That wall was none other than Lord Jason, to whom Juan had sworn loyalty.
At first, he thought that although Jason was strong, if he trained diligently, he would be able to catch up to him sufficiently.
Because Juan believed himself to be the owner of tremendous talent.
But that was a mistaken thought.
As they said, one only saw as much as one knew.
Back then, he had not recognized Jason’s true skill.
But as his own skill increased, Jason’s true face began to show itself.
And he realized.
That Jason was not someone he could catch up to with his talent, and that his talent did not even reach the tips of Jason’s feet.
Then one day, Juan learned a despairing truth that could not even be compared to the shocks he had received until then.
He was a frog in a well.
He had learned that even Jason, who had given him despair, was merely a knight of average skill in the wider world.
Juan had thought he possessed remarkable talent, but that was a complete delusion.
His talent only looked remarkable in a remote village like this with a small population. If he went out to a city, talent of that level was so common one could kick it with one’s feet.
After learning that truth, he fell into despair.
If he could not even surpass Jason, how was he supposed to become a noble?
As Juan wandered through that despair, one day, a thought suddenly occurred to him.
‘Now that I think about it, if Jason is gone, I’m the strongest person here. Then….’
He changed his plan.
If he could not become the strongest knight, he would get rid of them instead.
And that plan was to eliminate Jason and become the lord who ruled this territory himself.
That did not mean he could become a noble right away, but if he became the true master of this territory and governed it, perhaps one day a noble title would be granted to him by the king.
If he could not do it himself, he had a son.
Or he could embezzle the territory, gather money, and simply buy a noble title.
Of course, since the territory was so poor, it would take a long time, but it was not an impossible method.
Fortunately, there was a way to kill Jason without even a mouse or bird finding out.
Jason fought monsters aggressively, and Juan simply had to use that.
Then one day, the opportunity he had been waiting for finally came.
A far larger group of goblins than usual swarmed in, and Juan deliberately and cleverly ignored the battle he was in charge of.
Just as he had planned, a large group of goblins swarmed Jason.
Unfortunately, although Jason injured his mana circuit, he did not die.
When Juan heard that news, he was greatly disappointed at first.
If things turned out this way, everything about becoming a noble or anything else would become impossible.
But as time passed, the situation began turning strangely.
When Jason, whose mana circuit had been injured, could no longer go out to battle, Juan’s authority grew even greater.
It had not been his intention, but it was no different from the military power of this territory falling into his hands.
If that was the case, the story changed.
‘The count is only the lord in name. In reality, it’s as good as me ruling this territory.’
It was disappointing that he had not become a noble, but this was not bad either.
In order to increase his own power and drain Jason’s, the first thing he did was win over the Knight Order and make them his people.
Compared to the things he had done until now, this was not particularly difficult work.
Jason had been strict with the knights.
The training he led was brutal, and in battle, the Knight Order naturally had to step forward and fight at the very front.
Juan reduced the training for that Knight Order and placed soldiers in front during battle.
Because of that, the Knight Order naturally fell into his hands.
A few knights resisted, but they could not go against the general trend.
Before long, they too had no choice but to bow their heads before Juan’s authority.
After that, he nibbled away at the count’s house’s strength little by little and fattened his own belly.
Jason had long since noticed Juan’s scheme, but now that he had lost his military power and the Knight Order had fallen into Juan’s grasp, there was nothing he could do.
In the end, both the Knight Order and the people of the territory had no choice but to bow their heads to Juan.
While such things were happening, Jason could not even leave his office all day because he was trying to save even a single coin.
Juan found this situation so exciting and amusing that every day was enjoyable.
But now, an absurd situation had unfolded.
Lawrence, who had been less than a day-old pup in his eyes and whom he had not paid the slightest attention to, had come charging at him.
At first, it irritated him, but after thinking carefully, this was a new opportunity.
Lawrence was a very precious existence who would allow him to reclaim his lost dream.
Juan whispered into the ear of O’Neill, the Vice Commander.
After hearing his words, O’Neill nodded, then took the knights and surrounded Martin.
“Martin! Are you saying you dare to interfere with a sacred duel?”
The moment O’Neill finished speaking, the knights rushed in and subdued Martin.
“Let go. I said let go. How can you do something like this? To repay the grace the count has shown you until now in this manner. Do you not possess even the smallest conscience?”
While being suppressed, Martin erupted in resentment toward the knights.
His eyes were filled with all kinds of contempt and disgust.
At that sight, O’Neill’s face reddened.
“Shut up! You bastard.”
In order to hide the shame surging over him, he pressed down on Martin even harder.
With the nuisance gone, Juan lightly tapped his scabbard and approached Lawrence.
“Now that the nuisance is gone, shall we slowly begin? Surely you are not going to challenge me to a duel first and then tuck your tail between your legs. You are the lord’s son in name, so you will not do anything that ruins your appearance, will you?”
In case Lawrence became frightened and retreated, Juan provoked him and cut off any possible path of escape.
Since he had said this much, Lawrence, being a noble who valued face like his life, would not be able to back down.
“Do not worry. Unlike you, I am not a man who knows nothing of honor.”
Lawrence instead took one bold step forward as he spoke.
At that sight, a sneer hung on Juan’s lips.
“Oh~ As they say, a tiger father does not beget a dog son. Not bad. But it is also undeniable that you are a brat who knows nothing of the world.”
Unbelievably, Juan, the Knight Commander, attacked first.
Since he had already decided to kill Lawrence, he had no intention of showing something like the generosity of the strong.
Moreover, Lawrence’s venomous words that gouged at his chest had also made his anger surge.
A sword as fierce as Juan’s sharp gaze aimed for Lawrence.
Lawrence quickly took a step back and knocked his sword away.
“Impossible!!”
The eyes of the knights watching Juan and Lawrence’s duel widened as if they would pop out.
Because this was an important moment that would decide his future, Juan had attacked with all his effort, and though it was not flashy, he had poured his experience into it.
But to their surprise, Lawrence had blocked Juan’s attack.
And in an utterly stable posture at that.
Some of the knights rubbed their eyes as if they could not believe what they were seeing.
No one here had expected Lawrence to be able to block Juan’s attack at all.
Originally, Lawrence should have died from that attack.
That was the natural conclusion.
But he had blocked it.
And not through luck, but through skill.
It made no sense that he had developed this kind of skill in such a short time.
And there was another problem that could not be overlooked.
Originally, the moment their swords collided, Lawrence’s sword should have been cut apart.
Juan’s sword, filled with the mana of a man who had trained his entire life, was not something the sword of Lawrence, who had only trained for a few months, could block.
That meant Lawrence had also awakened mana.
If that was true, then the bastard was a genius.
‘To think someone who barely survived after nearly dying became this strong after only a few months of training. Moreover, the mana he possesses is no ordinary amount either. Is something like this even possible?’
The most shocked among them was Juan, the one currently crossing swords with him.
He was so surprised that he thought his heart had dropped.
But as befitting an experienced knight, he did not reveal his emotions.
This was a duel with their lives on the line, and there was no need to show his surprise and raise his opponent’s momentum.
‘So this was what that bastard was aiming for.’
If Juan had not attacked first and had instead let the bastard attack first while he was careless, he might truly have been defeated in an absurd manner.
“I see. So you had a hidden move. Even so, the result will not change.”
Although Juan was slightly surprised, he spoke as if it were nothing.
Something unbelievably remarkable had happened, but that did not mean anything would change.
Even now, the strong one in this duel was still him, and Lawrence was still the weak one.
At most, the bastard’s life had been extended by a little.
Lawrence did not respond to Juan’s words.
But his eyes were blazing with anger.
By crossing swords with Juan, he had learned many things about him.
First of all, Juan had attacked Lawrence without the slightest hesitation.
The intent to cut him down in a single stroke had been far too clear.
No matter how much this was a duel, Lawrence was still the son of the lord to whom Juan had sworn loyalty, yet his killing intent was this dense.
What this meant was very significant.
It meant that Juan had not the slightest respect left for the count’s house.
Lawrence had already guessed it to some extent, but that did not make the sense of betrayal any smaller.
He was a cancerous lump eating away at the count’s house, an enemy against whom Lawrence had to fight to the death, an enemy who could not live under the same sky as him.
“Father’s injury was your doing too, wasn’t it?”
Lawrence’s question suddenly came straight in.
Juan could not properly respond to Lawrence’s abrupt and unexpected question.
This was a secret he had hidden even from his own child.
How could Lawrence know such a secret?
Caught off guard, his face clearly showed panic.
‘I made a mistake.’
Juan quickly managed his expression before anyone could see.
Lawrence was not the only one here.
The Knight Order was watching his duel with all its attention.
No matter how long he had worked to bring the Knight Order under his control, this secret was dangerous enough that if it leaked, his position could be shaken in an instant.
“W-What are you talking about?”
Juan answered while trying to calm himself, but he had not completely regained his composure.
Because of that, his voice trembled very slightly.
Those with sharp instincts would definitely have felt the tremor in his voice.
In particular, there was no way Lawrence, the person who had asked the question, would fail to notice it.
“How can a bastard calling himself a knight do something so shameless? A man who calls himself his lord’s sword aims not at the enemy, but at his lord’s neck? A bastard like you does not deserve to live.”
“You crazy bastard! Maybe because you barely survived after nearly dying, you no longer see anything before your eyes. To think you would even make such an absurd accusation. I intended to show mercy and correct your rotten manners, but that will not do. You are the shame of the count’s house. Do not resent me for there being no mercy in my sword.”
Juan refuted Lawrence’s words with a stern expression, but inside, he was already in chaos from humiliation and anger.
He had seen Lawrence as nothing more than a pebble on the roadside, but absurdly, that pebble had flown up and struck him.
At the fact that this unbelievable thing had happened, he felt resentful, hurt, and irritated, as if he had been struck in the back of the head before he knew it.
“Hah~ You detestable bastard. Do you think I don’t know that you’ve already decided to kill me? Everyone here knows it. And yet you’re still going to act like that? I knew you were shameless, but you truly do not know shame at all. Go on, then. Kill me if you can.”
Lawrence glared fiercely at Juan and shouted.
After experiencing him directly, Juan was far more detestable than Lawrence had heard in rumors.
He was like a beast wearing human skin.
After hearing Lawrence’s words, Juan shut his mouth.
If he continued the conversation, he would only reveal his own bottom.
‘Fuck, this young bastard only has a mouth on him. The words he spits are endlessly poisonous. He has a tongue like a snake.’
He tried to manage his expression as much as possible, but he was so furious that the area beneath his eyes trembled.
At this rate, his expression might be fully revealed on his face.
It would be troublesome to reveal his expression in a place with so many eyes watching.
There might be no problem right away, but later, it would surely act as a great source of trouble.
Juan’s eyes sharpened, and he immediately swung his sword, filled with anger, toward Lawrence.
The blade that cut diagonally toward Lawrence with a sound like the air splitting was terrifying.
The attack’s speed and difficult-to-block angle came together, making everything about it a perfect attack.
His swordsmanship as a knight had been displayed without reservation.
“Hah.”
Surprised by Juan’s unexpected skill, Lawrence quickly raised his sword and tried to block his attack, but he could not block it completely.