4 Chapter 4: Leaving The Town of Beginners?

"Hey, did you hear? Apparently, that guy named Naruto is leaving town."

"Seriously? Must be searching for a challenge. That guy doesn't really seem like a beginner adventurer."

"Right? It's no wonder he doesn't talk to anyone other than Luna-San and the waitresses."

Naruto frowned as he heard such things from his spot in the corner of the adventurer's guild. People were always the same, judging someone before they even got to know them.

But that didn't matter since he would be leaving the next morning anyway.

Naruto drank the last of his favorite neroid juice and stood up. He really needed to learn how to make that stuff.

'Well, I better go tell Wiz I'm leaving tomorrow Dattebayo.'

The clumsy shop keeper was the only person Naruto could really consider a friend in this town, and he had been visiting the shop every day since meeting her. Luna had been kind to him, but even Naruto could tell she had mostly been using him to get rid of all the quests the other adventurers didn't want to do. But he knew she didn't mean any harm and wouldn't hold a grudge by any means.

He had yet to see Kazuma or the Arch Priest that had saved him the other night, but Naruto decided that it was probably for the best. If he kept making friends in this town, then it would only make it harder for him to leave.+

Naruto was brought to this world to defeat the demon king, and he wouldn't be able to do so from the town that was farthest away from the goal.

Taking one last look at the guild hall he had grown accustomed to this past week, Naruto was hit by a wave of emotions. Despite him being alone the entire time, this place sure felt homey.

After looking around the guild with a lonely expression, Naruto left some Eris on the table and walked towards the exit.

"I'm off."

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"Welcom-Oh, Naruto-San!"

Wiz said and cheerfully waved to the familiar blonde who had just entered her store. It was still early in the morning, and she was just opening the shop for the day.

"Hey, Wiz. Whatcha got there?"

Naruto asked as he took a seat at the table in the middle of the room.

"Ah, this... I-it's nothing! I was just about to send a letter to a friend!"

Growing suspicious, Naruto stood and walked towards the girl who had instantly responded with such a blatant lie.

"Heh~? Who might this 'friend' be? I thought Wiz said she didn't have any friends outside of town?"

"Naruto-San, that's too mean! It's true that I said that, but hearing it from someone else is... Huh-Wai-No! Don't read the letter!"

—After reading the contents of the letter, Naruto looked down at Wiz who was in seiza and fidgeting nervously.

"Wiz... Is the shop not doing well?"

"...I've been dealing with red digits this month. That last shipment didn't do as well as I thought it would for some reason..."

Wiz said with teary eyes, and Naruto sweatdropped.

No. That should be expected when selling such weird and expensive items in a town full of beginners.

Naruto didn't have much experience in business, but even he could tell the adventurers of this town wouldn't be able to use most of these magic items, much less afford them.

"That letter is for the bank to ask for more time... I took out a loan for I thought I would make a big enough profit with this merchandise that it would clear the loan, as well as this month's red digits... But there's no need to worry! I made an order for an item that I know will sell!"

Wiz continued with a determined looked in her eyes.

"Wh-what would that be?"

"A set of potions that boosts one's stats for a short amount of time! But as a side effect, the drinker will become paralyzed from the neck down for a couple minutes."

'S-stop... It's too pitiful...'

"I'm sure the adventurers will make good use of these potions! Now then, I'll go make some tea!"

'...This girl is too honest.'

Naruto thought with a sweatdrop as Wiz left to go brew some tea. If this went on, that girl would surely lose the shop. Being one of the few people that had been kind to him in this city full of strangers, Naruto couldn't let that happen.

This brought Naruto to one conclusion, and he stood up just as Wiz walked back into the room with their tea.

"I guess I have no choice... Until you get back on your feet, I'll help out with the shop Dattebayo!"

Wiz placed the tea on the table and looked at Naruto in surprise.

"Eh? N-no, I can't ask Naruto-San to do something like that! You don't have to worry about me, I have a plan! Besides, I-I wouldn't be able to pay you..."

"If you're worried about paying me, it's no big deal. I've got enough Eris from solo hunting these past couple days to last me a month or two. Besides..."

Naruto said and scratched his cheek awkwardly.

"I can't just leave a friend of mine while they're in trouble..."

"Naruto-San..."

Wiz said with teary eyes before she grabbed his leg and sobbed.

"Wahahh! Naruto-San is too kind!"

"W-woah! That's dangerous Wiz! I almost bumped into the shelf with the explosive potions!"

Naruto said as he pried the brunette from his leg.

Leave it to one of the only ties that he had in this town to keep him from leaving. Naruto had initially come to the store to tell Wiz that he was going, but ended up offering to help out in her store. Figures.

'Pushover.'

'Shut up.'

————————————————————

Having decided to stay in town for a while longer, Naruto paid his landlord for another week's stay. He then walked to the adventurer's guild to take on his daily quest. If he was going to be helping Wiz for free, then he'd better stock up on some Eris. So he told Wiz he that would quickly finish a quest and then come back to the shop to help.+

'You're too soft, Naruto. You shouldn't have meddled in that useless shopkeeper's business. Instead, you should have left this worthless town. We have a goal, remember? To show this world what a true demon is!'

'Whose goal is that? Anyway, don't call Wiz useless. I don't know what came over me earlier, but I couldn't just leave her like that.'

Naruto thought as he entered the adventurer's guild. He didn't quite understand it, but whenever he saw Wiz, there was just something about her honest personality that made him want to help her. Maybe it was because she was so determined to help the adventurers in town with magic items?

"Well, it's too late to back out now. I promised to help Wiz get out of the red zone, and Uzumaki Naruto keeps his promises!"

...

"No."

"Eh?"

Luna blinked.

Did Naruto just... Refuse to do a quest? In the short time that she'd known the man, she had come to learn that Naruto flat out refused to back down from a challenge. No matter how hard, tedious, or cumbersome the quest sounded.

So to say Luna was surprised to hear that word coming out of Naruto's mouth was an understatement.

Seeing the clear look of confusion on Luna's face, Naruto crossed his arms and sighed.

"There's a reason for this, but I can't accept this kill quest."

"I-is that so...?"

Luna said with an awkward smile before shuffling through her notes.

"Then how about this one? It's a fetch quest that requires the gathering of five Venus Hearts. A Venus Heart is the fruit a Venus-flytrap produces after a long period."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. A Venus-flytrap? Did she mean those tiny houseplants one kept near a window and closed their mouths when you touch them? Iruka had one of those things in his apartment, and would always yell at him when he touched their mouths for some reason.1

"Sounds easy enough. Now, where can I find them?"

"U-um... You can find Venus-flytraps in the forest south-west of the town. But they are a very rare encounter, and finding one with fruit is even more uncommon."

Naruto hummed in thought.

"I see... So that's why the other adventurers don't want to take this quest. It sounds like it could take a while."

He planned to help Wiz with the shop later that day, and it was still early in the morning. If he hurried by using Shadow Clones, he should be able to finish the quest by noon.

"W-well, you have a couple days to complete the quest. So take your time and be careful."

Luna said nervously and looked as though she wanted to say more about the quest, but she wasn't given a chance when Naruto suddenly turned towards the exit and waved.

"I'll be back later, see ya Luna-Chan!"+

Luna sweatdropped when the other adventurers sent heated glares at the shinobi as he left the guild. Was he doing that on purpose?

But she was relieved when Naruto said he decided to stay, even if it was only for a little longer. Despite him not getting along with the other adventurers very well, his tenacity to complete quests every day was having quite a positive impact on them.

Hence the reason why the only kill quest left this season was hunting toads since it was their mating season.

————————————————————

Standing in the middle of the forest just outside of town, Naruto crossed his fingers.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

In a series of 'poofs!', a couple dozen clones popped into existence.

Facing his small army, Naruto pointed towards the deeper parts of the forest.

"Alright everyone, you know what to do!"

"""""Oh~!"""""

The clones mock saluted before dispersing into the forest.

Grinning in satisfaction, Naruto began to walk through the forest by himself. With the use of his Shadow Clones, this search quest was going to be a piece of cake!

—After a couple minutes of searching, Naruto slowed to a stop when he suddenly felt a couple of his clones dispersing.+

'Weird... Most of the monsters in this area should have been cleared out by adventurers. Did they already find the fruits?'

Just as the memories of the clones came back to him, a dark figure loomed over Naruto's form. He could hear the bushes rustling softly behind him. Daring to turn around, Naruto came face to face with the largest Venus-flytrap he had ever seen.

The giant of a plant opened its jaws, and Naruto got a glimpse of a glowing object in the back of its mouth before he was forced to jump away.

Landing in a tree, Naruto stamped his foot on the branch angrily.

"What the hell is this!? How is that a Venus-flytrap!? That's a goddamn man-eating plant!"

Figuring that complaining wouldn't do him any good, Naruto pulled out a kunai and channeled some wind chakra into it. Man-eating plant or not, he's dealt with much worse.

The Venus-flytrap opened its jaws and made a hissing noise that sounded like it was roaring.+

"Bring it on you stupid plant!"

Naruto roared back and pounced on the carnivorous plant.

————————————————————

By the time Naruto managed to collect the five Venus Hearts, it was half-passed noon.

'Luna-Chan has some explaining to do...'

Naruto thought with a twitching eyebrow as he looked at the tears in his jacket. As much as he disliked the idea of wearing something else, he needed some new clothes.

During the search, Naruto had somehow ended up closer to the western entrance to the town. This was the entrance Naruto tried to avoid the most due to the frequent giant toad sightings. Due to his pact with the toads of Mount Myōboku in his past life, Naruto refused to kill the giant toads.

Ma, Pa, Gamakichi, and the chief toad Gamabunta. He missed the toads he had spent so much time with.

In fact, he almost cried when he saw fried toad meat on the menu back at the adventurer's guild.

As Naruto trekked the open plain towards the town in the distance, he suddenly felt a familiar energy signature. Scanning area for its source, Naruto spotted a giant toad.

Standing in front of the toad was...

"Oh! It's that Arch Priest!"

Naruto said as a wave of excitement washed over him. But that feeling died in an instant when the blue-haired priest was suddenly inside the giant toad's mouth.

————————————————————

"Aqua!"

Kazuma screamed as he ran towards the giant toad that had just eaten his partner. Stupid useless goddess(lol) getting devoured right after boasting like that!

But now that the toad wasn't moving, he'd be able to strike it and...

It all happened in an instant.

Kazuma had blinked when he reached the toad and was about to strike with his short sword, and when he had opened his eyes again, there was a man shrouded in golden energy with strange black markings standing between him and the toad.

The golden man's arm flickered, and Aqua, along with the contents of the giant toad's stomach, erupted into the air.

By the time Kazuma stopped and widened his eyes, Aqua had fallen into the man's arms bridal-style, and the toad was half-way across the field.

"...Who-BLEGH!"

Kazuma was about to ask who the person was when he was covered by the toad mucus that had erupted from the monster along with Aqua.

—Feeling a warmth that was different from the toad's stomach, Aqua fluttered her eyes open.

"Hey, you okay?"

"!"

Aqua's eyes shot open when she heard the stranger's voice and noticed that said person was holding her.

The only reason she wasn't freaking out was because the person had such a calm expression. His golden features were bright like the sun, and his red-orange eyes had a warmth to them that made her feel safe. At that moment, Aqua felt as though she was being carried by a fellow god.+

"Y-yes... Thank you..."

Aqua said and bashfully averted her gaze, her heart fluttering.

Kazuma, who had been watching the whole time on the ground while covered in toad mucus, tilted his head to the side. Aqua, the girl that was as obnoxious as a rooster in the morning, stubborn as a mule, and dumb as they came... Looked like that? Who was that cute girl? Where could he find one!?

"U-um... Can you put me down?"

"O-oh! Yes, of course!"+

When Aqua was on her feet, she didn't dare look up.

Kazuma, deciding he'd seen enough of this strange Aqua, stood up and made his presence known by roughly wiping the toad mucus from his clothes.

"Thank you for helping us, but who are you?"

Kazuma said, and as if noticing him for the first time, the golden person blinked in surprise.

"Kazuma!?"

"Yes, I'm Kazuma."2

Kazuma said out of reflex when the person shouted his name and pointed at him. Did he know this strange glowing man? What was with that glowing-ness anyway?

"It's me! ...Ah! You probably don't recognize me in this form."

The man said and the golden energy that surrounded his form faded out of existence.

Kazuma instantly recognized the person.

"Oh! Naruto!"

Naruto grinned when he was finally remembered.

It was then-

"AHHH! This energy I'm sensing... A devil!"

"Wah!"+

Aqua suddenly started shouting nonsense and pounced on Naruto.

"Aqua! What are you doing to the person that just saved you!?"

His words falling unto deaf ears, Kazuma sighed.

"Kazuma! This person is a devil!"

"Eh? No, wait-"

"I couldn't sense it a second ago for various reasons... But this man reeks of demonic energy!"

"L-let me explain-"

"The devil king must have known I was here and sent this man to seduce me! It almost worked, but luckily the great me saw right through your trap! How dare you play with the feelings of a sensitive maiden!"

"...What?"

Aqua, who was now straddling the very confused Naruto, made such outrageous claims.+

...Almost? Sensitive? These were the questionable words that were floating in Kazuma's mind as he watched the scene in front of him unfold. What happened to that cute girl from just a second ago?

"I-I'm not a devil..."

Naruto said meekly as he averted his gaze from the girl who was straddling him while wearing a very short skirt. His arms were being forced to his sides by Aqua's thighs, so the only thing he could do now to was look away.

"See! He looked away! That means he's lying!"

Aqua roared and began to shake Naruto by the collar.

"No, he's looking away for another obvious reason..."

Kazuma said with a sweatdrop. He needed to put an end to this. Otherwise that idiot of a goddess(lol) would continue to misunderstand this situation and take things too far.+

"What we saw was probably his hax power. You know, the thing you said I could have brought to this world? To think, I made the mistake to choose you as my thing..."

'Hax power?'

Naruto thought with a raised eyebrow. Did he know about Kurama? First the initial fee for the guild, and now this. Just how much did Kazuma know about him?

"Listen Kazuma, continue to disrespect a goddess by calling the great me a thing, and you will receive divine retribution."

"Hold on a second,Erm....Aqua? I really am human... I'm not lying! I'm telling the truth, I promise!"

Naruto frantically said when the girl turned her angry gaze towards him again. He knew full well what happened if you made a girl angry, and did not want to make this girl in front(top) of him any more upset than she already was.

"Oh yeah? Well then, shall we put that to the test? If you truly are human like you say, then you won't be affected by my Sacred Purification!"

Kazuma, who was about to smack Aqua upside the head, held his hand in thought. Usually he'd stop such a stupid test, but when Naruto isn't affected by the spell Aqua will give up on this nonsense on her own free will. No headache needed.

"Huh?"

Naruto said, not understanding what the girl was about to do.

Aqua, who was still sitting on top of Naruto, raised her hand and said a short prayer. The same magic circle Naruto saw that one night at the graveyard appeared and an enormous amount of energy began to flow into it.+

"Sacred Purification!"

Kazuma shielded his eyes when the holy magic consumed them all.

When the light dimmed down, Aqua confidently looked down and expected to see a pile of ashes. But what she didn't expect to see was Naruto, very much still alive, and staring up at her with a mixed look of confusion and embarrassment.

As if she just realized the position she was in, Aqua scrambled off the blonde and pointed at him with a shaky finger.

"I-I-I don't know how you managed to avoid being purified, but mark my words-Ack!"

Aqua held her head in pain when Kazuma suddenly smacked her.

"Alright, that's enough you stupid girl. Can't you see Naruto wasn't affected by your spell in the slightest? He's not a devil, so get that through your thick skull already."

Naruto stood up and laughed awkwardly as he dusted himself off. Now that that was over with, maybe he'd finally be able to talk with these two normally.

'...Naruto. Give me control of your body so that I may teach that self-proclaimed goddess THE TRUE MEANING OF SUFFERING!'

'Kurama!?'

Naruto thought to when he heard the fox's demand. Come to think of it, he did hear someone shouting when the spell was being casted... Kurama, being a demon, must have been affected by Aqua's spell.+

"Aha! I can sense a great deal of malice coming from this man. Stand aside, Kazuma! This time I'll-Ouch!"

Aqua started shouted obnoxious things even after all of that, so Kazuma smacked her on the head again before turning to Naruto.

"What was that glowing power? Did you get it from a god or goddess?"

"...Yeah, something like that. I have a nine-tailed fox demon named Kurama sealed inside of me, and I can draw from his power. But how did you know?"

Kazuma nodded, a knowing smirk on his face. Aqua probably forgot about their little bet, but he would make sure to remind her that he won.

"This may come to a surprise to you, but I am also from Japan! I too died a heroic-"

"-comical-"

"-death!"

....

While Kazuma was giving Aqua a verbal lashing which ended up with them in a minor scuffle, Naruto tilted his head in confusion.

"What's Japan?"

Kazuma and Aqua, amid their little battle, stopped and looked at each.

"...Neh, Kazuma? Does this mean I win the bet?"

"Hell no!"