Chapter 6: The Approaching Pressure of the “Curse Chains”

Night at the log house, radiating a golden glow.

In the living room, which had fallen so silent it made the daytime clamor feel like a lie, Allen stared alone into the fire of the hearth.

Beside him, Misha, who had volunteered to sleep next to him under the guise of keeping watch, was happily curled up with her tail wrapped around herself in slumber. Sui the Slime was spread out like a puddle at Allen’s feet, blowing bubbles that sounded like faint breathing.

However, Allen’s consciousness was in a place entirely disconnected from such tranquility.

(…Heavy… I feel like the chain is biting into me even more today.)

Around his neck, in his mascot form, the “Curse Chains”—which should normally be invisible—had materialized, emitting a dull purple and red light.

Even if Allen didn’t channel his mana, the chain grew in response to his “emotions” and the “love” of those around him.

During the day, when he had been spoiled by the monster girls and allowed himself to think, even for a second, “maybe this is fine,” the chain had tightened with a sharp creak, as if driving a wedge into that gap in his heart.

(…Ah, guh… Elizabeth-neesama… Sylphi…)

His telepathic thoughts leaked out as a squeak mixed with agony.

Through the chain, “wills” from the royal castle far away flooded into his brain like a tidal wave.

“–I found you, little Allen. …So that’s where you are?”

Elizabeth’s voice was cold yet tinged with heat.

In her room at the royal castle, she had perfected an ultra-wide-area search magic using the remnants of mana Allen had left behind as a catalyst.

“Hehe, hiding in such a filthy forest. …What a bad boy. But rest assured. I’ll prepare a special seat just for you very soon. …Next time, I’ll bind you up with my own threads so tightly you won’t be able to move a single finger.”

Next, a sharp, childish voice echoed, like a knife scraping against glass.

“Onii-sama! Sylphi is angry, you know? It’s bad to disappear on your own. …But it’s okay. No matter where you are, Onii-sama, as long as we have this chain, you’re connected to Sylphi. …I’m coming to get you right now. Wait for me, okay?”

Ba-dump. His heart leaped.

Mana overflowing from the chain coursed through Allen’s blood vessels, forcefully applying an “enhancement.”

To receive that excessive love, Allen’s body increased in “fluffy” density, transforming into something even smaller and more beautiful.

It was not growth. It was a process of having his very existence rewritten into a “pet”—an object of affection meant solely for the two heroines to adore.

(…No… I’m not a doll…!)

Allen desperately resisted.

He tried to grab the chain around his neck, but his short mascot arms couldn’t reach.

Driven by a sense of urgency, he tore through the darkness of the night and fled the log house.

Deep into the forest. To a place where no one’s gaze could reach.

But the faster he ran, the more his golden glow stood out in the night forest.

Pant, pant…!

How long had he been running?

Allen arrived at a cliff near the forest border.

Below spread a valley shrouded in thick fog, and beyond that, the spires of the royal castle where he used to live stood eerily illuminated by the moonlight.

Quiet footsteps approached him from behind.

“…Allen-sama. Where are you going so late at night?”

It was Misha.

Though she had been asleep, she had sensed the fluctuation in Allen’s mana and silently chased after him.

Her eyes were not filled with their usual deep affection. They harbored the cold light of a predator that never lets its prey escape.

(Misha… I…)

“I know. You are trying to leave this place, Allen-sama. …Leaving us behind. Are you trying to return to those ‘heavy women’?”

Allen gasped at Misha’s words.

The monster girls had also realized the true nature of the chain around Allen’s neck—a “massive curse of love” that far surpassed their own.

“…I won’t allow it. The chains of those women are enough to bind you, Allen-sama. Anyone else who tries to steal you away, even if they are royalty… I will bite them to death.”

Misha’s lower half, a massive snake, reared its head intimidatingly.

Having absorbed Allen’s golden mana, her scales had now become a steel whip capable of smashing even boulders.

(You’ve got it wrong, Misha! I have no intention of going back…!)

“Then, please let me hold that chain as well.”

Misha stepped closer.

She backed Allen to the edge of the cliff, as if cornering him, and reached her long fingertips toward his neck.

“If those women bind you with a chain, I will envelop you with my body. …I’ll paralyze you with my venom for the rest of your life so you can never move again.”

Allen realized he had nowhere to run.

In front of him, a monster girl is baring her possessiveness. Behind him, a valley of despair, and beyond that, a prison of love.

It was then.

Screeeeeeech!!

A high-frequency sound that seemed to tear through the atmosphere echoed across the cliff.

The chain around Allen’s neck resonated more violently than ever.

“Wh-What!? This light…!”

Misha averted her face.

What radiated from the chain was a wave of rejection.

Elizabeth and Sylphi’s mana had overreacted to the fact that another woman—Misha—was trying to touch Allen.

(…A-Aaaaaah!!)

Allen’s body floated into the air.

The chain writhed like a sentient snake, beginning to tear apart the surrounding space.

The edge of the cliff crumbled from the shockwave, and Allen’s small body, pulled by gravity, plummeted headfirst into the bottom of the valley.

“Allen-sama–!!”

Misha’s scream faded away.

Only the sound of fierce wind and the creaking of the chain remained in his ears.

(…Where am I going to end up… It would be so much easier if I could just disappear like this…)

As his consciousness grew cloudy, Allen saw it.

From the bottom of the valley, beyond the thick fog, a pale blue light was flying toward him.

It wasn’t a tracking familiar. It was a rescue net made of materialized mana.

“–Caught you! I won’t let you go, Allen!!”

A familiar, dignified voice.

The one who caught the falling golden furball was a girl with her short indigo hair flying wildly—Luna.

Utilizing flight magic, she had plunged into this deep valley with desperate resolve.

Nestled in Luna’s arms, Allen succumbed to extreme fatigue and mana overload, losing consciousness right then and there.

Luna hugged the golden beast, which let out a weak kyuu against her chest, as if handling something fragile.

“…How awful. The chain is biting into you this much… What did those two do to you, Allen…”

Deep sorrow, and a fierce anger that surpassed it, resided in Luna’s eyes.

She touched her finger to Allen’s neck, attempting to instantly analyze the structure of the chain. But even she, a genius mage, was left speechless by that bizarre and complex “formula of love.”

“…I can’t undo it. …No, it’s structured so it can’t be undone. …But it’s okay. I will definitely protect you.”

Still holding Allen, Luna disappeared into the abyss of the fog.

Meanwhile, at the top of the cliff.

Having lost sight of Allen, Misha bit her lip until it bled.

“…He was stolen. …That woman, Luna, took Allen-sama away…”

Sensing the abnormality, Pee, Kuu, and Sui rushed over from behind.

“What about Allen-sama!? Where is Allen-sama!?”

“…He was taken away. …By a human. …A Luminous mage stole our King.”

At Misha’s words, the atmosphere around the three monster girls completely changed.

It wasn’t sorrow. It was bare killing intent, born from having their emotional anchor—the object of their love—stolen from them.

“…We’ll take him back. …Even if we have to kill her, we’ll take him back.”

“Allen-sama belongs to us…”

“……….I’ll melt any humans that get in the way.”

The log house, built to protect Allen, transformed overnight into the vanguard for his reclamation.

And, at the royal castle.

Elizabeth and Sylphi simultaneously sensed that Allen’s reaction had overlapped with Luna’s mana.

“Oh my… Luna, do you wish to join the ranks of the thieving cats too, I wonder?”

“Luna-oneechan is planning to monopolize Onii-sama, too. …I won’t forgive her. Onii-sama belongs only to Sylphi!”

The frontier, the royal castle, and the fugitive.

The three-way battle of love over the “golden idol” known as Allen was now about to begin in the worst possible way.