually about a dozen people who wanted to stay, and even the high dismissal compensation didn't make them change their minds.

"Their desire to stay is very eager, and some even said they don't need remuneration." Laura said.

"Oh?" Murphy was a bit surprised, "Why?"

"Because after leaving here, they won't be able to see magic."

Murphy met with these people.

They might not be indispensable, but there were indeed some jobs in the research institute that they could do, such as managing those house-elves.

The loyalty and execution of house-elves were very good, but they were generally too stubborn, and it was troublesome for no one to coordinate and organize. With these staff members, they could formulate plans and arrange steps for their work, which was more efficient than letting a bunch of dead-brained elves do their own things.

Murphy eliminated a few speculators through Legilimency and left nine people.

"I think you should understand what staying here means." Murphy said, "The research content in this research institute may not be made public for a long time. If you stay here, you will be isolated from the world, and when you must leave, you may still have to accept Obliviation, and these years will be erased from your life."

"The longer you stay here, the more life you will lose."

"Even so, do you still want to stay?"

The nine people nodded silently.

"Reason?"

They looked at each other, and finally a middle-aged man who was originally responsible for accommodation management took a step forward and said: "My name is Shane Denton, I am an ordinary person, and my life so far has been extremely ordinary. I have been in hotel management all my life, raised two children, but I don't know what the meaning of my life is other than that. Until I came here, I saw magic. I think I am lucky, I have witnessed miracles, and I don't want to go back to when I knew nothing about it."

Another female chef said: "I feel like I am participating in a great thing."

Others said "Seeing magic makes me feel very happy."

Murphy listened to their reasons one by one and finally said: "I understand how you feel."

"Magic is a very magical thing. As you described, sometimes it looks like a miracle that suddenly appears in a boring and dull reality."

"I can understand the feeling of being summoned, as if witnessing or participating in a great event."

He remembered the dream he had in the village again.

What is the difference between him and these Muggles? He was just luckier to be able to use magic.

However, it was precisely this point that supported his existence.

After possessing this power that seemed to be omnipotent, he felt that he might be able to find the true appearance of himself.

"I really want to say that these are actually your hallucinations." Murphy said, "You are all very ordinary, you don't have the quality to use magic, and your intelligence and knowledge are also unlikely to help in the research of magic. So, participating in a big event, or saying something like contacting magic, may just be your wishful thinking."

The staff became depressed. They were to be dismissed, which was proof that they could be replaced.

"But, how to say it. I appreciate your courage."

"Taking something unreachable as a dream is too unwise. Perhaps many people will think you are very stupid. Perhaps one day in the future, you will think you are very stupid. But, in this world, who is not living in a hallucination built by themselves?"

"From this point of view, I am not much smarter than you."

"Life is just a dream, and what we can do is to revel in this dream."

Murphy said, shook hands with Shane Denton at the front, "So, I personally welcome you to stay. Idealists."

(End of volume)

(End of chapter)