The Curse of Being Hated Has Been Lifted

3 – Unpaid Labor

Three days had already passed since Logan and Anna made a bet.

In other words, for three days, Logan hadn’t caused any accidents.

“It’s unbelievable.”

Anna was repeatedly shocked at the moment.

Although Logan had mentioned it was the last chance, Anna had no expectation that he could seize the opportunity.

Despite causing trouble not even a day after, she was now considering it a perfect chance to divert attention from him…

“Asrian! Did you forget to bring the textbook again today?”

“I apologize. Someone stole it.”

If Mana hadn’t made the oath, I would have surely thought it was a lie.

Who took someone else’s textbook?

“If I don’t have it, I’ll buy it!”

“I don’t have money.”

“Get support from your family!”

“They said I was a discarded child, so they don’t even give me an allowance.”

Gyosun’s words were momentarily blocked by Logan’s words, which could only be seen as lies.

Even if he was an adopted child, how can they not even give him an allowance when noble blood runs through his veins? Does that make any sense?

When the professor glanced at Anna, she barely nodded her head.

The current Logan cannot tell a lie due to the oath of Mana.

“…Then shouldn’t you earn money yourself to buy the textbook if necessary?”

“I am currently working. It’s just that I feel burdened to pay Logan Asrian’s salary, so many people don’t pay it on time.”

If she had said such things before, she would have expressed great disbelief and regarded it as a clever nonsense.

It was absurd for a noble to work for his own livelihood, and it was even more absurd to live off the noble’s salary.

But Anna couldn’t help but believe these words.

Apart from the oath of Mana, she personally witnessed Logan working and not receiving proper wages.

“Even if I start receiving money properly, I don’t think I can immediately purchase the textbook.”

“…Well, take a seat.”

For the past three days, it had been like this continuously.

She thought Logan was the one who caused this, but it turned out that he wasn’t the one responsible.

“Although he was at fault, the situation made it unavoidable.”

“He also made a mistake, but it was because the other person started the argument.”

While it might not be considered the right thing to do, the events occurred within a range that could be understood and accepted.

“Are you going to work right after the lecture today?”

“Well, I’m not someone who is loved by my family like others.”

Anna followed him for now.

Since she couldn’t see where Logan was going, she didn’t know what he would do.

“…I think undermining the authority of the nobility is also included in the accident.”

“That’s the third time you’ve said that.”

The place Logan went to was a construction site for manual labor.

They were hiring citizens on a temporary basis to work on repairing the city walls, but it was an unpopular job as the pay was not high despite being hard work.

*Sigh*

“Hey, you there! Move faster!”

Even though he was a reckless person like Logan, he couldn’t do manual labor while maintaining his noble status.

With his white hair and inconspicuous appearance, it was hard for anyone who didn’t know him as Logan to recognize him, but since he didn’t reveal that he was a noble, these crazy commoners acted as if they had no boundaries.

How many ordinary commoners like them could have something on par with dealing with nobles?

Anyway, since it was Logan, there was no need to worry about being noticed by other nobles, even if they cursed at him a little.

“Understood.”

“Ugh, it’s not supposed to be like this.”

Anna was always by his side, so Logan was currently living by suppressing his personality.

Originally, he might have complained a few times, but as he observed Anna’s reaction, the team leader restrained himself. It seemed like he had expected to subdue Logan for a week, standing in front of him with a disgusting expression.

“If you can’t work, at least work hard! If you keep slacking off like that, we won’t pay you!”

It was the same yesterday.

Objectively, Logan wasn’t incapable of working.

He wasn’t even lazy.

He just always wore an indifferent expression, making it look like he worked less diligently.

“You didn’t pay me yesterday either.”

When Logan frowned and spoke, the team leader, annoyed for no apparent reason, raised his fist and looked down at Logan.

“Work harder!”

‘This bastard…’

He felt like punching him in the face right away.

Since the oath only meant not telling lies, causing trouble here wouldn’t be a big problem.

Having been betrayed multiple times, Logan knew Anna wouldn’t trust him even if he got through this week without incident.

“Sigh… Alright. I’ll work hard, so please pay me properly today.”

“Show it through your actions.”

Today, too, Logan didn’t receive his wages.

The team leader, claiming he didn’t work well, refused to pay him.

‘If it were normal, I would have received money by yesterday.’

Even if the scoundrel image piled up more, what’s the use of image management when he might not even eat dinner tonight?

If he puts on some pressure, he could probably get the money, but soon Anna would intervene, saying, ‘You’ve blown your last chance. You’re truly pathetic.’

Annoyingly, Anna’s departure was something Logan welcomed… but it hurt his pride.

In the end, it was because he felt like he was proving to himself that he was just a useless person who couldn’t even go a week without causing trouble.

“Just talk for a moment.”

“Why again?”

Could it be that she wanted to pick a fight over the argument they had earlier?

Anna’s face was quite flushed.

It was as if something had happened that she wasn’t pleased about.

“If you knew it would be like this, why didn’t you just take the money?”

It’s not like you couldn’t get it tomorrow anyway.

“Why didn’t you accept the money?”

“Because you didn’t give it.”

“If you wanted, you could have taken as much money as you wanted. They all seem to know that you’re Logan, pretending to be a commoner on the surface.”

“Then you won’t complain.”

“Let me tell you in advance, there’s absolutely no way to get the money through peaceful means.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I’ve tried everything.”

In the end, unless he raised his fists, there was no way to get the money. Or he had to resort to equivalent threats.

Once he raised his fists, they would obediently give him money for a while, but because the foremen at each construction site were different, he had to go through this hassle every time he went.

“I’ve experienced it. If you resort to threats or violence, you’ll lose in the end.”

“… That’s true, but if someone knew that the textbooks were stolen, why didn’t you report it officially to the academy and ask them to catch the culprit?”

“Stop babbling nonsense.”

“Pardon?”

“I am not you. Logan Asrian is not the kind of person you think, rational and mild, who can solve problems in a reasonable way.”

“I am not someone who is loved by everyone.”

“I already know who the culprit is. I’ve talked to the Academy several times, but do you think they will listen to me?”

It would be a relief to just be turned away.

Many people were so frustrated with Logan that there was a good chance of an unreasonable punishment for a false charge.

“If you keep blabbering, just leave. I’m going back to the dormitory anyway.”

Using his usual rough manner, he felt relieved.

“Goodbye.”

Anna, who thought for sure he would argue, surprisingly stepped back without a word.

Logan headed towards the Academy.

No matter what, he had to squeeze money out of the workshop leader tomorrow.

Judging by the atmosphere, the work would probably be finished tomorrow.

******

Anna recalled memories from the past.

“She used to be so cute and kind when she was young.”

Anna and Logan had a relationship commonly referred to as childhood friends.

It was even a relationship that had gone as far as engagement.

If Logan hadn’t suddenly changed one day, they might have actually gotten engaged.

Considering the circumstances of the adults, the marriage of Viscount Velocia might have been a bit disadvantageous, but when considering the happiness of the next head of the family, it wasn’t such a bad thing. Instead, Logan would become the heir, so there was only a small issue of the youngest, who was just a newborn at the time, inheriting the family position.

Of course, it was all just assumptions.

In the year Logan turned eight, he changed as if he had been injured in the head.

Having not seen him for a while due to his magical training, Anna went to see Viscount Asrian with an excited heart, but the Logan she met again treated everyone coldly.

With the excited feeling of seeing Logan after a long time, Anna could see a completely different Logan than before when she visited Viscount Asrian.

“It’s been a long… time?”

Actually, the atmosphere had been strange since the last time Anna met Logan after a while.

A pervasive sense of disgust all over the body,

Instinctive shouts that he could never be good.

“Yeah, it’s been a while.”

He was sarcastic.

It was an unbelievable coldness from Logan, who had always been bright and lively.

Logan approached Anna without saying a word.

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, nothing.”

And when Logan approached Anna like that.

“Don’t come!”

-Thunk!

Anna pushed Logan away.

With considerable force.

-Thunk.

Logan fell over.

Part of it was because the girl was physically bigger than the boy, and Logan didn’t think Anna would push him.

“Damn bastard…”

Anna fully embraced her instincts at the first coarse curse from Logan’s mouth.

Logan changed.

She couldn’t fathom what happened, but during the few months they hadn’t met, he changed.

He wasn’t the sturdy, kind, clear and bright boy as before.

Anna didn’t realize that unless she deliberately spoke harshly and fiercely during the months Logan hadn’t met her, she could never get what she wanted, even if she woke up dead.