How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony-Chapter 138: Covered in Blood (1)

"Vicente? Manteo? Is everyone alright?"

"Except for a stiff neck from sleeping in the cart last night, I'm fine! No, I feel refreshed!"

"I'm sorry for being late, Mr. Nemo. The villagers kept asking us to stay a little longer..."

"It's fine. That's also part of winning people's hearts. Everyone has worked hard."

Soon, the scattered colleagues returned one by one.

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When I checked the personnel, I was finally relieved to find no one missing or injured. None of the Virginians had died because of me.

In terms of material loss, the Porter had flown away along with my carefully built camper, but... it wasn't a big deal since I wasn't touring alone anyway, and the Porter originally moved at the same pace as the other carts.

My life had just become slightly less comfortable.

Sigh, what a pity.

My cozy bedroom where I could see the stars, a mobile kitchen and workshop—all that effort spent over months to build the camper had gone to waste...

Well, can't be helped.

I lost it because I drove recklessly. No one else to blame.

Anyway, besides my inconvenience in washing, eating, and sleeping, there wasn't any major disruption.

It wasn't the time to continue the tour anyway.

We had already visited all the main places where misunderstandings had occurred, and I didn't plan to make this tour just once, so we decided to wrap up the tour here.

"Please provide axes, hammers, and various tools to the tribes that suffered damage. Let's ignore ranks especially for now."

The priority now was to recover from the hurricane damage.

Let's look at the situation with the Lenape tribe.

Not only the tribes that had joined our gift exchange network, but also most of those who hadn't properly joined yet had survived.

However, even though there were no casualties, they suffered great damage from the hurricane because most of their residences were located near water or in valleys. Their food situation had suddenly worsened as well.

That couldn't be helped. What great possessions could people gather when evacuating in a hurry over a few days? At most, they would have had food for a few days and simple tools.

Due to the hurricane, most of their grain stores and homes were submerged. There was no solution for survival.

But one fortunate thing was...

"These ships seem like they could sail again with just a little time."

"What about the cargo inside? Is it alright?"

"Ah, of course. Everything is perfectly in place."

That our docked ships and the cargo in them were relatively intact.

Of course, there was substantial damage, such as broken masts or sunken decks, but Raleigh said it was at a level that could be handled locally to some extent.

"That's fortunate, Walter. Then I'll trust you with it."

"...Yes."

"..."

"..."

"Walter? Your expression seems strange. Are you alright..."

"I'm fine."

And after submitting his report, Raleigh quickly passed by.

...What's going on?

Ever since our conversation last time, he keeps making complicated expressions whenever he sees me. He seems to avoid conversation too.

Did I say something strange?

I just said it's profitable to save people while not dying anyway, something like that? That's strange?

...Maybe I made some other slip of the tongue?

Well, probably not. Even if I made a mistake, he'll soon return to normal. Raleigh isn't someone who would easily distance himself from me.

Anyway, what mattered was that the cargo in the ships was safe.

And important cargo in the ships included glass beads, guns, jars...

"The p-potatoes are also safe!"

"That's a relief! Let's start preparations right away!"

There were potatoes.

Of course, there were many other luxury goods too, but as we went further north, food became an issue, so many tribes received food when exchanging gifts.

And since we had come as far as Delaware, the remaining tribes were only those living in relatively high-latitude regions like New England and Canada.

Therefore, it was natural that many potatoes remained to be given to them.

Besides that, various tools such as iron axes, hammers, and saws that were originally intended to be given to other northern tribes flowed out.

And they were urgently distributed under the name of the 'Member Tribe Special Disaster Insurance.'

"Could... we join too? We don't need to start at a high rank!"

"W-we want to join too! Please accept us!"

There was also good news.

Even tribes that had not been incorporated into our trade network had all suddenly joined after this incident.

Moreover, as they had migrated to the safety zone, they decided to relocate to that area, leading to a kind of tribal absorption and integration.

All of this was good news.

The tribes gathered together, they were all incorporated into our sphere of influence, and one by one they searched for places to settle.

"Everyone! Look at this! You split it into four pieces! Here, like this!"

Isn't it perfect for distributing potatoes?

It was now late July, and since the potato planting season extended until late August, fortunately, they could start potato farming right away.

Although the sailors and attendants who had come for trade unexpectedly began potato farming lessons, no one had major difficulties. These were things they had already experienced in the Virginia settlement.

I hastily sent one intact ship south with instructions to give different gifts to the natives in the north, so others wouldn't starve even if we used the potatoes here.

So the immediate food problem was somewhat resolved...

Now we just needed to build trading posts and cathedrals for the trading post staff...

"Is this the site?"

After handling matters inland and returning, the bishop dispatched from Croatoan to the coastal village asked.

"Uh... yes. With the help of the villagers, it's progressing quickly. This is the warehouse, this is the office space, and here... the cathedral will be placed."

"The cathedral site is larger than I expected? The location is somewhat remote."

I asked out of pure curiosity.

Our 'Nemo faction' did not attempt aggressive evangelization toward the natives. If conflicts or disputes arose from that, the damage would come right back to us.

So the cathedrals built at each trading post were nothing more than small prayer spaces for the 10 or so staff who would stay there.

But this site... just looking at the pillars set in the ground, it seemed capable of holding at least 100 people.

Why are they building it like this? And in a location quite far from the village?

"The tribal members in this area wanted it."

"...Ah."

"Look at the floor."

At those words, when I looked down at the floor, stones were laid in a circle, and small lines were engraved on top of them.

Looking around, I saw that stones with such lines drawn on them encircled the cathedral site.

Only after surveying this did I realize.

This irregular line is modeled after what I had drawn.

Inside that line was...

The safe zone from the storm that raged that day.

Somehow, it felt difficult to say more. A silence too valuable for me to break had settled around.

Looking around, I saw flowers or shell beads brought by people placed near the stones with engraved lines.

They had been placed there by people passing by.

Anyway, about two months had passed since the day the storm hit.

It was time to return to Virginia.

Late September, and early October.

When the repairs of the ships were roughly completed, we loaded the remaining baggage and boarded. As the amount of gifts received had decreased and quite a lot of cargo had been unloaded, the ships departed the coast smoothly with their lightened bodies.

So, while looking at the horizon stretching to the left and the sun setting to the right, I was quietly sipping wine at the bow when...

Step.

Someone's footsteps were heard.

When I turned around, the man who had been avoiding me all this time was standing slightly apart, looking at me.

Somehow, my reflection in his pupils seemed as distant as the moon faintly rising in the sky, and the emotions that pooled and evaporated like shadows in every contour of his face created a complex ambiance.