A Shinobi's Take on this Wonderful World

Snow Sprites: The Harbingers of Death

"Welcome to the world between life and death, Satou Kazuma-san."

"Huh?"

Kazuma blinked, feeling a strong sense of déjà vu. Where did he hear those words again...? Oh, that's right! When he first met Aqua, she said those exact same words!

But the person sitting in front of him was not Aqua, which meant she was still in the land of the living... Right?

The woman sitting in front of him had long white hair and a heart-shaped face with eyes that held a touch of sadness to them.

"I am the Goddess, Eris. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you have died in your quest of liberating the world from the Demon King. I am truly sorry you had to go through so much hardship, Kazuma-san."

Eris said and lowered her head to show her respect toward the adventurer.

'Eh? What's this? This doesn't seem like last time at all... This goddess is actually nice.'

Kazuma thought and looked around to see he was in the same pitch-black room as last time.

But wait... He died? How did he-

Earlier...

"Snow Sprites...? We're hunting SNOW SPRITES!?"

Naruto's anger-filled voice echoed throughout the snow-covered landscape. He was wearing his adventuring gear for the first time since returning from the Crimson Magic Village, which consisted of his black shirt, pants, and chunin vest. Meaning, he was ready for battle.

'Naruto... I'm growing bored of all of these weaklings... You need to ditch these fools, and force that woman back at the guild to let you take on those difficult quests by yourself so I can let loose!'

'I'm sorry, Kurama... But I need to obey the rules of this place if I want to make a difference in the world. We'll get those stronger opponents soon, I promise.'

Naruto thought to his tailed beast, but he was on the same boat as the fox. As fun as it was hanging out with his new friends, his inner shinobi desired a challenge. But...

A little white ball of snow with a cartoonish face floated past the annoyed jinchuuriki and his immediate response was to flick it, which resulted in the Snow Sprite dissipating instantly.

Such a weak monster... What was the point of killing these things?

"Why are you complaining? Snow Sprites are easy to catch, and since slaying them shortens the number of days of winter they're worth a lot of money! Plus, if we keep a couple for ourselves, then we can add them to our drinks in the summer for a cold beverage!"

Aqua said as she chased a lone snow sprite with a net in her hands. Because of the colder temperatures, she was wearing a white coat over her usual clothes along with a white hat.

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but Aqua's right. I wonder why the other adventurers weren't fighting over this quest."

Kazuma commented as he slayed his third Snow Sprite with ease. He was wearing his normal adventuring attire, with the addition of a warm hooded coat for the snow.

Regarding the quest, he figured it probably had something to do with a mix of the colder temperature, and the fact that most of the adventurers still had a lot of leftover money from the Dullahan reward.

But even still, Kazuma found it hard to believe such an easy that paid well quest would stay on the request board for so long.

Oh well, more spoils for him.

Naruto turned to Darkness and saw the girl was shivering slightly.

Which was to be expected since she was still only wearing what Kazuma dubbed her "office-lady" outfit along with a short orange sweater over her blouse. She was clearly underdressed.