Chapter 2.2 – The Mother’s Overprotectiveness, and the Son’s Reason for Wanting to Leave Home

Ryuuji let out a long, heavy sigh.

Small.

That’s right, Karma was taller than Ryuuji. Even though he was about to turn fifteen, he was only about 160cm tall.

He was looked down on by his mother, held in her arms, and patted on the head.

…He was, without a shadow of a doubt, being treated like a child.

“I keep telling you not to treat me like a little kid…” Ryuuji muttered in irritation.

To which Karma replied with a dead-serious expression, “What are you talking about?”

“Are you not my son, my child?”

“Well, yeah, but… that’s not what I mean. I’m coming of age now, so I want you to treat me a little more like an adult.”

In this world, one was counted as an adult at the age of fifteen.

You could start working at fifteen.

Today, Ryuuji was celebrating his birthday and officially coming of age.

Yes… as of today, Ryuuji was joining the ranks of adults.

And yet, just like yesterday, his mother hugged him tight and patted his head reassuringly.

He was treated like a child.

And Ryuuji… was not happy about it.

“Alright, Ryu-kun. Our good morning hug is done. Let’s have breakfast right away. But before that, time to change,”

Karma reached for the pajamas Ryuuji was wearing. As she tried to undo the buttons, he protested.

“It’s fine! I’ll change myself!”

“Don’t be shy. It will only take a moment.”

Just like that, Karma activated her All-Destruction skill. His pajamas vanished in an instant, leaving him completely naked.

“Idiot! I told you to stop!”

Thwump! Ryuuji squatted down on the spot.

“What are you so embarrassed about?”

Karma tilted her head with a genuinely puzzled look. In the meantime, she used her 【All-Creation】 skill to manifest a shirt, pants, underwear, and even shoes for Ryuuji.

“Alright, let’s get you changed. Please stand up. We’ll start with your underwear.”

Karma held up the underwear and tried to put them on Ryuuji for him.

“Geez! Stop! I can get dressed by myself!”

But Karma just smiled brightly and said,

“No, Ryu-kun. You don’t have to do a thing. It is a mother’s job to dress her son.”

Karma, looking utterly delighted, held onto Ryuuji’s underwear and pulled him to his feet.

Her face didn’t look like she was lying in the slightest. She seemed genuinely happy to be taking care of him.

Ryuuji resisted, but his opponent was a Level 999 monster.

Naturally, when it came to the strength stat, Ryuuji was hopelessly outmatched. There was no way he could overpower her.

Even when he tried to escape, she would grab his arm with a firm tug, and he couldn’t budge an inch from the spot.

She happily dressed the reluctant Ryuuji. It was a morning scene that hadn’t changed since he was a toddler.

“There, all changed. Ryu-kun did a wonderful job getting dressed today, you’re amazing.”

After his clothes were on, Ryuuji immediately beat a hasty retreat from his mother.

“What do you mean, ‘wonderful job’? I didn’t do anything…”

“You stood right there, making it easy for your mother to dress you, didn’t you? That’s incredible. Not everyone can do that.”

His mother said such things with a straight face. The worst part was her complete lack of malice.

“Are you making fun of me…?” “Of course not! Why would I ever do that?!”

Karma’s face went deathly pale.

“There is no way I would ever make fun of you, Ryu-kun!”

Overwhelmed by her intensity, Ryuuji collapsed onto the floor. She was serious.

She was genuinely angry.

“You are my super precious treasure, Ryu-kun! Why would I ever, ever make fun of you?!”

As her words implied, to Karma, Ryuuji was a precious existence, more valuable than anything else.

She would never do anything to diminish him herself, and if she thought someone else was, she would fly into a serious rage.

“Hah!”

His mother, who had gotten worked up, noticed Ryuuji collapsed on the floor and came back to her senses. “I-I-I-I’m so sorry, Ryu-kun!”

Her face drained of all color, Karma knelt beside Ryuuji and hugged him.

“I’ll cast healing magic right now! 【Supreme Heal】! 【Resurrection: Raise Dead】! 【Perfect Status Recovery】!”

Each one was a highest-tier light magic (recovery) spell.

Magic that could perfectly restore HP, revive even the dead, and cure any and all status ailments like petrification.

Having consumed a god, Karma Abyss’s very existence had evolved into a transcendent magical being, capable of using every spell that existed in the world.

In addition, her MP was limitless. No matter how many top-tier spells she spammed, there was no fear of her running out of magic.

“I’m okay, Mom. You don’t have to cast so many healing spells.”

“No! I must! What if you hit something when you fell on your bottom! Oh, what should I do! Oh!”

“I’m telling you, I’m fine…”

“But! You fell and you can’t get back up! Oh, noooo, what if it’s a terrible disease?!”

(That’s not it. I just got scared by Mom’s anger and my legs gave out.)

But he held his tongue. It was too embarrassing to admit.

“Really, I’m okay… I can stand, see?”

Ryuuji steeled himself and stood up. He was still a little wobbly, but he was able to stand on his own.

Seeing this, Karma…

Whoosh… Tears began to stream down her face like a waterfall.

“Oh… how can this be…”

Karma collapsed onto the floor.

“Ryu-kun is… standing… on his own… He’s recovered from a grievous illness and is standing firmly on his own two feet… Oh… it’s wonderful…”

…

Ryuuji was utterly fed up.

(What “grievous illness”? My legs just gave out and I couldn’t stand up.)

(And what’s with bawling your eyes out with emotion just because I stood up…?)

It was this kind of over-the-top exaggeration from his mother that Ryuuji just couldn’t stand.

“This calls for a celebration of Ryu-kun’s recovery! Tonight will be a feast! Oh, but I also have to make a feast for your coming-of-age ceremony. That means we have to have a double celebration!”

Her face beaming with joy, Karma snapped her fingers.

Snap!

In an instant, an unbelievable amount of sumptuous food lined the table.

It was far more than a single person could ever eat.

“For lunch, we’ll have twice this much! And for dinner, I shall prepare a meal twice as large and twice as luxurious as that! Please look forward to it, Ryu-kun!”

As his mother threw herself into the preparations… Ryuuji sighed.

(Yeah… this is it. This… is the reason.)

The reason he had to do it.

…It wasn’t that he hated his mother. Not at all.

He was grateful to her for raising him, and there were times he was happy to receive her affection.

…But.

More than that, overpowering all of it, was her overprotectiveness, which he hated from the bottom of his heart.

He was coming of age now. He was becoming an adult, but no matter what, his mother would always treat him like a child.

She hugged him in the morning, and she wouldn’t let him change his own clothes. His mother did everything for him.

And his food, clothing, and shelter were all provided by his mother.

Ryuuji didn’t prepare his own food, his own clothes, or even the place he lived. His mother did it all.

This treatment would probably never change, not until the day he died. Right up to his last breath, his mother would take care of his every need.

(…Is that okay? …Of course, it wasn’t.)

And that is precisely why. Ryuuji had made his decision.

Today, on his fifteenth birthday.

He would leave home.

He would leave and begin living on his own.

That is what he had decided in his heart.