I Became the Magic Tower Master's Experimental Mouse - Chapter 59

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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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“Why, does it smell familiar?”
The Tower Master glanced at me staring intently at the bottle, asking as though in passing.
“……No! It’s just that the scent is different from when it’s finished.”
“When you mix components together, it’s common for the scents to blend and the weaker one to be masked. The color changes too.”
I quickly pulled my nose from the bottle and changed the subject.
“This is the Poison Extract we extracted from Cassian. We’ve been separating it bit by bit, and now this is what remains—it seems like two or three things are mixed together, but I can’t quite place it.”
The bottle I’d caught a whiff of was the one holding only the ingredients the Tower Master hadn’t yet identified.
I couldn’t bring myself to admit that I recognized this scent, so I turned away, trying to calm my wildly racing heart.
“Don’t push yourself too hard. You should get some rest. I’ll head back to bed as well.”
“Right. Take this water bottle to replace the empty one you’re holding.”
The Tower Master swapped the water bottle he’d prepared for himself with the empty one in my hands.
I made my way quickly out of the room, fighting the urge to tremble.
Back in my quarters, sleep wouldn’t come. I lay sprawled on the bed, thirst forgotten, glaring up at the ceiling.
‘I should have said something…….’
But I couldn’t bring myself to speak.
Because I couldn’t explain where I’d smelled it before.
How could I possibly tell him that the scent of the Guild Master’s Special Tobacco was mixed into it?
That peculiar tobacco, made by blending medicine with narcotics, was something the Guild Master treasured dearly.
‘He definitely said it was incredibly difficult to procure.’
What exactly had he said?
I curled up and dredged through my memories.
Unpleasant voices I’d rather not remember surfaced first.
‘Be grateful to me for taking care of creatures like you. You’d have died like garbage on the street, but I’ve raised you into respectable assassins—wouldn’t that make me your second teacher?’
That cackling voice.
And the thick, heavy breathing he let out while beating the children who’d failed their contracts.
‘No…… that’s not it…….’
Something I’d overheard so long ago…….
‘Gyaaaah! Do you know how rare this is?! You couldn’t get your hands on this even if you died and came back to life! It can only be procured once a year when it comes across the sea!’
Ah, I remembered now.
It was when a menial worker had accidentally spilled water on the box of tobacco sitting on the Guild Master’s desk while cleaning.
“Hngh…… hrmph.”
While I was sorting through memories, Cassian suddenly let out a small sneeze in his sleep.
I bit down on my lip and gazed at Cassian’s scales, illuminated by moonlight.
‘It was definitely said that the Assassination Guild was involved.’
If that were true, it was highly likely that the guild I once belonged to was the one who’d hurt Cassian.
From the moment that assassin disguised as Ollie had reeked of the tobacco’s scent, I’d felt it instinctively, but I could no longer pretend not to know.
“Hrmph…… pee-ooo.”
Without leaving his dream, Cassian called my name softly through his snores.
I felt my heart twist even tighter, and I pressed a pillow against my face.
‘The guild I belonged to is tormenting my friend?’
Cassian, whose Core was damaged and couldn’t maintain human form even now.
The Duchess, grieving that her son had been hurt.
The Duke, suffering alongside his family’s pain.
And even the Tower Master, struggling to uncover the truth with fragmentary information.
The faces of those who had treated me with kindness tormented me.
Since I couldn’t reveal my Regression, I had no way to tell them this truth.
* * *
Word of the culprits reached the Serpens Mansion the following day.
“……So the Etere family’s titles and estate holdings are being confiscated, and the stripping of his rank is as good as confirmed.”
The Tower Master quietly relayed the message sent from the Duke’s residence.
“So the culprit really was Schultz?”
“Yes. Though apparently there was a mastermind behind him…… In any case, I’ve arranged to observe his interrogation. We need to find out who supplied this poison.”
“……I see.”
I nodded slowly with a small murmur.
Those who had driven Cassian to ruin twice were receiving their just deserts.
I should have felt satisfied, but somehow my heart didn’t feel at ease.
‘……It tastes bitter.’
Perhaps because the real culprit hadn’t been caught—only the pawns used by them.
Or perhaps because I knew the card that could catch the true culprit, yet couldn’t play it.
‘I decided instead to lend my senses more actively.’
The true nature of the poison the Tower Master was so desperately searching for. There was no tool more useful than my nose for uncovering it.
This was the answer I’d arrived at after wrestling with it all night.
The conclusion was that preserving a clear conscience mattered just as much as my own survival.
So, if only to absolve myself of guilt, I resolved to help solve this case as thoroughly as I could.
“Let’s not tell the Duke about this for now.”
I couldn’t predict how Cassian would accept such a horrible truth—that his own friend had attempted to poison him.
The Tower Master whispered, glancing sidelong at the sleeping Cassian.
I nodded.
‘We need to let him recover a bit more first, then approach this carefully…….’
With that thought, I saw the Tower Master out.
The Tower Master would now go to the Analysis Room and analyze and study this poison together with Bedel.
Since Cassian’s condition wasn’t fully stable yet, I would stay by his side.
It wasn’t anything difficult—just keeping watch while he rested, making sure nothing unusual arose.
“Sigh…….”
After watching the Tower Master leave the room, I returned to Cassian’s bedside.
“Isn’t that stuffy? Why are you sleeping like that?”
Cassian lay sleeping with his face buried in the bedding.
I tried to roll him gently onto his side so his breathing would be easier, then straighten him out.
‘……Wait.’
But on the dark bedding, darker gray circular stains were soaked through heavily—exactly the width of Cassian’s brow.
“……Your Grace.”
I held my breath.
I’d thought he was asleep the whole time because of the steady breathing. But it seemed he’d woken up while we were talking.
‘……He heard everything.’
His small shoulders trembled ever so slightly. He still kept his eyes tightly shut, not wanting anyone to know he’d been crying.
I hesitated for a moment, uncertain what to do.
Maybe I should pretend I didn’t notice? Since Cassian disliked wounded pride, perhaps that’s what he’d want.
‘……No. This isn’t something I can pretend not to see.’
But I slowly settled onto the edge of the bed. Then I deliberately opened my mouth in the most casual tone I could manage.
“……You heard everything, didn’t you?”
Cassian didn’t answer.
He simply shifted as if tossing and burrowed deeper under the blankets.
Curled up round like bread dough, Cassian buried his face between his front paws.
“Right now, you’re wondering what you did wrong to deserve being betrayed by a friend, aren’t you?”
At my words, Cassian’s shoulders flinched.
The first betrayal cuts deeper than any blade.
The second makes you curse your very fate.
And the third, fourth, after it happens again and again…….
‘You start thinking: what’s wrong with me, what did I fail at, this must be my destiny.’
I’d already lived through that before the Regression.
Cassian peeked one eye open slightly and looked up at me.
Between his thick, small front paws, the eye that emerged bore the clear mark of hurt.
“Yes, Your Grace can be a bit arrogant, stubborn, and bothersome sometimes.”
As I deliberately said it that way, a flash of indignation crossed Cassian’s previously dejected face.
“But there’s never been a moment when I wanted to kill you. And it’s the same for you, isn’t it? Even when I’m whiny, rude, and openly irritable, you’ve never wanted to kill me.”
……You haven’t, have you?
As I spoke, I felt like I was listing exactly the kinds of examples that would get a disrespectful commoner executed on the spot.
Fortunately, Cassian lowered his head slightly.
Whether it was a nod or just a bow, it was such a passive gesture that I chose to interpret it as agreement of my own volition.
“Your friend’s betrayal of you…… it was simply a choice that person made.”
“Whimper…….” (A choice…….)
“Normally, there would be no reason for betrayal. But he made that choice anyway. It means he’s a person who abandons his friends when problems arise.”
“Growl…… Whine.” (Friend…… I won’t abandon.)
“Right. He lived in gray, but when problems came, he simply turned black. And in that process, there was nothing Your Grace could have changed.”
I spoke deliberately, cutting the matter clear.
Then Cassian blinked slowly.
“Most likely, the adults around him pressured and compelled him. But instead of asking Your Grace for help, he listened to those adults and decided to harm you. He simply made one choice.”
I hoped Cassian wouldn’t be wounded too deeply by this.
At the same time, I didn’t want to watch him become a fool, pitying his coerced friend and passively accepting mistreatment.
Understanding what I meant to say, Cassian buried his face in the blanket again.
This time, a small sound mixed with weeping seeped out from beneath the covers.
“……Ugh-ugh. Unn, unn-unh…….” (……But he was my friend. He was my friend…….)
Hearing that trembling cry, my chest tightened.
It hurt because he had been betrayed by someone he trusted.
I patted the back of Cassian’s shoulders as he lay buried under the blanket.
He could no longer pretend to be fine, and simply wept quietly beneath the covers.

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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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