Chapter 006
Chapter 6. The Status Window Is Back!
I launched myself upward and—whoosh—flew through the air, slapping right onto the middle of his thigh.
I could feel the Essence of Ruin that had been crawling up his legs sticking to my paws, my limbs, my belly.
The sensation of that deadly poison boring into living flesh made my breath catch in my throat.
But I couldn’t stop here.
‘I’ve had enough of helplessly getting screwed over—just one exorcism ceremony was plenty, thank you very much!’
Even if I was going to die, I’d die squeaking at least once!
I forced my legs to move and climbed his body.
Past his torso, over his shoulder, and finally planting myself right on top of his head, I raised both paws (hands) with heroic resolve.
‘Master Ratatouille, please lend me your strength!’
After silently praying, I grabbed a huge fistful of hair near his crown and yanked with all my might.
“Squeeeeeak!” (I said STOP!)
And then—a miracle happened.
Calix Neferto actually froze.
‘What the hell just happened?’
Did my prayer really reach all the way to France?
Or is humanity secretly destined to be controlled by mice sitting on their heads?
While I was lost in absurd fantasies, a familiar energy suddenly crashed into me, and my eyes went perfectly round.
“Squee…?” (Huh…?)
Something unpleasant and corrupt inside me was transforming—becoming pure, refreshing, and wonderfully pleasant as it seeped in.
This was definitely the sensation of purifying a curse.
There was no mistaking it.
Back when I was playing Saintess, this had been my main job.
Which made it even weirder.
‘What is going on? I’m not a Saintess anymore—I’m literally just a mouse!’
Unable to make sense of it, I narrowed my eyes.
That’s when it happened.
Zzzzt—
A small burst of static crackled in the air, and a semi-transparent window popped up.
[LOADING⋯]
The status window I thought had run away from home was back!
Sure, it was black-and-white now, seriously low-resolution, and covered in noise, but hey—this was still something!
Heart pounding, I waited patiently, and the spinning loading ring finally disappeared.
[⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕]
Then an unfamiliar gauge bar appeared.
“Squeak?” (What’s this?)
The moment I voiced my confusion, a tiny pop-up followed.
[Poss@% and ^#!: Self & Soul $☆! &★@# $⋯ Issue% $#/>@!. Designated &$#% $@ also max※ &% #* body @#& change⋯% ☆ @# ★!? Skill& ^#$%@.]
It was so corrupted I couldn’t read a single word.
I stared at the blinking first bar, then suddenly realized something and my eyes flashed.
‘Wait… is this a battery?!’
Back when I was pretending to be the Saintess, purifying a certain amount of curse used to give me points on the status window.
With those points, I had slowly upgraded my pathetic level-1 Saintess skill tree.
‘If those points were actually “energy”…!’
Everything clicked perfectly, sending shivers down my spine.
So that’s it! The status window didn’t run away—it just ran out of power!
All this time it had been dead because it used up every last drop of energy pulling me out of that shitty void and back into reality.
Oh… and here I was badmouthing it…
“Squeeeee!” (I’m sorry for cursing you, status window!)
I let out a long, repentant wail toward the sky.
But the moment quickly passed, and I calmed myself.
‘Judging by the situation, purifying curses clearly restores energy.’
Then my next move was obvious.
“Squeak!” (Alright!)
I immediately gathered all of the villain’s hair into one big handful.
He only went berserk after touching the Essence of Ruin—so if I purified every last bit of curse clinging to him, he’d calm down and the status window would come back properly.
‘Two birds with one stone!’
Eyes shining, I sucked in a huge breath.
If there was one thing I was confident in, it was curse purification.
After all, I was a modern human who had filtered city smog and fine dust with nothing but two sturdy lungs.
Reviving that old sensation, I carefully picked out the acrid, stinging, murky energy.
‘By the way, this is seriously weird. So “purification” was never the Saintess’s power in the first place?’
While I was pondering that, every trace of curse clinging to the villain had been completely purified.
I glanced at the status window.
[▋⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕⎕]
Contrary to my expectations, the gauge still hadn’t moved past the first bar.
‘Do I need to purify more?’
Thinking that, I sneaked a look at the curse-covered ground—but I hesitated to jump down.
Because I was still holding a fistful of the villain’s hair.
‘If I let go for even a second and he loses it again, I’m screwed.’
While I worried, the black that had completely covered even the whites of his eyes finally receded. Violet irises revealed themselves once more.
Blink.
“…”
He slowly blinked, looking around as if still piecing together what was happening.
“Not a bad place for hell.”
He was clearly still out of it, spouting nonsense. What a sight.
I sneered at him to my heart’s content, then gave the hair I was gripping a mighty tug.
“Ah.”
A low groan escaped him, and then—like lightning—he snapped his head up.
The sudden motion sent me, who had been perched on his crown, sliding helplessly toward the back of his head.
Clinging to his hair like a lifeline, I dangled there—until a huge hand snatched me up.
“Was this your doing?”
“Squeak?”
I put on my best innocent, pure, harmless mouse act, but this time he wasn’t buying it.
“Answer me. Did you stop the rampage?”
It wasn’t really a question—he already sounded certain and was just confirming.
“Now that I think about it, the Essence of Ruin was acting strange earlier too. How did you do that?”
Unfair! That part really wasn’t me.
“Do you have the ability to control curses? Or… could it be you exorcise—or purify them?”
‘…Oh crap. Mouse down.’
I swallowed hard.
I couldn’t react carelessly.
If he found out I could purify curses, this guy whose life goal was world destruction might kill me on the spot.
But if I flatly denied it, I’d basically be volunteering the information that I’m a suspicious mouse who understands human speech.
While I was stuck between a rock and a hard place, time kept ticking.
And Calix Neferto interpreted my long silence however he pleased.
A strange light flashed in his violet eyes, and the hand holding me tightened.
I squeezed my eyes shut, thinking this was it—another death…
“You’re far more interesting than I expected.”
“…?”
What did he just say?
I opened my eyes in shock, and there he was—staring straight at me with a smile.
The corners of his eyes curved like a satisfied cat.
“Good. From now on, you’re mine.”
“Sque, squeeeeeak!” (What the hell are you saying, you lunatic?!)
While I goggled in righteous fury, Calix Neferto bit his own ring finger until it bled.
“If you’re a trick, I need to keep you close and watch you. If you’re a gift, I need to make sure I never lose you.”
Muttering something incomprehensible, he stroked the back of my neck.
“Sque, sq-sque…?” (W-wait. This bastard couldn’t possibly—)
And my worst fear came true.
Before I could do anything, a burning sensation flared at the nape of my neck.
A single drop of blood from his fingertip branded a red mark onto my skin.
The Mark of Binding.
Once mainly used on slaves, but ever since slavery was abolished half a century ago, it was now only stamped on extremely expensive pets.
In simple terms—it was this fantasy world’s version of a microchip.
Getting forcibly chipped like this, I was understandably furious.
“Squeeeeeak!” (What the hell do you think you’re doing?!)
This rotten final boss!
How dare he brand me without my consent?!
Wasn’t turning me into a mouse bad enough—now I had to be the final boss’s pet?!
I scrunched my already ugly face into something truly ferocious and squeaked my heart out.
Maybe that’s why—even after branding me, he didn’t loosen his grip.
As if he would never let me be lost or escape, he squeezed me tight and continued on his own.
“Now that things are like this, keeping calling you ‘you’ feels a little awkward. So allow me to personally bestow a name upon you.”
My jaw dropped in disbelief.
He rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought.
For some reason my mouth went dry; I swallowed hard.
The serious silence hanging in the air made me tense up for no reason.
After quite a long pause, he lifted his head with a soft smile.
“Decided. From now on, your name is ‘Mouse.’”
“…”
