“And, I need hardly tell you that there has been a drought for several years now, yes?”
No. I had no idea.
I’d just assumed the climate around here was naturally on the dry side. Besides, on our farm, clean, clear water came out endlessly like Myeongnyun JinX Galbi, so I hadn’t paid it any mind.
Still, I solemnly nodded without a word, as if I had known all along. At that, Chief Oitotan lowered his posture even further and continued his explanation.
“Farming was… still manageable. Even if the corn crop failed, it was not a drought severe enough to ruin the pea crop as well.
But it was severe enough for the fruits that grow in the fields, and the beasts that live off them, to disappear.”
Indigenous society already had low agricultural productivity, so they had not fully transitioned into an agricultural society and were still combining it with hunting and gathering. In such a state, with little surplus production to begin with, a drought must have been far more devastating.
“Because… of that, food became scarce. An unknown pestilence spread and reduced the number of mouths to feed by quite a lot, but even that was not enough.”
An unknown… pestilence?
I think I know the cause, though?
I was about to slowly turn toward Roger, but stopped myself.
“I see. You must have suffered greatly.”
“U-uuuh-huuuk…!”
What the hell. Why is he crying now?
“Yes. It was very hard. All the tribesmen struggled and managed to secure enough food to last at least through this year, but from next year onward… there is no telling. It is to the point where we would be in grave danger unless we forcibly reduce the number of mouths to feed.”
“Oh dear.”
“And on top of that, we have even gained extra dependents… so feeding everyone has become even harder.”
He means the seventy people.
What is this? For some reason, it sounds like he’s making excuses.
“That must have been truly difficult. But now that we will be taking those seventy compatriots with us, you can rest a little easier.”
“…Uuuh-huuuh-huuuk!”
…Was that not the answer he wanted? What exactly is going on here?
“In any case… we were starving, and so we had no choice.”
“What sort of choice did you make…?”
“The Powhatan Confederacy is several times stronger and wealthier than us. And so…”
“…And so?”
“We threatened them, saying they should either go to war with us or hand over food.”
“…???”
Uh… wait, I don’t understand.
You said they’re several times stronger than you, right? Then why pick a fight?
As I fell into confusion and looked around, Roger came into view again. He nodded at me meaningfully.
…Ah, don’t tell me.
“How rash of you, relying only on the English and their muskets.”
“Aaah-huuuh-huuuk…!”
Hey, you lunatic.
You’re not the protagonist of an alternate-history novel. Did you think something like “The future Korean army suddenly falls into Joseon during the Imjin War!” had happened?
Of course, there were the Tlaxcaltecs, who succeeded in a similar way, helped smash the Aztecs, and happily played rulers alongside the white men. But even they got there half through luck.
Unfortunately, you are not them.
Honestly… I’m not even sure a few matchlocks from this era could repel an army of thousands.
Wasn’t this guy just thinking like a degenerate crypto bro? Like, since he had no way back anyway, he might as well use the last of his rent money, living expenses, and even loan-shark collateral to dump everything into coins?
“I-it could have worked…! For it to end up like this…! The spirits have abandoned me…!”
…Seeing as he still refuses to blame himself to the end, I guess that’s exactly it. And an especially malignant case, too.
In any case, I understood why he had been crying in front of me like that.
“Well then, I hope you have learned your lesson. Farewell. May your ancestors protect you.”
That didn’t mean I had any reason to play along.
“P-please, wait a moment!”
“…What is it?”
“Great Chief, please help us! At this rate, our tribe will be destroyed in the war!”
“No.”
I flatly refused.
When we fought the Spanish, it was because we had been invaded, and their numbers were only around two hundred.
But this has nothing to do with us. It’s someone else’s fight entirely. And on top of that… warriors numbering in the thousands?
Absolutely not. Even if I flattened them all with an excavator and cut down dozens at a time in a one-man Musou performance, this was not a battle that could be overturned.
Even if it were a battle we could win, I wouldn’t join because of the losses, and now even victory or defeat was uncertain?
There was no reason whatsoever for us to accept such a proposal.
When I rose from my seat, the others began getting to their feet one by one as well.
“Eleanor, let’s get out of here quickly. It seems this place will soon become a battlefield.”
“Yes, Lord Nemo. Once we gather only the compatriots here, we’ll set out right away!”
“P-please… all our tribesmen will die…”
If we take part, we’ll die too.
“W-we have already told the Powhatan Confederacy that we are in league with the people from across the sea! If we are destroyed, Great Chief, you will be next!”
“Is that true, Roger?”
“…Yes.”
“Hmm… Let’s still go. Once they fight these people, Powhatan or whatever should lose some strength, shouldn’t they?”
“I agree.”
“N-no! If you leave like this!”
Thus, we went around the village searching for the survivors of the Roanoke Colony.
“Please do not go!”
They had lived here for quite some time, and since some of them had even taken wives and had children, persuading them did take a while. Still, they had not gone so far as to abandon their homeland.
“Please help us! I heard that the one called Jesus also said not to abandon the pitiful!”
However, some of them were bewildered when I, who was not even European, appeared beside John White, and some even looked troubled when they were told I was the leader of the settlement. A few stubbornly resisted, saying they would rather die than part from the new families they had gained. We left those people behind.
“Amen! Amen! In truth, I too venerate that Jesus! Roger will testify that I always peeked in from the side during worship!”
And so, excluding three or four who said they would voluntarily remain, we were able to return to the Croatoan settlement with sixty-seven survivors.
“Please, if you will only help us, I swear by the spirits and our ancestors that I will offer everything…”
“…You say you venerate Jesus, yet you swear by the spirits?”
“Uh… yes? Am I not supposed to?”
But Oitotan came along too.
…How on earth did he get on the boat?
In any case, then…
“Aaah-huuuh-huuuk!”
“…”
“…”
“…”
Three days.
Even after I diligently ignored him for three days, Oitotan continued wailing outside the settlement.
In any case, it was astonishing perseverance. If this was an attempt at a noise attack, it failed. On the first day, it bothered me that he cried every night, making it hard to sleep, but now I had adapted perfectly and could sleep soundly.
Even so, annoying was annoying, and a problem was still a problem.
After starving and crying his eyes out for three whole days, one would think he might leave, but because he looked pointlessly pitiful, people kept helping him like they were feeding pigeons, and he had lasted until now.
But now… I had to make a decision.
With a sigh, I glanced at the people around me. White, Eleanor, and Manteo all nodded.
Roger Pratt, as if sensing something, carefully spoke up.
“Um… could we not help them, even if only a little? If we share guns with them and teach them how to shoot…”
“What about that man do you trust?”
“He is not someone who would turn a gun on us.”
…Really?
Guys like that usually ask their families to be guarantors and then blow the investment, don’t they? Isn’t that the same as turning a gun on your parents?
No. That bastard had already leveraged himself to the hilt with his tribesmen’s lives as collateral. From that moment on, there was already zero room for sympathy.
…But an “angel” couldn’t exactly say that.
So I replaced it with something that sounded suitably good and profound.
“It is not that I cannot trust people, but that I cannot trust guns. A gun is, in the end, a tool for killing.”
“…Ah!”
“As expected…!”
Yes. It seems they felt something from that.
Honestly, I have no idea what I just said.
In any case, after I smothered that objection, the sound of weeping once again drifted faintly in. Hmm…
Unable to stand it any longer, I sprang up and left the church slash meeting hall. The others followed me out, and we saw Oitotan on the ground, supporting himself with his hands as he wept.
“…Look here. Do you not think this is disgraceful in the eyes of others? Does it make sense for the great elder of a tribe to be crying here like a child?”
“B-b-but my tribe is on the verge of annihilation. Is that so easy to say?”
That’s because of you, you bastard.
…I was about to say that, but feeling Eleanor’s eyes shining behind me, I took a deep breath. I barely forced back the curses rising to my throat.
Fine.
“Go back. You are not asking us to share food because you are hungry; you are asking us to fight and die in your place. With what nerve do you ask such a thing?”
“T-that is, Great Chief…”
“If you truly desire protection from me as a Great Chief! Then come settle in the territory we purchased from the surrounding tribes!”
At my shout, Oitotan opened his eyes wide and looked up at me.
“If you come into our territory, we will give you seeds and land. Just… what? As long as you don’t make the absurd demand that we fight in your place. Do you understand?”
“Ah… that…”
“Drag him out.”
At my words, the nearby villagers seized both of Oitotan’s arms and dragged him away. Still dazed, Oitotan was soon dragged all the way toward the road.
“…White? You said we lacked manpower to cultivate wheat, did you not? Will this be enough?”
“I-it should be enough. But what about Chief Oitotan…”
“Take him all the way to the harbor and lock him in a cabin.”
“Ah, may we do that?”
“Was he not a stowaway to begin with? It does not matter. If they truly come later to request protection, accept them.”
When I saw the village, it looked like they had about five hundred people, so around that many will come.
Enough. I’m not going to worry about it anymore. I simply ignored the matter, went back home, and turned on my game.
Stress is piling up.
Ugh, that crazy bastard who bets his life on one teamfight. I hope he’s learned his lesson now.
Please, live your life properly.
***
“C-chief! Are you all right?”
“Chief! What did the people from across the sea say to you?”
“…”
“…Chief?”
Roughly four hundred years before League of Legends would be developed.
The brain of Oitotan, ancestor of those who bet their lives on one teamfight, began to spin furiously.
“…I-I have learned a lesson.”
“What do you mean?”
If one is going to stake one’s life, one must stake even one’s soul on a certain possibility.
Even if four dragons are taken, even if the inhibitor falls, with the conviction that if one wins a single teamfight spectacularly, everything can be overturned…!
“Have you heard the rumors of the wealthiest Great Chief?”
“…Yes, we have heard them.”
“I heard there is a mysterious one who rules Pamlico Sound and this region. They say he does not show himself even at the great council, yet gives out sweet grapes.”
“I… have met him!”
“What?”
“Then…!”
“He, the Great Chief, spoke to me! He said that if we wanted protection, we should enter his territory and live as obedient subjects!”
“…!”
“…!!”
“Let us go! To his territory! There, we will seek a way for us to live!”
“Ooooooh!”
And so, part of the Chesapeake tribe began a great migration under the leadership of Chief Oitotan. Since it was still an enormous number, nearly six hundred people, there was no way the story would not spread to other tribes.
“Why are… those people moving?”
“They say it’s the Great Chief’s order. Apparently, he told them that if they wanted to live, they should enter his territory and live there.”
“…?!?!”
At that bewildering news, everyone began to stir.
From those frightened by the threat of the Powhatan Confederacy, to those who lacked food because of the drought.
And so, before anyone knew it, a procession of one hundred became two hundred, then three hundred, then easily surpassed five hundred.
Rolling onward like dominoes, that procession finally… reached the Chesapeake region.
“G-Governor! Migrants have arrived!”
“Uh… so Oitotan finally came after all. So, how many are there? Give each person some potatoes and wheat, then teach them how to handle farming tools…”
“It looks like about a thousand have come? They were saying something about a Great Chief—what is that?”
“…?!?!?”
Only then did White begin to feel that something had gone wrong.
For the first month, he taught Oitotan and his tribesmen how to farm potatoes.
For the next month, he distributed corn seeds to the remaining people.
For the next month after that, he taught the newly arrived people how to go to others’ fields and help with work.
…This is strange.
He could not understand why there was no end to it. The ones who had requested protection were… only Oitotan’s tribe.
Trembling in bewilderment, White finally conducted his first census the following month.
One… two… three…
…
…The population had surpassed 3,400.
How did this area turn into a great farm?
…Uh, uhhh?
And while White, lord of Chesapeake Bay recognized by the angel himself, was panicking, several months flew by.
“A-a ship is coming! A ship is coming!”
At last, the day came in September of 1591.
“Oooh, so all of this is farmland? The colony is a great success!”
Sir Raleigh… had arrived.
Together with hundreds of livestock.