That's why I've fallen under the influence of depression and melancholy. I don't feel like doing anything, I don't feel like going anywhere. I used to wake up, lie down on the water and spend the whole day like that on the waves (the island is surrounded by a magic dome, so the current didn't take my body anywhere — so I swam around the island).
Gradually, not all at once, I began to think about where I would like to move to, where I would like to live, and what I actually want. A kind of, not big, rethinking, or thinking that comes after finishing school or institute on the topic of "what's next". I don't want to live in the same place I lived in my previous life — a swamp. I am not an ordinary person anymore, I know and I know a lot, and to go back to an ordinary life with all that? No, I don't want to.
But if you understand, in that life all my dreams were just about having a normal standard of living, I did not go any further in my dreams. But when you reach a certain level of saturation, your horizons expand considerably. Even now, even though I can't cast a full-fledged sorcerer with a concentrator, with the help of rituals and the ability to work with spirits, I can settle down in a week the way I want.
I can build a large house of any material, cover it with protection, furnish it with furniture grown by spirits, and feed myself. And that's just with my magic. I can be contracted for a lot of money: an omyoji, an astral shaman who speaks to spirits — any of my trained abilities can provide a living.
Amulets and simple artifacts can be sold. Gold, gems, and specimens of the rarest plants and some sea creatures are also available. In short, the question of making money can be left out — it is unimportant, insignificant.
The question is what I want from life, and where and how I want to build it. However, I should also take into account the fact that I have obligations to something or someone that brought me here.
Chosenness doesn't just appear out of nowhere, and I think that's the price I have to pay. And when you look at it that way, a lot of things that have happened can be defined as "luck": finding the secret room in the library, the gems and metal on the island, finding these very spirits who have become brothers (names....), and on and on and on.
What if someone planted these gifts on purpose to make it easier for me to pay off my debt? What does it matter now? I don't regret anything, I'm even happy, because after my life here, my soul will always have the gift of magic. The only thing left to decide was HOW to approach the case, but thoughts began to appear.
I had also made a final decision about my mother and the "good ayakashi". In principle, if I put my emotions aside and put myself in their shoes, it's simple: everyone uses everyone else, you see an opportunity, take it. That's what they did when they saw the benefits.
The fact that I was almost in the story — my problems and my ignorance, my excessive credulity. They didn't do anything bad to me, so there's nothing to avenge. Unfortunately. But I will not forget that I was "taken for a ride", and if I get the chance, I will rip off enough to make them remember their "cunning plans" in my direction.
Living somewhere in the middle of nowhere and doing science alone is boring — I realized that on this island, because if it weren't for the mischievous and energetic Ryuko-chan and her wise but cheerful mother, I would be crazy.
So I have to look for a place to move to, to live among people, to have fun, to make new acquaintances, to find a girl or three, he-he-he, just like in that memory. A smile came to my face from the memory of those girls.
— It's good that you came to your senses. — The dragon's voice made me jump and I turned to her. — Then it's time for you to move on. — The girl looked at the red-orange horizon where the sun had just hidden. — But before you go, I'd like you to paint one more picture, and then I'll give you something else...''
The strange intonation in the dragon's voice intrigued me a lot, besides, one more painting... No, I don't mind, but I've been here for seven months already...
— Just one? — I ask.
— Hmm?
— I've been here seven months. — I really don't know why I'm asking.
— Uh-oh. — the dragon's eyes sparkled with mischief. — You're going to be so surprised! — I saw a wide, mischievous smile, and for the first time I saw predatory features on a perfect face.
Truly, a "dragon" smile — devilishly cunning and devilishly attractive at the same time.