"The Idea of a Woman Stealing Someone Else's Partner is Ridiculous," I laughed. But After Being Reborn, I Became a Victim of Such a Woman. However, My New Fiancée was Absolutely Amazing. - Episode 8

“Mai, thank you so much for yesterday! The rice balls you made were really appreciated!”

“I’m glad to hear that!”

The next day, when Mrs. Ito said that to me with a big smile, I felt happy too.

According to Mrs. Ito, it seems that when a kayo (a type of monster) dies, its horns, fangs, claws, and other parts can be collected as materials without returning to miasma.

And since I made the onigiri with my spiritual energy, the energy I infused into it helped the people in the kayo extermination team. It seems it really helped during their mission.

Until now, I had just been making food out of duty to survive, so I never thought about it. But apparently, just by making food, my spiritual energy flows from my hands into the dishes, and it ends up residing in the completed food.

People who don’t work with spiritual energy might not notice this, but for people like those in the kayo extermination team who use spiritual energy to the extreme, it’s essential to have a woman who can make food like that or to hire a personal chef.

A chef! I hadn’t thought about that!

Cooking is actually pretty fun, and while cleaning up is a hassle, I like eating delicious food…

Maybe I can research how to increase the amount of spiritual energy I put into the food?

Oh, in that case, maybe I should aim to be a chef!?

If I could get hired by someone in the extermination team, maybe I should try to use my connections and even flatter them a bit!

“Oh, right! Please wait a moment.”

I left the kitchen and returned to my room for a moment.

I grabbed three spiritual charms of “Auto Defense” that I had planned to give to Sayuri today, then returned to the kitchen.

I quickly made the same salted rice balls as yesterday, wrapped them in bamboo leaves, and added the charms, placing everything in a small bundle of cloth.

“I’ve added some ‘Auto Defense’ charms today. I wanted to show my gratitude to everyone in the extermination team for their support.”

“Wow…!? Mai-chan, you can make your own spiritual charms!?”

“I was studying, and it made me want to try making them. Even someone like me, who’s not strong, can use them for self-defense if I’m attacked by a kayo.”

“That’s amazing… really amazing. You know, when you’re a student, you’re only taught about what spiritual charms are, not how to make them, right?”

“Yes, that’s true.”

When you’re a student, you only learn about the basics of spiritual arts and charms. Spiritual arts may teach you how to make simple barriers, but charms used to fight kayo are considered weapons, so students don’t learn how to make them.

You learn how to make them after graduation, at specialized schools or at places like the Central City Research Institute, where dangerous charms are made professionally.

I learned how to make charms by myself, of course.

And they’re not dangerous.

They detect the miasma levels in the surroundings and create barriers against it.

Even a small kayo would be too much for someone like me, who has no strong weapons.

So, I make simple barriers to trap the kayo and then escape.

When I finished explaining, Mrs. Ito was left speechless.

Wait, I thought I wasn’t making anything that dangerous.

“I can’t believe it. Mai, you’re even more talented than I thought. Well, well… I didn’t expect you’d be able to make charms that aren’t taught in school. Can you use any other spiritual arts besides barriers?”

“The spiritual arts I can use aren’t offensive ones like those used by the extermination team. For example…”

I pictured the words in my mind and used my spiritual energy in my palm to make them manifest in reality.

I extinguished the fire left in the stove.

Mrs. Ito looked surprised.

“It’s just a simple spiritual art for daily life. On the contrary, I can also start a fire using spiritual arts. I can also create lights that aren’t hot to illuminate dark paths, create wind to cool a room, or warm up the floor to make it comfortable.”

“Well, well…”

“Well, I’ve never actually used them, though.”

Spiritual arts are mostly used to create and maintain barriers, repair them, and to fight kayo.

Charms are for exploding, guiding, sealing, or weakening kayo.

Nowadays, both spiritual arts and charms are not seen as things to use in daily life.

But spiritual arts work by linking words of power in your mind and forming commands, which you can then manifest with your spiritual energy, making things happen in reality.

In other words, you can do a lot of things, not just fight kayo or create barriers.

As long as you have spiritual energy, you can use charms, and I think it’s fine to carry something to protect yourself.

“Does your father know about this?”

“Huh? My father? No, I’ve never told him. He doesn’t mind me learning or researching, but I don’t think he’d be happy about it. He believes that a woman’s knowledge isn’t particularly useful.”

“Really… what a waste. I didn’t realize you were such a talented woman. It’s too bad women can’t work at places like the Central City Research Institute. Women have more spiritual energy, but it’s strange…”

“Yes, it is.”

In my past life, I might have thought, “Women have it easy, being pampered and living an easy life,” but after being born as a woman, I really feel the jealousy and envy from men.

Even from my real parents.

That annoying old woman who ran away with a man envies my youth, and my father thinks a woman’s happiness is found in obeying men.

At school, maybe because I had good grades, I had many men making rude remarks or trying to touch me without permission.

Well, most of them were already engaged, so none of them actually tried anything, but…

Women are very restricted in their job options, and schools have separate classes for boys and girls. We’re taught how to cook, clean, do laundry, apply makeup, follow etiquette, and even how to handle family affairs and ceremonies just because we’re women.

I feel a strong desire from men to control women, and it’s really uncomfortable.

I’m not seen as me, Yuukizaka Mai, but as a woman.

When I realize this, I feel bad because I remember that in my past life, I only saw my classmates or coworkers as “women” and not as individuals.

I wonder if that’s what you call a “male mindset”?

No, I knew their names and faces.

But still, it felt like I saw them as “women” and not as people.

It’s like I wasn’t respected as an individual.

In this world, that’s especially true.

“I’ll make sure to give this to my son. I’m sure he’ll be happy. Thank you, Mai-san.”

“No, thank you, too, for always helping me, Mrs. Ito.”