I Became the Magic Tower Master's Experimental Mouse - Chapter 45

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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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‘That’s right!’
I instantly wrapped my head in my arms and hunched my shoulders.
When I glanced up, the Tower Master was looking down at me with an expression of shock.
‘Why? Why did I think I might get hit?’
When I was younger, I’d been struck by several seniors at the Guild if I messed up, but…….
Once I started defeating those who had tormented me, those experiences vanished entirely.
I couldn’t understand why that time had come back to me now.
‘The Tower Master isn’t like those people.’
Even knowing that, I felt ashamed and sorry for the confusion. Yet my body trembled on its own, barely perceptibly.
I couldn’t bear it any longer and decided to apologize later instead.
“I didn’t mean to look on purpose……. I’m sorry.”
“……Experimental Rat!”
I had no chance to explain further and fled from the Research Lab like a coward.
The Tower Master called after me, but the trembling wouldn’t subside, and I couldn’t stop running.
* * *
‘The Tower Master looked so sad…….’
After waking the next morning, the realization of what I’d done struck me vividly.
Last night, I’d locked myself in my room and wouldn’t open the door no matter who knocked.
It was my fault, and I had no excuse.
I still couldn’t understand why I’d reacted that way in the first place.
‘How should I apologize……?’
A simple “I’m sorry” no longer seemed adequate.
If I apologized clumsily, I’d only end up digging deeper into that wound.
‘That painting had Phillian’s name where the artist signs their work…….’
It was a self-portrait—how close must those brothers have been, for him to paint his own face and give it as a gift?
‘It wasn’t something he made to show others…….’
As I wrestled with these thoughts, it occurred to me that I owed an apology not just to the Tower Master, but to Phillian as well.
Even though he was no longer in this world, I needed to do it to ease my own heart.
‘Maybe he’s watching from the other side.’
I made my way straight to the Third Elder’s Research Lab.
“Who goes there!”
As I knocked on the door, a gruff voice came from inside.
“It’s the Experimental Rat!”
“Oh, come in, little one!”
Once I had permission, I opened the door and saw the Third Elder sipping tea that gave off a strange aroma.
“Hello, Third Elder!”
“Walking on all fours to get here—have you finally decided to give me some experimental fingernails?”
“No…… the Tower Master dislikes that, so I can’t.”
I shook my head in refusal, and the Third Elder let out a mischievous laugh.
“Well, of course he would. The Tower Master would never allow such a thing. So what brings you here?”
“There’s something I wanted to ask you about.”
At my words, the Third Elder waved her hand dismissively.
I quickly moved to the side of her sofa, and she handed me a jar of cookies loaded with chocolate.
‘My heart’s troubled, but the aroma of these cookies is amazing…….’
I cursed my own lack of sense and sat on the sofa, stealing glances at the cookie jar.
“You’re going to drool, little one. What on earth do you want to ask?”
“……I wanted to ask you about Phillian.”
At my words, the Third Elder’s expression, which had been sipping her tea, turned rigid.
Her already twisted features hardened further, making her look even more like a witch from a fairy tale.
“……Where did you hear that name?”
“I happened to learn it…… and ended up finding out something of his circumstances. In the process, I also saw the Portrait that the Tower Master keeps…….”
I laid it out honestly.
There seemed no point in making excuses—the Third Elder would see through them anyway.
“I know I was wrong. That’s why I want to apologize to the Tower Master, and to Phillian as well. His Memorial Day is coming up soon, and I want to pay my respects properly.”
At my words, the Third Elder looked at me with heavy eyes.
“……We made it a rule not to speak his name lightly.”
The Third Elder refused slowly.
But I didn’t back down and held her gaze steadily.
“Why?”
“And after that, the Tower Master became deeply unhappy. Of course, his death remained a misfortune for me as well.”
“……But that makes it sound as though he left nothing behind but misfortune.”
He must have left many traces during his lifetime.
Yet now, with even his mention forbidden, no one remembers him—he exists only as the Tower Master’s sorrow.
The Third Elder’s eyes trembled faintly as she understood my meaning.
She gazed at me with troubled eyes, and after a long moment, she exhaled a deep sigh.
“……Phillian loved poison.”
“Poison?”
“Yes. Whenever he discovered a new poison, he would abandon meals and pursue his research for months without rest. Even when he knew the danger, he never held back.”
“……So he was a researcher.”
“Poison can become medicine or death, depending on its use. He was often said to be captivated by that duality. His genius and passion were unmatched within the Magic Tower.”
In the Elder’s voice lay a longing that had settled deep over many years.
“……On the highest rooftop of the Magic Tower, there stands a small memorial stone. If you wish to honor his memory, go there.”
* * *
Meanwhile.
The Tower Master sat alone in his office, unable to concentrate on his work.
He hadn’t slept since yesterday.
Pippy’s wounded expression kept haunting him.
That small back fleeing the Research Lab in terror.
‘……I went too far.’
He knew it well.
There was no reason to sharpen his edge against a mere child like that.
The child had come only to find him.
It wasn’t that she had found the portrait on her own—his own carelessness in leaving it out had played the larger part.
‘I never gave a proper explanation, just kept avoiding her…….’
From Pippy’s perspective, it was natural to question and want to understand why her duties weren’t progressing as the contract stipulated.
An adult shouldn’t have acted so pettily…….
‘……I was afraid.’
The way Pippy had subtly hunched her small frame, assuming a posture where her bones wouldn’t break even if struck—
it had shaken the Tower Master deeply.
It was the reflex of a child who had been beaten often, for a very long time.
He provided meals, put her to sleep when the hour came, listened to her chatter, watched over her development…….
Even if he scrubbed her until she gleamed, dressed her in the softest garments, laid her on the fluffiest bed, and lulled her with the most beautiful songs—it would never be enough.
Yet someone had kicked this precious child as one might kick a stone on the street, again and again.
And in that moment, the child couldn’t overcome the frightening aura he had given off and curled herself into a ball.
Because of the oppressive atmosphere he had emanated.
‘I was simply…… afraid.’
That innocent face declaring she didn’t care how difficult the poison might be.
As Phillian’s memorial day drew closer and closer, Pippy’s eagerness transformed into burden and dread.
Phillian too had made such boasts before dying in an experiment.
Even knowing that Poison Immunity was necessary to solve his lifelong task—
he couldn’t actively put Pippy to use, all because of the fear that dwelled within him.
‘……I don’t want to lose my experimental subject.’
What if one day she suddenly died in an experiment, just as Phillian had.
What if this life that had recently painted his days in so many colors were to vanish.
Then…….
‘What would I cling to and live for?’
He realized, without quite knowing when, that he had given too much of his heart to Pippy. That somewhere along the way, he wasn’t holding onto a ‘task’ anymore—he was holding onto Pippy herself.
Pippy had slipped so easily past the boundaries he had drawn.
His anger at her seeing merely a portrait, not even a corpse, stemmed only from the fact that he had shown her a layer of his vulnerable self.
What he truly feared was that after finishing the research Phillian had left behind, when he had believed there was no reason left to exist in this world—
Pippy kept giving him reasons to live.
* * *
The rooftop of the Magic Tower.
True to the Third Elder’s word, a small garden and a modest memorial stone stood on the rooftop.
The Tower Master had ordered that no one touch this place, and it seemed that human hands had indeed not reached it for a very long time.
The stone was darkened by moss and dust, and weeds grew thick in the garden.
Running her fingertips over the name carved into the stone, she read: “My foolish brother, Phillian.”
‘Tower Master…… it’s not that you didn’t cherish Phillian.’
Rather, having lost a brother he loved too dearly, he simply couldn’t bring himself to return to this place, even after erecting the stone with his own hands.
“……Hello, Phillian. A pleasure to meet you at last. I’m Epiphany. You can call me the Experimental Rat.”
I crouched before the memorial stone and offered a formal bow.
“I dug you up so thoughtlessly, and I felt terrible about it. That’s why I came to apologize.”
Then I rolled up my sleeves.
I’d come only to offer an apology, but seeing the stone’s condition, I couldn’t simply leave it as it was.
‘I need to fetch some tools.’
I hauled water up from the lower floors and brought cleaning implements, then set about scrubbing away the dark grime that had accumulated on the memorial stone.
The moss was stubborn, and the old filth came away only reluctantly.
Blackened beneath my fingernails and my palms reddened raw from scrubbing, I persisted at length until the stone finally regained its original pristine white gleam.
“……There. That’s better.”
Now only one thing remained.
* * *
The Tower Master left his office early to apologize to Pippy, but paused in the corridor when he noticed droplets of water scattered across the floor.
Small wet footprints, the kind left by a child, marked the stone tiles.
‘The Experimental Rat?’
Following those tracks, he…….

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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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