I Was Called Incompetent ch.11

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Arigatou Gozaimasu!

Yeah, the plot is still confusing in the beginning. Bear with it.
And, our MC seems gonna have complicated feeling with the heroine.

Translator: Raizu
Editor: Shirayuki

Chapter 11: Understanding

Excalibur reverted back to sword and slowly floated back to me.
Once her handle was firmly in my grasp, I could hear her voice in my head.

“Square bravely, O mine own Liege. I am thy sword. Swing me to thy heart’s content. And I thanketh thee f’r making thine own dream come true. Prithee call upon me again anytime. hahaha!”

[You are welcome… and thanks, Excalibur. I’ll be counting on you from now on.]

I couldn’t hear her voice anymore, but the sword itself glowed brilliantly instead.
Thank you… for the courage you gave me.

[Ha…hahahahaha! Is it over? What a bullshit… I’ll kill you!]

The boss created his own iron sword in his hand
If I wasn’t mistaken, his magic allowed him to produce metallic objects.
It’s a magic that converts magic power into iron and molds it into a shape.
After producing 2 swords, he started sprinting towards me.

[You’re just an incompetent… don’t be so cocky!]

The sword in his right hand swung at me.
But I could see it clearly.
Rather, I guess it’s almost like I saw everything in slow motion.
In addition to that, I could see the trajectory of his swing clearly so I moved Excalibur in my hand to intercept his attack.

The boss was still in the middle of his swinging movement, but the sword was no longer in his hand.
He noticed that there was no feedback from his attack. When he found out that what he held in his right hand was only the handle of his iron sword, he shuddered.
He didn’t even know how that even happened.
When I wordlessly stole his remaining sword, Boss finally turned to me and desperately retreated away.

[W-what… the…?]

I opted to cast Materialization Magic on the sword I had stolen instead of answering.
The sword grew 4 more smaller blades on its handle. It jumped off from my hand, awaiting for my order whilst doing small hops on the ground.
Isn’t it cute?

[Ha…Haaa…? Wha, what the… what the heeeeeeell! Y-you are an incompetent, right!? Tell me that you’re an incompetent!?]

[But I’m not.]

[What!?]

I closed the gap in the blink of an eye, pressing Excalibur onto his neck.
I didn’t put any pressure, simply sticking it close to his skin.

[Wh-what… but how…]

[This is partially thanks to you, Boss. I’ve been endlessly working for the past three years, Thanks to that, I maintained a strong body.]

Of course there is also All-weapon Mastery’s effect.
My body felt so light.
And I instinctively knew how to move it effectively.
If only I was able to get my hand on some weapon faster.
There is really something wrong with this world.

[I do have to thank Boss for a few things. You still employed me despite me being an incompetent. But the job you assigned me to was certainly unreasonably tough, and honestly I can’t forgive you yet for that. However, it’s a fact that I was able to make a living thanks to the job you gave me.]

To be really honest, it was not much of a living.
The wage wasn’t even worth the effort I had to exert.
It’s only now, after I know that there is something wrong with this world, that I realized all those things.
It’ll be easy to end his life now.
But, I… don’t want that kind of conclusion…

[Y-you…]

[So, why don’t you listen to me now?]

The boss was clearly confused.
I lowered Excalibur and looked at him in the eyes.
I noticed that his gaze had less malice than before.

[B-but… you were an incompetent before… weren’t you?]

Boss finally managed to squeeze out a question.
One that wasn’t laced in rage or abuse.
This got to be the first time I heard him speaking with this tone to me.

[Yes, actually…]

I briefly told him the reason.
That I wasn’t able to use magic properly due to some misunderstanding.
I didn’t mention anything regarding Appraisal Magic, just that it was a mage with great power who informed me of this mistake.
Although honestly speaking, I was trying to end my own life back then.

Boss listened silently.
His expression turned to surprise on occasion, but he’s indeed listening to me.

If this doesn’t work either, then…
With that in mind, I finally finished my story. Boss slowly opened his mouth afterward.

[I see… so that’s how… Well… sorry. I really don’t know what to say… but anyway, I’m very sorry.]

At that moment… I felt something inside my chest.
I thought he finally understood.
Right… this is the conclusion I wanted…
That single word… that my heart really wanted to hear.

[Well… it’s okay. As long as you understand…]

[S-sorry! I’m really sorry!]

Boss suddenly bent to his knees.
I didn’t know why he was crying like that.
Was it due to regret, or was it because of pity…?
But seeing him like that, I felt a sense of relief in my chest.

=====

[Enough already…]

All four people were now kneeling before me.
The other three apparently listened to my story as well, and promptly apologized shortly after.

[No! I’m sorry! Rhode-kun, I don’t know what to say… but I’m sorry!]

[S-sorry, Rhode-kun… I know you won’t forgive us no matter how hard we apologize… but I’m sorry!]

[I got it already…! So please stop with all the prostration…]

Such exchanges continued on for several times, regardless of how many times I told them that I understood. They kept insisting to apologize anyway.
After some more persuasion, I managed to send them back to the town.
They left while bowing repeatedly.

[Rhode-sama. Well done.]

Levi took her place next to me once they disappeared from sight.

[Levi… thanks. For observing patiently.]

Levi in turn simply shook her head gently.

[It is the road that Rhode-sama wants to traverse… then I will certainly follow.]

[Nn… well, uh, thanks.]

If you keep looking at me with that kind of face, you’ll make me embarrassed, you know?
But her expression turned cloudy soon after.

[Those four… I kept thinking that I should do the same thing to them just like I did to the neighbor. I…]

It still bothers her after all.
But…

[As I said before… I hadn’t noticed anything unusual back then. And If Levi hadn’t done it, I might have. Life in the basement was joyful… it made me forget everything and I started wishing that it can go indefinitely. But when I returned to the outside world, reality hit me. I was also furious inside, mind you. So I won’t hold that against you. Although… now that I realized something is wrong…]

Levi’s anger was simply because she couldn’t accept seeing me receiving so much hate.
After all, it’s not inconsistent with her not showing any disdain to me despite my previous status as an incompetent.
It’s still a mystery to me why she and Crown-san were not affected by the abnormality…

So in the current world, there exists the term ‘incompetent’ and those who aren’t marked with this label extremely hates those who are… is there some sort of brainwashing, curse or something else happening in the background?
Did I manage to escape it because I noticed the abnormality by myself?

[Anyway, let’s try to have a talk with that lady next door tomorrow.]

[Yes… understood.]

=====

[No, you shouldn’t, Levi!]

[Bu, but why!]

[Absolutely no! You shouldn’t!]

[Does Rhode-sama dislike me!?]

[No, I don’t dislike you… it’s the other way around… But still! A no is a no!]

=====

A few minutes ago.
It happened while I was washing myself in the bathroom.
I heard a sound coming from the outside, so I naturally turned my head to look, only to see through the hazy glass door the silhouette of Levi starting to undress herself.
When my brain finally registered what’s going on, I immediately locked the door.
Levi tried to open the door in turn, but was too late.

[What!? R-Rhode-sama!]

[Ah, I thought so!]

[I am going to wash your back, so please let me in!]

[No, it’s alright! I’ll do that myself!]

And that’s how the back and forth arguing began.

=====

[Rhode-sama… I just… want to scrub your back after today’s hard work… I just want to scrub your back…]

H-how sly… using tears to break my resolve.
This made me feel like I’m the bad guy here.
But…

[You shouldn’t. This… I don’t want to resort to this, but it’s an order.]

[Guu… so that is how it is. Very well… I shall give up today.]

It worked, but only for today…huh?
To be really honest, I’d like her to come in.
I’m a man after all, goddamnit.

However, I’d feel guilty to Crown-san if I did.
I have the responsibility to take care of Levi.
That’s why I couldn’t just so easily give up to my baser instinct.

I remembered what Crown-san said before.
Probably a week before his passing…

=====

『O’ Rhode, what do you think about Levi?』

When Levi was out shopping, Crown-san suddenly brought that up to me.

『Levi…I think she’s a good person』

『No, no. As a woman, I mean.』

『Eh!? Ah, well…I never really gave it a thought…because she’s Crown-san’s…..』

『She and I do not have that kind of relationship! When I first met her, she was still but a child. Even if she was already 100 years old back then….. For me, she is both a companion and a friend. More like, a daughter.』

So that’s how.
No reason to doubt it…

『So, what do you think about Levi?』

『Uh, uーn. She’s beautiful…..』

『Right, right! She seems to have feelings for you as well. Now that will be a load off of my shoulder!』

『Wha, what do you mean?』

『I shall be counting on you. Do you understand, Rhode?』

Crown-san eyes turned sharp as he said that.
I could only nod under such immense intimidation.

『Then all is fine. Fufufu…』

=====

[He’ll be counting on me, he said…]

A companion, a friend, a daughter.
Therefore, I have to cherish her.