A/N: Revised as of 3/27/2024.

Adventurer's Guild…

"Phew… I'm glad that's over with."

Dust said as he leaned forward onto the cool bar counter. After he went after the leader of the hooded men, they had an epic fight. The boy was sure that he made quite an impression on everyone who had witnessed his glorious victory.

At the battle's conclusion, Naruto ran back to town and came back with the authorities.

"I can't believe that guy was aiming for Lynn… He was such a nice guy too, unlike a certain someone. I still have a lot to learn."

"Right? I guess it goes to show that you really can't judge a book by its cover. Unless it's that guy."

Taylor and Keith, the two male members of Dust's original party, muttered while looking at the delinquent adventurer.

"Why do I get the feeling you're talking about me? Bah, that can't be. After all, I just saved their sorry asses. If it weren't for me, those creeps would have gotten Lynn and taken her to a secluded place to treat her like royalty for the rest of her life."

Dust proclaimed with his nose held high. After all, he had defeated their leader.

"When you put it that way, maybe going along with those guys wouldn't have been such a bad idea. Especially when you consider the fact that you used me as a shield to gain the advantage in your fight with their leader."

Lynn commented with a neutral expression, causing the blonde adventurer to sweat profusely.

"How do you know that!? I-I thought you were asleep the whole time!"

"You just told me."

"!"

Dust winced when he stepped into the now frowning girl's trap. Lynn really knew the way his thought process worked it was almost kinda scary. But seeing as she wasn't going to press on, or fire magic at him, he decided to hastily change the subject.

"By the way, Boss. I gotta question for you. I really appreciate your help this time around, but there's no denying that there's something suspicious about you."

"Hm? What do you mean I'm suspicious?"

Naruto, who had been watching the group's interactions from a nearby table with Yunyun, asked with a crooked smile. How could Dust of all people claim that he was suspicious? He was the very definition of suspicious.

"I've been meaning to confront you about this for quite some time now, but you're the reason that all of those rare and powerful monsters keep showing up, aren't you?"

Dust claimed while pointing an accusing finger at his fellow blonde, earning a few strange looks from the other three.

"W-well, you see… I have an incredibly high luck stat, ya know? Also, stronger monsters are attracted to powerful entities, right Yunyun… Ah."

Naruto stuttered and turned to the mage of his party for help, but the girl was fast asleep with her head rested on the table. Maybe it was best to leave her be...

"Don't bother asking that kid for help, Boss. It's because of something she said that made me realize something was off, so, out with it! What are you doing to make those dangerous monsters appear?"

Dust further questioned, and this time Naruto hunched over in defeat.

"Alright, you got me… I bought a magic item that increases the chance of encountering rare and powerful monsters. Its effects are amplified by the user's luck."

The shinobi admitted while pulling out the necklace from under his vest.

"Y-you… You had such a dangerous item on you this whole time!?"

Dust shouted, drawing even more attention on their group with his raised voice. With that high Luck stat of his, it was no wonder they had so many rare and ferocious encounters!

"So that's why Naruto was able to find all of those Nido-Rabbits…"

"I heard he fought an Abominable Snowman with Kazuma's party sometime back too…"

"Sheesh… Don't you think that guy's a little too strong for this town?"

Naruto scratched at his whisker marks as he heard the whispering adventurers. He was already used to people talking about him like this, but at least it wasn't anything too negative this time around.

But the way Dust was reacting was kinda strange. Wasn't he overreacting a little?

"Sorry I didn't say anything earlier… I just wanted a bit more of a challenge on my quests since Luna-chan didn't let me go on the harder ones. But don't worry, I'll take it off from now on! In fact, I won't be needing it anymore since we're going on that Griffon and Manticore quest next!"

Naruto exclaimed with a cheeky grin on his face.

"I quit."

. . .

"Eh?"

Naruto's smile cracked when he thought he heard Dust say something strange.

"Sorry, I think I may have something in my ear… What did you say, Dust?"

"No, I'm the one who's sorry Boss… After what just happened today with Lynn and those hooded weirdos, I came to the realization that my old party really needs me. So, as much as it pains me to say it, I'll be taking my leave today. Thank you very much for everything that you have taught me thus far, Boss!"

Dust shouted with a formal bow unbefitting of his reputation, or rather, maybe it was befitting of his reputation. After all, he did treat Naruto like a mob boss.

"…"

Naruto was at a loss for words. In all honesty, he thought that Dust would have followed him to the ends of the Earth for whatever reason, so he was genuinely shocked to hear that the guy wanted to quit.

'I almost want to say no, but…'

Naruto thought as he pondered back to the reason that he'd invited this troublesome fellow into his party in the first place. Dust wanted him to teach him to be a lady-killer like him, having heard the rumors.

'Wasn't he the one who started those rumors in the first place?'

Kurama asked, and a tick-mark formed on Naruto's forehead.

'Right, but I decided to help him change for the better. Besides, all those rumors are long forgotten now.'

'Is that so?'

'…'

Now that the fox mentioned it, did this guy change at all since then?

"Oh, so now you want to come back to our party. What makes you think that we'll just welcome you back with open arms?"

Lynn huffed with her hands over her chest.

"Oh, come on Lynn… Is that any way to talk to the handsome adventurer who saved your life?"

Dust asked while patting the girl on her shoulder playfully.

"…Dust."

Naruto finally said, earning his fellow blonde's attention.

"When we first met, you were a troubled boy who cared about nothing but his own gain. But what I see now, standing in front of me, is a man who deeply cares for his friends. I have nothing left to teach you."

It was clearly a lie, but this was the best course of action. Naruto decided that he was better off leaving the troublesome fellow with his original caretaker, Lynn. So all he could do now was give the guy a thumbs up and pray that he took the bait.

"B-Boss… T-thank you very much!"

Dust cried out with manly tears leaking out of his eyes.

"We can still go on quests together every once in a while, too! Just make sure to leave that troublesome magic item home."

"In other words, you want Naruto to bail you out of your debt when the loan sharks start knocking."

Lynn retorted while rolling her eyes.

"H-hey now… Is that how you really see me? I truly cherish everything that the Boss has taught me! Besides, none of the loan sharks in town will lend me anymore money."

Dust shouted defiantly, but Lynn remained unconvinced.

"Is that so? What did Naruto-san teach you then?"

"He taught me that the best way to a woman's heart is her stomach-Gah!"

Dust started but was quickly taken out with a "thwack!" to the head by a long staff.

"There is no such thing!"

Lynn barked before centering her gaze at Naruto as she held her mage's staff threateningly, and the shinobi raised his hands innocently.

Naruto sighed as he walked down the streets of Axel by himself, his party now reduced to three members, including himself.

He didn't know why, but the roads seemed a little bigger than usual.

'Aren't you forgetting someone?'

'You know, I still haven't forgiven you for taking over my body while I was asleep… Who knows what you did?'

'Feh! I had one plan, and one plan only. To rid this world of all its evils, and one of those evils is currently sitting in your room eating all of your snacks.'

Kurama snarled at the mentioning of the "Goddess of Mooching".

Naruto sighed again, but he decided to drop it. He was kind of at fault for neglecting his tailed beast partner for so long anyway.

Well, there's no use worrying about it now. Lynn seems like she would be able to handle Dust.

'Guess I better tell Cecily and Yunyun… Ah, I forgot about Yunyun again. She's probably still asleep in the adventurer's guild anyway.'

Naruto thought and smilled bitterly. He wondered why the girl was so tired today.

Opening the door to his room, Naruto found Aqua in the exact same spot that he had left her. She was laying on his bed on her stomach, with her feet swaying in the air casually.

Upon seeing his return, Aqua's face lit up and she sprang upright.

"Oh, you're back! What's for dinner?"

He was feeding her dinner? Or rather, why hadn't she gone home yet? Didn't her party still have a debt to pay off?

Naruto held back a groan at the thought of having to cook for someone else right now, but the cheerful smile on the goddess's face made short work of those negative emotions.

'…I guess it wouldn't hurt to feed her dinner every once and a while.'

The blonde thought while scratching at his whisker marks, a small smile growing on his lips.

"Alright! Tonight's course is an Uzumaki special! Prepare yourself, Aqua!"

"Oh! I don't know what that means, but it sounds promising!"

Aqua chimed and plopped down on a chair at the small dinner table, placing her hands on her chin as she happily watched Naruto make his way around the tiny kitchen.

A good ten minutes later, and Aqua had a steaming hot bowl of ramen in front of her.

"…W-what is this?"

"Hehe… It's the Uzumaki-Style Deluxe Ramen!"

Naruto responded in an almost bragging manner, his hand rubbing his chin gleefully. He half expected the girl to jump for joy, as he was quite proud of this bowl of ramen.

Aqua stared at the noodles and gulped as the smell of the broth and the meat entered her nose. But that wasn't all, the food's presentation was phenomenal.

The noodles were entirely covered by various toppings and placed in an orderly fashion. Sheets of seaweed, a split boiled egg, bean sprouts, chopped green onions, and a cute little fishcake on the side. But on top of it all, nine perfectly thin pork slices were all lined up and ready to be picked up one-by-one.

"H-how could a bowl of junk food look and smell so good?"

"Junk food? No no no… This is the food of the gods! Besides, it has vegetables."

Naruto corrected while nodding sagely.

"F-fufu… So you've finally acknowledged that I'm a goddess? Very well then, let me, a goddess, be the judge of this so-called 'food of the gods'!"

Aqua proclaimed as she split the chopsticks Naruto had provided. Then, she carefully pinched some noodles and brought it up to her mouth…

"T-thish ish…!?"

The girl's eyes shot open when the flavors that were compacted into the noodles overloaded her senses.

The noodles were firm, and yet, they had absorbed just enough of the broth to make a perfect balance.

As Aqua was enjoying the taste of the soup by itself with her spoon, her eyes fell on the pork to which she eagerly snatched up with her chopsticks, all before plopping the slice into her mouth.

"MmHmmm…!"

The pork all but melted in her mouth. It was one of the most delicious meats that she had ever eaten, even comparable to the expensive lobster that Darkness's family had provided them the other day.

"Hehe… See? The food of the gods."

Naruto chortled with a foxlike grin as he watched the priestess wolf down her noodles with a glazed expression. It reminded him of the first time that he had introduced Wiz, and later Yunyun, to his favorite food.

"When I first started, I had trouble with the vegetables since they're alive in this world for whatever reason. But once I leveled up my cooking skill to the max, those suckers were no problem at all-"

Slam!

The shinobi was interrupted mid-sentence when Aqua slammed her now empty bowl on the table and stood up.

With her bangs covering her eyes, it was hard to tell what she was thinking. That was… Until her shoulders began to tremble.

"N-Naruto-san!"

"!?"

Naruto had to step back when Aqua stumbled out of her chair and crawled over to him on her hands and knees. She then grabbed onto his pants, all while sobbing as she looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.

"Naruto-saaaan! I'm sorry for the way I've been treating yoooouu!"

The goddess cried as she clawed at the boy's pants.

"W-huh? What?"

Naruto blundered with his words, his arms raised to the air as he tried to comprehend what was happening.

Aqua was apologizing!? Did he accidently mix alcohol into the soup?

"I'm sorry for all the means things I said to you, and spreading those rumors with that delinquent, and pranking Wiz by putting a seal on the front door of the shop! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

The girl wailed as she sobbed into his now soaked pants.

'What should I do!? I have no idea why Aqua's cry-Hang on. Aqua just said something I can't ignore. A couple of things, actually.'

'I say we drown her in that ramen of yours… Keh! Imagine a goddess of water drowning! Now that's a laugh!'

'No! I would never drown someone in such a sacred soup!'

'So you agree that we should drown her?'

'N-no!'

Cutting off the mental link with the fox for now, Naruto calmed himself by taking a deep breath. He needed to calm the girl down, or it would cause trouble for the building.

"Aqua… I've long since forgiven you for all those things-"

Mostly.

"-but hearing you apologize means a lot. Trust me."

Naruto reassured her with a smile as he placed a hand over the girl's head. Thankfully, this managed to calm the girl down.

Aqua looked up with teary eyes and sniffled.

"R-really? You don't hate me?"

"Of course I don't hate you! I mean, treating to wine all the time was a little troublesome for Kaeru-chan… But I wouldn't have done that if I hated you!"

Naruto blurted out without thinking when the girl started sniffling again, and he was forced to look away when his face negan to heat up. Sheesh… What was he saying all of a sudden?

"I-I see… So you don't hate me…"

Aqua stuttered and lowered her head. For some reason, hearing him say that made her feel bubbly inside. Did he mix alcohol in the broth?

Just then-

"Naruto! Aqua-sama! I brought… Ah."

Cecily barged into the room with a bag in her hand. But upon seeing the blonde, and his hand rested on a mop of blue hair at his waist…

"Sorry to interrupt…"

The Axis Cultist cooed as she slowly closed the door.

"W-wait! It's not what you think!"

Naruto screamed in a vain attempt to clear any misunderstandings, his face turning all kinds of red. But all he could hear were a bunch of giggles from the other side of the door.

. . .

"Hey, can I have another bowl of 'The Food of the Gods'?"

Aqua suddenly asked with eager eyes.

It took a second, but Naruto blinked when he realized that this girl clearly didn't know how to read the mood. But maybe that was a Blessing right now.

"Sure…"

He resolutely decided to ignore the sudden increase of giggles that were emanating from the door.

A/N: So Dust leaves the party... Also, looks like Naruto maxed out his Cooking skill... I guess that's why he was able to make authentic ramen so quickly~

See you in the next one!

Spirit Out!

Interlude: A Busy Day for this Shy Mage

Mere minutes before the sun rose, Yunyun stepped out of her room fully dressed in her adventuring gear.

'Alright! Today I will do extra to help Naruto-san with Kazuma-san's debt!'

With that thought in mind, she ran down the stairs and out the inn's front doors into the cold, snow-filled outside. The guild should be opening soon, so she had to hurry and get a good quest!

After the events of trial, Yunyun realized that she was still too inexperienced. So she decided to take on a solo quest while Naruto was at Wiz's shop in the morning. She would complete the quest and be back in time to go on a second quest with Naruto when he showed up at noon!

But her plan immediately hit a curb when she found that the adventurer's guild was still closed.

'That's weird… I could have sworn that the guild opened at this hour. I used to come here this early every day to wait for Naruto-san before he introduced me to Wiz-san.'

Yunyun thought as she stared at the locked door when a voice came from behind.

"Ah, is that Yunyun-san? Sorry, I'm a couple minutes late, I'll open the doors right away!"

Luna walked up to the doors with an apologetic smile as she fumbled with a keychain.

"N-no! Thank you for all your hard work!"

Yunyun replied with her head held low as the guild lady opened the door, and the two walked into the empty tavern.

During the day, the place was jam-packed with rowdy adventurers. But in the morning, it was so quiet. Not a single sound could be heard other than their footsteps on the stone floors.

Yunyun followed Luna to the back of the guild.

After taking off her heavy winter coat, the receptionist placed a box onto the counter with a heavy thud before smiling at the Crimson Demon.

"It's been a while since you showed up so early. Did come to help me sort documents again?"

"A-actually, I-"

Yunyun stuttered before catching herself.

Wait. If she helped Luna, who was one of the people that Naruto spoke very highly of, then wouldn't that be indirectly helping Naruto?

"Y-yes! What can I do to help?"

Two hours later, Yunyun was on her way to the towards the front gates.

'The guild lady really is an amazing person…'

Even with her high intelligence stat, those documents were quite difficult to sort.

But with a quest in hand, she had five hours to complete it and be back at the guild in time to meet with Naruto for their quest!

'Let's do this!'

—Another two hours later, and Yunyun was on her way back to the front gates.

The quest was quite simple, just locate and obtain some rare stones. With the book that Luna had given her, Yunyun was able to identify the stones in a reasonable amount of time.

"K-K-Kazuma Satou-San! Do something!"

"W-what do you want me to do!? There are way too many frogs, and not enough bait-I mean people! Damn that Aqua! Where did she run off to!?"

Hearing the screams of familiar people, Yunyun looked to the left of the town's front gates to find Kazuma and the policewoman who had arrested Naruto running from three giant toads. There was a fourth toad in the distance with something red inside of its mouth.

'Ah! Megumin is being eaten by a toad!'

Yunyun began to chant her signature spell, Light of Saber, when a thought occurred to her.

If she saved Megumin, then that would mean she would have no right to refuse a dual!

But it was strange… She knew why Darkness wasn't here, but where was the Arch Priest that always argued with Naruto?

Oh well, that didn't matter right now. It was time to earn a win over Megumin!

"Eww… I can't believe Megumin covered me in toad mucus…"

Yunyun moped as she dragged her slime-covered form towards the bathhouse.

After saving Megumin and the others, she had challenged her rival to a dual. Megumin agreed, but only if it was hand to hand combat…

By the time that Yunyun had realized her mistake, it was already too late and Megumin pounced.

But everything was okay! Even though she wasn't able to get a win over Megumin, she still had time before it was noon. She would take a bath and then head over to the adventurer's guild.

"Ah… I'm tired…"