The Curse of Being Hated Has Been Lifted

33 – The Letter

“Are you referring to the gate?”

Selena asked in confusion.

She hadn’t expected Logan to bring up the gate that Seong had entered.

“Yes, that’s correct. I heard that a gate appeared inside Stella’s mansion after Seong defeated her. There are rumors that Seong might be trapped inside it.”

“Yes, the rumors are not entirely false.”

Of course, the rumors and the truth didn’t align perfectly.

But it wasn’t entirely untrue either.

‘Why is he suddenly bringing up the gate?’

“May I ask why you brought up the gate?”

Selena directly asked Logan if she thought she couldn’t follow his thoughts with her own head.

“You don’t have to worry. I have absolutely no intention of using the gate for profit. It’s just my interest in the Gatekeeper.”

“If you’re just showing the gate, it shouldn’t be that difficult.”

Assuming that the gate was likely where the Gatekeeper was being held, it couldn’t be opened to just anyone, but if it was her authority, she could easily permit a simple visit.

“What’s he up to?”

“However, I’m not sure if just seeing the gate has that much value.”

She said that, but Selena intended to grant Logan’s request.

His story of success, achieved with nothing but his own efforts and talents from the bottom, was impressive even to her.

It wasn’t something that would harm her or the Royal Knights, but she had a feeling that if she let him do as he pleased, he might do something remarkable.

“Value varies from person to person.”

“Alright. If it’s not that difficult, if you come to Stella’s mansion without any weapons, I can show you the gate.”

The contract proceeded without much difficulty.

Logan’s goal was not money, but to see the gate, and Selena’s goal was not to buy a mana condition detector at a low price, but to talk to Logan and get a glimpse of his vision, so the conversation proceeded as discussed in advance.

“Could I go see the gate right now?”

Selena hesitated for a moment and then nodded.

Although the Royal Knights had tried everything under the sun with the gate, there had been no significant response from it yet, so she was convinced that no matter what Logan did, there would be no problem with the gate itself.

“Alright. But I hope you keep it a secret that you’ve seen the gate.”

“That goes without saying.”

The two soon headed straight to Stella’s mansion.

There was no problem with seeing the gate itself, but the location of Stella’s mansion was a difficult matter for Selena as well, so after Logan cast a spell to blindfold her and disable her sense of direction, they were able to find Stella’s mansion.

“It seems that many have come to see the gate, not just me. No matter how much magic is involved, seeing someone bring the gate here so easily says a lot.”

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“Yes, there are those who claim to know a solution, and many come just to honor the Black Fortress.”

That’s why Logan’s proposal was easily accepted.

Since many others had visited this place, bringing one more person like Logan wouldn’t cause any issues.

“Loyalty!”

“Yes, loyalty!”

“Is the person next to you a visitor?”

“Yes.”

The individuals guarding the gate were low-ranking knights from the Imperial Knights. Despite being low-ranking, they were honorable knights protecting the palace, and the fact that two of them were stationed by the gate emphasized its importance.

“While visitors may be welcomed easily, I assume they won’t tolerate any nonsense.”

With his eyes no longer blinded, Logan could finally examine the gate closely.

“Indeed, it’s a gate made by Stella.”

Logan, lacking profound knowledge of magic, could still sense the high-level magic encapsulated in the gate. The swirling mixture of yellow and black continuously rotating, completely disconnected from the surrounding mana, indicated why the gate had not been breached so far.

“Still, it’s strange.”

Stella’s gate, though high-level, didn’t seem overly powerful. Even if the Black Fortress wasn’t well-versed in magic, with a gate of this potency, they could easily break through and emerge. Yet, the fact that the Black Fortress hadn’t come out yet was nonsensical.

“Do you sense anything?”

“I have no idea.”

No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand why the Gate wouldn’t open.

This level of gate should be nothing for Gumsung’s skill.

“Are there any other restrictions?”

No obstacle could stop Gumsung.

Obstacles made by magic wouldn’t withstand Gumsung forcefully breaking through with strength.

Even if the maze was complicated.

Even if a door was created that could only be opened under specific conditions, it was nothing more than a trifle that Gumsung could cut through with just one sword stroke.

The reason she couldn’t lift the curse on Logan was simply because Logan shouldn’t be harmed; it wasn’t because Stella’s magic was more formidable than Gumsung’s skill.

“Connecting the door to my neck, so if I cut the door, my neck would be cut too…”

Upon careful consideration, it was easy to manipulate the situation so that Gumsung couldn’t come out.

Gumsung was powerful, but if Logan, her disciple, attempted to block Gumsung using his vulnerability as an excuse, she could easily control Gumsung.

“I’ll go back now.”

There wasn’t a big harvest, but it was a useful time to form some hypotheses.

As Logan spoke immediately after putting on the blindfold, Selena was bewildered. However, she soon headed towards the academy with Logan.

Lost in direction for a while, Logan, realizing that he had opened his eyes in the academy, soon looked at Selena with a confused expression. But Selena said, “It seems more comfortable here. I understand that the contract has been safely fulfilled,” and left for the royal knight order.

“Why on earth are you stuck there, Master?”

Now is the time to stop the absurd thought that Gumsung is not coming out because it’s annoying.

For some reason, Gumsung is in a situation where it cannot escape from the gate, presumably due to something Stella did.

The only master, who went to capture Stella for her sake, ended up being sealed. As a disciple, Logan couldn’t just stand by.

“There are no traces of the curse. It’s very clean.”

“Yes, understood.”

After paying 50 gold at the temple, Logan stepped outside. He had paid that much for using the Sacred Law, which could perfectly analyze the curses used by witches or warlocks.

“It’s not as expensive as I thought.”

If Logan had only invested 50 gold, it would have meant that his life wouldn’t have been twisted like this. But considering the fact that Logan couldn’t possibly have that much money and his master, Geomseong, couldn’t even take him to the school, dwelling on it would only lead to unnecessary regret.

“There are no traces of the curse on my body.”

So, when Geomseong came out of the gate, it meant that Logan’s neck wouldn’t be cut along with his. However, it was not something that could be completely ruled out. Stella could be deceiving Geomseong and preventing him from acting.

“I want to go to the gate again.”

When Logan visited the Imperial Knights and spoke, they promptly led him to the gate, much faster than he had expected. It seemed it was thanks to Selena’s good words. Upon arriving at the gate, Logan took out a letter from his pocket.

“Will you have to censor the contents?”

“No, unless there is a magic response, we won’t censor it.”

Fortunately, he could send the letter without revealing the relationship between him and Geomseong.

“I wonder if this will be helpful.”

Logan pushed the letter through the gate. There was no response coming out, but as the rumor goes, the letter went through the gate without being stopped.

In the peculiar landscape where numerous people lay fallen, a woman knelt with her face buried in her hands, weeping.

Now, her voice was nearly gone, and the sound of her unclear and desolate sobbing echoed in the hopeless space.

“It’s all because of me…”

She scratched her shoulders with her nails, causing blood to ooze, but it quickly regenerated.

-Squelch

From the gate, where she had confined herself for quite a long time, something seeped in again.

If it were a human figure, she would knock it out, and if not, she would tear it apart. However, the figure that resembled a letter carried the scent she longed for.

“Logan…”

As if possessed, she opened the letter.

[The first letter from a lacking disciple to the master.]

The title written at the top of the letter was in a handwriting familiar to Geomseong.