The Curse of Being Hated Has Been Lifted

5 – Incident at the Entrance Ceremony

Aria clearly remembered the day she first met Asrian.

That day should have been the most brilliant day of her life.

The Institution Academy, standing proudly in the middle of the continent.

It was not only the Empire’s finest educational facility but also a gateway that must be passed to lead a brilliant life.

To enter the Institution Academy, which didn’t even accept admission applications with ordinary talents, one needed at least one of two things.

Tremendous talent or tremendous wealth.

If you were a commoner, you could use a special admission system prepared for them to enter with a slightly lesser talent, but for nobles, one of the two was a prerequisite.

“Welcome, everyone who has entered the academy.”

It was a dull entrance ceremony, but Aria was simply happy.

I’ve been admitted to the Institute Academy.

Now, our family can see the light.

How much effort did I put into this day?

To Logan, who entered the academy with desperate efforts, Aria was a thorn in the eye.

Just looking in that direction not only gave a creepy feeling to the whole body but also, unlike her who entered the academy with sweaty efforts, he, who seemed to have entered with money effortlessly, was displeasing to the heart.

“What?”

“I have nothing to offer you.”

Until then, it was just an instinctive sense of disgust.

Logan hadn’t done anything wrong to her yet.

The incident happened after the entrance ceremony, in the cafeteria prepared in the academy for lunch.

“Well, this is absurd. Is it okay to treat guests like this?”

“You seem to have no idea how you’re being called. Since we have no food for you, please leave.”

Indeed, the Institute Academy.

Unlike other academies, even the chef in charge of the cafeteria was a noble, so Logan could confidently speak to him like that.

“Then you should at least return the money.”

Logan approached the counter with a fierce expression.

“Money?”

“Well, if you can’t give me food, at least return the money.”

As Logan approached with a menacing expression, the staff behind the counter trembled visibly.

Logan and nobles with similar or higher status found it simply disgusting and repulsive, but to those with a better social standing than him, it emitted a truly terrifying aura. The employee trembled, bowing deeply, as their status was higher than Logan’s.

“My money. Give it to me.”

“Mo… Money! I’ve never received any money!”

The employee’s voice was close to a scream.

There was no way that could be false.

“Don’t talk nonsense…”

“Is tormenting the weak your hobby?”

Unable to contain the boiling emotions within, Aria intervened between him and the employee.

“And who are you?”

“The viscount’s nephew, trying to extort money from a commoner. As a noble, I can’t just stand by and watch this happen, can I?”

Behind Logan’s bewildered face, a loud cheer erupted.

Regardless of individual morality, everyone harbored resentment towards the dark energy emanating strongly from Logan’s body. Aria’s bold words against Logan were like a beacon of light to the others.

“Enough of your nonsense. Get lost. If you can’t provide food, at least return the money. That way, you can buy food elsewhere.”

Logan spoke with a tightly compressed voice, as if this was his final warning.

“That’s not possible. Protecting the weak is a knight’s duty.”

“I’ll say it one last time. Get lost. I have business with that girl behind you.”

How could someone be so rude?

In the end, Aria couldn’t contain her anger and threw a glove at Logan’s face.

Even though Aria was young at the time, being only 16, her ability to control her emotions was lacking.

Ultimately, it resulted in a tremendous cheer from the surrounding crowd.

“Unbelievable.”

Logan received the falling gloves with a furrowed brow.

It was a predicament.

Thinking about Logan’s image, whether he accepted or declined the duel here, he was bound to receive a tremendous amount of curses.

The best option was to win the duel, but with Logan having only a meager amount of mana, there was no way he could win against the Aria of the knightly family.

“Follow me.”

In truth, there was no room for refusal.

Aria immediately grabbed Logan’s collar and headed out of the restaurant.

It was truly a disgraceful act, but given Logan was the opponent, the reactions were quite heated.

“Draw your sword.”

Logan pulled out the sword hanging from his waist.

Both of them carried swords since the Academy’s entrance ceremony involved wielding their main weapons.

In the end, Logan emerged victorious.

Contrary to Aria’s expectations, Logan hadn’t entered the Institute Academy with money.

Despite having a meager magical power, he had dedicated himself to handling the sword purely, breaking through numerous stares of hatred and disdain and confidently entering the academy.

Technically, with mana-based physical enhancement, Logan couldn’t overpower Aria, but if he had cleanly defeated her, it would have been good for Logan.

Though his infamy wouldn’t diminish, as his name value increased, the number of insignificant individuals foolish enough to challenge him would decrease.

-Snap!

If only Aria’s sword hadn’t broken suddenly during the sparring session,

Naturally, if everyone hadn’t accepted that it was Logan who broke Aria’s sword,

Logan’s life at the academy would have been much more peaceful.

“Curious.”

“He must have tampered with the sword.”

“He confidently accepted the duel, only to use such sorcery!”

“Arian couldn’t fight that well.”

As a renowned warrior, it was a reasonable judgment for everyone to criticize Logan for not being able to fight Aria.

Even Aria herself thought the same when she heard everyone’s criticisms while gathered to watch their duel.

“What… did you do to my sword?”

“Sigh…”

A suffocating feeling in the chest.

No matter how much she looked around, there didn’t seem to be anyone who would believe her.

And they were not lower-class people like commoners or servants either.

Logan knew the best solution in this situation.

“Isn’t it foolish for a deceiver to act foolishly?”

Denying it here wouldn’t bring any benefits.

It would be better to maintain his reputation for maliciously winning.

“Besides, not even knowing the condition of one’s own weapon is already a disqualification.”

He meant it.

The sword was perfectly fine throughout the duel, and suddenly it broke. And yet they blamed Logan for it?

No matter how caught up in the atmosphere of their surroundings, how can someone who doesn’t even pay attention to the condition of their weapon call themselves a swordsman?

Logan, who had honed his sword skills in order to enter the academy, was closer to being a swordsman than Aria, who had a more clear-cut goal of entering the academy.

“Get lost.”

And soon after being caught by the patrol team that was dispatched, the two of them received disciplinary action.

Aria received a light punishment of cleaning the campus for a day, while Logan received a much harsher punishment of cleaning all the academy’s restrooms and being restricted from going out for a month.

If Logan had a record of winning against Aria since that day, his image would have improved, but Logan was a style of relying on pure swordsmanship without a single ounce of mana.

If he truly excelled in swordsmanship, he would have continuously had the upper hand against Aria, but Logan was outclassed.

He only put in enough effort to enter the academy with his untalented swordsmanship fueled by the single-minded determination of wanting to enter the academy.

If the opponent knew his style and responded accurately, he had no way of winning.

Although there was a separate reason that caused Aria to truly despise Logan, this duel was the beginning of the ill-fated relationship they had.

“…”

Anna fell silent as she watched Logan finish his story while tearing apart a sausage.

‘This doesn’t make sense no matter how you look at it…’

Logan had done nothing wrong.

His words were not mixed with lies, so no matter how many times Anna thought about it, Logan was not in the wrong.

Of course, even if he enveloped his body in mana, it was inevitable for his hand to twitch towards Aria due to Logan’s overwhelming sense of loathing.

Logan’s manner of speaking was also disrespectful, and considering his image, it was natural to assume his words were lies.

Her mind continues to present one question.

In reality, could it be that Logan did nothing wrong?

Was it not his fault that despite not committing any wrongdoing, the surrounding hatred and disdain had pushed Logan to this point?

Actually, for the past four days, Logan hasn’t done anything wrong, and according to him, he hadn’t done anything wrong even at the beginning of the semester.

But Anna couldn’t continue that rational thought.

The filthy and malevolent aura surrounding Logan was enough to make her nauseous just by sitting in the same place, even while eating.

“Thanks for today. If I came alone, I wouldn’t have been able to order food.”

Logan, who wiped the plate clean, stood up from his seat.

“… Can I ask one more thing?”

“Weren’t you supposed to hear the story of that girl as a reward for buying you a meal with my money?”

“You don’t have to answer. I’ll just ask one thing.”

Anna swallowed her saliva.

“What happened to you when you were young? What changed while I was away practicing magic?”

Logan replied.

“Nothing has changed for me.”

Unlike Anna’s tension, Logan’s answer was remarkably calm.