I Was Called Incompetent ch.49

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Arigatou Gozaimasu!

Sorry for the delay.
It seems Shirayuki is busy with IRL stuffs, so it can’t be helped.

Oh in different news, I’ll make a new announcement for new project on next week. (Finally!)
Thank you for everyone who sent your suggestions and recommendations. It’s hard to decide among those great titles.
Please look forward for the announcement later.

Cheers!

Enjoy the read~

Translator: Raizu
Editor: Shirayuki

Episode 49: Qualifying Round

『Alright then, let’s proceed to the qualifying round now! All representatives of the parties belonging to group A please stay on the stage, the rest please have a seat on the benches that have been prepared around the stage!』

[Oh, it’s starting already? Levi, I’m counting on you.]

[Please leave it to me. It has been a while… I could not wait. Fufufu…]

Levi grinned from ear to ear.
Well I don’t have to worry since it’s Levi, right?

[Then I’ll be watching from the side.]

[Yes. I will not let Rhode-sama’s name be tarnished.]

Truth be told, Levi might be better than the current me in terms of fighting.
I might be stronger against her with the help of materialization magic since it’ll be a 2 vs 1 situation, but I never really saw the full extent of Levi’s power before.
Just how strong she is, given that she was one of the potential candidates to become the next Demon King?

Eighteen people remained on the stage.
Only two teams can proceed to the next round… The rest will not pass the qualifying round.
Losing here will spell the end of the tournament for the competitors, that’s why each team would most likely send in their strongest member.
A maid with a smirk on her face standing among the strong-looking adventurers.
Such a sight might prove a bit too unusual for the spectators. 

[Wait, what, a maid?]

[Ha? Are you kidding me… It’s really there.]

[That girl is cuteー! But, will she be fine… I mean, everyone else looks tough…]

[This is not the place for maids to play around, you knowー? Just go home if you don’t want to get hurtー!]

[Go easy on her, guysー! Ahahahaha!]

You all may say that now.
But once the round starts…

『Well then, Ban-sama, are there any adventurers that pique your interest the A block？』

『Let’s see here… A-rank Onse, A-rank Isseki, and the rest are already well-known S rankers. All of them certainly have interesting magic.』

『I see, I see! But personally, I’m curious about that maid! According to the material we have, this Levi seems to be only B-rank. Moreover, she doesn’t seem to be the leader of the party she’s in! And look at how cute she is…..ah, well, I mean, we’ll see if her appearance here is a merely prideful boast or something out of confidence!』

Apparently, the achievement points earned by the rest of the party members upon the completion of a request is far less than what earned by the party leader.
Therefore, the party leader usually has the highest rank in the party. Only in certain rare circumstances that the member(s) could end up being in a higher rank than the leader.
That’s why most people competing here are either B or A rankers.

Levi went up to C after we slew the wyverns and to B after the cyclops.
However, Levi is most certainly higher than a B rank in terms of ability.
The rank is just a formality at this point, it’s not a clear index to her actual power.

『Here I am expecting to see him in action…』

『Eh?』

『No, it’s nothing.』

Maybe I should’ve been there instead…

======

As expected, I became the focus of attention.
Well, it is slightly embarrassing to be stared at by many like this…but I shall do my best for Rhode-sama.
Nothing else matters.

[Yo, maid-san. Is your master ditching you or something? No worries, I’ll throw you off the stage gently. Guhahahaha!]

[Stupid idiot. It’s ME who will be the one to hug her gently, you know? Just scram!]

[Ha? Are you guys stupid or something? It should be me〜]

Most of them acted like idiots.
Then again… maybe I should wear armor too.
Is there any maid-style armor out there?

『Alright, alright! I will now explain the rules in this qualifying round! Out of 18 parties, there will be only 2 that will proceed to the next round! Any representatives that are rendered incapacitated such as fainting or thrown off the stage will cause their team to be eliminated! Alright then, everyone, are you ready!?』

In response to Carol-sama’s cue, everyone entered their battle stances.
Even those who spouted out stupid remarks earlier started to become serious and kept their distance from each other.
On my part, I moved as close as possible to the edge of the stage, facing away.

Is it finally starting?
Kukuku…this excites me in a different way than when I do housework.

『Here we go! A block qualifying match… Begin！』

Three men who were standing nearest to me instantly jumped toward me right after the deafening gong sounded.

[Levi-chan! Let me do you gen-nbhuuuu!?]

『Would you look at that! Levi-chan’s exploding fist! Yattaka is blown off the stage! We already have one team eliminatedー！』

『Eeh…that girl turned out to be pretty strong.』

[Mm, did I overdo it?]

The other two men skidded in their steps as soon as they saw what happened to the first one.
It appeared that they have become aware of my power from that previous blow.

[Seems like she’s not your average maid…]

[No, I am but a little maid, Yarhan-sama.]

[How do you know my name…!?]

[Kukuku… I also know that you are a fire mage, and you are suffering from pain in your lower back… I wonder why?]

[What!?]

[Too slow.]

Aiming the moment when he was confused, I swiftly moved to his back and kicked him from behind.
Yarhan-sama, who was knocked off from the stage, could only stare at me in disbelief from below.
The third man attacked from behind me with a hammer, but I easily dodged by spinning around him before grabbing him by the neck.

[Uh…]

[You said that you will do this to me earlier…so why are you surprised now?]

[Uwaaah!?]

I tossed him out of the stage just like that.
This is why I moved to the edge of the stage.
The quickest way to eliminate someone is to throw them off the stage, not to mention that it will be less painful.
The current battle situation is…

『Aaaah! Isseki got focus downed and defeated! With this, there are only 7 people left! The fight moved so quickly it’s hard to catch on to everythingー! But it seems that it will end soon!』

Oya, is that all there is left now?
Where, where… Let me have a “look” at them.

In my eyes, I could see the names, magic, and skills of all six people who were glaring at me from a distance.
All of them have fairly unique magic, but nothing too special in my eyes… 

[All of you, get soaked in hot water!]

Steamy hot water burst forth from Onse-sama’s hands.
His magic is Hot Spring magic.
Not only can he produce water with some level of rejuvenating effect, but he can also use it for attack by raising the temperature. Now I see why he has such healthy-looking skin.

[Gyaaaaa!]

[Uwaaaaaa!]

3 people couldn’t avoid the water burst in time and they were bathed in hot water.
100 degree boiling water is still a good weapon against humans nonetheless.

『That looks very hot! Boiling water can be very dangerous! Safety team, please act!』

The competitors that were rolling on the floor immediately disappeared, reappearing near the small tent not far away from the stage.
Apparently, there are also transfer-type mages at work here.

[Mu!?]

I dodged something that came from outside my field of view, then immediately turned to the source.
It seemed that Dingding-sama, having avoided Onse-sama’s attack, had unknowingly approached me in the process.

[You avoided that. But aren’t your senses a little too sharp?]

[Certainly. Pardon me for doing so, Dingding-sama. And nice to meet you, I shall keep you company for a while.]

『4 competitors left! It seems that the round will be concluded with each two on one on one fight! Now, will we finally see the winners!?』

Fumu, I did not see the previous attack because it was invisible… I see now.
Nothing less from an S ranker. He had honed his magic to the limit.

[Let’s go, Maid-san… Try dodging this if you can!]

He seemingly made throwing gestures without actually throwing anything at me, but I could sense something invisible speeding toward me.
There were so many it’ll be hard to dodge through all of them… therefore!

[What!?]

Something invisible collides with each other in the air and the high-pitched metallic sound reverberates.
I used my magic chains to intercept all the invisible attacks, relying only on the telltale signs that my senses could catch.
These feelings… I may still be lacking in this part in terms of skill if compared to him.

[What did you…]

[Kukuku… Your material transparency magic is not the only way to make something invisible, you know?]

[H, how did you know?]

[I “saw” it. And I noticed that you are carrying a lot of needles on your waist.]

[What…? Nuoooo!?]

[Fufu, you almost got me. I really could not see it. But then again, this is the first for me to face such an invisible weapon. That is no good… I need you to go out now.]

He has “Good at Sewing” skill, which my intuition told me that he may incorporate it into his fighting style. Apparently, I was right.

Manipulating my invisible chain, I started to restrain Dingding-sama’s body.
He was barely able to move but still jumped around on his toes to stay standing. Even so, he still fell from a single light poke.

[Nuaaah! Damn… you’re strong.]

[It is because Dingding-sama is being kind to me. There should still be a sword hanging in your waist. If you intended on hurting me, the result might have been slightly different?]

[…just who in the world are you?]

[Fufu, I am nothing but a little maid.]

[Lies…]

『Thatーisーit! It ended nearly at the same time! We’ll have team Rhode and team Airy heading to the next round! Now that I recallー both teams are rookiesー! This might be just the beginning of an unexpected results in this tournament!』

『It’s getting more interesting for sure…』

It seems that the other side has already finished, and it was Onse-sama who ended up lying on the floor.
Airy-sama has fairly powerful magic, so I suppose it was just Onse-sama being unlucky.

And then, Airy-sama walked up to me.
She is a beautiful girl with long bluish hair that extends to her calf. She is also quite tall, which made me a little envious.
She simply stood in front of me and smiled.

[So you also did it. Though I’m glad I didn’t have to fight you earlier.]

[Not at all… let us do our best to reach the finals.]

[Yeah, give my regard to your party leader. Until later.]

Kukuku… it has been quite fun indeed.