Chapter 79

“…” 

“…”

A serious atmosphere. 

On one wall hung a massive map of North America. It was a map showing the territories of the native peoples scattered across the continent, from the Pennacook and Mi’kmaq in the east to the Navajo and Shoshone in the west. And in front of it, colored pencils were laid out.

“…Mr. Hewitt, please give me the tablet Vicente left.” 

“Here it is!”

And so, on one side of the desk, I powered on the tablet, and on the other, I opened the catalog. When I opened the catalog, a list was written there. It was a list of the Native American tribes. Fortunately, it listed not only their modern names but also the names they called themselves. I was able to easily compare and contrast them with the tribal names on the tablet.

“Eleanor, please place pins on the locations I am about to name.” 

“Ah, understood!” 

“Mi’kmaq.” 

“Mi’kmaq… here it is!” 

“Pocomoke, Manokin, Wicomico, Lenape, Mohican.” 

“W-w-wait just a moment.” 

“Odawa, Mississauga, Petun, Wendat, Mohawk.” 

“P-please, just a little more slowly!”

No can do. At this point, there are at least several dozen tribes under our command. If I slow down, this will take all day. In any case, as Eleanor moved to place pins here and there on the map according to my dictation, slowly… an outline began to emerge. The outline of the territories that had newly come into our sphere of influence.

“Uh, uhh? Sir Nemo? Is this… right?” 

“…It is, Eleanor.”

Among the native peoples of this region, there are not many tribes with enough productivity to sustain a settled life. Most of them live by combining slash-and-burn farming with hunting and gathering, which inevitably leads to a nomadic lifestyle. As a result, their concept of ‘owning land’ is weak. Even so… well, if it’s the land where the tribes under our influence live, I suppose we can consider it our territory.

The area marked out was roughly… the coastal regions of eleven of the original thirteen American colonies, excluding Georgia and South Carolina: North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Add to that the coasts of the Labrador Peninsula, the island of Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and the shores of the Great Lakes.

“…” 

“…”

That was our territory. Of course, it’s not like we actually rule over these regions. A little way inland from the coast, our influence probably doesn’t even properly reach. At most, the natives in that area have simply adopted the stance of, ‘Yeah, yeah. Nemo’s our Great Chief. So hand over the damn steel axes and cute cats.’

“G-good heavens…”

Even taking that into account, it was so unbelievably vast that Eleanor couldn’t close her mouth. That entire area had been won over by our multi-level marketing scheme.

…Although I call it an MLM, in the end, it’s not like we’re unilaterally selling things to the natives, so it’s just an intermediary trade network. There’s just a little bonus for friend referrals, like in Anipang, which was a massive hit in the early 2010s. And so, we are taking the products from the eastern coast of North America and the Great Lakes and selling them to England. England, in turn, provides us with various goods, including glass beads and various cast-iron items, to meet the demand of Virginia and the natives within its sphere of influence.

Several ships are constantly plying the waters of eastern America even now, carrying various goods from a land many times larger than England. And even now, the natives are probably expanding that territory, carrying out aggressive sales promotions to surrounding tribes with the words, ‘This thing is called network marketing…’

“Uh… well, I can see why Vicente and Raleigh are so busy.”

With the two of them in a position of responsibility for the large-scale sea route connecting the natives of eastern North America to Virginia and then to England, they had no choice but to be insanely busy. …I’ll have to treat them well when they get back.

***

“Three hundred glass beads to be sent to the northeast, fifty steel axes, one hundred and twenty cats, two hundred daggers, blankets…” 

“Excuse me, are you all right?” 

“I’m fine. Four hundred and fifty glass beads to be sent to the Great Lakes region, one hundred and fifty steel axes, two hundred cats…” 

“My lord Baron? Are you really all right?” 

“I-I said I’m fine, Thomas!” Raleigh shouted once at Harriot before moving his fingers again. The numbers in the Excel file before him were fluctuating wildly.

“Ah… uh… where was I, Vicente?” 

“You were counting the number of cats to be sent to the Great Lakes region.” 

“Ah, thank you. Tsk tsk tsk, I almost lost count because you were talking to me, Thomas…”

Screeeape.

“…What are you doing?”

In response to Raleigh’s question, Harriot wordlessly dragged a mirror in front of him, then grabbed Raleigh’s head and forced him to look at it. In the mirror, the romantic and charming man, energetic enough to oversee the pioneering of the New World, passionate enough to participate in numerous battles himself, and captivating enough to win the Queen’s heart… was nowhere to be seen.

“Uh… who is this?” 

“It’s you!” 

“…This was a mirror, not a portrait?”

Putting aside the fact that the vibrant young man in his twenties who had once stood by the Queen’s side had now turned forty-seven. The dark circles under his eyes and the way his fingertips trembled with fatigue made him look for all the world like a sick man. The whites of his eyes were bloodshot, and his beard and hair were so unkempt he looked like a lion.

“…I-I went before Her Majesty the Queen looking like this?” As Raleigh pressed his temples against a sudden headache, Harriot let out a hollow laugh. “Why are you so shocked? Have you not looked in a mirror for days?”

“Well… what’s the point of preening on a ship? It’s all swarthy men anyway.” 

“That’s right! Besides, are we not carrying out a holy mission?” 

“Th-that’s right! Vicente is right, Thomas! We are doing our utmost to resolve the resource shortage in the New World and expand His territory, as commanded by Sir Nemo!” 

“Mr. Harriot, don’t be too hard on the Baron! When one is doing great work, one must sometimes forsake one’s own well-being. He must have some grand plan He has devised…”

Screeeape.

“Oh, what is this a painting of? A sick man?” 

“That is also you, Vicente.” 

“…” 

“Does anyone remember the last time they slept?” 

“…Was it two days ago?” 

“It was three days ago.” 

“Oh.” 

“If you don’t want ‘Oh.’ carved on your tombstone, go to sleep right now. Vicente, you too.” 

“…” 

“…”

He wanted to argue, but the sight in the mirror was so pathetic that Raleigh was at a loss for words. He glanced to his side and saw Vicente continuing to argue with Harriot before being utterly refuted and returning to his own cabin. And then, Harriot glared at Raleigh. Raleigh had just completed two voyages back-to-back, and during the voyages, he had exhausted himself sorting through the gifts received from the natives and the trade goods obtained from England.

“Ah, I did feel a little dizzy.”

And he was half-dead.

“‘I did feel a little dizzy?’ Is that all you have to say?” 

“Well… did Sir Nemo not entrust me with a grave responsibility? There must be some reason for it, so if I were to approach it lazily…” 

“Or maybe it’s just that the Baron happened to be near Him, so He just happened to entrust the trade-related work to the Baron.”

Plop.

“You, what is this… kuh… khk… kuurrr…”

The moment Harriot draped a blanket over Raleigh’s shoulders, he collapsed into sleep. Now, in the room, there was one tablet, one notebook, and one person who was still awake. With a sigh, Harriot pushed Raleigh’s chair aside, sat down at the desk himself, and continued the work. After roughly organizing the ledgers, he had the sailors move Baron Raleigh to his bed, and only then did he get a moment of respite.

Harriot stretched his back, listening to the cracking sound, and went up to the deck. The sun was rising in the east, and when he looked in the opposite direction, land was slowly emerging over the horizon. They had arrived in Virginia.

***

Uh… hmm… Is that a corpse?

“Y-you are in a sorry state. Please, take care of your health first, Walter. Vicente, you as well.” 

“…My apologies.” 

“Not at all. The system is not yet properly established, so it’s inevitable that you would overexert yourselves in the beginning. If anything, I should be the one to apologize.” 

“That…” 

“For now, Walter, you and Vicente will rest here in Chesapeake and handle only administrative work. And you will sleep for more than eight hours.” 

“…” 

“…”

Watching the two of them shuffle out, I became even more certain. As I had just said, we needed to establish a system. …We should have developed it the French way.

“Everyone, what do you think about establishing trading posts in various locations?” Right. Let’s try it the French way.

At my words, everyone else nodded in agreement. It seemed they had all thought about the need for people to be permanently stationed to manage the trade. It would be perfect to dispatch ten to twenty people to each location and entrust them with the duties of managing resource distribution among the tribes, the MLM system, and logistics.

Just as it seemed the proposal would pass, Hewitt raised his hand. “Excuse me, I have something to say.” 

“Yes, Mr. Hewitt. Go ahead.” 

“Well… how do you plan to find volunteers?” 

“Hmm, if we offer them priority supply of luxury goods from England, there will be plenty of people who will come.” 

“That may be so, but the people who go there won’t be able to lead a proper life of faith. Do you think they will all be willing to go?” 

“…That’s a good point.”

Right, this is the 16th century. A time when religion plays a large part in life. Especially in our community, where religious authority is very strong, everyone—be they European, Native, or African—is fervent in their church life.

“Well then, Mr. Hewitt, please select some quiet and trustworthy people. Wouldn’t it be good to have one such person at each post?” 

“Quiet and trustworthy people, you say? Y-you mean for me to choose them?” 

“Yes. So that they do not instill hostility toward our faith in the surrounding natives.”

Right. If they’re not quiet, they might try to proselytize to the surrounding natives and end up cutting down and burning their sacred trees or something.

“Ah, it would also be good if they could handle a moderate amount of paperwork! They will have to take on trade and logistics-related duties, after all.” 

“Hmm… Understood. I will select about thirty people, some of the young men I have taught theology to.” 

“Excellent. And it would be good if you or someone else could also supervise them.” 

“…Supervise (Bishop)?” 

“Yes, supervise.”

You never know. A church in a remote place, a crazy clergyman… I’ve seen it often in horror movies. You need a supervisor.

As the trading post problem was being solved…

“W-with regard to the Baron’s condition, something came to mind…” 

“Mr. White? Do you have something to say?” 

“Lately, as the farmland in our settlement has expanded, the agricultural equipment operators seem to be struggling, having to go back and forth between various places. There are also problems with the tractors’ ranges of activity overlapping.” 

“Hmm.”

This time, a problem within our own settlement came up. A jurisdictional problem for the agricultural equipment operators…

“Then we will have to station the operators, tractors, and the technicians to repair and inspect them in various regions.” 

“That is correct.”

So that’s a matter of stationing tractors and operators in various places? Like the trading posts. But how should this be run? Like a farm equipment rental center? Or like a regional agricultural cooperative? Ugh…

“Really, like some kind of Nonghyup (A.C., Agricultural Cooperative)…?”

Flinch.

“Hm? What is it, Mr. White?” 

“Ah, it’s nothing. So, you mean to say we should establish headquarters for the order of agricultural equipment knights in various regions?” 

“Calling it a knightly order’s headquarters is a bit grand, but… yes? It would be good to equip it with a proper warehouse and various other equipment at the same time.” 

“Hmm… Understood. We will proceed with that.”

Alright, it seems the problems have been roughly solved. Now, all that was left was to offer some encouragement for everyone to do well on their own, and my work for the day was done. Today was a busy day… Should I grill myself a steak for the first time in a while?

“Hm? Is no one else leaving?” 

“We thought we should stay and organize the conclusions of the meeting a little before we leave. Many topics came up, did they not?” 

“Ah… I’m sorry to have given you homework.”

Even without me giving them one-by-one instructions, they’re trying to run this community on their own. For some reason… I feel a sense of pride. I trust they will all do well.

Click.

***

And so, after Nemo left.

“Did he just say… he’s dispatching clergy to various regions? Who know how to do paperwork?” 

“…That’s right? It didn’t seem like he was talking about simple missionaries. My understanding is correct, right?” 

“It must be, Lady Dare…” 

“…Good heavens, Lord, good heavens.” 

“…”

The meeting hall erupted. People began to speak up, one by one.

“Clergy in various regions, and he’s appointing a supervisor (Bishop) too? Isn’t that exactly like priests and bishops?” 

“I was wondering what to call them, but that fits perfectly. Priests and Bishops.” 

“…” 

“…” 

“…” 

“Father? What do you think?” 

“…’A.C.’ What does that mean? What is it an abbreviation for?” 

“Father?” 

“Ah, it’s nothing. I was just thinking about something else. I was pondering what He meant.” 

“Well, since it’s the headquarters for the order of agricultural knights, isn’t it an abbreviation for ‘Agricultural Citadel’?” 

“A Citadel… I suppose it must be.”

Bishop… Citadel… And so, they carefully organized and wrote down Nemo’s words. They seemed like very important words, so they even underlined them several times.