I Became the Magic Tower Master's Experimental Mouse - Chapter 25

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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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A chill settled over the office.
I rolled my eyes, already sensing the dark days ahead for the impostor Ollie who had unsettled the Tower Master’s mood.
“The rest of you should return to your quarters. It could be dangerous—lock yourselves in your rooms and stay there. Spread word to the other apprentices as well.”
“Yes, Tower Master.”
Killian bowed and left the office with me.
“Where should we look for Lilly and Leo?”
“They’ve finished eating, so they’re probably in the Library. They have to write up the experiment report from this morning.”
“Then let’s hurry!”
We headed straight for the Library on the second floor.
I expected them to be there, but…….
“Where did they go?”
Killian circled the Library once, then muttered under his breath with a troubled expression.
I felt the same unease creeping in.
‘There’s…… no sign of Lilly’s scent here.’
Lilly always carried the sweet aroma of confections, making her easy to track by scent.
I sniffed the air for a moment, then was certain—Lilly had never entered the Library.
“She’s not been here. It’d be better to start tracking from the Cafeteria instead.”
“Something tells me putting you back in your room would be the smarter move…….”
Killian seemed to feel the same ill-ease, watching me with visible reluctance as he muttered.
But when it came to tracking by scent, no one could match me, so he had no choice but to follow.
We made our way back to the Cafeteria and began tracing Lilly’s path from the entrance, following her trail.
‘Thank goodness Lilly’s hobby is confectionery…….’
If the scent had dissipated too much, we’d have been in real trouble, but the spice aromas used in her pastries were unique to her, making her easy to find.
“This way…….”
Killian murmured, his face turning uncertain.
The path Lilly had taken was definitely odd.
This direction was…….
‘Isn’t this where the Club Rooms in the Magic Tower are gathered?’
Several clubs existed within the Magic Tower.
The Sleep Research Club, the Poisonous Mushroom Gourmet Club, the Poisonous Plant Gardening Club—clubs with those kinds of themes…….
If my memory served, the Snack Research Club’s Club Room was at the far end of this corridor.
Since Lilly was both the president and sole member of that club, I’d been invited there before and remembered it clearly.
As we approached the most isolated room at the end, the tracking scent abruptly faded.
The pastry aroma was already so strong in this area that fine discrimination was difficult, but it was clear that Lilly had entered this room.
‘The door’s too thick…… I can’t hear anything from inside.’
I frowned without thinking.
It felt like opening a mystery box with no idea what lay within. And for assassins, that was the worst kind of situation.
‘Usually in these cases, there’d be security forces lying in ambush inside to make an arrest…… that pattern comes up a lot.’
I tapped Killian’s arm lightly.
“She definitely went inside.”
“Yeah…… I’ll open it.”
I didn’t object and stepped back a bit.
Of course, I kept the Fork from my pocket gripped tightly in my hand.
I’d grabbed a new Fork from the Cafeteria earlier, ready to throw it in place of a blade if things went south.
‘If Killian looks like he’s in danger, I’ll throw it for him.’
A Fork instead of a dagger, maybe, but with my skill I wouldn’t miss my target.
Thump-thump—my heart pounding in the tense silence, Killian carefully opened the door.
“Ugh!”
As the door swung open, I winced at the overwhelming, acrid spice-stench that hit me in the face.
The inside was a disaster.
The small kitchen that Lilly always kept spotlessly clean had been turned upside down like a theft scene.
The air was thick with the smell of Cinnamon, Black Pepper, and countless other spices, while the floor was caked with Flour and Cocoa Powder.
The shelves near the entrance had also collapsed, spilling their contents across the ground.
‘What in the world…… happened here……?’
* * *
Let us rewind a little, to some time earlier.
After leaving the Cafeteria, Lilly walked quickly down the corridor with a troubled expression.
‘Ollie’s acting strange.’
Ollie and Lilly had entered the Magic Tower in the same year, as peers.
Before Leo and Killian arrived, the two of them leaned on each other to continue their apprenticeship.
Because of this, Lilly could quickly pick up on changes in Ollie that might escape anyone else’s notice.
‘Should I talk to Liz about this?’
Lilly, her spirits flagging slightly, swallowed a sigh.
Ollie’s transformation troubled her so deeply that it felt strange, yet she lacked absolute certainty about what was wrong.
She thought Liz might offer some help, so she was about to head downstairs to find her.
“Lilly, where are you going?”
“Yelp!”
Ollie’s voice suddenly came from behind her.
Unlike the careless, stumbling Ollie she usually was outside of research, this appearance was ghostly—as if she’d materialized straight from the ground.
Startled, Lilly clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a cry.
“Why so jumpy?”
“You… already finished eating?”
“Yep!”
Ollie grinned widely.
Though the smile was careless and unremarkable—nothing like her usual manner—Lilly, already sensing something amiss, felt her throat tighten.
She drew a bag from her pocket and held out an Almond Cookie.
“Ollie, want this for a snack? I just baked a fresh batch of your favorite almond cookies.”
The real Ollie would have immediately puffed out her cheeks in protest.
‘Did I forget I’m allergic? That makes me sad…’ she would have said.
“Oh, this is delicious.”
But now, the impostor simply took it and ate without hesitation.
‘Oh no…!’
A chill ran down Lilly’s spine. This was definitely not Ollie.
‘Then where is the real Ollie…?!’
Her heart pounded with worry and shock, but Lilly forced herself to smile, careful not to show it.
“Good, right? Want more?”
“…Yeah, thanks.”
The impostor took the bag naturally.
She needed to find an adult who could help—whether Liz or one of the other seniors—but her heart was trembling so badly she couldn’t muster the courage to walk far.
The hallway was empty, especially at mealtimes…
‘I have to pull myself together…’
Just as Lilly’s anxiety was reaching its peak, the impostor began to follow her with subtle persistence.
She didn’t have the nerve to go back to the Cafeteria now; the impostor would grow suspicious.
“Oh, Lilly. I need to move some things here—could you help me for a moment?”
“Huh? Right now…?”
“Yeah, now.”
With no one else in the corridor, the impostor asked with a smile.
‘Somehow… it doesn’t feel like she’ll take no for an answer…’
Ollie was so obedient and emotional that she could never create this kind of subtle, coercive atmosphere.
Lilly, once again recognizing that Ollie had been replaced, reluctantly nodded her head.
‘Wait, this place…?’
The impostor led her down a corridor Lilly knew well.
Where the Club Rooms were located, including the Snack Research Club.
Ollie passed several club rooms and headed toward the end of the corridor, walking confidently ahead as if she knew Lilly couldn’t escape alone.
‘Oh, that’s it…!’
The instant Lilly reached the Snack Research Club room, she suddenly twisted the doorknob and bolted inside.
It was an enormous stroke of luck that they’d neglected to lock the door.
“What—!”
“Get away!”
Regardless of what the impostor said, Lilly immediately hurled herself toward the spice shelf.
Grabbing a bag of cinnamon and black pepper, she hurled it straight at the impostor’s face as she burst through the door.
“Cough!”
The sharp spices struck her eyes and nose, and the impostor staggered for a moment.
Seizing the opportunity, Lilly threw flour and oil bottles, trying to knock her down.
“Gag, cough, you crazy—!”
The impostor sneezed violently, spitting out curses.
Lilly bolted for the door, intending to lock it behind her while her opponent was blinded and reeling, and make her escape.
“Ack!”
But as fate would have it, her opponent was an Assassin, and such minor sensory disruption was easily endured—the impostor caught Lilly’s ankle.
“No! Help!”
Lilly stumbled backward, and the objects on the table scattered across the floor with a crash.
In that instant—
“Lilly!”
Leo burst through the open doorway.
He’d lingered behind the others, but hearing her scream from down the hall, he’d given chase.
With all his strength, Leo shoved a shelf near the entrance toward the Impostor.
The heavy furniture came down on the Impostor’s legs, even as she lunged at Lilly.
“Now! Lilly, go!”
“Ow, ow, ow!”
Leo grabbed the gasping Lilly off the ground and they both bolted from the Club Rooms.
“Wait, wait!”
Lilly locked the Club Rooms door with the Key from her pocket, then leaned against Leo and whispered urgently.
“Leo, that wasn’t Ollie—it’s an Impostor!”
“What?!”
“The real Ollie must be locked away somewhere. I think it’s over there……!”
Lilly gripped Leo’s pale arm and pointed to the old Storage Room at the end of the corridor.
It was a neglected space where broken furniture was stored, somewhere no one ever went.
‘If the Impostor deliberately lured us that way, it means she’s made it her base.’
And by strange coincidence, it was also a room where Lilly and Ollie shared a memory.
It was the Storage Room where they’d both become Apprentices around the same time—the place they’d crept into together to hide and cry whenever they were punished for mistakes or treated unfairly by someone like Martin, offering each other what comfort they could.
Since Leo and Killian had arrived after that time, it was a place only the two of them knew about.
If the Impostor had asked the real Ollie where she could go where no one would find her, she’d certainly have named that Storage Room.
She’d been counting on her friend Lilly to recognize the Impostor for what she was.
“Come on, Leo!”
Lilly threw open the old Storage Room door, leaning on Leo for support.
Among the dust-covered furniture, bound and collapsed in the corner, lay Ollie.
The blood pooled beneath her on the floor wasn’t old—it hadn’t fully dried yet.
“……Ollie!”
Lilly and Leo cried out in horror at the sight of the motionless Ollie.

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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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