“Master Ruthorn, I have to admit that I am still quite confused. Could you please help me understand what is happening to me? Although I’m very enthusiastic about the mission that God has assigned to me and I know that this is the most important mission in my life, I don’t know why I don’t feel galvanised at all. On the contrary, I feel as if I’m making a mistake,” I confessed.

Ruthorn reflected on my response for a while before he replied, “The conscious part of you feels guilty that you will be leaving Koharu behind, and that builds up a strong resistance to the energy that drives you. On the one hand, your soul feels joyful by doing something valuable, but at the same time it is held back by the guilt that your consciousness feels. Your consciousness, however, is defeated by your soul, even though the soul is less physically powerful. As a result, your body is showing signs of unrest, it is almost paralysed and doesn’t want to take any action.”

“This is the last effort your consciousness will undertake before surrendering to your will. It will continue to provoke you, hold you back, and take as many evasive actions as possible,” Ruthorn added.

“To tell the truth, I’m really worried how Koharu will feel.”

“You shouldn’t worry, Areeya,” Ruthorn assured me, “she’s really happy with your choice. On the contrary, she would have been sad if you had chosen not to accept this mission.”

“Really? Are you sure that she really feels that way? If this is the case, I will stop feeling guilty and torturing my heart immediately.”

“What you feel right now is the regret of leaving the happiness that you have found here, the happiness of living in a comfortable world with a wonderful wife. It’s not the guilt that you feel, as you thought before,” Ruthorn explained.

“Koharu thanks you for sacrificing yourself to carry out this mission. She already has something of you in her body – the child you made together. The love she has for you is abundant and everlasting. And it’s only your bodies that will be separated, but you will stay united with your energy.”

“Also, this separation is only temporary. Whatever happens, both of you will meet again in this place. In the eyes of the universe, separation doesn’t exist. In the context of the overall flow of time, this will be like a blink of an eye.”

“Come with us, Areeya, I’d like to show you something,” Ruthorn said as he led the way.

The three of us followed him to the end of the roof terrace from that overlook the whole city below, bathed in the morning sunlight.

“Look at the road down there,” Ruthorn said, pointing to his left.

I turned my view towards the road and saw that it was filled with a large crowd of people, so crowded that there was barely any standing space. As I swept my eyes further along the road, I saw that the crowd had stretched all the way to the foot of the hill.

“Wow, that’s a lot of people! Where are they going so early?” I asked.

“When God announced the emergence of your being, they all came here to express their gratitude to you because you are now their only hope. They all wish that you will speak to their related souls and tell them all they need to know in order for them to return here before the energy field of the old era ends,” Ruthorn said.

“I’m afraid I’m not as capable as they expect me to be,” I admitted.

“They all know how difficult this mission is, so they are here to give you their full support. They have sent messages and warnings to their related souls, but no one has even attempted to respond to their requests. When you emerged, they have regained hope that their related souls would now be saved.”

“And also,” Ruthorn turned to me and smiled, “standing among the crowd is your wife, and she has been looking up here all the time, hoping to see you.”

“Oh! Koharu, my love!” I felt a rush of warmth rise up in my chest.

“She wants me to tell you that you don’t have to worry about her and your child. Her family will take care of them in the best way they can. She wishes you to accomplish the task assigned to you and make your sacrifice deemed worthy. She will always encourage you and stay by your side,” said Ruthorn.

When Ruthorn said that, I felt as if something was stuck in my throat, and tears filled my eyes. Even though Koharu and I had just met and we had only spent a few days together, I felt a stronger bond with her than I had ever felt with anyone else. She had to be my soulmate, waiting so earnestly for me for such a long time, as she had once told me. But as fate would have it, we would soon be separated again. At that point, I understood why she had said that she would spend every second with me in the best way possible, and why her mother had rushed me to start a relationship with her immediately after we met. I suspected that they must have known what would happen since that very first moment.

“I love you, Koharu,” I whispered softly.

I looked down at the crowd and focused my mind only on her, and then I couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. Drops of salty water fell and were carried away by the strong wind that was blowing on the terrace, and it felt like the touch of her small hands wiping my tears away.

“Well, we’d better go down to have breakfast. Today I’m going to eat with you,” Ruthorn said when he noticed my sadness.

I pressed the back of my hands on my eyes as if to push the tears back in, and I dabbed my eyes gently with the back of my hands, pretending to wipe my perspiration away instead of my tears. I blinked a few times to make the remaining tears evaporate and turned to Ruthorn.

“Let’s go!” I said, trying to sound confident and brave.