小嫂子的味道

Yeah, the basic concept of the magic circle was really simple. However, making that simple concept work was hard in itself. First of all, the spell requires a hell lot of mana to activate. 

And this is not any standard type of mana intake, in this spell the more people you will teleport and the longer the distance will be, the more mana it will take. Similarly, it goes the other way around too. 

For example, if you were to teleport 100 people to a distance of a thousand miles, it would require an enormous amount of mana. But if you had to teleport an insect to a distance of only a decimeter or so, the amount of mana required would be more or less the same. 

This was one of those spells where you were bound to expend a great amount of mana unless you are teleporting the right amount of people at the right distance. Finding that 'right scale' was kinda hard if not impossible, but even if I did find it out it wasn't going to be of any use to me. 

Since my future self had told me that with this spell I could transport my parents to the safe location in loli_pop's novel, the magic circle that worked as the receiver was already placed there; so I couldn't do anything about the distance. 

And as for the number of people, my future self had already warned me that the most I would be able to teleport are two people—only my parents. I could take the risk by defying his word and trying to teleport myself along with Req to the safe location, but being in the situation I was in, I wanted no risks. 

After all, I knew pretty messed up things could happen to you if teleportation went wrong. I, of course, wouldn't want that. Thus it was decided, all I was going to use this magic circle for was to teleport only my parents to the safe place. It doesn't matter if I had to fight my way out after that, I didn't care much about it. 

"We're done here," I said as I closed the book and stood up. I was done decoding the circle and knew how to use it, therefore I had no need to waste any more time here. 

"What are you going to do now?" Req asked as she flew close to me. 

"Ah well, I have to do some preparations," I said as I put the book inside the straps of my cloak and left my room. 

I came down from the class B dorm building and walked toward the class A one. I didn't know where she was but I was first going to check into her room. 

Soon after I was climbing the stairs to the upper floor of the class A dorm building. Reaching the second floor I walked toward a certain room. A few steps later I stopped and turned toward the door, knocking on it gently. 

The door was locked from the inside so there was a good chance that she was there. Within the count from one to seven, the door opened, revealing the figure of my sister; Anya. 

"Zero?" from her expression she was perhaps a little surprised to see me here. 

As for me, I had planned to get straight since I was short on time but just when my eyes witnessed her face I froze. The horrifying scene of her death I'd seen flashed before my eyes.

My chest pained as I remembered the lifeless look in her eyes. The face that was as bright as a sunflower right now had once gone pale, and it sent shivers down my spine when I thought of it. 

My entire body got chills, and a feeling rose from deep within. I wanted to hug her tightly and tell her how glad I was to see her alive. 

Thinking that my hand even moved a little forward, but then stopped myself in time. How weird would it be for me to do that? I didn't want to complicate the situation more than it already is. 

"Hey, are you busy?" I asked. 

"Not really, I was just planning stuff for the fest with Ellyn and Leon," she replied.  I think you should take a look at

"I see. Well, I wouldn't take much of your time," I stated. 'I really wanted to take a bit more of your time and explain everything that's gonna happen to make sure you will be safe at all costs.' "I just wanted to give you this," saying as I took out an envelope letter from my pocket. 

"What's this for?" she asked as I handed her the letter. 

"Don't open it right now," I said hurriedly before she could tear the seal and see the contents. "It's not meant to be seen right now."

"Huh? What do you mean?" there was a rather confused look on her face. 

"I know it will sound a little weird but, will you try believing in me for this?" I suggested. 

"Hmmm. Well, most of the things you do or say don't make sense," she said in a joking manner. "Fine, I'll do what you say."

"Good. Now, don't open this letter right now, but I want you to keep it with you."

"Then when do you want me to open it?" she asked.

"That's a rather easy question. You'd know when you have to open it, but I'll give you a hint anyway. When you want to ask me something or tell me something, and I am not near you for the moment, that's when you have to open it. You will find the answer inside," I explained. 

The confusion on her face increased, and it was understandable. Anyone would think of my words as nonsense, that's why I was trying to make it as less confusing as possible for her. 

"Fine, if that's what you want then I'll do just that," she replied. 

"Thanks, I'm grateful for that," I said. 

Then since I didn't have anything else to say now I just stood there and the feeling of hugging her rose in me again. 

"Do you wanna come inside? We can plan things out together," she suggested, snapping me back to reality. 

"Huh? Ahhh, no. Thanks for the offer but I've got something I have to take care of."

"I see."

After that, I waved her goodbye and walked back down the dorm building. The sound of my footsteps echoed in the corridor since right now there weren't many students around.

[You're scared.]

'I'm not.'