The Cowardly Baby Saint Sees Ghosts - Chapter 45

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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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# Chapter 45
“No way.”
The words escaped my lips unbidden.
It was a response utterly mismatched to the moment—desperately, painfully wrong—but I couldn’t help it.
A quest window materializing out of nowhere in the midst of despair, of all times.
I couldn’t tell if this status screen genuinely had no sense of awareness, or if it was doing this on purpose.
[System]
Distributing random item……
Poof!
[Acquired] Soap Bubble Gun
Description: Appears to be nothing more than a children’s toy. In truth, however, it is a sacred object fashioned from Holy Water, firing purifying bubbles that cleanse everything they touch.
A pink plastic gun dropped into my palm, complete with a tacky star-shaped sticker plastered on its side.
“……What is this.”
I was speechless.
Here we were with every joint in the woman’s legs dislocated, and the System decides to hand me a bathtub toy.
‘Why not a sword? A shield, at the very least?’
Tears welled up at the sheer unfairness of it all.
How many times had something even remotely plausible materialized in a moment like this?
And now—of all things—a child’s bath toy.
“Meow—!”
Cheese’s urgent cry snapped me back to myself.
‘I have to try something, right now.’
This was no time for hesitation. Half resigned, I pulled the trigger.
Poof—
A soft, hollow sound accompanied by a handful of fluffy bubbles drifting lazily upward.
The scene was so absurdly serene that I couldn’t even muster a bitter laugh in this moment of despair.
Amid the bitter cold that choked the hall and Chloe’s screams, those bubbles alone floated with an incongruous, almost mocking tranquility.
One bubble drifted through the air in slow spirals before settling gently at Chloe’s feet—directly above her twisted ankle.
Then it popped.
Pop!
That was the moment.
Where the bubble burst, fluffy foam erupted and swelled in an instant.
Like soap poured recklessly into a washbasin, milky-white suds began to engulf her entire ankle.
“……Huh?”
The moment the foam made contact, the capillaries spreading like a spider’s web across her skin began to fade with a faint crackling sound.
The dark, swollen marks started to recede, slowly subsiding from where the bubbles touched.
Simultaneously, the foam that had fallen to the ground hardened rapidly, becoming viscous and sticky.
And Chloe’s foot stuck fast to the spot.
Her shoe strained, trying to pull her foot free, but the limb remained completely immobilized against the floor.
A window appeared before my eyes.
[System]
[Curse Progression Rate 91% → 84%]
★Sparkling Clean Purification Successful★
Holy Water foam is purifying the corrupted areas of the curse.
A tiny soap bubble emoji bounced playfully beside the window. The number had gone down.
“It’s dropping! Cheese, it’s dropping!!”
I screamed until my voice cracked.
For the first time, that number that had only risen no matter what I did was finally decreasing.
Despair transformed into euphoria in a single breath.
My heart began to pound, thump-thump, for an entirely different reason now.
“Good, good!”
Caught up in the surge of hope, I squeezed the trigger repeatedly.
Pop, pop, pop. Bubbles continued to soar, settling on her twisted knee, on her fractured hip.
With each bubble that burst, the swollen marks faded and subsided, while the liquid pooled ever wider, constraining all movement.
Cheese crouched low before launching a Meow Meow Punch at the softened, waterlogged curse energy.
Thwack!
Her front paws flashed across two or three times in rapid succession, and the weakened area scattered and vanished.
“Meooww—!”
The stubborn bits that didn’t come apart on the first hit she simply sank her teeth into and tore away.
With a sharp, vicious growl, the bitten portions crumbled to ash and scattered on the wind.
Those nimble movements looked just like a kitten rummaging through a toy box, and I found myself laughing despite everything.
‘I can’t believe this is actually working.’
The despair from moments before had vanished completely, and though I felt a bit ridiculous gleefully pulling the trigger, I didn’t care.
What mattered was that it was effective.
“Cheese, over there!!”
“Meow!”
Wherever I pointed, Cheese bounded over instantly, landing a Meow Meow Punch or raking with her claws.
Our movements synced perfectly, as though we’d rehearsed them together beforehand.
I’d pull the trigger and push the curse back with foam, then Cheese would rush in to finish it off.
Once, when I missed my aim slightly, Cheese darted in first and tore through the spot with her claws instead.
[System]
★Fantastic Breath★
1 Combo! 2 Combos!
‘It’s showing notifications now, of all times?’
I was exasperated, but I couldn’t deny it—our coordination really was flawless.
Like seasoned hunting partners who’d worked together for years, Cheese was already launching herself toward wherever I looked.
“Ha!”
I wasn’t sure if I should be having fun in a situation like this, but I genuinely was.
A strange exhilaration surged from somewhere deep in my chest.
Yet the shoe didn’t stay still. Its thrashing grew more violent, and suddenly a new crimson aura burst from the opposite ankle, spreading toward areas the foam hadn’t yet reached.
“…Oh, it’s spreading that way too?”
There was no room for carelessness. I pivoted urgently and pulled the trigger again.
Psh—
But this time, nothing came from the barrel.
“…Huh? What?”
No matter how many times I pulled, only an empty, pitiful hiss came out.
[Alert]
The Soap Bubble Gun’s solution is depleted. Recharging requires time.
“…Why now?!”
I let out a sharp cry of frustration. The whole world seemed to be mocking my timing.
Looking around, I could see a fresh wave of Curse spreading slowly across the instep where the foam hadn’t reached yet.
At this rate, all my effort up until now would be for nothing.
“What, what do I do?”
Cheese let out a low growl and glanced at the gun, then something seemed to occur to her. She tapped gently at a small groove on the side of the gun with her paw.
“…Oh? This?”
Looking closely, the groove was a small pump hidden beneath the grip—a part I’d missed in my panic.
“Don’t tell me I’m supposed to pump this to recharge?”
I pressed the pump frantically.
With comical popping sounds, I felt the bubble solution begin to fill the gun again from inside.
[Manual recharging has begun. The harder you press, the faster the recharge speed.]
You’ve got this!
The perky cheer flashed brilliantly across the screen.
Even now it was cheering me on—the System’s obliviousness was past annoying; it was infuriating.
“…Why didn’t you tell me sooner!”
Half frustrated, half relieved, I pumped like a madwoman.
My palms stung. Cheese let out short, encouraging cries beside me.
Meanwhile, the Curse showed no signs of stopping.
Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick
The newly reddened instep twisted grotesquely, white bone beginning to peek through the open wounds. The skin pulled taut and began splitting in places, dark red blood seeping from the cracks.
“Ugh…!”
Chloe’s moan burst out again—far weaker than before.
The focus in her eyes was beginning to fade.
Each time I heard that sound, I gripped the pump harder.
‘Just a little more. Hang on just a little longer.’
My palms throbbed with pain, but I couldn’t stop.
Fortunately, the sloshing sound from inside the gun grew louder by the second.
[System]
Recharge complete.
“Got it!”
I immediately aimed the barrel at the newly reddened instep.
Pop, pop, pop—
This time, larger bubbles flew in rapid succession than before.
Each bubble that burst sent foam cascading over her feet in an instant, and the swollen marks visibly receded.
“Cheese, now!”
Cheese crouched low and swept his front paw at the spot where the remaining Curse energy had gathered.
Cheese let out a pleased cry, and his stiff tail had begun to swish with ease.
A familiar window appeared before my eyes.
[System]
[Curse Progression Rate 84% → 67%]
Combo 7! Impressive!
The numbers kept dropping.
The desperate momentum from the beginning had completely reversed itself.
Looking to the side, I noticed that the eyes of a few of the frozen people were trembling ever so slightly.
Though not fully released, they seemed to dimly sense that the Curse’s force was weakening.
Gaitel’s fingertips quivered ever so faintly.
‘If I push just a little more, everyone might be able to return to normal.’
That thought gave me strength.
But the shoe, as if making a final desperate lunge, wrung out all its remaining power and began twisting Chloe’s legs simultaneously.
Crack, crack—the sound of bones grinding echoed repeatedly.
“Ahhhhh…!”
Chloe’s scream tore through again, and her cry snapped me back to full alertness.
‘It’s not over yet. I can’t let my guard down.’
I could see that the foam in the gun was running low. I had to end this with one final shot.
Cheese, as if sensing the same, bristled every hair on his body and dropped into position, preparing for the killing blow.
The playful atmosphere from moments before had vanished entirely, replaced by the sharp, predatory gaze of a beast on the hunt.
I gripped the gun firmly with both hands and aimed at the most severely twisted hip joint.
If I fired one last shot here, it really might be possible to bring this to an end.
I drew a deep breath.

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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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