"Teacher, I often feel that your personality is too detached, like a saint without desires or pursuits. You always help others, but you don't have strong personal desires or personal ambitions," Aurora said.
Rhine remained silent.
He hadn't thought about this problem carefully before, but listening to Aurora, he realized that he had indeed gradually become like this after coming to this world.
He knew that his past self was not like this, and he wasn't like this in the first year after coming to this world either.
"When exactly did I become so detached and without desires?"
The bird Aurora transformed into perched on the young man's shoulder, stating her impression and recalling their journey together:
"Teacher, you are a kind, wise, and righteous good person."
"Wherever you go, you help the people there fulfill their wishes."
"In the Rose Kingdom, you and the 12 Witches fought against Black Witch Maleficent together, offering blessings to the newborn me that no one else could have imagined."
"In the Summer Kingdom and the Sea Kingdom, you facilitated the reconciliation between humans and merfolk, allowing Ariel and Prince Eric to enter into marriage, and enabling Ariel to gain an immortal soul."
"In the White Kingdom, you proposed the ingenious idea of 'magic mirror governance,' driving a major reform that changed the kingdom and transformed the evil Queen. Whether it was the hunter Jacks, Old Carpenter Geppetto, or the Queen herself, all found a good ending."
"Teacher, you have fulfilled too many people's wishes…"
At this point, the bird Aurora transformed into paused, staring directly at Rhine:
"But Teacher, what is your own wish?"
What is my wish?
Rhine opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly found himself unable to.
I've never thought about this question…
At this moment, Rhine suddenly understood the reason why he had gradually become without desires.
He had no sense of belonging to this world.
He always felt as if he was playing a game. Like an observer and a passerby experiencing everything, he would help wherever he could, but he lacked genuine passion and emotional fluctuations from the bottom of his heart.
How did I become like a gender-bent Frieren? Rhine muttered to himself.
"My wish?"
Rhine thought seriously.
After possessing a nearly eternal lifespan, powerful magic, and a respected status, what else would he genuinely desire, something he would pursue even if it meant risking everything?
To become the world's greatest magician?
Rhine knew that his current magic was far from invincible in the world, and in terms of accumulated foundation and magical attainment, he was even inferior to the other five members of the Witch Society, excluding the Sea Hag and the Queen.
However, this wish didn't seem strong enough…
After a long period of contemplation, Rhine spoke the answer:
"I want to go home."
"If I truly have one wish that I want to fulfill from the bottom of my heart, then it is only to go home."
"Go home?" Aurora looked a little bewildered. "Indeed, Teacher, you shouldn't be a native of the Rose Kingdom, right?"
Rhine shook his head:
"Not home in this world."
Not this world? The bird Aurora transformed into looked confused.
Rhine looked at the bewildered Aurora and explained in a way she could understand:
"You should remember that the Sea Hag once said that all of us humans have an immortal soul."
"An immortal soul might go to another world, or it might reincarnate and return to the human world as a newborn."
"When an elder passes away, a baby cries into the world. Death and new life are like twin sisters, never separated."
"You can imagine, since every baby was once an elder, among the countless people in this world, there might be a very small number of individuals who, at some stage in their lives, suddenly see through the mystery of the womb and recall their past lives."
Aurora nodded, recalling the Sea Hag's past words, fully understanding what Rhine said, but still asked doubtfully:
"Are there really such people?"
Rhine smiled, suddenly feeling a sense of relief from having revealed a secret: "I am such a person."
"What! So Teacher remembers his past life?" Aurora was quite surprised.
This was something Teacher had never told her!
So, transmigration, it turns out to be so simple to explain, and it's easy to understand according to this world's theories… Rhine thought.
"Yes. I'm only telling you this secret."
Rhine continued:
"However, my past life, as I remember it, was a world completely different from this continent."
"Another world?" The bird Aurora transformed into widened her eyes, half curious and half surprised, she mused:
"Indeed, the Sea Witch once said that an immortal soul might go to another world…"
Rhine turned his head, looking out the window, watching the bright sunlight stream through the treetops and green leaves, turning into dappled light on the ground; watching the wind blow, making the flowing clouds in the sky roll, sometimes dispersing and sometimes gathering, forming different shapes.
He said calmly:
"That world is my homeland."
"For the past ten-odd years, night after night, various scenes from my past life have appeared in my dreams again and again."
"In my dreams, I often thought I had returned home; or that I had never left, and my experiences on this fantastical continent were just a dream."
"Only when I woke up did I realize that I had been away from home for many years."
"In my past life, I also had parents who loved me, and a happy home."
"However, in my past life, I couldn't use magical powers, and my health was very poor, spending most of my time in the hospital."
"Finally, when I was lying in the hospital bed, I thought, will I never grow up? Will I never have the day when I become an adult?"
At this point, Rhine suddenly smiled:
"My premonitions are always accurate. In the end, I really didn't grow up."
"My eyes closed and opened, and I was here. And in this world, my body really hasn't grown up."
After hearing Rhine's words, Aurora's nose suddenly stung.
Rhine did not meet Aurora's gaze, but continued to look out the window, slowly telling his story—as calmly as if he were telling someone else's story:
"What a pity. My parents must have been very sad after I left."
"I thought, is it possible for me to return to my past world with all the magic I possess now, to hug my parents again, and tell them personally:"
"Your child didn't die, he went to another world, and he's living very well there, and he even gained incredibly magical power!"
"The current me is a great magician respected by several kingdoms. After returning to the past world, I can use magic to ensure they live very well."
Aurora's voice was already choked:
"Teacher, I remember, this is your wish. I will try my best to help you go home!"
My wish…
Suddenly, Rhine felt a surge of warmth and couldn't help but lower his head.
This was a warmth he was all too familiar with, originating from the Wish Power of a Child of Destiny.
However, unlike any previous time, this time, Rhine could clearly perceive that this fervent wish originated from his own soul.
"So, I also possess such fervent Wish Power?"
Rhine was startled.
But then he was filled with infinite emotion.
This was the first and most special wish he had taken on since coming to this world.
The Wish Magician's own wish.
Just then, Aurora suddenly thought of something and suggested:
"Oh, by the way, Teacher, aren't you a prophet and a seer? Why don't you try to divine how to return to the world you came from?"