How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony-Chapter 52: The Return (2)

I also have many concerns.

What should I do next?

Those people have received grace from the 'holy women' I sent, and they followed in their footsteps all the way here. Therefore, it won't be too difficult for me to recruit them.

But having accepted thousands of English people, this place is now inevitably connected to England forever. In the future, the population here will grow from 10,000 to 20,000, to 100,000.

How should I recruit them?

Can a society with a population in the tens of thousands continue to operate in the previous makeshift manner?

And one more worry.

'...Spain.'

England and Spain are still at war. It's no exaggeration to say that the entire Atlantic is their battlefield.

And new English sailing ships are being built here? Thousands of English people living here?

For Spain, this has become a place worth mobilizing a large army to crush.

How will I fend off their possible invasion?

Thus, two problems arise in my mind. They say too big a gift can simultaneously become a big problem.

After pondering these concerns for a long time in my head...

"Lord Raleigh? No, Baron of Roanoke?"

"Just call me Walter."

"...Walter, there's one thing I'd like to ask."

"Ask anything."

"I wonder if it's possible to import something from England..."

I've slowly reached a conclusion.

"What is it?"

Walter asked, and I answered.

"Cannons."

This colony needs power.

==

"Look! It's Sir Walter Raleigh!"

As a ship with the emblem of an angel holding a saw appeared on the Thames, many people began to gather. Spectators wave handkerchiefs at the ship and shout cheers.

"Long live Raleigh! Long live England!"

"Baron of Roanoke! Please look this way!"

If Eleanor and Margaret became 'holy women' of London, then Walter Raleigh, who brought them and led London's quarantine efforts alongside them?

He was already enjoying popularity equivalent to a saint of London.

As the first contributor to ending the plague, he received the title of Baron of Roanoke and massive rewards, a truly great man.

Wherever Raleigh went, citizens' cheers were unceasing, as if a king was passing by, and this continued until the carriage carrying Raleigh headed to Whitehall Palace.

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

"Your Majesty, this time too, I have brought precious treasures from the New World."

And just as he had done in the voyage before last, numerous boxes streamed into the audience chamber. Elizabeth's eyes were tinted with greed... then shifted her gaze to the two men Raleigh brought.

"So. You are John White?"

"I, I am honored to meet Your Majesty."

"Look forward to it. I shall give substantial rewards to those who have expanded my territory..."

As the Queen's smile swept over White, he nervously bowed deeply. And the Queen's gaze immediately moved to... the other man.

"...Who is that person?"

"He is an envoy sent by the 'Native Emperor'."

At that moment, everyone in the court fell silent.

The man who gave the precisely made 'syringe' as a gift, contributing greatly to containing London's plague.

The owner of precisely cut gems and vast territories, all sorts of sweet fruits and overflowing wealth.

A great Christian who sought the Lord's word himself and was baptized.

A powerful ally across the Atlantic.

"He is called Oitotan, a... vassal of His Majesty."

The American whose name was mentioned briefly turned his head and nodded. Then he shifted his gaze again, looking around the palace.

With an indifferent face.

Elizabeth raised one eyebrow at his attitude, and the nobles whispered.

"...His reaction is completely different from when that person called Manteo came here a few years ago."

"Indeed, as a servant of the great emperor, does he think England's court is nothing special?"

The imagination of the great native emperor's court grows lushly in their minds again. Raleigh let their imagination develop on its own and spoke.

"Your Majesty, I would like to petition to bring one item to the Virginia colony."

"An item?"

"Yes. We need cannons."

"...Cannons?"

"Indeed. We need cannons to counter the attack of the Spanish."

English cast iron cannons are slightly inferior in quality to continental bronze cannons but are several times cheaper, making them an important strategic resource for England. Export is also prohibited.

"Hmm."

"Your Majesty, Virginia will be an important stopover to strike Spanish colonies in America. Also, now religiously..."

Lord William Cecil, the Secretary of State, whispers to her as she contemplates. Other ministers of the Queen also come to her side and whisper, making the Queen's eyes become clearer.

It was clear that the ministers' opinions had converged for the first time in a very long while.

The Queen waves her hand to dismiss the ministers. Then she looks at Lord Raleigh with a satisfied smile.

"...Yes. You are right. I will issue a charter permitting the export of cannons to Virginia, so arm the colony.

We must protect the 'Land of Angels', mustn't we."

"Thank you."

"Now it's time to hear what the 'Emperor's' envoy has to say."

"..."

At the Queen's words, Raleigh naturally steps back to let Oitotan come forward. And Oitotan briefly looks around the palace...

Swish.

He takes something out from inside his clothes. As Oitotan approaches the Queen, an attendant extends a hand to receive it on her behalf.

The Queen... soon receives the item from the attendant and flinches.

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

Words engraved on a cylinder made of aluminum.

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When she pulls the ring placed on top, the aluminum lid opens smoothly, revealing the contents inside.

It was a precious pineapple.

"Hearing that pineapples are rare in Europe, His Majesty sent this. It is a pineapple sealed in aluminum."

Queen Elizabeth opens her eyes wide and looks alternatively at Oitotan and Lord Raleigh. Then, looking at the thin, sharp lid she just removed, she says.

"...What should I do with this lid? Should I melt it and make it into other ornaments?"

As Raleigh tries to answer, Oitotan speaks first.

"Throw away."

Though his English was awkward, that one phrase silenced the crowd.

"...What did you say?"

"To us, precious. To him, not. He throws away."

"..."

"...He also throws away dirty clothes. It's okay. Because new ones are made.

Is it the same here?"

"No, we practice frugality in the name of the Lord..."

"The chiefs of England are poor."

Oitotan recalls Nemo.

He used all things and immediately discarded them. Yet there was no shortage in his wealth. But the people here move carefully, anxiously, wearing all sorts of splendid jewels.

Nemo was different. He didn't handle any object with care. Because he didn't need to.

The only things he handled carefully were food and drink, like that pineapple.

So, with pure curiosity, Oitotan asked.

"Raleigh, are such small jewels precious to you people?"

"..."

Rumors about the wealthy emperor of the New World grew luxuriantly today too.

And.

"People... sell land? The beasts made of iron, are they not here? The one that supposedly tore Spaniards to death..."

And thus, the courage of some adventurers who dreamed of plundering that wealthy emperor was broken.