Mary Hyde hated rainy days.
On a raining day.
The possibility of getting soaked bound her movements.
“Why are you so pathetic? Be more like the eldest daughter of the Hyde family!”
Her father was a strict man.
As the head of the Hyde family, her father had exceptional magical talent and held a high position even in the Kingdom of Lilias.
To such a father, timid and cowardly Mary was not pleasing to the eye.
“Can you not even handle this one thing? It’s all because you don’t put in the effort!”
On days when Mary made mistakes or brought back unsatisfactory grades, her father would scold her fiercely.
Splash!
And then he drenched her with water over her head.
A torrent of water soaked Mary’s entire body in an instant, and her father left her there.
“Stay there. Don’t come in until you figure it out properly.”
And there she was, standing in the hallway for a long time.
As time passed and her body began to dry, soon a maid would come to douse her with water again.
Splash!
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, Miss.”
And once again, it was time to endure the wet and heavy clothes.
Her body began to tremble from the cold.
Her teeth chattered and her legs shook.
But she couldn’t escape her spot.
The only way to end this pain was to bring back an answer to make up for her mistakes.
Or maybe to just collapse.
Hack, hack.
A day she caught a cold was ironically a comfortable day for her.
At least she wasn’t scolded by her father.
But even collapsing from a cold was something her father was unhappy about.
“…Weakling.”
She feared the gaze of her father upon her.
That damp, cold memory that came with making any mistakes terrified her.
All of this was her fault for being timid and cowardly.
Mary hated that part of herself too.
“Look, you can do it if you try.”
That’s why Mary acted strong.
A person unaffected by any pain or adversity.
A person as cold as ice.
She acted as someone who could suppress her emotions and overcome her weak self to achieve anything.
She acted as someone who could protect someone else.
And that act soon became Mary’s new personality.
To protect herself from the cowardly part of her.
From the damp cold, from her father’s gaze.
From all that tormented her, she created a new personality.
Thus, the ice-cold Mary Hyde was born.
“…I- I hate it.”
But somehow.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll do better. I’ll try harder. I will do my best. I’m sorry…”
When she dripped wet again.
She returned to her weak, timid self.
Wrapped in that soggy sensation.
‘…I can’t go out.’
Thus, she came to despise rainy days.
For the cluster of raindrops outside threatened to drench her.
She couldn’t even step outside the building.
‘…I have to go to the academy.’
Like that, she was cursed by the rain.
。 。 。
Somehow calming Raphne, I first picked up the crafting tools.
Honestly, I still had no idea how to help Mary overcome her trauma.
Well, I didn’t even know what her trauma was.
But thinking back, my actual goal wasn’t to help Mary with her trauma.
It was simply to get her to leave the academy.
Mary skipping academy on a rainy day stemmed from the fear of getting wet.
So…
‘As long as she doesn’t get wet, right?’
Simple but effective.
That’s why I decided to attempt item crafting.
“…Raphne. …Over here.”
“…”
For reference, Raphne had calmed down but was still in a sulky mood.
Normally, she’d be chatting beside me, but now she had turned her back to play with her dolls.
‘Well, we don’t need fire right now, so it should be okay.’
After all, the misunderstanding would clear in time.
If I kept coming to the tower, she would no longer suspect me.
‘Besides, with this chubby appearance, any girl would run away from me anyway…’
Honestly, I felt a bit wronged.
People lose their judgment under pressure, huh?
I finished organizing the tools and pulled out the materials.
It was the skin of the [Albino One-Eyed Giant] I obtained a while ago.
‘First off, I’m not even sure if this will work.’
This crafting attempt was different from the last time with the dagger.
The dagger was made automatically in my mind thanks to the skill’s effect.
But this time, it was going to be experimental crafting.
That is…
‘Can I create something that doesn’t belong to a category?’
If possible, the possibilities of crafting would become endless.
If whatever I wanted to create also received the skill’s effect regardless of category, I could try various things.
This first experimental piece would be…
‘A raincoat!’
I grabbed the tools for cutting leather.
And concentrated, infusing my will with magic.
‘Item Crafting.’
The skill activated, and various items appeared in my mind.
However, this time I didn’t select anything from those options.
I opened my eyes and brought the scissors to the leather.
‘How interesting… my hands movin’ like they’re gliding.’
Fortunately, the skill worked normally.
Whether due to the skill or not, the scissors cut through the leather without a hitch.
However, unlike when I made the dagger,
I had to directly imagine and calculate the entire crafting process in my head.
Clumsily, but I did my best to squeeze out the knowledge I had before reincarnation to design the raincoat.
I connected the desired size pieces of leather with a needle and thread.
Fortunately, while I had to think through the crafting process, I could rely on the skill for the techniques.
I had never done any sewing before, but my hands worked like a breeze, stitching the leather together at an incredible speed.
What was once a giant’s piece of leather transformed into a perfect outfit.
‘…Lastly, this!’
And I attached an item to serve as a brooch on the collar of the raincoat.
‘Done!’
[System: You have created an independent item that does not belong to the item crafting category.
You gain bonus experience points.]
[System: You have crafted a ‘White Leather Raincoat.’]
[System: The crafting method for the raincoat has been registered in the category.]
The crafting was successful.
。 。 。
Thud!
A few days after Ken and the rainy day.
Thud! Tap!
That day, it was yet again a rainy day.
Thud!
‘…The window?’
On rainy days, Mary always curled up in bed, doing nothing.
Filled only with thoughts of having to go to the academy, she turned her attention to the sound coming from the window.
Thud!
It was the sound of something small hitting the glass.
Reacting to that sound, Mary paused in the act of opening the window.
Countless raindrops pouring outside sent shivers down her spine.
Thud!
‘A pebble….’
As she hesitated while gazing at the window, she saw the sight of something hitting the window.
It was a small stone.
Someone had definitely thrown it deliberately.
‘…Who is it?’
Gritting her teeth, she moved her hand toward the window.
With trembling fingers, she pushed the glass open.
“Ahh, ahhh!”
Immediately, the wind and rain whipped at her, causing a few drops of water to sprinkle on her.
“Whoa! Are you okay?!”
Mary, startled and curling up, heard a familiar voice—the kind and worried voice of someone.
Encouraged by it, she cautiously looked down outside the window.
“Y- you here?!”
Ken was standing there, holding an umbrella.
“What brings you to the girls’ dorm?”
Surprised by Ken’s sudden visit, Mary hurriedly threw on some clothes and made her way to the dorm’s main gate.
The man wasn’t allowed inside the dorm according to the rules.
Upon reaching the gate, she found Ken standing at the wide-open door on the other side.
He waved cheerfully at her.
But Mary couldn’t smile.
‘…I can’t go.’
Ken stood outside in the rain, with his umbrella, respecting the rules against entering the dormitory.
They stood facing each other, one outside in the rain and the other safely under the roof.
“I came to escort you! Mary! Let’s go to the academy together!”
Ken, beaming with a bright smile, uttered the most incomprehensible words.
“…Huh?”
He definitely knew her situation from a few days ago.
So he must also know that there was no way she could go to the academy amidst such heavy rain.
“Ken, I’m sorry. I…”
“I know. That’s why I prepared something. Just wait a moment.”
Stopping her from speaking, Ken rummaged through a small pouch at his waist.
Soon, surprisingly, he pulled out a huge coat from that tiny pouch.
‘A Subspace Pocket…!’
That was something hard to come by even in the busy trade and technology center of the Kingdom of Lilias.
But the surprise was short-lived; soon, Mary focused her gaze on the coat he had pulled out.
“What is that?”
“Umm, I just made this on a whim, so if it doesn’t fit, I can fix it for you.”
“Pardon?”
Before Mary could process that, Ken took a step forward.
In the rain, he moved toward her, away from the dry shelter.
Startled, Mary almost stumbled backward at the sight of Ken approaching in the downpour.
But soon, her movement was halted as he wrapped something around her back.
“Here, let’s put this on you…”
The fabric wrapped around Mary from her shoulders, lightly covering her calves; the long garment looked like a cloak.
‘…A raincoat?’
Mary soon recognized the identity of the garment.
A piece of clothing used as a substitute for an umbrella on rainy days.
For when one couldn’t use an umbrella to protect from rain.
‘What use is this…’
It wasn’t like Mary hadn’t tried wearing raincoats to tackle rainy days.
She had tried desperately to overcome the fear of getting wet herself.
But it had been useless.
The raindrops hitting her and the fear of possibly getting wet lingered.
“Alright, with this, it’s perfect! How does it feel?”
Yet, the coat Ken draped over her felt different somehow.
His kind hands adjusted the hood over her head.
And the brooch fastening the coat at the chest.
That brooch wasn’t just an ordinary ornament.
‘It’s a Spirit Stone.’
Green in color. A wind spirit stone.
“Mary, could you channel some magic into the gem at your chest?”
With Ken’s confident smile, Mary hesitated but followed his instructions.
She released a bit of the energy flowing through her blood and directed it toward a specific point.
In the center was the green stone.
The spirit stone absorbed the energy Mary provided, soon emitting a faint light.
“Eek!”
In an instant, wind surged around Mary, startling her.
“Should I lower the output a bit? Just a tad weaker…”
“…Y-yes.”
Following his instruction, she lessened the magical flow toward the gem.
The intensity of the wind began to decrease.
“Perfect! This much is just right!”
“…What is this?”
A gentle wind enveloped Mary’s body.
It swirled around her, forming a barrier that felt both weak yet impenetrable.
“It’s an application of wind magic, using a defensive spell called Wind Cloak. How do you feel? Is this enough to set your mind at ease?”
“……”
Mary hesitated, wrapping her arms around herself. As she did, the gentle wind barrier pushed her hands away.
It felt strangely magical.
Her hands.
The invisible wind barrier that couldn’t be breached by her physical power.
“Hmm, or would you like to step out for a moment?”
Lost in the sensation of the wind wrapping around her, Ken took her hand, leading her outside.
Guided by the strength of a man, Mary instinctively took a few steps forward but then halted.
“Wait! Ken! Just hold on a moment!”
Shocked, Ken promptly stopped.
His hand still held onto hers, trembling.
Even though the barrier of wind surrounded her,
the thought of throwing herself into that saturation of raindrops brought deep-seated fear.
‘…With this, I certainly won’t get wet.’
It was strange.
The reason she couldn’t walk in the downpour was her trauma of getting soaked.
Because of those damp, cold memories.
Even though those were resolved, she still couldn’t step outside.
‘……I’ve always been like this.’
She felt like a coward.
A coward in a pitiful state.
Even with this precious item Ken brought for her,
her cowardice seized her finely.
Mary sealed her lips tightly.
She hated herself for being a coward.
So pitiful to trouble someone else.
‘…I can’t…do it.’
Just as she attempted to release Ken’s hand holding her.
“You must be a little scared, right?”
“…Huh?”
Ken posed that question to her.
His voice neither pushed nor lambasted her.
It simply asked gently.
“I’m sorry. I guess it wouldn’t be easy to overcome this. I didn’t think this through.”
Ken, seemingly understanding her plight, didn’t blame her.
He accepted her hesitation.
“So how about this?”
With that, he smiled and moved closer,
Casting a shadow over Mary’s head, another reassuring barrier made its appearance.
Ken held his umbrella over her, shielding her.
“If the rain tries to drench you, I will protect you.”
With that, he flashed a warm smile.
A smile that was, at one glance, mischievous.
And at another, akin to an older brother.
It was a reassuring smile.
“After all, I’m confident in my size! You can count on me anytime!”
“……”
“Alright!”
And his hand pulled Mary gently.
It wasn’t forceful or overly urging.
Just leading her gently, like showing her the path.
With their pace directed toward the rain,
Mary’s eyes were captivated by Ken’s back, promising to guard her.
“So, how’s this? Feeling okay?”
And in the split second she gathered her thoughts,
She found herself, without realizing it, stepping into the rain.
“…Huh?”
Patter, patter.
The sound of raindrops hitting the umbrella.
But though she heard the sound, not a single drop touched her body.
Because he was there, guarding her.
