A/N: Revised as of 4/14/2024.

Naruto, wearing a casual white t-shirt and orange pants, met Yunyun at the park around noon. He found her standing by a lamp post in her usual outfit, which consisted of a black buttoned shit and pink skirt.

The Crimson Demon was watching the numerous amounts of people walking in groups with a lonely expression, but her face brightened immensely upon noticing the shinobi's bright yellow hair.

"Hey, Yunyun! Did you wait long?"

Naruto asked as he walked up to the girl.

"N-no, I just got here!"

Yunyun lied while nervously shaking her hands out in front of her face.

The truth was, she had been waiting there all morning. Naruto had originally suggested walking together the day before, seeing as they were right next door to each other at the inn, but the younger girl didn't want to be a bother, so she insisted on meeting up later.

In the end, they agreed to meet at the park at noon. However, Yunyun became too anxious in her room and ended up leaving early.

"Oh good. Let's go check out the stalls then!"

"O-okay…"

With that said, the two set off to enjoy the festival.

While it wasn't necessarily a holiday today, the townsfolk were celebrating the recent increase in Axel's financial standing.

With the back-to-back defeat of high bounty targets, the Dullahan and the Destroyer, the Town of Beginners had gained quite an economic boost, so the roads were filled various stands for food and games alike.

There was even a happy street performer doing tricks to earn money from tips on the side of the road.

Yunyun found out about the upcoming celebration from an old lady whose fruit stand she frequented.

Of course, it was only because of Naruto's persistence in paying her back that Yunyun managed to build up the courage to invite him the previous day.

'Ugh… I should have just agreed to walk to the park with Naruto-san from the inn. It probably would have been easier that way… In the end, I'm just causing Naruto-san more problems…'

Yunyun thought with a depressed look growing on her features. She had been so nervous, she even skipped breakfast.

'Ah… those meat kababs look tasty…'

Yunyun's thoughts became driven by her growing hunger when she noticed a kabab stand, but she quickly shook her head. She didn't want to bother Naruto after making him walk all the way to the park just to meet up with her. Besides, what if he wasn't hungry?

Seeing the troubled face the mage was making, Naruto followed her gaze to the kabab stand. The steam coming from the grill was basically reflected off her crimson orbs, it was almost too pitiful to watch.

"Two please!"

"Right away!"

After ordering the kababs, Naruto walked back to the wide-eyed Yunyun and held one of the sticks out to her.

It took a little convincing, but the boy managed to get her to accept his treat, and the two ate together on the side of the road.

Tossing his stick to the side, the shinobi pumped his fist into the air enthusiastically.

"Alright! Let's go check out some of the other games-"

Grrrrr!

"…"

Yunyun lowered her gaze as she held her stomach, the tips of her ears burning bright red.

"…Wanna get some more snacks first?"

Naruto asked while scratching at his whisker marks, and the response from the blushing girl was a small nod.

After trying out a couple more food stalls, Naruto and Yunyun passed by some of the games that the townsfolk had set up. There was quite a few to choose from, but Yunyun had her eyes set on one particular stall that had a unique prize available.

After the Yunyun tried and failed a couple times, Naruto rolled up his sleeves before stepping up to the plate.

But…

"I always knew we'd have our rematch… But I wasn't expecting it to be so soon! Take this!"

"Sorry sir, that's another miss!"

"How!?"

The Winter Shogun, or more specifically, a doll in the shape of the high bounty monster.

To earn the doll, one had to shoot the prize with a toy bow and arrow. But…

"Urg… Why did it have to be a bow and arrow? Mister! I want another go!"

Naruto demanded yet another retry, and the happy stall owner handed the blonde an arrow for the umpteenth time. Had it been a knife or rock throwing game, he would have had it on the bag.

But a bow!?

"I-it's okay, Naruto-san! Let's go try our luck in another game!"

Yunyun pleaded as Naruto tried and failed again, but the shinobi refused to back down and asked the stall owner for another go.

"Sorry Yunyun, but this one's personal. Plus, I know how much you want this prize. What kind of friend would I be to give up now!?"

"That sounded very cool just now but spending twenty-thousand Eris on a festival game is too much!"

—After ten or more tries, Naruto finally managed to hit the Winter Shogun doll.

"H-heh… Next time I see the real Winter Shogun, I'm going to go berserk…"

Naruto exasperated while dangling his now nearly empty wallet in front of his face. He now only had five-hundred Eris left… But looking back and seeing how happy Yunyun was clutching the Winter Shogun doll to her chest made him feel like the struggle was worth it.

'Now what am I going to do… I spent a lot of money on Aqua during last night's party, so this is the rest of my cash… Five-hundred Eris…'

Just as Naruto was beginning to think about his financial state, a loud clanging noise echoed throughout the festival.

"That's too bad, another fail! Come on now, I heard this town was full of strong adventurers! Can no one break this rock!?"

The stall owner's loud voice berated the growing group of mostly adventurers. Another man with large muscles stepped up, taking hold of the large hammer and swinging it over his massive build.

Clang!

The impact rang loudly, but just like the last person, not a scratch was left on the shiny rock.

"Come now, people! I traveled to this town after hearing about the tales of a Demon King General falling here, as well as the Mobile Fortress Destroyer! Can no one truly destroy this block of adamantite? I'll even allow the use of magic!"

The stall owner shouted as the previous player grumbled off the stage, causing the adventurers to mutter amongst themselves. It was quite obvious that the man was just poking at their pride to earn a quick buck, but it was frustrating that no one was able to destroy such a small rock.

"Hey Yunyun, he said you can use magic. Why don't you give it a try with your Advanced Magic?"

Naruto suggested, but the girl shook her head.

"I can't break adamantite with my current power… Maybe if I had the powerful Detonation magic, which is a tier lower than Explosion magic. Though Explosion magic would be ludicrous to use in this situation."

Yunyun explained while smiling wryly, a certain mage with a screw loose coming to mind.

Then, the spokesman announced the current prize amount.

"Just five-hundred Eris for a chance to smash this rock and earn the grand prize of one-hundred thousand Eris!"

. . .

"…Follow me, Yunyun."

Naruto said and began to make his way through the crowd, with Yunyun following closely behind.

What were the odds of the entry fee being the exact amount he had left? It was like the gods had set up this scenario just for him… Which was ironic since he was friends with Aqua and met Eris.

He'd have to thank Eris later for blessing him with this stroke of good luck.

"Hey, isn't that…?"

"Yeah, it's Naruto Uzumaki and his Crimson Demon partner!"

"Damn it! I knew I should have tried smashing that rock! Now it's done for!"

With each person he passed, a series of whispers began to rise within the crowd until he was finally at the stall.

Placing the remainder of his cash in the rather unimpressed stall owner's hand, Naruto grabbed the sledgehammer with both hands.

At the same time, the adventurers began to huddle behind Yunyun. They knew first-hand just how destructive Naruto could be at this point, and they also knew that the Crimson Demon girl that was with him had the power to shield them like she had during the battle with the Destroyer.

Seeing the crowd's strange formation, the stall owner raised an eyebrow as he continued to count his earnings.

Why were they hiding behind such a young girl? The boy didn't look all that strong…

Ah, now the little mage was putting up a barrier.

The stall owner thought before turning his gaze towards the whiskered teen, and his face lost all of its color.

Naruto's arms were encased in a red-like aura, his now-slit eyes a similar shade. With the feral grin the boy now had, he looked possessed.

It was at that moment that the businessman realized that he was facing the adventurer who was rumored to have soloed the Mobile Fortress Destroyer.

BOOM!

The hammer slammed onto the slab of adamantite with an incredible force, jolting the surrounding people a few inches off the ground.

Yunyun, along with the people who were smart enough to hide behind her, watched as the dust flew right into her barrier and straight up into the sky.

Once the rumbling was over, Yunyun dropped her barrier and followed up with an intermediate wind spell to carry all the dust towards the town's outer walls with practiced ease.

The stall owner, who had all but dove behind his stand at the last second, opened his eyes to see that his stand was now gone.

'T-the rock…!'

To the surprise of nobody but the stall owner, the slab of adamantite was split right down the middle... Along with the hammer and earth beneath it.

"Hehe… Now I don't have to worry about money for the next couple of days!"

Snatching the cash from the shaky man's hands, Naruto proudly held the money into the air.

'You did not just use my chakra to win a festival game…'

Kurama grumbled with a deadpanned expression, but Naruto was too busy absorbing his audience's praises to hear the fox's complaints.

As the adventurers cheered for the shinobi's victory, Yunyun released a sigh. It took her all just to defend the adventures from the aftermath of the skills that Naruto had used against the Destroyer, so she was relieved he held back here.

Then, just as Naruto made his way back to Yunyun, a familiar wizard's hat poked out of the crowd. It was followed by a small hand as the owner struggled to break through the rowdy crowd.

"W-wait a minute! Let me have a go! I guarantee I can break the Adamantite way better than he did! My magic was made for situations like this!"

Megumin begged the weeping stall owner when she managed to get through.

"!"

Yunyun and Naruto's eyes bulged out of their skulls when they saw the girl begin to chant and immediately pounced on her.

"Tch! Had I arrived at the scene sooner, I would have blown the socks off the crowd with my Explosion magic!"

"Along with a good portion of the town! Honestly, I wonder if the teachers back home had a couple of screws loose back then to call Megumin the prodigy of our clan! But they did get one thing right… Megumin is in a class of her own! For stupidity!"

After restraining Megumin before she could finish her chanting, Naruto followed behind the two Crimson Demons as they bickered with one another.

"That's rich coming from the Crimson Demon's number one loner!"

Megumin replied in a snarky tone while smirking at her self-proclaimed rival.

"I am not a loner! I-I just so happen to be walking around this festival with my f-f-friend!"

Yunyun shot back and showed off the doll she was holding and gestured towards Naruto. Naruto waved sheepishly as he was "presented".

Megumin stared at Naruto and Yunyun for a couple seconds before finally saying:

"So? How much did she pay you?"

"Ah! She actually said it!"

Yunyun wailed before pouncing on top of Megumin with teary eyes, the Winter Shogun doll flying up and into the air.

Naruto caught the doll and chuckled to himself as he watched the two mages scrap with each other. No matter how much those girls denied it, they really did get along well.

"There you are Megumin! When I heard that some mage almost used Explosion magic in the middle of town, I almost had a heart attack!"

The shinobi turned to see Kazuma running towards them from the direction of the game stalls. He looked rather stressed out and had to catch his breath once he made it over to them. The poor guy must have been desperately running around the festival looking for the explosive time-bomb of his party.

"Kazuma, your mage is giving my mage a hard time. She almost blew us up earlier, too."

Naruto stated in a monotone voice while pointing at Megumin, who had gotten the upper hand in the fight, somehow.

Megumin seemed rather pleased with herself for besting Yunyun in hand-to-hand once again, but her expression turned for the worse when she heard Naruto's accusations and found Kazuma staring down at her.

"W-wait a second! I had no choice! Naruto stole the spotlight once again, so I had to remind the crowd just how amazing Explosion magic is! Also, Yunyun seemed to be on a high horse just because she's walking around town with a boy, so I had to knock her down a few pegs!"

With each nonsensical excuse coming out of his teammate's mouth, Kazuma felt his urge to leave growing. It would be so easy to just go home and sleep and not have to worry about this problem child.

But he couldn't push all his problems onto Naruto, especially not after the guy just helped him pay off his debts.

"I'm sorry for the trouble that my party member has caused you."

Kazuma apologized while inclining his body towards Naruto and Yunyun, all the while forcing Megumin to bow alongside him when she simply huffed and turned the other way.

"I-it's okay! You don't have to bow, Kazuma-san! I-I know Megumin is probably just j-jealous…"

Yunyun stuttered while poking her fingers together. It was rather obvious that Megumin was jealous that Yunyun had gotten close enough to a boy to get gifts from him.

Hearing this caused a vein to bulge on Megumin's forehead, and she forced her way out of her party leader's hold.

"Heh… Me? Jealous of Yunyun? How childish… I don't get upset over such trivial things anymore. After all, Kazuma and I are at the point where we bathe together."

"!?" x2

Yunyun and Kazuma gaped at the little girl, and both started sputtering nonsense for different reasons.

Megumin smirked to herself, albeit with a minor blush on her face since she was stretching the truth a bit.

"I-I-I-I-I can't believe Megumin already…! T-t-t-t-today's my looossss!"

It was Yunyun who was the first to break the cycle as she threw up her hands as if to indicate her defeat and took off screaming.

Naruto smiled wryly as his party member disappeared into the distance. Yunyun clearly misunderstood something here.

Oh well, he was thinking about calling it quits for the day before he ended up spending the money he had regained today anyway.

"Context! You! Context! We both wanted to get the toad mucus off at the same time to avoid catching colds!"

Kazuma growled while pulling on Megumin's cheeks as punishment when he noticed Naruto watching them in amusement.

"W-what? You think I'm lying?"

"Hm? I mean, not really. Megumin's just a kid."

Naruto replied with an honest shrug.

Kazuma's expression turned flat. He wasn't sure if Naruto's denseness was a blessing or a curse. But right now, he couldn't have been more relieved. Although it kind of irked him for another reason. Had it been Naruto and Yunyun in that situation...

"A kid, he says… Heh… Haha…"

On the other hand, Megumin had a small raincloud looming over her head at once again being called a kid.

She may have won today's battles with Yunyun, but at what cost?

"God… Why am stuck with dealing with all of these troublesome people?"

Kazuma complained while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Ah, that reminds me. Has Darkness come home yet? She's been gone for a couple days since the trial, hasn't she?"

Naruto asked when he realized the blonde Crusader had yet to make an appearance. He should be getting information from Maria and Morrigan tonight, but he wanted to check in with Kazuma to see if Darkness had ever come home.

"Oh yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that. I'm kind of worried about that girl. That noble was giving her weird looks all throughout the trial, and she owes him a favor for getting us out of that mess…"

Kazuma responded worriedly. For as much trouble as that woman caused him, she wasn't nearly as bad as Aqua and Megumin… Most of the time. Since she did save him and Naruto during the trial, it wouldn't sit well with him if she was in trouble with that corrupt noble.

"If she doesn't come home tonight, I was thinking about going to her family's manner. I'll let you know tomorrow."

Kazuma added, and Naruto nodded. They couldn't just ignore the fact that Darkness had been gone for so long, so it was time to take action.

"…"

Standing across the street was Yunyun hiding behind a corner, a lonely expression on her face as she continued to watch Naruto interact with Kazuma and Megumin.

That Night…

Naruto walked up the stairs of the inn to his room, his arms swaying side to side tiredly. He was exhausted.

After he and Kazuma finalized their plans regarding Darkness, they discovered Aqua had brought a street performer to tears when she started doing better party tricks for free.

After apologizing to the street performer, Naruto and Kazuma's group went their separate ways for the day.

'I never found Yunyun in the end… I hope she had fun today.'

Naruto was in the middle of unlocking his door when he heard a silent sobbing noise coming from inside his room.

Resisting the urge to groan, he slowly opened the door and peaked his head inside.

Sitting on his bed was Cecily, and she was quietly weeping into her hands.

"…"

Naruto frowned. On his way back to the inn, he overheard some people complaining about the Axis Cultists again. Maybe she couldn't handle the town's attitude towards her for being an Axis Cultist anymore?

Either way, seeing the girl crying alone on his bed like that really tugged on his heartstrings.

"Hey, it's okay Ceci-"

"Waahhh! I can't believe they confiscated all that Tokoroten Slime! I spent the last of-"

Cecily suddenly cried out just as Naruto fully walked in, and the ninja clamped his mouth shut as a look of disdain overtook his features.

Having noticed the boy's arrival, Cecily jumped off the bed and attached herself onto his torso.

"Ah! Naruto-saaaan! They confiscated the rest of my Tokoroten Slime! I even spent the rest of the reward money from the other day on it!"

"…Hey. I was just feeling sorry for you, ya know? Give me back those feelings."

Naruto muttered, his expression turning sour.

"Huh? What are you talking about? That doesn't matter right now, they have my Tokoroten Slime! Can you use the fact that you saved the town as leverage to get it back for me? Pleeeease?"

Cecily asked with a legit look of confusion on her face before she started pleading while leaning her body into the boy.

Naruto remained unresponsive. He had a beautiful girl pressing her curvaceous figure onto him, yet he felt nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"If you get my Tokoroten Slime back, I'll hand feed you some-No! I'll let you eat it off my voluptuous body! Hey-wait… Why are you pushing me outside? The bed's back there! Naruto-Saaaa-!"

Slam!

After pushing the woman out of his room, Naruto slammed the door shut before locking it and propping a chair against the knob.

"N-Naruto-san? I can't open the door for some reason… Ah! I can sense it! The vile smell of a devil is close by! Naruto-saaaaan!"

Ignoring the muffled screaming outside his door, Naruto yawned and started walking towards his bed with sleepy eyes. He would apologize to the innkeeper for the noise in the morning.

'That's enough for one day… Huh?'

Resting his head on his pillow, Naruto closed his eyes in hopes of getting a good night's rest. But what he didn't expect to see when he opened his eyes was a smiling pair of pearly whites.

"Good evening, Naruto-sama… Would you like the information before or after?"

A/N: Hoho, Succubus Onee-San… After what you say? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

The next arc begins!