Chapter 7 – The Son’s First Subjugation Quest (Super Easy Mode)

Ryuuji, along with his party member, Sheila, headed out on an adventure.

Their destination was the 【Beginner & Intermediate Dungeon】, located a short distance from Kamiina.

This was a dungeon frequented by rookie adventurers.

Beginners flocked here because the monsters weren’t particularly difficult, yet they gave a decent amount of experience points.

…If one had to point out a single drawback, however…

It would be that there was no place nearby to replenish supplies, nor an inn to rest one’s body.

There was a small village near the dungeon.

But it was already abandoned, with no place to stay.

To use the dungeon, one had to walk a long way from Kamiina, but…

Be that as it may.

Ryuuji and Sheila arrived at the dungeon.

“It’s finally time to subjugate some monsters!”

“Yeah, let’s do our best!”

The two youths were fired up at the dungeon entrance.

Today’s request was to hunt the magical bat-beasts known as 【Small Bats】 that appeared on the first floor.

The enemy wasn’t very strong, but these bats were apparently incredibly fast.

“Hawaah, I wonder if we can win.”

The rabbit girl’s ears drooped.

plop

Ryuuji tried to act cool. “It’s okay. I’m here.”

He was just at that age.

“Wow! Ryuuji-kun, you’re so cool!”

clap, clap, clap

Sheila applauded without a hint of insincerity or sarcasm.

(This is so refreshing. Unlike when Mom praises me, this just makes me purely happy.)

Ryuuji blushed, then they set off.

The two delved into the dungeon.

Darkness spread out before them.

There was no telling where a monster might appear from.

And that… was fun.

“This is exciting, isn’t it!”

“Totally!”

The two proceeded deeper, searching for their target monster.

Onward.

Onward.

And onward…

“Huh?” “Huh?”

Suddenly, both of them stopped and tilted their heads.

This was the final room on the dungeon’s first floor.

“Hey, Sheila-san. Did you… see any bats?”

Sheila shook her head at Ryuuji’s question.

“Right?…”

“Um… Ryuuji-kun. There’s something else that’s strange.”

“Yeah… I’ve been vaguely aware of it, too.”

Ryuuji had made it this far without a scratch.

His clothes, his skin, even his weapon… not a single mark.

And for good reason.

“It’s like… there are no monsters, right?”

Up to this point, Ryuuji and Sheila hadn’t encountered a single monster.

“I wonder if something happened?”

“…Something probably did.”

At that moment, his mother’s face floated into Ryuuji’s mind.

No way… he thought, but he couldn’t shake the suspicion that had taken root.

“Wh-wh-what do we do?! If there are no monsters, we can’t complete the quest!”

“…”

It was at that very moment.

Ryuuji caught sight of a strange object in the corner of his eye.

A black, mountain-like object was piled up in the corner.

“Wh-what could that be…?”

“…Let’s go check it out.”

A bad feeling. And in his mind’s eye, a smiling mother (looking a little proud, like she wanted to be praised).

They arrived. What he had thought was a black mountain was…

“Eek…! Th-they’re bats!”

There they were, Small Bats.

And there were a ton of them.

But they weren’t flying.

…They had been gathered… in one spot.

“…”

The living Small Bats were clustered together, forming a mountain.

Looking at it closely, they seemed to be faintly charged with electricity.

…Ryuuji tried touching one of the bats.

It just gave a little zap, not enough to hurt. It felt like touching static electricity.

“This is… magnetism magic!”

The one who figured out the phenomenon was Sheila.

Her class was Mage (also known as Magic User).

She was well-versed in the ways of magic.

“Magnetism magic…?”

“Yes! It’s magic that, you know, turns the target into a magnet and makes them stick together!”

I see, their bodies have been turned into magnets, so that’s why the bats are all stuck together.

“But that’s strange… 【Magnetize: Magnetic Force】 is a supreme-tier lightning spell… It shouldn’t be a magic that someone who comes to a beginner-level dungeon can use…”

Hearing that, his mom started doing a wild dance in Ryuuji’s mind.

Mom…

It was her. It has to be.

The only person who could use supreme-tier lightning magic and who would know what we were tasked to hunt was my cheat-spec mother.

In other words…

Mom did this.

So that we could complete our quest.

She stopped the monsters’ movements by magnetizing them.

…What is this?

The difficulty level is way too low…

After all, their only strength was their speed. And they couldn’t move. This was just too easy.

“Haaaah…”

Ryuuji let out a heavy sigh.

“What’s wrong?”

“No… it’s nothing. Let’s get this cleaned up.”

That said, it was a mountain of monsters.

An extraordinary number of bats were clustered together.

“It would take forever to defeat them one by one.”

“Then shall I use my magic to do an area-of-effect attack?”

“Yeah, good idea. Let’s do that.”

They divided the roles: Ryuuji would stand watch while Sheila attacked.

Sheila took out her staff.

It was one of the items his mother, Karma, had given her before they departed.

At the end of a rugged wooden branch was a crystal that shone with the colors of the rainbow.

The mage held her staff at the ready and was about to chant the spell… when it happened.

“Huh, no way!?”

Sheila shouted in a panic.

“Get down!”

Ryuuji did as he was told and ducked.

What in the world… he thought, and in that instant—

KRA-KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!

A thousand bolts of lightning roared through the cavern.

Ryuuji was so utterly dumbfounded by this that he collapsed right where he stood.

The raging lightning reduced the mountain of bats to ash in an instant.

The lightning vanished as suddenly as it appeared.

All that remained were the magic crystal drop items you get from defeating monsters.

“Sh-Sheila-san… Don’t you think that was… a little overkill…?”

“N-No, that’s not it! I was just trying to use a normal, beginner-level lightning spell. But then… before I could even chant the incantation, the supreme-tier lightning spell 【Thousand Thunders】 activated!”

Chant-skipping. And the ability to use a supreme-tier spell that should have been impossible for her to use…

…It was obvious.

This was thought to be the effect of the staff Sheila was holding. The staff he got from his mother.

(Mom…)

And so, Ryuuji and his party completed their first quest with no trouble at all, ending in a great success.