***
Over time, the villagers began to notice a stranger who appeared more frequently in their village. Sometimes, they’d see him walk quickly around a corner and vanish in an instant. Other times, they’d see him sitting alone in a hut on the edge of a rice field. Occasionally, he’d appear to emerge from someone’s house, but when the house owner was questioned, they would deny having any guests.
Concern and suspicion about the stranger grew when someone claimed to have been robbed. One afternoon, as the stranger was sitting silently in a hut on the outskirts of the field, he was apprehended and taken to the village office. There, he was interrogated by a man named Parno and surrounded by several village security officers.
Throughout the interrogation, the stranger insisted he was not a thief, but merely a traveler. In a fit of frustration, one of the security officers punched the stranger in the face, causing his nose to bleed.
Word of the stranger’s arrest spread quickly. People began to gather at the village office to see who the captured stranger was. Among the crowd was a woman named Kusni.
“Good heavens… that’s…,” Sumarni nearly shouted in hysteria as she recognized the stranger with the bleeding nose. Amidst the crowd, the hands of this widow with two children were trembling as she covered her face.
A few people turned to stare at Sumarni in surprise. “Wait, do you know him?”
“Who is he?”
“Yes, who is he, Marni?” Parno eventually approached Marni.
After a moment of confusion and glancing around, Marni finally spoke in a trembling voice, “I don’t know his name or where he comes from. But a year ago, he visited my house, and left without a word, leaving money for my children’s school fees. My children can go to school because of him.”
Sumarni’s confession plunged the crowd into astonished silence. They simply looked at each other, then at the stranger.
Amid the silence, someone else spoke up, “He also came to my house once. Late at night. He gave me some land to farm, and I used the profits to build the shack I lived in until recently. Now I have my own house.”
One by one, several people testified that the stranger, whoever he was and wherever he came from, was the same person who had once visited their homes offering aid. His help came in various forms – farmland, income-generating work, loans, or business capital with no repayment deadline.
Thanks to this stranger, the lives of the less fortunate villagers began to change. No more children unable to go to school. No more people constantly anxious about not having a house or their shacks collapsing. No more people worried about starving due to lack of work or income.
After listening to these testimonials, Kusni and Parno approached the stranger together to continue their interrogation. “Please, tell us truly, who are you? Let’s clear up any misunderstandings,” Kusni pleaded, holding the stranger’s hand. Everyone fell silent, waiting for the stranger’s response.
“I’m nobody. I’m just an emissary of Kaji Soleman…”