How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony

Grievances so complex that it's meaningless for me to intervene and determine right and wrong.

Right when the first English people arrived on Roanoke Island, nearby natives lured them with false information to kill hostile tribes.

The Chesapeake tribe used the English to threaten the Powhatan tribe, and the Powhatan tribe annihilated the Chesapeake tribe.

This person wailing in front of me now, how many neighboring tribe members did he kill before I came?

Is he evil? Is he an evil person who doesn't even think about the people he killed, and only grieves for his own people who were killed?

I don't know.

Yes.

I don't know.

Amid the falling rain, numerous people look up at me.

The followers of the 'Nemo faction' were all on their knees with their hands joined.

Those encountering Christian rituals for the first time awkwardly imitated them, kneeling and bowing their heads or blindly raising both hands.

But everyone was showing me respect.

Though it's being extinguished by the rain, flames still burn beside me.

Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, are gathered in one place.

Everyone focuses on me. Eleanor hastily draped a cloak over my half-naked body.

...At this moment, at moments like this, there are words that must be said.

I lightly brush down my chest area. Then there's no wound left.

For another person, when stabbed in the heart, they would have died.

Even if they survived, an ugly scar would have remained.

But not for me.

"...I will clarify once more."

I have a body where not even a scar forms.

"Those who have committed evil deeds will pay the proper price for their sins. No one will commit evil and escape without any trial or punishment.

However, I will not stigmatize anyone as an evil person."

I have the power and resources to make this world less cruel.

"I, and this community, will not exclude anyone who wishes to become part of us."

Literally infinite resources.

I can do it.

I can add a bit of kindness to this world that is only cruel to people.

With a body without scars, I can bear all kinds of evil deeds, resentments, and hatreds that have grown in this cruel world.

Even if I can't break the cycle, I can make the world a little better.

So I will do it.

I will do it.

==

Thomas Hewett briefly looked down at the charcoal remains of what had been a hut burned by fire.

Even now, the memory of that day seems like a dream.

Somewhere, he had heard that among the pains humans experience, the most intense are being stabbed and burned.

So, isn't that why they tear and burn the bodies when executing traitors and infidels?

And...

'He experienced all of that.'

Just to save people.

Just for this community.

"...Oh, Lord."

He recalls when he first met Him.

Those ridiculous days when he mistook His identity for merely a prince from Asia.

He thought there would be no greater grace than being revived from the brink of death.

Of course, that's not to say the grace received during those days was small.

He gave them food. He gave them shelter. And He protected them from the threats of enemies.

If even one thing had gone wrong, they would have immediately faced death.

Yet they probably hadn't given anything back to Him.

Still, He risked all kinds of dangers to save them.

That grace is great compared to anything. Hewett knew that fact well.

But...

'Perhaps the grace received that day might be even greater.'

Enduring all that pain, He protected this holy Virginia community.

He taught them about something greater than hatred and anger.

...About true life.

Hewett turned away from the burnt remains, then walked toward the church where He would be.

It was a path from the dreamlike moment back to reality. With a sigh, Hewett recalls the bitter facts.

The kind of thing that happens in stories for children, where all hatred is washed away as if by magic, did not occur.

All the arsonists from that day surrendered themselves. They were sentenced to appropriate labor and all of them were sent to work in the phosphate mines in the south. Some people caused a disturbance in opposition to this fact.

Also, some of the Algonquins who had fought with the Catawba-Tutelo people still avoid being with them. It's natural. They had just recently fought a war.

Reflecting on such situations, Hewett sighs again. Before he knew it, he had arrived at the council building.

It's time to deliver one more piece of bad news to Nemo.

Creak.

"Ah, Mr. Hewett?"

"...Nemo."

People all around were moving busily, discussing various things among themselves. Numbers on tablets changed ceaselessly, and complex calculations continued across charts.

"It seems we lack English people to teach farming to the Catawba people..."

"For now, let's increase the number of horses imported next time."

"Please also request cattle. We're far short of the numbers needed to implement cowpox vaccination."

"Alright, John. I have many things to discuss with you, so I'll organize them and provide a chart soon."

In the midst of people sharing their respective conversations, there was a person... no, an angel sitting at the head seat, listening to reports from all kinds of people.

His face was full of fatigue. Well, since the residents here had doubled, by simple calculation, the work would have doubled too. It's natural.

"Nemo?"

"Ah, Mr. Hewett. You've come. It seems you have something to report."

"...Yes."

Hewett nodded and extended his notebook with a serious expression.

"Here, as you'll see..."

Desperate figures circulate.

"Food is absolutely insufficient. At this rate, we won't last a few years."

"..."

"..."

"..."

At that moment, all eyes focused on Hewett. Feeling the pressure, Hewett continues.

"It's not just food. Unless we drastically reduce the amount of resources originally distributed to people, we can't maintain this population..."

"I understand. Plus, there would be insufficient land to distribute."

"...Yes."

Literally everything is lacking.

The large-scale gift economy network that had been running originally half-collapsed due to this disturbance, and a significant portion of that population was absorbed into the community.

Those who were half self-sufficient now completely depend on Virginia for food production, creating an enormous burden.

Because of that, the amount of various resources that were generously distributed to settlers previously is rapidly decreasing. Naturally, voices of discontent are echoing everywhere.

The inter-tribal conflicts that had been barely mended might flare up again because of this.

"If things continue like this, public opinion might turn ominous. For now..."

"Wait."

After interrupting Hewett's words, He tapped the table and fell into deep thought.

"I know what you're about to suggest, but it's not acceptable. If we differentially distribute resources... once the community divides after proceeding that way, it would be difficult to mend it again."

"Th-then, is there any method..."

"If there's a method, there is. If things proceed according to plan, there's a plan that would more than solve the food problem, and also instantly solve the issue of producing other goods."

"Is that so? What could it possibly be..."

At Hewett's words, He pondered for a moment, then opened His mouth.

"Isn't the problem ultimately that we lack cultivated land?"

"That's right."

"What about the automatic water pump?"

"Ah... yes, do you mean that strangely rolling thing?"

"Yes. That's right."

"What about it..."

"Let's replicate it. And modify it so it can move around."

"Pardon?"

"It might take several months to several years, but it's certain."

Hewett tilted his head, not knowing how this connected to the food problem.

"...With a steam engine, no one needs to starve."

Nemo said with conviction.