The Runaway Heroine is Too Good at Escaping

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Yes, maybe you’re right… Before I entered the Magic Tower, I couldn’t even imagine giving up my freedom like this…”

 

“You’ve been brainwashed by the Tower Master.”

 

“Is that so…”

 

The woman remained silent for a long time, seemingly lost in thought, and then slowly nodded her head.

 

“Alright. I’ll help you escape.”

 

“Oh, thank you so much!”

 

I can’t believe this actually worked. As expected, the day when humanities triumphs has finally come.

 

The woman grabbed my hand and signaled to the other mages.

 

“If they come this way, please handle it. I need to take this person out of here.”

 

“But… you know that if you’re caught, you’re in serious trouble too!”

 

“So, should I just leave another victim behind?”

 

“…Of course not.”

 

“You need to be brave. The Tower Master doesn’t pay much attention to a mage like me, so the punishment won’t be severe. But it’s different for a spatial mage. If this person stays in the tower, something truly terrible will happen.”

 

“That’s true…”

 

“And what this person says isn’t entirely wrong either. It’s really strange to give up my freedom to someone else… So, I will help this person escape.”

 

The woman, after calming her colleagues, looked back at me. Watching her, I became increasingly puzzled.

 

Just how harsh is the education in this tower that people end up so thoroughly brainwashed?

 

“Follow me.”

 

Although I was curious, my priority was to get out of there, so I followed the woman closely.

 

She navigated through a complicated path, and I made sure not to lose track of her.

 

But I couldn’t help my curiosity, so I cautiously asked in a quiet voice:

 

“By the way… is something happening in the Magic Tower?”

 

“Oh, it’s something truly horrifying!”

 

The woman shouted as if venting her frustration.

 

“…For someone like me, a rather untalented and ordinary mage, it’s tough but bearable. I just have to endure being scolded by the Tower Master from 7 AM to midnight every day.”

 

“That’s terrible enough already…”

 

Wait a minute, this lifestyle feels oddly familiar.

 

“I’ve said it many times before, self-study until 10 PM on weekends is mandatory, and until midnight is optional. But if you want to get into Namhan University, self-study until midnight is also a must.”

 

“Oh, I don’t want to study…”

 

“That means you don’t want to go to university.”

 

Ah, so in my previous life, I was on the side that imposed such a dreadful lifestyle on students! I was truly garbage, haha!

 

…Let’s stop thinking about it.

 

“Anyway, since I can definitely feel my skills improving, I can tolerate this. If I trained outside the Magic Tower, I wouldn’t have gained this much power. That’s why, even though we complain, we stay in the tower voluntarily. But…”

 

Even though no one was around, the woman glanced nervously around as if scared.

 

“Talented mages are different. For example, mages like you who can use spatial magic… or someone like Ghieuspe Ascary.”

 

“Ghieuspe Ascary?”

 

“Yes, you must know of him. He’s a successful mage from the Magic Tower and a descendant of the Ascary Duke family.”

 

“Yes, I’m well aware of him.”

 

“Mages as outstanding as him are locked up by the Tower Master and subjected to extremely horrific training.”

 

I felt uneasy. My whole body tensed up as I asked again:

 

“What kind of training is it?”

 

“…Even now, several talented mages are trapped in the Magic Tower. Unfortunately, they signed a contract, so they can’t leave the tower until the term expires. In complete confinement, they train with the Tower Master.”

 

The woman’s voice trembled with fear as she spoke.

 

“The Tower Master uses any means necessary to improve their skills. They exploit their weaknesses. For example?”

 

She suddenly stopped walking.

 

“Those vulnerable to pain are tortured with magic by the Tower Master whenever they fail to perform. Those who love their family had their letters from family torn apart by the Tower Master. But the truly terrifying thing is…”

 

Her voice filled with excitement as I rounded the corner of the corridor.

 

And what unfolded before me was…

 

“What, what is this?”

 

There were people trapped inside glass chambers.

 

The sound of their groans, the wounds torn apart, their faces drained of all color as they moved between the glass chambers, observed by the watchers, accompanied by an unpleasant, metallic smell.

 

No matter how I looked at it, this was a human experimentation lab.

 

“The Magic Tower is conducting human experiments. It’s an open secret.”

 

But it was something I knew nothing about. Confronted with the reality of human experimentation out of the blue, I felt like the blood drained from my entire body.

 

The woman pointed to one of the watchers, likely overseeing the subjects trapped in the glass chambers.

 

“That person is one of the talented mages managed by the Tower Master.”

 

“What is that person doing here?”

 

“They were ordered to oversee the human experiments whenever they failed to produce results.”

 

At that moment, the woman’s face turned as pale as mine as she looked back at me.

 

“They were ordered to manage the human experiments.”

 

“Gyaaaah…”

 

Of course, human experimentation is a dreadful thing. No ordinary person could ever carry out such acts.

 

But they were bound by Elisabetta’s ‘orders.’

 

Even an ordinary human being can commit cruel acts if they blindly obey authority. Once responsibility is out of their hands, they can easily become vile beings.

 

So, instead of rebelling against Elisabetta, they chose to follow her orders.

 

“Watching the test subjects suffer is a horrifying experience. But in the end, the mages had no choice but to obey the Tower Master’s orders.”

 

Those who were forced to conduct the human experiments would also have suffered significant psychological damage.

 

Elisabetta gave these orders to break the young mage’s spirit and make them completely submissive.

 

By doing this, the mage would feel helpless and guilty, ultimately becoming loyal to Elisabetta.

 

“This… this is insane…”

 

I stammered, trembling all over, and looked back at the woman.

 

“But isn’t conducting human experiments like this illegal? Isn’t it against the law?”

 

“Well, non-consensual human experiments are indeed illegal…”

 

The woman looked down at the laboratory with dry, detached eyes, as if she were indifferent to the world.

 

“But this isn’t illegal. The people in those chambers are prisoners sent from other countries to be used in such experiments.”