I Became the Magic Tower Master's Experimental Mouse - Chapter 61

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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 moment word came down that the criminals’ final sentence would soon be decided, Cassian grew restless.
He wanted to see Schultz.
‘If he’s made some kind of resolve……’
I couldn’t let him carry regrets into whatever came next.
Even if he meant to seek revenge, I thought I’d watch over him—and so, after persuading the Duke together—
we managed to bring Schultz out from the Prison to meet him, on the condition that the Nanny would accompany us.
The Schultz I saw after so long had wasted away beyond recognition.
Since the banquet had been our first and last meeting, the boy in tattered, rough clothes looked all the thinner for it—nothing like the fine formal wear he’d worn that night.
Schultz, dragged out in Shackles and bewildered at first, froze the moment he caught sight of the Mystical Beast in my arms.
“Wait… could it be… Cassian?”
Since the young Behemoth could only be Cassian, Schultz couldn’t have failed to recognize him.
The sight of Cassian—no longer able to hold human form, reverted to the shape of a small Mystical Beast—drained all color from Schultz’s face.
It was proof that Cassian had stood at death’s threshold.
“Grrr……” (Why did you do that……)
Cassian let out a low cry.
Schultz couldn’t understand his words and simply sat trembling on the floor.
I found myself playing interpreter, just as I’d expected.
“He’s asking why you did it.”
Schultz’s wavering gaze found me.
I spoke coldly on purpose, refusing to pity him.
“Answer quickly. Do you mean to keep the Duke waiting?”
“I… uh……”
Schultz couldn’t bring himself to speak and bit down on his lips.
Blood beaded on lips raw and chapped from days of poor eating and emotional torment.
“Rrgh, grrrrr—!” (We were friends—weren’t we—!)
Whether moved by the sight of his diminished former friend, or thinking of him as the target of revenge, Cassian grew frantic and cried out in anguish.
His whimpers came rapid and nearly incomprehensible.
Yet all of us could feel how much his heart was breaking.
“Young master, please compose yourself. Agitation isn’t good for your health,” the Nanny said softly, stroking Cassian’s back to calm him.
“Exactly. If you speak that fast, I can’t relay it properly,” I added from where I stood, lending my voice as well.
In any case, if he wanted to talk, we’d be more efficient this way.
“In any case, what you just said was: we were friends, weren’t we?”
At those words, Schultz’s head dropped.
“Grrr, grrrrgh, kraaaagh!” (You should have come to me no matter what!)
We’d already heard the gist of what happened.
He’d abandoned Cassian, sought a new master—and when terrified of being discovered, he’d finally committed the crime.
I relayed Cassian’s words faithfully to this boy who had neither faith nor backbone.
“He says: Did you really think I’d crush you over something so trivial? Now answer him, would you?”
I remember it clearly.
After his illness, how forlorn Cassian had grown when his friend stopped visiting.
And at the banquet, when introduced, how Schultz had worn the face of a retainer, not a friend.
‘If you were to be a servant, you should have kept your loyalty. If you were to be a friend, you should have given your trust.’
Schultz had done neither properly, and he was exactly the type of person I despised most.
Not good enough to be truly virtuous, and not competent enough to excel at the role he’d taken on.
‘Still no answer.’
Of course he had nothing to say.
As I clicked my tongue inwardly, Cassian’s next words somehow infected us all with sorrow and anger.
“Grrgh…… grrr.” (You knew me…… only that much?)
“He’s saying: you knew me only that much?”
My throat tightened before I could help it.
Suddenly, tears poured from Schultz’s eyes.
“I… I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Cassian……”
Schultz fell to his knees and wept.
“I was just… afraid. Of my father, of my house……”
It was a weight too heavy for a child not yet fifteen to bear.
But at the same time, it was an excuse.
Cassian gazed at him in silence for a long while.

“……Ugh.”(Done.)
After a moment, Cassian let out a small whimper, then turned his head away from Schultz in my arms. As if there was nothing left to see, nothing left to ask.
‘Is that really the end of it?’
Perhaps because he was a young master of noble birth.
‘With such a gentle heart, how will he ever navigate this harsh world?’
I found myself worried about Cassian.
Sharp-tongued and arrogant he might be, but there was something innocent about this young lord.
“Young master, now is your chance. He should pay the price for his betrayal.”
As I murmured this, Cassian tilted his head in confusion.
The Nanny, who had been observing from the side, also looked at me with bewilderment.
“His own fear is his concern. Let me teach you my secret finishing technique so you can repay his betrayal.”
“K-kee, keeeee……?”(W-what……?)
Cassian, as if he didn’t particularly want revenge, folded his front paws neatly against his chest—but his face was brimming with curiosity.
He seemed eager to know what my finishing technique was.
“It is…… the Hibernation Squirrel Punch! You clench your fist and strike a vital point with the knuckle of your fingertip—like this.”
I threw a punch toward empty air.
Whoosh!
The pressure from the blow created a fearsome sound, a testament to my training, and Schultz’s eyes went wide.
“Now, go and strike him with the Behemoth Punch as a commemoration of severing your bond.”
I set Cassian down on the floor.
Cassian, who surely had been taught never to strike others carelessly outside of formal sparring, looked bewildered—but…….
‘From the moment poison entered his body, he stepped onto a battlefield where life and death hang in the balance.’
I chose not to take revenge of my own will, but Cassian’s situation was different, wasn’t it?
Better to settle it now and make sure he never regrets later, thinking, ‘I wish I’d hit him then!’
“K-keeeee…….”(I-is it all right……?)
Cassian muttered softly, then slowly approached Schultz.
At first moving slowly, Cassian suddenly began to dash forward with speed.
Watching the vacant expression on Schultz’s face, his desire for violence seemed to ignite.
“Kee, keekeekeet-!”(B-Behemoth Punch!)
Soon Cassian’s fierce front paw crashed squarely into Schultz’s cheek.
“Guk, guuugh!”
The impact sent Schultz tumbling backward.
Though Cassian appeared doll-like in form, he was a Mystical Beast after all, and he clearly had enough power to send Schultz flying.
‘Though it seems he held back a little…….’
A direct hit should have caused more damage than that.
“Oh my. How unbecoming of a gentleman. Come back, young master.”
The Nanny hastily stopped Cassian.
She’d only stopped him after he’d landed the blow, and I caught her wink—it seemed she’d never intended to stop him in the first place…….
“Keekuukuukeet!”(Back to the room!)
Soon Cassian turned and cried out.
His eyes no longer held the resentment I’d seen before.
“Yes, young master. Let’s go back.”
I carried Cassian and moved toward the door.
It was then.
“……P-please, Cassian…… or rather, Young Duke.”
Schultz, still sprawled on the floor, spoke hesitantly.
“There’s…… one last thing I wanted to tell you.”
I stopped and turned back.
“At first I thought it was nothing, but I thought it might be helpful. That day, when I received the poison from Baron Gilon…….”
Schultz spoke in a trembling voice.
Baron Gilon, together with Viscount Etre, had pressured Schultz into accepting the poison.
And at a banquet, he’d invited them, gotten thoroughly drunk with the Viscount, and then mentioned various things—
“He briefly mentioned something about the person who handed over the poison.”
Suddenly my eyes widened.
The Tower Master had said that when interrogating Baron Gilon, they obtained no particular information……?
“The Baron—or rather, he cursed about ‘some odd-looking bastard with a disgusting tattoo.'”
Schultz slowly described what he’d heard back then.
“He said he’d recognize that strange fellow anywhere—the one with tattoos on his palms and shaped like shoes.”
‘……What?!’
Schultz was merely pouring out all the information he knew as an act of atonement to Cassian—
I had no choice but to freeze in place at those words.
Because it was the mark of the Assassin Guild I’d belonged to before my regression.
‘So it was true after all…….’
The last possibility I’d hoped against had just shattered.
I bit my lip hard for a moment, then forced myself to focus.
‘……No, wait. I can use this to tell the Tower Master about the true target.’
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I had to tell the Tower Master about the true target as soon as possible.
If I knew which guild the poison-giver belonged to, it would be the thread I needed to actually pursue the true target.
A sudden errand had come up for the Nanny, so I’d parted ways with her and made my way to the Tower Master with Cassian in my arms.
That’s when I reached the door.
“……Are you certain of this.”
The Duke’s heavy voice came from within.
‘What? The atmosphere feels serious…….’
I stopped my hand before it could knock.
“Yes, the prince was merely used as a test…… The real target is likely the Basilisk Imperial Palace.”
‘……The Imperial Palace?’
My mind went white in an instant.
Though I’d heard nothing of the earlier conversation, this alone was enough to grasp the situation.
Someone was targeting the Basilisk Imperial Palace, and Cassian had been used as a test subject.
‘Wait.’
Suddenly it felt like lightning had struck inside my skull.
If the poison-giver was the Assassin Guild, and the poison’s true target was the Imperial Palace……
‘Then…… the Guild was targeting the Imperial Palace all along.’
And before my regression, I’d carried out countless missions for the Guild.
Could it be that all those missions I performed were…….
‘Was I complicit in treason?’

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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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