Chapter 73

Early November, 1598. 

Autumn was breathing its last. As the weather grew colder, conditions in the fishing grounds worsened and the sea became more dangerous. The fishermen, finishing their voyages for the year, rested at home. They likely wouldn’t be heading out to sea again until around February of next year. Instead, a ship laden with Shine Muscat and various other grapes departed for England. The cold, late-autumn sea, while a perfect environment for a man to freeze to death, was also the perfect environment for preserving the freshness of fruit.

At the same time, the planting season for crops that would grow through the winter was also coming to an end. The medieval three-field system¹ was still in place, so in some areas, the sowing of wheat and rye was finishing, while in others, the harvest of barley and lentils had just been completed. A full third of the land lay fallow.

…If my fertilizer supply were truly ‘infinite,’ I could have eliminated the need for fallow land, but even if I scaled back my grape farming to spread fertilizer everywhere, the amount was woefully insufficient. I was beginning to feel the limits of what could be achieved with my resource cheat. It’s like this with a population of just fifty thousand; what will happen when it grows to five hundred thousand, or five million?

Well, one could say that’s a distant future, but it only took about ten years for our community of thirty-odd people to grow this large. In the future… hmm… In any case. With a moderately idle season upon me, my mind was filled with stray thoughts.

Of course, when I say ‘idle,’ I’m talking relative to the period before September and October, when I had to worry about the various grape farms, reclaiming uncultivated land, and all sorts of other problems. I’m still busy. I’m testing new plows and rotavators to attach to the tractor.

—”Ha, hah hah! Sir Nemo! Look! I have once again rescued Moor slaves from the tyranny and misrule of Spain!” 

—”…You’ve done well, Sir Drake.”

Drake, who had been on edge about the sea lanes near Florida being blocked, had apparently decided to just throw caution to the wind and was now recklessly engaging the Spanish fleet. In response, I had to prepare homes for the newly liberated slaves. As a result of all this, the food situation was gradually improving. The production cycle for the tractors was also getting shorter and shorter. The food problem was, for the most part, solved.

However, the food problem was only one part of our troubles. It was one link in a chain of problems that had arisen since we began accepting the large-scale refugee populations. No, let’s look at the bigger picture. What was the reason for those large-scale refugee populations? Why were we accepting liberated slaves? The fundamental cause that had forced us to support this growing population and try to stabilize the suddenly anxious atmosphere of the community…

‘It’s Spain.’

I’d read it in the catalog several times, but for Spain, England was just one of many enemies. They were fighting countless foes in France, in the Netherlands, in the Mediterranean, in Italy. The disturbance in their colonies was just one front among many. It’s only later that Britain conquers the world, and its successor, the United States, comes to dominate it, leading them to embellish this period of history with all their might… but the essence doesn’t change. Spain is the world’s strongest power, and England is still on the periphery.

England shattered the Spanish Armada at the Battle of Calais? Broke Spain’s Atlantic hegemony? That’s just the Brits distorting history. The Spanish Empire was capable of rebuilding a similar-sized force several times over within just a few years.

We are enemies of such an empire. To be precise, we are enemies of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, which is like the empire’s right leg. And of the Florida colony, which is part of that viceroyalty. We were in danger of being crushed by the Spanish Empire merely putting a little bit of force into its little toe, Florida.

Therefore, we first have to get our own house in order. Before we can begin to project our power toward Florida in earnest, we must fortify our community so that it does not collapse first.

“Mr. Hewitt?” 

“Yes, you called?” 

“Let’s begin implementing a census and control nighttime passage. We must prepare for any potential internal instability.” 

“I will pass the word to the council. In any case, not many people are active at night, so there shouldn’t be any complaints.” 

“Good. Manteo?” 

“Speak.” 

“The conflicts between the tribes may not yet be suppressed. Gather any and all rumors, and please prepare a list of persons of interest, especially those who harbor dissatisfaction with the community.” 

“It seems a difficult task to finish in a few days… but it can be done.”

Yes. More than anything, the most worrying issue was an internal one. The fact that many of our community members were entangled in a web of resentment and obligation meant that if we did not control it properly, problems could arise. We would loosely manage unexpected possibilities and eliminate any potential risk factors. In addition to that…

“Manteo? There is one more thing.” 

“What is it?” 

“Please thoroughly monitor the liberated Africans. There could be spies mixed among them.” 

“Of course.” 

“Walter?” 

“Sir Nemo.” 

“For the time being, let’s further reduce the amount of information about our settlement that is exposed when traveling to and from England.” 

“Understood. What do you think about planting some appropriate false information?” 

“…That’s a good idea.”

We would not be negligent in our external surveillance either. We would eliminate even the slightest possibility that the Spaniards could figure us out and infiltrate our ranks. And finally.

“Eleanor?” 

“Yes! I’m here!” 

“In preparation for a possible Spanish invasion, please compile a list of all personnel capable of fighting, and a full inventory of all the weaponry we possess.” 

“Y-yes, understood!” 

“Vicente?” 

“You called?” 

“Inspect the condition of the coastal batteries and strengthen the coastal watch and surveillance. Now that they’ve reinforced Florida to that extent, we don’t know what they’ll try.” 

“I will follow your orders!”

We readied our lines, enough to fight back against an enemy invasion. We didn’t know if an enemy would actually bother to invade a settlement of tens of thousands, but we had never once experienced a true invasion. (Except for Vicente.) The rusting spears and swords were sharpened once more. Lexan shields were distributed to every household living near the coast. We checked the state of our gunpowder. We continued rifle training with the muskets.

We blocked all variables. We prepared for all possibilities. If they tried to stab us insidiously from behind, we would block them from behind. If they charged us boldly from the front, we would meet them head-on. We would watch our flanks before they could even attempt a flanking maneuver. Whatever that great and mighty Spanish Empire threw at us, we had a countermeasure.

We would never be broken. We would repel any of their attacks. We would, without fail, survive…

“S-Sir Nemo! Good heavens!” 

“Walter? Why have you returned so early? You haven’t been in London for even a week…” 

“The King of Spain is dead!” 

“…Pardon?”

Uh… Oh… I rushed back home and opened the catalog.

—‘Philip II (1527-1598): Known as the ‘Paper King,’ he was the monarch who brought about the zenith of the Spanish Empire, making distinguished contributions to Spain’s rise as a modern nation-state…’

“…”

Philip II was dead. And, as if by a lie, the news from the Spanish Empire abruptly ceased. I turned to the next page of the catalog.

—‘Philip III (1578-1621)’

Description.

—‘Known as the worst and most foolish king in the history of the Spanish Empire, during his reign the empire…’

“…”

And, astonishingly, the Spanish Empire fell silent.

***

“M-my father… handled this entire volume of work all by himself?” 

“Yes. The late king would always weigh the documents like this to measure his workload for the day…” 

Thump. 

“…he would.” 

“…”

Philip II’s most brilliant achievement was transforming Spain into a centralized, bureaucratic empire. Spain was a country made up of a personal union of various regions. Due to this characteristic, various local powers coiled like snakes in each region, threatening the royal authority. It was a situation where no one could be trusted. That is why Philip II trusted no one. He maintained the mighty empire and the royal authority by solitarily taking on an immense workload with his own body. If he didn’t weigh the amount of documents he had to process for the day, he would work endlessly. It was a royal authority built while working his body to the bone, enduring gout and diabetes.

“D-Duke of Denia?” 

“Yes, Your Majesty.” 

“You… uh… take care of this with me.” 

“Of course.”

And in just a few minutes, that royal authority began to sway.

“Were there no separate orders from His new Majesty?” 

“No. Nothing in particular. Wouldn’t it be alright for us to proceed on our own?” 

“No way. Under the late king, if you acted without approval, you were punished immediately.” 

“Let’s wait for now. Surely… uh… His new Majesty must have some deep and far-sighted plan.”

In fact, he didn’t really have one. The Duke of Denia, who had just become the king’s powerful favorite, was merely whispering plans of moving the capital into the king’s ear for the sake of his own land speculation. And so, a brief administrative vacuum fell upon the headless Spanish Empire. The colonial government of New Spain also did nothing for the time being. All offensive plans against Florida were canceled, and only operations that focused on defense with existing resources were approved.

And just like that… peace arrived.

***

“Surely… there is no way Spain would stop this easily. They must be plotting some grand conspiracy behind the scenes!”

No. It’s just that the new King of Spain is kind of… an idiot. If countless Spanish historians have been trying for centuries, all the way up to the 21st, and still haven’t found much room for a re-evaluation, he must have been a foolish king. …Since I couldn’t say that.

“…The reign of this Philip III will be like a long swamp. During his reign, the vast empire will briefly lose its vitality, and countless people will fall into chaos.”

“Aah… Aaaah!”

“Sir Nemo is prophesying again! H-Hewitt! Write it down!”

“I’m writing!”

I substituted with that. Being able to skip the persuasion process is very convenient. In any case. The external threat that had been breathing down our necks was now gone. Suddenly, it was peaceful. The secret society in Florida had already grown vigorously, to the point where they were leaking internal information. The various measures we had implemented in preparation for a Spanish invasion were now left hanging.

With no urgent external matters for now. “Let’s work on internal stability first.”

Yes. Sounds good. Internal stability. Most of our community is made up of refugees. People who have suffered from starvation, displacement, plunder, and war. They are people whose minds and bodies have been worn down. And they even harbor hatred for one another. There are no visible armed conflicts or full-blown disputes. But tension remains here and there, so it would be good to resolve it during this opportunity. Hmm… uhmm… For now, we have a rough plan to fill their hungry bellies. There’s not much more we can provide on the economic front.

“Speaking of internal stability, something comes to mind.” 

“Ah, Walter? Go ahead.” 

“For one, there’s nothing for the residents to enjoy or spend their time on. It’s always the case, but if a ruler cannot provide enjoyment to the residents, they are bound to become dissatisfied.”

Oh. Leisure activities. Now that he mentions it, the reason medieval peasants were so pious and fanatical was because there was no other entertainment besides the church and faith. If you don’t release social energy somewhere, it’s bound to leak out in strange places. Maybe the conflict between the natives is intensifying for that very reason?

“And… when it comes to enjoyment, it has to be ‘that,’ doesn’t it?” 

“‘That’?” 

“Yes. There’s a slight risk of injury, but there’s nothing like moving your body and chasing fun like in football.”

“Football!” A healthy activity for the community members, and a pretty decent leisure activity, right?

“That’s an excellent idea. Let’s introduce it immediately. First, let’s build a stadium for football…” 

“No need for that! Hahaha, let’s just set some simple rules. First, you can’t throw the ball with your hands…” 

“Good.” 

“…And, you can’t bring weapons. These two should be enough for now! I’ll have to ask Lady Dare to send some healers!” 

“…Pardon?” 

“Pardon?”

I had a brief, in-depth conversation with Raleigh about the definition of football. 

“No… what’s the fun in football if you prohibit fighting? Wouldn’t the spectators get bored?”

“…”

“If you think about it, the advantages of football are clear. We don’t know when we’ll have to fight the Spaniards, so it will instill an appropriate level of aggressiveness and fighting spirit in the residents…”

Rejected. This, this isn’t football. Football is… forbidden in this land.

Leaving behind Raleigh, who was muttering with a disappointed look, I went to seek advice from someone else.

“How about a sermon with the word of the Lord every morning…” 

Rejected. The kids who go to church always dozed off during the pastor’s sermon time when I was young.

“Let’s hold a festival!” 

Oh, is that a good idea?

“And when the festival is in full swing, we’ll have people chew on this mushroom, and when they get excited…” 

“…Manteo? What is the name of this mushroom?” 

“Hahaha, it’s nothing special. It’s what you might call a hallucinogenic mushroom…” 

Rejected. Call the shamans to chew on narcotic mushrooms and dance and sing as a group…? Do you want all the Christians from Europe to foam at the mouth and collapse?

“Baron Raleigh recommended football, you say? Why did you refuse?” 

“The only rules were… no throwing and no weapons.” 

“Aha, I see the problem.” 

“As expected, Mr. Hewitt, you understand…” 

“It wouldn’t be much fun if you prohibit weapons…” 

Rejected, again. You lunatics, I’m telling you, that’s not football.

****

Hoooooo. 

Can’t we just go for something a little modest and quiet? When it comes to entertainment, don’t you have things like soccer, basketball, baseball, sudoku, crossword puzzles, escape rooms?

As I was thinking this, Eleanor shot her hand up. “I! I have an opinion!”

“…Eleanor? Please, go ahead.” 

“Well, how about we have the residents decorate their homes?” 

Oh. 

“Their homes?” 

“Yes. If you think about it, the natives have lived modestly with just a few pots, a few tools, and a hut, but they can’t live like that anymore…?” 

“That’s true.” 

“Until now, everyone has been living in huts or temporary tents and getting by, but I’ve noticed they’re all secretly envious of the proper houses the first settlers have. So…”

Grab.

I took Eleanor’s hand. “Understood. Thank you, Eleanor.” After hearing all those strange opinions, my mind suddenly cleared.

“Uh… yes? No, it was nothing special…”

No. It was very special. So special that I wondered why I hadn’t thought of it sooner.