I Became the Magic Tower Master's Experimental Mouse - Chapter 76

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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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I tilted my ear first, listening for any movement from above.
‘There’s been no real change, which means Daeri probably didn’t hear him collapse.’
Liz’s curses must have drowned out the sound of Daeri falling.
“Pipi, now’s the time. We have to run—fast!”
“Wait. Just a moment.”
I crouched in front of Liz, untied the ropes binding her hands, and gripped them firmly.
“Pipi…?”
“It’ll be quick.”
I closed my eyes and felt through Liz’s body.
After dealing with Extraordinary Poison, Scorpion Poison was nothing.
As time passed and the Scorpion Poison spread through her veins, I drew it all out and neutralized it. Liz’s body flinched suddenly.
“…Huh?”
Sensing the poison draining from her, Liz’s complexion shifted dramatically.
“H-how is this…?”
When I released her hands, Liz immediately moved her Mana to check her body.
“The poison… it’s gone…?”
“I’ll explain the details later when we’re back at the Magic Tower. Right now we need to focus on escaping, don’t we?”
I spoke while checking whether Daeri had woken. Liz nodded in agreement.
Though her expression remained uneasy, the fact remained that now was the best moment to flee.
“Liz, do you remember how you got here?”
“Yeah. I was conscious the whole time.”
Liz lowered her voice and quickly explained the kidnapping.
She’d been taken the moment she rounded the corner heading toward the Bakery. When she came to, she was already bundled in a sack and being transported in a carriage.
“It jolted for quite a while. They blindfolded me, so I never saw the streets or what the buildings looked like.”
“I see. As I thought.”
“When I got out of the carriage and entered the house, I could smell something like sewer stench. They took off the blindfold once we were inside.”
“What about the interior of the house?”
“There was one door, and about two men. I could hear them listening to the woman who poisoned me earlier.”
I nodded.
So that meant three adults in this house besides the incapacitated Daeri.
Two-against-three seemed manageable in theory, but we had only a child and a poison mage on our side, which made it uncertain.
‘I know mages aren’t omnipotent, but poison mages are especially awkward in actual combat.’
They were the type who created toxins and offered support from the rear—they rarely faced opponents in direct combat.
I began searching Daeri’s body.
I’d expected to find something, and my instinct was right.
‘How fitting for an Assassin.’
Hidden inside his clothes were a Dagger, Thin Wire, Flint, and similar tools.
It seemed like little to work with, but having weapons beat being empty-handed.
Next, I pried open Daeri’s mouth.
“P-Pipi, what are you doing?”
Liz was startled and asked what I was up to.
I’d inserted my fingers into Daeri’s mouth and was probing around.
‘It should be around here.’
When I touched the back of his molars, I felt the smooth surface of a Poison Pill.
It was the means by which an Assassin could take their own life if captured by an enemy.
Ever since I joined the Guild and took on missions, I’d had one of my teeth pulled and a Poison Pill embedded—so Daeri had to have one too.
‘Which means it’s a pretty potent, fast-acting poison.’
Though it was only enough for one person…
I pulled the Poison Pill out cleanly.
“Liz, is there any way you could adjust this so it works on multiple people?”
I asked without holding out much hope.
But Liz, taking the Poison Pill from me, widened her eyes and tilted her head.
“This is poison…?”
“This person said they were an Assassin. Everyone knows Assassins hide suicide poisons!”
I shrugged and lied smoothly.
Liz stared at the Poison Pill with an uncertain expression, then smiled slightly.
“You know what, Pipi? My specialty is actually amplifying the potency of poisons.”
“So…?”
“Spreading one person’s dose of poison across three people isn’t difficult at all. The concentration will be weaker, though, so the effect won’t be as strong.”
When the conversation turned back to her major, confidence bloomed across Liz’s face.
“You’re incredible, Liz!”
I seized her hand, my voice trembling with excitement.
“But here’s the problem—how do we actually use it? It’s easy enough to refine it with mana and transform it into mist, but then we’d be caught in it too.”
“Don’t you remember what just happened?”
I grinned and squeezed her hand firmly.
“Poison doesn’t work on me, and as long as I keep detoxifying you, you won’t be poisoned either.”
“You really have to tell me what you’ve been hiding.”
With those words, Liz glanced at me sideways and rose from her seat.
We decided to release the Poison Mist through the gap in the door toward the upper floor, and moved close to it.
‘If I open the door, they’ll spot us immediately.’
So we had to wait here until all sounds from upstairs faded away.
“I’m starting.”
Liz held the Poison Pill tightly in one hand, her face tense, and whispered the Magic Incantation.
Soon the poison component took the form of mist and seeped out through the gap in the door.
‘I have to admit it now.’
I’d truly despaired when I first saw Liz, but her presence made our escape far easier.
If I’d been captured alone, breaking through my teacher’s and Daeri’s surveillance network would have been nearly impossible.
How much time had passed?
From upstairs, I heard something heavy thud against the floor twice.
‘That’s it……!’
The fact that I didn’t hear a third body collapse was unsettling, but I couldn’t just keep waiting.
Perhaps the third person had been in another room upstairs.
I brought over a lantern, extinguished the flame, poured the kerosene from inside onto the door’s hinges, and opened it very carefully.
The old door couldn’t be opened completely silently, but even that eliminated the worst of its irritating creak.
‘Follow me up.’
I pointed upward with my finger, then crept up the stairs.
‘Hmm, the effect really is fast.’
After confirming the men sprawled unconscious on the floor, I quickly surveyed the surroundings.
Just as Liz had said, there was one room, and the door was closed.
‘If my teacher had been hit, this would be easier.’
I had to be ready to rush the door, anxious in case something burst out from that room.
“Liz, now!”
I whispered softly to Liz and gestured toward the entrance.
We crouched behind a sofa and other cover, moved carefully forward, then pulled the bolt and cautiously opened the door.
Cold night air rushed across my face.
I could finally release Liz’s hand, which I’d been holding to detoxify her.
A dilapidated house, narrow and filthy alleys, low roofs and the stench of sewage.
It was the Northern Slums—a place deeply familiar to me.
“Run!”
We ran, hand in hand.
‘Logically, she should be dead already.’
But something told me my teacher wouldn’t be finished off by a single poison.
The woman who destroyed my childhood didn’t seem like the type to die from poison alone. The thought kept recurring that she would still be standing, just as she had been before my regression.
So no matter what, I had to run faster and escape to the main street.
‘Main street, please come soon…….’
Liz kept pace with me, both of us breathing hard.
We rounded the corner with hope surging in our chests.
And in that instant.
“……Oh.”
We froze.
In the middle of the alley.
As if she’d stepped out for a smoke, my teacher was leaning against the Stone Wall.
“……How amusing.”
She laughed, her eyes widening as she noticed us.
‘Can we escape?’
The distance was too close.
I pushed Liz behind me and calculated our escape route with my eyes.
‘We can’t get away from this distance.’
My jaw clenched involuntarily.
I’d barely managed to escape this far, only to be cornered at the entrance itself…….
“You detoxified that woman, didn’t you? What did you do with the others?”
My master’s gaze sharpened with interest, fixing upon me.
I answered faithfully, buying time for Liz to get away.
“It wasn’t my doing. The Tower Master gave me an emergency antidote to use.”
I’d answered that way to hide my abilities as much as possible, but my master didn’t look like he believed me.
Well, if I could manage to escape from here, perhaps he’d mistake the shattered gem for an antidote vial and let himself be deceived.
‘If I can escape, that is…….’
“How did she get away? Daeri isn’t the kind to be so easily fooled……. Hmm.”
Though honestly, it had been surprisingly simple.
I’d once been a far more promising assassin than Daeri ever was.
But I couldn’t say that aloud, so Liz and I kept backing away as my master advanced.
‘What do I do about this…….’
I’d bitten my lip raw enough to taste blood.
Beyond my master’s back, I could see several torches swaying as they approached from that direction.
‘……Are they enemies? Or just unrelated people passing through?’
Seeing my eyes shift toward the space behind him, my master turned to look.
I prayed desperately.
‘Please, let them not be enemies.’

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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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