Chapter 5: What's Ramen?

After a quick visit to the town's bathhouse to wash off the toad mucus, Kazuma and Aqua met up with Naruto at the adventurers' guild.

"So let me get this straight... Just like me, you were sent to this world by a goddess to defeat the demon king, but you're not from Japan? You do have blonde hair and blue eyes... Are you from America or Europe?"

Kazuma asked as he tried to wrap his head around the situation.

"Nope. Never heard of em."

Naruto said with the wave of his hand as he sent occasional glances at Aqua, who was fiddling with a straw paying zero attention to the conversation.

Kazuma hummed and calmly rubbed his chin in thought. He wasn't the type to overreact to something like this, especially when entities such as gods and goddess were involved. Naruto said he didn't know what Japan was, so he was expecting the guy to be from another country. But Kazuma didn't imagine the blonde to be from an entirely different world than his old one altogether.

But the possibility of the gods and goddess recruiting people from worlds other than Kazuma's home wasn't entirely out of the question.+

"Where are you from then?"

"The Elemental Nations..."

Naruto said absentmindedly while watching Aqua work on the straw, and Kazuma clearly saw this.

"Aqua, pay attention and stop distracting Naruto! This has to do with you too!"

"Don't wanna-Wah! No, I'm not finished yet!"

Aqua whaled when Kazuma snatched the straw out of her hands, and she started bobbing at the boy's head comically.

Naruto chuckled as he watched the two fight until Aqua somehow managed to retrieve her straw back.

"So I take it you're from this Japan place, Kazuma?"

Kazuma rubbed his head as he sent the priest, who was sitting next to him, an annoyed expression, then looked at Naruto and nodded.

"Yeah, but to think there really are other worlds out there besides my old home and this world. It's really just like a video game!"

Aqua stifled a laugh.+

"As expected of Kazuma who's previous life was merely that of a NEET, comparing the real world to a video game is-Hey! No, I'm sorry! Stop it Kazuma! It's gonna break! Kazuma-San!"

Kazuma let go of Aqua's strange looking straw before crossing his arms. He was getting sidetracked because of this dumb girl. If she didn't want to listen, then so be it.

"What kind of world did you come from?"

Naruto hummed in thought when Kazuma questioned him about his old home.

"I guess it was kinda like this world... But we didn't have a king, and we didn't use magic. We, ninja, use chakra!"

"You're a ninja?"

Kazuma questioned incredulously as he looked at the blonde's attire. The guy was wearing a headband with a strange symbol, but with those bright orange clothes coupled with his light blonde hair... Then there was also that bright golden energy power he used earlier.

Nope. Kazuma just couldn't see this guy being able to stealth looking like that.

Seeing the doubt on Kazuma's face, Naruto fumed.

"I-I'm really a ninja, ya know! I might look like this, but I could hide from some of the hidden village's top ninja when I was twelve! I even stole the forbidden scroll of sealing and learned a jutsu from it in one night!"

Kazuma gained a sour look. He had grown excited when Naruto had mentioned a hidden village, but that excitement was immediately shot down when he heard the top ninja of the village couldn't capture a blonde child wearing bright orange clothes.

What kind of ninjas were they training in that hidden village? How could they let something that significant fall into the hands of a child? Were they stupid?

Kazuma was beginning to doubt the man in front of him. Was this person really from a ninja village?

As if hearing the thoughts of disbelief in Kazuma's head, Naruto's ears turned red. But before he had the chance to defend his old home, Aqua held something out to him from across the table.

"Sorry for the wait, but it's finished!"

Naruto blinked in confusion but accepted the strange looking object without much thought. It looked like the straw Aqua had been fiddling with earlier, but the thing in Naruto's hands looked so multifaceted, that one could not simply call it a straw anymore.

"W-what is this?"

"It's a straw but no ordinary straw. That straw is an ancient artifact that allows the user to grant entertainment while drinking from it!"+

Aqua explained while nodding her head confidently.

'Ancient relic? Didn't you say you just finish making it?'

Kazuma thought with a sweatdrop. He wanted to retort but kept quiet since he was curious as to what Aqua had made. She was utterly useless most of the time, but this girl had a strange knack for arts and crafts.

"What does it do?"

Naruto asked as he continued to look at the supposed straw in his hand. Upon further inspection, it had the shape of a person, which baffled Naruto. The straw had only been a couple inches long, so how did Aqua manage to make this thing?

"Fufufu... Order us some more drinks and find out!"

Aqua said with a gleeful look and finished rest of the drink Naruto had ordered for her earlier.

After Naruto called for the waitress and had her bring them more drinks, he stuck the straw into his neroid juice and drank from it.

"W-wha... How is that even possible!? Aqua, you... This is actually amazing!?"

Kazuma exclaimed and looked at Aqua with a shocked look.

Naruto's eyes were wide as well. He swallowed his beverage and looked at Aqua in awe.

"How did you make something like this!?"

Aqua soaked in the compliments with a smug look of self-satisfaction.

"It's amazing, right? You can praise me more!"+

When Naruto drank from the straw, the neroid juice gave it a yellow appearance, and they were able to see what the shape was more clearly. The straw seemed to be shaped like Naruto, and it looked like he was in his golden chakra form due to the yellow nature of the beverage.

But something like this should have been impossible with a regular straw.

Shaking his amazement away, Naruto put his drink down.

"Thanks for this, but why?"

"To thank you for the drinks... Of course, that artifact is probably worth one-hundred drinks! So I wouldn't mind if you treated me to a couple more."

Aqua mumbled, before adding the last bit haughtily.

"R-right..."

Naruto said and looked at Kazuma, who merely shrugged. Aqua was a lot different than Naruto had imagined her to be. When he first saw her at the cemetery, and how she had so elegantly purified the ghost, she looked like a kind girl with a gentle personality. A classic personality for a priest.

But, boy was he wrong.+

'Oh well, this Aqua isn't so bad. She may have a weird personality, but I can't really hate her for that. Plus, she seems to get along just fine with Kazuma.'

Naruto thought as he watched Aqua call for a waitress, and his smile disappeared.

Kazuma watched Naruto's facial expression change from troubled to a look of acceptation, but then it went back to troubled again when Aqua told the waitress to put the bill for the drinks she had just ordered onto Naruto's tab.

Did he just accept Aqua's personality?

No no no. That was no good. As someone who had spent an entire week with the girl, Kazuma just couldn't let his kohai fall into that trap.

'Aqua's the kind of person that takes advantage of other people's kindness. Naruto seems like the kind of guy who would fall for such an easy trap. So, as a kind and thoughtful senpai would do, I can't let that girl take advantage of him.'

Kazuma thought while staring at the goddess(lol) who was getting drunk off of booze in the afternoon with a look of disdain. She was even being treated by the person that saved her...

"Neh, Kazuma... *Hic!* Why are looking at me like I'm some hopeless problem child? I haven't done anything wrong... *Hic!* Yet..."

Yet?

Kazuma bowed his head slightly to Naruto apologetically, and the blonde merely tilted his head in confusion.

After Aqua got sick from drinking too much and ran outside, Kazuma told Naruto that they would be doing more hunting quests for the guild and that they would probably see each other more often before chasing after the bluenette.+

The reason they hadn't seen each other at the guild at all was because of the nature of the construction work that Kazuma and Aqua had been doing. The two would wake up at dawn, and finish by sundown.

Naruto stood up and was about to go turn in his quest from earlier when he was stopped by a waitress who was smiling at him with a smile that almost seemed apologetic. As he wondered why the girl was looking at him that way, he remembered the bill.

"Ah, right..."

Naruto grumbled and reluctantly pulled the Eris out of his wallet. The cost of the alcohol that Aqua had ordered was the same as an entire reward from one of his solo hunting rewards...

That was the last time he was treating that girl to alcohol.

'You see brat, gods and goddesses are nothing but trouble. You should just forget about that woman and go to the next town already.'

'And leave Wiz behind with all that debt? Not gonna happen.'

Naruto told Kurama and walked towards the receptionist desk.

"H-hello Naruto-San! Thank you for your hard work today!"

Luna cheerfully said when Naruto stopped in front of her desk.

"Of course! You can leave any of the unwanted quests to me, Luna-Chan!"

Naruto said in a voice loud enough for the rest of the guild hall to hear, and he could already feel the heated glares from the other adventurers on his back.

Luna's smile became a bit strained when she noticed the tears in Naruto's jacket.

"M-my goodness! You look like you had a rough time all by yourself, Naruto-San. I remember suggesting that you should form a party..."

He had her on the ropes.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and laughed wholeheartedly.

"Yeah, it seems I underestimated those Venis-flytraps! One nearly chomped my arm off! Hahaha!"

"..."

One final pull-

"Too bad my favorite jacket is ruined, but I guess it's better than losing my arm and potentially my lif-"

"I'm sorry I didn't properly warn you!"

Naruto stopped midsentence when Luna suddenly shouted.

"...Eh?"

Luna bowed her head and continued.

"I had a feeling you didn't know about the abnormally large Venus-flytraps in this area, but you just left, and I thought you would be okay since your stats are so high!"

"W-wait, it's not a big deal-"

Naruto said in an attempt to stop the girl who was starting to break character, but Luna just kept yelling with teary eyes.

"But then I started to worry that Naruto-San wouldn't come back, and it would be all my fault! But all I could do as a receptionist is wait here and pray for your safety!"

"..."

Naruto fell silent as the stares around him began to turn into scornful ones.

"Now Naruto-San probably hates this irresponsible receptionist who makes such dangerous assumptions-"

"I'm sorry Luna-San! You don't have to apologize anymore!"

————————————————————

Naruto sighed as he walked down the street towards Wiz's magic shop. Luna had completely turned the situation around in her favor, and Naruto couldn't do a thing about it...

The power of a woman's tears was frightening.

Walking up the steps to the store and opening the door, Naruto saw Wiz in the back organizing some of the merchandise on the shelves.

Wiz didn't seem to notice him, and Naruto didn't want to surprise her while she was handling such dangerous potions, so he leaned against the door frame to wait until she was finished.

Naruto grinned when Wiz began to hum peacefully, the scene in front of him just seemed to fit. This clumsy shopkeeper may have atrocious business tactics, but she enjoyed what she was doing, and Naruto didn't want to see that happiness torn away from her.

When Wiz was seemingly satisfied with her work, she turned towards the front of the little shop and jumped in surprise.

"N-Naruto-San!?"

"Sorry, I was afraid you would drop a potion if I startled you, so I kept quiet. You should really get a bell for the door."

Naruto said and pulled the table from the corner of the store to the middle of the room.

Wiz pouted with puffy cheeks. If her heart was still beating, it'd probably be throbbing right now.

"Honestly... You shouldn't tease a girl like that. We may look cute and helpless, but take it too far, and you'll be sorry."

Naruto laughed and took a seat at the table.

"I believe you. Now then, what can I do to help?"

Wiz smiled, remembering the things Naruto said earlier that morning and tapped her chin in thought.

"Hm... Could I ask you to sweep the front of the store? While you're doing that, I can tell you about some ideas that I've come up with!"

Naruto nodded and looked for the broom, spotting it behind the counter. Grabbing it, he started sweeping the front of the store. While he was cleaning, a nostalgic smile stretched across his features.

"This kinda brings back memories, ya know? I used to sweep for an Ossan's shop for my favorite food when I didn't have any money."+

"Really? What kind of food was it?"

Wiz asked as she grabbed a notebook she'd been jotting her ideas on.

"Ramen, of course!"

Naruto said with a toothy grin.

'Man... I haven't had ramen at all since I came to this world. Maybe tonight I'll ask the waitresses if they have-'

"Eh~ What's ramen?"

Wiz said with her head tilted, and Naruto face-faulted.

Supporting himself on the broom, Naruto looked at Wiz with a crooked smile.

"Um... Noodles, miso soup, you know? Ramen? The food of the gods?"

Wiz tilted her head the other way and hummed.

"Mmmm... Nope! Even back in my adventuring days, when I traveled all over the country, I've never once heard of such a food."

At that moment, Naruto's blood ran cold. He had been so caught up in learning about the world he was in that he hadn't even thought of the possibility...

That this world might not even have ramen.

Wiz, oblivious to Naruto's twitching form, began to flip through her notebook.

"So, the first idea I came up with was ordering a specially made set of magic items. I know an Arch Wizard from the Crimson Demon Village who-"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"Wahhh!"