I Became the Magic Tower Master's Experimental Mouse - Chapter 34

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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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I went blank for a moment at Cassian’s words.
‘I was right after all.’
Emily hadn’t simply been wandering out of curiosity.
She’d come as a member of the Information Guild, commissioned by someone.
‘……but it still stings.’
A child already being put to work like that.
Children were easy to disarm, and no one cared if they drifted through the streets like vagrants.
So while I understood it was an inevitable phenomenon that adults would exploit them this way, I couldn’t help but feel angry.
Because I’d been one of those children too.
“I need to report this to the Tower Master.”
Cassian nodded in agreement.
“Let’s go together.”
* * *
Since our conversation had gone late into the night, we sought out the Tower Master’s office the next morning.
“Did you come for breakfast? But why did you bring along a guest?”
The Tower Master, who had prepared my morning meal and was waiting for me, asked with a displeased expression.
“I had something to report, so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone.”
“Report whatever it is later.”
“Sir? But this is really important…….”
I hadn’t expected this kind of response.
I’d thought he’d compliment me on my keen observation and ruffle my hair approvingly.
Instead, feeling oddly deflated, I scratched my head.
“Nothing is more important than the happy hormones generated by a warm meal and the developmental benefits of proper nutrition.”
“Happy…… hormones?”
“According to Madam Suleiman’s works on Imperial child-rearing, there are happiness hormones called dopamine and serotonin that are very crucial to human life.”
“Is that…… so?”
“In other words, they contribute to you becoming an optimal experimental subject.”
With that, the Tower Master gave instructions with utmost seriousness.
“Of course, if you feel affection and comfort toward me, you’ll produce oxytocin as well. So make sure you develop that bond.”
“That doesn’t seem like something I can control on my own…….”
I shrugged and sank into the sofa.
“This is the first time I’ve seen you praise anyone. You’re always angry all the time.”
I recalled his usual manner of speaking—something like “you have a wrinkle-free, perfectly flat brain”—the way he disparaged everyone’s intellectual level with such elegant phrasing.
At that, he nodded seriously.
“Madam Suleiman, who was responsible for raising the Imperial family, authored more child-rearing books than anyone else in the world. It would be no exaggeration to call her the authority in the field of child-rearing.”
The Tower Master explained her background—that she had been the wet nurse for the late emperor, the current emperor, and the emperor’s sister.
Well, I wasn’t sure, but it seemed to be true.
Cassian, who had been standing quietly listening to our conversation, looked at us in turn with a bored and exasperated expression.
“Then I’ll report while we eat.”
“Hmm, that I’ll hear. Is this something you both need to report together?”
“Yes.”
I nodded vigorously and spoke about Emily.
“I visited the Blue Poppy Merchant Group yesterday, and a new servant named Emily accompanied me. Something about her seemed off.”
“Experimental subject, the word ‘off’ has multiple meanings.”
“Lord Cassian says she’s a member of the Information Guild.”
I answered while gesturing toward Cassian with my eyes.
At that, the Tower Master turned his gaze to Cassian.
“The experimental subject needs to eat plenty to grow, so let the scholar explain directly.”
“But I’m also before a meal and still growing…….”
Cassian made a briefly dumbfounded expression, then shook his head and replied.
“I said that I noticed a scale and eye-shaped mark on the inside of her elbow. I learned about it in heir training—it’s an identification mark of the Information Guild members.”
The Tower Master’s eyes narrowed.
After a moment of silence, he murmured lowly.
“When did you start calling the experimental subject by a pet name?”
“It’s been a while now…… don’t you pay any attention to me at all……?”
Cassian muttered in a slightly irritated tone.
Indeed, for the past month since Cassian had unconsciously called me by the pet name, he’d been continuously calling me Pi-pi.
The fact that the Tower Master hadn’t noticed until now was almost absurd.
‘Come to think of it, he noticed right away when Lizz trimmed my bangs slightly. Why not something like this…….’
I can’t tell whether he’s indifferent to other people’s affairs or far too interested in mine.
“……Hmm, the Information Guild, then.”
The Tower Master brushed off Cassian’s complaint easily and fell into deep thought about something.
“Since a direct approach is blocked, this time he means to buy information and verify it himself.”
I didn’t quite understand what he meant.
But it was clear he’d gathered far more information than I realized.
I watched the Tower Master spread blueberry jam on a morning bread and bite into it, lost in contemplation, when I heard a low rumble from beside me.
“Go on, eat in secret.”
“That wasn’t me. I don’t eat breakfast anyway.”
Cassian said it bluntly, his face reddening.
Even as he spoke, his hand darted out and snatched the jam bread I offered him.
“Lab rat, it’s all showing. Your portion is carefully designed with optimal nutritional balance…….”
Oh, right. It’s an experiment, of course.
I’d gotten so used to thinking of it as a daily delicacy that I’d forgotten—but it’s all part of being a proper experimental subject.
I glanced nervously at Cassian.
Even when I had nothing, I never stooped to petty give-and-take like this…….
“Just don’t eat it then. How petty.”
Cassian flared up at that.
The Tower Master nodded in approval.
“Give that back to the lab rat, and you can have this instead.”
What the Tower Master offered was a sandwich wrapped in oil-stained paper.
By every measure, it looked like his own breakfast.
‘If I give that to Cassian, what does the Tower Master eat?!’
I felt a twinge of unease and my hand holding the jam bread trembled.
I want to give him this instead, but if I ruin the experiment, I might get scolded again.
Yet the thought that the Tower Master’s stomach might growl made my heart sink.
‘This won’t do. They said I need to feel happy, or it won’t work.’
Getting the nutrition right was important, but so was producing those happiness hormones or whatever…….
“Skipping one meal won’t cause any problems…….”
I jumped up and handed the jam bread to the Tower Master.
From me to Cassian, from Cassian back to me.
The jam bread, passed through several hands, felt oddly grimy, but I wanted to give him something.
“……I’ll say this once more…….”
“But if you don’t eat, you won’t be happy. Then the hormones won’t come out.”
“……Ha, this isn’t how an experiment should go.”
Yet the corners of the Tower Master’s mouth were curling up in a soft smile.
‘Wow, the Tower Master smiling?!’
It was genuinely absurd enough to be unbelievable, and yet it was real.
“Oh, but the bread and sandwich are so different in size…… if you gave the bread to him and had the sandwich again…….”
“No, this is fine.”
The Tower Master took the jam bread from me with great cheer, accepting it swiftly.
He bit into it in one gulp, and after chewing, he activated the Communication Device sitting on the edge of his desk.
“Bedel. Place an order with the Information Guild. There appear to be forces watching the Magic Tower lately—gather all information about them.”
I sat back down and was sipping juice when my eyes went wide.
‘Asking the Information Guild to investigate the Information Guild?’
Just as there were multiple Assassins’ Guilds, there wasn’t only one Information Guild either.
What if he ended up placing the order with the Information Guild that Emily belonged to?
For some reason, worry made me bounce my feet anxiously.
―Tower Master, they might find out from the Assassins’ Guild that we placed an order with the Information Guild.
“It doesn’t matter. The Information Guild sells to whoever pays.”
The Tower Master smiled coldly and continued.
“An Information Guild member entered my tower yesterday. If the Information Guild is selling information about the Magic Tower, then the Tower can buy information about them.”
He lifted the corners of his mouth with cold precision.
“Of course, keep the source hidden. And demand absolute secrecy about both the fact that we placed the order and its contents.”
―That’s an unusual condition, isn’t it?
“Money is no object—use whatever amount you see fit. If that doesn’t work, offer them one of the Poison Combination Formulas the Information Guild desperately desires.”
Many sought the wisdom of a mage, so it wasn’t a bad bargain for the Information Guild either.
It was as if he’d picked up the enemy’s own blade and turned it back on them.
“Wow…….”
I marveled at the Tower Master’s wealth and intellect.
Though I hadn’t particularly asked for anything, my eyes sparkled of their own accord.
“……Well, I have money and intelligence too.”
Cassian leaned toward me conspiratorially, his voice low.
“So what?”
It wasn’t my money, after all. It wasn’t my intelligence.
When I shrugged, Cassian’s expression clouded with something like frustration.
We’d finished eating, and the reports were done.
As we were about to leave, the Tower Master suddenly called us back.
“Ah, that’s right.”
“Yes?”
“About N001—or rather, Cassian’s Antidote. We’ve conducted research on our end as well, and we’ve made considerable progress with the detoxification.”
I tilted my head, unable to immediately grasp what the Tower Master was getting at.
“I believe it’s time to prepare for the final Antidote.”
“The final……Antidote?”
“Yes.”
The Tower Master’s gaze sharpened.
“I’ve devised a special method to finish it all at once.”

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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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