How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony-Chapter 51: The Return (1)

This is the fifth new year since I came here.

"Angel! When is Mom coming? I miss Mom, so please tell her to come back!"

"Virginia! You can't do that to Mr. Nemo!"

"Hahaha, she'll be here soon."

Virginia Dare, who was toddling when I first saw her, is now 5 years old, or 7 by Japanese age counting.

"Your mother went to do a very noble task. She'll come back with lots of gifts for our Virginia!"

"Wowww! Will I have many new friends too?"

"Of course! 10! 20! No, more than 30 will come!"

"Wowwwww!"

"...Mr. Nemo, is it okay to say that much to a child?"

"Don't worry, Vicente. This time, that many children really will come."

If Raleigh is as politically capable as I've seen, and if the streptomycin worked well, then Raleigh, Eleanor, and Margaret would have become heroes of London.

Especially if Raleigh became not simply the Queen's favorite but a powerful politician with popular support and a solid power base?

Then how many resources could he bring?

"First, since the settlers who arrived earlier said they'd bring their families, we'll easily exceed 500 people. There will be many family unit settlers."

Yes. Raleigh will filter out those who come alone just to make a quick fortune in the colony. Probably many will come with the intention of settling here permanently.

"Besides, isn't London always suffering from overpopulation? If the plague situation was handled well, Lord Raleigh could bring considerable resources."

I'm really... expecting a lot, Walter Raleigh.

How many will come? 700? Or 800?

Maybe... over 1,000 might come.

Then this community's population would approach 9,000, but how would I utilize all those people?

Building clipper ships, trading, growing wheat, potatoes, and grapes... No. I'm not even hoping for 1,000.

With just 800, there's so much we could do. First, shipbuilding would become much easier, and if there are just a few more blacksmiths among them, I could realize dreams I couldn't implement before.

Yes.

Just bring 800 people.

"Oh my! What is our granddaughter doing, holding onto Mr. Nemo's pants!"

"Grandpa! When is Mom coming!"

"Eleanor will be here soon, so don't worry! Hahaha!"

With all these expectations, we successfully finished the New Year's Day party, followed by several days of Christmas holidays.

After that, about... a week passed?

"A ship, a ship is visible! Mr. Nemo! I can see a ship!"

"Where is it, Manteo!"

"Over there, east-southeast!"

Taking the telescope from Manteo and looking in that direction...

...Oh!

A ship is slowly coming over the horizon. The red cross flag at the very top confirms that it's an English vessel.

Behind it, one by one, more ships reveal their masts.

Like that, all 5 ships that had left this place are returning...

"..."

"..."

"..."

One more.

Another one.

Yet another one.

...

...

...Huh?

"It's Mom! Mom is waving her hand over there! Mom really came!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

While Virginia jumps around excitedly, we were frozen and couldn't do anything. Others who came to see the ships at Manteo's call also stopped with their mouths open as the number of ships exceeded expectations.

Like that, 22 ships reached Chesapeake Bay.

"Mr. Nemo! We've returned! Volunteers gathered by the thousands, so we had to sort through them and..."

"..."

"...Mr. Nemo?"

I cautiously asked Walter Raleigh, who had excitedly jumped down to the pier.

"...How many people in total?"

"How many? Excluding all the sailors and laborers who will return to England?"

"Yes."

"About... 2,000?"

Wow.

Double the maximum I had expected.

"Among them, blacksmiths and shipwrights combined make up one-tenth. They're veterans who built England's finest ship, the Ark Royal!!"

"Whoa..."

One-tenth of them are the skilled technicians we'd been desperately searching for.

"Of course, we brought 100 more dairy cows!"

100 more dairy cows needed for smallpox vaccination of the natives.

I felt like... the protagonist of an American self-help book who helped an old lady on the street, only to find out she was a third-generation chaebol and inherited a massive fortune.

I was dumbfounded.

"I, I think we need an explanation."

"It's, it's the land of the Holy Women!"

"Good heavens, it's the angel's continent!"

"...Right now."

I asked Walter Raleigh, and Eleanor Dare and Margaret Lawrence who disembarked after him.

What exactly happened here?

==

"So... it started as nothing special.

Her Majesty the Queen took me and Margaret back to Whitehall Palace in London. Under the pretext that there were people staying in London to care for the poor, and she couldn't be the only one escaping from London.

In fact, early winter had come and the plague was almost contained, so she returned to the palace. Anyway.

At Whitehall Palace, she praised us as England's true holy women, gathered all sorts of nobles and clergy, and in front of them made us tell the story of meeting the angel..."

"...Did you talk about me?"

"Ah, no. Well, it was about you, Mr. Nemo... but appropriately distorted for propaganda..."

"Ah, I understand roughly. And then?"

"After that, we had no time to treat anyone. Wherever we went, crowds gathered to grab our hands and clothes, or ask for prayers..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Anyway, so statues were carved in some square, I preached with the Archbishop of Canterbury at Westminster Abbey, and experienced all sorts of strange things..."

"Then when you were about to leave, volunteers from everywhere gathered, saying they would follow the holy women?"

"That's right! Exactly!"

"Um... I see."

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

"..."

"...Holy woman?"

"Ah, that... please don't."

"Alright. Eleanor? Miss Lawrence? Is that all there is to the story?"

"Ah, no. That's not all..."

Eleanor and Margaret peek at each other, then turn to Raleigh. Suddenly, Raleigh stands up and bows his head to me.

"Mr. Nemo, thank you. It's all thanks to you."

"What do you mean, Lord Raleigh?"

"I am no longer a 'Lord'."

"Then..."

Raleigh lifts one corner of his mouth and says.

"...Please call me Baron of Roanoke."

"Oh..."

"And, John White. You must come with me to London on the next voyage."

"What? What for?"

"It's time for you to have something attached to your name too.

Isn't that right, Sir John White?"

"..."

White's face freezes the moment he hears this.

I briefly consider his life's hardships.

Come to think of it, this year is 1593.

This is the year he should have died lonely, having lost his daughter and granddaughter.

"...Si, Sir? Me, a knight... really?"

Born to a humble commoner family, even when Lord Raleigh appointed him as governor, his family background had to be fabricated as that of a fine gentleman class.

But now no fabrication is necessary.

"I... nobility..."

Because the 'White family' is no longer just a fake shell.

White stared at us speechlessly for a moment... then looked out the distant window.

Tears of joy fell from his eyes.

...Anyway.

Um... so... let me summarize.

1).Eleanor Dare and Margaret Lawrence have become 'holy women.'

2).Walter Raleigh 'Lord' is now Walter Raleigh 'Baron,' and his loyal follower John White will also become nobility.

That's... roughly the summary.

Now let's look at the facts that branch out from there.

1).Many people have requested to immigrate here, following Eleanor Dare and Margaret Lawrence.

2).Walter Raleigh 'Baron' has now become the Queen's complete right-hand man and has come here with massive support. He brought shipwrights to build clippers, along with blacksmiths, carpenters, and all sorts of experts.

...The population exceeded 10,000 overnight.

Among them, more than 2,000 have never seen my 'immortality' with their own eyes.

Meanwhile, the number of craftsmen has increased several times.

Walter Raleigh has already started designing ships just by looking at the clipper drawing I gave him, gauging the internal structure and overall layout. The shipwrights have begun processing the abundant timber of the New World according to his orders.

"..."

Am I happy?

Of course I'm happy. My forces have become several times stronger in an instant.

Moreover, most of the new immigrants were treated for the plague in London. They've already witnessed miracles, so if I scatter them among the other 8,000 people, they can naturally be converted into 'Nemo faction' believers.

But.

'...What's next?'