Mamasu, the Hero’s mother, was enraged. Clearly, she needed to interrogate her lousy wretch of a husband and get him to spill his guts about this adultery. She was standing in a grassy field some number of miles from LMAO Castle Town when she placed her tightly balled fists on her waist and unleashed her power. “Haaaaahh!!!” A powerful energy that appeared to be some kind of fighting spirit flowed from the woman’s body, and her beautiful black hair immediately turned golden. She had gone through what many might refer to as Super…Something. “…That bastard…,” Mamasu muttered in a fierce tone, her usually kind eyes looking like they were out for blood. Her smartphone screen cracked, unable to withstand the energy flowing out of her. “E-eeeek!” Five pursuing soldiers from LMAO Castle discovered her in her transformed state. It was evident at a glance how terrifyingly mighty she was, and one of them fell to the ground and wet his pants. “Don’t worry. I ain’t gonna hurt y’all,” the Hero’s mother said, her anger drawing out what may have been a hometown dialect. This rage was not directed at the sortied warriors, however. “My house was razed, but I don’t especially care. My insurance will cover it once the Hero is proven innocent.” The structure was a fifty-year-old rental home. The Hero’s mother had already been talking about having it rebuilt, so she honestly didn’t mind that it had been torched. It was pretty convenient for her. “You were the one who burned—!” One of the soldiers started speaking, and then the Hero’s mother disappeared. Well, disappeared wasn’t quite right; what she actually did was circle behind the soldier so quickly that the naked eye couldn’t follow the action. It may as well have been teleportation. “…Wanna finish that sentence?” she whispered into the man’s ear. The soldier shuddered. Goose bumps formed on his entire body, and he dropped to his knees, quivering in fear. If he opened his mouth, he was finished. “That’s right. Now you take care of your family, okay?” Mamasu instructed as she looked down upon the man. While the words themselves were kind, the same could not be said for her eyes, nor her tone. None could deny that the Hero’s abode had burned to the ground. However, it was Mamasu herself who did the deed to make herself look like a victim—allegedly. “Urrrgh…” The other soldiers who had been dispatched to the house wanted to scream, The place blew up before we even did anything! Yet they knew to hold their tongues. “You’re a good kid. That’s right. You’ve done nothing wrong,” the Hero’s mom said. She then floated gently in the air. The soldiers all gazed at her like kids watching a parent leave for a business trip. It wasn’t like they could do anything else. “At one point in time, the phrase cheating is part of our culture was prevalent in society. But that is nothing more than a man’s excuse. It’s arrogant, slothful, and a despicable justification for their desires.” Mamasu looked like a descending god. She didn’t look at the soldiers as she spoke, instead appearing as if she were addressing someone far, far away. The warriors from the castle were able to infer that her husband must be two-timing. However, given that he was in the Down Below, a world made up only of males, the truth was that he couldn’t have cheated even if he’d wanted to. “Oh well. I’ll have to confirm this by myself,” muttered Mamasu, opening her eyes wide. “I’m angry with you, darling!!” Another wave of energy surged around the woman before she sped off into the sky with incredible speed. The exact mechanics behind it were unclear, but she was undoubtedly flying. The soldiers watched her go. “…I wonder if this is about her husband.” “…Mostly likely.” “RIP to him.” “Yep.” “Wanna head back?” “…Yeah. No point in remaining here.” “Wait, hold on… Is it raining?” asked the soldier who was still collapsed on the ground. “Rain? I don’t remember any…” “No, I—” It definitely wasn’t raining, but the man who’d wet himself desperately wished that it was. “You know what, I think it was raining.” “…Sure was.” Feeling sympathetic, the others decided to play along.
✦ ✦ ✦
A loud splash issued from the waters of the oasis. “Ahh… That feels so good…” Mako had jumped into the lake fully clothed. While considered the strongest of the Demon Generals, she was no match for the heat of this desert. The fur on her legs and the back of her hands made managing her body temperature in a warm climate difficult. Walking in the desert had been like trekking through a massive sauna. Soaking in the cool water finally stopped her brain from feeling like it was melting. “Hot damn, this is it right here. It feels incredible.” The next one to enter the pool was Oniko, the ogre monster from Shimahiro. She’d been faring better in the sun than Mako, but that didn’t mean the temperature was comfortable for her. A nice break in the oasis was perfect. “Unbelievable… You two just dived right into a naturally formed lake in the middle of a desert. It’s probably full of germs,” Pino remarked as she slowly dipped herself into the water. “It’s fine. I purified the lake with magic before we got in, so it’s totally clean,” responded Oniko. “I trust your abilities, Oniko. I’m just saying this is careless,” Pino answered. “Oh, it doesn’t matter. I was about to collapse out there. Thanks, Oniko,” said Mako. Their moment of peace was then interrupted by a certain someone yelling in the lake. “Yoo-hoo, I’m over here! Catch me if you can, ah-ha-ha-ha-ha!” Nicoletta screamed, racing around in the water. The others paid no mind to her attempts at garnering their attention. “Well, how often can we enjoy a giant lake like this? Let’s have some fun!” exclaimed Oniko, who had until then only submerged the bottom half of her body. She scooped up some water with her hands and then squirted it directly into Pino’s face. Pino, who didn’t want to get her hair wet, glared at the other demon. “You mad?” “You mad?” Mako and Oniko both taunted her with wide grins on their faces. “…I’m not angry.” “Oh?” “But I feel a fire burning within me.” “That sounds like you’re ma—” Before Mako finished her sentence, Pino used magic to manipulate the water to form a giant cannon, then fired it at Mako and Oniko. It was powerful enough that they would’ve lost some HP had they not been members of the Demon Generals. “Hold on, if you’re going to use water magic, can you use it to perform water torture on me?!” the masochist yelled, finally dropping her previous ploy for attention and joining the others in pursuit of pain. As the quartet of demon women messed around in a questionably friendly manner, a boy sat on a corner of the lake looking very anxious. The Hero was sending messages and apologizing profusely to the Demon Lord, bowing his head repeatedly in real life as he did so, even though they weren’t yet a couple. It was quite a sad sight. Even the sun appeared to chuckle sympathetically as it peered down upon the Hero.