How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony

"Hmm."

Elizabeth clicked her tongue repeatedly as she strolled along the shore. Margaret, who was following close behind, carefully approached her side.

"What's the matter, Your Majesty?"

"Ah, Margaret. I don't have much else to talk about right now. It was about that."

Elizabeth pointed with her chin beyond the coastline. There, several kilometers from the shore, another sandbar hundreds of meters wide stretched out like a barrier protecting Roanoke.

And on top of that long-stretched sandbar, magnificent coastal batteries were installed.

Above them, fully armed soldiers stood guard in all directions, and expensive bronze cannons brought from Scotland at great cost gleamed.

That was the reason the Queen of England could leisurely stroll along the shore.

Roanoke Island was completely safe.

It would be the same even if enemies somehow broke through that barrier island and rough waters into the bay. They would still have to face the coastal batteries and guards of Roanoke Island.

The Spanish didn't have enough troops to withstand such rough landing battles twice.

Nevertheless, Elizabeth sighed and merely pointed beyond.

Beyond that barrier island, at a distance just out of range, Spanish warships were passing by. To isolate this island.

"I don't know if we can resolve this issue. Until the English navy arrives, I don't see a solution..."

The problem here was that the English navy had crossed the Atlantic for the battle in Ireland.

Drake too, and Hawkins... ah, that man died of the plague. Anyway, that's how it is.

We can't just stay here waiting for the English navy for weeks or months on end, can we? Especially if the queen of a country and the emperor of a continent are here.

As Elizabeth sighed again, Margaret quietly smiled and leaned on the queen's shoulder to speak.

"Don't worry too much, Your Majesty. 'He' won't let the problem grow too large."

"...Hmm? By what means? Sometimes you all have too much faith in the emperor."

As Elizabeth said this and met Margaret's eyes, she shuddered slightly.

As always, those eyes bothered her.

Until meeting the emperor directly, the queen didn't understand why Margaret showed such fervent faith.

She couldn't understand the reason for that reverence, that affection, that passion. What had the emperor given them? What benefit had he provided to make them act that way?

People never give something without reason. So-called 'gratuitous' favor is followed by a price.

That was how she viewed people as a monarch, as a ruler.

But those around that emperor acted as if they could offer even their hearts. And without any compensation.

She had been trying to find the reason that made this possible. She even thought the emperor might have promised them enormous wealth, power, and glory.

And she reached a conclusion.

He is a type of ruler she had never experienced before. No, he is not even a ruler.

Just as Moses was a prophet and God's representative, not a ruler, when he led his people.

He was not a ruler. Not a ruler. Perhaps he should be described as a prophet, seer, teacher, or something similar.

...No, even all those words couldn't fully describe the strange charisma she felt in each of his breaths then.

The queen saw a piece of divinity in him.

==

"Uh... uh, uh?"

"What's wrong, Benjamin?"

"Ah, no, th-there, there...!"

"What's there... huh?"

Upon hearing Benjamin's words, Alejandro turned his head and saw several ships approaching from beyond the horizon. However, Alejandro, with his poor eyesight, could only see their silhouettes even after furrowing his brows.

As Alejandro couldn't see clearly, Benjamin corrected his line of sight.

"No, not that! Look at the mast! Those ships don't have our flag!"

"Hmm?"

Upon turning his head again at Benjamin's words, Alejandro's eyes soon revealed the strange emblem drawn on the sail.

The figure of an angel holding light in one hand and a toothed sword in the other.

What that figure symbolized was clear.

"Vi-Virginia...!"

"Yes! Virginia's ships have come all the way here! Aren't these bastards doing their job properly!"

Of course, the Virginians had observed the enemy ships' positions with a telescope and avoided them, but they had no way of knowing these circumstances.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

They immediately rang bells and shouted to alert about the enemy approach. Everyone was tense watching several ships coming down along the coast from the north.

Eventually, they anchored just out of range of the fortress's cannons, then began disembarking soldiers one by one.

And...

"...Huh? What's that now?"

"What are you talking about, Benjamin?"

"No... some kind of yellow cart-like thing is being unloaded from a wide platform? What is that?"

"Hmm? That's, really? What is that..."

Woong.

Suddenly, the Spanish chatter stopped at a roaring sound from afar. It was a low tone that sounded like a giant beast growling.

Woooong.

At the sound that came again, they stopped talking and breathing one by one and headed toward the northern wall. The identity of that noise was gradually revealed.

The source of the noise was getting closer.

No, not 'gradually'.

"Wh-what? What's so fast!"

"Q-q-quickly load the cannons first!"

The Spanish soldiers, who had been taking it easy because the troops that disembarked from the ships were standing still, started moving frantically. That strange, cart-like something was rushing madly toward them.

At a speed faster than a horse, directly toward this fortress.

While all the other Virginia soldiers were still quietly waiting back there.

Wooooong!

"Shoot! I said shoot!"

Bang! Boom!

Dozens of shells started flying toward that mysterious vehicle. Suddenly, that yellowish monster began moving, constantly changing direction in a zigzag pattern.

Boom! Bang! Boom boom!

Naturally, cannons are designed to destroy large castles or ships, not to chase something moving faster than a horse.

While all the shells fell to the ground, that monster alone smoothly avoided the barrage of shells and rushed forward.

The soldiers who kept attempting to reload following its moving position soon became exhausted. As they turned the hundreds-of-kilograms cannons back and forth, soldiers everywhere collapsed and fell.

Rat-tat! Rat-a-tat-tat!

Soon, they wisely gave up on the cannons. They then grabbed their muskets and began firing.

However, this time it was even more futile.

Wooooong!

The monster, as if it no longer had anything to fear, began accelerating in a straight line as soon as they abandoned the cannons. Its intention not to care whether bullets hit or missed was clearly visible.

The soldiers who first saw it were shocked, and after a little time passed, they began to panic.