Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?, Vol. 2
“Wise is Confused! I’ll give her a recovery item!” Behind her, Porta sprang to the rescue. “Wise, here!”
“Take it, shake it, toss it!” She tossed it. “Don’t throw thaaaat!!” Confused Wise was even more of a handful than usual. Maybe they should just knock her out.
Meanwhile, Medhimama raised her hand.
“There seems to be a great deal of commotion, but in the meantime, my daughter will answer.”
“R-right… Cleric Medhi, what did the Demon Lord say to the hero when his attack missed?”
“Heh-heh-heh! Your attacks are useless against me, puny hewo! …Ah…”
She’d blown the last word. Medhi had been so into her cackling performance as the hero she’d totally turned the r into a w. “…Uggghhh…” She flushed bright red, looking about ready to catch fire. It was adorable.
“Bwa-ha-ha! Not bad, not bad! Maybe a little cliché, but messing up when you least expect it was pretty great! Ten points to the Cleric!”
“Th-thank you… Ugh… That was so embarrassing.”
“Of course she got it right! That is my daughter! She is flawless! Ohhh-ho-ho-ho!”
Medhi walked away with the points again. And once more, Medhimama seemed far happier about it than the girl herself. Watching her gloat was no fun at all, so Masato ignored her.
Porta had finally managed to cure Wise’s status ailment. She came over to Masato and whispered, “Masato, listen… About Wise…”
“You don’t say? That was the real her?! I knew it!”
“N-no! That’s not… That’s not what I mean!”
“Sorry, sorry, I’m kidding… You’re talking about how she got that status ailment?”
Porta nodded gravely.
Wise had extremely low resistance to status ailments. Her resistance stat was almost certainly a big ol’ zero. With her magic sealed, she made for the worst Sage ever, without fail. And this time, she’d wound up Confused.
And they had a pretty good idea how.
This is sabotage… She’s trying to get her daughter more points.
Just as she’d physically restrained Masato.
It was obvious who the culprit was…but…
“I think that staff’s behind it, but… Mmm… H-huh? I’m…getting…so sleepy… Yawn… Zzz…”
Porta swayed adorably; then her cheek hit the desk, and she was fast asleep. “Uh, Porta? What the…?!” Masato called, shaking her, and taking full advantage of this opportunity to rub the hell out of her cheeks. She didn’t wake up. They were as soft as they looked.
She looked so content as she slept that he wanted to just sit and watch her forever, but now was clearly not the time.
Porta wasn’t the only one asleep. Wise had collapsed on her desk as well, and so had the NPC students.
Only Masato, Medhimama, Medhi herself, and Mr. Burly were still conscious.
“Mm? What’s all this? So many of you are nodding off… Oh well. Education is what you make of it! You may do as you please. Next problem! …Having realized he can’t attack the Demon Lord directly, the hero pleads with the Demon Lord, suggesting they settle their differences by other means…”
Mr. Burly was clearly not going to do anything about this state of affairs. He was just an NPC. Perhaps he wasn’t programmed to handle emergencies.
Masato had to do something. He was the only one who could.
“…I think this is going a bit too far,” he said, not looking at her, speaking to the room at large but making his displeasure clear.
He heard a soft chuckle next to him.
“Heh-heh-heh. I don’t know what you mean… You seem like a very serious student, Masato. Aren’t you at all sleepy?”
“My armor comes with status ailment resistance. It isn’t perfect, but I’m not about to be done in by your cheap tricks.”
“You have resistance to it? My, my, how cunning. I find that quite aggravating… But if your resistance isn’t perfect, then you can only block a certain percentage of the effects, correct? In that case, I simply have to up the casting count.”
Medhimama reached for the staff at her side and touched it. That was it. That was all she did.
But instantly, Masato’s body felt extremely heavy. Like his body was drifting away from him, his mind growing blurry, his eyelids drooping.
“Ungh… Are you, serious? …So sleepy…”
“Have a nice nap. Ohhh-ho-ho-ho! Now no one is in her way! My daughter will answer every problem, obtain all the points, and achieve the highest results!”
“Dammit… You’re the worst…”
“Oh, come now. There’s no need for that. I’m the best mother!”
“…Yeah, right… In what way…?”
“For my daughter’s sake, sometimes it is necessary to kick others aside. No need to consider the ethics of it! It is all for her benefit. That is what any mother should think. Anything done for the sake of my daughter is excusable. Naturally. That’s simply how it is.”
Medhimama spoke with utter certainty.
Her child was all that mattered. Perhaps he could understand her line of thinking up to a certain point.
But even then, he wasn’t about to agree with her. He wasn’t ready to sit there and let her kick the stool out from under him.
It really pissed him off. So aggravating…
“…Sigh… What a pain in the…”
That quiet whisper wasn’t Masato.
So who was it? But before he could look around to see, Masato was fast asleep.
When Masato’s party woke up, the first period was already over. They were on break.
The NPC students were all saying things like, “Crap, I fell asleep!” “Me too!” They laughed like they’d just nodded off in a boring class.
Meanwhile, Masato’s group was extremely disgruntled. Wise, who wanted that item more than anything, was especially livid.
“Ugh! What’s her problem?! I’ve never been so angry in my entire life! …Hey, Masato! What’s going on here?! I’m not gonna let her get away with this! Hell no!”
“Dunno why you’re yelling at me. You should be yelling at the real culprit… But since she’s left her seat, I guess you can’t…”
Medhimama had gone off somewhere. The bathroom, perhaps? It seemed rude to pry, so he abandoned that line of thought.
Wise wasn’t letting it go.
“Masato! Someone needs to get a piece of my mind, and you’ll do in a pinch! You’re good at being a punching bag anyway!”
“Uh, I wouldn’t exactly call that a skill of mine. I’m not here for you to take your frustrations out on!”
“I’ll take them out on whoever I like! Arrghh! Just stand there and let me punch you!”
“No way! Knock it off! That’s it, you’re going in a headlock!”
When Wise took a wild swing at him, Masato wheeled around behind her and slipped his arm around her head.
“Ow, ow, ow!! H-hey! You can’t do this to a girl!”
“Headlocks are gender neutral.”
Securing her temples was proof of friendship.
Once Wise had calmed down, Masato and Porta held a quick strategy session.
“What I don’t get is how she did it… She didn’t chant a spell at all, yet she can cause Confusion and Sleep? That’s gotta be the power of her equipment… Hey, Porta, is there anything you can tell us about Medhimama’s staff?”
“Yes! I did sneakily appraise her staff, and it allows the wielder to use any magic they know at no MP cost! She can use magic without chanting a spell at all!”
“Magic with no MP or cast time? That’s crazy OP.”
“Yes! Crazy! But items like that usually have a downside, in that the spell that goes off is random. I don’t think she should be able to choose the effect it casts…”
“Yet, Medhimama clearly can. Let’s assume that staff is mom-only cheat gear. That would at least explain it…but the fact that it worked on you as well is a bit much.”
“Yes! I was surprised! I’m registered as a noncombatant, so it shouldn’t have!”
“Seems like they really programmed it badly. And Medhimama’s not exactly gonna stop using it. We’re gonna have to do something to counter it somehow… Hmm…”
“What should we do? Hmm…”
Masato and Porta trailed off in thought.
“Oh! I have an idea! You know what this calls for? An eye for an eye!”
The object in Masato’s arms started squawking again, so he tightened the headlock to shut her up. Squeeeeeeeze.
Like he was trying to crack Wise’s skull.
“Ow, ow, ow! …Just kidding! Gotcha!” “Ouch!”
Wise had suddenly jumped, headbutting Masato right in the chin and freeing herself from his grasp.
“Listen to me for once! This is a good idea, I swear! This’ll definitely let us beat that old bat!”
“Old bat? Of all the phrases… Besides, I really don’t have time for your dumb ideas right now…”
“It’s not dumb! This situation calls for…Mamako!”
“Yes! I agree! Mama won’t lose!”
“Argh… That’s what I was afraid of.”
An eye for an eye. A mom for a mom. It did make sense.
Mamako was undoubtedly ridiculously powerful in every conceivable way. If you needed someone to stand up to Medhimama, you couldn’t ask for anyone better than Mamako. She was totally up to the task.
But even so…
“Um, hang on. Can we consider my feelings here?”
“Who cares about your feelings?”
“I do… This is a school, y’know. A place for kids. Having your mom show up here to bail you out? You might as well be dead.”
“Huh?” Wise scoffed. “Oh please, it ain’t that bad.”
“If my mommy showed up here, I’d be really happy!” Porta said, hopping up and down. “So, so happy! I’d jump for joy!” She was jumping at the very thought.
“Okay, maybe that’s just one difference between boys and girls, and, Porta, you’re still pretty little, so maybe you don’t get it yet… But like, seriously, no. I just can’t do that.”
“Hmm… Hey, Porta, you following him?”
“Um… Not really, no…”
“You don’t need to get it. Just…pretend we never discussed this. Don’t want that whole ‘speak of the devil’ thing happening, after all. Let’s just move on. Next idea.”
But just as Masato forced the topic closed…
A chime echoed over the PA system.
“Attention, all students. Hero Masato, Hero Masato. Your heroine awaits. Please come to the headmaster’s office immediately.”
It was a woman’s voice. Somewhat muffled, like she was holding her nose.
Wise and Porta frowned.
“Um… Didn’t that sound like Shirassse?”
“Yes! She’s trying to disguise her voice, but I think it’s her.”
Shirassse was clearly not fooling either of them.
But Masato wasn’t on the same page. Heck, he wasn’t even in the same room as them.
“My heroine is waiting for me?! …Gasp! You mean Medhi?! …Okay! I’ll be right there! Here I cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooome!”
Masato had gone flying out of the classroom.
“She’s waiting! My heroine is waiting for me!” he yelled, racing down the hall. “Oh! Wait, time-out!” He burst into the men’s room, fixed his hair in the mirror, and was off again. At speeds that totally messed his hair up again. Bound for the meeting of destiny in the headmaster’s office.
And when Masato got there, his eyes beheld a huggable figure, an alluringly short skirt, a girl in a sailor uniform, her back to him…
Huh? Sailor uniform?
W-wait… If she’s wearing the uniform…is she a normal student? Not Medhi?
The outfit was one thing, but the hair color and style were all wrong. This girl’s hair was chestnut and fell in gentle waves. Nothing like Medhi’s.
But there was still a chance she was a heroine. It was totally possible that a secondary heroine would show up to be the first heroine’s rival. That sort of thing happened all the time.
M-man… I’m getting nervous…
It was time to face her. Masato took a deep breath, stepped forward, and spoke.
“U-um… Are you my heroine?”
She turned around. It was…
“Yes, it’s me, Ma-kun!”
Mamako.
Masato sighed.
“I knew it. I had a feeling that’s what it would be.”
“O-oh? Ma-kun, you’re awfully calm. I thought you’d be so mad when you saw me here.”
“Ha-ha-ha. Hardly. I’m not about to start yelling ‘You’ve gotta be kidding!’ or ‘You’re breaking my heaaaaart!’ I’m not the kind of kid who loses it over something like this. You ought to trust your son a little more, you know.”
He even kept a smile on his lips.
But the fists buried deep in his pockets were clenched so tight they turned white. All his emotions concentrated there. His rage gauge at max. He could use an ultra-super-ultimate attack on a dime.
But on the surface, he stayed calm. He wasn’t a dumb kid.
“How about you start by explaining the outfit?”
“This? Well, Shirassse sent it to me. She said I might as well consider it a sort of memento. The junior high I went to had sailor uniforms, so it really takes me back, and I just had to try it on. Well? Does it look good?”
Mamako did a little twirl. The skirt swished up, betraying a glimpse of her skimpy undergarments. Whoops.
This was an attack with an instant-death effect for any son, but Masato gritted his teeth and survived. He nearly burst a blood vessel doing so.
“B-based purely on your face and figure, that’s not half-bad, but speaking as your son, it’s a big hell no! …Plus, the skirt is way too short. Quit rolling up the waistband to raise the hem. Put it back where it should be, all the way down to your knees.”
“Aww, but it’s cuter short. You’re such a harsh critic, Ma-kun.”
“No need to demand cuteness from school uniforms. Don’t bother.”
He felt like a dad scolding his daughter about her skirt length. It was simply unacceptable to have a family member dressed this inappropriately.
Especially his mother… Masato was fighting off the urge for a joint suicide with all his might. Enduring stats like these were the only things he was successfully raising.
Calmly, he moved on to the next question.
“So. Explain why, exactly, you had to come to school dressed like this.”
“Well, about that… You see, just as I’d tried on the uniform, I realized I had forgotten to include the chopsticks in your lunchboxes.”
“Oh, really? That is pretty important.”
“I know! So I figured I’d better get them to you right away and came all the way here without stopping to change… So here you go! Sorry Mommy is such a ditz.”
Mamako handed him a box of chopsticks. “Well, thanks, then.” You couldn’t very well eat lunch without chopsticks. He was genuinely grateful.
No, wait. A thought crossed his mind.
“Say, Mom. I’m sure this isn’t the case, but…you didn’t deliberately leave the chopsticks out, thinking it would give you the perfect excuse to show up at school, did you? You wouldn’t do that? Right?”
He kept a close eye on her reaction.
Mamako neither confirmed nor denied; she did an adorable little head tilt.
“I’m gonna need a yes or no response.”
“Mm? Mm…mmm?” She was still trying to grin her way out of it.
He couldn’t prove anything, but this was definitely intentional. He was sure she’d planned it.
But still, he forced himself not to yell at her. Masato was maturing. He had a big heart. Being able to eat his lunch was a good thing. All for the love of lunch. Lunch first.
Masato allowed himself a very large sigh and then accepted the situation.
“…All right, I’ll allow it. Just this once.”
“Thank you! I love it when you’re nice to me, Ma-kun.”
“Yeah, yeah… But honestly, if you’ve gotta show up, this is the way to do it. The damage done to me is still significant, and I mean significant…but if my own mother also showed up in the classroom I’d never live it down.”
“‘Also’? You mean…there are other moms in class?”
“Yeah. The lady we met yesterday, Medhimama. She barged in insisting she wanted to observe the class. Sat herself down between Medhi and me, getting in our way… I’m not too happy about it…”
“And what happened to Medhimama? Did security escort her away?”
“Nope. She was so pushy about it that she shoved Mr. Burly—who’s way bigger than any security—right out of her way, and he was forced to allow it. Seriously the worst.”
“Oh, I see… If you’re just pushy enough…” Mamako thought about this. Seriously considering it. “If you’re very, very pushy…” She started making arm movements like a sumo wrestler, even shouting “Dosukoi!” as if a match was about to begin.
Uh-oh. Masato had slipped up, and the result was clearly a precursor to danger. Parental emergency incoming.
“Um, Mom, I know you know better, but…”
“O-of course! I completely understand. If I did that, you’d hate me, right? I’d cry so much if you ended up hating me. I would never do that.”
“Good, good, I’m glad you get it. Moving on. If we’re done here, you’d better get back to the inn…”
“No, no,” a new voice said, and not the lady from reception. “It would be a shame to send Mamako away. You simply must head for the front lines.”
Peering through the window of the office was an eternally unperturbed nun. Sometimes she was a headmaster, sometimes a nun.
“What? Shiraaase…where’d you come from?”
“I don’t appreciate you reacting as if you’d spotted a bug, but so be it. Seeing as a parent-related problem is occurring in the classroom you’re in, I believe a burst of extreme meddling from your maximum-firepower party member is in order. Mamako, please act however you see fit. I will grant you the necessary permissions.”
“Oh! Why, thank you!”
“W-wait just a minute… You can’t! If you do that…”
The mood in class was about to get real weird.
“Right, let’s get second period started! Would the person on duty give the order?”
“Certainly,” Mamako said. “Very well, then… Everyone, rise! Bow! Take your seats.”
The students all stood up, took a bow, and sat down.
“Continuing from first period…”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait!” Masato yelled. Mr. Burly was trying to start class as if nothing was wrong, and Masato was not having it. He slapped his desk several times, doing his level best to stop this.
“Wh-what is it, Hero Masato? What’s got you so upset?”
“I am way beyond ‘upset’! Please, Mr. Burly! You must have noticed something amiss just now! The person giving the order wasn’t even the one on duty! She’s not even a student! C’mon!”
Masato waved both hands dramatically at Mamako, sitting next to him in her sailor uniform.
Mr. Burly gave Mamako a long, hard look.
“…She’s clearly a student, isn’t she?” he said.
“Is there something wrong with your eyes?! Yeah, okay, as her son, even I’ve got to admit she does look like she belongs here, but let me be very clear! She is my mother! Understand?”
“Bwa-ha-ha! You certainly do seem to get a kick out of calling girls your age ‘Mom,’ young hero! …Should I be taking you to the hospital?”
“You should not!! …Argghh! Mom, please! You tell him!”
“R-right. It’s important to be clear on these things. Mr. Burly, I do apologize, but I am actually Ma-kun’s mother. My name is Mamako.”
“Huh…?”
Mr. Burly gave Mamako another look over, which turned into a long stare… He still seemed like he didn’t believe her.
“Um, so…you’re actually Masato’s mother?”
“That’s correct. It’s the honest truth… Oh, right, I do have my maternal and child health (MCH) handbook with me, if you’d care to look.”
“Why’re you carrying that around with you?! Who needs that once the kid’s my age?!”
“Wow, you always carry those records around with you? You really are the hero’s mother!”
“Yes. I just had to see how my son was doing at school, so I decided to join the class. I do apologize.”
Mamako bowed low.
Mr. Burly took all this in, then nodded. “Mm, very well. Then I grant you permission to join the class.” No reluctance at all.
“Hey!! Mr. Burly?!”
“Settle down, Masato. I can imagine how you must feel, but calm yourself and listen. I think—”
“You think what?”
“Spending time with your mother is, in fact, the main selling point of this game! The MMMMMORPG (working title). If a parent desires to be with their child, we should allow that to happen.”
“No, but… The school rules said…”
“Rules were made to be broken!” Mr. Burly declared, raising a fist to the sky. “To protect my students’ families, I’ll take on the school, even the game admins! Even if they treat it as a bug, I’d gladly get patched out if it meant I’d fought for my students! I’m only a few kilobytes of data! There’s no room in there for regrets!”
“That sure sounds cool, but it’s also suuuuuper annoying… Wait, are those ‘few kilobytes’ compressed data? Even still, isn’t that a little light for an entire life?”
Mr. Burly truly was the best teacher (past tense).
But then…
“If you’re quite done,” said a haughty, irate voice that grated on the ears.
It was Medhimama. She was at the back of the room, perched upon a specially prepared observer’s seat as if she owned the place, and had clearly reached the limits of her patience.
“Mr. Burly, may I ask exactly what the meaning of this bizarre behavior is? Emphasis on ‘bizarre.’”
“Huh? Bizarre how? I don’t think…”
“Your behavior is entirely out of line! When I attempted to join the class, you did everything you could to prevent it, but with Mamako, your reaction was quite the opposite!”
“Well, that’s because, on a basic human level, her qualities as a mother are much—”
“What did you say?!”
“N-nothing! I didn’t… After the incident with you, I discussed things with the board, and the board representative gave the go-ahead for these things! Thus, we were able to prepare an observer’s seat. Mamako is receiving no special treatment, so please calm yourself.”
Mr. Burly was making himself as small as his physique allowed, bowing his head repeatedly.
Medhimama let out a long, exasperated sigh. Her anger remained, but she spoke in much calmer tones. “I hardly think that’s likely, but I’ll just leave that be for now. It would never do for me to delay the start of class any further than it already has been… Mamako, won’t you join me? Parents and guardians sit over here.”
“Yes, of course… Ma-kun, good luck! I’ll be right behind you, watching your every move!”
“Just—don’t! Hurry up and sit down!”
Mamako finally moved to the observers’ seats. He really wished she wouldn’t say things like that.
This was all the result of his failure to stop her invasion.
“Pfft, I totally called this,” Wise said, giving him a very irritating smirk. Behind him, Porta was beaming happily. Masato was exhausted already.
I’m sure Medhi’s laughing at me, too…
He glanced to his left. Yep. Medhi was doing just as Medhimama said, sitting one seat away, and she was quietly giggling into her hand. He was a laughingstock.
…I’m done… Just kill me now…
Right now, Masato would gladly accept any form of death. His emotions were in tatters.
And second period was just beginning.
“Despite no combat having taken place, we seem to have someone in critical condition, but I doubt anyone here can heal his wounds, so let’s just get started. Continuing from first period, eyes up!”
Mr. Burly took chalk in hand and began writing on the board.
6 − 7 (6 − 8)
What was that?
“Just a quick review. The hero suggested that they face off in a round of tennis. Racket in hand, he faced the Demon Lord, managing to force a tiebreaker, but tragically lost. The defeated hero went to America to rebuild himself, but his sponsor said, ‘That’s not your job.’ Remembering his duty, he took his sword in hand and returned to the Demon Lord’s castle. That’s where we left off.”
“How did any of that make sense? Is there even an America here?!”
“Bwa-ha-ha! Since you slept through class, naturally you wouldn’t understand! But that’s what happened.”
And the problem was…
“The hero used Divine Slash. But the Demon Lord took no damage.”
…this again.
“I’m sure you’re thinking, ‘This again.’ But it is! The main problem has yet to be resolved. If he does not find a way to drag the real Demon Lord out of his hiding space, he can never win. What now?”
When you got right down to it, this was a simple problem. There were plenty of potential answers, anything from the hero finding a way to the hiding space, to using a special item that undid the spatial distortion, but that range made it hard to answer.
Masato’s party had to think about it. So did Medhi. A long silence filled the room.
This was not good.
I’m not liking this at all…
Was everyone but Medhi about to fall asleep, posed like they were thinking? That seemed likely. A lady at the back of the room could easily make that happen.
He glanced over his shoulder, and Medhimama had her staff in hand. She was already running interference.
But something wasn’t right.
Hmm… Weird… Nothing’s happening?
Medhimama was clearly trying to obstruct them, but the classroom hadn’t changed. Masato, Wise, and Porta were all just fine, and none of the other students seemed to have fallen asleep, either.
Could this mean…?
Then Masato caught a gleam out of the corner of his eye.
Huh? Mom’s elbow pad is glowing?
Medhimama waved the staff gently, and as she did, Mamako’s elbow pad lit up.
Confused, Medhimama tapped her staff. Mamako’s pad flashed. Nothing else happened. Medhimama waved the staff vigorously, twice. Mamako’s pad flashed, twice. Nothing happened. Was this…?
Oh, is this…another mom thing?
It was.
This was that special mom skill where you made too much food and it would never do to let it go to waste so you shared the leftovers with the neighbors.
Mamako had absently activated the skill A Mother’s Sharing, which allowed her to use her equipment’s null status effect protection on others!
But even she hadn’t noticed it. She was just happily waving back at him.
Next to her, the old bat was flailing her staff around wildly, snarling, “Wh-what in the…? Why isn’t it working? C’mon!”
It was kinda hilarious.
“…Pfft… Toxic bitch… Serves you right…”
Did he hear something just now?
It seemed like it came from Masato’s left, over where Medhi was sitting… No, no, there was no possible way. Words like those would never pass Medhi’s lips. He must be imagining it.
Never mind.
At any rate, looks like Mom’s saved us… Nicely done…
Masato wasn’t upset about it. He found himself grinning, even. But he couldn’t savor the victory just yet.
If he didn’t need to worry about interference, then he could focus on the problem. Masato had to figure out an answer here.
But…
“Oh, I know!”
The first to raise their hand was none other than Mamako.
Masato’s head throbbed. The whiplash from his good mood a moment before made his brain scream.
“Mom! Why are you trying to answer?”
“S-sorry. I just thought I might know…”
“Even if you do, you aren’t allowed to answer! This is our class!”
“No, go ahead,” Mr. Burly said. “Doesn’t seem like any students have an answer, so let’s hear what Mamako has to say. Special consideration, since she showed up in uniform!”
““Wha…?!”” yelped Masato and Medhimama as one.
Medhimama pulled up her window screen and quickly scrolled through her inventory…but it seemed like she didn’t actually have a sailor uniform. Whew. Having even more mothers in sailor uniforms would be a living portrait of hell.
While she was preoccupied…
“Well, Mamako, what’s your answer?”
“Oh, yes!”
The Demon Lord was hiding in another realm. What could be done? Mamako’s answer…
“If he refuses to come out, you should go find the Demon Lord’s mother and have her join you in asking him to come out. ‘There’s nothing to be afraid of. Mommy’s right here. It’ll be okay, so just come on out.’”
And hearing that, the Demon Lord would then say, ‘Well, if Mom says so, it must be safe. Okay, I’m coming out,’ and then come slithering out of whatever realm he’d hidden in…, she continued.
“Like hell he would!!”
“Hmm… Even the most evil criminals often respond to their mother’s call. I doubt a Demon Lord would be any different! If his mother called for him, he’d have to come out. Good job, Mamako! Thirty points to you!”
“Oh my! I get points?”
“Whaaat?! That was right?! And why so many points?!”
“Then here’s a problem for you, Mamako. The Demon Lord responds to his mother’s call and emerges from hiding. The first thing he does is speak to the hero. What does he say?”
“Let’s see… I suppose, ‘Why are you with my mom? Get away from her!’ That’s definitely what Ma-kun would say if he was the Demon Lord.”
“I would not! Why are you putting words in my mouth?!”
“Bwa-ha-ha! Clearly Hero Masato loves his mother! Correct! Thirty more points to Mamako!”
“How lovely!”
“How is that correct?!”
“Next problem! The Demon Lord Hero Masato plunges into battle to save Mamako, but…”
“Am I the Demon Lord or the hero here?! Actually, how ’bout you just leave me out of this entirely?! I’m not even involved here!! Ugh, anyway, let’s just abandon the entire story line, okay?!”
But Masato’s desperate cries fell on deaf ears.
Thanks to Mamako’s unconscious support, Medhimama’s ploys were completely foiled, and the rest of the class proceeded smoothly.
In a sense.
“…Sigh… Mom answered all the questions, got them all right, and made off with all the points…and got three times the points every time… Whyyy…?”
“Yeah… Was it moms get three times the points day or something…?”
“Nobody told us that?! And that’s hardly a benefit to the kids, is it?”
More like unmitigated spite. But Mamako’s point rate aside…
After school, it was time for students and guardians to go home together. Normally there wouldn’t be any parents or guardians there, but since there were, they also had to go home. After all, what else were they going to do? Stay at school?
This was fundamentally different from a tough boss at the end of a high-difficulty quest, but the day had forced Masato to face harsh realities in a way that left him deeply worn-out.
But as they left, he spied the Cleric mother and daughter walking ahead of them.
Oh! I’ve had enough of Medhimama, but there’s Medhi! The oasis of my heart!
She was the only one who could heal the exhaustion inside him. Like a man dying of thirst in the desert, Masato ran up behind them, calling out to Medhi.
“Hey, Medhi!”
“Mm? Oh, Masato.”
“On your way home?”
“Yes. We’re headed back to our lodgings… Oh, right. Thank you again for today. With you there, I was able to really enjoy myself.”
“O-oh, please! I didn’t do a thing, really!”
Perhaps he should have said, “If you wish it, I’ll always be by your side, milady,” and he did seriously consider it but concluded that there was no way.
Then Medhimama suddenly forced herself between the two of them.
“Hey…!”
“That’s quite enough small talk. Let us proceed.”
“C-certainly, Mother… Masato, farewell.”
“Ah… Aughhh…”
That was not nearly enough small talk. He was prepared to spend at least a few more minutes saying “See you again!” “Yes, tomorrow!” and earning himself the energy to live another day. He wanted to part with a smile.
But he couldn’t even speak to her. Medhimama had her defenses raised and was guarding Medhi flawlessly, walking her quickly away.
Masato deflated.
“Argh… What the hell…? Am I cursed by all mothers or something…?”
That would explain it. Perhaps that was the only explanation that made sense.
Their first day of school had been entirely about mothers, in the worst possible way.
And the results of the day…
Masato: 0 SP. Wise: 0 SP. Porta: 0 SP.
Mamako, unofficially: 360 SP.
What are you doing, Mom?! Masato had already lodged numerous complaints, but the results spoke for themselves.
Their week at school had only just begun. They had a long road ahead of them.