A/N: Revised as of 4/9/2024.

Just outside of Keele's Dungeon, two girls stood a couple feet apart from each other. They seemed to be having a faceoff, each not moving a muscle as they awaited their opponent's first move.

"You're still the monster I remember you to be, Cecily-nee… But I won't lose this time!"

"Just hearing you call me Cecily-nee amplifies my power tenfold!"

It was nearing the evening, and Megumin decided that she was tired of being treated like a doll by Cecily. So, she challenged the older girl to a duel.

The loser would have to do whatever the winner demanded.

Megumin would obviously place a restraining order on this deranged woman, but if she lost… No, it was best not to think of such scary things.

A bead of sweat made its way down the Crimson Demon's cheek. It rolled down to her chin and fell, passed her staff, towards the grass at her feet.

The moment the droplet hit the ground-

"You're mine-!"

"Manifest, my madness-!"

"AAAAHHHH!" x2

Before the two girls could even move, Aqua and Kazuma exploded from the dungeon's entrance before collapsing onto the ground.

Megumin and Cecily gave each other a look and decided to put their match on hold. Walking up to the collapsed duo, Megumin poked Kazuma's back with her staff as if she were checking to see if he was still alive.

Aqua seemed fine, other than the fact she was crying. But that much was normal.

Noticing the rather heavy looking sack on Kazuma's back, Megumin assumed that the dungeon exploration was a success. But one thing seemed out of place, and the way Kazuma was averting his gaze didn't sit well with her stomach.

"Where's Naruto?"

"We were attacked by an overwhelming number of monsters on our way out… Naruto sacrificed himself so that Aqua and I could escape with the loot."

Kazuma muttered through gritted teeth as he covered his eyes with a quivering arm.

Megumin's eyes drooped. There was no way that somebody who could go toe-to-toe with the Winter Shogun and blow up the Mobile Fortress Destroyer would lose to a couple of monsters in a low-level dungeon.

But before Megumin had the chance to retort, Cecily fell to her knees.

"No way… How could my darling perish in a dungeon and leave me behind… and without leaving any life insurance for me to collect!?"

"What a horrible thing to say! Actually, does this world even have life insurance!?"

Kazuma jumped to his feet and barked. He had almost forgotten that Naruto also had his own share of troublesome characters to deal with.

No, wait. Dust was no longer in his party, so that was one less idiot he had to deal with. Plus, he still had that cute mage, Yunyun.

…Hang on, didn't Naruto have it rather good compared to him? Just that competent mage alone would make all the pain that Kazuma had to go through in this world worth it.

"Hey… Why are you looking at me like you got the sour candy out of a mystery pack? Is there something that you'd like to say to your party member?"

Megumin growled when Kazuma's expression towards her twisted into a distasteful one.

"Ah! Something's coming out of the dungeon! Did a monster get passed Naruto!?"

Just then, Aqua scrambled to her feet and hid behind Kazuma while pointing towards the entrance to Keele's Dungeon.

At the mouth of the dungeon, a slumped shadow slowly made its way into the light. Its crimson colored legs stepped out first, followed by its blood-stained torso, bringing forth a powerful stench of blood.

Without a doubt, a monster was making its way out of the cave.

"Kukuku… Hehehe…"

The red figure's ominous laughter sounded out.

This triggered a series of reactions from the group.

"Waaaah! Kazuma-san! Do something!"

"D-don't worry, Aqua-sama! Kazuma-san and I will protect you!"

"I-it's okay if I blow it up, right? Right!?"

Aqua, Cecily, and Megumin wailed as the monster continued to come into the light.

"H-hey, let go, Aqua! Cecily! Don't hide behind me while you say that! Also, stop chanting Explosion, Megumin! Are you trying to kill us all!?"

Even in the face of such a horrifying creature, Kazuma couldn't help but shout at his group for their irrational behavior and word choice.

'Though I say that, I don't know what to do… Aqua and Cecily are useless in a fight, and the monster's too close for Megumin's Explosion…'

What was keeping Naruto so long!? Did he really bite the dust in there?

'…Huh?'

Just as Kazuma was about to bank everything on Naruto, he noticed something strange about the crimson monster. Its head just came out and into the light, revealing the "monster's" rather goofy expression.

"Naruto?"

The moment the shinobi's name left Kazuma's mouth, the rest of the group stopped freaking out for a second, if only to get a closer look.

"Oh! It is Naruto! Why are you all covered in blood? You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Aqua shouted when she saw that it was in fact, Naruto. The boy was covered head-to-toe in monster blood, gore, and other unspeakable things.

"Hehe… Sorry. Are you alright, Aqua-chan? I took care of all the scary monsters."

Naruto replied while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, his blood-soaked hair making a sloshing sound as he did.

'Stop it! That's too gross! Wait… Chan?'

Kazuma grimaced at the sound Naruto's hair was making when he suddenly realized the strange honorific that the ninja had added to his party's useless Arch Priest.

"Oh, looks like you managed to carry the treasure Keele gave us-"

"Please don't come any closer. You smell worse than toad slime."

Megumin suddenly interjected the shinobi and put a hand up to emphasize her words, with Aqua plugging her nose and nodding her head behind.

Naruto stopped and looked at his red-stained cloths when his eyes suddenly widened. A feral grin growing on his face as an idea came forth.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. Yunyun was telling me you two had a competition the other day."

"Geh…!"

The Crimson Demon flinched when Naruto suddenly brought up something unnecessary.

"Yeah… I recall her telling me that you challenged her to a martial arts contest after saving you guys from some toads. You were covered in toad slime at the time, so Yunyun forfeited the match, but..."

"…"

Megumin averted her gaze, beads of sweat trailed down her face as the shinobi inched closer and closer. She turned to Kazuma for support but was quick to find that her party leader would give her no such thing.

'You reap what you sow.'

Kazuma thought, his expression more than enough for the girl to comprehend his intent.

. . .

"Revenge for Yunyun!"

"NOOOOO! STAY AWAY FROM MEEEEE!"

Naruto and Megumin decided to wash off the monster guts at a nearby stream before heading back to town. Once they had arrived, of course, Megumin and Aqua had insisted on going to the bathhouse first, so Kazuma went to the guild alone to turn in their loot while the rest properly washed up.

"Why'd you come with me? I'd expect that you wouldn't miss the opportunity to bathe with Megumin."

Kazuma asked Cecily, who was standing next to him while they waited for Luna to measure their loot's value.

"Unfortunately, I was banned from entering the bath with Megumin after what happened last time. As to why I followed Kazuma-san, well, someone has to make sure our share is evenly distributed~!"

Cecily chirped with her tongue sticking out playfully.

'Even though you didn't even do anything…'

Kazuma thought with thin lips. But he was curious about that "last time" she mentioned. Perhaps he could bribe her with a larger share…

"Alright! I have successfully evaluated your haul, Kazuma-san. Including your quest's reward, along with the treasure you brought back, after the guild service fees, of course, your total amount comes to about two and a half million Eris!"

Luna declared and placed a ticket regarding their reward amount onto the counter.

"T-two and a half…!?"

Kazuma stuttered and swiped the ticket off the counter to confirm the amount. This was almost enough pay off the rest of their debt, and in one quest too!

"We look forward to your continued service, adventurers!"

Luna added with a formal bow before walking off to resume her daily duties, leaving the shell-shocked Kazuma to gawk in the middle of the reception stalls.

'T-two… Ah! But wait! How is that gold-digging Aqua clone going to react!?'

Kazuma thought and turned to sneak a peek at the Axis Cultist. But to his surprise, Cecily was simply standing next to him with a gentle smile on her face. Honestly, this girl sure was cute… Just like Aqua. If only their personalities weren't so twisted. It was a complete waste.

"…You're not thinking about convincing me to give you a bigger share?"

"Of course not. Megumin and I didn't do anything, right?"

Cecily responded while tilting her to the side.

Kazuma continued to eye her, but oh well. If she didn't have any ulterior motive, then that was fine-

"But it goes without saying that Aqua-sama and Naruto-san should receive most of the reward. I'm fairly confident that they did most of the work, no?"

"!"

Kazuma felt like slapping this priestess in the face.

Who was she to make such baseless allegations!? Sure, Naruto and Aqua may have killed most of the monsters…

But they were also the reason those monsters attacked in the first place!

"W-why does it matter to you if Aqua and Naruto get a bigger share anyway?"

That's right! This woman didn't gain a thing provoking him like this!

"My mission is to make sure Aqua-sama can live a carefree life. Having money definitely brings one happiness, wouldn't you agree? Also, if Naruto-san also has a lot of money, then I will be able to live a carefree life as he takes care of both of us for the remainder of our luxurious days~!"

Cecily blurted out her true intentions while clasping her rosy cheeks and muttering things like "darling!" and such.

"…"

Once again, Kazuma was at a loss for words. Was this woman alright in the head? No, wait. Did that mean that she knew about Aqua's true identity?

'I guess it doesn't really matter… The Axis Cult probably plans to just observe Aqua quietly.'

But at least he didn't have to worry about a mob of crazy cultists chasing after him anytime soon.

"Hey Kazuma, how'd we do?"

Naruto asked as he, Megumin, and Aqua walked up to the receptionist stalls where Kazuma and Cecily were still standing. Instead of his adventuring attire, Naruto sported his old orange pants and a casual white shirt.

Deciding to show off, Kazuma smirked and rubbed his chin gleefully.

"Heh… Two and a half million."

"!" x3

The newcomers' jaws dropped upon learning of their absurdly large reward.

—A few minutes later…

"Another drink for the lady!"

"Yay!"

Naruto shouted while waving his hands in the air to catch a waitress's attention, and Aqua cheered from her spot beside him. The two of them were currently dancing on one of the tables, celebrating the success of their quest with an ever-growing crowd encompassing them.

With the money that Naruto and Yunyun had been collecting the past couple days, they had already earned about half of Cecily's debt alone, and with the rewards from their recent adventure, they managed to pay off the debt and still had a decent amount for each of them to split.

Thus, it was time for a celebration! They were now debt-free!

It was too bad that Dust had gone on a quest-Er, more like was forced to go. Naruto wanted to brag about the loot that they had scored on their quest, but Lynn said that Dust still owed her money, so she forced Dust to join her and the rest of their party for a quest.

It was quite the comical show as Dust was pretty much dragged out of the guild by his party members as Naruto started the party.

"Can I have some too? Can I?"

Megumin asked with upturned eyes since Aqua and Darkness never allowed her to drink any alcohol back at the mansion. Maybe Naruto would let her have some since he drank a few himself.

"Hehe… nope! A little brat like you wouldn't be able to… Hic! Handle such strong stuff!"

Naruto knelt and snatched the girl's hat so he could ruffle her hair, much to the mage's annoyance. It wasn't hard to tell that the shinobi was drunk, but he still wouldn't allow such a young kid to drink.

"S-stop it! First, you cover me in god knows what after I pleaded you not to, and now you're going to treat me like a kid!?"

The Crimson Demon complained as she snatched her hat back after fixing her hair, earning a hearty laugh from the clearly drunk shinobi.

"Now now, Megumin… You'll be able to drink with Cecily and me when you get older~! Too bad Cecily had to go to the Axis church, but it's nice to have such a devoted child as a follower... Ah, more fried toad over here please!"

Aqua chimed in with a flushed face of her own before she proceeded to continue with her party tricks. She tossed a blue hand-fan over her shoulder and caught it on her heel before a spray of glistening water started squirting out from the object.

This seemingly impossible trick caused an uproar in the crowd.

"S-sniff…! You're going to order more of that stuff!? How cruel, Aqua-chan! Those poor toads probably had families!"

Naruto sniffled, his drunken mood taking a sudden turn. Aqua angled the fan on her foot to make it look like the water was pouring out of the blonde's eyes, earning a roar of laughter from their audience.

"Don't talk nonsense, Naruto. Here, you should try some! The meat is a little tough, but it's delicious!"

Kazuma held a fried leg out to his friend. Usually, he'd be asking how Aqua was spraying water out of a paper fan, but he was just too drunk and happy to care right now.

"I can't…! It's just too sad!"

Naruto wailed and covered the tears that were now raining from his eyes.

During that moment, the doors to the guild opened as a tired looking mage with singed twin-tails dragged herself inside.

Dragging herself to the reception stalls with a trail of smoke following behind, the girl carefully placed a large sack onto the desk.

"Quest… Complete. Ten salamander eggs…"

"Thank you very much, Yunyun. With these salamander eggs, our mage crafters will be able to use the shells to make fine heating magic items for the larger buildings in town. This should last them for the rest of winter!"

Luna said with a formal bow. With the adventurers still having their reward money from the Dullahan reward, the number of salamander eggs being retrieved essentially became zero, which meant that the quest givers, the magic item makers, couldn't make decent heating magic items for indoor use.

"Honestly… Without you and Naruto-san doing all of these quests during the winter, we might have been in trouble this year. I truly appreciate all of your help."

"N-no! It was no trouble at all! I was lucky and found a large nest right away! It only took longer than I thought because I was surprised that there were so many Salamanders breathing fire at me at once! But it all turned out well in the end!"

Yunyun panicked and tried to dismiss the kind receptionist's apologies. But her words only spurred the older woman to bow even more frantically for some reason.

"Hey… Hic! Is that Yunyun? It is Yunyun! Come join us and have a… Hic! Drink! It's on me!"

Naruto shouted from across the hall, and Yunyun turned around to find her party leader locked arms with Aqua and Kazuma while dancing on a table.

"Hey! You'd let Yunyun drink but not me!? But we're the same age!"

Megumin fumed while pointing to her 'self-proclaimed' rival.

Naruto and Kazuma stopped dancing and looked at one another, then looked at Megumin, then at Yunyun, before looking back at Megumin and tilted their heads.

"Huh? What are you talking about? Yunyun clearly looks older than Megumin."

"Yeah, Yunyun's more mature and doesn't have a screw loose."

"Alright, you two. Come step outside with me for a moment. I'll show you what it means to have a screw loose."

Megumin growled and started pulling Naruto and Kazuma towards the door, only to be caught in a chokehold by Naruto, who proceeded to ruffle her hair again.

"W-what's going on? Why are you celebrating?"

Yunyun stuttered as she walked up to the table. She decided to pretend that she didn't hear the boy's comments regarding her appearance, figuring that she could always brag about it to Megumin later. Though, it felt good to see Megumin's tomato-red face as she squirmed in the shinobi's arms.

"We're debt free!" x2

Naruto and Kazuma shouted in unison, arms wrapped around the other's shoulder.

"Eh!?"

Yunyun's surprised voice rang over the crowd's cheers, and she turned three shades darker when everyone started laughing at her.

She learned from Luna that Naruto went on a quest with Kazuma's party while she was sleeping, but they managed to pay off Cecily's debt? Just like that!?

Last she was aware of, they were about half-way there with all of the quests she and Naruto had been doing together… Just what kind of job did they complete!?

Seeing the gaping expression on her fellow Crimson Demon's face, Megumin smirked and slipped out of Naruto's death-grip.

"Heh… That's right! We went to a dungeon and slew a powerful Lich!"

"Oh, well Megumin was probably deadweight then. After all, Explosion magic is useless in a dungeon. Cecily-san was with you, yes? Megumin was probably used to keep Cecily from sneaking off while Naruto-san and the rest went into the dungeon."

"Guh…!?"

Two arrows with the words "deadweight" and "useless" written on them stabbed into Megumin's head and heart respectively as Yunyun casually deducted her activities during the quest.

'Wow… I almost feel bad for her.'

Kazuma thought as he watched the mage of his party fell to her knees. But he had to hand it to Yunyun for instantly seeing through Megumin's nonsense. As one would expect from childhood friends.

As Kazuma dragged Megumin out of the way, Yunyun turned to Naruto who seemed to be sobering up.

"Oh yeah, that reminds me. I want to do something to thank you, Yunyun."

Naruto said with a foxlike grin on his face, earning a confused look on the timid mage's face.

"Eh? T-thank me? For what?"

"You know, for joining my party, keeping Wiz company, and helping out with Cecily's debt. Well, that and I feel bad about forgetting about you those times…"

"Huh? What did you say at the end?"

Yunyun asked and tilted her head in confusion when she failed to hear the last bit of the blonde's sentence.

"N-nothing! So? Is there anything you want me to do? It can be anything! I swear on my nindo that I'll do it!"

Naruto stuttered while laughing awkwardly.

Yunyun turned away from the cackling shinobi to weigh her options.

'I-if Naruto-san is willing to do anything, then… I-I can ask him to go on a date with Wiz-san!'

With the number of quests that they'd been doing, Yunyun felt that Naruto and Wiz weren't spending enough time together, aside from when he was working at the shop.

'Ah… But there's going to be a festival tomorrow, and they say that the weather is going to be a little warmer…'

One of the entries on her "things I want to do with a friend" list was to go to a festival, and Wiz had mentioned something about going to the Crimson Magic Village tomorrow for new wares.

. . .

Wiz wouldn't mind if she went to the festival with Naruto, would she?

As friends, of course!

Naruto looked over the mage's shoulder in concern. She seemed to be troubled over something… Was she alright?

"Your face is a little red… Maybe we should take a break from quests tomor-"

"P-p-please join me at tomorrow's festival!"

Outside a certain mansion, just outside of Axel Town, two dark figures crept alongside the building's luxurious walls. One was wearing a revealing set of clothes that looked more like a bathing suit than anything, while the other wore a tattered orange jacket and seemingly nothing else below it.

"It's faint, but I can sense demonic energy coming from this mansion."

Morrigan whispered and began to weigh their options.

It was strange though, as the demonic signature was coming from below the surface. Perhaps a set of tunnels was built underneath the mansion?

"W-what should we do?"

Maria asked as she kept watch for the guards. If she was being honest with herself, the young devil felt that the only way that she'd be able to help was maybe putting the guards to sleep when they were spotted.

Infiltrating guarded buildings was not her forte, especially with how self-conscious the incident at the last mansion that she had visited had left her.

"We got the information we came for, so there's no use staying any longer. Now… Let us go back to Naruto-sama and claim our reward~!"

"Yay!"

With that said, the pair of Succubi took to the air to return to the Town of Adventurers.

There was no doubt a powerful devil resided in that noble's mansion, but what would their master do with this information? Would he storm the corrupt noble's mansion and slay him outright? Or would torture him first? No, maybe he would strip the bastard and present him to the town before executing him right then and there!

The endless possibilities made Morrigan squirm midflight.

'Ahn~! Naruto-sama~!'

While the older devil's mind continued to wander into the abyss, Maria glanced at the orange and black jacket she was wearing and beamed.

'I wonder if Naruto-sama will pat me on the head again…'

A/N: Naruto and Kazuma are now debt-free!

But what does this Wonderful World have in store for them next? Also, where's Darkness!? Just what is our favorite M up to?

See you in the next one!