I Became the Magic Tower Master's Experimental Mouse - Chapter 66

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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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* * *
An old townhouse in the heart of the Imperial Capital.
Claude pressed the doorbell, and when the butler emerged, he presented his invitation.
Since this visit had been anticipated, he was shown directly to the master of the house.
“Welcome, Marquis Serpens.”
“Thank you for the gracious invitation, Chief Justice Orju.”
“Chief Justice? Nonsense! I’ve been retired for a year now. Count is quite sufficient.”
The master of the house was an elderly man of considerable age.
More importantly, he was someone who had served for long years as Chief Justice in the empire’s courts—a figure who fit Claude’s purposes perfectly.
For that reason, Claude showed deference to Count Orju despite the latter’s rank being lower than his own.
“So, what matter brings you here to consult with me? I’ve heard that the Marquis has been reaching out to the younger legal scholars lately.”
“Yet you agreed to see me nonetheless.”
Claude settled onto the sofa with a slight bow of respect.
“Round and round you go, and when there’s nowhere else to turn, the old man is your last resort, eh? Ha ha.”
The count chuckled warmly and sipped at the tea a maid had poured for him.
“That much is true. But it is a matter of great importance to me.”
“Very well then, let me hear it.”
Claude took a moment to gather his thoughts before beginning his questions.
“I understand there have been no recorded cases of a commoner being adopted into a noble house. Is there truly no way to proceed with an adoption?”
“Hmm… This must concern the Marquis himself, I take it.”
“It does.”
“Does the child share the Marquis’s blood through one parent? Or failing that—does the child have at least one noble parent, regardless of whether it’s from your own house?”
Claude’s expression hardened at the uncomfortable question.
“That cannot be determined. The child was abandoned as an infant, I’m told.”
“If it cannot be proven, then the child is as good as a commoner in the eyes of the law.”
Count Orju’s face grew dark.
He clicked his tongue as though the matter left a bad taste, then asked gravely.
“This child—whoever they may be—must the adoption absolutely go through?”
“Do you believe adoption will prove impossible?”
“Why else would you be here, circling round and round until you reached this back-room old fool for counsel? It’s not without reason that all your junior colleagues expressed reluctance.”
The count tapped the armrest of his chair, then gestured silently to a maid standing to one side.
After an awkward stretch of time spent only sipping tea, the maid returned bearing a formidably thick Legal Code.
“The empire’s entire domestic law is contained here. Let me see…”
The count flipped rapidly through the Legal Code and then showed Claude a particular section.
“Look here. This is the problematic provision.”
[Article 1 — Principle of Status Separation
The nobility bears the duty to preserve the noble bloodline descended from the founding ancestors, while commoners must serve as its faithful guardians.]
Claude’s gaze wavered for a moment, then steadied.
“That language is hardly precise.”
“True, but ‘noble bloodline’ is interpreted as belonging exclusively to the nobility, and the word ‘guardians’ appears in many places throughout the Legal Code, so the courts judge conservatively.”
The count then showed him the section directly concerning adoption.
[Article 3 — Procedure for Adoption Registration
The adoption of a noble must be reported to the Nobility Council Judicial Department and the imperial court. The Judicial Department shall investigate the lineage of the adoptee back three generations to verify noble ancestry. Any person who attempts the adoption registration of one whose lineage cannot be verified shall face charges of Identity Fraud.]
Count Orju sighed and explained the provision.
“Some one hundred and forty years ago, there was an incident in which a commoner attempted to absorb a noble house through marriage.”
After that, legal scholars and the imperial court had drawn up this very article.
“It hardly seems fair—marriage should be treated as one matter and adoption as another, yet they’ve lumped them both under the single term ‘registration’…”
Though the law’s origin had been to protect the victims, Claude found himself lamenting that the path to Pipi’s adoption had been blocked.
“To amend existing law and establish new precedent would require the consent of the Nobility Council and His Majesty’s approval.”
“So it enters the realm of politics.”
Claude swallowed a sigh and slowly traced the handle of his cooling teacup.
‘They’ll come swarming like hornets.’
It was clear what the nobles would desire.
The Magic Tower’s Antidote—research results as potent and poisonous as the poison itself.
Or perhaps they would hope that the Poison Tower, which had never allied with any faction, would stand on their side.
To step into politics for Pipi’s sake was no great hardship—something he had ignored until now.
His life plan had already been overturned because of Pipi; flipping it once more would hardly be catastrophic.
‘But what the imperial court desires… that I cannot guess.’
Since the incident in the palace, the emperor had remained in seclusion.
That was precisely why she felt anxious—she had no idea what he might ask of her in return.
“So you have a child you desire that much.”
“……A child who will live a life beyond what was planned for her.”
“Ha! If that’s the sort of child she is, then there’s nothing for it.”
Count Orju laughed heartily.
There was something in his eyes—a warmth toward Claude that hadn’t been there at their first meeting.
Reading that subtle shift, Claude ventured carefully forward.
“Would it be possible for you to provide me with a list of those I must win over? I assure you, the compensation will be substantial.”
* * *
“We’re going to the Healing Tower today.”
The Tower Master dropped the words like a bombshell at breakfast, and I found myself blinking with the spoon still in my mouth.
“Today? Just like that?”
“Yes. This witch……”
The Tower Master ground his teeth as if in considerable displeasure.
‘I’m pretty sure he just cursed someone……’
I stared blankly at his face, which had taken on the sour expression of someone biting into an unripe persimmon.
Then, as if trembling with annoyance, he set down a letter on the table—its creases clearly marked by his thumb and forefinger.
[Why should I come? The patient is your guest too. If anyone’s coming, it should be you.]
“Oh, um…… a friend of yours……?”
“Does this look like something a friend would write? We’ve simply known each other since childhood.”
The Tower Master pressed his temples and sighed.
‘But they seem incredibly comfortable with each other……’
If two people had known each other since childhood and corresponded in such a manner, they were ordinarily called friends.
So the Tower Master had a friend after all……
“I’ll have to leave at once, without time to receive any visitors.”
“Gruu.” (How bothersome.)
At the Tower Master’s command, Cassian wrinkled his muzzle in protest.
“But we’re going because of your Core, Cassian……”
“Gruuung……” (I don’t want to go…….)
Cassian grumbled with a sullen face, but I tore into my bread with combative purpose and stuffed it into my mouth.
‘I have to go see the Tower Master’s friend!’
With that thought, I prepared quickly, dressed Cassian in clothes suitable for meeting a guest,
and climbed into the carriage, carrying the basket Cassian had been holding.
“Is the Healing Tower far from here?”
At my question, the Tower Master’s expression grew uncertain.
“It’s within the Imperial Capital, so I wouldn’t call it far. But it’s certainly a distance that requires a carriage.”
The Tower Master explained the locations of the various towers.
Only the Grand Magic Tower, where the Grand Tower Master resided, was positioned within the Imperial Palace, while the other branch towers were scattered throughout the Imperial Capital in a distributed pattern.
“Why are they spread out like that? Wouldn’t it be more convenient to live together?”
“The towers form the axes of a massive Defensive Magic Circle that encompasses the entire Imperial Capital.”
I nodded in understanding, listened to his explanation of the Healing Tower during our journey, and at last, we arrived.
The Healing Tower was a pristine white structure wrapped in medicinal herb vines.
I stared at the brilliant white tower gleaming in the sunlight, my mouth falling open.
“Wow, it’s beautiful!”
“……It’s just painful to look at.”
The Tower Master grumbled and rapped loudly on the tower’s door.
“So you’ve come, you poison monger!”
“Camilla. You’ve actually managed to drag me all the way here.”
“Your ugly mug is still perfectly intact!”
“And you’re still just as loud.”
I looked back and forth between the Tower Master and his friend.
The Healing Tower Master turned out to be quite different from what I had imagined.
She was a woman with an almost disarmingly sweet, creamy appearance.
With her chestnut-brown hair pinned up neatly, she seemed rather young in feature, but her vigorous expression made it perfectly clear she was the Tower Master’s contemporary.
“If I do you this favor, what will you do for me!”
“Did you forget the debt you owed me years ago?”
“The statute of limitations expired on that!”
Camilla laughed heartily.
‘She looks so delicate, yet she’s so spirited……’
I watched as the two Tower Masters carried on their conversation, each wrapped up in their own words.
“Hello! I’m Epiphany, the Magic Tower’s test subject! Please call me Pipi!”
“Hmm…? So you’re the rumored test subject.”
Camilla turned her gaze toward me, then padded closer and began kneading my cheeks playfully.
“Wait, could you possibly be… a hibernating mouse?”
Gasp—there were few people who guessed my species so quickly!
I nodded in surprise, my head bobbing earnestly.
Then Camilla’s eyes, which had sparkled with mischief just a moment before, took on a peculiar gleam as the playfulness vanished entirely.
‘What… what is this…?!’

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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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