I Became the Magic Tower Master's Experimental Mouse - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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‘Finally, they trust me!’
The adults around me all wore worried faces, but I was delighted.
After all, back in my days as an assassin, I’d already been exposed to Unranked Poisons.
It was difficult to identify which poison it was just by looking, but I could guarantee I wouldn’t die from drinking it.
“I hope this one tastes better this time.”
I wrinkled my nose with a smile to ease the adults’ tension.
The Tower Master poured the poison into a cup, and a colorless, unremarkable liquid filled it.
The scent was so faint that an ordinary person couldn’t even distinguish poison from water, but it was enough for me.
‘Hmm, yes, drinking it won’t kill me.’
I recognized it.
Without hesitation, I brought the cup to my lips.
Ah, that taste—the sharp, tingling numbness spreading across my tongue.
If someone else had drunk this, their tongue would have withered and their throat would have closed off entirely.
But for me, it stopped at dulling my sense of taste slightly.
That I felt even this much effect was only because it was an Unranked Poison.
My mouth tasted stale, so I clicked my tongue against the roof of it.
“Hmm……?”
Then I noticed the laboratory had gone silent as a tomb and tilted my head in confusion.
The Elders were staring at me as though they couldn’t comprehend what they’d just witnessed.
A piece of Candy that the Third Elder had been holding dropped to the floor with a soft rolling sound and came to rest at my feet.
‘Oh.’
I reached down to pick up the Candy to freshen my palate, but suddenly remembered I was in the middle of an experiment and stopped short.
“Since I’m fine and all, I’d really appreciate it if you’d shower me with praise for my abilities.”
I said it proudly instead of eating the Candy, but the Elders gave no reply.
They held their breath, their faces etched with something like concern as they gazed at me.
‘Oh.’
Only then did it truly sink in that these people were worried and frightened that I might be harmed.
Even the Tower Master seemed to be in a similar state.
‘Even though they were fairly confident in my abilities…….’
The Elders, well, that was one thing—but why did the Tower Master himself look so worried too?
‘Is it concern even when they know I’ll be fine?’
During my days as an assassin, there were only people who knew about my poison immunity and used it to their advantage.
I’d never known anyone to hold their breath for fear I might die.
‘…….’
I should smile and tell them I’m really fine, but my facial muscles wouldn’t move properly.
I was happy, certainly, but the smile wouldn’t come.
Seeing me like that, the Tower Master’s brow furrowed.
“……Did I push too hard?”
“Oh, no! I’m really fine!”
Yet the Tower Master’s hand reached toward me—a large hand with a faint chill to it, and it touched my body.
Just as when I’d drunk the poison before, his cool gaze checked inside my mouth to see if my tongue had withered, took my temperature, and felt my pulse.
When the Tower Master finally stepped back, the First Elder began murmuring something like a Magic Spell.
A faint blue light swept around my body once.
When the light faded, the First Elder’s face had gone rigid.
“Indeed…… there’s not even a trace of poison left.”
“A tiny thing like this actually has true Poison Immunity! Little one, you really have no family?”
The Third Elder’s eyes gleamed noticeably.
She seemed to have made up her mind to look into my Bloodline instead of me.
It didn’t seem like she’d let go easily.
“I’m an orphan with no family. The grandmother who raised me has passed away.”
But when I answered curtly, she didn’t press further.
Instead, she looked at me with an expression tinged with sadness.
“I see. You’ve had your share of hardship too.”
“What are you saying, you crazy old woman? Why would you say something like that? You heard she was an orphan!”
“Ah, well, it’s just—maybe this child’s parents abandoned her too because they didn’t want to raise a perfectly healthy one, after all!”
And then she and the Second Elder started bickering again.
It seemed the Third Elder must have had parents of her own but was abandoned on the streets anyway.
Hearing that, I didn’t feel particularly ill will toward her, so I didn’t frown.
“Both of you, be quiet. What are you doing in front of the Tower Master?”
At the First Elder’s protest, the other two fell silent.
Yet the Tower Master showed neither irritation nor interest—he simply stared at me with unwavering intensity.
“If there’s no trace of poison in your body at all… then it’s not Poison Immunity after all, is it.”
“Ah, that’s it! I was only thinking about Poison Immunity, but if there’s no poison component in the digestive system either, then it’s not immunity—it’s Detoxification, Tower Master.”
“Mm. Experimental Subject. Your ability appears to be neutralizing poison… in other words, Detoxification.”
The Tower Master nodded at me as he spoke.
I had always assumed my ability was Poison Immunity.
But the truth was I wasn’t enduring poison—I was eliminating its toxicity.
‘So my ability was Detoxification all along….’
As I turned this new knowledge over in my mind, the First Elder stroked his long beard and murmured thoughtfully.
“I’ve never seen an ability like this. There must be some Bloodline connected to it somewhere….”
“Shh! First Elder!”
The Third Elder jabbed him sharply in the ribs.
Despite her arm being as thin and brittle as a dry branch, she drove him clean off the sofa with such force that he stumbled and skidded across it.
‘I’m fine though….’
I smiled warmly at the Third Elder.
If I truly came from a noble or mage Bloodline, it was far more likely I’d been abandoned deliberately than lost by accident—and her concern sprang from worry about that possibility.
The fierce old woman’s kindness touched something in me.
“Whatever about Bloodlines….”
Just as we were settling into a softer atmosphere, the Tower Master’s voice cut through, cold and sharp.
“This child is my Experimental Subject.”
No matter the truth, no matter if someone came looking—I would be seen as his Experimental Subject, nothing else. That’s what he meant.
So I burst out laughing—a strange, oddly nervous laugh.
“…I understand.”
The Elders eventually rose to their feet.
Today’s verification experiment had reached its end.
“What a remarkable little Experimental Subject you are, child—take care now… Oh! Wait! I was only trying to pat your head!”
As the Third Elder reached out to touch my head before leaving, she shrieked at the Second Elder.
He had lifted me up and set me down at a distance before her hand could reach me.
The Third Elder gave a cry of indignation and dashed after him as he hurried out.
“Don’t lie to me, you old crone! There’s no way it was that innocent! You were definitely trying to pluck out my hair!”
“You crazy old fool!”
Bang-crash—the sound followed them until the door swung shut.
In the end, only the Tower Master and I remained in the Laboratory.
The Tower Master returned to his Notebook, scribbling away for a long time—nothing but the scratch of his pen filling the silence.
‘Bloodline….’
Now that quiet had returned, that strange remark came back to me.
I was simply born lucky enough to survive, condemned to be an assassin because of that luck, and now lived well fed because of it.
There was no room for something as grand as a ‘Bloodline’ in that story.
There shouldn’t have been.
‘Ah, forget it.’
Digging too deep only gives me a headache.
Whether I was abandoned or for whatever reason—right now I’m alone either way!
An assassin’s trade is to drop questions that have no answers if they don’t concern the job.
I was shaking my head when the scratching of the pen suddenly stopped. I looked up to find the Tower Master closing his Notebook, watching me.
“Experimental Subject.”
“Yes?”
Was this finally praise?! I wasn’t getting enough praise!
To my hopeful ears came a thunderbolt.
“Effective today, the poison experiments are suspended.”
“…I’m sorry?”
Was I being fired just like that? On the day I showed my greatest capability?!
“Why? I did well, didn’t I?”
“Exactly because you did well.”
What does that mean? Isn’t the whole point to squeeze out more of an ability once it proves itself?
Instead of explaining further, the Tower Master tapped the table twice.
“Your ability isn’t simple immunity—it’s neutralization.”
There was something intent in his gaze.
“Which means… there’s another use for your ability that needs to be done properly.”
I blinked.
“Surely not…….”
“Yes. There is someone whose poison must be purged.”
A secret we shared—one hidden in the Magic Tower Basement.
He meant to heal the Behemoth Young Duke, whose body had been consumed by toxin.
I recalled the boy convulsing, closed my mouth for a moment, then nodded.
“So the Tower Master is acknowledging the uniqueness of my abilities, then?”
“……Yes.”
Instead of simply agreeing, I’d said something else—and a flicker of bewilderment crossed the Tower Master’s face.
“Can only I in the Magic Tower save that person?”
“That’s right.”
The Tower Master nodded without hesitation at my question.
“Hmm, then I think the contract terms need to be modified until the treatment is complete. After all, I’m not just any experimental subject—I’m the only one in the Magic Tower with this ability!”
I declared boldly, striking the table with a sharp tap.
With years as an assassin under my belt, I knew how to negotiate my own worth.
“So whenever I consume poison, afterwards I should get some candy or a little snack—”
“Monthly salary of one hundred Gold, and upon complete detoxification, a bonus of one thousand Gold. Will that satisfy you?”
What……? He’s just handing me money like that?
My eyes widened.
“Add the special clause to the contract, please. Quickly.”
Before the Tower Master could change his mind, I seized both his hands with both of mine and nodded eagerly.
The sum was far too large to refuse!
I grinned widely at having secured the special terms, when the Tower Master placed his hand on my head.
“……And don’t be too greedy.”
“What? You offered the one thousand Gold first!”
“That’s not what I mean.”
The Tower Master’s fingers traced slowly across the notebook’s surface.
The last line of the notes he’d just written caught my eye upside-down.
[Fatigue response must be confirmed after ability use.]
“Your ability might be consuming your own body in the process.”
His voice was grave.
“Yes, yes—”
I nodded.
But honestly, all I heard was the sound of one thousand Gold ringing in my head.
‘What will I do with that money?’
If my body takes some damage, so be it.
Right now, the Tower Master is satisfied, the food is excellent, the work is bearable.
But the world has a way of dealing cruel blows when you let your guard down.
‘If something goes wrong in the Magic Tower.’
That money would become my lifeline.
‘Then I absolutely must secure it.’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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