Chapter 3.29 - Monday, July 18th, 9.26am

"This nearly rotten spoiled trunkfish, or this nearly rotten Cithaeron lion meat, your choice."

"Never!" That man uttered.

Just when we are about to have our breakfast, I realised that we are out of food supplies. Dómr's daughter knew that; that's why she went all the way to take a portion of the Cithaeron lion's meat for us.

Thanks to the Cithaeron lion two days ago, the fridge is busted, and there's no salt to preserve the meat.

There is a bloody and foul smell and even maggots on both portions of meat.

Rather than starving, we had no choice but to eat anything that is still edible.

To be honest, the crawling maggots aren't really stimulating my appetite. I would rather have a coconut, but there aren't any here.

"Give me money, brat." That man said to me, after refusing over and over. "I will teleport to the nearest place and buy food and also our daily necessities."

"Huh?" I was stunned.

"Hmm? Hold on a second, did I just say I can teleport?" He added.

"…N. You did." Restia replied.

An idea suddenly sparked in my head.

"Give me a minute."

I rush to dad's room to get a grimoire for him. I also took a scroll and placed it on the living room table.

…………………………………

"Huff— So— Can you read this…?" I asked.

"Let's see…"

The letters are written in old rune language, but when using modern rune language, it goes…

'Nam teleportation exponentia, autem mittator magicae circulus et autem accipientem magicae circulus est requiritur.'

And it roughly translates to…

"For teleportation spell, a sender magic circle and receiver magic circle is required." He said. "Hmm, oh? Hey, I think I can read this gibberish looking-thing, but I can't understand it. What is this anyway?"

He— he understands old rune language!? Dad told me that even among elves— who are experts in magic, only a few of them knows how to read this language.

"… I'm getting more and more curious about you." I inadvertently murmured.

"Urk, wait." That man uttered. "Why are you looking at me with such a warped-looking gaze…?"

Crap, my habit.

"Ugh…!" He suddenly placed his hand on his forehead with a pained look.

"What's wrong!?"

Just as he was about to fall on his knees, I held him to his right with my shoulder, letting him sit on the ground.

"N-No… It's just that……" He murmured softly. "It feels like I have seen those eyes somewhere…"

"…Must be my dad's," I replied.

"…Your dad's? But I was certain that a baby just flashed by inside my head."

"A baby? That can't be me, right?"

"Don't ask me. How would I know?"

…This guy is full of mystery.

Forget it. Once his memory returns, I'm quite sure that he would tell me everything.

"Ehem, back to our topic," I said. "What you read just now is a magic spell."

"Magic spell? What is that?"

"Magic spell is an incantation, a spell, a charm, an enchantment or a bewitchery, it is a magical formula intended to trigger a magical effect on a person or objects by consuming mana— Restia."

Seeming to know that I needed demonstration, Restia then reaches out her right hand, concentrating a ball of glowing, white-coloured mana on her palm.

"Whoa, so that ball on her hand is mana…? It's pretty…"

When I realised, his finger is already near that ball.

"H-Hey, don't touch it…!"

BOOM!

"Kyaa…!?"

Restia's mana ball exploded. That impact from her palm sends her flying backwards. Thankfully, Dómr's daughter caught Restia with her body.

"Restia…! You okay…!?" I yelled.

The explosion's impact depends on the concentration of mana, whereas Restia's mana ball is very refined. It's fortunate that mana explosion only contains impact, not heat; however, it's still possible to die from it.

That impact just now is symmetrical to a truck ramming to you at least at 80km/h.

"I… I'm fine…" Restia replied with her eyes rolling.

Thank goodness she cast a magic barrier on herself beforehand, just like how dad taught us.

The surprising thing is, that man, without signs of casting any magic spells, just stands in front of me perfectly while shielding me from the explosion.

"Ahahaha, my bad. Didn't expect it would explode all of a sudden." He muttered while scratching the back of his head.

Since Restia is fine, I decided not to vent my anger at him.

"The reason it explodes, because your mana interfered with Restia's mana ball," I said.

"…Oh? Hold on, brat— I think I could do it."

After heaving a sigh, he extends his hand and concentrates… hold on, what is this?

This is… a nearly transparent ball…?

On top of that, I felt an overwhelming pressure from that ball on his palm— as if it's pulling and pushing me at the time.

"Hey, is this normal?" He asked.

"That's… not mana," I murmured while placing my fingers under my chin.

This looks familiar. Where have I seen it before…

"Ah, that's 气 (Qì)…!" I said.

"气…? As in, vitality energy?"

It seems he could recall some of his memories unconsciously.

"Yeah… dad told me that vitality energy is something rare. They are only mastered by some humans and beast-kin in the eastern region."

Unlike mana, there's no way to tell or sense the amount of vitality energy that a person has within his body.

The only way to do that, is…

"Hey, don't touch it."

SLAP!

"Ow."

He slapped my hand before I could touch it.

"…I had a feeling this ball is much dangerous then what your sister had just now." He told me. "Hmm… let's see…"

With an uncertain look, he crushes the ball with his hand.

CRACK!

"Hmm!?"

The ground under his feet suddenly breaks, as if it was getting crushed by a giant hammer.

I stumbled backwards from the force emitted from his body.

"…Whoa, what was that?" He inadvertently muttered.

"Looks like you absorbed your energy back to your body, and that absorption energy gave you a temporary barrier to repel anything near you…"

"Wait, wait, this is too much for me." He muttered while ignoring the things I've just said. "You see, I just want a decent meal."

Saying that, he snatches the grimoire from my hands while walking past me.

"You say this is a teleportation spell, right?" He blabbered while flipping across the pages quickly. "I don't really care about the explanations. I will just do this, and this."

With his hand as if trying to press down something, a golden-coloured magic circle appeared on the ground, five steps away from him.

I was surprised by the contents of the magic formula on it.

"This is a teleportation spell…!?" I inadvertently muttered.

…It appeared that easily.

On top of that, it's a teleportation spell that acts as both sender and receiver.

The magic formula doesn't clash with each other, and there's not even the slightest mistake. This means it could be used in both ways, in and out.

I'm familiar with this spell because dad always used a similar magic circle to teleport out from this island.

However, to complete this spell, two gates are required.

"…?"

When I was analysing, a white-coloured magic circle with the same symbols appeared right next to it.

"Erm…… Did I do it right…?" Restia suddenly asked me.

She copied the exact same one in just a few seconds…?

"Restia… You are so smart…!" I said happily while stroking her head.

"Alright, time to test it out." That man suddenly muttered.

"O-Oi! Safety—"

Before I could stop him, he stepped into his own magic circle and disappeared after a flash.

"—precautions…"

…then he appeared at Restia's magic circle.

"Eek!?"

"Look out, Restia!"

Maybe it's because he wasn't familiar with teleportation magic. That man lost his balance with his body falling towards us.

"Gyah!?"

While shielding Restia with my body, I push that man away with a front kick on his abdomen.

"Ow ow ow ow ow…!" He screamed while rolling on the ground back and forth with a pained look. "G-Guh— (spurts)…!"

Which then, he spits out a mouthful of dark-coloured blood.

"Oh…? Looks like you finally rejected the last of the bad blood in your body…" I told him.

"Guh… Huff… Damn, I finally feel a little better…" He said while placing himself in a sitting posture. "Huff… anyways… I think I got the gist of this… err, magic."

Despite losing his memories… he succeeded in that magic spell with lots of mana to spare, it seems.

"In that case, follow me," I said to him. "Restia, you could stay here if you want."

"…N. I'm staying here." She told me.

I know Restia is doubting me; that's why she would be staying to ask Dómr's daughter about my whereabouts at midnight.

Thankfully Dómr's daughter is acting as a perfect witness to prove what I've said is the truth. That way, not a single soul would know that I've already found Ruby.

"Hey, brat— where are we going?" That man asks.

When I noticed, he's been using some strange breathing techniques. It might be one of the essences regarding to 气 (Qì), but I don't think he realises that he's using it for the way he is now.

"Living room," I replied. "There's something I want to show you."

The moment we enter the living room, I unrolled the scroll at the floor that I left on the table.

A magic circle is drawn on this scroll.

"Hey, isn't this similar to the one that I simply cast earlier…?"

"…Yes. This teleportation magic circle is created by my dad. It combines both the receiver and sender magic formula just like what you did." I murmured. "Ever since he memorised it, he's not using this anymore."

"Hmm. Looks like it's just as what you said— we are friends." He said. "Hold it, if you have this— why aren't you using it to buy your supplies…?"

"…Depending on the distance, teleportation magic consumes a lot of mana. This teleportation magic consumes twice as much for it because it needs to activate both gates at the same time, and Restia's mana is not enough for it."

"Then why do you think I can?" He uttered.

"It's just a hunch," I told him. "You are my dad's friend, are you not?"

"…I see." He murmured, as if recalling the teleportation spell he cast earlier. "Well, it seems I don't have a choice, too. The only way for me to get out from this island is to use this magic circle, huh."

"That's right."

It seems he understands that the other gate needs to be created at the destination first.

"So, shall I start, then?"

"Err, hold it," I murmured. "It's dad's habit to place restrictions on his magic circle so that no one could hijack it. Give me a minute and let me overwrite this…"

Saying that, I took a white magic ink that could erase the black magic ink on the magic circle and a correction pen from the table.

I need to make sure it accepts his mana, so I should erase this part with the white ink… and correct this with the correction pen…

"Are you really sure it takes a minute? This formula looks so difficult to understand—"

"Ah-ha! Overwrite complete!" I said.

"—that was fast!"

"Okay…"

While stepping back, I took a photo of the new magic circle with my phone and tossed it to that man.

"Huh?" He murmured. "Why are you giving me your phone?"

"Remember to overwrite the magic circle on the other side before you come back; I took a picture just in case you forget," I said. "I somehow corrected it to bypass the restriction on the other gate. But if you want to travel from there to here with lesser mana consumption, I think you should use that gate on the other side."

"Okay, so where would it send me to?"

"Probably a house in the nearest country to here."

"Hmm… a house." He said while stepping on the magic circle. "I will help you see if there's anything regarding your parents. But first, give me money."

"Ah, right."

I took my black card from the drawer and handed it over to him.

"The PIN number is 770717. I don't know how much money I had, but it's definitely enough." I said to him. "If you don't or forget to return back here, I will hunt you till the ends of hell."

"Wow, that's scary. I'm really terrified." He replied while acting terrified. "Anyways, I will be taking some time, but I will definitely return, my saviour brat."

With those words, he disappears in thin air after a flash. Seems like the teleportation spell was a success once again.

I inadvertently recall the words he said.

'I will be taking some time.'

Is he telling me to do what I should do…?

"Big brother…?" Restia suddenly peeks from the living room. "This— this is…!"

"Don't do it, Restia," I said. "You know full well that your mana is not enough to complete the send you to the other gate."

"I want to know if daddy is on the other side…!"

"Please! Listen to me!"

Calming her down, I hug Restia with all my might while telling her the most dangerous thing that could happen to teleportation magic if there's insufficient mana.

"I don't want you to get trapped between space…! What if I lose you too…!?"

"…!" Restia realised. "I'm sorry for being selfish…"

"Dad said it's okay to be a little selfish sometimes." I reminded her. "Then… to compensate my sadness at that spur of the moment, I need your help, Restia."

"…?" Restia looks at me. "My help…?"

…I don't have much time left before the change.

Before the war starts, I need to make sure everything is in place. I won't let any of Dómr's foster daughters to die.

"We are going to meet the White Snake and the Snow Leopard Queen, my dear little sis."