Chapter 49

“…”

“…”

“…”

“…Walter, please step aside for a moment.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Eleanor, could you hurry just a little? Where were the painkillers?”

“Right here.”

“Thank you.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

This was the clinic. After I had sent Margaret to London to establish the slum clinic in Southwark, others had been taking turns acting as the physician here.

…Let’s briefly summarize how this situation came to be.

First, the English, unable to bear the insult to their ‘Saintess’ Eleanor, beat the self-proclaimed French expedition to a pulp. Then, the natives urgently intervened, asking why they were beating the men to death, and so they were moved here.

“Guh, ghaaak… keoheok…”

“Hic… heeek…”

All four of them were unconscious, and fortunately, there appeared to be no serious external injuries. For now, at least. What if one of them has a serious internal injury? What if he dies? What would be the problem if we killed a foreign expedition in our community?

“Are you alright?”

“…I don’t think I am. But thank you for asking, Eleanor.”

Phew. My mind had gone blank after being hit with such an unexpected variable. First, let’s get a grip.

A French expedition suddenly arrived here. I’m sure there was nothing about that in the game catalog. That could mean that these people were not important in the original history. Or, it could mean that the existence of this expedition itself was something that did not happen in the original history.

…Somehow, I felt it was the latter. No, I was certain that the names and routes of the expeditions sent by 16th-century England, Spain, France, and so on were all listed in the game catalog. Which means…

*‘Is this because of the butterfly effect?’*

What did I do?

…Come to think of it, I saved a failed colony, converted Walter Raleigh, created a new religious sect, cured the London plague, and distributed aluminum, fruits, and various luxury goods to England. I did a lot.

I wasn’t like the protagonist of a transmigration novel who monopolizes all the good fortune and then says, ‘Strange… the main party’s growth is too slow.’ I could accept it quickly. Considering what I’ve done so far, a butterfly effect was more than bound to happen. The probability that France, seeing the fruits I had sown, would set its sights on the New World a little earlier than in the original history was more than plausible.

Right. I’ve more or less grasped the situation. Now, the problem of ‘so what are you going to do now?’ remained.

Should I… convert these guys, too? No. With Walter Raleigh, the opportunity was there, but it also took a lot of time and resources to convert just one Raleigh. Not now. Thanks to the population explosion, there was nothing I could do right away.

What could I even do to them in the first place? Make a prophecy like I did with Raleigh? But now that I’ve changed history this much, what if I make some half-baked prophecy and get it wrong? It was also questionable whether there was any benefit to be gained by luring them in. Raleigh was the Queen’s favorite, but these guys? Aren’t they just explorers? And I don’t even know which faction they serve in the midst of France’s civil war. If it’s a stock that’s going to go bankrupt after I invest in it, I’ll pass.

For now, avoiding them was the best policy.

“Walter, I’ve hidden the Damas, so I will be leaving for now. I entrust their reception and surveillance to you.”

“Understood.”

And so, I left the clinic. Not long after I left, a scream erupted from behind me, so it seemed they had woken up. Well, I’ve left it to Raleigh, so let’s not worry about it anymore. I have a lot to do and I’m busy as it is.

***

After a few days, François was back to normal. His slightly dislocated jaw was back in place, and the swelling on his beaten nose and face was beginning to subside. Still, the memory of the beating kept coming back to him, so he stayed timidly around his quarters for a while… but he soon overcame the trauma and was able to look around the settlement, accompanied by the English ‘guides’ (and guards).

“So… you say the population here has only recently increased like this?”

“Yes. Originally, just over 10,000 people lived here, but suddenly, over the past few months, the natives started pouring in, and the population doubled.”

“Hah! Interesting.”

To his eyes, only the flaws of this settlement were visible. For one, although there were dozens of houses lined up, the majority of the population had no place to live and were settled in tents or the shabby huts typical of the savages. Also, it seemed they didn’t have enough fields to farm, as most of the population seemed to be surviving day by day by densely planting crops in narrowly sectioned plots. Anyone could see the situation of this settlement, which had been forcibly inflated in population recently. If he had been here for just a few months longer, the majesty of this ‘fake empire’ of tens of thousands might have been a bit more convincing, but now that he had arrived, it was useless.

That wasn’t all. Swarm, swarm.

“What is going on over there?”

“Uh… it seems other tribes are coming to pledge their allegiance.”

“They’re offering treasures?”

“It’s voluntary.”

The natives are voluntarily submitting, offering an unusually large amount of treasure? Absurd. He might not have been able to investigate properly because he was tied down here, but it was clear that the English conquest was underway. If not that, then they were using food as a weapon during the famine to bully them.

Forced migration, plunder, and conquest. Seeing the three things the English claimed they would never do happening simultaneously, François couldn’t hold back a bitter smile. Is this that peaceful ‘civilization’? Is this that moral ‘evangelization’?

“Wait, you cannot go outside today.”

“What is it?”

“…You just can’t.”

What’s more, there were times when the English would just lock them up in their quarters. And when they came out a few days later, strange things would have happened, like a forest of dozens of acres disappearing, or a field of dozens of acres being newly plowed. It was clear.

Forced labor. They were clearly enslaving the natives and working them harshly. Otherwise, they couldn’t have cleared such a wide forest and virgin land in such a short amount of time.

François finally came to a conclusion. “My dear nephew, I believe we have gathered all the information we can. We can leave now.”

To which Samuel replied, “Pardon? Ah, but there is still much left to see.”

Hmm? More to see?

“What more is there to see? Native slaves in chains?”

“No! Captain, have you ever seen a potato like this? It is much tastier than what is known in Europe, and the tubers are larger! And the chickens, how fat and large they are…” Samuel said excitedly. “It is clear that the agricultural skills of the savages, no, the natives living here, are incredibly advanced! Their tool called the ‘homi’² and everything else, there is nothing that is not astonishing!”

“…”

François, clutching his head at Samuel’s foolish words, said, “You there.”

“Yes, Captain. What do you think of these amazing things…”

“Think about it.” It was a question even a child could answer. “Why would a people with advanced agricultural skills not farm, but instead wander around relying on hunting and gathering?”

“…Pardon?”

“If their agricultural skills are so great, why do they continue a nomadic life without settling down somewhere?”

“Uh, that’s…”

“Yes. Their chickens may be a bit large and their potatoes a bit tastier. But couldn’t there be a problem, like the yield being pathetic?”

“For that to be the case, the food supply seemed too abundant.”

“That must have been imported from England. Then are you saying that only the potatoes here in America are delicious, and only the chickens here are large and fat? Were chickens even in the New World in the first place? It would be more realistic to say they fell from the sky.”

“…”

After perfectly refuting his foolish nephew’s opinion, François stood up again. “The savages here are just that, savages. And pitiful savages being exploited by the English at that. Now, let’s get ready to leave…”

“But what about the Emperor’s authority? It seemed that all the people here held a great sense of awe for the Emperor.”

“…”

“Everyone was saying that they could eat and live thanks to the ‘Great Chief.’ The fact that the Emperor has secured this level of authority and loyalty means that there is an organized government…”

“The Emperor has such great authority? When the chiefs here are deposed at the drop of a hat?”

“Pardon?”

“And the idea that they live thanks to the Emperor, isn’t that a kind of primitive religious notion? Even ignorant country peasants believe that the king’s touch can heal wounds.”³

“…”

“You there, think about it in the first place. They live thanks to the Emperor? Unless the Emperor fell from the sky and threw down potatoes and what not, does that make sense? Unless the Emperor himself plows hundreds of acres of land, does that make sense?”

In the end, it was all a ridiculous superstition.

“What’s more, if they were so civilized, they wouldn’t have been so helplessly dominated by the English…”

“It didn’t seem like they were being dominated. And if their agricultural skills aren’t advanced, how do you explain those sweet grapes?”

“They were probably just naturally sweet.”

“If they are being unilaterally and helplessly exploited, why do they give gifts and pledge allegiance?”

“That would be because the English threatened them with force, or lured them with food during the famine. Isn’t there a drought right now? If not that, then perhaps their food supply was overflowing so they just gifted it to the neighbors. But is it possible for a newly established colony to have an overflowing food supply?”

“…”

“…”

It seemed there would be no end to the debate if they continued like this. They glared at each other, continuing their argument… then they realized that the other two were not with them and looked around. The other two were stuck to the window of their quarters, looking outside.

“You two… what are you doing?”

“Pardon? We are watching the Native Emperor.”

“…What?”

The Emperor. The being they had never properly shown them.

“Now, how do you know that what you are seeing is the emperor?”

“You can just tell by looking. Would you like to see?”

The moment he heard that, François and Samuel rushed to the window and watched the crowd, which looked like a dot in the distance. A group of mixed English and local savages was surrounding a man. And that man… was a head taller than the others, so he was easy to spot. Everyone was kneeling or respectfully bowing their heads to him. Even the English. Baron Raleigh, who was mixed in among them, was assisting him as if he were a subject.

“…”

“…”

The two of them fell silent.

“Uh, uh-uh! You must not look outside right now!” Soon, the English guards who were watching them came from outside and closed the window. But the scene they had just witnessed was unforgettable. Even though they had seen him from so far away… they could feel that the gazes of the people looking at him were extraordinary.

“Captain? Ah, I believe I must amend what I said earlier. What I just saw was not awe, but rather…”

“…‘Love’.”

He was loved.

François and Samuel hastily took out their notebooks and pens from their coats and began to scribble. It was a report for His Majesty the King. The day after writing that report, they left the English colony.

It was the strangest experience of their lives.

***

—‘To the great king who rules the great nation of France with God’s blessing.

There will not be a single falsehood in the report I am about to deliver, and I wish to make it clear that all of its contents are things I have seen and heard myself, and not things I have heard from others.

…

…

…

Considering the above, it seemed that the English colony was clearly being operated in an inhumane and immoral manner, completely different from their propaganda.

Furthermore, the so-called ‘Native Empire’ and their colony were so shabby that they were not even worthy of concern.

…

…

…

However.

If there is one thing to be noted with caution, it is the true nature of the ‘Native Emperor’ that the English had put forward.

The loyalty and respect of the residents (including even the English) for him seemed deeper than the love that any great monarch I know receives from his people. Furthermore, their faith in him seemed like that of a most faithful Christian serving his savior.

From this, I surmise that the identity of this so-called ‘Emperor’ is that of a spiritual leader, or a symbolic monarch of the natives.

Though he may have no practical authority, his presence and leadership clearly held a strong grip on the natives and the English of the settlement.

Considering the above factors, if France establishes a colony in the region, evangelizes the natives, and obtains the resources of America, Your Majesty’s greatness will be further enhanced.

Your faithful servant, François Gravé.