Chapter: 135
“Isn’t it your wish to live a new life?”
“Yes, but if I go to the paradise you speak of, isn’t that impossible?”
“Why do you think it’s impossible?”
At my words, the hero went silent and started thinking deeply.
Well, it was just a simple thought.
Just because one enters paradise, it doesn’t mean they can’t be reincarnated.
The reason this is possible is that the two components that make up a soul, the essence and spirit, can be separated more easily than you’d think. All you really need for reincarnation is the spirit.
I waved my hand, conjuring up a magical diagram in the air. A black-and-white yin-yang symbol. This was a representation of the soul—how the essence and spirit combined.
“This is a simple expression of the structure of the soul.”
“The black and white are intertwined.”
“Exactly. The white represents the spirit, and the black represents the essence. Together, they form the spirit—or what we call the soul. In this diagram, the spirit is innate, while the essence is acquired.”
I then separated the black and white in the yin-yang symbol into two distinct parts.
“After facing the Afterlife’s judgment, the purified soul has its essence vanish, leaving only the spirit to remain pure. That spirit is then reborn by the god of birth into a new life.”
“I think I remember hearing about that vaguely.”
Before going on this adventure, I had taught the hero this stuff at the Temple of Life, and he surprisingly remembered!
“The key point here is that only the spirit is needed for reincarnation. The essence is just the memories imprinted during one’s life. Those memories shouldn’t stick around when going through reincarnation.”
Although, sometimes, you get those very rare cases where the essence doesn’t get fully cleansed.
Well, it’s typically just a small part of their memories, like faint recollections of their past life or sharing tales from their Afterlife experience.
But hey, that’s all because the Afterlife is so busy it hardly has time to breathe!
“So, that means… the talk about reincarnation in paradise is…”
“Yep. We separate the soul into the spirit and the essence; the spirit gets reincarnated, but the essence stays in paradise.”
Since a person’s character involves a lot of memory, if we can keep those memories in paradise, then reincarnating just the spirit should work just fine.
“After reincarnating, if you wrap up your new life and return to the Afterlife… if you didn’t do something truly awful, you’d feel like you’re going back into paradise.”
“What if I committed some wrongdoings?”
“That’s when we have to cleanse that soul. After it’s cleaned up, it’ll reunite with the essence left in paradise, restoring the soul back to its original state. That’s roughly the plan I’m working with.”
Splitting the soul, keeping half stored, and reincarnating the other half. Retrieving it later too. This way, you can also reincarnate in paradise.
In other words, it’s like having a lil’ vacation in the lower world while living in paradise, and then just drifting back up to the heavens.
“Of course, this service is only for those who want it. It’s not something you have to do.”
Since it’s just a rough idea I haven’t fully fleshed out yet, I’m a bit anxious about how it will turn out once it’s complete.
But if I can get it under control… then keeping the essence in paradise may not just be about putting it on ice.
“I’m not sure, but it sounds like a tough gig.”
“Well, I’m pretty used to handling souls, so I’m confident I’ll find a way.”
And I’ll have a few helpers too—the three gods of the Afterlife!
Though they’re drowning in work over there, I’ll definitely be able to get some help in exchange for lending a hand when needed.
“Well, since you’re the one doing it, I’m sure it’ll work out.”
“It’s not like I’m successful all the time, you know.”
“But still, you manage somehow, right? Imagining you failing at something you’re intent on is a stretch!”
It’s true I don’t always succeed. I’ve had my share of disasters, like that whole dragon war and the Erebus incident.
Hmm. Better not think too hard about those—the frustration will just bubble up again!
I peeled and sliced up an apple and placed it on the bedside table next to where the hero was lying.
“If you feel like it later, eat it.”
This apple came from the tree I nurtured with my magic, meaning eating it would recover vitality! Just a nibble should make him feel a bit better.
“I don’t have any appetite, so I can’t eat it.”
“But you have to eat at least a little! If you keep starving, your stomach’s going to throw a tantrum!”
The hero’s body, once honed to perfection through rigorous training, was now showing the toll of time and had shriveled up. The solid muscles had gone limp… It was clear his body was screaming that it couldn’t hold on much longer.
Still, thanks to the hefty amount of magic he had stored, his body was somehow managing, despite the lack of food…
But even that’s reaching its breaking point.
It would be wise to start prepping myself mentally.
“Well, it looks like the kids will be arriving soon. What story should I tell them today…”
“How about the one where you caught the giant five-headed snake from the east?”
For some reason, snakes often turn into these powerful monsters. Is there something special about them?
Many scale-covered creatures tend to become unexpectedly strong.
“Hmm… The subject matter is good, but the incident’s development is lacking. Feeding it a ton of alcohol made from fermented rice and then slitting its throat while it’s asleep… I feel like that’s a bit too sneaky for our hero.”
“But that made things easier for you, didn’t it?”
That snake had consistently come down to the village to munch on people; there were barely any kids left in that village!
Well, that’s just old news now.
“Or how about the tale of you hunting the giant bird in the southeastern desert?”
“That was mostly thanks to you, sis. I just hung onto its tail feathers, got whipped around a bit, and then took the finishing blow.”
“But isn’t that still your heroic deed?”
The memories of the adventures shared with the hero were piling up into cherished recollections.
All the things we had done together, saving folks along the way.
The time spent mingling with the living instead of just looking down from a divine perspective.
All these moments were being stored in me as memories.
“Well, I should be heading out now. I’ll see you later!”
“Yeah, take care!”
And with that, the hero and I said our goodbyes.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
In the past, I had fashioned a pouch from the wyvern’s wings that the hero had captured.
It was what you might call an “infinite pouch,” able to hold far more than any regular pouch, thanks to its connection to a pocket dimension. Okay, maybe it’s not truly infinite, but it’s pretty darn close.
I didn’t particularly need it, but it turned out to be quite handy for the hero.
In actuality, that pouch was created for a vastly different purpose—experimenting with creating another world.
The goal was to create a small world to use as I saw fit.
At first… well, making a world was no walk in the park. Even crafting a world the size of a small pouch was quite the challenge.
But after making small improvements and increasing the size little by little, I finally succeeded in crafting a world of considerable size!
Well, sure, there’s nothing in it!
An empty space with not even a speck of light. I was planning to turn this void into a paradise.
I had thought about creating it in this realm too, but… a certain someone burrowed their way in after I had cleverly hidden the Afterlife’s entrance, attempting to resurrect the dead. Can you believe that?
So, I opted to create paradise in a whole new world instead.
Honestly, I just can’t fathom how that kid summoned the guts to chase after the Afterlife, or how they did it… A wild one trying to bring their parents back from the dead by diving into the Afterlife!
Now they’re stuck in the Afterlife’s bureaucracy, managing the hierarchy… a gatekeeper. But enough about that!
In the void world, I’ll be etching out laws totally different from this one.
Everything that physically exists will break down on its own, and a spiritual realm will thrive there. A world that expands in size with the number of souls entering paradise.
A world where anything desired can be made. If you want to meet someone in paradise, you can as many times as you wish!
If they’re not in paradise? I thought that through a bit… we can have a world where you meet entities that were created from your memories.
Hmm. Not the actual person, but hey, that’s the best I can do.
Still, just because someone in paradise wishes for it doesn’t mean I can let souls who haven’t entered paradise join in.
It can’t be helped.
Anyway, a world where all wishes can be granted. No conflicts, no wars, no fights.
What if the folks coming in want to battle and brawl? How did they even get past the Afterlife’s trials?
Taking a hint from Norse mythology, I’ll prepare a space where such folks can gather and fight to their hearts’ content. After all, the heroes in paradise might just feel like tussling out of some good ol’ friendly rivalry!
Of course, only if they want to. No forcing those who wish to avoid conflict!
A land flowing with milk and honey, where life is free of pain and suffering for eternity.
Where warriors can fight, die, and be reborn to keep their hunger at bay.
Whatever one desires, whatever one wishes for, will be fulfilled in this world.
And for those wanting to leave, they can step out whenever they like.
That’s the kind of world I’m planning to create!
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