The Curse of Being Hated Has Been Lifted

19 – Payment Due

“What’s going on?”

The next morning, Logan, who came out to the academy entrance to activate the mana condition analyzer, could see a considerable number of students waiting in line.

“Boss!”

Hans was most pleased by the arrival of Logan, the owner of the machine.

He had arrived at work about an hour earlier than the machine’s operating hours, enduring the warm gazes of the students until now.

“You came early.”

The current time was 7:45.

Since the operation hours of the condition discriminator were from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., Logan had not arrived late, but both the students and the laborers had come early.

“From now on, Hans, just carry the key with you.”

“Is that okay?”

Hans asked, looking bewildered.

In his eyes, as a commoner, it was not easy for Logan to entrust him with such a valuable item.

“It’s more efficient that way.”

‘He’s lived a difficult life…’

He had been hurt by many people, so he didn’t easily trust others, but Logan showed trust in Hans more easily than he had thought.

‘I should repay that trust.’

Logan was not trusting Hans without any consideration.

Perhaps it was because of his status as a commoner that Logan showed this trust, calculating that he would not casually steal from the nobleman’s belongings.

As Hans’s motto was to treat trust with trust and distrust with trust, he cautiously accepted the key, cultivating loyalty to Logan.

“I’ll go back now.”

“Do I need to watch over it?”

“It’s not something that should have to be by my side to begin with.”

Logan walked towards the classroom without looking back.

‘Is it a remarkable composure, or perhaps a lack of thought?’

No matter how small in scale, this was a business.

Even if one understands in their mind that there is no improvement by being watched from the side, how many can actually vacate their position?

Even buying land for investment, does it make any difference? Collecting information every day is what humans do…

‘I must catch hold of it.’

At first, it was merely curiosity about being someone everyone despised.

Upon closer examination, it seemed that approaching him was more about becoming a confidant, given the excessive treatment compared to the committed sins.

But this man, the more you see, the more fascinating he becomes.

Despite the stern tone, he had an exceptionally kind personality, and at least when it came to earning money, he possessed innate talent.

‘It seems he’s not entirely disinterested in revenge.’

Sticking close to him, helping with revenge against those who had troubled him so far—could this improve the relationship more than it is now?

Even if it might seem opportunistic, Shohel, for political reasons or not, was not the kind of merciful person to let those who harassed his friend go unpunished.

If Logan hadn’t shown such desperate efforts to gather money to gain strength, Shohel might have taken matters into his own hands already.

“It seems you’ve started a new venture.”

When Shohel and Logan entered their respective sides and took their seats, Anna approached Logan.

“It doesn’t seem like something you’d be concerned about?”

“Just asked out of curiosity.”

“It’s to the point where you asking me a question first is like the sun rising from the west.”

Despite Logan’s biting criticism, Anna stood by his side without a change in expression.

“I know Logan won’t accept my apology. I know he’s not weak enough to need my help. But I couldn’t just stand by quietly.”

“Is it more helpful if you just disappear?”

Even to Logan, Anna was an awkward opponent.

For an imperial noble to call someone by their given name, it was something that only happened if they were exceptionally close.

Even at this point, the fact that Logan and Anna called each other by their names was no different from proving how close they had been in the past.

They had been that close. They had even been at the stage of discussing an engagement between their families.

Even if Anna now tried to brush it off, Logan couldn’t forget the shock of when Anna first pushed him away.

“A good servant knows what needs to be done without the master having to say anything.”

“You speak no truth. You’re not a servant, and I’m not a master. What I need is for you to stop bothering me and disappear from my side.”

Despite expressing quite vehemently how much he disliked whatever wind had blown Anna’s way during their brief silence, she didn’t even flinch.

“What did I eat wrong?”

“Go back to your place for now. The morning inspection will start soon.”

“There’s still 30 minutes left, you know?”

“If you don’t like it, then I’ll leave.”

Logan pushed his chair back and left.

“It’s never easy, is it?”

There were several complex factors behind Anna suddenly attaching herself to Logan.

First, she was still under the influence of a curse, but her lingering affection for Logan was also a contributing factor.

Ironically, it might have been her lingering affection for Logan that made her torment him even more.

For most who had little to do with Logan, they simply ignored him, but because her heart was involved, the impact of the curse weighed even heavier.

“Nothing will change if I don’t change.”

Anna was not a person without a conscience.

What she desired was not Logan looking at her again.

Of course, it couldn’t be said that it didn’t exist at all, but it was difficult to see it as the main reason.

She simply wanted to compensate Logan for the sins she had committed so far.

After all, it was only fair that she took responsibility for what she had done.

It wouldn’t be good for her or Logan if she just stood afar, watching as he pushed her away.

‘By the way, how on earth does one come up with such an idea?’

Even with an ordinary person’s mind, the business of paying money instead of hitting oneself was conceivable to some extent, but what he did afterward was so creative that it was hard to restrain the amazement.

Starting from bread with exotic food to a mana condition detector that could generate profits without investing labor.

Logan never became materialistic just because he earned money, but seeing his new side inevitably made her like him more.

******

Even today, as Logan walked out of the academy after a peaceful lecture, what he could see was students gathered in line in front of the mana detector.

Even considering the time when lectures ended and it was time to go home, it was hard to erase the thought that standing in line was necessary.

“There are still a lot of them.”

“Indeed.”

As Logan, it was a tremendous stroke of good luck, but he still couldn’t understand it.

Originally, when Logan first calculated the profits, he thought about 15 silver a day, considering that around 500 aristocratic students in the academy would use it once a week.

Even accounting for Hans’s wages and occasional costs for maintaining the machine, if the daily net profit was around 4 silver, it would be considered a successful business. But looking at that situation, it seemed like the profit could be more than 10 silver a day.

“But where are you going?”

“I’m going to settle the balance. I promised to give additional payments if we started the business because the money was a bit short.”

“Is it that blacksmith person?”

Logan just nodded and left the academy. Shohel wasn’t the type to just let such an interesting matter slide by.

“Can I come along too?”

“There’s no reason you can’t, but I’d prefer if you didn’t tag along.”

“Would it be rude to the blacksmith person?”

“I just don’t like him.”

Indeed, Logan was not an ordinary person. If it were someone else, they would have given a reasonable excuse and sent Shohel away, but Logan bluntly stated that he didn’t like him.

“So, does that mean I can go?”

“Why not just not follow? You must have something to do as well. Aren’t you practicing swordsmanship?”

“Oh, that’s something I can leave to my future self.”

When Logan gave Shohel a cold look, Shohel laughed loudly.

“Just kidding, just kidding. I’ve managed my time as well, so you don’t have to worry too much.”

“I’m not worried about you; I’m just saying I don’t like him.”

“Got it. Since you dislike him that much, I’ll go for sword practice now. Goodbye.”

With that, Shohel immediately joined the line for mana detection.

“Seems like they’re dropping out more easily than I thought.”

Ignoring Shohel, Logan continued walking, leaving him behind.

After about 20 minutes, he could step into a small forge built in a corner of the district.

“What is it? Why did you come?”

In the quiet blacksmith shop, devoid of any customers, a counter was adorned with surprisingly plush chairs that didn’t quite fit the setting. On one of these chairs, a woman with strong arms and a sturdy figure reclined almost as if lying down.

“Came to settle the balance.”