Chapter 1 Mom’s the Star of the Show! The Hero Son Does Odd Jobs! This Is How It Always Is, and It Sucks.
All heroes grow stronger by conquering whatever harsh trials their adventures have in store for them.
Each had a firm grasp on their role.
“…All right. Formation: single row. Everyone, line up!”
With confidence befitting a leader, the hero, Masato, barked orders, and his companions quickly obeyed.
“Ha-ha! This is my moment! Time to taste the power of the ultimate Sage!”
Next to him, in a crimson sorcerer’s jacket, eyes burning with the red light of battle, was the party Sage, Wise.
Next to her was the Cleric, Medhi, clad in the purest white.
“Every party needs a healer. I provide that service and am equally an asset in combat. With me along, victory is assured!”
Beside her was a twelve-year-old Traveling Merchant named Porta, keeping a tight grip on her trademark shoulder bag.
“I’ll help, too! I can be useful!”
With the girls lined up behind Masato, they were ready for anything.
Masato glanced down the row, encouraged by their presence.
“Right!” he said. “Okay, everyone… Places! Ready! Set!”
The four knelt, like a race was about to start. Ready to dash forward and reach the battle zone as fast as possible.
All eyes locked onto the final member of their party.
A pleasant breeze blew across the sun-drenched field, and she was humming, her generous bosom swaying as she traipsed along.
Masato’s mother, Mamako.
“It’s such a lovely day! I’m so glad I packed lunches for us. Let’s get this quest completed and have a picnic! Hee-hee!”
But a pack of monsters appeared in the direction she was walking!
Centipedes and moles! Vicious insects and beasts alike!
“Oh my! Could these be the monsters they told us about?”
Their current quest objective was to exterminate these monsters. Now, to combat!
However:
“M-Masato! Monsters in front of Mama!”
“Yeah, I know… But wait a sec. Remain on standby.”
They held their formation, crouched and at the ready, assessing the situation, waiting for the perfect moment.
Mamako engaged the monsters.
“Then Mommy’s gonna defeat them! Hyah!”
Mamako attacked, swinging the two Holy Swords in her hands. A two-hit multi-target attack that divvied up the damage between all foes!
The Holy Sword of Earth, Terra di Madre! Its power caused massive rock spikes to shoot out of the ground!
The Holy Sword of the Ocean, Altura! Its power turned water into bullets, peppering their foes!
The monsters were sliced and diced and impaled and slain!
Mamako defeated the monsters! Combat complete!
The very next moment:
“Okay! Now!”
“Let’s go! Chaaaaaarge!”
“Now’s our chance to prove our strength!”
“R-right! I’m coming, too!”
The moment combat was over, the rest of the party broke into a run and headed for where the monsters had fallen.
The defeated monsters turned to dust, leaving behind dice-shaped materials known as gems, which could be exchanged for money. “I’ll gather all the gems I can!” cried Porta. “Go for it!” cheered Masato. Gem gathering was Porta’s key duty. They left that to her.
But it wasn’t only gems that the monsters left behind.
On rare occasions, some monsters would leave items—the proverbial drop item.
This was their fight.
“Wise! Medhi! You know the rules! If they drop an item…”
“If we catch it before it hits the ground, we win!”
“If they hit the ground, we lose!”
“That’s right! That’s the rule! This is our true battle! We racked our brains in desperation and finally found something we can dooooo!”
Mamako’s mega-firepower was all ordinary combat required.
But even so, the rest of the party wanted to do something.
They spied a paperlike drop item fluttering in the air as it fell!
“Rahhhhhhh! Sliding caaaatch!!” yelled Masato.
“Oh, crap! The one over there’s about to hit the ground! Nooooooo!” Wise hollered.
“Wise!” shouted Medhi. “Time to chain cast! Use the wind to lift it into the air and prevent it from falling!”
“Oh my! Everyone’s so fired up! Hee-hee!”
The party mother watched them with a pleasant smile.
The children were soon covered in grass stains, mud, and tears.
A battle for the safety of the realm and a battle for the safety of their self-worth.
With both battles complete, the party gathered around their loot.
“We really went into that battle with guns blazing, if you ignore how pathetic it all was… But what are these things?” Masato wondered.
He had obtained…several pieces of paper.
All identical. All suspiciously flyer-like.
WORLD MATRIARCHAL ARTS TOURNAMENT! COMING SOON!
That tournament name seemed suspiciously familiar. Below the banner was an illustration of a mother holding a frying pan lid.
It also claimed that applications were flooding in, said an official pamphlet would be provided to anyone who visited the venue, and described how to access the town where this was being held.
At the very bottom of the flyer were a number of coupons that could be used at town shops during the tournament. Discounts as high as five percent. Not especially meaningful.
But anyway, these were their drop items.
“Wise, Medhi, what’d you get?” asked Masato.
“The same flyers you got,” answered Wise.
“Me too,” replied Medhi. “It seems like all drops from that group of monsters were set to these flyers.”
“Maybe it’s a special flyer! I’ll check it out!”
“No, no point, Porta,” said Masato. “Even if you appraise them…they’re just junk.”
Masato balled them up and was about to toss them.
“W-wait, Ma-kun!” Mamako said, stopping him. “You can’t just throw them away!”
“Oh, right, right, no littering… But they’re still junk, so we’re getting rid of them.”
“D-don’t say that! See? There are discount coupons!”
“I know you love that sort of thing, but…I just don’t care…”
“And—and look! There’s a tournament! Doesn’t that sound fun? Ma-kun, you like tournaments! I thought you’d be excited about that!”
“Hmm… I mean, the name of the tournament is certainly dicey, so it definitely caught my attention in that regard, but…problem is…”
The World Matriarchal Arts Tournament.
“Can I even enter this?”
“I’m afraid you can’t, Ma-kun. Only mothers can enter.”
“Huh. So you’re saying this tournament is only for moms and I can’t participate… Hmm…”
“But look! If you join the audience, you can see all the moms doing their very best! Witness moms in the heat of battle and cheer them on!”
“That’s…not the worst thing, I guess…”
“So then—!”
“Oh, but…I swore a vow to never get baited by another flyer again. I’ve learned the hard way not to take Shiraaase’s bait, and this could be another trap set by the Four Heavenly Kings…”
“Don’t worry! This time it’s definitely an event planned by the admins. It’s just moms fighting; nothing bad will happen to you!”
“Interesting. So since this is an official event, we can just relax and watch it happen?”
“That’s right! All you have to do is watch the matches! So…!”
That was what made him suspicious.
“Mom, just one question…”
“Yes? What?”
“This flyer doesn’t say anything about who can join the tournament or about it being an official game event… So…what’s your source on that?”
“S-sauce…? If you’ve got a favorite sauce, I’m happy to use that in the future…”
“No, not condiments! Source! Where’d you get your information?”
“W-well… Um… It’s sort of hard to explain…”
“Ugh, look, it’s time to come clean. Mom, you already knew about this tournament, and for some reason, you’re trying to convince us to go there.”
“That’s… Well… Not exactly wrong…”
“Okay, let’s start with you telling us why,” Masato said, getting extremely irritated. “If we don’t know that, we’re not going anywhere. So come on! Spit it out!”
At this point, the girls stepped in to defend Mamako.
“Hey! Masato! Knock it off!” yelled Wise. “I thought you’d grown out of that!”
“I’ve been told you often yelled at Mamako for not explaining things when you first got sent to this world,” said Medhi.
“Masato! Please! Calm down a little!” pleaded Porta.
“Y-yeah, yeah, okay. I haven’t forgotten that; don’t worry. I’m not trying to make the same mistakes again. The consequences aren’t worth it.”
Children were better off never seeing their parents look that sad.
Masato’s aggressive questioning had certainly left Mamako flustered, but she had not yet grown crestfallen. He hadn’t crossed that line yet. He could still dial it back.
Masato took a deep breath, willing himself to be calm, to find his gentle side. And then he asked once more.
“Um… Mom, do you mind?”
“N-no, go ahead.”
“Clearly, you’d like us to go to this tournament. As the audience.”
“Yes. That’s right.”
“And there’s a reason for that.”
“There is. But… Well, I was given some advice, you see. That it would be best to reveal that reason on the day of the tournament. That it would be a nice surprise for you all.”
“And there’s only one person we know prone to unnecessary ‘advice’ like that…”
Setting aside the identity of the culprit who’d infooormed Mamako…
This was a tournament for moms. And Mamako wanted them to attend.
And the specific reasons would be revealed the day of the tournament.
These facts were enough for him to guess the rest. So he went right for the heart of it.
“Mom…are you thinking about joining this World Matriarchal Arts Tournament?”
He was definitely not big on that idea.
But Mamako went red like an embarrassed schoolgirl.
“Gosh, Ma-kun! You can’t just say that out loud! Eek!”
She fidgeted for a moment and then nodded. “Mamako, you’re so cuuuute!” “A blushing maiden.” “Adorable!” It was a big hit with the girls anyway.
But for a son hit with the full force of his mother’s blushing maiden routine?
“…Guh……”
He collapsed, coughing up blood. His mother’s cuteness was too much for him to bear.
With their extermination quest completed, the party returned to the nearby inn town so they could report their achievement to the Adventurers Guild. Any monsters they encountered along the way were dispatched by Mamako with a “Hyah!” and posed no threat at all.
Masato was feeling dizzy—and not just from loss of blood.
“Entering a tournament? Mom, what are you thinking…? That’s so not your thing…”
“True, but I’ve got my eye on the grand prize!”
“Wow, Mamako, it’s not every day you get so fired up about something like that,” marveled Wise.
“What exactly is the prize?” asked Medhi.
“I want to know! Please tell us!” said Porta.
“Hee-hee… Well…here!”
Ta-daa! Mamako pulled out a piece of paper from between her breasts. “Why was it in there?!” “Well, this dress doesn’t have any pockets…” She’d been keeping it close to her chest, literally.
Unlike the tournament flyers they’d found, this piece of paper had a grand prize listed: a Mother-Child Album. It looked like any other photo album.
But this was no ordinary album. According to the description, it had a function that would automatically preserve memorable scenes the parent and child experienced together within this game.
Masato didn’t see that as anything worth celebrating.
“Auto-capturing our adventures? I can see why you’d like that…but I’m terrified it’ll be preserving all the traumatic memories, too…”
Scenes of Mamako leaving Masato in her dust as she took care of everything or scenes of her wearing all sorts of horrifying costumes… Scenes that were bad enough witnessing in person preserved in vivid detail…
“Ugh… That’s the last thing I need…”
“Maybe for you it is,” said Wise, “but for Mamako, every moment with you is a precious treasure.”
“Exactly!” agreed Mamako. “Honestly, I wanted to bring a camera and take lots of pictures of you for me to cherish…but I forgot…”
“So this prize is exactly the thing she most wants,” said Medhi.
“It’s a very rare item! I think we should get it!” said Porta.
“A rare item, huh…? I do like the sound of that… But still…”
He would really rather not get this one.
Maybe he could talk her out of entering. He considered trying…
…but then he looked at her.
“What could be more wonderful than a book full of memories with Ma-kun? Hee-hee!”
She just looked so happy. Happier than he’d ever seen her.
Seeing her this happy even made Masato start to smile.
And of course, that changed his mind.
I shouldn’t just give up this easily…
He shouldn’t. He definitely shouldn’t.
This was definitely something he should stick to his guns on.
But another part of him felt like forcing his opinions on everyone was really childish.
My feelings versus Mom’s feelings… Which is more important? …This is so hard…
He choked back the protest welling up within, electing to put off his qualms for another day.
And he realized they’d already reached town.
They walked down a bustling road lined with shops selling items and provisions, heading for the Adventurers Guild.
It was a plain building, like a government office. They went to the reception desk, and the girl behind it came over, smiling at them.
“Oh, Mamako Oosuki and children. Well done.”
“Let’s try that again. This time, say ‘The hero and his party.’”
“Geez, Masato. You pick the weirdest things to get all worked up over,” scolded Wise.
“Hello!” greeted Mamako. “We’re here to report the quest completion.”
While Masato spluttered, Mamako and the guild lady completed the paperwork. Mamako drew up the extermination report, had the guild lady verify it, and received the reward.
Mamako had known little about games in general and had been perplexed by many of the mechanics, but she was really starting to get a handle on this type of thing. Like a proper leader.
Medhi and Porta seemed quite impressed.
“It didn’t take long for Mamako to become a proper adventurer!” admired Wise.
“She’s a really reliable adventurer mom!” agreed Porta.
“And where does that leave me? Sigh… Guess I’m getting used to it.”
Their reward accepted, they were done here. Masato tucked his tail between his legs, and they left the guild…
Nope. Before they did, he had a question for the guild lady.
“Oh, that’s right! Mind if I ask you something? When we defeated the monsters, they dropped these flyers for something called the World Matriarchal Arts Tournament…”
“If you pass those out to people in town, you can receive a reward,” replied the guild lady. “The more you pass out, the higher the payout! You should definitely try it.”
“You’re making adventurers pass out flyers for you? I mean, maybe it’s a decent way to make a little pocket money…”
“Ah, speaking of the World Matriarchal Arts Tournament, we have packages for Mamako.”
The guild lady started rummaging beneath the counter.
She pulled out a bundle of envelopes, some leather-bound books, the kind of scrolls ninja arts are written on, a giant leaf, an object that looked suspiciously like a memory stick—quite a lot of things all lined up in front of Mamako.
“Oh my, all of these? Whatever for?”
“It seems the other tournament participants have sent you challenges.”
“Huh? Challenges? To Mom? …Whoa, there’s all this stuff written on them.”
He looked around—every one of them said Challenge on it. Even the giant leaf had I look forward to facing you! written clearly on the back.
“Why would anyone challenge Mom? And so many people…in so many formats…”
“Mothers from many different races are hoping to face off against Mamako.”
“Different races… True, we did meet an elf before, but are there others?”
“Of course! Quite a few.”
“I had no idea… And people…mothers…from these races…want to fight my mom?”
“There are many people who admire her. Mamako was on the cover of the inaugural issue of Maman magazine, and the special feature on the World Matriarchal Arts Tournament mentioned her as a strong candidate to take the top prize. It’s only natural she’d attract a lot of attention.”
“What? Uh… What the heck is Maman…?”
“A monthly magazine for mothers. You haven’t heard of it?”
It was sold all over the world and read avidly by mothers everywhere. “Mommy got interviewed by them!” “And you’re just mentioning this now?!” Without her son’s knowledge, his mother’s fame continued to rise.
“So this tournament is pretty famous…?” asked Masato.
“I would imagine all mothers and those who admire them know about it. I, too, wish to become a mother someday, so I have been paying close attention to this… Mm? Huh?”
The guild lady suddenly tilted her head, staring at Mamako.
“Mamako, have you already passed the prelims?”
“Huh? The prelims?” Mamako looked confused.
Just then, there was a loud thud that shook the entire guild building.
The noise came from right outside.
“Wh-what the heck? Did something crash-land in the street?” Masato wondered aloud. “We’d better check it out!”
The party ran out the door to find a small crater in front of the Adventurers Guild…
…and a coffin standing upright in the center of it.
“Ma-kun, Mommy’s noticed that when we find coffins, it’s always—”
“Yeah. Her. She sure picked a flashy way to die this time…”
“Think she used a transport spell but died from the impact of the landing?” Wise hypothesized. “Not like that’s usually fatal, but…”
“Anyway, we’d better bring her back and hear what she has to say,” commented Medhi.
“Okay! Let’s get infooormed!” said Porta.
Resurrection spells were a Cleric’s specialty, so Medhi took care of it. “Now, then… Conforto Staff!” “Just cast the spell!” Medhi was being stingy with her MP, so she used a wand that randomly cast spells she’d learned.
It took about twenty attempts, but at last, a resurrection spell activated.
The coffin turned to mist, and a woman dressed as a nun appeared, her expression placid.
“Hello, Shiraaase. Yet another magnificent death you managed there,” commended Masato.
“Your words honor me… Yes, I am Shiraaase. Unable to fight at all, I can infooorm you that this mysterious nun has racked up the highest death count in the— Ah, but there is no time to waste on introductions. The situation is urgent.”
Shiraaase looked around, catching each party member’s eye in turn. Then she raised a hand aloft.
“I’m afraid I must engage an admin’s systemic power and forcibly transport all of you.”
“Huh? Transport us…? Where?!”
Masato’s party members were instantly transported elsewhere, not by any magic spell but by using the technology granted to those who ran the game.
Everyone opened their eyes to unfamiliar surroundings.
“Where the…?”
They were on a huge road—easily fifty yards across. It seemed to be the entrance to a town.
Looking around, they saw crowds of people of all different races: ordinary humans; pointy-eared blond elves; beastkin with animal ears and tails; and vampires resting in the shadows, presumably tired from too much sun.
Up above, they saw divine angels and spirits—and devils in disconcertingly sexy outfits flying around. Then a massive shadow briefly blotted out the sun—a flock of dragons and wyvern.
A procession of butterfly-winged fairies on a guided tour wafted past a pair of flirting giants, each over fifteen feet tall.
Basically, there was a lot going on.
Wise was puzzled. “Um, what the hell…?”
“It’s like a fantasy-world character compendium!” said Medhi.
“Oooh! There are even robotic people here! Androids!” cried Porta.
“Whoa, you’re right!” said Masato. “They’ve got jet packs! …Wait, are androids even considered fantasy? Not that I would know, but…”
Surprised and impressed, the party gawked at the races around them.
But Shiraaase urged them forward.
“This is the town where the World Matriarchal Arts Tournament is held. It’s called Meema. People of all races are gathering from around the world for tomorrow’s tournament. Unless using transformation spells, anyone of a race other than human is one hundred percent pure NPC. That is all.”
“NPCs have purity levels?” asked Masato. “Actually, I think you’ve oversimplified things! Can you please tell us more about the different races? I’m really curious!”
“I’ll give you a pamphlet later. You can read about the races there. First, the prelims. Come, Mamako.”
“O-oh, right,” said Mamako. “The prelims were today!”
“Yes. And we have very little time before they stop accepting entries. I completely forgot to tell you the deadline—I’m so sorry. But we really must hurry.”
“Oh, hey!”
Shiraaase pulled Mamako quickly along.
They were headed toward a large building decorated with pots and frying pans, brooms and dustpans, hangers and clothing lines—monuments to housework. A sign with WORLD MATRIARCHAL ARTS TOURNAMENT in bold lettering was hung over the door.
At the entrance was a reception counter for participants, where a staff member was yelling “Five minutes remaining! If anyone else wants to enter, speak up now!” They really were cutting it close.
“Now, Mamako, if you would please take care of the paperwork.”
“Okay! Then… Oh, but first… Ma-kun, a moment?”
“Wh-what?”
Mamako stood in front of him, her hands clasped together.
“Ma-kun, can Mommy please enter the tournament?”
“Uh… Why are you asking now?”
“Well, I know how you feel about it. Mommy applied to be in this without asking you. And I think maybe that was a mistake.”
“You’re always doing stuff like that, though… You never listen to me…”
“Yes. I know. I just get so happy and excited about being with you that I overdo it sometimes… So I’ve been thinking for a while now that I’ve got to try to be better…”
“You are?! Since when have you been so self-aware?!”
“So this time, I want to get your honest opinion. Ma-kun, will you tell me how you feel?”
She sounded like a timid girl who’d worked up the nerve to ask out a boy. Except this was his mom. “Gah, I can barely look her in the eye…” He was definitely getting a headache.
But this was a serious question. She was really asking.
Frankly, I’d rather she didn’t enter…
At the same time, he didn’t think it was right to force those feelings on her. He was trying to grow out of that sort of childishness.
But he also felt like it was a bad idea to leave things unsaid and hide how he felt.
Then what should he do? How could he make up his mind? …Right.
She was his mom.
“…Mom, since you’re my mom, I’m gonna go ahead and put this out there. You ready?”
“Yes, okay. I’ll accept whatever you have to say, Ma-kun. After all, I’m your mom.”
Mamako smiled. Just the sight of that smile made him relax despite himself. It was the same gentle smile she always had for him. All his fretting and worrying suddenly felt silly.
Masato looked his mother directly in the eye.
“I’m not super-happy about the idea of you being in this tournament.”
“I see… Then…”
“But if you want to do it, I think you should.”
“…Huh?”
She looked so surprised, he immediately felt sheepish.
But he wasn’t done talking. He wanted to get this all out.
“I just think…the two of us are, like, adventuring together…and I keep wanting this to be my adventure, but it’s also your adventure… So this time, you should do what you want. If you want to enter the tournament, then enter it.”
“…You’re really sure?”
“I said I was! Your son approves! Go ahead! Even I, uh…”
Want to make you happy sometimes…proactively…
However, saying that aloud was a bit much. He swallowed the words.
“S-so, uh… Make sure you win this thing! I’ll be rooting for you!”
“Oh?! You will?! You’ll be rooting for Mommy?!”
“Why is that such a huge surprise? I don’t think it’s unusual for kids to root for their parents! I mean, I dunno how enthusiastically I’m going be cheering for you or anything, but…”
He could feel his face turning red already, and he trailed off into mumbles.
“Thank you, Ma-kun!” She started glowing fiercely.
“Ack, too brigh—MMPH?!”
Mamako threw her arms around Masato, her entire body shining brightly with A Mother’s Light—a skill activated by great happiness. Masato’s face was buried in blinding light, voluminous assets, luxurious softness, and his mother’s sweet scent.
“Bwa?! H-hey, Mom! Too bright! Can’t breathe! Calm down!”
“How can I? I’ve never been this happy!” Squeeze!
“I get that, but there’s a time and a place! Everyone’s staring!”
After a desperate struggle, he’d managed to get his head free and found all the girls smirking at them…
No, that wasn’t true. Porta was just delighted, like she always was. Wise and Medhi both were smiling as usual, too.
“Huh? You guys aren’t gonna make fun of me?”
“Why would we?” replied Wise. “We’re all impressed by how much you’ve grown up. Like, actually putting Mamako ahead of yourself? That’s a good thing!”
“Instead of just trampling your own emotions, you communicated them properly and then found the right solution on top of that,” added Medhi. “That’s the same thing you taught me to do, you know.”
“You’re really powering up as a hero son, Masato! Amazing!” cheered Porta.
“Uh… You’re all…actually praising me…”
“Okay, guys, since Masato wants to cheer Mamako on, let’s come up with some cheer squad stuff for him! And make it real oedipal—I mean, ostentatious!”
“You’ll definitely need a fan. It should say Mamako LOVE on it. Or maybe Mommy LOVE. A happi coat and a headband would really complete the look.”
“I can make all those with Item Creation! Leave it to me!”
“So you are just making fun of me?!”
The girls were already hard at work making stuff, and he wanted to stop them, but—“Hee-hee, Ma-kun!” “Let go!”—Mamako wasn’t ready to release him from her embrace.
“A-anyway, that’s all over with, so you should really do your paperwork! Okay, Mom?”
“Oh, right! I’ll be right back!”
Mamako dashed over to the counter and quickly filled out the form they handed her, slipping it in just before the deadline. Whew.
Mamako was given a number, which she tied around her waist. It was 10362.
“Since you’re the last person to enter…that means there are 10,362 moms in this thing? That’s…a lot.”
“Then I’ll just go do this prelim thing!”
“And onward to victory!” cheered Wise, followed by well-wishes from Medhi and Porta.
“I’m sure we have no reason to worry at all, Mamako, but do take care.”
“Good luck, Mama!”
Still visibly excited, Mamako was led behind the counter: “Now, Mamako, if you would come this way.”
Once she was gone, Shiraaase turned toward the children.
“Since we made it here in time, once more, as my name is Shiraaase, and Shiraaase means ‘infooorm,’ I must infooorm you of some things… But where should I begin?”
“No keeping secrets, no entertaining yourself,” replied Masato. “Just infooorm us of everything. Although, I think we get the big picture…”
“The World Matriarchal Arts Tournament is a tournament for mothers only, and Mamako was planning on entering,” said Wise. “She told us that much!”
“Someone told her to keep it a secret until the day of the tournament…”
“And we think that someone was you, Ms. Shiraaase!”
“Yes, it was.”
“Of course…” Masato shot her a baleful glare.
She showed no signs of shame. Her ever-present placidity never wavered.
“The reason I advised her to keep it a secret is simply because I had concerns about your reaction, Masato. While Mamako basks in the limelight, you’re left on the sidelines, unable to join in… I imagined you would be bitterly opposed to that.”
“Hate to break it to you, but I’m not that childish. There was no need for concern!”
“In hindsight, perhaps not. However, no matter what, I needed to get Mamako to enter the World Matriarchal Arts Tournament. Her participation is absolutely necessary.”
Shiraaase held up a hand with three fingers raised.
“To begin, the World Matriarchal Arts Tournament itself has three reasons for existing… The first one is, naturally, the tournament’s status as an event. An entertainment spectacle in which mothers of all races compete, and audience members are impressed once again by how magnificent mothers truly are.”
“We see how OP mine is on a daily basis, and you want to show us how strong other moms are… Ugh…”
“And no one would care about a mom tournament if Mamako wasn’t in it. She’s famous, and apparently tons of other moms wanna fight her. So what’s the second thing?” asked Wise.
“The second reason is strategic—we’re hoping to lure out the forces that don’t think highly of mothers.”
“The Libere Rebellion— They’ll definitely attend to mess up a mom-only event,” said Medhi. “And you need Mamako’s ultimate power to ambush them… Right?”
“Ultimately, we’re hoping Mamako, the other mothers, and all of you will help turn the tables and totally beat the snot out of them.”
“Working together to dominate our foes… Just the idea makes me excited,” Medhi gushed, her beautiful face reddening.
“Hey, Wise…” “Yeah, no need to remind me.” Medhi’s dark power may be frightening, but she was in their party. The hero’s party.
And then Porta’s hand shot up.
“Ms. Shiraaase! There’s one reason left! What is it?”
“Very well. The third reason…” Shiraaase stared at the three fingers she held up for a long moment, thinking.
Then she lowered one of the fingers.
“Forgive me, there were only two reasons. I was mistaken when I said there were three.”
“No, no, that wasn’t a mistake!” shouted Masato. “You just chose not to tell us the last one!”
“I bet you were thinking ‘It’ll be more interesting if they don’t know!’” said Wise.
“You misunderstand me. There are two reasons to hold the World Matriarchal Arts Tournament. But beyond those…we want Mamako participating in case the unexpected happens.”
“You think something other than a Rebellion attack might happen?”
“Let us say the chance exists. At the current time, as an admin, I can say nothing more definite… Let’s say you should keep the possibility of a third reason in the corner of your mind. The main point is that this tournament has a purpose, and Mamako is required to fulfill that.”
She didn’t seem like she was messing with them.
Mamako was a key part of their plans. That much made sense.
Masato acquiesced. “Okay. Then we’ll go with that for now…”
“So what should we do?” asked Wise.
“We don’t have any plans…,” said Medhi. “And we were just transported here, so we hardly know our way around town…”
“Should we just wait here for Mama to come back?”
“Hmm… That’d be real boring. I guess we could watch the prelims?” Wise suggested.
But Shiraaase shook her head.
“I’m afraid they aren’t open to the public. There are too many participants, and staff can’t monitor everything. To avoid stealthy support from the mothers’ fan bases, we’ve been forced to bar them from entering.”
“Oh… Well, I guess it’s good to keep things fair. But now I kinda wanna watch… Your admin rights can’t do anything about this?” Wise asked, her eyes sparkling.
Shiraaase’s mind was as unflappable as her expression, so this was likely a wasted effort.
No, maybe not. Shiraaase did seem to be thinking about it. “Hmm… Well, I can’t say there aren’t ways for you to watch the prelims.”
“So we can watch them?” asked Medhi. “Could you please tell us how?”
“I’d like to know how! I want to see Mama fight!”
“Wise, Medhi, Porta… I understand how you feel. However…”
“Er, uh… It’s not like I’m worried about her or anything, but sure.”
Masato raised his hand, but not very high. Making it clear he wasn’t enthusiastic.
“I see that all of you, Masato included, would like to watch. Very well. Let me explain how… The tournament office is accepting applications for volunteer staff. That is all.”
A very simple explanation, but it sufficed.
“So if we’re staff, we can go in and out of the venue as we please,” said Masato, to which Wise pointed out, “But we’d also have to do our jobs.”
“And there’s a possibility we’ll be asked to do some very dangerous jobs,” said Medhi.
“If the Rebellion shows up, that would be our responsibility!” added Porta.
“We would certainly ask for your help. But just to be clear, depending on how they choose to act, even if we discover a Rebellion member, we may ask you to monitor the situation instead.”
Masato responded to Shiraaase: “So rather than immediately handle them, take a wait-and-see approach… Yeah, makes sense. If we attack suddenly, there’d be collateral damage.”
And if they used a dark item to brainwash NPCs?
A stampede of over 10,000 mothers…was something best not thought about.
“R-right. If we spy any Rebellion members, we won’t engage.”
“Although, I could easily chain cast them into oblivion.”
“A shame I can’t just bop them on the head, but if those are our orders…”
“I can keep a promise!”
“Thank you,” said Shiraaase. “This way, please.”
She handed them staff badges on lanyards.
Masato’s party became volunteer staff!
“And Wise can no longer use magic.”
“Such a shame this always happens…”
“Wise! Here’s an item that removes Seal!”
“Sniff… I’m so sorry, you guys… Yeah, like hell I am! Our occupations didn’t even change, so I can still use magic just fine!”
““…Awww…”” Disappointment.
“Hey! Masato?! Medhi?! Why is that a problem?!”
They’d reached the point where they didn’t even want their Sage using magic.
Shiraaase got their paperwork done up, and they were immediately put on cleaning duty.
Carrying brooms and dustpans, they entered the tournament hall. They moved toward the large indoor arena where the prelims were held, sweeping the halls as they went.
“Shiraaase has executive committee work to do, so she went off somewhere and left us doing odd jobs…while Mom’s a contestant in this tournament. Once again, I’ve proven to have no value…”
“Quit whining and get to sweeping. Honestly, this is ideal,” commented Wise. “They didn’t specify where to clean, so we can clean where we like.”
“But I think we should avoid spending too much time in the prelim hall. I mean, it is Mamako…,” said Medhi.
“And she’ll see Masato right away, get all excited, and develop some amazing skill!” gushed Porta.
“Ugh, probably. And if the officials think we’re secretly assisting her, she might get disqualified… We’d better watch from a distance, making sure she doesn’t notice.” She can be a real pain, Masato groaned to himself as the group went around the building’s perimeter. “If only there were windows… Oh, there’s one!” Exactly where they needed it.
They peeked inside—it definitely looked like the prelim arena. There were a number of different battle stages set up, and crowds of mothers with numerous spectators gathered around, from fairies the size of your palm to giants towering over fifteen feet tall. They could watch safely from here.
But the window was a little high.
“We can see just fine, but Porta’s a bit out of luck…”
“Awww… I wanna see…”
“Masato, let her sit on your shoulders,” Wise ordered.
“Or get down on your hands and knees and let her stand on you,” suggested Medhi.
Let a twelve-year-old sit on your shoulders or let her use you as a stool. The choice was obvious.
“Go ahead, step on me.”
“““Wha—?”””
“Uh, just kidding! That was a joke! Shoulder seat it is!”
Masato definitely wasn’t into getting stepped on by little girls. Not at all! Honest!
Anyway.
“Porta, shoulder docking!”
“Yes! I have docked with Masato!”
Porta had held out both arms sideways; he’d hefted her up and placed her on his shoulders.
“Well, Porta? Can you see now?”
“Yes! I can see perfectly!”
“Think you could go a little lower, though? Everyone on that side can see Porta easily; they might catch us looking,” noted Wise.
“Masato, can you duck down a bit?” asked Medhi. “A bit more? More than that.”
“S-sure…”
He knelt down so Porta’s face was level with Wise’s and Medhi’s at the base of the windowsill.
And found himself staring at the wall.
“Oh no! If I’m on his shoulders, Masato can’t see inside!”
“No, that’s fine… As long as you can see, Porta, I don’t mind. I’m mildly curious about Mom’s battle, but…I’m receiving something far more precious here.”
Specifically, Masato’s face was gently pinned between Porta’s… No, let’s not go there. Masato’s not that kind of guy! Really!
“But since I can’t see, can you give me a running commentary on what’s going on?”
“There’s a staff member onstage, explaining things…,” Wise began. “Oh, they just started lining up kitchen counters on the stage. Lots of vegetables. Seems like the prelim round is cooking.”
“Well, it is a mom tournament. Makes sense they’d compete in housework… Is there anyone who looks like they could give Mom a run for her money?”
Medhi took over: “Let’s see… There’s a beastkin sharpening her claws, and a ninja with her own set of knives, and an android equipped with some sort of laser blade… They look strong.”
“Not your typical cooking-competition lineup… A-and not that I care, but what’s Mom up to?”
“She’s not onstage yet!” replied Porta. “They started with number one, and it looks like they’ll be competing in order! It’s going to be a very long wait!”
“Oh, okay… Right, she’s got, like, over ten thousand people ahead of her…”
Then he was going to be waiting here like this, with Porta on his shoulders, for a very long time. It was definitely taking its toll on his back and knees already. But the blissful feelings around his neck made it all okay…
While his mind was in the gutter, however:
“…Wait, should we even be doing this?” Wise asked, sounding uncharacteristically serious.
“Where’d that come from? You’re the one who said we should watch the prelims in the first place.”
“Yeah, I know, but…”
“This tournament is just bait to lure out the enemies,” Medhi chimed in.
Wise nodded. “Mothers gather from around the world, joining in this massive tournament… They’ve got to come. I was talking big in front of Shiraaase, but honestly, if we’re the only line of defense, we’re in big trouble. If we fight them head-on, it won’t end well.”
“They’re the kind of people that plant bombs all over town, force parents and children to fight one another— They show no mercy. And the Four Heavenly Kings of the Libere Rebellion don’t just have awful personalities and attitudes—they’ve got really dangerous skills. It’s absolutely possible all of them will attack at once, too…”
“Urp… I’m getting kinda scared now…,” whimpered Porta.
The excitement of peeking into the prelims drained away. All eyes stared anxiously at the floor.
This called for a word from their leader, the hero, Masato.
“Amante, who backs up her incredible physical stats with a skill that reflects all damage. Sorella, who can control a million undead monsters at once and has a mega-powerful debuff skill that craters all her opponents’ stats. And there are two more like that… Ha-ha, not happening! They’re not just gonna show up out of nowhere! We can relax! Ha-ha!”
The cheer was forced, a desperate attempt to dispel his party’s fears.
And just then:
“Argh, you guys again?!”
“Ew. Why are theyyy here?!”
The voices came from behind: one hyper-aggressive, the other thick with disgust. Both female.
The party spun around, but there was only one person behind them.
A very large…human? Well over six feet tall, completely covered by a silver robe with a mask, like a member of some secret magic society.
Deeply suspicious. And kinda scary.
“Yikes?! Who the…?”
“I-intruders!”
“That’s the most suspicious person I’ve ever seen! Report this at once!”
“Actually, I think the way we were peeking at the prelims was pretty suspicious, too!”
“““Oh… Good point, Porta.”””
This last exchange helped calm everyone down.
Looking closely, this new arrival had a number: 3782. While certainly alarming-looking, this meant they were a participating mother.
With Porta still on his shoulders, Masato hastily straightened and showed his staff badge.
“Um, we’re tournament staff! Not intruders or anything! We were just sneaking a quick peek at the prelim progress.”
“O-oh, cool. Didn’t expect you to explain all politely…”
“Seems like they haven’t guessed our real identityyyy. Mwa-ha-haaa.”
“Er… What identity? And why are there two voices? Are there two of you in there?”
“Yep. Since I’m the stronger one, I’ve gotta carry this gamble-holic lady around…”
“Stoppp! Stopppp! There’s only one person in heeere! …You, down there, don’t say another wooord! Talking is my jooob! You are not allowed to explaaain!”
An argument appeared to be taking place inside the masked robe. There were definitely two people in there.
And both voices sounded familiar. Maybe…just maybe…
Yeah… It’s definitely them.
He was sure of it.
Masato wanted to ask them directly, but before he could…
“Oh my! I thought that was you, Ma-kun!”
…the window behind them opened, and Mamako poked out her head.
“Yikes! Mom?!”
“That’s right; it’s Mommy! I saw just a bit of Ma-kun’s hair and went Wait, is thaaat…? and came running over, and it was you! Hee-hee.”
“You can identify me from my hair alone?! What sort of terrifying skill is that?! Also, we’re kinda busy right now… Huh?”
The suspicious mother was no longer behind him.
He looked around and spied them bent backward like a giant shrimp, running very fast, a shriek trailing in their wake.
The entire party frowned, looking at one another.
“…You thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Yep,” agreed Wise. “Don’t even say it out loud. That was definitely those two.”
“The fact that we were legitimately afraid of anyone who would take such a ridiculously stupid approach to getting in here really ticks me off,” Medhi fumed. “Makes me want to punch them right now.”
“Cool, I approve.”
“Go get ’em.”
“B-but…we promised Ms. Shiraaase we’d monitor the situation!”
“Oh, right…,” said Masato. “Then I guess we can let ’em go for now…”
“Goodness, what are you all talking about? Ma-kun, fill Mommy in? Please?”
Mamako tried getting his attention, but his mind was on other things.
Masato felt the tension drain out of him. He let out a long sigh.
And it was finally time for Mamako’s prelim.
Looking quite nervous, the staff member in charge announced, “And finally, will entry number 10362 please step onstage?”
“Okay! Thank you!”
The prelim challenge: make a salad.
Contestants used the vegetables piled on the counters onstage, the prep speed and degree of completion affected their overall score, and the top sixteen names would advance to the main competition.
Mamako took the stage, and a hush fell over the hall.
Humans, elves, beastkin, angels and devils alike—all mothers present turned to watch, not wishing to miss a moment of Mamako’s performance. She was under a lot of pressure.
But Mamako was still Mamako. She just had to make a tasty dish, as she always did, with her precious children’s health in mind.
“The salads we’re making double as consolation prizes, so we can bring them home with us. That’ll be one part of tonight’s dinner… What should I do for the main dish? I wonder what Ma-kun would like?”
Mamako drew her swords as she contemplated the evening menu.
Terra di Madre in her right, Altura in her left. Using her Holy Swords as kitchen utensils.
“Time to begin! Ready…start!”
“Hyah!”
At the signal, Mamako swung Altura. The water-powered Holy Sword sent forth a stream of water, washing the vegetables while lifting them into the air.
“And then, hyah!”
She swung Terra di Madre, and countless stone blades shaped like kitchen knives sprang out of the counter, chopping all the veggies. Perfectly chopped, they fell…
…onto a plate: lettuce, cabbage, red cabbage, carrots, and tomatoes.
A fresh veggie salad, colorful and vibrant!
Prep time from start to finish: one second.
“Now, what should I do for the dressing? Hee-hee.”
“W-wow… Mamako—no, contestant 10362—has placed first in the prelims!”
There was a momentary silence, then a thunderous round of applause. “That’s Mamako Oosuki’s true power…” “It’s overwhelming!” “We have witnessed the power of the world’s strongest mother!” Holding their own take-home salads, many mothers stood in awe of her skills.
Meanwhile…
…in the shadows, two pairs of eyes glared balefully at Mamako through the face and belly of a masked robe.
“Already taking first place… Tch, saw it coming.”
“It is just a preliiiim. And we passed the prelim, tooooo. All according to plaaan. We just have to beat her while everyone’s waaatching.”
“Yeah. We can do it… We’ll show her the power of the Four Heavenly Kings of the Libere Rebellion!”
They cast aside the silver-masked robe, and beneath it…were two girls.
Anti-mom Amante, she who rejects the concept of mothers, radiating hostility like a wild tiger.
Scorn-mom Sorella, she who scorns all mothers, fingers twirling in her dubiously colored hair, eyes gazing languidly down.
Sorella was riding on Amante’s shoulders.
Just like Porta had ridden on Masato’s shoulders.
“We went through so much trouble to get here… Learning about the tournament before it began, making plans to infiltrate undetected…staying up all night sewing this robe to disguise our identities…”
“No need to explain our tearstained efforts to meeee. Running into Masato’s party like that was a bluuunder. But they didn’t know who we weeeere. And the prelims are ooover. Let’s just go hooome. We’ve seen Mamako in action, so our goals have been accoooomplished.”
“Yeah. We confirmed Mamako Oosuki’s participation. But…if I could just find one more…”
Amante squinted, peering around the crowd of moms.
There were just too many mothers here. Too many races and types; it was next to impossible to locate any one individual.
“The master said there was a mysterious being here, neither a test player nor an NPC… But I dunno who that could be.”
“Well, if they were so weak they failed at the preliiims, who caaares? Stiiiill… If they manage to make it into the main rouuund…”
“Then we’ll take them and Mamako Oosuki down.”
“Exaaactly. For now, retreeeat! We must make secret preparations to wiiin!”
“Yep. Let’s go… This is our chance to show the power of the Libere Rebellion. We’ll use this tournament as proof that the age of mothers is over!”
A secret declaration of war.
Amante and Sorella turned to leave the prelim hall unnoticed. “Ah! We’ve got to wear the robe!” “They’ll guess who we aaaare!” The two sinister villains hastily put their disguise back on.
No Comments Yet
Post a new comment
Register or Login