Chapter 15 – The Son is Trapped in the Castle in the Sky (His House)【Volume 2: Boss Challenge Arc】

The morning after the encounter with the boss monster.

Ryuuji woke up as he always did.

(Mmm… I slept well.)

He was in his room on the second floor.

He’d only started using this room after coming to Kamiina, but he was already quite used to the scenery.

“Today’s quest is gathering medicinal herbs with Sheila-san. Alright, let’s do my best!”

Ryuuji got dressed.

Equipped with his leather shield and bronze sword, Ryuuji left his room.

He stepped out… and was dumbfounded.

“Wh-What is this?!”

No wonder Ryuuji was surprised.

After all, the area outside his room… was now a magnificent hallway.

A chandelier. A fluffy, crimson carpet.

Lining the hallway were numerous bronze statues and paintings.

As an aside, they were all paintings and statues of Ryuuji.

(Eh? Eh? What? What is this…?!)

Until yesterday, when he left his room, there was a short hallway and stairs leading to the first floor.

But the hallway stretching before him now was clearly an unfamiliar place.

He was wondering what in the world was going on when it happened.

“R-Ryuuji-kun!”

He heard a familiar girl’s voice from his right.

Looking over, he saw the rabbit beastman, Sheila.

“Sheila-san!”

Ryuuji let out a sigh of relief at the sight of a familiar face.

She must have felt the same way, because as soon as she joined up with Ryuuji, Sheila also let out a sigh of relief.

“Oh, thank goodness… sniff… Ryuuji-kun…”

Overcome with emotion, Sheila hugged Ryuuji.

Her body was surprisingly small and soft… and she smelled wonderful.

“Sh-Sheila-san!”

His heart began to pound like a drum.

Then Sheila, with a gasp, snapped back to her senses, her face turning bright red.

“I-I-I-I’m so sorry!”

She pulled away and bowed her head over and over.

“No, it’s, uh, fine.”

“Auu, auu, auu…”

As if to dispel the awkward atmosphere,

“Wh-What is going on here?!”

Ryuuji yelled.

“It wasn’t like this when I went to sleep yesterday.”

“…She must have done something while we were asleep.”

Sheila didn’t ask who “she” was.

There was only one person who could have come to mind.

“Let’s just go.”

“Y-Yes!”

Sheila followed closely behind Ryuuji.

As they walked down the exceedingly long hallway, Ryuuji called out, “Mom! I know you’re here! Mom!”

But his mother didn’t appear.

The hallway had numerous doors, each leading to a different room.

A bath. A recreation room. A botanical garden.

There were rooms for all sorts of purposes.

“It’s just like a princess’s castle.”

Sheila’s eyes sparkled. Hawaah…

After walking with her for a while, they came upon a large door with a sign that read: 【Mom’s Chamber】.

(…This must be it.)

Ryuuji opened the door.

Inside was a massive room that made the previous hallway seem small by comparison.

It had the grand, imposing construction of a king’s throne room… or perhaps a Demon Lord’s.

At the far end of the room sat a single, magnificent chair that looked like a throne.

And sitting in that chair… was his mother, Karma.

“Welcome, Ryu-kun. I was growing tired of waiting.”

His mother smiled at him from the throne.

“Karma-san, good morning!”

“Good morning, Sheila,” his mother replied to the carefree girl’s greeting.

“Mom…! What in the world is going on?!”

(Yes… something was wrong.)

Because until yesterday, this had been a normal house.

But now the hallway was huge, there was an absurd number of rooms, and to top it all off, there was this room called “Mom’s Chamber.”

(Clearly… something was wrong.)

“Ryu-kun.”

Karma stood and approached Ryuuji and the others, the sound of her footsteps echoing.

thud… thud…

“Mother had a realization after what happened yesterday.”

His mother approached, a grave look on her face.

“A realization…?”

“Yes. It was a simple fact.”

When she finally reached them, she pulled him into a strong embrace.

“The outside world is dangerous.”

Ryuuji pushed back against Karma, who was saying such childish things.

“The outside world is full of dangers. There are just so many things that can cause accidents and injuries!”

And so, his mother continued.

“That’s when I had an idea. The outside is indeed dangerous. So I thought,”

A saintly smile spread across her face as Karma said,

“Let’s just live our whole lives inside this safe house.”

…

……

………

(Not good.)

(Ryuuji realized. This was bad.)

(What was bad, you ask? His mother’s eyes were dead serious.)

(This person is actually saying something as stupid as living our whole lives inside the house! That’s right, this mother of his was a fool.)

“But you would get bored living inside the house forever, Ryu-kun. So Mother gave the house a little remodel.”

“This is a ‘little remodel’?!”

“I modeled it after the king’s castle, but were you not pleased with it?”

His mother tilted her head.

Kyon.

Ryuuji’s irritation only grew.

“If there are any facilities you require, please do not hesitate to tell me. I will build an extension.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about! Let me out!”

At that, Karma smiled and said,

“By all means.”

“If you wish to leave, you are free to do so.”

…The fact that Karma wasn’t trying to stop him filled Ryuuji’s chest with a strong sense of wrongness and a bad feeling.

“…Which way is the exit?”

“Please proceed straight down the hallway.”

Ryuuji left Sheila there and ran down the hallway by himself.

He ran.

He ran.

He ran… and came to the very end of the hall.

He opened the door.

And… was speechless.

“Wh-What… is this…”

hwoooosh…

Below him, a blue sky stretched out before him.

Ryuuji fell to the floor with a flop.

Beyond the door, a sea of clouds spread out.

The endlessly vast blue sky was beneath him.

(What… does this mean?)

“Fufun, Mother had an idea, you see.”

He turned to see his mother, who had appeared behind him at some point.

“I considered trapping you in the house with a barrier. But then, a much better idea came to me.”

“And that was…?”

Nodding to herself, his mother said,

“I just had to build the house on top of the sky.”