"···Understood?"
It began with Sir Raleigh's remark.
—"This is a fruit that the savages hold most precious, and my trusted explorer John White reportedly obtained it by entreating his noble 'local collaborator.' I daresay he may be a great king or emperor of the locality."
In the Americas, there was a great king or emperor.
"Our colonists reportedly repelled a Spanish fleet alongside a powerful local collaborator. They have captured a galleon and are using it to defend the place."
A monarch powerful enough to repel Spain, at that.
Besides this, whenever Sir Raleigh introduced the treasures he had acquired, he mentioned that 'local collaborator' without thinking.
He was likely speaking exactly as he had heard from his explorers.
In other words.
All the gifts he presented to the Queen had ultimately come from that powerful 'local collaborator.'
Raleigh's collaborator commanded jewelers more skilled than European artisans, possessed the military strength to defeat Spain, and ruled farms that cultivated delicious fruits.
If that was the case, everything became clear.
—"Raleigh's colony exists because of that relationship with the local collaborator! If we can entice him and separate him from Raleigh's explorers...!"
The Earl of Essex proposed this to Sir Walsingham—his father-in-law and a man who hated Raleigh as much as he did.
—"But what if the colonial venture fails?"
Walsingham, the Queen's spymaster, refused outright.
—"Don't speak nonsense. That colony is an excellent foothold for attacking the Spanish colonies. Moreover, it is endowed with enormous resources."
—"But... if this continues, won't Walter Raleigh...?"
—"Raleigh, Raleigh. Are you afraid he will monopolize Her Majesty's favor? You are younger than he is. Make use of that charm."
—"......"
—"If that is all you have to say, I shall take my leave."
Basis 1: Walsingham no longer keeps Raleigh in check.
Basis 2: Walsingham had raised me as Raleigh's rival.
Conclusion 1: Walsingham has abandoned me.
Conclusion 2: I am politically finished.
A cornered human can do anything.
And so, the Earl of Essex began to devise a 'plan.'
A plan to bring down Sir Raleigh's colony.
***
Today, everyone had gathered again in the building that served as church, town hall, and meeting place.
When I knelt on both knees and clasped my hands together, everyone swallowed hard. The hands of Hyuet, who stood before me, even trembled.
"Ah, well... haah, I'm trembling."
"It's only a practice, is it not? Please proceed without pressure."
"Then, I shall begin.
Now...
The Great Chieftain of the Croatoan, Pamlico, Chesapeake, and so forth—Nemo—shall henceforth, under God's blessing, offer loyalty to Elizabeth, the lawful Queen of England, France, and Ireland, and defender of the faith..."
"Pfft."
"......"
"......"
"......"
"Ah! No, I, I'm sorry... It was just so absurd..."
"It's alright, Mrs. Dare. It is absurd enough to warrant that."
"What in the world is even happening..."
"Since you have already become a Great Chieftain anyway, can you not think of it as a similar secular station?"
"That is a position where others serve above me. But this, uh, the Angel becoming a subject of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth like this is too strange."
"Ahem. Is this not the best option Sir Raleigh devised? For the time being, doing it this way will help ensure Nemo-nim's safety."
Once the tension broke, everyone began chattering noisily. Hollow laughter, sighs, and all manner of complaints flew about.
From their perspective, it must have been an unbelievable affair.
Daring to treat an Angel as a 'savage chieftain' and even shoehorning him in as a subject of Elizabeth Tudor, who acts as King of England 'under God's blessing.'
"Mr. Hyuet is correct. Everyone, please calm yourselves."
"......"
"......"
"......"
"As long as I tread upon the earth bearing a physical body, I cannot help but become a subject of some sovereign.
Even Jesus said to render unto Caesar what is Caesar's; the question of to whom this body I have temporarily borrowed owes fealty is no insult to the Lord."
"I-I see."
"If Nemo-nim says so..."
But as Hyuet had said, this was more helpful to me.
In any case, unless I were truly an angel unbound by earthly station, I was ultimately just a somewhat peculiar person living with my feet planted on this soil. I needed a 'status.'
Especially... if I was to survive the raging storm of colonialism and imperialism that would soon arrive.
I had to be connected to England.
For the safety of myself and my people, I could easily endure holding an 'enthronement' as a subject of England. Honestly, I felt no particular humiliation.
Rather, those who felt humiliated were precisely those who served and followed me, like them. I could persuade them.
In any case, if I wasn't going to visit England directly... how would they know whether I was immortal or not?
The ones who would see my face and meet me directly in the future would inevitably be limited to dozens or hundreds at a time, just as now.
Any worries about my identity would only become relevant hundreds of years later, when white people flooded onto this land in droves and cameras and all sorts of inventions appeared.
Many indigenous peoples vanished from the history recorded by Europeans. What became of Manteo after the Roanoke colony failed? No one knows.
The same could happen to me.
I could hide, changing my identity and name as I lived. I could even become my own son and pass on this position.
So... until then, I would focus on securing my personal safety and firmly grasping my influence and position on this American land.
I must survive.
If I fail to survive.
If I... become an enemy of the Europeans and am hunted, or if I am imprisoned and meet a fate worse than death... that would no longer be my burden alone.
"That's right! Let's proceed according to the script again!"
"Mr. Hyuet, if you please."
"Yes. Then, ahem... The Great Chieftain of the Croatoan, Pamlico, Chesapeake, and so forth—Nemo—shall henceforth..."
All of them, those who believe in me as an angel and follow me absolutely, would fall into danger.
Unlike me, they would die.
So, an enthronement ceremony like this was nothing.
I must survive.
That is my purpose and my duty.
***
Swooooosh!
The sound of waves lapping against salt-laden wood roused Sir Raleigh from his light slumber. He had stayed up all night sorting ledgers and attending to various trivial matters.
Across the cabin, Thomas Harriot was engrossed in solving some algebra problem.
"Doesn't doing that on a ship make you seasick?"
"Not at all? Rather, focusing my mind calms the discomfort."
"I cannot understand. What makes that enjoyable?"
"Do you not write poetry yourself, Sir Raleigh? It is much the same."
"My good man, that is entirely different. An entirely different matter. As different as... a devil and an angel..."
An angel.
"...Is something the matter? Did something suddenly come to mind?"
"No, I was just recalling how I suddenly suggested holding an enthronement ceremony for Nemo-nim."
"You consistently attach honorifics to the 'Emperor.'"
"Of course. He is... ah... one sent by the Lord, after all."
"Hmmmm."
"Very well. What use is speaking of this to an atheist?"
Thus silence fell again, and Walter Raleigh dozed off, seeing once more the vision of that day.
—"I have not come to punish you. The Lord has prepared not a curse, but glory and joy for you."
—"The Lord shall use you greatly."
—"Therefore... serve the One and Only with devotion."
He could not forget it.
The shock, the overwhelming presence, the mystique, and even the holiness.
"...Who could have known the Pope would truly take the name Clemens?"
"Excuse me? What did you say?"
"Nothing. It was nothing."
"......"
"......"
Angels truly exist.
Naturally, if angels truly exist, then the Lord must surely be enthroned on high in heaven.
If the Lord exists, then the death and resurrection He prepared, as well as heaven and hell, must also be real.
Reaching that thought, he was reminded of the friend before him.
His atheist friend.
"...Are you not afraid?"
"Of what?"
"I mean, living as an atheist. If there is nothing after death, that would be better. But if you imagine eternal flames consuming your soul..."
"If there is nothing after death, there is nothing to fear, and if there is an eternal hellfire, would it not be the duty of a free man to resist the tyrant who created such a thing?"
"Enough. Those words are worthy of execution merely by my hearing them and not reporting you to the authorities."
"Haha, then why did you ask in the first place?"
"Because I..."
"Yes, Sir Raleigh?"
"......"
Because I saw an angel.
Because I saw the Holy Spirit descend upon his voice beyond human language, and the foreknowledge of the Lord transcending time descend upon his knowledge.
"My friend... what would you do if an angel truly existed?"
"Another question of that sort?"
"No, a fundamentally different question. If an angel truly existed—if an angel truly existed, and you were to meet him directly."
"Ho there. If you wish to continue this meaningless exchange, I shall gladly indulge you."
Thomas Harriot closed the notebook in which he had been writing out his problem and turned his body at the desk to look at Sir Raleigh.
"Very well. I shall imagine that an angel truly exists and that I have met him directly. And so?"
"What would you do then? Would you change your faith? How would you act? Would you not have many things to ask him?"
"Of course. If Adam and Eve were the first humans and their children were Cain, Abel, and Seth—three sons—then how did humanity continue? How did Cain have descendants, and how did Seth have descendants?"
"...Perhaps God created other humans. Adam and Eve may have had other children."
"Then humanity is either not descended from Adam and Eve alone, or the product of incest. If the former is true, why is original sin inherited?"
"...Suppose the latter is true. Incest may not have been a sin originally."
"Then what is sin and what is not changes with time? Would the Lord's commandments change continuously?"
"Ah... Do you have nothing else but such pointless questions? You would not be able to remain an atheist, would you?"
Even as he said so, Raleigh committed Harriot's words to memory. To ask Nemo later.
"Well, I suppose if I saw that an angel existed, I would be shocked. A very great shock."
"Yes. Would you not? Perhaps even you would be converted and return to the Lord's word?"
"Hard to say. I do not think so."
"...What? Why? If there is an angel, there must be a hell? Are you not afraid of hell?"
"Excuse me? Hahahaha!"
At Raleigh's words, Harriot burst into uproarious laughter, then wiped away tears.
"Even if I were to meet the so-called 'angel,' I believe I would remain an atheist."
"......"
Nonsense. He spoke with such confidence despite never having met one.
How could a human being not kneel before that overwhelming existence? How could a human being not repent of his sins before it?
Raleigh smiled bitterly and shook his head. That was the only reaction he could show his old friend.
"Very well... You are stubborn, so you would remain an atheist. Let us suppose so. Then what of others? Would they truly do the same?"
"Ho, other people?"
"Yes. Everyone else would be overwhelmed by the existence of the angel. Everyone would weep rivers of tears as they repented of their sins."
"Hmm... Even someone like the Pope?"
"Yes. Even that arrogant Antichrist of a Pope."
It was a remark befitting a devout Protestant. At those words from Raleigh, this time it was Harriot who smiled bitterly and refuted him.
"My thoughts differ."
"...What? What strange notion occupies you now?"
"I know precisely how people would react if they saw an angel."
With a sneer, Harriot opened the flask in his pocket and took a swig. His tongue loosened slightly, and Harriot raised one corner of his mouth as he spoke.
"People would denounce that angel as a devil.
And they would try to kill him. No matter what."
***
Scrape. Scrape. Scrape.
In a cramped corner of the cabin, they sharpened their knives on a whetstone. The ship rocked ceaselessly upon the waves, but their hands did not tremble for an instant as they honed the blades to a razor's edge.
They exchanged meaningful glances, conversing in silence, while simultaneously keeping their senses sharp and their attention on their surroundings.
It was only natural, given their profession.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
"I say! It seems we shall reach land soon; when do you suppose you'll be done packing?"
Their companion aboard the ship, a gentleman named Francis Bacon, likely thought of them as mere newly hired servants...
They were assassins.
Killers hired by Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex.
They were going to kill the Emperor of the New World.