Chapter 124

“Her Majesty the Queen said she would step in?”

“Yes.”

“Personally?”

“Yes.”

“…”

“…”

Raleigh’s face hardened as he listened to me.

“Did she not offer anything in return?”

“No. She said she would help us unconditionally, as it would be a good way to ‘inconvenience’ all the people she dislikes.”

“That is passing strange.”

“Is it?”

“Hmm.”

“Why do you say that, Walter?”

Raleigh tilted his head for a moment. “It’s just, odd.”

“What is?”

“Her Majesty, she truly offered to help without any conditions?”

“…”

“…”

…Huh. Come to think of it…

“Her Majesty is someone who will ruthlessly tear away anything she can get, whenever she sees an opportunity. It is precisely because I know this that Sir Drake gives most of his pirate spoils to her, and I, too, share a significant portion of my trade income with her.”

“I am well aware of what kind of person she is.”

“Then why would she do such a thing?”

“Perhaps, the Queen felt a sense of responsibility, a desire to correct the chaos in England.”

Raleigh looked at me with an expression of profound pity. “People… are not all like you, Lord Nemo.”

…Uh. Did I just get mistaken for ‘an angel who doesn’t understand selfish human hearts’ again?

“…”

“…”

Yep. I did.

While I stood there, bewildered, Raleigh sighed and continued, “In the first place, this is a mess that the Co-King, James, should be handling. If Her Majesty returns to Britain, isn’t it obvious that he will try to kill her or at least neutralize her? What choice would she have then? She would have to endure it all alone.”

That also made sense. Right. Elizabeth had fled to escape the rebels. She’d left Scotland because her safety wasn’t even guaranteed there. So, James was the one responsible for stopping this chaos, but,

“Will he be able to?”

“He will not.”

Right. That’s why we were planning this in the first place.

“In any case, I will try to find out what Her Majesty is truly aiming for.”

“Thank you, Walter. I’m counting on you.”

And so, our discussion ended.

And then, October came.

The seawater was beginning to grow cold.

November came.

An unusual number of people were catching colds. And,

December 1607.

The sea froze.

“We begin the plan.”

Dozens of ships set sail, heading east across the Atlantic. From the prow of the flagship, I watched the Queen, who was gazing intently at the horizon. She spotted me easily, even in the crowd, and gestured before giving a slight, formal bow.

“Lord Nemo? What’s wrong?”

“Ah, it’s… it’s nothing.”

I had no idea what that was supposed to mean, and I was just, baffled.

***

“Wh-What in God’s name is the homeland doing!”

“Fuck! Those Spanish bastards and the rebels are running wild! What the hell are they doing!”

The English in Ireland were trembling in fear. It was a natural consequence. Most of Ireland had been swallowed by the ‘rebels,’ and military support from the English homeland was sluggish and unreliable. Of course, from the perspective of James, King of England and Scotland, it couldn’t be helped. With rebellion and unrest rampant within England itself, did he have the spare troops to dispatch to Ireland?

Meanwhile, the Irish-Spanish coalition forces, despite their own internal conflicts and chaotic disorganization, were steadily pushing back the English army. The English forces, in contrast, had adopted a passive, defensive posture, and were losing ground in most encounters. They were all terrified.

They were gripped by the fear that soon—before the year 1607 was even out—every non-Catholic Englishman in this land would be either expelled or massacred.

But,

“Sn-Snow! It’s snow!”

“The well is frozen? Then where are we supposed to get water!”

“Bring firewood! Melt the snow for drinking water!”

Their predictions were wrong. An unforeseen, severe cold and heavy snow had descended, forcing both armies to cancel their military operations and hunker down in their respective fortifications. At first, the English were relieved, offering prayers of thanks to the Lord. And then, a few weeks passed.

“Th-The the roads… are blocked.”

“The harbor is frozen solid! What are we to do!”

“Gather the wounded! Now!”

They began to curse God’s name.

This bitter cold.

And the famine.

Everyone was half-frozen, starving, and trapped in their homes.

They began to pray for the cold to end. They prayed for the cold to end so that they could surrender to the Irish. But God was silent. The English homeland was also silent. They were abandoned by the world, quietly… fading away…

“Uh… huh?”

“What is it?”

“There’s a ship! A ship is coming! No, it’s… it’s a fleet!”

Dozens of ships docked at a harbor still under English control. They were suspicious at first, wondering if the unidentified ships were enemies, but then they saw the emblem on the sails—an angel wielding a serrated, toothed sword—and they erupted in cheers. And.

“It’s… It’s the Queen!”

“What nonsense is that? The Queen is across the Atlant… huh? Huh?”

“It’s really her! Her Majesty the Queen has come!”

“UWAAAAAAAAAH!”

From the center of the fleet, an elderly woman stepped out and set foot on the land. Her voice, belying her age, rang out like a trumpet. “My people! I have not forsaken you! Come forth and receive food!”

“Her Majesty! It’s Her Majesty!”

“Queen Elizabeth has come!”

“G-Good Lord… to this cursed land!”

In an instant, a crowd of thousands swarmed the docks, weeping with gratitude as they frantically accepted the barley and wheat the soldiers handed out. The harbor was instantly teeming with people, and the cold wave itself seemed to momentarily retreat from their fervent heat. Before them, the Queen spoke.

“You came to this land seeking a new life, new opportunities. And now, only death and despair remain.”

“…” “…” “…”

“As your sovereign, I cannot stand by and watch. And so, I will give you a chance.”

“A… a chance?”

At a hunched-over farmer’s question, the Queen raised her head high and shouted, “Virginia!”

“Huh? W-What?”

“I will give you all the chance to go to Virginia! The ‘Emperor’ has approved this. All that is left to you is the choice.”

This time, no one let the Queen finish her sentence. They were all too busy cheering and rushing frantically toward the transport ships. The soldiers had their hands full trying to control the crowd, to keep people from being trampled.

And so, thousands of people began their journey across the Atlantic, toward the promised land of hope.

To Virginia.

The Queen, however, remained in Ireland for a time, and summoned her loyal minister, the Earl of Salisbury, Robert Cecil. “My Lord Salisbury?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“This food, distribute it to the Catholics beyond the walls as well.”

“To the Catholics, Your Majesty? But they are rebels, enemies of.”

“Distribute it.”

“…”

After a moment’s hesitation, the Earl of Salisbury, Robert Cecil, understood his Queen’s ‘deeper meaning’ and smiled. “Aha… I understand.” Cecil immediately sent envoys out of the occupied zone and distributed the food.

“Th-This… is from that witch?”

“Are you truly saying… she… I mean… the Queen… gave this to us?”

The Irish peasants were not fools. They knew the person giving them food was the leader of their enemies, and that this was a trick to win them over. Nevertheless, they silently accepted the food.

And they ate.

To survive.

“G-Good Lord, the Queen is distributing wheat from the harbors?”

“We must do the same! Immediately!”

“But, our military supplies.”

“Are the supplies more important? Can you handle the public opinion if it looks like the heretic Queen cares more for our people than we do!”

The squabbling, divided native Irish lords finally panicked and began to frantically release their own grain stores.

“Uh… what? The people’s sentiment is shifting?”

“It seems dissatisfaction with local supply has been building, as the war has dragged on. The number of spies defecting to the English is increasing!”

The Spanish forces, too, scrambled as they found their status suddenly changed from ‘liberators’ to ‘foreign occupiers.’ And just like that, the Queen had royally screwed over the Irish lords and the Spanish.

But if that had been her only goal, the Queen would never have undertaken such a reckless and dangerous voyage.

“…”

“…”

“Th-That woman Elizabeth is, stirring up public opinion in Ireland?”

“Yes, Your Highness. In all the territories, praise for Her Majesty the Queen is spreading. Furthermore, public sentiment in the homeland is turning. They are asking what the Co-King in Edinburgh is doing, while she acts.”

“Wh-What am I doing! I’m buried under a mountain of work! Besides, a King, personally going to the front lines? What madness!”

“Your Highness!”

Seeing a chamberlain rush in, panicked, James of Scotland was filled with a familiar, ominous premonition.

“Word has just arrived! Queen Elizabeth, has reached Bristol!”

And his premonition was not wrong in the slightest.

“O-Oh, bless you, You are the only one who has looked after us, after we lost everything in the flood!”

“Her Majesty grants you all the chance to go to the land of America, where there are homes and land and food! Who will go?”

“I-I will go! Let me go!”

“Your Majesty! Do not abandon us!”

February 1608.

First, the Queen headed to southwestern England and Wales, the areas hit hardest by last year’s flood. And just as she had in Ireland, she gave the people the ‘right to immigrate to Virginia.’ From there, she moved to the Midlands, which had been ravaged by the anti-enclosure revolts and the brutal suppression that followed.

“Oh, good heavens! My people, why are you so starved?”

“Your Majesty, we only wished for the commons to be open.”

“Do not weep. I am here to ensure you do not starve. I have arranged ships for you to leave.”

“Ah! Ah, sob… Your Majesty! That Scottish King… he is not our true sovereign!”

“How can you say such a thing! He is also a monarch of England, appointed by the Lord. Even if he lets you starve for now, he is surely doing… something… for you!”

“…”

“It is just that his priorities have not yet reached you.” The Queen spoke wistfully, looking out over the frost-killed wheat. “It seems I, in my lack of virtue, am only here to make a show of it, telling you to leave your homeland. I.”

“Your Majesty! We must leave at once!”

“I am sorry! I must go to Liverpool… You, to America!”

“Your Majesty! Y-Your Majesty! Do not leave us!”

“James… that damn villain!”

And so,

In England, public opinion of James began to plummet to new lows.

 James is threatening Her Majesty! James is abandoning England, lost in his own luxury and debauchery! Her Majesty personally goes before the starving to give them hope, but James…

“G-G-GAAAAAH! That that damnable harlot! I’ll… I’ll kill her!”

“Your Highness! C-Calm yourself!”

“Uuughk… I should have killed that wretch when I had the chance!” James clutched the back of his neck and collapsed.

“James collapsed?”

“This is our chance! Advance the plan!”

This was excellent news for the Catholics still operating in the shadows. Of course, bad news would soon befall them, but that was a story for a later time.

In this way, the massive relief effort in Ireland and the mass emigration from England dramatically reduced the chaos in both lands. It wasn’t just that she was bringing back those who had left for Ireland, filling them with new hope and ambition. It wasn’t just that she was opening a path for the wandering refugees and the starving. The English people had regained ‘faith’ and a ‘sense of stability.’ The fact that their monarch had personally crossed the Atlantic to save her people created a massive public response. 

Surely, God has blessed us, Her Majesty the Queen has not abandoned England! Her Majesty watches over us all! O England, this holy land, where Joseph of Arimathea, following the Holy Spirit, arrived! This present trial is but a passing shower, and peace will soon return. Soon, all will be normal again. Besides…

“Wait a second.”

“What is it?”

“Her Majesty, arrived in Ireland in January, didn’t she? It takes at least two to four months to cross the Atlantic. So, at the latest, she must have departed last late autumn.”

“I suppose so.”

“But how did she know the cold wave was coming?”

“Huh?”

When all the circumstantial evidence was examined, the conclusion was clear: the Queen of England must have been guided by the Lord. Come to think of it… Her Majesty had been in Virginia. The ‘Saints’ had also come from Virginia, guided by the Angel.

It was all connected!

Public opinion boiled over.

Support for the Queen was surging higher than ever.

“Your Majesty! We are approaching Liverpool!”

“Ah, yes. Excellent. How many have we sent to Virginia so far? Is it close to 20,000?”

“It is likely around that number, Your Majesty.”

“Good. At that number, the ‘Emperor’ should be satisfied with his end of the bargain.”

The Queen smiled at this thought, stepping to the prow to look at the view of Liverpool. A crowd, thick as a swarm of locusts, was already waiting for her. And among them, she could see dozens of expensive-looking carriages.

The Queen smiled, imagining just who was sitting inside each one.

Ah. I’ve done so many good deeds up until now. So, surely, it wouldn’t hurt to play one tiny… little prank before I leave? 

Thinking this, the Queen smiled.