The Heroines' Chaotic Scramble for the Subjugation Necklace

The auction house (interlude). The heroines suddenly appeared right in front of me. For a brief moment I wondered why ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠these girls had come here, but the way their eyes were glued to the Subjugation Necklace made it painfully obvious. They were clearly trying to steal it, just like me.

-Master, maybe you should ask the people in question instead of me?

The instant I answered Jukchang-i's question—

“I have a vague idea who you are, but even so, I cannot yield on this one thing.”

Jane kicked off the ground and approached me with an expression of utmost solemnity. Then she reached straight for the Subjugation Necklace.

'She's fast!'

I marveled inwardly and barely managed to dodge her hand. While I was quietly breathing a sigh of relief—

“Even if the Invisibility Hat is one thing, I cannot allow that to be taken as well!”

Ive, who had somehow gotten behind me, swung her sword flat-first. That crazy woman! Was she trying to kill me?!

-Anyway, Master, you wouldn't die from that.

I'd love to respond to Jukchang-i's quip, but moving came first. -Whoosh! I rolled once across the floor and narrowly avoided her strike. Right then—

-Clatter!

Holy chains crafted from divine power came flying toward me. It looked like Sena was trying to restrain me.

-Clang!

Without the slightest hesitation I knocked them away with Jukchang.

“Hngh!”

She wrapped both arms around her shoulders and let out a strangely sensual moan. I was momentarily stunned by her reaction, but escaping this place took priority.

I sprinted desperately toward the door, only for Jane to appear in front of me again.

“Where do you think you're running off to?”

She spoke in a seductive voice while brushing her hair back. If she weren't a yandere, I really might have fallen for her.

-Master, aren't you the one who turned her into one?

'Shut your mouth.'

I told Jukchang-i to be quiet, then quickly scanned my surroundings. Sure enough, the three of them were slowly closing in on me as if they refused to give up the Subjugation Necklace no matter what.

'Three against one, huh.'

The real reason I'd managed to run from them all this time was simple: it was impossible for me to win alone. No matter how strong Jukchang was, there had to be a limit.

A grand archmage, a saintess candidate, the world's greatest assassin, a future sword saint, and an imperial princess. If I could have beaten all of them by myself, I would have already made them submit and repent long ago.

'And Jukchang-i has weaknesses too.'

-I have weaknesses?!

There were weaknesses even she didn't know about, but that wasn't important right now. In any case, beating five people alone was impossible, but—

'This is basically a free-for-all!'

Aiming for the Subjugation Necklace meant they would end up fighting each other. So it was worth a shot.

Having organized my thoughts in an instant, I—

-Whoosh!

Threw the Subjugation Necklace without a shred of hesitation.

The necklace drew a perfect arc through the air. All three pairs of eyes locked onto it at once.

'Now!'

I used the opening to thrust Jukchang at Jane, who stood right in front of me. Her eyes widened at the unexpected attack, but it was already too late.

-Thud!

“Kyaaht!”

She let out an embarrassingly lewd moan after taking my perfectly fair thrust. Normally I'd finish her off right here, but—

'Time to move!'

I needed to stop the other two who were rushing toward the Subjugation Necklace. So I smacked the back of Ive's head as she ran past me.

“Kyaaaak!”

She let out a startled shriek and toppled forward from the surprise attack. It was a little unseemly for a future sword saint to be knocked down by a magic staff, but I had more important things to worry about.

-Master. That woman is trying to pick it up!

The Subjugation Necklace that had fallen to the floor was about to be snatched up by Sena. Right before her fingers could close around it—

-Fwoooosh!

I hurled Jukchang without hesitation.

-Whack!

“Hnguuu!”

Sena let out a seductive moan after getting hit by the thrown Jukchang. In the next instant I snatched up both the fallen Subjugation Necklace and Jukchang.

-Wow. Master, you're seriously shameless.

'Hey now. They're the ones who took their eyes off the fight. That's on them!'

Who lets their guard down in the middle of a battle? Staying completely focused on your opponent is the absolute basics! Therefore, it was entirely their fault for failing to uphold even that fundamental principle!

While I was making excuses that weren't really excuses—

-Bang!

The door burst open violently once again. The next moment—

“Hmm? A human?”

A woman of bewitching beauty with a devil's tail swaying behind her entered my field of vision. Judging by her appearance, she was clearly a succubus.

'Why the hell is a succubus showing up here all of a sudden?'

I was still feeling puzzled by the unexpected arrival when—

“Huh? That necklace?”

Her eyes widened as she stared at the Subjugation Necklace in my hand.

'Was the Demon King after the Subjugation Necklace too?'

It was true that I'd seen demons using the Subjugation Necklace back at the Demon King's Castle. At the time I'd been too busy running from the yanderes to pay much attention, but it seemed they'd obtained it here.

Anyway—

'Now I've got one more enemy to deal with!'

My head was already spinning from the yanderes alone, and now the number of enemies had increased. What's more—

-Rustle rustle.

It didn't sound like she'd come alone; I could sense multiple presences approaching.

“Huuu...”

Nothing to be done, I suppose. I added that in my mind and threw the Subjugation Necklace to the floor without hesitation. Then I slowly opened my mouth.

“Whoever wants it, come and take it!”

The moment those words left my lips, the heroines all charged toward the Subjugation Necklace.

After receiving the Demon King's orders, she had honestly thought this would be as easy as eating cold porridge. It was the royal capital, sure, but all she had to do was slip into the shadows, steal an item, and leave. There hadn't been any other demands.

So she'd taken it rather lightly, but—

“Gaaaah!”

“What the hell are these women?!”

“What kind of humans are they?!”

It turned out ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she was wrong.

Suddenly a man had thrown the Subjugation Necklace with a voice full of resignation. That part was fine. It saved them the trouble of doing any extra work.

But then three women nearby suddenly rushed toward it like they absolutely had to have it. They looked exactly like dogs scrambling for a snack!

'Well, even that wouldn't have been a big deal.'

There were only three of them, while the Demon King's army—including her—numbered in the dozens. So she'd ordered her subordinates to retrieve it, but—

“This is insane...”

Contrary to expectations, her subordinates were being sliced apart by just those three women. A single sword strike took out multiple demons at once. Heads were severed from bodies in the blink of an eye. And that wasn't all.

'What the hell is that divine power...'

The moment it radiated outward, demons were reduced to ash. Even if they were low-ranking, the ones before her were still part of the Demon King's army. They were strong enough to toy with ordinary human soldiers. Yet those very soldiers were being massacred.

They couldn't even put up a proper fight!

'Why are monsters like this even here?!'

While Windy was inwardly dumbfounded—

“The Subjugation Necklace is mine!”

“I'm sorry, but weren't you eliminated from the auction? Isn't it rather shameless to claim it as yours now?”

“That goes for you too, doesn't it, number one bidder?”

The women began fighting, each insisting the necklace belonged to her. The aftershocks of their battle sent nearby demons flying, but—

'Let's think positively.'

Maybe because they were busy fighting each other, none of them seemed to be paying attention to where the Subjugation Necklace actually was. If she could secretly grab it during this moment and escape, everything would be perfect.

Having organized her thoughts, she slowly shifted her gaze toward where the necklace had fallen.

Then—

'...Huh?'

Contrary to expectation, the necklace was nowhere to be seen.

'What? Where did it go?!'

It was true that the three women had rushed to pick it up, but her subordinates had gotten in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the way so they shouldn't have been able to grab it properly. Therefore it should have still been lying there.

'Did it get blown away by the shockwaves?'

That was certainly possible. The fight between those three was so fierce that just being nearby made people tremble.

While she was looking around for the necklace—

'Wait a second...'

A strange sense of unease suddenly washed over her. A moment later, she realized why she'd felt it.

'Where did that man from earlier go?'

She rolled her eyes, scanning the area. But no matter how hard she looked, he was nowhere to be found. The next instant—

'No way...'

A single thought flashed through her mind.

'Ah...'

And instinctively, she knew it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was true.

“That crazy bastard.”

It seemed the man had run off with the necklace. And he'd used the Demon King's army as bait to do it!

At the same time.

While I was secretly slipping out using the Invisibility Hat, the corners of my mouth rose without me realizing it.

'Just as planned.'

-Master, you're seriously a demon.

'Hey now. A demon? Where do you see a demon? I'm an angel, obviously.'

If I'd really been a demon, I would have just handed the Subjugation Necklace over to the Demon King's army. Instead, I risked everything for humanity and stole it myself!

-You're just scared it'll end up in the yanderes' hands!

'This is why sharp-eyed brats are the worst.'

I clicked my tongue at Jukchang-i's accurate jab and kept running. Before long I'd arrived back at the mansion. I released the Invisibility Hat and stepped into my room.

“Huu... That was way too close.”

If I'd kept using the Invisibility Hat before entering the warehouse, it probably would have run out of power midway. Then the yanderes might have caught me while I was trying to sneak away.

A reward message appeared at a completely unexpected moment. It looked like all the demons who'd entered the warehouse had ultimately been subdued by the yanderes.

'May they rest in... nah, thanks for the sacrifice, guys.'

I offered a brief prayer for the demons who'd given their lives for me. At the same time, I waited to see what kind of reward I'd get.

'Hmm?'

Suddenly I felt as if the circuits inside my body had expanded. Wondering what was going on, I slowly closed my eyes and examined myself. Sure enough—

'The circuits have grown.'

The narrow circuits had widened just a little. It wasn't a huge increase, but it was still a pretty nice reward. Magical power and physical ability could be improved through effort, but circuits had hard limits.

'Wider circuits mean I can cast magic faster.'

-In other words! My transformation time gets shorter, right? Master?

'That's not exactly what I meant, but... yeah, sure.'

Anyway, I'd received an unexpected reward. But that wasn't the end of it. There was also the elixir I'd legitimately obtained at this auction.

-Wow. Master just casually called it 'legitimately obtained.'

'I just picked up something that was lying in the warehouse.'

Whoever picks it up first gets to keep it, right? Therefore it was perfectly legitimate.

-Is that what people usually call 'picking something up'?

Jukchang-i's doubtful voice rang in my ear for a moment, but I naturally ignored it and took the elixir out of my subspace pouch.

-You're going to eat that, Master?

'Yeah. No reason to put it off.'

With that answer, I popped the elixir I'd obtained this time into my mouth.