I Became the Magic Tower Master's Experimental Mouse - Chapter 62

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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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In my past life, the number of commissions I accepted was far from negligible.
Since there was no need to know who hired me or why, there was no direct way to determine whether I’d actually participated in treason.
I’d crossed the private grounds of noble houses countless times, but I’d never set foot near the imperial palace.
‘I have no entanglement with the imperial family. At least… as far as I remember.’
Forget the imperial family—I’d never even assassinated a dignitary from the Duke’s household.
In the first place, it made no sense for an ordinary anthro to assassinate a Fantasy Beast.
……Wait. As far as I remember?
The moment that thought crossed my mind, a chill ran down my spine.
There were hours I couldn’t remember.
Hours carved out and erased—the final moments before my death in the Magic Tower.
‘I don’t even know how long they were.’
Since I couldn’t remember the day I died, it was only natural I couldn’t calculate whether the lost time spanned days, weeks, or months.
‘Could it be… could I have done something terrible in those memories I’ve lost?’
I felt my body tremble.
‘Treason… treason is just another word for war.’
When conflict breaks out in even the smallest territory, the lives of its people are torn apart.
What then, if that conflict touched the imperial family itself?
The Tower Master, Liz, the Four Sages, Behemoth—
Everyone’s peace would shatter.
The mere thought that I might have been used for such a thing was horrifying.
The Guild tells its tools nothing of the full scope of a commission, so my past self might have been used to burn down everything I now wish to protect.
‘I’m terrified……’
“Coo-oo?” (What’s wrong?)
As I trembled there, Kasian gazed up at me clearly from my arms.
I snapped to attention and shook my head.
‘There’s no way to know now anyway.’
There was no sign of recovering those memories, so there was nothing to be done. For now, achieving my original purpose had to come first.
I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
The conversation inside had already ceased. Before I’d even knocked, they must have already heard Kasian’s cry.
The Duke and the Tower Master were sitting together on a sofa.
The room had such a calm atmosphere that it was hard to believe a dangerous, turbulent discussion had just taken place.
“What is it? You don’t look well.”
The Tower Master looked at me with evident concern.
I nodded, doing my best to keep my expression composed.
“Just now, I visited Schultz with the young noble, and it was because of something I heard at the end.”
“What did he say? Did he speak roughly to you two?”
The Duke furrowed his brow as he asked.
“No, it wasn’t like that……”
I relayed what Schultz had disclosed.
“He said there was a strange, ugly fellow with a Palm and Shoe Shaped Tattoo.”
“That didn’t come up during interrogation.”
As I finished speaking, the Duke tapped his thigh with his index finger, his expression turning disapproving.
“Since he said it while drunk, he probably didn’t think it was important information.”
“At least now we have a description to work with for tracking.”
“Good information. Well done.”
The Tower Master and the Duke exchanged words, then praised me and Kasian.
I swallowed hard for a moment, then spoke while holding Kasian close.
“Actually… that tattoo is the mark of the Assassin Guild.”
“……How did you come to know that?”
The Duke’s voice dipped slightly lower.
I explained as naturally as I could.
“I nearly got captured by that Guild……”
“What?”
“Meow-owr!” (What?!)
The Tower Master and Kasian both cried out in alarm at my words.
I recalled memories from before the Regression.
“……The Assassin Guild kidnaps children to raise them as future assassins. I nearly got caught up in that too.”
“……Given that you’re here now, you clearly weren’t captured. But how did you find out about it?”
The Duke was quick to point out the flaw in my story.
Of course, having already lived through a Regression, I had an excuse ready.
“I wasn’t their original target. They meant to kidnap the neighbor’s child, but the parents caught them in the act. I overheard them asking if I could be taken instead—since I’m an orphan with no one to look for me.”
“Kr… krrrr……” (How… how could they……).
Kasian’s teeth chattered with fury and shock as he held me tighter.
I caught a flicker of pity in the eyes of both the Duke and the Tower Master.
“That’s when I saw the tattoo. I didn’t want to be taken and turned into an assassin, so I escaped right away and headed for the Magic Tower.”
I wish that’s how it had happened before the Regression.
As I thought of all the hardship I’d endured because it didn’t, my gaze dipped slightly, and I saw tears brimming in Kasian’s eyes.
“Your Highness?”
“Kruu……” (You were scared……).
Tears spilled down like drops of bird droppings.
I felt my heart soften somehow, and I smiled gently.
“I made it away and reached the Magic Tower, so I’m fine.”
The way I worried for Kasian’s pain—Kasian was feeling the same way toward me, wasn’t he?
I dried his tears with a handkerchief and stroked the scales on his back; Kasian rubbed his face against my palm.
“You’ve been through so much.”
The Tower Master, watching us, murmured in a bitter voice.
His expression was very dark.
“Come to think of it, I never even asked why you came to the Magic Tower to earn money. You escaped well.”
I realized that the Tower Master, like Kasian, was deeply concerned for me.
The Tower Master kept his eyes on me, clearly anxious. He seemed worried that I might still fear the memory of nearly being kidnapped.
‘Well… it’s just a bitter memory now, from so long ago.’
Still, it felt strange that everyone cared for me so much.
“We can request the Information Guild to conduct a reverse trace using the tattoo as a marker, Your Grace. Through this, you can root out all the assassins involved and identify whoever commissioned them.”
“From here on, it’s the Duke’s Residence’s turn to act. Don’t worry.”
The adults began discussing their next steps in brief.
Not wanting to be part of that discussion, I decided to get up and leave.
“Your Highness must be tired, so may I take my leave?”
Indeed, after crying, Kasian’s eyelids did seem a bit heavy.
The Tower Master placed a light hand on my head and nodded.
“You’ve worked hard, Pipi. Take the prince and let him rest.”
I bowed respectfully and left the room.
‘Phew, in any case… I’ve managed to tell them.’
I had succeeded in informing them about the guild without revealing the fact of my Regression.
Adjusting the warmth in my arms, I felt both exhaustion and relief wash over me at once.
* * *
In a room thick with acrid tobacco smoke, the Assassin Guild Master irritably flicked ash from his cigarette.
The situation unfolding recently was anything but ordinary.
The territories of Count Gilon and Viscount Ettre had been confiscated, and he’d confirmed that those involved had been swept away.
“Guild Master, you said our tail wouldn’t be picked up anyway.”
A woman in a robe blew out a breath and waved away the smoke gathering near her face, speaking casually.
“Dammit, I still hate how this feels!”
The guild member who’d made contact with the Count swore they hadn’t been seen, so he doubted they’d be easy to find.
But the feeling that plans kept hitting dead ends was undeniably frustrating.
“Those Earth Dragons keep asking when we’ll make the final report… if we don’t show results……”
Beyond the enormous bounty riding on this job, the Guild Master personally had a reason he absolutely had to complete this mission successfully.
If things went wrong and he fell out of favor, he might not be able to import tobacco from the Eastern Continent anymore.
Even if he tried to manufacture it here, some of the raw materials only grew as poison flowers on the Eastern Continent—there was no way around it.
“I need to at least confirm whether the experiment succeeded……”
“No funeral was held, so maybe they found an antidote. That Poison Tower Master is holed up in the Duke’s Residence, they say.”
“The poison definitely reached the core, though……”
The Guild Master, his mouth feeling dry and foul, muttered while spitting into the ashtray.
He hadn’t been able to infiltrate the Duke’s Residence due to its tight security, but he’d confirmed that chaos had erupted there.
Once poisoned, the toxin would reach the core—that’s what he’d heard—so he’d been able to deliver the one result the Earth Dragons were most curious about.
They’d even said that was enough to count the experiment a success.
‘They can say that, but our position is different!’
Though he was acting as a sort of subordinate agent or operational director, his position as Guild Master was fundamentally different from that of the client.
Since he lived on the Western Continent, it was more advantageous for Kasian to die for certain, eliminating any future trouble.
“Besides, did you check the report I filed? When do I get to go snatch that brat?”
The woman showed no inclination to sympathize with the Guild Master’s anguish, burying herself into the sofa with a bored expression as she spoke.
“What’s so important about one measly rat-kin child?”
“You’re moving too slowly. I’ve already investigated her movements. There’s something suspicious, I’m telling you.”
The woman clicked her tongue, reproaching the Guild Master lightly.
“The Duke’s family treats that child like a benefactor, right? And the Young Duke’s full recovery was announced only after she entered the Magic Tower.”
Moreover, it wasn’t only the Tower Master who visited the Duke’s Residence—Liz went with her too.
“What if that girl is some kind of variable? That’s why we should bring her in and find out.”
The corners of the woman’s mouth curled upward.
“One rat is hardly going to—”
“If she’s a variable, then having her in our hands is good. If not, well… as you say, one rat dying won’t cause any problems, will it?”
The woman placed a small blade on her palm and twirled it, smiling. The Guild Master waved his hand dismissively.
“Do as you please.”
“Fine, then I’ll bring her in.”
The woman rose from her seat with a crisp smile.

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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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