I Was Called Incompetent ch.18

Weekly chapters (2/2)

Enjoy the chapter and stay safe~

Translator: Raizu
Editor: Shirayuki

Episode 18 : Distortion

The condition of the warwolves’ victims was quite serious, but fortunately we managed to return back to town in time.
They’re suffering from third-degree burns all over their bodies from being toasted inside the dome for quite a while.
Boss was especially severe.

He was close to the other workers and, despite the hate, I knew that he’s looking after me to some extent.
He must’ve used his own body to shield everyone.
As I said before, despite the hate, he still hired me even when I was still an incompetent. Goes to show that deep inside. he’s a caring person.

He woke up once, and when he found that the first person he saw upon waking up was me, he spoke up with a weak voice.

[R-Rhode-kun…]

[Boss…! You’ll be just fine…no, who am I kidding?]

[Hahaha…this must be…divine punishment…for…treating you…so badly…in the past.]

[Boss…..don’t talk too much. Everything will be just fine…somehow.]

[Sorry, Rhode-kun…I’m truly sorry…I need to tell this to everyone…all of you…should apologize…!]

[Boss…]

Since the accident was a huge deal, many townspeople had gathered around the victims to help.
Some of them, perhaps hearing Boss’ words, started murmuring, asking for forgiveness from me. But that didn’t really matter to me at that moment.

[Recovery magic can’t keep up anymore…what should we do…]

Several mages capable of healing magic, including Ellie, tried to treat Boss’ wounds. But it seemed that they’d reached their limit.
Is there anything that I can do?
Excalibur’s ability might…no, I lacked the magic power.
It may still be possible if it’s just a few but with this many, it’ll be impossible for me to supply enough magic power.
Ah, right…!

[Gagan-san, can we use this?]

[That’s…Yahan grass! Right, the request was for you to collect the grass. But this many are…]

Certainly, I only managed to acquire 3 stalks for the request.
I knew that this wouldn’t be enough.
However, I could use ‘his’ power.

[It’s okay. I’ll somehow…]

[Oi! What is the incompetent doing here! Get lost!]

[Gagan-san, why are you talking to this incompetent…? We should get rid of this twerp immediately!]

There are still people having enough energy to hate me even in this situation?
Really… This world is truly strange.

Many who witnessed my fight against Gagan-san would’ve realized that I’m no longer an incompetent. But many still didn’t know that as well.
In the eyes of the majority, I’m still nothing but an incompent.

[Are you blind or something!? No, I don’t have the right to call you guys off when I also did…but without Rhode’s help, there is no way that we could get the wounded back to the town in time like this…!]

[Gagan-san, ignore them for now. We’re running out of time.]

[But…!]

The badmouthing continued on, but I ignored them all.

[I’m okay with that. Please come, Caduceus.]

Once again, I materialized Caduceus as he emerged from the black notebook.
Seeing what I did, the noisy people promptly went dead silent.
At least I would be able to concentrate better this way.

The reappearing Caduceus, most likely had been listening to what’s going on from within the notebook, immediately took action.

[Rhode-sama, de Yahan grass, per favore.]

[I’m counting on you, Caduceus.]

I handed the Yahan grass over to Caduceus, who promptly placed the grass on the ground, before spinning the staff upside down.

[Caduceus ist my name. Causality revairsing staff of de Goddess. By de magic bestowed upon me by my Mastair, let de greater become lesser and de lesser become greater.]

When Caduceus struck the Yahan grass with the head of his staff, it started to multiply rapidly.

[O…Oooh…! What in the world…]

[My magic is called Materialization magic. It can give life and form to items. I finally learned how to use it only recently. And this man here is Caduceus. The legendary staff and this is his power.]

[Th-that kind of thing…]

The people around me finally stopped cursing at me, watching the event unfold in silence.
Everyone had an apologetic look on their face and, at the same time, they also looked troubled.

Maybe because they’ve never been deeply involved with me, none of them seemed too upset, choosing to watch on silently instead.
I felt like that the deeper the relationship was, the greater the hatred would be and the more confused and unwilling they were to admit their fault. And I don’t know yet if the person’s original personality also affects this. But for now, I’m content with them only watching silently.

The increasing amount of Yahan grass had piled up so high it’s almost as tall as me.
This should be enough.

[Alright! Everyone, please help!]

Gagan-san’s voice woke them up from their reverie, at which they started to move again.
Grinding the Yahan grass, mixing it with water, then applying the concoction to the wound.
The wound started to close at a visible rate. By the time the injured people no longer breathed harshly or had fallen asleep, words of gratitude and thanks…as well as words of apology started to flood me.

[We have…wronged you…! Just an apology might not be enough, but…I’m sorry!]

[Rhode-kun…thank you for rescuing my husband…and I apologize for everything I’ve done to you up until now…]

[Please forgive me…I have treated you…Please forgive me!]

[Thank you very much…thank you…and I’m sorry…]

Everyone started either crying, thanking, or apologizing repeatedly.
They most likely knew…my power was more than enough to take revenge upon them if I so wish.
But…seeing this scene…
I could only tear up in happiness.

=====

[Oi, Cathy. How long until we arrive at Nibelugh?]

[Right…probably in 3 days.]

[That’s still a long way to go! I want to take a carriage…]

It’s been about two weeks since the group of 5 left their hometown, Isto.
They’ve been travelling to Nibelugh as a group of adventurers.

The leader, a wind mage named Flo, laid back on his bed upon hearing from Cathy that it would take 3 more days until they arrived at their destination.
They had also completed several requests along the way so they did have some money, but certainly not enough to charter a carriage.

[Tsk…I wish I had squeezed more money from that incompetent.]

Flo was the one who struck Rhode and forced the latter to pick up the money strewn on the road.
At that time, he actually intended to extort Rhode for money.
With that money, he would have some extra savings for the journey. But hatred gnawed on him and he ended up bullying Rhode instead.

[Flo has always hated Rhode since a long time ago.]

[I thought that should be you, Dan. Didn’t you say that you wanted to tear apart?]

[Guess so. I’ve hated him even before he turned incompetent. It’s because he’s so good looking. Every time I saw him visit my family shop, it just ticked me off the wrong way.]

[Yeah, my parents loved to compare me with him in the past. I feel mad whenever I recall that. Makes me feel like I should just kill him if I have a chance.]

[Well, killing him is impossible since Asna already got him first.]

The group laughed merrily inside their lodging room.
The day Asna was about to leave, she told them rather happily that Rhode might’ve finally died.

[Who would’ve known that girl was actually on our side? She mostly ignored us, and always acted nice to that scum. Turns out she equally hated him.]

[Dan, it’s as you said! I was really a fool for not realizing it sooner. It’s frustrating. I was really happy when that guy became an incompetent…! I mean, he was a world-certified fool! Ah, thinking back, I should bully him more. Come back to life, you incompetent!]

[Ahaha! I also wanted to bully him more. But my parents told me to stay away from him.]

[It’s because our parents were close friends before. Well, nothing else we can do since he’s already dead. Let’s just head to Nibelugh’s capital and finish the request. After that, we’ll become heroes. We are already relatively strong, aren’t we?]

As Flo said, they could certainly be considered as talented.
Some of the requests they had completed so far were not exactly something that can be completed by beginners.
Each of them had excellent magic and a fair amount of magic power reserve to boot.
They were the so-called promising youth.

[Hero, huh…? I believe we can achieve that!]

[Great! Ah, right. Remembering that guy only makes me want to vent it out. If only we can find another incompetent.]

[Agreed! Since it’ll be fine if they die, we can use them as our magic target practice!]

[Good idea, Cathy. Actually, those incompetents should be happy that they could help us to become stronger. Alright, that’s it for today. Let’s get some sleep.]

[Good night!]

Everyone possesses darkness in their heart.
A vast majority of living beings live by keeping it under control.
Of course, some may not even be aware about the darkness within.
However, a lot of them let this darkness loose.

Lust, hatred, rage, jealousy, scorn, ridicule.
Having been born with it, their souls chose to succumb to it.
The world was too cruel that compassion no longer existed anywhere within them.

They might be excellent adventurers.
But their personalities and mindsets are a different matter.
They would continuously aim for greater heights.

Not realizing that it was but childish and stupid.
They despise the incompetent.

Even without the distortion of the world, they will not change.
Because they’ve been distorted from the beginning.