I Became the Magic Tower Master's Experimental Mouse - Chapter 54

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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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‘……This.’
The Poison Detection Necklace the Tower Master had given me glowed for the first time in ages. There’d been no reason for it to glow since I’d detoxified Cassian.
I didn’t even need to thrust my nose toward him—Cassian was unmistakably poisoned.
‘He’s so cold.’
I grabbed his hand in a panic.
His body temperature was far lower than mine, despite my poor circulation.
I grasped his ice-cold hand, fought back the sting of tears rising in my throat, and drew up my Detoxification Ability.
I tried desperately to purge the poison, but something felt wrong—distinctly different than before.
‘Why? Something…… feels different from last time.’
The poison had changed.
It wasn’t the unstable factor that had lingered in Cassian’s body before, nor that potent toxin that had been bound to him.
I sensed instinctively that something was different. Unease sent a chill racing down my spine.
Detoxification had always required tenacity before, but that was simply because the poison’s volume in Cassian’s body had been so immense. Each time I’d worked to cleanse it, I’d felt the source diminish bit by bit.
But this was different.
Like pouring water into a cup with a hole in the bottom—no matter how much I drew out, nothing changed.
“……This doesn’t make sense.”
For the first time, I felt helpless.
My Detoxification Ability had been one of the sources of pride sustaining me all this time.
‘I promised him, said with absolute certainty I’d bring him back. And yet…….’
I’d sworn I’d detoxify him without hesitation, even if he were poisoned again.
‘And it’s far too quiet…….’
Before, he would writhe in agony and cry out—but now it was different.
Even his weak groans were tapering off, his pulse sinking to a sluggish crawl.
‘He’s not…… dead, is he?’
I pressed my ear urgently to his chest.
Even with my acute hearing, I could barely catch his heartbeat—faint and fragile.
When he’d been writhing and fighting, I’d pitied him, but now I found myself wishing desperately for even that response, tears spilling unbidden down my face.
“Tower Master! Tower Master!”
I finally cried out to him as though in anguish.
The Tower Master, who had been listening to the Duchess’s account, immediately came to the bedside.
“The poison—it won’t come out.”
My voice trembled as I spoke haltingly.
“I’m pulling it out, but…… there’s no sign of it working…….”
Instead of answering, the Tower Master examined Cassian’s body.
He lifted his eyelids, checked his temperature, and circulated mana through his form to sense what was happening within.
“……His body temperature is abnormally low. The quantity of poison itself doesn’t seem to be that much, though.”
“Then I need to detoxify faster—let me try again!”
I took his hand once more and began drawing out the poison. Then the Tower Master gently seized my wrist.
“Wait.”
“Yes?”
“If you continue, you’ll collapse first.”
Only then did I realize my hands were trembling badly.
I’d been pulling at the poison so desperately that my breathing had grown ragged without my noticing.
“But if this goes on, the Young Master will…….”
“As fast as you draw it out, it flows back in equally.”
The Tower Master spoke with measured clarity.
“No matter how much you drain right now, it’s pointless. I’ve observed it—the amount replenishes exactly.”
His words were so precise that I couldn’t do anything but fall silent.
‘If he understands that, then he must know the answer too?’
I turned to the Tower Master, clinging to him with my plea.
“Something’s wrong. The poison—it feels like it’s changed……!”
“I can tell just from the symptoms.”
The Tower Master nodded.
As he continued to respond with such composure, my own panic began to settle.
Turning my head, I caught sight of the Duchess and her Nursemaid trembling at the door’s edge, their faces ashen as they peered through the gap.
‘Right…… I need to act like a professional.’
If the Tower Master and I both show fear, the guardians will only grow more terrified. They can’t feel anything themselves.
I drew a deep breath, and with clearer sight, looked toward the Tower Master.
“What would you like me to do?”
“Well…….”
The Tower Master sighed and glanced around the room. Only then did I let my shoulders drop with a soft “Ah.”
If this were the Magic Tower, purification devices would already be running on all sides, and the Tower Master could have drawn out every reagent, magical instrument, and material he needed.
‘Because I’m different from other mages…….’
Unlike Elemental mages who chanted spells while brandishing staffs, Poison mages typically relied on pre-prepared reagents and materials to cast their magic.
Yet here, luxurious as it was, the room amounted to little more than a magical void.
For the Tower Master, it was the worst possible environment.
“Well…… as always, it seems I truly need your help.”
“Just say the word, sir!”
I clenched my fists and called out.
The Tower Master nodded and motioned for me to draw closer.
As I leaned in, he whispered softly.
“This appears to be an improved version of the poison from before.”
“Improved? That means…….”
“Last time, you detoxified it. Cassian overcame the poison, so the Vicious Beast saw that and learned from it.”
The Tower Master’s gaze turned sharp as a blade.
‘Could it be that because I saved him, they learned to adapt?’
Though the thought was absurd, my chest seized.
“Don’t entertain such useless thoughts.”
The Tower Master cut me off cleanly, as if he could read my mind from my eyes alone.
I lowered my gaze for a moment, then let out a breath.
“There must be a way, though……?”
I tugged lightly at the Tower Master’s sleeve and asked, trusting that he would find an answer no matter the circumstances.
“……Yes. But there are no tools here.”
“Then what?”
“We’ll have to summon Bedel and have him bring the necessary supplies. The trouble is, the young master’s condition is deteriorating by the minute, so neither of us can afford to leave his side.”
Even as he spoke, the Tower Master was infusing mana into Cassian.
It seemed to be a technique unfamiliar to me, but when I carefully extended my senses to detect it, I confirmed the poison was indeed no longer spreading.
“There’s truly no way we can leave, even for a moment?”
“Based on my mana sensing, this poison targets the Core. Where before the toxic effect itself was the problem, now the target location is what matters.”
“The Core?”
“The source where a Behemoth’s power is stored. Like the Dantian of a martial artist or the Mana Pool of a mage…….”
Only then did I grasp the gravity of the situation, my mouth falling open. If poison touched such a place, disaster was all but certain!
‘It means one of us must continue constantly—either I keep detoxifying, or the Tower Master keeps infusing mana.’
I nodded and took Cassian’s hand.
“He can hold on for a while, so please go send word.”
“There may be an conspirator inside the Duke’s Residence we haven’t yet found. The residence’s communication lines could be monitored, so we’ll need to send a messenger directly.”
“Then you’ll need to write it as a letter.”
We shifted our roles fluidly, as if dancing.
The Tower Master seized the moment while I watched over Cassian, urgently pulling out a notebook and scribbling hastily.
“Go deliver this to the Duchess and return.”
My detoxification periods typically lasted about eight minutes a day.
Even pushing myself to the limit, I could manage only ten minutes or so.
The Tower Master, as if determined to conserve my strength until truly critical moments arrived, handed me the note.
‘I wish I could maintain the detoxification for longer…….’
My mana wasn’t infinite, after all.
As I took the note with a worried expression, the Tower Master offered me a faint smile.
“Your power is remarkably strong. I’ve never even heard of detoxification through ability rather than medicine. Don’t lose heart over something like duration.”
It was as if he’d read my thoughts exactly.
I felt my heart lighten somewhat and nodded.
I rushed to the door and opened it to find the Duchess crouched on the floor while the Nursemaid hurried toward us with a chair.
“Are you all right?”
“C-Cassian…….”
The Duchess and I spoke simultaneously, then fell silent.
Seeing the Duchess’s pallid face, I deliberately smiled widely.
“The Tower Master is handling it. But he needs some tools, so he’s asking you to deliver this note to a mage at the Magic Tower named Bedel. As quickly as possible, please.”
Upon seeing my bright smile, the Duchess seemed to steady herself, her breathing evening out.
“Of course. I’ll send word at once and ask him to come down here as fast as he can.”
I didn’t understand why the Duke was mentioned at that moment, but I guessed it meant she’d inform her family, and I nodded.
While the Duchess made her way toward the Nursemaid with unsteady steps to summon a messenger, I turned back toward the room.
“It’s a race against time.”
The Tower Master murmured the words almost to himself.
“If Bedel arrives, we might be able to buy a few days. But if the poison reaches him first, it’s over.”
“What happens if it does reach him?”
The Tower Master fell silent at my question.
After a moment, he spoke, his voice heavy.
“If the poison reaches him, Cassian will never be able to live as a Behemoth again.”
I didn’t grasp the weight of those words at first.
Not death—but unable to live as a Behemoth anymore. What could that possibly mean?
I learned the answer half a day later.

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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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