A Shinobi's Take on this Wonderful World

A Little Detour to Where?

With their newfound conundrum and destination in mind, Naruto and Kazuma set off to begin their preparations for the trip.

Kazuma had gone back to his mansion to inform his party while Naruto went off to the inn that had been recently reconstructed(by his own funding) to pack some things.

As the ninja was tossing a couple Storage Scrolls into his traveling pack, a thought occurred to him.

It had been a decent amount of time since he'd last seen Morrigan and Maria. They hadn't shown up when he was at the Succubus café that last time. The other Succubi seemed normal, by their standards anyway. He wondered if those two were up to something...

"Oh yeah, I should probably talk to Ero-Senin before I leave. I'm pretty sure his meeting with Alderp was today."

Naruto noted to himself before slinging his traveling bag over his shoulder. He was still bummed that Jiraiya wasn't letting him attend that meeting. After all, he was without a doubt a mature man who had the ability to remain level-headed during stressful times.

'Indeed. You only threw one adventurer through a wall the last time they called you a "player". Compared to that other time when you brawled an entire party in the streets, then proceeded to paint their adventuring gear orange while they were all unconscious. I'd call that character development.'

Kurama commented snidely in the back of the blonde's mind.

'Hush, or you might wake up black and blue.'

Naruto replied, rolling his eyes as he closed the door to his room. He then made his way down the wooden hall and down the stairs. Waving to the friendly innkeeper, Naruto walked up to the desk.

"Hey, old man. Do you know if Yunyun's back?"

"Your Crimson Demon friend? Hmm... Can't say she has. I haven't seen your other friend either. The blonde one with the curves? Didn't scare her away, did you?"

The older man asked with a wiggling eyebrow.

"S-something like that..."

Naruto stuttered while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly at the mentioning of Cecily. He was honestly surprised that the crazy woman hadn't instantly come back from Alcanretia already. Did she get lost in the transship?

Shrugging, Naruto set off into town to hopefully catch his old mentor. He was kinda bummed Yunyun wasn't back from her trip yet, as it would have been fun for her to travel with Kazuma's party.

He decided to check the succubus café, as it seemed to be the old geezer's prime location when in Axel. Naruto was pleasantly surprised to see that the ladies had a much tamer reaction upon his arrival. He still felt their sharp gazes as he walked up to the reception desk, but it was nice to be able to walk into the room without having to bob and weave for his life.

Good progress.

"Hey, is Ero-Senin here?"

"I'm afraid not, Naruto-sama. My apologies."

The Succubus apologized with a formal bow.

Dang, it seemed he'd missed the old sage. Oh well, he'd have to see what intel Jiraiya gathered after this trip.

"Ah, but Jiraiya-sama did leave a package for you! Please, wait here while I grab it, Naruto-sama!"

The lesser devil pleaded as she ushered the boy to a fancy looking table at the center of the bustling café.

Naruto, not really sure as to what was going on, allowed the woman to lead him and sat down without a fuss as a platter was placed in front of him by another Succubus.