How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony-Chapter 256: Discipline (1)

Seville and Lisbon.

And Madrid and Valladolid too.

In every city where the Spanish King’s influence reached, strange rumors were circulating.

In the west.

Across the vast Atlantic, a monster lives.

He does not know death. He possesses an immortal body.

He is a devil. The Antichrist. This is the true identity of the Indian Emperor who was said to have allied with the Queen of England. Those so-called saints of London they boasted about are also products of this devil.

No.

He is actually a holy angel.

It was he who interfered with the slave trade of the once great empire in the name of saving slaves, joining forces with English pirates. He is the Indian Emperor, and he possesses a body that knows no death.

Like this, various rumors about one subject spread and mixed, becoming jumbled. Sometimes contradictory, sometimes conflicting stories became intertwined.

Many people took interest in these strange rumors. It wasn’t just ignorant people and those who enjoyed exaggerating stories.

"Tell me again, Commander."

"..."

"My interests are the King’s interests. We want to hear."

Gradually... from high places, the interest began to spread.

The Duke of Lerma carefully extended his intelligence network to find the port cities that were the sources of the rumors. And he identified those who had initially spread them.

The result was this meeting.

"Tell me again. What did you see there?"

At those words, Juan del Águila y Arellano gave a hollow laugh and shook his head. When the Duke of Lerma frowned at this attitude, he said:

"I’m about to be dismissed anyway, so why do you still call me Commander, Duke? All this talk about your will being the King’s will... just cheap threats."

"What..."

"I already know that you’re blaming the failure of the Florida expedition entirely on my incompetence."

"..."

"I... I, who has worked so hard for my country."

Juan del Águila spoke, grinding his teeth.

"In Malta, in Corsica, in Flanders, in Brittany, in Ireland! I have fought for my country in all those places! I have achieved numerous military accomplishments, and I have served my country!"

"I too am well aware of your dedication. The King and I..."

"Silence! I am not a fool!"

"Calm yourself."

"Calm? Fine! You asked me to speak again? I’ll tell you as much as you want."

He pointed at the Duke of Lerma’s face and said:

"There is a mysterious being there. Whether an angel, a devil, or something else, it may not be my concern."

"..."

"But remember this. If ’that being’ had not been there, I would have successfully suppressed the Florida rebellion. The recent failure is not due to my incompetence but because of that being, because of the fate that the Lord has created!"

Having said this, Juan del Águila strode out of the Duke of Lerma’s room. The Duke sighed deeply and sat down in a nearby armchair to rest.

...

...

...

He considered many thoughts.

’A being that resurrects from death.’

The truth of the rumor was easily cross-verified through the mouths of many people. So the conclusion was ultimately one of two possibilities.

Mass hallucination and madness, or...

’It’s real.’

Either way, the possibility was equally chilling.

Should he announce this immediately and use it for propaganda? That the true identity of the Indian Emperor, who had been so close with England, was actually a devil?

...Perhaps he should.

’No.’

If Felipe III had been interested in state affairs, he might have done so.

But the Duke of Lerma had no such intention.

He must not increase the Church’s influence. He could clearly see how various clerical families would become emboldened at court, what words they would whisper into the King’s ear.

He had no intention of allowing them to erode his power and threaten his position.

That wasn’t all.

At the very least, if they had achieved some results in battle, it might be different.

But they were utterly defeated.

By slaves who had just picked up guns and swords, veterans who had served throughout Europe were defeated.

Moreover, their forces had enjoyed numerical superiority several times over. What could he announce and use as propaganda in such a situation?

That a miracle occurred and the enemy achieved an overwhelming victory against their forces?

If mishandled, there could be a severe backlash. In an already precarious situation, if distrust in the government led by the Duke of Lerma increased, it would be over.

From the nation’s perspective, it was a double-edged sword.

And from the Duke of Lerma’s personal perspective, if it was poison...

’It must be buried.’

Having made this judgment, the Duke of Lerma slowly reported to the King.

"Your Majesty, the reason for our failure to suppress the rebellion in Florida is clear."

"I-is that so?"

"Yes. Virginia supported the slaves. They preemptively attacked us who were managing the colony, so we are already at war."

He changed the perspective.

The recent battle was not simply about suppressing a slave rebellion but part of a full-scale war with Virginia. Defeat was a possibility that could be sufficiently considered.

Therefore, the rumors circulating now are not important.

The war would continue.

For now, they had only lost one battle.

==

The war with Spain itself was still not over.

From Spain’s perspective, the battle in Florida would have been seen as an extension of the war with England and Virginia.

After all, wasn’t the reason for establishing Florida to check us, and weren’t we the ones who supported the Florida people?

So even though we immediately repelled Spain from Florida, the war with Spain won’t end in the future.

It’s just that the Viceroyalty of New Spain, having exhausted its military capabilities, and Spain proper, having been badly burned in the New World, won’t directly target this place for the time being.

However, the immediate practical fighting was over.

It was our community’s first victory in battle. Against Europe’s strongest country, no less.

I feel boundless emotion.

Anyway, there’s no longer a need for materials to arm thousands with guns and various equipment, and to feed, shelter, and clothe thousands. It’s time to send them back...

"You’ve decided to... continue sending them? Is that the will of the Six Council?"

"Yes, Nameless One. The Apostles have decided so. It seems they’re offloading excess supplies to Liberia in Africa as well."

"I-I see."

...Hmm.

Yes. That’s possible.

After all, we did have an overflow of military supplies. We can push out the remaining inventory. It will take time to offload such supplies for the time being.

But.

"Here are the documents sent from the Council of Six. Please take a look."

"That’s... quite a lot of paper?"

"Ah, yes. There’s been more lately. A factory was set up recently."

It’s one-sided paper.

I frowned like a small business owner furious about not reusing paper, then relaxed my face.

Until recently, paper and everything else was all imported, so the absolute quantity was insufficient. So we usually used the back of used paper?

I responded with something like "Still, we should use the back of the paper for most things... tsk, tsk." No matter how common paper becomes, it’s by 17th century standards. We should know how precious resources are...

Wait. freeweɓnovel-cøm

Why am I acting this way?

Why am I behaving like a middle-aged man in his 40s? I’m in my vibrant 20s...

...No, I’m not.

I’m in my late 40s.

In this moment of realization, I trembled.

No, no, that can’t be right, I’m in my 20s, my body is in its 20s...

Am I soon going to start craving StarCraft and socola candy? Of course, with my body like this, I won’t be able to eat greasy food later, and I won’t get middle-aged fat, but...

Is this why I’ve been finding it annoying to meet people lately?

Is this why I sometimes chuckle to myself at terrible dad jokes that suddenly come to mind while walking, then check if people are looking?

And why I reminisce about being in Japan, thinking, "Tsk, there aren’t any decent games or movies these days..." (it’s true).

Am I also aging...!

"Um..."

"Yes?"

"...How old do I look to you?"

Updat𝓮d from freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.co(m)