A hero of dark times

<After using the archived records to find citizens of the Blood Kingdom with strong intellectual capabilities and cross-referencing the list with current survivors in the Endora Empire, I’ve ended up with 21 results.>

<Out of the 21, 17 are already students of the academy. Out of the remaining four, only one is in the age range of 10-20.>

Seth sighed at the results in his vision, his excitement already starting to fade as he said: ‘That is a bit underwhelming. Show me the remaining one….’

<Miles - 15 years old, orphan, lives in one of the newly built houses in the residential area - works as a shopkeeper in a shoemaker’s shop.>

Seth sighed again and teleported straight to his location, already knowing the chances of this kid being what he was looking for were slim at best.

After arriving in front of a normal-looking store, Seth changed his looks and clothes so he won’t be recognized before stepping through its door.

The small bell hung atop the doorframe chimed lightly, and the teen the system had just shown him quickly rushed to greet him.

“Welcome to our store, customer. How may I be of service?”

Seth looked the boy over again before saying: “I need new shoes. Show me what you got.”

The boy quickly bowed and started walking Seth across the shop, showing him different shoe designs they had on display. After seeing that Seth didn’t show any interest in any of the shoes, the kid asked: “If sir doesn’t find any of the shoes on display to sir’s liking, sir can place an order with sir preferences, and the store will have it done in at most a week.”

“Hmm. There’s no need for that. I’ll keep looking... By the way, why is a boy so young working here? With the changes to our kingdom, you should join the newly opened school with the rest of the young.”

The kid looked weirdly at Seth, not understanding where the question came from, but not wanting to bother a potential customer, he still replied politely: “Because the shop’s owner has helped once in the past, and I want to repay his kindness.”

Seth smiled and said: “That is very honorable of you, but there must be other ways you can do that, other than ruining your own future. I know you are still young, but you must understand that this is the best period in your life to study.”

The kid didn’t reply to Seth’s query, choosing to change the subject. “So, did sir find any shoes to sir’s liking?”

Seth frowned and asked the system: ‘What’s happening with the shop owner?’

<The shop owner can’t come to work here since both his legs are gone.>

‘I meant, why is the kid so dedicated to paying back that man’s kindness? What did he do?’

<His legs are gone because he fed them to Miles when he was about to die of starvation.>

Seth’s footsteps stopped once he read the line that had just appeared in his vision.

He knew that most people in the former Blood Kingdom had stories like that, but to feed an orphan kid your own legs was something that even he didn’t expect.

“Has sir found anything to sir’s liking?” asked Miles once he noticed Seth stopped in front of some simple black shoes.

His words brought Seth back from his thoughts, and he nodded before turning towards the kid: “I think I did, but first, can I speak to the shoemaker and place the request myself?”

The kid made a troubled face and said: “Sir, the owner has lost his legs and can’t come here. He’s at home, working on creating more shoes….”

Seth nodded and handed a small bag of money to the kid. “This should be enough to cover the profits you were going to make today. Can you lead me to him?”

Miles took the bag and peeked inside, only for his eyes to grow wide, and he quickly nodded. “Understood. If respected sir wants to meet with the owner, Miles here will take respected sir there.”

Seth smiled and said: “Let’s go then.”

Miles quickly locked the shop after turning the open sign around and started leading Seth toward the residential area.

“Tell me more about this owner. How did he lose his legs?” Asked Seth on the way.

A somewhat clouded look appeared on Miles’s face as he lowered his head and said: “It happened way before King Seth came to our kingdom….”

Seeing that Miles stopped there, Seth turned towards him with a questioning look, prompting Miles to say: “It was because of me… C-can I not say, sir?”

Seth sighed when he noticed that Miles was about to cry and nodded before turning to look forward again. “That’s fine. I was just curious.”

The two continued walking in silence until they eventually reached the residential area. There, Miles took Seth towards his house and led him straight inside.

“Old man Cliff, I’ve brought a customer for an order.” Yelled Miles before taking Seth in front of a simple door.

“Oh, Miles. Come in, come in.” A husky voice came from behind the door, prompting Miles to open it and invite Seth inside.

Inside the room was only a 40-something man, tied to a regular chair so that he won’t fall while threading a needle to add the finishing touch to a shoe. The table was full of raw materials, water, and some plates with cold food.

Not turning his head from his work, the man continued sewing even after Seth and Miles walked in. “Do you mind waiting for a few minutes? I’m almost done with this one.”

Miles was about to tell the man about the money Seth had paid, but Seth placed a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Seeing that Seth had no issues, Miles also didn’t say anything as they both watched the man sew in silence.

After ten minutes, the old man placed the finished shoe on the table and finally turned toward Seth. Bowing his head slightly, he said: “Sir, I apologize for keeping you waiting. Do you want to place an order?”

Seth nodded and looked at Miles, who was waiting beside him. “Sir Cliff, do you mind if we spoke alone for a moment?”

Miles frowned, but Cliff didn’t give him a choice to speak as he said: “Go wait outside, Miles, while I speak with the customer.”

“But Cliff -“

“Go outside, Miles.” Repeated Cliff, this time his voice containing an unquestionable tone.

Miles nodded and complied, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Once only Cliff and Seth were left in the room, Cliff smiled and asked: “So, what business does sir have with me? I imagine this must be about something other than shoes….”

Seth chuckled and went to sit on a small chair by the side, obviously there for Miles to sit in, as he exclaimed: “Quite a peculiar sight, watching a man with no legs making shoes.”

Cliff laughed and replied: “Indeed it is, sir, but one doesn’t have to wear shoes to learn how to make them.”

“But why make shoes? If you don’t mind me asking. You could have started sewing clothes if you still wanted to work, and as a man with such a heavy handicap, I’m sure the kingdom would have agreed to give you a pension if you asked for it.”

“Hehe, if sir really wants to know, I can tell you, but you’ll likely find it silly or even outright stupid.”

Seeing Seth nod for him to continue, Cliff complied. “As you can see, with this body of mine, walking around is impossible, so having other people wear my shoes as they travel the lands makes up for it. It’s my own stupid way of traveling….”

Seth remained silent since he could feel the misery hidden deep behind the man’s laugh, somewhat reminding him of what he felt when the Tower had told him that stepping outside the simulated world was impossible.

Sighing lightly, Seth asked: “I’m sorry to hear that. How did you lose your legs?”

Cliff shook his head with his eyes closed as he said: “Before King Seth came and saved this kingdom from its misery, some bandits came and cut my legs to sell them as animal meat. They said they would come for my arms, but I never saw them again, so imagine they must have eventually met their end….”

Opening his eyes again, he looked towards Seth and asked: “Has sir really come here just to open up old wounds? If sir has any business with me, I can happily help, but if not, I will politely ask sir to leave.”

Seth remained silent again, looking into the man’s eyes for a long time before finally speaking again. “I came to offer you a deal.”

“What deal?” asked Cliff.

“I want you to hand that boy over to me. In exchange, I have some connection with an ascended that can heal your legs.”

Now it was Cliff’s turn to silently stare into Seth’s eyes. After a long time, he asked: “What do you want from Miles?”

“What does it matter to you? You’ll finally be able to walk again, and all you have to pay for it is that little boy.”

“Can sir give me some time to think?”

“No. I can’t risk you informing the knight order. So, do we have a deal?” said Seth.

“Then I would kindly like to ask for sir to leave.”, replied Cliff.

In the next moment, Seth’s destruction energy exploded, tendrils of dark-red energy swirling around him as he asked: “Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider? I wanted to be polite and not attract the Kingdom’s attention, but I don’t mind killing you and taking the kid anyway. No one can stop me in time anyway.”

Cliff looked at the tendrils of energy and immediately understood Seth was an ascended. Without hesitation, he screamed as hard as possible: “MILES RUN!”

Seth smiled but didn’t make any move to prevent Miles from escaping, and it turned out that he didn’t even have to.

Following the man’s yell, the door to the room swung open, and Miles stepped inside. The boy was terrified to see the tendrils of destruction energy extending from Seth’s body and moving around Cliff’s, as he asked: “W-what’s happening?”

“Stupid boy. RUN!” yelled Cliff again, a trace of despair appearing on his face once he spotted the tendrils of energy moving to block the door and prevent Miles from leaving.

Noticing the boy barely reacted to his words, Cliff grit his teeth and quickly threw one of the shoes next to him toward Miles’s face, but by the time the shot hit him, it was already too late.

Miles was brought back to his senses once he got hit by the shoe, but his reaction again went against Cliff’s intention. Miles didn’t even look toward the entrance as he moved to stand in front of Cliff.

He grabbed a knife from the table and pointed it straight toward Seth, but both his legs were shaking out of fear.

“It’s too late, Miles. He’s an ascended. Put the knife down.” Said Cliff with a resigned look, but Miles still didn’t move.

Looking straight at Seth, he asked with a begging face: “What can I do for sir to leave Cliff alone?”

Seth shrugged his shoulders and said: “I want the truth. What happened to his legs?”

Miles clenched his fist around the dagger he was holding and said: “I ate them.”

“Why?” asked Seth.

“I was starving, and Cliff fed them to me.” Replied Miles.

Seth nodded and canceled his energy, throwing a small golden badge right in front of the two.

“With that badge, you can seek Ascended Caitlin and ask her to treat Cliff’s wounds. She might not be able to right now, but in at most a year, she will have the power to do that.”

“Take it as compensation for scaring the two of you. Live well, and goodbye.”

Once his words ended, Seth disappeared from the room, returning to his throne room.

<Host?>

‘You want to know why I let him go?’

<Affirmative. Miles had shown great honor, conviction, and courage, qualities host has always treasured in past endeavors, so host’s decision appears irrational.>

‘Is it?’

‘The clever play for Miles would have been to run away, not jump headfirst into danger. He could have easily made a commotion or got the guard’s attention. His impulsive and emotional response would only kill them both, so his decision-making is questionable at best.’

‘His lack of ambition to rise in the new world and use all the opportunities Endora has to offer is also a big no-no.’

‘He has no desire to move forward, his emotions cloud his judgment, and to be honest, he didn’t even seem that smart. I know he’s still a kid, but I need a genius, not a snot-nosed brat.’

‘Let me ask you something now. Cliff died in the former timeline, didn’t he?’

<Affirmative. Two months ago.>

‘That’s why he had proven himself a genius in the former timeline. The cruelty of that world had given him no choice but to become one. Those two had suffered enough for me to be that cruel. I’ll find someone else.’