I Became the Magic Tower Master's Experimental Mouse - Chapter 89

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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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Abandoning my principles to kill this person would be a waste.
With that thought, I wrapped my arms tightly around myself—steeling against any return of the urge to kill, any wavering of resolve.
“Agh…!”
The Tower Master drew his hand across the air, and violet Mana coiled around my master’s body, binding him fast.
It was the same magic Martin had endured before.
My master made no resistance, hanging suspended in emptiness, his head merely tilted as he gazed at me with quiet intensity.
“Pipi, are you hurt? Does anything ache?”
Cassian, the tension draining from him at last, seized my shoulders and ran his eyes over me from head to toe.
I watched my hand—still gripping the wooden sword—tremble, and let out a shaky laugh.
“Thanks to you, I’m perfectly fine. That was truly a flawless Sword Throwing Technique.”
“…Is there such a technique?”
“Well, the important thing is that it looked impressive.”
I’d meant to tease Cassian, but having accepted his help, I pivoted instead to praise.
At that, his face flushed crimson and he cried out, “Of course it did!”
‘Right, now isn’t the time for this.’
I seized the Tower Master’s sleeve in sudden urgency and spoke.
“Tower Master, the Magic Tower might be in danger!”
“What do you mean?”
“He said so—that they’d be occupied elsewhere.”
At that, the Tower Master’s gaze shifted from me to my bound master.
Already, hemorrhaging from his upper body had stolen my master’s consciousness.
“…A diversion, then?”
The Tower Master’s voice dropped, edged with displeasure.
He wound cloth around my master to keep him immobilized, then secured him to one of the two horses he’d ridden in on like a bundle of cargo, before calling to Cassian.
Once my master was slung across the saddle, he turned to Cassian with a question.
“Boy, you can carry Pipi, can’t you?”
“…Of course I can!”
Cassian’s eyes lit at the question, and he pawed at the ground eagerly.
The Tower Master, reluctantly entrusting me to Cassian because of my master, nonetheless unhitched several Magical Tools from his person and hung them on me in a jingling mass.
“Even if you fall, you won’t take injury.”
“…Are you questioning my horsemanship right now?!”
Cassian wailed in protest, but the Tower Master did not retrieve the Magical Tools draped across my body.
“Tch, children always do find trouble…”
He gazed at the scrape on my cheek with something like pity, muttering to himself.
“I should visit the Enchant Tower soon, I think.”
Was he planning to craft new Magical Tools?
I was pleased that he cared enough to check on me; I bit my lip to suppress my grin as I climbed onto Zephyros, Cassian’s young stallion.
“Whinny!”
Zephyros, who had grown well-fed and robust in the Stable during this time, fortunately recognized me and did not unseat me.
“Two of us will be heavy, I know, but please just bear with it a little.”
I stroked Zephyros’s neck gently, then wrapped my arms around Cassian’s waist.
Cassian stiffened for a moment, then rallied his focus and set off at a gallop.
“Cassian, run as fast as you can—I want us to arrive quickly.”
“…There are several people there! Nothing will go wrong.”
Cassian replied with easy confidence, understanding that I was worried about the Magic Tower.
But attachment to Liz and the Four Swordsmen had grown in him too over these months; he soon drove his heels in and gave the horse full rein.
* * *
The Magic Tower appeared unchanged from the outside.
I dismounted from Zephyros and finally let out a breath of relief—only to feel the ache in my backside where the saddle had been rubbing.
“Tower Master! Pipi, Pipi!”
The moment I stepped into the Lobby, the Four Swordsmen came rushing toward me, calling out my name.
Supporting Lilly’s weight as she fell into my arms—careful not to topple backward—I gently patted her trembling back.
As I opened my mouth to ask what had happened, the 2nd Elder appeared in a flush of pride, moving with such urgency that his whiskers fluttered twice as much as usual.
“You’ve arrived! Hear me out—it was just before you came!”
The Tower Master emerged from the Stable where he’d left the horse, hovering my master weightless before him; at the sight, the 2nd Elder’s gaze shifted from me to the Tower Master.
“Master! I have apprehended the intruders!”
“With the new system we put in place?”
“Precisely! And this little dear helped me do it!”
The 2nd Elder ruffled my hair roughly.
I wobbled like a tumbling doll, muttering “Ow, ow, ow.”
Forty intruders had penetrated the Magic Tower in total. Twenty-eight were captured, and twelve escaped.
Considering how vast the Tower’s structure was relative to our personnel, the defensive success rate was quite respectable.
“None of the young mages were hurt, and the Barrier Defense held perfectly—we bound every last one of them!”
As the 2nd Elder pointed to one corner of the Lobby, all the mages beamed with pride in their accomplishment.
There, unconscious Assassins lay trussed up completely.
I nodded and sniffed the air.
“Ah, so that’s where the smell came from!”
At my words, the Tower Master looked down at me.
“I applied oil to the window frames in the quieter sections, you see. If anyone broke in, I’d know—it’s a special oil that leaves a scent for ten days.”
The Tower Master’s expression shifted sharply.
“……You could track them by scent, then.”
“You could track everyone they’ve met too! As long as they made physical contact.”
I said this proudly, and the 2nd Elder laughed with a face that looked ready to bite my cheeks clean off.
“Our cute little lab rat solved it all for us!”
“Huh?”
As I tilted my head in confusion, the Tower Master pressed his temple with his palm.
“……Ah, I meant to explain this later.”
The 2nd Elder, unconcerned, rattled on excitedly.
“You know that defensive plan for the Magic Tower? The Tower Master brought it out and we followed it exactly, and this time we caught them like fish in a net—so neatly!”
The defensive plan for the Magic Tower……!
I recalled the Sketchbook I’d left on the side of the desk and looked up at the Tower Master.
The Tower Master hesitated for a moment, then smoothed my hair—which the 2nd Elder had tousled earlier—and spoke.
“It was quite useful. I found it while you were asleep and showed it to the 2nd Elder…….”
He showed it even though it was unfinished……!
But the joy of knowing my plan had genuinely contributed to the Tower’s defense overwhelmed any small grievance, and I let it go.
‘This time I really did help.’
My heart felt full somehow, so I placed a hand on my chest and bit my lip.
* * *
Though things seemed to have gone well, there was still accounting left to settle, so I couldn’t let my guard down.
I followed the Tower Master into his Office and sat on the sofa.
The Tower Master took out Holy Water and treated the small scrapes on my face and body, then closed his mouth.
‘……If he’s going to be angry, I wish he’d just get it over with.’
Though I’d claimed it was my right, my actions were little different from running away.
I’d left without telling the Tower Master or any of the adults—not persuading them but avoiding the issue, sneaking out to accomplish my goal. Most adults would be furious at something like this.
I watched the Tower Master’s expression carefully.
“Don’t read my mood. You never need to do that with me.”
“……Why?”
“Because I failed to give you my trust, so you had to decide alone.”
The Tower Master whispered, his face somewhat bitter.
I felt unbearably uneasy, like sitting on pins and needles.
‘I’d feel better if he just hit me with a stick.’
Perhaps it was because I’d never seen an adult speak about my actions in such a way before. Watching the Tower Master blame himself, my discomfort only grew.
“……But I didn’t ask, so why is it your fault now?”
“If you’d had someone easy to consult with, would you have acted alone?”
“That’s……true, I suppose.”
I nodded, fidgeting with my fingers.
“You kept saying it was fine, so…… I just went out to ask about what to do with this ability.”
“……Yes. I too haven’t sorted out my thoughts on that matter yet, so I kept evading it. I’m sorry.”
The Tower Master sighed heavily and apologized.
Holding my head high while hearing words like that felt like a betrayal.
“……I was wrong to sneak out. Next time I’ll definitely tell you first.”
I lowered my head and apologized—wishing he’d been angry so I could at least have protested.
“So, did you accomplish anything on your outing?”
“I went to the Healing Tower…….”
I opened my mouth that way, then asked bluntly.
“What’s Dragon Venom, Tower Master?”
The Tower Master fell silent for a moment. His gaze wavered in a way that was unlike him.
He lowered his eyelids, concealing the complicated look in his eyes, and then began his explanation.
“Dragon Venom is a power born to only a single Bloodline.”
In that moment, a voice came back to me—the one I’d heard earlier. The words about a child the Emperor himself had sought.
“The Imperial Family of this Empire, the Basilisk, possess an inborn ability to generate a venom. We call it Dragon Venom.”
The power of the Imperial Bloodline……
My feet suddenly felt unsteady beneath me, and a chill of dread crept through my chest.
“Pipi, you may possess the Basilisk Bloodline.”

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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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