I Became the Magic Tower Master's Experimental Mouse - Chapter 30

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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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“……Won’t you take it? Then I’ll just take it back.”
After I’d stood there in a daze for a while, Cassian waved his hand with a sulk.
“Oh, no! I’ll take it!”
I startled and quickly accepted the pie with both hands.
‘There’s no poison in it. I brought it myself, and I cut it right in front of him.’
So what Cassian had offered me was truly just a simple gesture of kindness.
No matter how hard I searched my memory, I couldn’t recall anyone ever giving me something out of pure goodwill.
I’d never lived in an environment where I could believe in such a thing in the first place.
‘……It’s warm.’
The Apple Pie had long since cooled, yet why did it feel like warmth was touching my palm?
I took a bite of the Apple Pie.
As I chewed, a familiar sweetness bloomed across my tongue.
……Strangely, even though it tasted different from the memory I’d cherished, my chest felt full.
‘Ah…… I’ll never forget this day, no matter how long I live.’
The three of them ate their pie, laughing loudly and chattering away, but I couldn’t seem to snap out of my daze.
“Why do you keep staring like that? It’s unsettling.”
“……I’m just…… grateful.”
When I answered honestly, Cassian flinched and abruptly turned his head away.
‘I’ll save you. No matter what, I swear it.’
I made a silent vow then and there to repay him for the new memory he’d given me — no matter what it took.
* * *
After I’d brought Cassian to his bed, I made straight for the Medical Office.
The three of them burst in with me, and Ollie quickly set down the book she’d been reading.
“Ollie, I’m back.”
“Ollie! We’re here too!”
Ollie, who’d been lying on the bed, tried to sit up eagerly, but her broken leg forced her back down.
“You guys!”
She let out a sharp wince of pain, yet still broke into a smile.
“Don’t push yourself!”
Lily gasped in alarm and rushed to Ollie’s side.
She reached out to pat her back as usual in mock scolding, then hesitated awkwardly, conscious of Ollie’s injured state, and withdrew her hand.
When Ollie saw the sadness on Lily’s face, she straightened her expression and offered comfort.
“Does worrying about the habit make it hard? I’ll heal quickly so you can hit me again.”
“What are you talking about, you dummy! At a time like this, you’re supposed to say you won’t do anything stupid!”
At Ollie’s oddly stilted words, Lily placed her hands on her hips and let out an exasperated cry.
Seeing the smile return to her downturned face, it seemed Ollie had done that on purpose to make Lily laugh.
“We came together to give you this.”
I pulled an Apple Pie from my pocket and placed it in Ollie’s hands.
“This…… is for me?”
“Yes. We all went for a walk and ate together, but it would be a shame if you were the only one who couldn’t have any.”
Ollie looked back and forth between the Apple Pie and us, then grew tearful with emotion.
“Thank you, you guys…….”
Anyway, half of the four of us have tear ducts that are far too sensitive.
As I watched Ollie warmly, Killian shrugged and spoke up.
“Don’t get so moved — I’ll be honest, it was Pipi’s idea to bring this to you.”
“That’s right! Since you’re eating a whole pie by yourself, consider it an honor!”
At Leo’s words that followed, Ollie grasped my hand with glistening eyes.
“I really can’t thank you enough, Pipi……!”
“I’m not fond of this soft, mushy atmosphere, so if you’re grateful, just get better soon.”
The words had come out sharp and brisk, born of embarrassment in the face of such sincere thanks.
Yet they all looked at me with warm, amused expressions, as if I were adorable.
‘Ugh…….’
Soft and fluffy — it feels exactly like being wrapped up in marshmallow.
To think of protecting someone voluntarily, with no payment or obligation — it was shameful for an assassin…….
‘The problem is, I don’t dislike it.’
When I think about it, I’ve already saved Ollie twice, and now I was even looking after her meals.
Not because anyone asked me to, but because I chose to, of my own will.
Giving food and shelter — things tied directly to survival — to others for free, and even providing my labor…….
Before my Regression, I could never have imagined such a thing.
‘So this is what the world calls attachment.’
Watching Ollie eat the Apple Pie with such contentment on his face, I found myself feeling oddly full just from the sight.
Embarrassed, I had no choice but to make a hasty retreat from the room.
* * *
That night.
I was in bed performing a Breathing Exercise after washing up.
Ding—
A bell chimed inside the room. The signal cord connecting to Cassian’s chamber had been pulled.
‘Don’t tell me.’
I shot up and rushed to the adjoining room.
The moment I opened the door, Cassian lay there drenched in cold sweat, gripping the blanket with white knuckles.
Most of the Poison Energy had drained from his body by now, so toxic miasma no longer billowed through the room, but his ashen face suggested his condition had worsened.
‘His lips are turning purple.’
Cassian’s complexion darkened with each passing moment.
“Are you alright, sir?”
“……I’m fine. Just…… it hurts a bit. It’s nothing serious—I only called for you.”
Fine, he says, when his fingertips are trembling so badly.
Did I push him too hard on his first outing in so long?
It wasn’t training, only a simple walk, so I’d trusted in a Hybrid Beast-Human’s recovery capacity. Apparently, he was far more fragile than I’d assumed.
‘I thought he’d be fine since it was gentler than the training I endured at six years old…….’
I quickly sat at the bedside and took his hand, beginning the Detoxification.
As the pale violet Poison Energy drained through his fingertips, Cassian’s breathing gradually steadied.
Once the crisis had passed, I tried to withdraw my hand.
“……Wait.”
Cassian’s grip tightened around mine.
“The Detoxification is finished.”
“……That’s not what I mean.”
Cassian hesitated for a long moment.
“It’s night right now. You should be sleeping.”
“So what.”
Despite the clipped words tumbling out as if to dismiss me entirely, Cassian’s grip only grew stronger.
“You have to let go for me to leave.”
He seemed to want to say something, but if it’s going to take this long to get the words out, I’d almost rather not hear them.
Experience had taught me that people who hesitate like this never say anything that ends well…….
‘Asking to borrow money, wanting to use me for free, trying some seduction technique…….’
Not that Cassian would ask for money—he’s far wealthier than I am—but still…….
‘Does he want me to kill someone?’
Then I remembered that I’m merely a (unofficial) former assassin, and felt oddly confused.
“Come on! Just spit it out already?!”
Exasperated, I struck the mattress and pressed him.
“It’s just…….”
Cassian averted his gaze and murmured something barely audible.
‘Huh? Is he telling me not to go, right now?’
Thinking I’d misheard, I pricked up my ears, but unfortunately my rodent-kind hearing was keen enough that I couldn’t miss a sound at this distance.
“When you’re beside me…… it doesn’t hurt as much.”
I went very still.
“……What?”
“It’s not just when you’re using Detoxification. It’s…… when you’re next to me, the pain eases.”
Cassian drew the blanket up, burying half his face beneath it.
As the lamplight flickered, his ears and cheeks flushed a rosy hue.
“……So stay a little longer, would you.”
I looked down at our joined hands.
They were words I understood individually, yet somehow they felt entirely foreign strung together.
‘Am I unconsciously still drawing out the Poison Energy? Or is there some other reason because he’s a Hybrid Beast-Human?’
No matter how much I turned it over in my mind, I couldn’t find an answer.
‘It seems I’ve somehow developed the ability to draw Poison Energy from the very air itself.’
The mere presence of someone beside him easing his pain—this was definitely something to report to the Tower Master as a research topic.
In the end, I didn’t withdraw my hand, instead settling back down at the bedside.
“……I’ll stay until you fall asleep.”
Instead of answering, Cassian gently squeezed the hand he held.
Wait a little longer. The furrow between Cassian’s brows smoothed away, and his lips parted slightly.
His grip loosened by degrees.
A soft, ragged breathing filled the silence.
‘Like a child sleeping,’ I thought.
The usual prickly Young Master had vanished; in his place lay someone who could have been nothing but a boy.
When you thought about it, he was only nine—just three years older than me.
I found myself watching him sleep, and gently placed his hand on my stomach.
That was when it happened.
“……Pipi.”
Half-asleep, Cassian called out softly to me.
I went rigid.
……What did he just call me?
He’d never deigned to use my name, no matter how much I begged. He’d only snort at the request.
And yet here he was, uttering it in his sleep, completely defenseless…….
“Pipi. I…….”
Once more, Cassian spoke my name. A peaceful smile played at the corner of his mouth.
‘Not a test subject. Not Epiphany, either…….’
‘Pipi.’
I bolted upright as though I’d been burned.
‘Why does that feel so familiar?’
As if I’d heard it before, somewhere. A resonance I couldn’t place…….
Suddenly, my head throbbed.

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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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