I Became the Magic Tower Master's Experimental Mouse - Chapter 15

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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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My mind went white.
My body moved before thought could catch up.
I twisted my wrist free and aimed my other hand at his throat.
A perfect strike to that vital point would drop him unconscious every time.
‘……Wait.’
Only when I registered the short arm suspended in empty air did my senses return.
I’m not an assassin now. I’m an Experimental Subject at the Magic Tower, and Kasian is a patient.
A patient worth 1,000 Gold, no less!
‘I haven’t struck. So it’s fine.’
Hoping he hadn’t noticed my intent to attack, I quietly lowered my hand.
And when I tried to pull free the hand he was holding—
‘……It won’t come loose.’
Despite his poisoned state and the weakness that came with it, his grip was formidable.
As I stood there bewildered, Kasian’s mouth moved once more.
“You, this time…….”
His voice, which had been faltering as though he had something to tell me, gradually faded.
His eyes, already clouded by fever, grew dimmer still, and the strength drained slowly from his fingers.
The half-raised upper body, propped at an angle, went limp once more like a marionette.
‘Tsk.’
His consciousness had sunk again.
I withdrew my hand and stared down at his sleeping face.
‘This time—— if he said that, does he remember me?’
Last time he told me not to leave.
In any case, with no knowing what might happen, I’d prefer he not go about grabbing at people’s hands like that.
I’d rather not meet an absurd end, crushed in the grip of a former assassin wearing a child’s face.
‘……Let’s get started.’
I shook my head, scattering the intrusive thoughts.
With that brief moment of lucidity rattling me, I couldn’t afford to waste more time—I needed to finish the Detoxification and get back to my duties.
‘Mm.’
The poison flowed in through my fingertips.
The stiff tension that had clung to Kasian’s sleeping body gradually ebbed.
His breathing seemed to come easier.
‘Hmm, it’s getting heavier.’
After about five minutes, my fingertips grew heavy and I felt the first stirrings of fatigue.
Usually I didn’t notice this until much later, but since I’d already exerted myself once this morning, the reaction came faster.
Too stubborn to stop over mere tiredness, I pressed on with the Detoxification.
‘……That’s strange.’
Kasian’s hand was growing colder.
“Why suddenly……?”
The moment I muttered it aloud, I understood.
It wasn’t Kasian’s condition that was changing rapidly—it was mine.
My vision blurred, and a bead of cold sweat rolled down the back of my hand.
‘Why is my body burning up like this?’
My breathing grew ragged.
That was when I realized: I’d overdone it.
‘I need to break contact right now…….’
My fingers wouldn’t obey.
With effort, I pulled free from Kasian’s hand and leaned my upper body onto the bed beside him.
‘……I’m going to be scolded.’
As my mind grew hazy, I heard footsteps—someone opening the door.
“Experimental Subject.”
It was a familiar voice.
The Tower Master approached with an expressionless face, looking down at me.
It seemed he’d come searching when I failed to return after my walk.
‘Oh, I’m in trouble……!’
I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the rebuke that would follow.
‘If I get scolded, I’ll explain why…….’
The Tower Master would surely scold me firmly for repeatedly breaking my promises, but I couldn’t promise it wouldn’t happen again.
The fault lay in my greed to finish quickly—a careless miscalculation that had landed me in this state.
There was nothing for it but to explain the rumors circulating through the Tower and try to persuade him to respond properly.
“……My Experimental Subject truly is a walking disaster.”
……Hm?
Yet contrary to what I’d expected—that I’d be scolded this time—the Tower Master did not scold me at all.
‘Rather than scolding, it seems…….’
His tone sounded almost bitter.
I blinked my eyes a few times, listening as a sigh that sounded almost like resignation leaked from the Tower Master’s lips, and then I closed my eyes and nodded off.
* * *
I don’t know how long I slept.
My head was as heavy as it had been with a cold, and my clothes were damp with cold sweat.
‘Ah…….’
As my mind cleared somewhat, I couldn’t help but sigh inwardly with regret.
The Tower Master must have carried me in his arms to move me, which would only accelerate the strange rumors.
As someone who wanted to explain how good an employer he was, this was deeply unfortunate.
And then, the next day, after night had passed and the sun had risen—late afternoon.
While I had woken from sleep but kept my eyes closed, listening only faintly to the sounds around me.
A voice came through, accompanied by subtle static from somewhere nearby.
‘……A Communication Artifact?’
I opened my eyes hazily.
The ceiling of a bed, much larger and simpler than mine, came into view.
And next, sitting on a distant sofa with his back turned, I saw the Tower Master’s silhouette.
―Is it truly the case that the treatment succeeded? What is the progress? Is it possible to proceed more frequently, and for longer durations?
The voice on the other end was urgent.
“As I reported earlier by Message Artifact, the frequency is as stated. I cannot increase it further. I could only decrease it.”
The Tower Master, unlike the person on the other end of the Communication Artifact, remained entirely unhurried.
―Decrease it? Our young master’s life hangs in the balance!
“Advisor. The Detoxification is entirely the Magic Tower’s domain.”
―We can offer any compensation you wish! The Duke was so eager to hear this news that he set out for the Magic Tower at once.
“Such pointless talk……. No additional compensation is necessary. The method of treatment is non-negotiable.”
―……I understand.
I heard the conversation, but my head ached so much that it seemed to slip right past my ears.
The sound of the Tower Master setting the Communication Artifact down on the desk rang out briefly, and shortly after, a long sigh followed.
‘……Are you all right?’
I wanted to ask, but my lips wouldn’t move.
My consciousness sank again.
* * *
When I came to again, it was midday.
I blinked slowly, in a daze.
‘Here……it’s not my room after all.’
Unlike the small, charming furniture of my room, this one held only large pieces in dark tones overall.
Though each was neat in form, they carried the sophisticated elegance I’d only ever seen in the chambers of the wealthy.
“Finally awake. How do you feel?”
I turned my head toward the voice and saw the Tower Master sitting beside the bed.
He was leaning back in a rocking chair, reading a very thick book.
The hand that had placed the book facedown on the nightstand now moved toward my forehead.
“Your fever has broken. Does anything feel hot inside?”
“……I’m fine. Where am I?”
“My room.”
The Tower Master’s room?!
Startled, I opened my mouth and blinked hard.
So surprised that my tail was wagging wildly, I grabbed it and pinned it down on the bed while asking.
“Why am I here instead of my own room……?”
“Since you collapsed after exerting yourself, I needed to check whether there were any additional complications.”
Having said this, the Tower Master picked up a Notebook and scribbled something down in it.
Now that I thought about it, I remembered seeing him writing something in that Notebook each time I’d half-woken.
What was he writing about this incident?
That his Experimental Subject, not knowing her limits, collapsed?
‘How embarrassing…….’
To abandon greed was the way of an assassin, yet I had failed to collect myself and instead overextended, running wild beyond my limits.
An even deeper shame washed over me than when I’d first practiced the Flying Needle Technique and watched the needles fall limply at my feet instead of striking the target.
“I’m sorry……”
“Sorry about what?”
“I misjudged my limits.”
Looking back on it, the eight minutes the Tower Master had prescribed was a remarkably precise number.
My body had felt no strain whatsoever.
The moment I drew in any more, the poison rushed in all at once, and I could barely keep my senses about me.
In any case, if I’d kept my wits sharper from the start, none of that would have happened—so I had no excuse.
“……You really don’t listen, do you?”
Dissatisfied with my answer, the Tower Master shook his head slightly and let out a sigh.
It sounded much like the sighs I’d heard so often while lying down.
“……Heh.”
I gave a quiet laugh.
In any case, for the sake of the Tower Master’s honor—tarnished as it was by the dreadful reputation of exploiting children—extending the time was unavoidable.
“Why are you so determined to heal that child, anyway?”
I opened my eyes wide at his question.
‘Why, he asks?’
Money, and… some inexplicable urge to help.
I pondered for a moment, then answered plainly.
“Money.”
“Money? If I give you 1,000 Gold, you’ll follow my plans to the letter?”
At his question, I shook my head without hesitation.
“I’m not interested in money handed out like that.”
Comfortable wealth doesn’t matter much to me, but……
‘Money is only a means to protect myself. When means and ends get twisted, you end up chasing after money instead.’
I’d seen that happen more than once or twice.
Money earned by my own strength—only that guarantees my abilities and my freedom!
As I explained this with my fist clenched, the Tower Master let out an absurd-sounding laugh.
‘And besides… it bothers me more that he’s being misunderstood as a bad person than not getting paid at all.’
I found myself glancing at the Tower Master, curious whether he knew of the rumors circulating through the tower right now.
‘I wish everyone knew that Kasian was here. That would be better.’
Come to think of it, why is Kasian’s presence here a secret?!

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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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