I Became the Magic Tower Master's Experimental Mouse - Chapter 65

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

It was my first time in the Materials Library, a place where only ingredients were kept.
‘The Tower Master looks busy, so I’ll search first and report back to them later.’
I stepped into the library and marveled at the interior, which held not a trace of odor.
‘There must be poisons that inflict harm through scent alone—that’s why they sealed this place so carefully.’
Every cabinet bore glass doors, sealed with not a crack between them.
“Coo-coo, coo-coo.” (Boring. Why’d you bring me here?)
Kashian, nestled in my arms, grumbled softly.
“You caused a commotion and exposed your identity through reckless behavior, so keep quiet.”
I bopped the black nose of Kashian lightly as I spoke.
I’d left him in a basket to sleep quietly, but while I was away having lunch, he’d kicked up such a fuss that he’d turned the entire Magic Tower upside down.
Because of that, there wasn’t a soul in the Magic Tower who didn’t know of Kashian’s existence.
Of course, they’d all agreed to hold their tongues for fear of incurring the Tower Master’s displeasure.
“Coo-rrr…….” (Tch…….)
Kashian clicked his tongue softly and scrambled up onto the cushion I’d placed on the desk.
“Now I’m going to find the combination of poisons here.”
I rolled up my sleeves and surveyed the rows of reagent cabinets.
Looking at the sheer volume of chemical reagents, it was clear this would take quite a while.
‘Well, let’s get started!’
I decided to begin from the far left end.
I resolved to work my way up from the bottom, opening each drawer and checking the bottles inside one by one.
Sniff, sniff, sniff.
“……Rotten.”
The sharp assault made my nose sting involuntarily.
I didn’t need to look—my expression had surely withered.
I scrunched up my face with a whine and picked up the next reagent bottle.
“……Fishy.”
Next.
“Like water from a wrung-out mop……?”
“Coo-ack!” (Disgusting!)
That first day, after smelling two hundred reagent bottles in that single drawer, I crawled back to my room with my sense of smell thoroughly deadened.
I’d never known that without being able to smell, you couldn’t taste food either.
My favorite soup came for dinner, and I’d never felt such sorrow…….
‘No. I have to endure this. For the Tower Master and Kashian, I have to bear it.’
More than anything, if it was something the Guild Master would hate, I wanted to do it.
By the second day, I’d developed some strategy.
I’d brought along something fragrant to air out the space.
After checking all the lower drawers, I realized I was too short to see the upper ones and felt the weight of disappointment.
“Coo-ooo-ooo-oooong…….” (If I were in human form right now, I could help you…….)
Kind words, but I was certain that even Kashian’s human form wouldn’t be tall enough to reach.
So on the fourth day, I sweet-talked Sasongsa into helping.
I buttonholed Sasongsa, who’d arrived carrying a basket of snacks, and had her take out every single reagent bottle from the upper shelves before I checked them by scent.
“Pee-pee, but what are you doing here? You’ve been so diligent lately.”
“I’m studying. If I memorize the scents of the materials, it might help the Tower Master.”
“Wow, how commendable!”
Lilly’s face brightened with admiration as she added another handful of cookies to my pile.
‘……That’s strange.’
And around that point, anxiety began creeping in.
It was because I still hadn’t smelled the scent I was looking for, not even once.
‘Half of them are still left, so it must be among those, right?’
Though I reassured myself this way, my growing urgency was unavoidable.
In that haste, I carelessly popped the lid off a reagent bottle that should have been handled with great care.
“Oh, oh no, the smell!”
“Oh, startled!”
Ollie, who stood nearby, scrunched her face against the sudden olfactory assault.
A smell like rotted fish left out for thirty days filled the room.
“Coo-atchoo! Coo-atchoo, coo-atchoo!”
Though he stood a little distance away, Kashian, whose olfactory senses were heightened in his Beast Form, began sneezing.
“Coo-uh, coo-uh-uh-!”
In the moment Kashian’s nose twitched as he drew in a deep breath,
Pop!
“Gah, you scared me!”
A white-haired boy materialized on the cushion, sitting there placidly, and Ollie jumped to her feet with a yelp.
“……Oh? It worked. It really worked!”
Kashian clenched and unclenched his fists, his eyes shining.
“It’s really… Ashé… no wait, it’s Prince Behemoth.”
Ollie stared at Kashian’s face in bewilderment, murmuring to herself.
Kashian, grinning without a care, reached into the basket placed nearby and pulled out some clothing.
Since he might transform suddenly at any moment, I’d laid out his garments as a precaution instead of a blanket.
As Kashian fumbled to put them on, he spoke in a satisfied tone.
“Now I can help you—”
Poof.
“……Ugh.”
A tiny Beast Form tumbled back out from among the pile of clothes.
I swallowed my laughter.
“You lasted longer than last time. That’s impressive progress!”
Clap, clap, clap.
I gave a few encouraging applause, but Kashian, lifting his head from among the garments, glared at me as if he wanted to kill me.
“Grrroowwwl, RAAAAGH!”
“That’s just wounded pride.”
I shrugged my shoulders and replied coolly.
“……Piki, is it really okay to talk to the prince like that?”
Ollie leaned close to my ear and whispered the question.
“Grrrroowww!”
Seeing that he was concerned with something other than talking back, I lifted my shoulders once more and answered.
“Apparently it is.”
* * *
That was how I spent a week, holed up in the Materials Library whenever I had a free moment…….
And finally I checked the last drawer.
“……It’s not here.”
I’d gone through every single vial of poison materials that existed in the Materials Library, but not a single poison with the same scent as the one from Kashian’s poison was anywhere to be found.
I collapsed onto the floor and stared up at the ceiling.
How could I have smelled thousands of chemical reagents and yet find the one thing I was looking for completely absent?
‘……I wasted the whole week.’
In any case, I figured I had to report the results of my efforts to the Tower Master.
I gathered up my hollow feeling, picked up Kashian, and headed toward the Tower Master’s office.
“Tower Master!”
I knocked and entered; the Tower Master, who had been poring over thick documents, looked up.
‘It feels like it’s been a while since I’ve seen him.’
We crossed paths every day, but we’d both been too busy. The Tower Master had been going out every day lately, after all.
“About that material. I smelled everything we have in the Materials Library, but there’s nothing with the same scent.”
At my words, the Tower Master’s eyebrows rose slowly.
“……You smelled it all? Everything in the Materials Library?”
“Yes! I was thorough, so don’t worry!”
The Tower Master looked at me intently, then sighed.
“If you managed that in a week, you must have worked your nose to death every single day.”
“……Yes. I wanted to hurry.”
The Tower Master didn’t seem to like it when I overexerted myself, so I hastened to make excuses.
“I have to finish while I still remember the scent, and it’s urgent, isn’t it?”
“There’s no need to grind yourself down like that.”
“Still.”
I knew how hard the Tower Master pushed the mages of the Magic Tower.
He drove others to their limits while hoping I’d take things at a leisurely pace.
‘I suppose he’s worried about me in his own way…….’
The truth was, I felt rather good—like I was finally earning my keep.
“In any case…… hmm.”
The Tower Master fell into thought, his eyes narrowing as if contemplating something.
I stood quietly, blinking, so as not to disturb his thinking.
“Oof……?”
‘Shh.’
Kashian murmured in confusion at the sudden silence, so I quickly reached over and shut his mouth gently with a light grip on his snout, unwilling to disturb the Tower Master.
At that, Kashian glared at me with a sly look, as if saying with his eyes, ‘How dare you.’
“In that chamber are stored the raw materials of every poison produced on this continent.”
“Really? No wonder there were so many…….”
“Then the answer is clear. It may be a special material found only on the Eastern Continent.”
Only then did I blink, my eyes widening.
I hadn’t understood exactly what the Guild Master meant by the ‘Foreign Catalyst brought across the sea’…….
‘Was that what Intercontinental Trade meant?!’
I’d simply thought it came from some island, but it turned out to be something that could only be obtained from the Eastern Continent.
In that case, it made sense why the Materials Library contained no material with a matching scent.
“Few establishments handle Intercontinental Trade. So from now on, we should search in that direction.”
The Tower Master unfolded a sheet of paper as if preparing to write a letter and began noting something down.
‘Thank goodness. At least I’ve been given a path forward…….’
I’d been carrying a slight weight of guilt for not informing them about the Foreign Catalyst sooner, but taking the long way around, we’d arrived at the same conclusion, and that was a relief.
“Ah, and soon someone will be coming from the Healing Magic Tower.”
“From the Healing Magic Tower?”
“Yes. I’ve requested their counsel on restoring the prince’s Core.”
At the Tower Master’s words, I nodded with an ‘oh.’
“You’ll get better soon, Kashian!”
“……Grr.”
I’d expected him to be purely delighted, but Kashian nodded with an oddly complicated expression in his eyes.
‘What’s wrong?’

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————