3 Chapter 3: A Mysterious Priestess Appears
After a couple days of solo hunting, Naruto sat at the bar with a cup full of something called 'neroid juice.' It was what the waitress had recommended since he didn't want alcohol.
Having completed a silver wolf hunting quest by himself on the first day, Naruto had earned enough money to rent out a nice apartment for the week. He then went on a couple more monster hunting quests to save up for the trip he was planning to take to the next town, his eventual goal being the demon king's castle.
The other adventurers appeared to be avoiding him for some reason. Perhaps it was because he chose the adventurer class to spite them? Or maybe they were wary of him because of the time that he had wiped the floor with a certain delinquent adventurer who had picked a fight with him when he called the head receptionist 'Luna-Chan'?
Naruto shrugged as he took a sip of the surprisingly delicious carbonated beverage. So what if he didn't make any friends in this town? It wasn't something he wasn't used to, and he didn't plan on staying very long anyway.
Speaking of which, he had yet to see Kazuma again. Which was disappointing because Naruto wanted to pay the guy back before he left.
'I could always look for the guy, but what good would it do if Kazuma's in the middle of working? I can't just interrupt and get him in trouble just to say thanks...'
Naruto was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Looking back, he found Luna smiling at him.
"Are you done with your quest for today, Naruto-San?"
"Yep, I am. What's up Luna-Chan?"
Luna smiled wryly, remembering the uproar Naruto had caused in the guild when he first called her that. Not that she particularly minded. Naruto seemed like a nice guy, and it saddened her whenever she saw him sitting alone. He had even completed a handful of durian* quests on his own free will.
*A/N: 'Durian' quests are the jobs that are avoided like the plague. It's named after a smelly fruit that tastes good. lol
Whenever Luna brought up a durian quest around the other adventurers, they would quickly avert their gazes. So when she saw Naruto accept a durian quest, AND complete it, she immediately jumped at the chance to ask him to finish more of them.
Speaking of which...
Luna lightly clasped her fingertips together and smiled apologetically.
"Could I trouble you for another favor?"
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Later That Evening..
Naruto found himself standing in the middle of the town's cemetery. According to Luna, a larger than usual amount of undead were spawning. She said that it was likely the presence of a Zombie Maker, which was an evil spirit that possessed and controlled corpses.
As the temperature began to fall with the setting sun, an eerie mist began to rise alongside the moon.
A bead of sweat formed on Naruto's brow as he stood in the middle of the steadily increasing darkness. Alone.
Naruto had dealt with zombies before, what with Kabuto and his usage of the Reanimation jutsu during the war. But the idea of an evil spirit that couldn't pass on.
Would he even be able to do anything about it?+
'I don't have Shukaku's chakra anymore either, so no sealing jutsu...'
'What? Are you scared of a couple undead?'
'O-of course not! This setting is just a little... Unsettling.'
Naruto thought just as he heard the sound of dirt crumbling behind him. Something seemed to be coming out of the ground, and a hand broke free and reached into the air. Then another hand broke out of the dirt right next to him, and Naruto stepped on it with his sandal when it tried to grab him.
Like a scene straight out of a horror movie, more and more hands and eventually entire torsos began to rise from the earth.
'There's a lot of them... But it's nothing I can't handle!'
Naruto pulled out a kunai and got to work. He zipped through the undead that tried to grab him, all while chopping their heads off with precision.
How did he know how to kill a zombie? He saw it in a movie once back in the Elemental Nations as a kid when he used to sneak into the theatres.
Just as Naruto killed the last one, he heard a soft chuckle. Looking around for the source of the laughter, Naruto whirled around and spotted a floating figure holding a lantern.
It looked like a skeleton wearing a cloak, only its lower half was gone as it hovered through the air.
'That must be the Zombie maker!'
Having found his target, Naruto ran towards the cackling creature with his kunai in hand.
The evil spirit noticed the shinobi at the last second, but it only had time to make a surprised screeching sound as the dagger went right through its head.
"...Eh?"
Naruto blinked as he stared at the surprisingly expressive Zombie Maker, with it staring right back at him with an equally surprised look. Naruto began to sweat bullets.
His kunai had merely phased right through it.
Realizing that it wasn't in any real danger, the Zombie Maker cackled some more and flew right through Naruto's body.
A cold shiver crawled down Naruto's spine. That was a feeling he never wanted to feel again...
The jinchuuriki turned around and watched as the evil spirit flew deeper into the graveyard.
'This is going to be a long night...'
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"Why are we in this creepy cemetery? I'm tired from working at the construction site! I wanna go back to the guild and drink with everyone!"+
Aqua complained as she was unwillingly dragged through the cemetery.
"If you have the energy to complain, then you can work! The head receptionist said that this would be a good starting quest for us as adventurers because you were an Arch Priest, and I couldn't just deny a favor from that pretty Onee-Chan either."
Kazuma said while ignoring the scornful look Aqua was sending him. The pretty receptionist had personally asked HIM to complete the quest, so it had to be one of those events that he'd been craving for ever since coming to this world!
Even if Aqua would technically be doing all the work...
"Besides, this is our first real job as adventurers! You're an Arch Priest who claims to be a goddess(lol), and our opponents are undead. Theoretically speaking, this quest should be a piece of cake!"
"Wahhh~! Don't wanna! I'm fine with just being a construction worker!"
Kazuma's eyebrow twitched as he stopped to turn around and look at his companion, who had fallen to the floor and started rolling around like a toddler throwing a temper tantrum.
"You... Stop whining and get to work, you useless goddess! Didn't you want to go home the other day!? Fine. Do a good job, and I'll treat you to that neroid stuff you said you wanted to try the other day."
Aqua stopped crying and looked up at Kazuma with a hint of suspicion in her eyes, as though she thought Kazuma was only saying that to get her to work.
"I'm not lying, okay? This quest has a pretty good reward, so you'll get your half, AND I'll treat you to that neroid stuff. How does that sound?"
"...Fine. But what will Kazuma do? Surely there isn't anything a beginner like you can do against the undead."+
"Oh, me? I'm staying here. I don't want to accidentally mess up your exorcisms."
"You're right, a NEET like you would only get in my way! Very well then! I'll show you the true power of a goddess!"
With that said, Aqua ran off into the cemetery.
'Where did all those complaints from earlier go...?'
Kazuma thought before he noticed something on the ground, and yelped when he saw it was the decapitated head of an undead. Looking around, he noticed there were more heads and bodies scattered around the cemetery.
"...Could it be that someone's already here? ...Nah! After all, the pretty receptionist Onee-Chan entrusted this quest to me! Ahahaha-AHHHHHH!"
Kazuma boasted before screaming like a little girl when a headless undead tugged on his pants.
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'There's no end to these guys, and I can't hit that stupid spirit with any of my attacks!'
Naruto thought as he cut down another undead for the umpteenth time, all the while avoiding the evil spirit who was trying to phase through his body again. Who knows how many he killed, he had stopped counting after fifty! Just how many corpses did this town have!?
'If nothing else works, I'll just use Kurama's chakra and-'
'Try using my power against such a weak foe, and I will mince you.'
Kurama stated darkly which caused Naruto to flinch, but the blonde quickly recovered and growled.
'Why!? I can probably hit this thing if I use your chakra!'
Naruto thought as he moved out of the way when the spirit attacked him again.
'Sucks to be suck.'
'You stupid fox!'
Naruto looked for a place to hide so he could come up with a better strategy. Finding a spot, he threw down a smoke bomb and body-flickered away.
The Zombie Maker waited for the mist to disappear. Seeing the blonde's absence, the ghost chuckled and left to create more undead. But upon turning around, it froze with a look of complete horror.
'Okay... Weapons and ninjutsu don't work, and Kurama's being stingy with his chakra. What other options do I have?'
Naruto thought from his spot behind a large tombstone. He then peaked out to see where the Zombie Maker had gone only to see that it hadn't moved. Wondering why it went stagnant, he quickly noticed that a person was standing in front of it.
It was a girl, perhaps the most beautiful girl Naruto had ever seen. She had blue waist-long hair that was tied up in a loop at the top, and she wore blue thigh-high boots and an extremely short dress. This woman's looks were clearly at the level of a goddess.
She almost reminded him of Eris...
But what captivated Naruto the most was the girl's eyes, which were a deeper blue than even his. They were calm, yet determined at the same time.
Naruto was pulled out of his awestricken thoughts when the woman spoke.
"Forsaking the laws of the gods... And raising the dead for your selfish desires..."
Naruto shielded his eyes when a bright magic circle formed above the girl's head, and he felt his heart skip a beat when he saw the already beautiful woman showered in a heavenly aura.
'This energy... No doubt, that woman is...'
Kurama said with an annoyed tone of voice before he closed his eyes to get back to napping.
'A goddess...'
Naruto thought with a gaping mouth as he watched the girl, who was surrounded in a holy aura, complete her exorcism.
"As the Goddess of Water, Aqua, I lay you to rest! Sacred Turn Undead!"
The Zombie Maker screeched in pain at first. But as the light consumed its form, it gained a peaceful expression before evaporating completely as its soul passed on to the next world.
As the light faded, Naruto couldn't help but stare at the goddess before him in awe.
The blue haired girl let out a sigh before turning around and walking off into the night.
After hearing nothing but silence for a while, Kurama opened an eye and noticed that his retainer was staring into space.
'...You okay, brat?'
Naruto blinked, quickly snapping out of a trance.
'Wha-Oh, yeah. I'm fine...'
Naruto then stood up and came face to face with a transparent woman.
"Eh?"
"Ah..."
The two stared at each other for a couple seconds before they both screamed.
"Waahh! It's another ghost!"
"Kyaaah! It's a delinquent shamelessly playing around in a graveyard!"
...
"Hey, I'm not a delinquent!"
"And I'm not a ghost!"
Naruto deadpanned as he stared at the brown-haired woman in front of him. Her skin was clearly transparent, and he could almost see right through her! Without a doubt, this person was a ghost.
"If you're not a ghost, then why can I almost see through you?"
The woman looked like she was about to answer when she suddenly collapsed to her knees.
Acting instinctively, Naruto leaned forward to catch the woman and found that he could touch her...
Weird.
"H-hey, are you alright? And why can I touch a ghost?"
"I... I am not a ghost! Ugh...! That woman that was here just a second ago... She released an extreme amount of holy energy. I thought my existence was going to fade away..."
Naruto frowned as he helped the lady back to her feet. Ghost or not, he couldn't stand seeing a girl in pain.
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Y-yes... I need... I need..."
The girl started mumbling and caressed Naruto's cheeks, causing the blonde to blush.+
"Eh? N-wh-wait!"
Naruto stammered when she started to pull his face closer to hers. What was she planning to do!? They only just met! Was she planning to kiss him right here and now!?
Then, just as their lips were about to touch...
"I need energy..."
"Gahhhhhh!"
Naruto felt a stinging sensation in his cheeks where the woman was touching him, and he felt his energy being drained.
"..."
"I-I-I'm so sorry! I thought I was about to disappear, and you so kindly offered to help... But that doesn't excuse me using Drain Touch on you so suddenly!"
The woman, whose name Naruto now knew to be Wiz, frantically said as she bowed for the umpteenth time.
Naruto looked down at the girl with a grumpy look on his face. That wasn't why he was angry. No, he was irritated because his feelings had been toyed with. Unintentional or not, you don't just go around making a guy think that you're about to kiss them like that.
"I really thought you were going to..."
"Huh?"
"I-it's fine! I don't mind if it was just a little of my energy being drained."
Naruto finally said to stop the poor girl from prostrating herself in front of him and looked around the shop he had been brought to. Apparently, it was a magic item store that Wiz owned in the corner of the town, and there were various magic items on the shelves.
"That much energy was nothing for Naruto-San?"
Wiz said and looked up with teary eyes. Though it was true that she felt a vast amount of magical energy emitting from him, even if he was concealing most of it.
"Yeah, it's fine really. So please get up... Anyways, I'm surprised a lich is able to open up a shop in a town full of adventurers."
Naruto said as he browsed through the merchandise.
"No one else besides Naruto-San knows my true identity... If people knew I was a lich, it would surely cause a riot... But I don't do anything that harms people, so please don't tell anyone!"
Wiz said after standing up, only to immediately bow again.
Naruto sweatdropped as he thought of a way to handle the situation. This woman was honest to a fault, which was something that he wasn't used to dealing with.
"F-for now, please stop with all the formal stuff! I promise not to tell anyone, okay?"
Wiz looked up and smiled brightly.
"Thank you, Naruto-San."
"S-sure..."
Naruto said and scratched his check awkwardly. Growing a sudden interest in all the magical items, he grabbed an object off the shelf and showed it to Wiz.
"Hey Wiz, what does this item do?"
"Oh, that? It's a potion that explodes upon being thrown or caught on fire."
"!"
Naruto carefully placed the potion back on the shelf. What a dangerous item to just casually have on the shelves... One wrong move and the entire neighborhood was gone.
"What about this one?"
Naruto asked after grabbing a trinket from one of the baskets near the front of the store.
Wiz clasped her hands together excitedly.
"I just had those shipped in! That one allows the user to use a lightning spell! But it consumes a lot of magic and breaks after a couple uses.2
"Oh, that could be pretty useful. How much is it?"
Naruto asked, and Wiz beamed.
"Doesn't it? It's 100,000 Eris!"
'S-so much!'
Naruto thought and placed the item back into the basket where he found it. It was probably a lost cause, but he decided to ask anyway.
"Anything you recommend for a solo hunter?"
"Oh! Naruto-San is a solo hunter? Then, I would recommend this!"
Wiz walked across the room and came back with a small wooden box in her hands.
"This is a monster repellant music box. You wind it up it before you go to sleep and it will keep the monsters away all night! The effects only last for twelve hours, and it costs 200,000 Eris."
...
"Guess I'll go home. See ya, Wiz."
"W-wait! Why are you leaving after looking at my merchandise like that!?"
Wiz said with teary eyes and grabbed onto Naruto's sleeve to keep him from leaving.+
After promising the airheaded store owner he'd come back another day, Naruto retired for the night.
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The Next Day...
'Who was that girl? She took out that ghost that I couldn't even hit in an instant. Maybe I'll ask her to teach me that skill if I ever see her again...'
Naruto found himself thinking about the blue haired girl he saw the previous night as he drank his new favorite beverage, neroid juice.
What was a girl like that doing in a cemetery in the middle of the night? She was obviously an Arch Priest, and Naruto faintly remembered her saying something about a goddess named Aqua.
But there was no way a goddess was here in this world, right? From his talk with Eris, he assumed the gods didn't want to directly interfere with human affairs.
After all, what would be the point of sending people with powerful gifts to defeat the demon king if the gods could just do it themselves?
Maybe that girl was a person from another world, and sent here with a gift from the gods like he was?
As Naruto was trying to figure out the identity of the beautiful priestess, he heard a low rumbling sound in the backside of his mind.
'What's so funny, Kurama?'
'Nothing. I just find it amusing that you've become so infatuated by that woman who saved your sorry ass from a ghost last night.'
'H-hey! I'm not infatuated with her! I-I was just wondering who she was is all... And besides, you didn't do anything to help with that ghost either! If you only just let me use your chakra, I could have-'+
'Sure sure, whatever you say..."
Naruto grumbled to himself as he chugged the remainder of his neroid juice in one go.
'This stuff really is good though... I wonder how they make it?'
"Naruto-San?"
"Eh?"
Naruto looked up and saw the familiar sight of Luna smiling at him, though her smile seemed a bit strange.
"Ah, sorry Luna-Chan. Did you need something?"
"That's okay. How did your quest go? I didn't hear back from you last night, and I got a little worried..."
Naruto nearly smacked his forehead. He forgot to check back in with Luna to tell her what had happened. Because of that whole thing with Wiz, it completely slipped his mind.
"Sorry, but I failed the quest..."
"Eh?"
Luna seemed to be surprised by his answer, and Naruto nodded his head solemnly.
"Yeah, I couldn't hit that stupid ghost for some reason. Then this Arch Priest showed up and defeated it, but I don't think she even noticed me at all and left... So you can go ahead and give the reward to her."
Naruto explained while scratching his whisker marks awkwardly.
'Even though I went to the trouble of sending the both of you on the same quest... But I guess that's why Kazuma-San was demanding the entire reward.'
Luna thought before she sighed. Naruto and Kazuma had completely opposite personalities.
"That's okay, that priest is a member of the guild. I'll give her the rest of the reward later."
Luna had given Kazuma the quest so he could meet up with Naruto. She had deliberately sent the two on the same quest because Naruto had been asking her about Kazuma and how he wanted to pay him back.
She was worried about Naruto who was always solo hunting, and Kazuma seemed like the closest thing Naruto had to a friend in town and figured that the two might form a party if they met up again.
How they didn't see each other during the quest was a headache that Luna wasn't willing to figure out.
Naruto's eyes widened slightly as Luna walked back to the reception desks. So that Arch Priest was a member of the guild... Then that would mean that the likelihood of bumping into her was high.
'Heh...'
Ignoring the noisy fox, Naruto gestured towards one of the passing waitresses.
"Another neroid juice over here, please!"
