Chapter 40

The year 1593. It was the fifth new year I’d greeted since coming here.

“Angel! When is Mommy coming home? I miss Mommy, so please tell her to come back!”

“Virginia! You mustn’t be rude to Sir Nemo!”

“Hahaha, she will be here soon, little one.”

Virginia Dare, who had been just a toddler when I first saw her, was now five years old—seven by Korean counting.¹

“Your mother has gone to do a very noble thing. She’ll come back with lots of presents for our Virginia!”

“Wow! Will I get a lot of new friends, too?”

“Of course! You’ll get ten! Twenty! No, more than thirty new friends!”

“Wooooow!”

“…Sir Nemo, is it alright to tell a child something like that?”

“Don’t you worry, Vicente. This time, that many children really will be coming.”

If Raleigh was as politically competent as I believed, and if the streptomycin had worked as it should, then Raleigh, Eleanor, and Margaret had likely become heroes of London. And what if Raleigh had become not just the Queen’s favorite, but a powerful politician with genuine popular support and a firm power base? Then how many resources would he be able to bring with him?

“For a start, the settlers who arrived before said they would bring their families, so that will easily be over 500 people. There will be many family units.”

Yes. Raleigh will filter out the men who come to the colony alone just to make a quick fortune. Most of them will likely be coming with the intention of settling here permanently.

“Besides, isn’t London always suffering from overpopulation? If he handled the plague situation well, Sir Raleigh will be able to bring a considerable amount of resources with him.”

I have… very high expectations, Walter Raleigh. How many will come? Seven hundred? Or eight hundred? Perhaps… more than a thousand might come. Then the population of this community would approach 9,000. How would I even utilize all those people? Build the clipper ships, engage in trade, farm wheat, potatoes, and grapes… No. I’m not even hoping for a thousand.

Even with just 800 people, there are so many things we could do. Setting aside the fact that shipbuilding would become much easier, if there were just a few more blacksmiths among them, I could make the dreams I dared not attempt a reality.

Yes. Just bring 800.

“Aigoo! My granddaughter, what are you doing holding onto Sir Nemo’s trousers!”

“Grandpa! When is Mommy coming?”

“Eleanor will be here soon, so don’t you worry! Hahaha!”

And so, amidst all kinds of expectations, the New Year’s Day party ended successfully, followed by several days of the Christmas holiday.

About a week after that?

“A ship, I see a ship! Sir Nemo! I see a ship!”

“Where, Manteo?”

“Over there, to the southeast!”

I took the spyglass from Manteo and looked in that direction… …Oh!

A ship was slowly coming over the horizon. The red cross flag at its peak confirmed it was an English vessel. Behind it, another ship, and then another, appeared, mast first. The five ships that had left here were all returning…

“…”

“…”

“…”

Another one.

And another.

And another, and another.

…

…

…Huh?

“Mommy! Mommy is waving from over there! Mommy really came back!”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Virginia was jumping up and down with excitement, but we were frozen stiff, unable to do anything. The others who had come out to see the ships at Manteo’s shout also stood frozen with their mouths agape when the number of ships exceeded their expectations.

And so, twenty-two ships reached Chesapeake Bay.

“Sir Nemo! We have returned! We were flooded with tens of thousands of volunteers, so we had no choice but to painstakingly select…”

“…”

“…Sir Nemo?”

I looked at Walter Raleigh, who had jumped excitedly onto the pontoon bridge, and asked him carefully, “…All together, how many are there?”

“How many? You mean, excluding all the sailors and laborers who will be returning to England?”

“Yes.”

“About… 2,000?”

Wow. He had doubled my highest estimate.

“Of them, one-tenth are blacksmiths and shipwrights combined. They are veterans who have worked on the construction of England’s finest warship, the Ark Royal!”

“Uh, uh…”

One-tenth of them were the skilled technicians we had been searching for so desperately.

“And of course, we brought 100 more dairy cows!”

One hundred more dairy cows, needed for the smallpox vaccinations for the natives, were added. I felt… like the protagonist of an American self-help book who had helped an old woman on the street, only to find out she was a third-generation chaebol heiress who left me a massive inheritance.

I was stunned.

“An… explanation of the situation… would be necessary.”

“It’s the land of the Saintesses!”

“Good heavens, it’s the continent of angels!”

“…Right now.”

I asked Walter Raleigh, and Eleanor Dare and Margaret Lawrence who followed him off the ship. What in the world happened here.

***

“So… it didn’t start as anything big. Her Majesty the Queen took Margaret and me back to Whitehall Palace in London, under the pretext that she couldn’t hide away from London while there were still people tending to the poor. In truth, it was because early winter had come and the plague seemed to be almost contained that she returned to the capital. Anyway. At Whitehall Palace, she praised us as the true saints of England, gathered all sorts of nobles and clergy, and in front of them, had us talk about our meeting with the angel…”

“…You talked about me?”

“Ah, n-no. I mean, it was about you, Sir Nemo, but… it was distorted for propaganda purposes…”

“Ah, I see. And then?”

“After that, we had no time to treat anyone. Wherever we went, crowds would flock to us, trying to grab our hands and the hems of our clothes, or asking us to pray for them…”

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Anyway, after that, a statue of us was erected in some square, and we gave a sermon with the Archbishop of Canterbury at Westminster Abbey, and we went through all sorts of strange things…”

“And then, when you were about to leave, volunteers flocked from all over, saying they would follow the Saintesses?”

“That’s right! Exactly!”

“Uh… I see.”

“…”

“…Saintess?”

“Ah, that… please don’t.”

“Understood. Eleanor? Miss Lawrence? Is that the whole story?”

“Ah, n-no. That’s not it…” Eleanor and Margaret glanced at each other, then turned their heads toward Raleigh. At that, Raleigh suddenly stood up and bowed his head to me.

“Sir Nemo, thank you. It is all thanks to you.”

“For what, Sir Raleigh?”

“It is no longer ‘Sir’.”

“Then…” Raleigh raised one corner of his mouth and said, “Please call me… Baron Roanoke.”

“Oh…”

“And, John White. You must go to London with me on the next voyage as well.”

“Y-Yes? What is it?”

“It is time for something to be added before your name as well. Is it not, Sir… John White?”

“…”

The moment he heard that, White’s face froze. I thought for a moment about the hardships of his life. Come to think of it, this was 1593. The year he was supposed to have lost his daughter and granddaughter and died a lonely death.⁴

“…S-Sir. Me, a knight… you say.”

He was born into a humble commoner family, so when Sir Raleigh had appointed him governor, he had to fabricate his background to be that of a respectable gentleman. But now, such fabrications would no longer be necessary.

“I… a nobleman…”

1. The ‘White Family’ was no longer just an empty fake. White stared at us for a moment, speechless, then… looked out the distant window. Tears of joy fell from his eyes.
2. …Anyway. Uh… so… let’s organize this.

Eleanor Dare and Margaret Lawrence have become ‘Saintesses.’

‘Sir’ Walter Raleigh is now ‘Baron’ Walter Raleigh, and his confidant, John White, is also set to become a nobleman.

1. That… is the general summary. And now for the facts that branch out from there.
2. Countless people requested to immigrate here, following Eleanor Dare and Margaret Lawrence.

‘Baron’ Walter Raleigh has now become the Queen’s complete right-hand man and has come here with immense support. He has brought all sorts of experts, including shipwrights to build the clippers, as well as blacksmiths, carpenters, and so on.

…The population has exceeded 10,000 overnight. More than 2,000 of them have never seen my ‘immortality’ with their own eyes. And with that, the number of artisans has also increased severalfold. Walter Raleigh has already begun designing the ships, gauging their internal structure and overall layout just from the drawing of the clipper I gave him. At his command, the shipwrights have begun to process the abundant timber of the New World.

“…”

Am I happy? Of course, I’m happy. My power has grown several times stronger in an instant. Besides, most of the new immigrants are people who were treated for the plague in London. If I sprinkle these people who have already witnessed a miracle among the other 8,000, I should be able to naturally convert them into believers of the ‘Nemoist’ sect.

But.

‘…What’s next?’

There are also many worries. What do I do next? These people are indebted to the ‘Saintesses’ I sent, and they followed in their footsteps to come here. So it won’t be too difficult for me to win them over. But now that I’ve accepted thousands of English people, this place is bound to remain connected to England. In the future, the population here will grow from 10,000 to 20,000, even to 100,000. How should I win them over? Can a society with a population in the tens of thousands be run by rule of thumb as before?

And one more worry.

‘…Spain.’

England and Spain are still at war. It is no exaggeration to say that the entire Atlantic is their battlefield. And here, a new type of English sailing ship is being built? And thousands of English people are living here? This place has now become worthy of Spain mobilizing a large army to crush it. How will I fend off their potential invasion?

And so, two problems surfaced in my mind. Was it said that a gift too large becomes a great burden at the same time? I rolled the worries around in my head for a long time…

“Sir Raleigh? No, Baron Roanoke?”

“Just call me Walter.”

“…Walter, there is something I would like to ask.”

“Please, ask anything.”

“There is something I would like to import from England, and I was wondering if it would be possible.”

I had slowly reached a conclusion.

“What is it?” Walter asked, and I answered.

“Cannons.”

This colony needs power.

***

“Look! It’s Sir Walter Raleigh!”

As the ship bearing the emblem of an angel with a saw appeared on the Thames, countless people began to flock to the riverbank. Onlookers waved their handkerchiefs at the ship and let out cheers.

“Long live Sir Raleigh! Long live England!”

“Lord Roanoke! Look this way, please!”

If Eleanor and Margaret had become the saints of London, what of Walter Raleigh, who had brought them and led the disinfection of London alongside them? He already enjoyed a popularity comparable to that of a London saint. The great man who had ended the Black Death, received the title of Baron Roanoke, and received countless other rewards.

Wherever Raleigh went, the citizens’ cheers never ceased, as if a king were passing by, and they continued until the carriage carrying Raleigh headed for Whitehall Palace.

After getting out of the carriage, Raleigh took two people with him and went straight to the audience chamber. Soon, the Queen, her retainers, and the court nobles who were waiting for him greeted him.

“Your Majesty, I have once again brought rare treasures from the New World.”

And just as he had on his voyage before last, countless boxes were rolled into the audience chamber. Elizabeth’s eyes were colored with greed, then… her gaze shifted to the two men Raleigh had brought with him.

“So. You are John White?”

“I-I am in Your Majesty’s presence.”

“Look forward to it. I shall give a handsome reward to the meritorious subject who has expanded my territory…”

As the Queen’s smile swept past White, he bowed deeply out of nervousness. And the Queen’s gaze immediately… moved to the other man.

“…Who is that man?”

“He is an envoy sent by the ‘Emperor of the Natives’.”

At that moment, everyone in the court fell silent. The man who had rendered distinguished service in suppressing the London plague by gifting them exquisitely made ‘syringes.’ The master of precisely cut jewels, vast territories, all sorts of sweet fruits, and overflowing wealth. The great Christian who had sought out the word of the Lord himself and been baptized. The powerful ally from across the Atlantic.

“He is called Oitohtan, and he is… his vassal.”

The American, hearing his name, turned his head for a moment and gave a nod. Then he shifted his gaze again and looked around the palace. With a bored expression.

At that attitude, Elizabeth raised an eyebrow, and the nobles began to whisper.

“…His reaction is completely different from that man Manteo who came here a few years ago.”

“Does he mean to say that because he serves a great emperor, the court of England is nothing special?”

In their minds, imaginations of the great native emperor’s court once again grew wild. Raleigh let their imaginations develop on their own and opened his mouth.

“Your Majesty, if it isn’t too much to ask… I would like to petition for permission to bring one commodity into the Virginia colony.”

“A commodity?”

“Yes. We need cannons.”

“…Cannons?”

“Indeed. We need cannons to fight off the attacks of the Spaniards.”

English-made cast-iron cannons were of slightly lower quality than the bronze cannons of the continent, but they were several times cheaper, making them an important strategic resource for England. Their export was also prohibited.

“Hmph.”

“Your Majesty, Virginia will become an important base from which to strike the Spanish colonies in America. And now, religiously as well…”

As she hesitated, the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal, Sir William Cecil, whispered to her. Other royal councilors came to the Queen’s side and whispered, and the Queen’s expression grew clearer and clearer. It was obvious that the opinions of her councilors had, for the first time in a long time, aligned.

The Queen waved her hand to dismiss her councilors. Then she looked at Sir Raleigh with a satisfied smile.

“…Yes. You are right. I will issue a charter permitting the export of cannons to Virginia, so you shall arm the colony. We must protect the ‘Land of the Angel,’ must we not?”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“Then, it is time we heard what the ‘Emperor’s’ envoy has to say.”

“…”

At the Queen’s words, Raleigh naturally stepped back to allow Oitohtan to come forward. And Oitohtan, after looking around the palace for a moment… Srrk. He took something out from his coat. As Oitohtan approached the Queen, a page stepped forward and received it in his stead.

The Queen… received the object from the page and flinched.

—‘To Elizabeth, Queen of England, a gift from the Emperor of America. May our friendship be eternal.’

Letters engraved on a cylinder made of aluminum. When she pulled the ring on top, a lid made of aluminum opened smoothly, revealing the contents within. It was a precious pineapple.

“He heard that pineapples are rare in Europe, so he has presented this item. He says it is a pineapple sealed in aluminum.”

Queen Elizabeth’s eyes widened, and she looked back and forth between Oitohtan and Sir Raleigh. Then she looked at the thin, sharp lid she had just removed and said, “…What should I do with this lid? Should it be melted down and made into another accessory?”

As Raleigh was about to answer, Oitohtan spoke first.

“Discard it.”

It was clumsy English, but that one phrase silenced the room.

“…What did you say?”

“To us, precious. To him, no. He, discards.”

“…”

“He, also discards, soiled clothes. It is fine. They are made new. Is it like that here?”

“No, we follow frugality in the name of the Lord…”

“The chiefs of England… are poor.”

Oitohtan remembered Nemo. He used everything and immediately discarded it. Yet his wealth never diminished. But the people here were adorned with all sorts of splendid jewels and moved carefully, anxiously. Nemo was different. He never handled any object with care. Because there was no need to. The only things he handled carefully were things to eat and drink, like that pineapple.

So, out of pure curiosity, Oitohtan asked, “Raleigh, are such small jewels… precious to you?”

“…”

The rumors of the wealthy emperor of the New World grew and grew that day.

And.

“A person… digs the ground? The beast made of iron, is it not here? The one that… tore the Spaniards to death…”

The courage of the few adventurers who had harbored dreams of plundering that wealthy emperor was thus broken.