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 46

“I met Noah at the tavern too. At first, I couldn’t even tell what their gender was…”

I had stared at them a little too intently, and they ended up calling me out on it.

Chrono recounted the story with a hint of embarrassment.

I see. So it was Noah’s androgynous appearance that caught Chrono’s interest—someone already struggling with her own gender identity.

But now that I thought about it, what was Noah’s gender, really?

I wanted to ask Chrono, but I held back, knowing it would only derail the conversation.

“When I told them I was training as an adventurer because I wanted to become a swordsman, they were really kind to me. They even took me out hunting in the forest from time to time.”

“Is that so?”

“Noah is just as strong as you, Alva! And they’d cook freshly caught game with magic—it was delicious!”

“…You’re drooling.”

Please don’t lump me in with that hero (monster).

But now it made sense why she had gone looking for Noah for help.

Unlike in the original novel, Chrono had met the all-powerful hero early on.

And Noah, seeing a girl struggling with her lack of talent for swordsmanship, had been kind to her.

Maybe they had even recognized her potential from the start.

Despite their carefree demeanor, Noah had a nurturing side.

Perhaps they felt a special connection to Chrono because, in the original story, they had a mentor-student relationship.

And through those outings, Chrono had come to understand Noah’s abilities and strength firsthand.

“So basically, you thought Noah would be useful in the fight against that giant slime?”

“Yes… but I couldn’t find them right away…”

And in that time, that happened to Alva.

Chrono’s face darkened with regret.

“I should have asked Thomas to return first, at the very least. My judgment is always too slow… I’m sorry!”

If Thomas had been there, the town’s vigilante group would have been much easier to control.

But in the end, that was just hindsight.

The battle with the slime was over, and both the child and I had managed to survive.

“But thanks to you bringing Noah, I was able to get healed, wasn’t I?”

“Well… that’s true, but…”

“Then it all worked out in the end. …Though I do have a mountain of things I’d like to say to Thomas and that so-called vigilante group.”

Honestly, the vigilantes were completely incompetent.

It seemed like their lack of respect for Thomas, the vice-captain, was the root of the problem.

Despite being far more skilled than them, they still looked down on him.

If they kept up that arrogance, it was only a matter of time before it came back to bite them.

And more than anything, I despised people who mocked a father in front of his child.

I recalled with distaste the way those men had made careless jokes, causing the boy trapped in the slime to give up on living.