I was Reincarnated as an Incompetent Leader with Zero Popularity who met his downfall early on. Instead of banishing the hidden cheat Protagonist, I decided to embrace him, and somehow, I ended up being treated like a Hero instead. - Chapter 45

In my novel, Chrono Nightray was meant to be a male protagonist.

However, due to a typo or some other mistake, the Chrono standing before me existed as a woman instead.

At first, I was confused. But eventually, I came to think, It’s just a different gender, that’s all.

Without ever considering how much that one difference had completely derailed the life of the girl in front of me.

“…Do you want to become a man?”

It was a delicate question.

I hesitated, unsure if I should ask, but in the end, I did.

Because if she truly wished to become a man, I knew that it wasn’t an impossible feat.

There was a high-tier support magic skill called Complete Transformation.

If Chrono could acquire that skill, she would be able to change her body entirely.

It was recorded in the skill compendium, and I remembered it vividly because it was such a distinct ability.

However, it wasn’t an easy skill to obtain.

Since I had no aptitude for magic, I hadn’t paid much attention to the details, but I recalled that it required meeting multiple conditions.

Still, if Chrono truly desired to become a man, I should support her.

After all, it was my own typo that turned him into her in the first place.

The girl before me fell into deep thought before finally speaking.

“…I’m sorry, but I don’t really know right now.”

She admitted with a wry smile.

“When I was younger, I often wished I had been born a boy.”

Her short, neatly trimmed black hair, her loose-fitting shirt and trousers—if she claimed to be a boy, there were probably plenty who would believe her.

But a girl who resembled a boy and a boy who looked like a girl were fundamentally different things.

Yet in terms of androgynous beauty, they shared a common trait.

Had I not seen her bare chest while she was sleeping or changing, I might still have believed she was a handsome young boy.

“I don’t like dresses or restrictive clothing. I can’t imagine myself acting demure, and more than anything…”

“You’re a woman, so you shouldn’t indulge in something as barbaric as swordplay or battle.”

Those were the words spoken by her father’s wife—the ones she could never accept.

Chrono’s gaze darkened as she continued.

“I thought I’d rather die than live the way she wanted me to.”

It was no surprise.

Chrono was meant to be the protagonist of an epic hero’s tale.

Telling someone like her to live a quiet, obedient life was as absurd as ordering someone to stop breathing.

Her father’s wife likely hadn’t intended harm—she had simply advised Chrono to live the way women were supposed to.

“But maybe she was right. Maybe if I had lived quietly, I wouldn’t have suffered so much.”

During her aimless wandering—not even worthy of being called an adventure—she had starved countless times, been betrayed over and over, and had her heart worn down to nothing.

There were moments when she thought, If I had just lived as a proper lady, I wouldn’t have gone through any of this.

If she had been born a man, she wouldn’t have had to fear being assaulted by other men.

Hearing her recount such things so lightly, I didn’t have the courage to dig deeper into her past.

“But after you took me in, Alva… after I spent time in this town as an adventurer-in-training, I realized something.”

Lauren was about two hours by carriage from the royal capital.

The cost of living wasn’t too high, and several dungeons were located nearby.

Because of that, many adventurers used it as their base of operations.

Living there for several years must have changed Chrono’s perspective.

“Among the gold- and silver-ranked adventurers, women are commonplace. Sure, there aren’t as many in warrior professions, but…”

Because she often had to visit the tavern—whether to restock drinks or drag my drunk self home—Chrono had developed a rapport with the proprietress and the employees.

And occasionally, she was approached by some of the tavern’s regular patrons.

One day, she decided to ask one of the female warriors something.

“I asked her, ‘Isn’t it difficult to be a warrior as a woman?’ Honestly, I wouldn’t have been surprised if she got mad at me for it.”

But instead, the woman—who carried an axe larger than Chrono’s own head—laughed off the question.

Then, after downing a full wooden mug of ale in a single gulp, she declared boldly:

“Being a warrior is tough, whether you’re a man or a woman. But as long as you’re strong, that’s all that matters. That’s why this is the perfect job for me.”

“That’s…”

I almost said, She’s probably just an exceptional person.

But I stopped myself.

There was no point in saying something so condescending. Chrono likely understood that already.

That was why she smiled so bitterly.

“When she said, ‘As long as you’re strong, that’s all that matters,’ it really hit me. If I had talent with the sword, my father wouldn’t have abandoned me in the first place.”

If she had truly been deemed unfit for battle, then even if she had been born a man, she would have been discouraged from becoming a knight or an adventurer.

What she said made sense.

But inwardly, I couldn’t help but tilt my head in doubt.

Had her father really failed to see her potential as a swordsman?

If so, then he must have been a remarkably blind knight captain.

And now, I finally understood why Chrono was so adamant about believing herself to be incompetent.

Of course, my own harsh treatment of her had likely reinforced that belief.

But even before that, she had already lost confidence in herself.

If she wasn’t ready to decide about her gender identity, then there was no need to press the issue.

But her belief that she was worthless—that was something I needed to correct immediately.

That was what I decided.