Chapter 8: The Goddess's True Colors

"Why... Why can't I make it right?" -sigh-

Naruto sigh and mumbled. He was sitting while resting his head on the edge of the table.

He roughly remembered how to make the noodles, and even knew most of the ingredients. Heck, miso soup was reasonably common in this world. Yet, Naruto just couldn't quite get it.

So far, Naruto was able to make a decent miso soup now, and his noodles were getting there. But whenever he tried to put it all together with vegetables and meat, the flavors were always wrong!

"You'll get it next time for sure! I just know it!"

Wiz said sportingly before getting back to tearing through her third bowl of Naruto's 'failure' ramen with great haste.

"But I don't think this is bad at all; Naruto-San is quite talented! More please!"

"Thanks, Wiz... Here you go."

Naruto said and pushed over the fourth and final bowl over to her without looking. He ended up making quite a bit of ramen that morning and decided to bring the extras to the store for Wiz who was back from her trip. So, they closed the store for a lunch break.

"You sure were hungry... It's like you haven't eaten solid food since you left."

Wiz flinched.

"Y-yes... It was quite a long carriage ride, and I forgot to bring snacks. How careless of me!"

Naruto looked up and narrowed his eyes on the gluttonous girl who suspiciously slowed down.

"I thought you said you couldn't get to that village you went to on a carriage? Don't tell me... Have you not eaten anything since you left?"

Wiz gulped her food down hard before sighing.

"Naruto-San saw right through me, huh... Because the business isn't doing too well, I've been cutting back on things to save money. I've been skipping out on one or ten meals a week..."

Naruto frowned.

'So Wiz's financial situation was that bad, he'd have to think of some ideas fast-'

"Wait, did you say ten!? Wiz, you can't seriously have been starving yourself, have you!?"

Wiz frantically waved her hands dismissively.

"I-it's not a big deal! Honestly! Because I'm a Lich, I won't die even if I starve! Though, I would eventually lose all my flesh..."

That last part unnerved Naruto as he imagined the woman in front of him as a skeleton, but he quickly dismissed the thought and returned to the matter at hand.

"But you still feel hunger, right? The feeling of being hungry all the time... I can't let the kind and honest to a fault Wiz feel like that! Besides, if Wiz's body withers away and turns into a skeleton, how else are we going to attract customers to the store?"

"I appreciate your concern, but are you complimenting or insulting me!?"

Wiz asked with teary eyes.

Naruto laughed at the girl's expression, then stood up and gathered the empty bowls on the table. It was then an idea came to him.

"I know! I'll just bring you ramen for lunch or dinner like I did today-Dattebayo!"

Wiz stood up after the blonde made such a generous offer.

"Eh? I can't possibly trouble Naruto-San to do that! You helping me out at the store for free is already too much..."

"It wouldn't be any trouble at all! I've been making too much ramen during my experiments anyway, so I'll just save you some bowls. You get fed, I get to make more ramen, it's a win-win for both of us-Dattebayo!"+

Naruto said with a wave of his hand. He then walked over to the counter and stashed the bowls on one of the shelves. He'd take them back to his apartment after they closed the shop for the day.

"Honestly... If you keep doing nice things for me like this, I might just misunderstand something..."

Wiz said and lowered her head while twiddling her thumbs, a small smile on her lips.

Naruto tilted his head to the side.

"Misunderstand what? I already told you I'm doing this because I want to help my friend."

"R-right... Of course."

Wiz said and smiled wryly. The shop keeper then sat down at the table as Naruto picked up the broom and started to sweep the entrance.

"Um... Naruto-San? If I may ask... W-why is Naruto-San helping me so much? I haven't done a single thing for you, and please don't say it was because I was nice to you!"

Naruto stopped his sweeping and smiled sadly.

"I guess... Seeing how hard you work for this store really struck home for me. You could have just given up the store when business didn't do so well, but you put your heart and soul into coming up with new plans and ideas. In the end, your debt seems to increase the harder you work, and you're too kind to ask others for help."

Naruto explained before he looked Wiz in the eyes.

"That's why I want to help you with this store. I don't want to see all your hard work go down the drain, just because of some red digits!"+

Although those red digits likely came from a little more than bad luck, Naruto kept that to himself.

Wiz averted her gaze by lowering her head again.

"I-I see... Thank you, Naruto-San. I'll be sure to repay you someday."

"You want to repay me? Learn how to make ramen that tastes like Ichiraku ramen!"

Naruto said as a joke but recoiled in surprise when Wiz was suddenly all up in his face with stars in her eyes.

"I don't know what an Ichiraku is, but I'll try my best!"

Naruto laughed nervously and gently pushed the girl out of his personal bubble.

"That sounds great, I'll teach you all I know some other time. But right now, we have more pressing matters to attend to, right?"

"Oh! Yes, of course! I'll go get some of the merchandise I brought back from my trip!"

Wiz exclaimed before running to the back room, then coming back and placing a few items on the table.

Naruto walked over to the table and picked up a scroll.

"What's this?"

"That's a magical scroll that lights up when you read the contents inside! It doesn't require any mana to use it, and it only costs ten-thousand Eris!"

Wiz explained with an excited tone.

"Oh... This one might actually sell well! There are a few dungeons fairly close to town, and people could use this when they go inside-Wait a second... How would they be able to read the scroll if it's too dark inside the dungeon?"

Naruto asked when he realized the flaw of the magical scroll, and Wiz hummed in thought.

"Hm... There is a skill that allows one to see in the dark-"

"It's useless!"

Naruto interrupted Wiz and was about to tear the defective magic item in half when the girl grabbed onto his arms with teary eyes.

"Wait! They could just activate the scroll before they go inside the dungeon! ...Although the scroll only lights up for a couple minutes, so by the time they activate it and go inside-Wah! No! It's gonna tear! It's gonna tear!"

————————————————————

Later That Day...

Kazuma walked through the streets of Axel Town with eyes void of light.

Why you ask?

"You did great distracting those toads, Darkness! Thanks to you, I was able to blast three of them at the same time! We completed our quest two times over, and I even gained a level!"

Megumin exclaimed, who was being carried by Darkness because Kazuma didn't want to be covered in mucus.

"Ah~ The feeling of being covered in the mucus of three different toads is too much..."

Darkness said with a shiver, but the redness in her cheeks and ragged breath gave away her true feelings. Although they were only noticed by Kazuma.

'I was spot on... This girl is a complete masochist.'

Kazuma thought as he watched Megumin and Darkness converse. After they completed their quest, the two hit it off and were getting along quite well. This was trouble for Kazuma because they also got along with Aqua which meant they wouldn't be going anywhere from now on.

He was stuck with these three girls.+

Usually, a guy would kill to be in a party with three good looking girls. But not these girls.

Darkness had tossed her sword to the side and jumped in front of all three of those toads that confronted them, claiming she would distract them until Megumin's spell was finished. Then, while Kazuma had somehow managed to retrieve Darkness from the toads, Megumin unleashed her spell.

The explosion drew the attention of more toads, one of which hopped over and ate Megumin since she couldn't move, and Kazuma had to rush over and help her since Darkness was apparently in too much bliss to move.

During that time, Aqua had managed to get herself eaten by a fifth toad and had been crying the whole way home.

"But I was surprised by Megumin's power as well! Who knew this town had an Arch Wizard that wielded such a powerful spell!"

Darkness said, and Megumin was now brimming with confidence.

"We should retake this quest! Next time, I'll incinerate five toads with one spell!"

"No! I don't wanna be eaten by toads anymore! I'm tired of being used as a distraction!"

Aqua wailed and turned to Kazuma.

"Tell them, Kazuma! Tell them why we can't do that quest anymore!"

'She's making me come up with an excuse for her? How annoying...'+

Kazuma thought just as they stopped in front of the local bathhouse.

"We'll meet up at the adventurer's guild after you guys wash up. I'll turn in the quest, and we can split the reward when you're all back."

That being said, Kazuma began to slowly make his way towards the adventurer's guild.

"Huh!? You're not going to tell them why!? How useless! I guess it's to be expected by the only one in the party who's not covered in slime. The NEET with the weakest job couldn't do anything other than run away until the last second to steal the kill!"

Aqua claimed and laughed to herself.+

Kazuma spun on his heel and blew his top off.

"Are you kidding me!? Who ran away!? You were completely useless this time around! You ran away the moment the toads showed up, and you couldn't even do that right because you got yourself eaten anyway!"

"Huh!? Well, maybe you should have protected your healer better! And you call yourself a gamer? Protecting the healer is the most important rule of a game! Puheeheehee!"

"Why you...!"

Kazuma was about ready to pounce on Aqua but stopped himself when he remembered the girl was covered in toad slime.

Aqua must have realized this and began to laugh at the boy tauntingly.

At this point in time, Darkness and Megumin walked into the bathhouse while continuing their conversation as their other two party members argued.

"Maybe I should have just let Naruto into my party... He may have the adventurer's job class too, but at least he could fight, unlike this useless hiki-NEET."

Aqua said and started laughing again to add extra salt to the wound.

Kazuma growled. That was the last straw, this girl needed to be taught a lesson.+

"To hell with the toad slime! Come here, you bitch!"

The angry boy yelled and pounced on the bluenette.

"Wah! Kazuma's finally snapped! Help! W-wait Kazuma! I'm sorry! Please let go of my hagoromo, Kazuma-San!"

Aqua begged when Kazuma began to pry the hagoromo from her person.

"I remember you bragging about how this thing is worth a mountain of Eris! I'm gonna sell it so that I don't have to go through any more life-threatening situations like today ever again!"

"Wahaha~! Stop it! This is the only thing I have left to prove I'm a goddess! Please don't sell it, Kazuma-Sama!"

Just as Kazuma was about to rip the hagoromo from Aqua's grasp, someone walked up to them.

"...Oi."

The two stopped and looked up to see Naruto staring at them with a concerned look on his face.+

"What are you two doing, and why is Aqua covered in slime? Did you get eaten again?"

"Yeah, she did, and this girl had the nerve to call me useless-Ah! She escaped!"

Kazuma said when Aqua took advantage of the distraction to break out of his grasp. Kazuma tried to grab her again, but he slipped on the toad mucus and fell on the ground with a thud.

Aqua scrambled to Naruto and grabbed onto his leg for dear life.

"Naruto! Naruto! This man has finally lost control! He was no longer satisfied with sniffing my hair at night in the stables and attacked me! He even claimed he would sell my most valuable possession!"

"Hey, let go! You're covered in slim-Wait, he did what now?"

Naruto said and sent Kazuma a flat look.

"Huh!? Like hell I'd get excited over sniffing this girl's hair! Hah! I don't even see her as a woman! If you've seen her sleeping habits, you would agree with me!"

He didn't deny it.

'I didn't think Kazuma was that kind of guy... I guess you really can't judge a book by its cover.'

"O-oi... Why are you looking at me with such pitiful eyes? You know this woman's personality! She'll take advantage of your kindness whenever she gets a chance, and keep doing it until you have nothing left!"

Kazuma said in a desperate attempt to keep Naruto from siding with Aqua.+

"How rude! I haven't used you at all since we came here! Naruto's treated me way better than you have, and he isn't even the one who forced me to come to this world! I should just leave you and form a party with Naruto. Maybe then I'll have a chance at getting home-"

"Huh? No way. Why would I want to form a party with you after you said all those things? That happened yesterday, ya know?"

Naruto said with a straight face, and Aqua faceplanted on the ground.

"Why!? Why can't you just form a party with me! Yesterday you were going to join!"

"Then you said all that dumb stuff about advanced job classes only, so I changed my mind."

Naruto retorted and wiped the slime off his pants. He really needed to get some new clothes...

Aqua gripped her skirt tightly and began to sniffle.

"W-why... *Sniff!* Ever since I was brought to this world, everything and everyone has been against me...! Wah~ Wahaha~!"

'Shoot, maybe I went a little too far... Now's she's crying.'

Naruto thought when the girl at his feet began to cry. With the addition of being covered in slime, Aqua's state was too pitiful.

Kazuma snickered as he watched Aqua ball her eyes out. Divine retribution was sweet.

"Hey, look over there... That girl is crying."

"She's covered in slime. What did those boys do to her?"

"They both have such mean looks in their eyes... Scary!"

Naruto and Kazuma looked at each other with wide eyes widened when they heard the people nearby talking to each other.

"N-no... You got it all wrong! I was just-Hey, Kazuma! You did this, so do something about it!"

"Me!? How is this my fault!? You're the one who made her cry!"+

Kazuma shot back when the blame was pinned on him.

"Wahhh! It's like this every day! During the day, I'm followed by this man who has an obsession with me! At night, I can't sleep because I'm worried about the other man doing weird things to me while I'm asleep! What should I do?"

""!""

Naruto and Kazuma began to sweat bullets when the stares from the people watching turned into scornful ones. They looked at Aqua and saw the girl had a smug look under her hands as she continued her act.

"Y-you little... Don't think for a second I'm afraid of retaliating from this! Your act won't fool me!"

Kazuma barked with a raised fist, and Aqua's wailing intensified along with the murmuring audience.

"Wahhhhhhh!"

"To yell at a crying girl... How cruel!"

"What scum..."

"Trash!"

"Stop it Kazuma, you're not helping! H-hey, stop crying Aqua! I'll treat you to some neroid juice when we go to the guild? I'm just about to turn in a quest so you can order as much as you want! H-how does that sound?"

Naruto offered in an attempt to make peace with the girl. Being called a delinquent was annoying enough as it was, he didn't want to be downgraded to being called a perverted delinquent!1

"Wahhh... *Sniff!* Can I order wine?"

'Th-this girl...!'

Naruto thought with a twitching eyebrow, but strained a smile and nodded.

"Y-yes! Of course! Now, go wash up, and we can go to the adventurer's guild!"+

Honestly, it was like he was talking to a child throwing a temper tantrum...

Aqua nodded and picked herself off the ground.

"I guess I'll let you off the hook this time Naruto... But you better talk some sense into that man standing next to you!"

"You seriously think I'll-Mmf!"

Kazuma was about to put the girl who was spouting such ridiculous nonsense in her place when Naruto covered his mouth.

"I will! Enjoy your bath!"

Naruto said, and Aqua happily skipped into the bathhouse to wash the slime off.

Kazuma smacked the blonde's hand from his mouth.

"What are you doing!? You're just falling for that girl's trap again! Listen, Naruto. I've been around that devil in a goddess's skin a lot longer than you have, so I know what I'm talking about when I say Aqua's taking advantage of you! You have to put her in her place before she takes it too far!"

Naruto sent his friend a devilish smile.

"Oh, I know. Which is why I'm going to teach that girl a lesson."

Kazuma grew nervous when he saw this new side of Naruto. His impression of the blonde was that he was an all-around nice guy but had a loud mouth, but this new smile spelled trouble.

"What kind of lesson...?"

Naruto began to rub his hands together, a few chuckles escaping his lips.

"That, my friend, is a secret! Fufufu..."

"Now the delinquent looks like he's plotting something."

"I feel bad for that poor girl..."

Naruto gained a tick-mark on his forehead.+

"Who's calling me a delinquent!? I haven't vandalized a single thing in this town!"

"Wah! We made him angry!"

"Run away!"

Kazuma looked at the grumbling Naruto with a mixed expression. Just what did he have planned for Aqua? Naruto was a ninja, and ninjas were assassins...

Should he be worried?