Chapter 148

In his seminal work The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith fervently praises the ‘division of labor,’ arguing that it maximizes labor productivity and consequently exponentially increases the wealth of a nation.

And as absolutely anyone living in the 21st century knows perfectly well, his assertion was entirely correct.

Even a task as incredibly simple as manufacturing a tiny metal pin can see its productivity skyrocket by dozens, or even hundreds of times, if the process is meticulously divided, specialized, mechanized, and ruthlessly optimized, rather than relying on a single master craftsman to painstakingly execute the entire process from start to finish.

If that is the undeniable truth… why on earth did humanity only begin to actively implement this miraculously efficient system after the dawn of modern capitalism?

The historical reasons are incredibly vast and deeply complex. The existence of painfully narrow, isolated markets fundamentally incapable of realizing economies of scale, the severe lack of capitalist control over the labor force, and so on…

However, on a far more fundamental, human level: if you relentlessly enforce the division of labor, every single individual task becomes agonizingly, mind-numbingly simplistic. And as absolutely everyone knows, engaging in such hyper-repetitive, mindless labor is incredibly torturous for the human psyche.

Yet, what exactly was happening in Virginia?

“Y-Yes! The work has to be at least this mind-numbingly tedious for it to truly feel like a proper ascetic trial!”

“Ugh… I’ve been endlessly turning this exact same spinning wheel for ten consecutive hours now! I can truly feel my soul drawing closer to the Lord!”

…That specific human obstacle had somehow been completely (and bizarrely) overcome.

However, the second, infinitely more critical obstacle still remained entirely unresolved…

Let us examine the exact pin factory example famously cited in The Wealth of Nations.

“Brothers and Sisters! Let us dedicate our holy labor to manufacturing pins for the prosperity of our community today!”

“Sisters assigned to Process Number One! Please approach and receive your holy equipment!”

Whirrrrr! Clang! Clang! Clang! Screech! Compared to a single artisan painstakingly executing every single step—drawing out the wire, straightening it, cutting it, pointing it, and grinding the head—meticulously dividing those tasks among multiple laborers yields a labor efficiency roughly 240 times superior.

However.

“Exactly what are we supposed to do with 240 times more pins?”

“Uh… I don’t know?”

If the supply violently explodes while the market demand remains completely stagnant, the economy inevitably begins to violently stagger under the crushing weight of massive overproduction.

While the various factories and monastic orders in Virginia had miraculously managed to stay afloat thus far by pivoting to mass-producing highly consumable, everyday household goods, the undeniable reality remained: the absolute maximum limit of the Virginian market was a mere 100,000 people.

Could they simply export their massive surplus of pins to England? Who in their right mind would willingly purchase strange, foreign-made pins burdened with exorbitant transatlantic shipping costs, rendering them completely devoid of any price competitiveness?

Ultimately, Virginia’s nascent industrial sector saturated the local market in the blink of an eye and began hurtling uncontrollably toward the very brink of apocalyptic economic collapse.

They desperately attempted to bundle the surplus goods as ‘bonus gifts’ during their fur trade negotiations with the Native Americans, and the ordinary citizens—intoxicated by the euphoric feeling of sudden wealth—recklessly consumed everyday goods at an absurd pace… but at the end of the day, it was still just a 100,000-person market.

That absolute, suffocating limit…

Was miraculously overcome.

With the formal integration of Florida.

Florida was currently in a state of absolute, grinding poverty; they were literally a nation of starving beggars with absolutely nothing to their name. In the horrific aftermath of the rebellion, the fires of war had violently swept across the entirety of Florida, completely incinerating their infrastructure. Furthermore, because their vital economic umbilical cord to Spain had been permanently severed, their entire macroeconomic foundation was completely obliterated.

And then… they encountered Virginia.

Roaring with ecstatic joy, the factory owners of Virginia ruthlessly dumped their unimaginably massive stockpiles of mass-produced goods onto the desperate Floridian market at absurdly low, hyper-competitive prices.

Simultaneously, because Florida literally possessed absolutely zero hard currency to purchase these goods, Virginia aggressively bought up the cash crops currently rotting in the Floridian fields, along with massive herds of cattle, sheep, goats, and horses, forcefully balancing the massive trade deficit.

Furthermore, as the Agricultural Knight Order rapidly expanded its operations deep into Florida, the demand for new tractors naturally skyrocketed, prompting the explosive expansion of tractor component factories across Virginia.

This was the terrifying, miraculous power of market expansion. The Virginians were once again able to happily enjoy their bizarre combination of ascetic self-flagellation and massive economic profits. Naturally, they also gorged themselves on the endless parade of diverse meats flowing in from Florida.

However…

“I… am not entirely certain if allowing this situation to continue is a wise idea, my lord.”

“…”

“There are countless, glaring problems. The gold and silver trinkets, or whatever meager wealth the Spanish left behind in Florida, are rapidly running completely dry.”

“…”

No matter how you looked at it, Florida was ultimately a newly independent, brutally impoverished colony. It was fundamentally impossible for them to continuously absorb the astronomical volume of goods constantly pouring out of Virginia while simultaneously somehow balancing the trade deficit.

Their remaining wealth was bleeding out unilaterally.

Furthermore, exactly as mentioned previously, there were massive, rapidly growing concerns regarding the aggressive expansion of the Virginian Knight Order across Florida.

“The Knight Order is, fundamentally, an organization explicitly belonging to Virginia, is it not? Yet they are currently marching onto our sovereign land, cultivating crops, and distributing the harvest to our starving peasants entirely for free. Furthermore, they have essentially taken over the military defense of our territory.”

“…”

“We are incredibly… grateful for their assistance. However.”

“You are correct. A relationship built entirely on one side endlessly bestowing charity, and the other side endlessly receiving it, can never last in the long term.”

Listening to his trusted aide’s deeply concerning report, Alonso—who had recently become the Head of State of Florida—replied with a heavy sigh.

Of course, the probability of Virginia actually harboring malicious intent or attempting to aggressively subjugate Florida approached absolute zero. Every single person in Florida knew that perfectly well.

Because they all placed their absolute, unwavering faith in ‘Him.’

The looming trade deficit was also not a problem that would persist indefinitely. Given enough time, Florida would inevitably become just as overwhelmingly wealthy as Virginia.

Once the Agricultural Knights fully established their massive, hyper-efficient farming infrastructure across Florida, the territory would effortlessly generate astronomical profits through grain exports alone. The local citizens would inevitably become incredibly wealthy, and the horrific trade deficit would naturally resolve itself.

Furthermore, Virginia was actively bending over backward to accommodate them. The fact that Virginia was currently purchasing massive quantities of Floridian fruits—something they absolutely didn’t need to buy in the first place—was glaring proof of their profound goodwill.

However…

‘If we aren’t incredibly careful, deep-seated anxieties might violently explode before the macroeconomic issues are fully resolved.’ They absolutely could not allow the current situation to fester.

They had to decisively tie up the loose ends.

A profound, deeply unsettling anxiety was rapidly brewing among the Floridians. Or, to be far more specific, it was a terrifying anxiety actively festering among the Native Americans… no, the Indigenous populations.

Alonso carefully recalled an incredibly concerning conversation he had shared with a prominent local tribal chief just the other day.

—”To be completely honest with you, Your Grace, my daughter actually married into the Apalachee tribe. Just the year before last.” 

—”Uh… congratulations, I suppose?” —”It is absolutely nothing to be congratulated about! The very tribes the Apalachee violently drove out of their homelands years ago have now suddenly returned as our new overlords, haven’t they?!” 

—”They are not our overlords…” 

—”I heard a rumor that they explicitly swore an oath of absolute loyalty to the Grand Chief up north.”

 —”…Please, continue your thought.” 

—”Regardless, even if those exiled tribes have miraculously returned as the new overlords of this land, it doesn’t directly concern my specific tribe. However! If the Apalachee tribe is suddenly threatened or violently purged in retaliation for past grievances, my daughter and my innocent grandchildren will be caught in the crossfire…!” 

—”I assure you, they will absolutely never harm our people in such a vile manner.” 

—”Do you have a legally binding treaty guaranteeing that promise?!” 

—“…No.” 

—”Do you hold some critical leverage over them to ensure they keep their word?!” 

—”…No, I do not.” 

—”Are we militarily stronger than them?!” 

—”We are significantly weaker.”

 —“…” 

—“…” 

That was the harsh, undeniable reality.

They desperately needed to establish a relationship with Virginia that at least maintained the superficial illusion of political equality. If they failed to achieve that delicate balance, the demographic group comprising the absolute vast majority of Florida’s population would continue to tremble in sheer, paralyzing terror.

The Native Americans.

If that overwhelming demographic majority completely lost faith in the newly established Florida government and began openly directing their hostility toward Virginia…

It would spell the absolute, catastrophic collapse of Florida.

Which outcome would arrive first?

Would Florida rapidly ascend to the exact same level of wealth and power as Virginia through their continued, benevolent support?

Or would the terrified, deeply paranoid Native Americans preemptively violently overthrow this fragile new government out of sheer anxiety before that prosperity could be realized?

That was the terrifying, multi-million-dollar question.

Letting out a heavy, exhausted sigh, Alonso hastily scribbled his official signature onto a document manufactured from Virginian paper, using premium ink imported directly from Virginia, and sank deep into agonizing thought.

It seemed this particular political headache…

Would be torturing him for quite some time.

And it didn’t take very long at all for his grim premonition to be proven absolutely, violently correct.

A massive incident erupted.

***

“Ahem, ahem…”

In the newly liberated territory of Florida, the Knights had effortlessly become objects of intense, near-fanatical adoration and envy.

First of all, the Knights were the legendary heroes who had physically marched down and violently crushed the horrific armies of the evil slave owners. Furthermore, they were currently dedicating their holy labor to reclaiming abandoned, overgrown wastelands and generously distributing the bountiful harvests to the starving Floridians completely free of charge.

But above all else…

CRASH! 

“The glorious victor of this jousting match is Sir Rodrigo!”

“He actually did it! Sir Rodrigo actually won!”

Tractor jousting was just ‘incredibly cool.’

Even if one completely ignored the spectacular jousting tournaments, simply watching a man flawlessly pilot a colossal, roaring mechanical beast significantly larger than a human being, effortlessly crush enemies, and casually plow massive tracts of land with terrifying efficiency was more than enough to inspire profound awe.

The Floridians experienced the exact same euphoric, adrenaline-pumping thrill when watching the Knights that 21st-century audiences felt when watching giant mecha anime.

Already completely, hopelessly intoxicated by their own delusional chivalric roleplay, it didn’t take very long at all for the members of the Knight Order to rapidly and aggressively evolve (or rather, devolve) into literal half-medieval LARPers (live-action role players).

“P-P-Please, somebody help! The basket is…!”

“What seems to be the problem, good citizen?!”

“My basket full of gold trinkets accidentally fell down there! Oh, what am I going to do?! I absolutely have to trade that gold for food, or my family won’t survive the winter!”

And so, Sir Skinner, as a Knight currently fully submerged in his own chivalric delusions, could not possibly ignore the desperate, pleading cries of the local Native Americans.

Was it not the ‘honorable, sacred duty’ of a true Knight to selflessly aid the weak and defenseless?

…Of course, absolutely everyone had conveniently ‘forgotten’ that the original, official duties of an (Agricultural Equipment) Knight in Virginia primarily consisted of ‘strictly adhering to workplace safety regulations.’

“H-Haha, do not worry yourself! Retrieving a simple basket is a trivial matter! I shall personally handle this—”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Having boldly and confidently stepped forward to volunteer his services, Sir Skinner stared blankly at the basket, which was currently precariously snagged on a jagged outcropping roughly eleven meters down a sheer, terrifyingly steep cliff face, and immediately began to seriously reconsider his life choices.

Wait. I’m not a literal superhero. I’m just a guy who knows how to drive a really big tractor. 

Staring down into the terrifying abyss of certain death, Sir Skinner’s rational mind briefly flickered back online. Deciding that preserving his own life was significantly more important than preserving his imaginary ‘honor,’ he opened his mouth to gracefully decline the suicide mission.

“…Sob…! W-What are we going to do?! Our tribe is completely doomed!”

“I-It’ll be okay. If we just cross the ocean and throw ourselves upon the mercy of the people living in those distant villages…”

“Are you telling us to completely abandon the ancestral lands we’ve lived in our entire lives?!”

However, after overhearing that utterly desperate, heartbreaking conversation.

“Don’t worry! The mister Knight is going to save us! I believe in him!”

And after hearing that incredibly naive, deeply trusting declaration from a small child.

“H-Haha! But of course, little one! I shall personally retrieve it for you!”

It was completely, utterly impossible for him to back down now.

And the exact moment Sir Skinner triumphantly grabbed the basket, his grip slipped, and he plummeted straight down the 11-meter cliff.

Shockingly, the actual, catastrophic political incident did not occur here.

“H-Hahaha! For thou, LORD, wilt bless the righteous; with favour wilt thou compass him as with a shield! (Psalms 5:12) Hehe, hahahaha!”

As Sir Skinner violently slid down the jagged slope at the base of the cliff, he miraculously landed directly on top of a massive, incredibly plush pile of thick bushes, miraculously surviving the sheer drop with barely a scratch.

“T-T-Thank you! We owe you a profound debt of gratitude! Our entire clan shall welcome you as an honored guest forever!”

“Haha, please, think nothing of it. Let us first allow our meals to properly digest before we discuss—Ugh, urk…”

“W-What’s happening?! What’s wrong with him?!”

“Hurry! Someone fetch the shaman!”

Following his miraculous survival, Sir Skinner eagerly partook in the unfamiliar, highly exotic cuisine of the Florida natives, instantly resulting in a catastrophic, violently explosive bout of severe food poisoning. Yet surprisingly, even that did not spark the political crisis.

“To subject our noble benefactor to such horrific suffering… it is a profound, inexcusable shame upon our clan…”

“H-Haha… Please, do not worry yourself, Chief. Let us discuss far more important matters.”

It wasn’t until the second day of being completely bedridden and violently violently expelling his internal organs that Sir Skinner finally managed to temporarily shake off his chivalric delusions and regain his rational composure. And it was then that he suddenly remembered his actual, official duties.

“…Are you seriously telling us you will cultivate our lands entirely for free?!”

“Indeed we will. That is simply how we operate in our homeland. Consider it a humble gift from us to you.”

“Ooh… so that is why everyone so eagerly acknowledges ‘Him’ as the Grand Chief.”

The rapid expansion and prosperity of the community.

Aggressively leveraging his newly acquired status as their ‘noble benefactor,’ Sir Skinner passionately preached the gospel of the ’25 Hectares Entitlement’ to the mesmerized clan members. Deeply enticed by the absurdly generous offer, the clan swiftly convened and officially resolved to formally integrate into the Bishopric of Florida.

Missionaries were promptly dispatched to the village, and everything seemed to be progressing absolutely flawlessly, until…

Thud! “W-What the hell is this?!”

“This specific territory has historically belonged exclusively to our tribe! How dare you arrogantly cultivate it with the explicit intention of distributing it to them?!”

“You owe us immediate, massive compensation for this blatant trespass!”

A neighboring tribe suddenly marched in and began aggressively demanding extortion money.

Sir Skinner quickly sought out the clan members and inquired about the situation. They immediately informed him that the disputed area had been their traditional fishing grounds for generations, and the neighboring tribe was simply making completely baseless, extortionate claims.

According to the clan, the neighboring tribe had a long, nasty history of frequently invading and ruthlessly pillaging their significantly weaker clan. Hearing this, Sir Skinner’s intensely burning, chivalric intolerance for vile injustice instantly erupted like a roaring wildfire.

“I’m telling you, you’re not developing this land! If you don’t immediately pay us a massive toll—uh, u-uhh?!”

The neighboring tribe members, who were currently spouting lines exactly like modern-day thugs attempting to extort protection money from a construction site, were…

Entirely, violently bulldozed away by a massive steam tractor.

Of course, no one was actually severely injured or killed. After all, Sir Skinner was an ‘Honorable Knight.’

“H-H-How dare you suddenly invade our sovereign tribal territory with that monster…?! This is absolute, unprovoked tyranny!”

“Where is the Grand Chief?! No, didn’t you call him the Archbishop?! We demand your immediate intervention!”

However, exactly as all pathetic extortionists and bullies do when they finally encounter someone significantly stronger than them, they immediately ran crying to the authorities.

“I am completely innocent of these vile accusations. I merely acted in strict accordance with my sacred honor as a Knight,” Sir Skinner declared with his usual, impeccably rigid, righteous posture.

“He speaks the truth! Those lying bastards are maliciously slandering the noble Knight!”

“The mister Knight even saved our puppy!”

With both sides aggressively doubling down and fiercely glaring at each other, the tension in the room was palpable.

“This… does not appear to be a simple dispute I can cleanly resolve on my own,” Alonso finally declared, massaging his temples.

“…What on earth do you mean?! Are you not the Grand Chief of this land?!” the furious tribesmen demanded.

“Yes, but is that Knight not a citizen of Virginia?”

Alonso’s fundamental logic was entirely flawless. Because the Knight was officially a Virginian citizen acting in his official capacity as a member of a Virginian organization (the Knight Order), Alonso simply did not possess the unilateral political or legal authority to arbitrarily punish or intervene in his actions. There was absolutely no legal precedent for such a thing.

If he wanted to take any official action, he absolutely had to formally coordinate and reach a mutual agreement with the Virginia government.

However, to the Native Americans of Florida who were listening to this explanation, it sounded completely different.

“…Are you telling us that no matter what atrocities those Virginia tribe members commit on our land, we are completely powerless to retaliate or seek justice?!”

And honestly, their terrifyingly anxious conclusion wasn’t entirely incorrect either.

While it hadn’t escalated to that horrific extreme yet, the undeniable reality was that the current Archbishopric of Florida completely lacked the independent sovereign authority or legal framework required to unilaterally punish Virginian citizens for crimes committed on Floridian soil.

That specific, terrifying realization was the exact spark that caused the simmering anxiety of the Florida Native Americans to violently erupt into a roaring wildfire.

What if those Virginians explicitly came down here harboring a deep-seated ‘grudge,’ seeking violent retribution for being exiled from their ancestral lands in the past?! What if they start massacring us?! A massive portion of those Virginians are the exact same people we brutally drove out years ago! Driven by that absolute, sheer, paralyzing terror, a massive, furious mob of Native Americans rapidly began to converge upon the Archbishop’s official residence.

Desperately agonizing over the rapidly deteriorating situation, Alonso hastily drafted and dispatched an incredibly urgent, highly classified report directly to Virginia.

The infinitely complex issue of formally defining the exact diplomatic relationship and power dynamics between the two sovereign nations.

The deeply complicated legal issue regarding the official nationality and sovereign jurisdiction of the Knight Order.

A terrifyingly complex, incredibly convoluted political crisis formed from a chaotic mixture of countless, highly volatile elements…

It was an absolute nightmare.

It was a monumental diplomatic crisis guaranteed to cause severe, agonizing headaches for the highest echelons of both governments for the foreseeable future.