Jason knew very well that fighting with the barrier wall at their side was advantageous.
Because it was a method that allowed them to lead battles against monsters favorably while minimizing casualties among their meager forces.
But he boldly abandoned that method.
Because that method had no future.
If they continued fighting from inside the barrier wall like this, they would not be killed by monsters. Instead, all the supplies they had would run out, and they would have no choice but to wither away and die.
If the taxes coming in from the territory were plentiful, they might at least try to endure somehow, but the people of the territory were poor, so the taxes that came in were not much.
In his view, the Monster Forest was like a double-edged sword.
It was dangerous, but there were also that many opportunities there.
In the Monster Forest, untouched by human hands, many resources existed.
There was an abundance of food such as fruits, mushrooms, and wild greens, as well as precious medicinal herbs, rare metals used for weapons, and even gold dust.
And the byproducts of some monsters also brought in great money.
Thus, Jason chose offensive combat.
He crossed the barrier wall and attacked the monsters first.
This was all possible because of the great river.
Near the entrance of the Monster Forest, a great river flowed across the forest, and that river blocked the influx of powerful monsters.
If they only eliminated the monsters between the river and the barrier wall, they could use the abundant resources of the Monster Forest.
Naturally, if they fought outside the barrier wall, the damage would inevitably be greater than in battles fought at the barrier wall, but as a result, they were able to secure funds to manage the territory.
But that did not mean there was no unease.
The problem was that a large portion of their fighting strength was concentrated in Jason.
His skill was unrivaled.
Without Jason, it was impossible to continue this tactic.
Then one day, an incident occurred.
The operation went wrong, and all the monsters focused on Jason.
Even so, Jason fought bravely.
Because if he retreated, the soldiers’ sacrifices would inevitably grow.
Fortunately, he succeeded in eliminating all the monsters, but his mana circuit, the source of his power, was injured.
With Jason injured, they had no choice but to turn from offense back to defense as before.
For the first few years, things passed without much trouble.
Because they were able to manage somehow with the supplies they had gathered through their efforts until then.
But once all those supplies ran out, the misfortunes that began started swelling like a rolling snowball.
In the forest, where the strike force had disappeared, the monsters began rapidly increasing their numbers, and naturally, the number of monsters targeting humans, their delicious prey, could only grow.
And once Jason was removed from battle, the knights’ influence began to grow stronger.
At first, the knights also did their best to block the monsters, but as the number of monsters they had to face increased, their dissatisfaction gradually grew as well.
At some point, they began openly showing irritation and gradually neglecting the duties assigned to them.
But without them, there was no way to immediately stop monster invasions, so even when resentment surged inside him, Jason had to endure it and placate them.
And as time passed, their demands became even worse.
Even though they did not fight properly, they asked for repair costs for their armor and weapons every time, or demanded allowances even when they had not actually worked.
Under their pressure, he had no choice but to raise their monthly wages, and in contrast, the territory’s money rapidly dried up.
With no income and only increasing expenses, it was only natural.
The only reason the current situation could be maintained until now was that the Romanov family was a frugal household.
But a jar with the bottom fallen out was bound to end up completely empty one day.
“Mm~ So that’s how it happened. It must have been hard for you to say all that, Helena, but thank you for telling me everything. I’ll make sure Helena suffers absolutely no disadvantage from this, so don’t worry.”
“Yes, Young Master. Thank you.”
Helena instead thanked him and left.
Even after Helena returned inside, Lawrence remained seated there, as if he still had much to think about.
His gaze as he glared ahead was sharp and cold as a blade.
‘So the reason Father was injured when the operation went wrong was that Commander Juan failed to carry out the operation, is that it?’
Of course, as long as someone was human, they could make mistakes.
They had been in an extreme battle with their lives on the line, so it was something that could happen.
But Lawrence somehow felt suspicious.
Was that truly Juan’s mistake?
No, he felt a strong certainty that it had been deliberate, not a mistake.
‘Well, even if it wasn’t a mistake, it doesn’t matter.’
Lawrence had already decided to remove Juan.
He was no different from a cancer cell.
His very existence polluted his surroundings and made them dangerous.
In fact, Juan had been at the center of the rude behavior the knights had committed until now.
And judging from how he treated Lawrence today, it had to be said that respect and loyalty toward the Romanov family had already disappeared from his heart.
Having thrown away a knight’s duty, he was no longer a knight.
‘And I suppose it’s only proper to make him take responsibility for what he’s done.’
It was the moment something important was added to Lawrence’s plan.
Having finished thinking, Lawrence rose resolutely from his seat.
Firm determination lay on his face.
The next day, Lawrence woke early in the morning and changed into clothes that were easy to move in.
And his expression was filled with anticipation.
Today was the true beginning of training.
That meant he would become stronger from now on.
After eating a hearty breakfast, Lawrence went to meet Martin.
“You have come out, Young Master.”
In keeping with the attitude of someone learning, Lawrence had come out earlier than the appointed time, but Martin was already there.
“Good morning, Martin. Did you rest well yesterday?”
“Yes, Young Master. Then, let us depart.”
Martin guided Lawrence to a clearing he had chosen in advance.
The clearing was of a suitable size and looked more than sufficient for training.
Seeing several trees with only their stumps remaining, it seemed Martin had prepared the area in advance.
‘They said he was a knight Father cherishes, and he really is different somehow.’
Several fairly thick trees had been cleanly cut down.
The marks had undoubtedly been made by a sword, not an axe.
Moreover, judging by the fact that there was no unevenness at all, it looked as though they had been cut down in a single stroke.
With a serious expression, Martin explained the training they would do today.
“What you need most right now, Young Master, is stamina. Only when you have stamina to support you can you practice swordsmanship, and of course operate mana.”
Lawrence nodded silently.
“The best way to build stamina is running. Since today is the first day, we will avoid overdoing it and run only one hundred laps.”
‘Huh, did he just say one hundred laps?’
Judging from the size of the clearing, one lap seemed to be about one hundred meters.
‘Then that means I have to run ten kilometers……. Did he forget I was a patient until just recently?’
Martin was telling him to lightly run a distance approaching ten kilometers.
And not on well-maintained ground either, but on an uneven dirt path.
Lawrence hesitated for a moment, but soon gathered himself and began warming up.
There was no way Martin would deliberately torment him, so he trusted that Martin had recommended the exercise best suited to him.
Lawrence began running slowly.
At first, his body felt heavy and his breathing was labored, but as time passed, his body grew lighter and his breathing stabilized.
But just as he had expected, ten kilometers was a long distance, and gradually, the strain began to come to his body.
As he ran, Lawrence glanced at Martin’s reaction, but Martin merely watched with a calm face.
As if saying that this much was nothing at all.
‘Tch, I can’t show a pathetic side from my very first training. Let’s do my best so I won’t be ashamed of myself.’
Lawrence controlled his breathing as much as possible and steeled himself.
But unlike his heart, his breathing grew more and more ragged, and his legs went beyond trembling and seemed ready to collapse.
Because his muscles had not yet properly returned, running any farther on his chopstick-thin legs felt completely impossible.
“Young Master. Do not try to run only with the strength of your body. Try to feel mana. Mana is dissolved into the atmosphere, and through breathing, it naturally accumulates in the body. The amount accumulated differs from person to person, but mana definitely exists within everyone’s body.”
Martin offered advice at the most appropriate timing.
To Lawrence, who was on the verge of collapsing, the word mana drove powerfully into his chest.
Martin paused for a moment, then continued.
“Young Master, do you know this? Mana can be felt more easily in extreme situations.”
When Lawrence heard that, he could not give up running.
If it was easiest to feel in an extreme situation, then if he gave up here, he would have to create this kind of situation again.
Also, because he was suffering so much right now, he wanted this extreme situation to end with this one time if possible.
When Lawrence drew up his strength again, Martin cheered him on in a loud voice.
“Take heart, Young Master. If it is you, Young Master, who has inherited the Romanov bloodline, you will be able to feel mana more easily than others. All the ancestors of previous generations felt mana quickly as well.”
Lawrence realized that gaining the Mana Affinity skill had not been a coincidence.
This was a talent dissolved into his blood.
And Lawrence already clearly recognized the existence of mana.
After all, the Status Window was clearly showing him his MP value.
Moreover, the highest among the stats he had was mana.
In a world where mana was most important, having high Mana Affinity was like starting with an incredible blessing.
This was no time to have such weak thoughts just because he had been a patient.
Right now, he needed to focus all his senses on feeling mana.
And when he calmly thought with a cooled head, he realized he had already felt mana before.
It was the sensation he had clearly felt when his mana increased during the process of his contract with the water spirit.
He could also feel the sensation of mana being consumed little by little as the water spirit acted.
Once he realized that sensation, the mana that had only felt vague seemed to be taking shape.
‘Good. I can feel the mana more clearly.’
Mana breathed new strength into his body, which had been left ragged after his stamina ran out.
His legs, which had been losing strength and staggering, recovered in an instant, and unbelievably, he easily surpassed the highest speed he had run at until now.
His breathing also became comfortable, and the air he inhaled powerfully entered deep into his lungs, granting vitality to his whole body.
His recovered legs pushed powerfully against the ground, and with a wider stride, Lawrence ran straight forward.
The power of mana he felt for the first time was tremendous.
This kind of pleasure was so intense that he had never experienced it even once in his life.
The feeling of this moment was more thrilling than when he received the Arcadia game capsule he had gifted himself for having lived so hard, and more thrilling than when he stayed up all night with his first girlfriend.
This alone made him think that he had done well to come here.
And before he knew it, the water spirit, sharing Lawrence’s emotions, appeared in midair and circled around him while dancing in joy.
Come to think of it, the water spirit seemed to have grown larger in build.
No, it was not merely a feeling. It had actually grown larger.
The refreshing sensation he felt had also become even stronger.
Just as he had grown, the spirit had grown as well.
And with the power he felt now, Lawrence perfectly understood this other world.
That this other world was a society founded on strength, and a society that demanded unending struggle.
Seeing that monsters existed had made him expect it to some extent, but after feeling mana directly, he realized that he had only seen the tip of the iceberg of this world.
Then a fighting spirit naturally welled up inside him.
Because anticipation for the countless battles that would unfold in the future made Lawrence excited.
‘I’m looking forward to fighting? Why?’
This was the intense yearning of Lawrence, who had been sick, and it was also the yearning of the current Lawrence, who had fully accepted his memories. Thus, his blood boiled along with it.
Reality was thousands of times more thrilling and exciting than a virtual game.
As he imagined the many adventures that would unfold in the future, Lawrence’s heart raced, and a deep smile hung on his lips.