The Most Terrifying Enemy Is an Incompetent Ally
The most terrifying enemy in the world—who could it possibly be?
A brilliantly cunning strategist? A merciless tyrant? Or perhaps a peerless warrior who stands against ten thousand foes?
Those are certainly the kind of adversaries that send shivers down your spine just by hearing their names. Unfortunately, none of them are the correct answer to this particular question.
There was an enemy just as fearsome as those three.
It was an incompetent ally.
If they were merely incompetent, that would be one thing. But when they were both incompetent and diligent, there was truly no hope left. Especially if that ally happened to occupy a position of great authority.
For example, the guildmaster who commanded an entire organization.
And astonishingly, there was a man who fit that description perfectly.
Isaac Silvertehr. The guildmaster leading the Iron Shield guild, and a man whose strength was more than worthy of his title.
Yet apart from that strength, he was widely regarded as utterly incompetent. There were many reasons, but the biggest was his excessive jealousy and shortsighted decision-making.
A leader of any faction was supposed to make the most rational choices possible. Isaac did the exact opposite.
He simply remade the guild to suit his own tastes and drove out everyone who opposed him. Even the protagonist was no exception.
He surrounded himself with people who only told him what he wanted to hear, while ruthlessly cutting away anyone who offered bitter but honest advice. It was only natural that the Iron Shield under his leadership would fall into ruin.
Consumed by jealousy over the protagonist Zeek's achievements, Isaac made one catastrophic mistake after another. In the end, he recklessly pushed forward with a demonic beast subjugation request. The guild was completely wiped out, and he himself fell and became a monster.
Even at the very end, Isaac never realized what mistakes he had made. It was so pathetic that even the protagonist eventually set aside their desire for revenge and simply pitied him.
All because he had been so utterly foolish.
And now, that fool… was me.
I had fallen victim to the all-too-common trope of being possessed by a novel. The trigger itself was ridiculous. It was supposedly a special privilege given to the greatest fan, so I had gladly accepted it with joy. Was this the thank-you gift? A steaming pile of shit?
Message received, loud and clear.
In most cases like this, the standard approach was to use your knowledge of the original story to desperately avoid the tragic future. But I had absolutely zero intention of being satisfied with something so half-hearted.
When a man draws his sword, he should at least cut a radish. Having gone through the trouble of being possessed, how could I possibly settle for so little?
Of course, I had no plans to remain the idiot guildmaster from the original story.
But since things had come to this, I was going to run this guild with an extremely strict concept.
You dared to throw shit at me?
Then I'll show you exactly what happens when you piss off a concept-obsessed lunatic.