I Became the Magic Tower Master's Experimental Mouse - Chapter 40

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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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The Tower Master’s hand naturally found mine again.
At that, Cassian’s expression darkened as he glared at our joined hands.
“The banquet is still in full swing. Why speak of leaving?”
“I’ve stayed long enough to show proper courtesy.”
“But if we fail to properly receive our benefactor, we are not Behemoth.”
Cassian whined like a child, seizing my other hand—the one the Tower Master wasn’t holding.
“Of course, if you truly insist on going, you could always leave just me here.”
“Cassian.”
The tension between Cassian and the Tower Master crackled again.
The Duke, who had drifted over without anyone noticing, laid a hand on Cassian’s shoulder and spoke.
“How could I send away the benefactor who saved my son’s life? Stay with us for a few days and receive Behemoth’s proper hospitality.”
As the argument went back and forth, eyes turned toward where we stood.
In the end, the Tower Master relented with obvious reluctance.
Having just announced the alliance, it seemed difficult to coldly refuse the Duke’s invitation.
* * *
‘……I want to go home.’
As a child, I’d once seen a small house—hardly grander than servants’ quarters—and thought how wonderful it would be to have a home of my own, let alone a palace.
I’d grown up in an underground cavern worse than a barn, never seeing sunlight.
That’s why I’d always yearned for the feeling of those days living with Grandmother in a modest house above ground.
So naturally, a palace-like home should have brought me satisfaction many times over, shouldn’t it?
‘And yet it hasn’t.’
The first day was fine, but by the second day, I was already longing to go home.
The room was three times larger than the one at the Magic Tower, the bed soft as lying on clouds with jewels embedded throughout.
Servants brought snacks and tea at all hours.
They’d dressed me in beautiful gowns—retrieved from who knows where—and played dress-up games with me like I was a doll.
Anyone would say I was living the high life.
‘……Even I have to admit, I’m hopelessly provincial.’
But it seems I’m simply not cut out to be wealthy.
I’d been buried under piles of jewels, groaning miserably, and once even had a nightmare where someone stole the jewels and ran off while I chased after them shouting, “I can’t repay it~!”
The snacks were delicious at first, but my stomach grew too full to enjoy them freely.
And the dresses!
They were far more cumbersome than I’d expected. I was terrified the lace and embedded jewels would scratch my skin.
Because they were so much heavier than my usual clothes, I’d formed a hypothesis that refined ladies must possess the strongest core muscles of any people.
There’s no other way they could hold their necks so rigidly straight while wearing heavy jewels in their hair.
And because none of this belonged to me, I had to keep my nerves on edge constantly to avoid damaging anything.
My home, my bed, my space.
More and more, I found myself missing my room at the Magic Tower.
‘When did the Magic Tower become the place I wanted to return to?’
At any moment, the Tower Master might say, “I don’t need the experimental subject anymore,” and I’d have to leave.
So why had I grown so attached?
I found myself longing for the chaotic Magic Tower—filled with Liz, the musketeers, the elders, the researchers.
‘……Still.’
I’d start saving from a thousand gold and work my way up bit by bit.
Someday I’d be able to buy a small house near the Magic Tower.
If I had somewhere to go, even if they cast me out, I wouldn’t be helpless.
‘Having finally made friends, it’s better to stay close so we can keep seeing each other.’
I could afford to live in a village like the one where I’d lived with Grandmother, but the Magic Tower stands in a fairly central district of the Imperial Capital.
Property prices were quite steep, so I needed to save carefully.
Unlike me, who’d grown homesick the moment the carriage rolled away, Cassian was absolutely in his element.
He was so thrilled to be home that he dragged me around multiple times a day to show off.
“Look, here’s our house’s treasure vault.”
“Oh, how impressive.”
“I got special permission to open it just to show you.”
Cassian wiped under his nose proudly and gave my back a little push.
I stepped through the door the steward opened and surveyed the vault, lined with treasures of every kind.
“Wow…….”
I’d thought I had little desire for material wealth, but I was wrong.
Faced with shockingly beautiful treasures, my jaw went slack.
“……Do you like it?”
“…Yes, it really is beautiful.”
I answered a beat late, distracted by the sights.
Even when Cassian asked me something from beside me, I barely registered it.
Gazing at the treasures dazzling to the eye, I felt only wonder—and mild indignation.
‘Tsk, tsk. Keeping something like this at home… someone will just break in and slash the place apart.’
As if poison users weren’t enough to worry about, this household had to fear bandits too.
If I were to properly guard all this in the future, I’d need to sharpen both my martial strength and political acumen relentlessly.
I patted Cassian on the back as he stood there, his future bright with studies.
“Mother’s been staying in the Territory for her health, since she’s been unwell. So this place, for now…”
Cassian’s expression flickered with something distant before he continued.
“Later, you and I will manage it together…”
He said something more, but I was lost in my own thoughts and didn’t quite hear him.
“Now, let me show you my private Training Ground!”
After showing me around the Treasure Vault at considerable length, Cassian took my hand and led me elsewhere.
“Oh, a personal Training Ground…”
With something like this, even Assassination Training—or rather, Defensive Training—would become so much easier.
‘Not that I’ll be killing anyone anymore.’
Even if everything I’d learned came from an assassin’s education, in the end it was all training for defense.
As I thought of the daily practice I’d been doing alone in my room, I looked at Cassian with envious eyes.
“Impressive.”
“Right? Hiyah—ugh…”
Since we were already in the Training Ground, Cassian seemed eager to show off something, and he drew a heavy sword from a weapon rack on one side.
He tried to swing it, but of course—having been bedridden, he’d lost all his strength, and it was hopeless.
“That’s not yours, is it?”
The sword was far too long and heavy for Cassian’s frame.
There was no way a child could properly wield a Bastard Sword.
It was probably meant for his master.
“…Tch. Let’s go somewhere else.”
Caught, Cassian’s face flushed as he led me to another room.
“That one over there is a small banquet hall. We use it when we’re holding smaller-scale events—”
Cassian showed me through several ornate rooms.
He was certainly proud, though at this age, all children showed off a bit, and besides, these were things objectively worth boasting about, so I let it pass.
“Yes, yes. Quite impressive.”
“…You have no soul.”
* * *
A few days passed that way, and at last the morning came for me to return to the Magic Tower.
Cassian had decided to stay at the Duke’s Estate.
Having only just returned, and having been away for so long, there was surely a mountain of work waiting for him.
Besides, strictly speaking, now that he’d recovered, there was no reason for Cassian to remain at the Magic Tower.
As I gathered my things and was about to board the carriage, Cassian stood there with his arms crossed, his face puffed up in a sulk.
His eyes were faintly red and swollen, as though he’d gotten upset somewhere and cried from sheer frustration.
“What’s wrong with your face? Being handsome is supposed to be your specialty.”
“I wanted to come with you too, but Father said now that I’m better, I should stay at home… But am I handsome?”
“That part’s true. And right now you’re not. Well, I’ll be going then. Thank you for treating me so well.”
I made a polite bow, and Cassian’s expression grew even worse.
“…Hmph. Go if you’re going or don’t, I don’t care.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“Go! Leave already! I don’t miss you one bit, so it’s all the same to me!”
Cassian suddenly burst out shouting.
‘…What? Why’s he angry again?’
He’d seemed in such good spirits lately.
He’d been following me around for days, showing everything off, so why would he be upset now, at the moment of parting?
Could it be lingering effects from the Addiction? The boy seemed to have developed some emotional instability.
“Well, that’s good then. Take care of yourself. Try not to get addicted again, and live well.”
When I replied flatly, Cassian’s face turned bright red.
“Hey! Is that it? Don’t you have anything to say, like… that you’ll miss me—”
“Miss you?”
“…!”
Cassian seemed to choke on his words, his mouth working soundlessly.
I couldn’t begin to guess what he wanted to say, so I tilted my head in confusion and climbed into the carriage.
Cassian dwindled into the distance, his feet stamping against the carriage floor as he shouted something unintelligible.
There was something so pitiful about the sight that I raised a hand in a small wave of farewell.
“Test subject, sit properly in the carriage—it’s dangerous otherwise.”
“Yes, of course.”
I straightened in my seat, catching a sideways glimpse of the Tower Master’s satisfied expression—the look of a man who’d just disposed of a troublesome package.
* * *
A pleasant journey home.
The trouble came when we were racing through a particularly quiet alleyway.
‘What is this? Something feels wrong.’
I felt a chill run down my spine and peered out through the window.

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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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