[N POV]

A new memory means a recent tragedy.

As much as Claude wished to know more about the indefinite future, he didn’t wish to see another bad end. Or even some trauma he’d feel...

The world is already that bleak for him.

In the future, what will happen to this Claude?

Wait, who is this Claude in the first place?

Does he have a memory from another past?

No, the answer is no.

This is the story of a normal man, Claude.

The Claude, who has no past and is not a Miko.

This is Claude’s future if he isn’t a Miko.

....

..

Unlike the others, Claude, this time, is more childish.

His child has nothing different until he meets with Rudeus in Buena Village.

The story continued as the canon.

Rudeus and Paul fought because Somar’s mother falsified the truth, and the truth about their bullying Sylphiette didn’t come out.

Somar, Mike, and Claude continue to be the bullies in the village. Even so, they avoided Rudeus and Sylphy, alienating them from the village kids.

They hate them, so they alienate Rudeus from the green-haired Superd that will eat children.

They feel happy when they know that Rudeus was sent to the town, and they won’t meet with him again.

So they want to bully Sylphy again, but get scared since she can fly a water ball or even worse.

It’s a strategic retreat, guys! Go back! " Claude said, commanding Mike and Somar to go back to the village.

The day they spent together was filled with emptiness.

Of course, each of them helps their parents in one way or another.

But not so close as the time Miko and Claude spend with their parents.

A normal kid with a normal time and normal things.

Living as thugs in the village, they cause some discord with their parents and help each other in times of emergency.

The time they spent together was fulfilling yet empty at the same time.

So is the life of kids under 10.

They don’t think about the future, but rather about the present.

Since that’s the case, the day Metastasis happened. They only felt dread, and the fear of death they never felt was there.

In contrast to the other future, in this future, Claude wasn’t transferred to the dungeon but to another destination.

It is the wilderness of the Millis Continent.

....

..

Surviving in the wilderness is never an easy thing to do for a veteran adventurer. It’s worse for the normal adult, not to mention a child who has yet to receive proper training.

It took more than a day for Claude to pass through the wilderness.

His body was also filled with deep wounds, not only a scratch.

With each step he took, blood drained from his body.

The queer one was the fact that his savior was the one who made him feel like hell on earth. It is a pain he gets more than being thrown into the wilderness.

He was saved by the slavers.

You can imagine what happened to him after that.

after being nursed, minimally.

He was made to be a miner in a mine.

Day after day, he passed as a miner. With a maimed body, he can’t do anything but try to treat his life better.

As the day passed, his wound got better.

Even so, he’s still a broken product that no one wants to buy.

Three years after being a miner, he was saved by a Water God Style Swordsman.

Oh, you look older than me... Are you one of the slaves of this illegal mine?"

....

..

.

[Claude POV]

Right now, I am already 16 years old.

It’s been 2 years since Lady Isolte saved me from the illegal mine and brought me to the Dojo. Here, I’ve learnt many things about the Water God Sword style and the Metastasis Event which erased the Fittoa region from the map.

It’s been five years since then.

I’ve already been to Buena Village in the past, and there’s nothing there.

I can’t see anything beyond that point, and I feel devastated.

This world seems to hate me.

It’s more depressing than the time I spent in the mine. Within that dark thought of mine, my father was found.

They were helping Paul by saving the other fallen from the Metastasis. Somar was saved from the slavers before being sent to the mine, and Mike was saved because he was sent to train with the merchant of the Asura Kingdom, though he lost his parents, unlike mine and Somar.

Mike devotes himself entirely to his merchant work, intending to leave his mark on the Kingdom within the next five years.

Whenever we meet, I can feel that Mike is trying to run away from his sadness.

His parents' passing away seems to have hurt him that much, huh?

As we spent our days further away from each other, we grew more distant from each other. With me spending my time repaying Lady Isolte's kindness by training under her and cleaning the dojo.

What are you doing here, Claude?

Lady Isolte suddenly appeared before me.

I’m already used to her appearing suddenly, or maybe I might be the one spacing out so much that I never realize her.

"Lady Isolte, good afternoon..."

Yeah, yeah, I always say that being too stiff isn’t good... but, well, what’s up? "

She always hates me calling her Lady, but isn’t it normal to use respect when speaking to her? She’s higher than me in stature, stronger than me, and my life savior.

"I’ll always be your subordinate, my lady."

"Geez, you know that I always thought of you as my friend, right?"

"I’m unworthy of being your friend, my lady."

"Geez, anyway, let’s go to the Holy Land of the Swords and train to become a Sword Emperor!"

"You need to be a sword king first, though, my lady."

She grumbled at my retort, but dragged me along with her.

I followed her, accompanying her as her escort and helping her all the way to the north-west corner of the Central continent.

That is the headquarters of a Sword God Style practitioner.

Different from the other sword styles that lived in a dojo, the Swords’ God style practitioners had a region of their own.

It was said the holy land of the swords was not because it’s the place where the Sword God practitioner lived, but because the place is the gathering of those under the God title to come together and practice together to reach a higher realm.

A place where each style shares their thoughts. Though North Style Swords practitioners rarely visit the place, it’s still the place you head to when you want to train your swordsmanship.

By the way, the current Swords God, Gal Farion, is also a Water God style Emperor ranked.

I’m always confused whenever I say the title and rank of the swordsman because, unlike the wizard, their usage of title and rank isn’t always the same as their strength.

Or, is the God in their rank actually just a title?

Which means they only have Emperor Rank, as the God Rank is only called so when there’s no one that can beat them, and once they are beaten, they will be an Emperor again.

Wouldn’t that be redundant?

I mean, even if their title as God was stolen because of their defeat, it’s not like their ability to fall to become an Emperor rank.

When I asked these questions to Lady Isolte, she just shrugged and said, "Don’t think too much about it. No matter what your title is, the strong will always be the strong."

Then, what’s the use of the rank?

Jeez,

Anyway, the trip took us one year.

Along the way, I even heard rumors about Rudeus the Quagmire.

This should be the genius mage, which is Paul's son, who beat me and the other because we bullied the green-haired half-elf in the past, right?

Well, it seems he made a name after his journey from the Demon continent, huh?

But, quagmire?

Is he using earth and water magic to achieve that spell?

It’s intriguing, but I’m not really a wizard myself, so I just leave it aside.

Your cooking is the best, as always! Claude! "

Lady Isolte said, as she took a spoon of the soup I made.

"Surely, you jest. I’m still green, my lady, but I thank you for the compliment. "

"Muu, since when have you learnt these hard words? I know that your food is better than the one we have. Is it the best restaurant in Asura? Or is it the one in Ranoa? They aren’t as good as yours. "

"Oh, that one in Ranoa? It’s good. I can still feel the fresh seafood they made. It’s better than mine, I know that. "

You’re too humble. Even the Emperors in the Dojos all loved your food. If only they were more honest with themselves, I bet they wanted you as their cook in the Dojo.

Lady Isolte is very good at compliments, but I know I can improve my cooking skills.I need to be better to make her happy then.

As we spent days on our journey, I learnt more about the food of the area and became a better cook. Lady Isolte is always praising me for my cooking, but she’s always ruthless in her training.

Without realizing it, it took us a year to reach our destination.

In this place, I never would’ve thought that we’d be torn apart...

This is the place where I will leave her forever...

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