The Banished Incompetent Mage Achieves Revenge with His True Power
He was the decoy. The baggage. The "incompetent" Rank One.
For three years, Kyle endured it all—the mockery, the beatings, the times his party tied him up and left him to die as bait. In the Kingdom of Regnica, your talent crest decides your worth, and his was the faintest of them all. So he swallowed his rage, smiled, and survived.
But when his party abandons him in the depths of a dungeon one last time, something inside Kyle finally snaps—and a power he never knew he had awakens. A power the
The Banished Incompetent Mage Achieves Revenge with His True Power - Exposure of the Crest — The Back That Never Looks Back
Morning light fell quietly over the town of Tarva.
Long shadows stretched across the cobblestones. Kyle stopped in front of the guild branch and looked up at the signboard. The Arcus Alliance, Tarva Branch—an organization where adventurers took on requests and earned their pay. Its entrance felt heavier than usual today.
(I'll end it here.)
He murmured it deep in his chest.
Last night, Lizette had shaved off part of her own crest and given it to him. That warm light had shattered his seal. After three years with his magic stoppered shut, it came surging up from the depths of his body. Like a dead tree sprouting buds, like cracks racing across stone. In that forest last night, something had definitely changed.
But right now, there was something more important than that power.
Kyle opened his left palm. An old burn scar. Proof that he'd been used as bait for three years. Days spent bound within reach of monsters' tongues, listening to Gale's mockery at his back. All of it slept beneath this scar.
"...Let's go."
His voice was quiet.
Beside him, Lizette gave a small nod.
Her chestnut braid shone softly in the morning light. Her large brown eyes were still a little red and swollen from last night's tears. Her healer's robes were still stained with mud and herb juice. The old scar at her right temple stood out pale against her skin.
"Yes. ...But, Kyle. You're really sure about this?"
Her voice trembled faintly.
"Yeah. This is right. ...This is how we end it."
Kyle pushed open the guild door.
—Inside, everything had gone still.
Early as it was, a crowd had gathered in front of the reception counter. Adventurers lined the walls, watching them. Every face was tense, waiting for something.
Beyond the counter, he could see Milene. The head of the Tarva branch. A woman in her mid-thirties with sharp eyes and a composed bearing. On the counter in front of her lay the bundle of parchment Kyle had brought last night.
And standing before that counter—
Was Gale.
Close-cropped blond hair. Blue eyes. A hawkish nose. Stubble on his chin. A dark crest glowed on the back of his left hand. That man, standing with his chest puffed out. The source of the mockery Kyle had listened to from behind for three years.
Beside Gale stood Seraphina.
Long silver ringlets. Narrow violet eyes. A deep, dark crest at her left collarbone. The woman who always wore a faint smile—a smile that never reached her eyes. The one who had classified Kyle as "disposable" and poisoned Lizette.
When they saw Kyle enter, they turned in unison.
"Oh, there he is. The famous incompetent, finally showing his face at the guild."
Gale's voice rang up to the guild ceiling.
The adventurers around them stirred.
"Branch Head Milene, this is the one. The one who shoved some strange documents at me last night. Who's going to believe a word from a man with a weak crest?"
Gale pointed at the bundle of parchment on the counter.
"Kyle. You've got some nerve, pulling a shameless stunt like this. Claiming you were used as bait? Don't make me laugh. You were used as bait because you're incompetent. That's all there is to it."
Gale strode up until he stood right in front of Kyle.
His massive frame—six foot one—loomed over him.
"Put you in front of a crest meter and it reads 'one.' The lowest possible number. And with a crest like that, you thought you could defy me? No one's going to believe a word you say. Right, everyone?"
Gale looked around the room.
The adventurers said nothing.
No one said a thing.
"See? No one cares. You lose, Kyle. Get out of this town before I make you."
Gale's voice rang out, triumphant.
Kyle stayed silent.
The anger was there.
Smoldering quietly at the pit of his stomach. The urge to shout. The urge to clench his fists. But now wasn't the time for that.
(No need to argue with words.)
(I have something to show them.)
Slowly, Kyle reached for the collar of his mage's robe.
The patchwork gray cloth. He quietly pulled the collar aside.
His neck was exposed.
"...Look at this."
Kyle's voice was quiet.
The air in the guild changed.
—On Kyle's neck, a mark had surfaced.
White, faint, but unmistakable. An intricate pattern of spirals and straight lines. It was no ordinary crest scar.
The Royal Magical Institute's seal inscription.
Proof that the state organ governing magic administration in the Kingdom of Regnica had, through official procedure, sealed this man's crest.
"Wha—what is that?"
Gale's voice wavered for the first time.
"The Royal Magical Institute's seal inscription. ...My crest was never weak to begin with. It was sealed. ...And you knew that, and you used me as bait anyway."
Kyle's voice stayed quiet.
But those words transformed the air in the guild.
"Hey, is that the real thing?"
"A Royal Magical Institute inscription... they don't put those on just any incompetent."
"What's going on? That guy's crest was sealed?"
The murmuring spread like a wave.
Milene leaned forward over the counter.
"...Kyle. That inscription—is it truly the Royal Magical Institute's?"
Her voice was low and serious.
"Yeah. ...Last night, someone shared their crest with me, and the seal broke. And then this surfaced. ...My crest wasn't weak from birth. Someone sealed it."
Kyle looked Milene straight in the eye.
"And Gale knew. ...He saw the mark on my neck and laughed about my weak crest, but he knew what it really was. ...That's why he used me as bait. He knew what my power really was, and he kept it sealed and threw me away."
For the first time, a faint heat entered Kyle's voice.
"Shut up! What nonsense are you spouting! I don't know anything! You were bait because you're incompetent! And that inscription has to be a fake!"
Gale raised his voice.
But there was none of his earlier composure in it.
"...Whether it's fake or not, we'll know once we investigate. If we inquire with the Royal Magical Institute, the authenticity of this inscription will be clear immediately. ...Branch Head Milene. I want you to look at these records."
Kyle picked up the bundle of parchment from the counter.
"These are the records of how I was used as bait by Dawn's Fang for three years. The locations of the abandonment points in the labyrinth. The dates and times I was used to lure monsters. The records of Lizette rushing to treat me every time. ...And the evidence that Gale was bribing officials to falsify his crest strength—that's all here too."
Kyle held out the bundle to Milene.
She took it and began carefully examining each page.
The guild was silent as still water.
The adventurers watched, holding their breath.
"...These are copies of request forms submitted to the guild. The fourth floor of the labyrinth 'Throat of the Abyss,' record of a bait mission. ...Kyle's name is here. The reward was paid to the party as a whole."
Milene's voice read out the facts, flat and even.
"...And this is the treatment record of the healer Lizette Irving. Kyle's injuries cluster immediately after every bait mission. ...This frequency can't be explained unless it was deliberate placement."
Milene's eyes turned to Gale.
"...Gale. You falsified your crest strength with money. Your guild registration reports crest rank 5. But according to these records, your actual crest rank is 3. ...Isn't that right?"
The blood drained from Gale's face.
"Th—that's wrong! That's... those are forged records! Kyle made them up to frame me!"
Gale denied it, speaking fast.
"Whether they're forged or not, we'll verify that here. But these records bear the guild's reception stamp. ...That's not something you can easily forge."
Milene's voice was cold.
"And the crime of using a healer as bait can't be overlooked either. Lizette Irving is registered with Dawn's Fang as a healer. Bringing a healer along on dangerous bait missions violates guild regulations. ...And the matter of her collapsing from poison the other day. I hear that was a trap disguised as a request."
At Milene's words, the guild stirred.
"Hey, they poisoned a healer?"
"That silver-haired woman? I heard she came up smiling and served herbal tea."
"That's low. Going after a healer—they're not fit to call themselves adventurers."
The adventurers' gazes pierced Gale and Seraphina.
Cold, accusing stares.
For the first time, Gale faltered under them.
"W—wait. I don't know anything about the poison! That was Seraphina acting on her own—"
Gale's voice cracked.
In that instant—
"...How cruel, Gale. I only did it because you told me to."
Seraphina's voice rang through the guild.
Until then, she had stood there smiling in silence. That smile crumbled audibly.
"I didn't know anything. It was all Gale's orders. The poison brewing, the fake request, the plan to steal Kyle's crest—all of it was Gale's idea. I was only following orders..."
Tears spilled from Seraphina's large violet eyes.
Her silver ringlets fell over her trembling shoulders.
"I was scared. That if I defied Gale, I'd end up as bait too, just like Kyle. ...So I couldn't defy him. I'm sorry, Kyle. Lizette. I never wanted to do any of this."
Seraphina bowed deeply toward Kyle and Lizette.
She looked for all the world like a pitiful victim.
But Kyle knew.
That this woman's tears were calculated.
(A woman who ruins people with a smile—when she's cornered, she runs with tears.)
(That's the kind of woman she is. I knew it from the start.)
Kyle said nothing.
He simply watched Seraphina with cold eyes.
"You... Seraphina! You—you pinned everything on me!"
Gale lunged toward Seraphina.
His blue eyes were bloodshot. His hawkish nose trembled with rage.
"You did it! The poison brewing, the crest falsification—it was all your scheme! I only did it because you told me to! You wanted that incompetent's crest, so I just did what you said!"
Gale's roar echoed through the guild.
"That's not true! I was being threatened by Gale! That night at the Seal Tower, stealing Kyle's crest—that was Gale's order too! I never wanted to do any of it!"
Seraphina cried out through her tears.
"Liar! You watched Kyle's crest disappear with a smile on your face! You said, 'Now that disposable piece really is worthless, isn't he.' I heard you!"
At Gale's words, the guild erupted.
"Hey, did you hear that? 'Disposable.'"
"That woman said that with a smile? Gives me chills."
"They're both equally guilty. What do they think human lives are?"
The adventurers' voices grew colder.
Gale and Seraphina no longer cared about the stares around them.
The two of them were flinging their crimes at each other.
"You were the one who said to use Kyle as bait! I was just doing what you wanted!"
"That's not true! Gale always said, 'Incompetents are meant to be used as bait!' I was only listening to you!"
"You—even now, you're still trying to pin it on me! You poisoned Lizette! You tried to kill that girl!"
"That was because Gale said, 'If we steal a healer's crest, we'll grow even stronger!' I did it for you, Gale!"
Their voices tangled together in the guild, ugly and raw.
Voices hurling insults. Crimes shoved back and forth. The ones who had laughed at Kyle as "incompetent" and thrown him away as bait were now destroying themselves with their own words.
Kyle simply watched, quietly.
(No need to stop them.)
(I've no obligation to.)
(These people are exposing their own crimes with their own mouths.)
Deep in Kyle's chest, something felt cold and quiet and clear.
It wasn't the thrill of revenge.
It wasn't triumph.
Just the sense that the weight of three years had finally been set down in the right place.
(This is right.)
(This is how I do things.)
Kyle closed his eyes.
In the depths of his ears, Gale's and Seraphina's shouting sounded far away.
Once, those voices had made him cower.
Every time he was called incompetent, he felt his own worth being whittled away.
But now it was different.
Those voices no longer reached Kyle's heart.
"...Kyle."
Lizette's vo
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