How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony-Chapter 23: Heat Wave

Everyone in the banquet hall froze in confusion at the current commotion.

Like children tasting sugar for the first time, the Queen and her most noble subjects were frantically gathering grapes in their hands with their eyes rolling back.

The sounds of swallowing and bewildered whispering grew louder from all around. The audience's curiosity and tension increased.

"...Well, I've presented one bunch as a gift to Her Majesty the Queen, but I have one more bunch left."

Walter Raleigh was not a man to miss such an atmosphere.

The banquet hall had now become the best promotional venue.

Raleigh held the box of grapes and circled the hall once, capturing people's attention.

"Unfortunately, I only have two bunches at hand, so I'll divide the remaining bunch and share one grape each..."

"Oh, might I be able to taste one?"

"Ah! Of course, Baron! Come forward!"

Thus, a brave young nobleman slowly stepped forward to Raleigh and plucked one grape.

"Transparent... it is."

"Simultaneously large and firm. Yet there will be nothing disturbing when you eat it."

"Pardon? What does that mean?"

"Try eating it. Then you'll know."

"..."

The baron swallows and takes a small bite of the grape. His eyes widen briefly then shrink.

"D-delicious..."

"And?"

"...Huh?"

The baron's eyes scan the cross-section of the grape. Something important that should be there isn't.

And he licks the grape remnants in his mouth with his tongue, searching for that something.

Again, it's not there.

"S-s-seeds... are... gone..."

"What? No seeds?"

"Is it bottled grapes? Or..."

"No! These grapes weren't bottled! They grew very healthily, normally."

Raleigh quiets the murmuring crowd and raises the bunch of grapes high.

"The wise foreigners who grow these delicious grapes have developed a method to prevent seeds from forming in grapes! Whether this variety has no seeds, or they use some special technique, I couldn't find out, but that much is certain!"

Buzz, buzz.

People began to gather around Raleigh hurriedly to see the seedless grapes.

They began to verify by splitting the grapes Raleigh gave them and rolling them in their mouths, but indeed, there were none.

There were no seeds.

"Th-this is not a product of nature! This is... this is the Lord's...!"

Thud.

Someone fainted, and someone screamed.

Someone shed tears at the ecstatic taste of Shine Muscat, and someone immediately took out a notebook and began writing poetry.

"Look, Your Majesty! Virginia has such wise neighbors, delicious fruits, precious treasures, and various precious metals! All this is thanks to Your Majesty who gave me the right to establish a colony in America, and thanks to the Lord who made Your Majesty the monarch of England! Hallelujah!"

"Hallelujah!"

"Hallelujah!"

The crowd, half-soaked in excitement and frenzy, was drawn into Raleigh's words.

The Earl of Essex's grinding teeth were not heard under the cheers.

Even those who normally despised Raleigh all cheered and awaited the Queen's reaction.

After the great victory at the Battle of Calais, the counterattack against Spain had failed miserably.

Now that the English Armada had collapsed and the war with Spain had entered a lull, the colony, thought to have failed, had revived and brought immense treasure.

All of that story seemed like a blessing from the Lord to England facing hardship.

Everyone gathered here was waiting for the Queen's reaction. Everyone's eyes now held expectation.

"Your Majesty, how does this fruit taste!"

When an unlucky nobleman who hadn't tasted it shouted, Elizabeth, who was just coming to her senses, looked at Raleigh with eyes now focused and said.

"...It was a heavenly taste."

"..."

"Angel-grown fruit, was it? It was as if some desireless angel had plucked a handful of heavenly fruit and distributed it free to humans on earth."

It was mostly correct if you substituted the angel for the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. They could taste this fruit thanks to their mercy and work negligence.

Mr. Hata Tsutomu, the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries at that time, must be smiling at them all from heaven.

"Your Majesty,"

Anyway, the Queen who finished speaking stood up abruptly and asked Raleigh.

"Sir?"

"Yes, Your Majesty."

"You said the name of this metal you gave me is aluminum. These animal furs seem to be fox.

Then what is the name of this fruit?"

At those words, Raleigh smiled, lifting the corners of his mouth. Smiling, he said.

"Shine... Muscat."

Shine Muscat.

That one phrase struck England.

"Ah, and one more thing. Our colonists, along with a powerful local collaborator, defeated the Spanish fleet. They are now using a captured galleon to defend the place."

"...!"

Raleigh's subsequent words too.

Treasure...

And victory...!

In an instant, all of England was filled with festive cheers.

==

...

...

...

Several days had passed since that shocking Epiphany feast.

"Phewww..."

The Queen, sitting alone in her bedroom for the first time in a while, tightly gripped and released the mysteriously white-shining ring in her hand. This sturdy, light ring absorbed her body heat and was covered in condensation.

What is 'this'?

Many rumors are circulating around 'this'.

A cheap piece of metal whose value Walter Raleigh manipulated?

White gold from the New World that no one has ever seen before?

Orichalcum, which Plato sang was used by the people of Atlantis?

The first rumor was undoubtedly spread by Earl of Essex Robert Devereux and his father-in-law, Secretary of State Francis Walsingham. They literally want to chew up Raleigh.

But since so many people had witnessed Raleigh's 'gifts' and the Queen herself was greatly pleased with them, it was also the rumor believed by the fewest people.

The only believers were his political opponents who wanted to prevent Raleigh from raking in money in the future.

The second rumor was being spread by Raleigh himself. He was demonstrating excellent showmanship as he darted around London's influential merchants and nobles.

Those who believed this were usually people interested in money. More precisely, those interested in the money that the new colony in the New World would bring in.

They would all become Raleigh's investors and sponsors.

The last rumor... was the most extravagant and romantic. Many fools were captivated by the possibility of a vast empire and new civilization across the Atlantic, stomping their feet and losing sleep.

That rumor was spread directly by the Queen herself.

Why?

"Very... light."

Because she rather liked this 'aluminum' ring.

She wanted it to become fashionable.

She wanted it to become a new wealth.

She wished that as Raleigh presented 'aluminum' to her, its value would skyrocket.

She wished the aluminum that might exist in that New World would overwhelm Spain's gold and silver. She wanted it to fill the treasury depleted by the defeat in the recent naval battle, even a little.

With such complicated feelings, Elizabeth Tudor, fascinated by aluminum's mysterious light, continuously fingered the ring.

And.

Pop.

"Oh... ooooh...!"

She wanted to eat more of these grapes.

To think there are more such grapes in that New World...!

She bit and tore apart the firm yet soft skin encasing the grape in one bite.

"Oooooh...!"

And with it, she enjoyed supreme pleasure.

Not just the pleasure of taste.

The eternal deficit that could not be resolved even with trade (=piracy) with Spain.

And the emergence of a new luxury item.

...A new luxury item on which massive taxes could be levied!

She felt the excitement she had felt when she had just resolved to go to war with Spain.

This is an opportunity.

Beyond those transparent grapes, she sees money. She sees new revenue that will offset the enormous expenditure of the court.

And she sees royal authority. She sees herself standing proudly, trampling all other nobles with the wealth of the New World.

Merely 100 or so people couldn't have discovered all those treasures. Surely a local emperor strong enough to help defeat Spain together must have assisted them.

A foreign vast and wealthy empire, an empire so powerful that even Spain, which brought the Incas and Aztecs to their knees, had no choice but to respect.

If she could cooperate with them and gain more wealth and power...!

Elizabeth suddenly looked in the mirror.

Her reflection was smiling unconsciously. It was a familiar smile.

When her half-sister and terrible enemy Queen Mary took the first step toward downfall by marrying the King of Spain.

When she finally died and passed on the throne.

It was the smile she had shown to the mirror when she secured an intact kingdom over the blood of countless Catholics.

It was the smile of an ambitious person.

==

"They say he brought a mysterious metal."

"According to rumors, some say it's the legendary orichalcum."

"They say it's harder than iron but much lighter, shines like silver, and doesn't rust like gold...!"

"Isn't even its name mysterious? The name they call it..."

Aluminum.

"Her Majesty the Queen appeared wrapped in the fur that Sir Raleigh presented!"

"Good heavens, similar fox fur prices are currently soaring in London..."

"It's too hard to keep up with demand with just the supply coming from Scotland!"

Various furs.

"Have you seen the jewels Raleigh brought from the New World? They say they were processed in ways never seen before!"

"With all that coral and pearls... goodness, did they scoop up the seabed or something?"

"Foreigners with more delicate handwork than Europeans... wouldn't trading with such people make a fortune?"

"Raleigh has struck gold, absolutely."

Various jewels.

All the 'spoils' that Walter Raleigh brought were shaking all of London, no, all of England.

Everyone who met Sir Raleigh begged if he couldn't possibly share some of the goods brought from the 'Virginia colony' with them, and even Raleigh's oldest political opponents subtly begged him for new luxury items.

A new trend was being born right now.

John White's drawings of the New World were made into prints and sold like hotcakes, and some words from Thomas Harriot's Algonquian dictionary were called in social circles like cheerful greetings or magical spells.

There were many cases of expressing tattoo patterns said to be engraved by the Croatoan and Roanoke colonists as embroidery on clothes, and above all...

"Your Majesty, no matter how hard the New World savages try, they can't surpass the taste of our Sussex grapes..."

"They've surpassed it by far. Walt? How many of your grapes are left?"

"My beloved Queen, I still have five more bunches left."

Shine Muscat.

That mysterious fruit which, except for the Queen and her close associates, very few had tasted, and even fewer had the opportunity to observe closely.

"This fruit, grown directly by the noble 'local collaborator' who is served by the savages, is very precious and sweet! Moreover, it makes the eater's digestion smooth and has excellent effects on heart health too!"

Raleigh added various details to the fragmentary information about the 'local collaborator' that John White had somewhat evasively mentioned, and to the content about 'the efficacy of Shine Muscat' that Nemo had passed on to John White.

As a result, Shine Muscat became 'a divine fruit that guarantees longevity when eaten' and 'grapes with a flavor seemingly descended from heaven that leads people to the Garden of Eden,' becoming the center of rumors everywhere.

And...

"...A heavenly taste? Hmph, that's not wrong."

This one statement from Queen Elizabeth confirmed everything.

Additionally, Queen Elizabeth still wore the ruby-embedded aluminum ring and brilliantly shining aluminum earrings.

She wore New World fox fur on her shoulders, laid New World wolf leather on the floor, and decorated the palace everywhere with coral brought from the New World.

The Queen personally promoted the colonial business.

All these circumstances were fueling the trend for 'similar products'.

Already England's foxes were nearly extinct, grapes were sold out, and the prices of platinum and silver, which were somewhat similar to aluminum, had skyrocketed.

However, all those similar products were far from enough to quench the thirst of the English.

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They were all crying out.

"Sir Raleigh! Please! Send more fleets to the colony!"

"Walter, sell me just one aluminum decoration, just one. I'll exchange it for gold ten times its weight!"

And Sir Raleigh...

"...The loan?"

"It's approved."

"Excellent!"

"You know if you can't repay this money, you'll have to sell everything including your estate, right?"

"If I don't use this money now, I'll probably regret it for the rest of my life?"

He was gathering even souls.

An ordinary person would focus on bringing goods accumulated in the new colony at this point. It's normal human psychology to think about taking some profits when experiencing such a 'moon shot.'

But Sir Raleigh was different.

He was a man with a beast's heart.

A man who entered the core of England's power with nothing but the Queen's favor, and then had an affair with that very Queen's lady-in-waiting while praying not to get caught.

A man who, if a coin he held rose tenfold, would invest funds gathered by pledging even his organs as collateral, waiting for it to rise a hundredfold.

That was Sir Raleigh.

That boldness was his charm, and that charm had made him, a nothing, a fallen gentry, into the Queen's favorite.

Walter Raleigh immediately began buying up all the cows throughout England. The number of cows gathered this way was about 237.

Once enough livestock to set up a large ranch had gathered, Raleigh proceeded with the business without hesitation.

The so-called 'Virginia Trading Company' was established, and under that company's name, the construction of new ships was ordered.

Cargo ships capable of carrying hundreds of livestock and various loads were purchased and built several at a time.

And when the cargo ships were ready, Raleigh didn't delay any further.

"Thomas! Thomas Harriot! What did I tell you? I said it would work!"

"...Ah, so it does work."

"Go quickly. Governor John White needs these livestock to pioneer the new colony!"

He crossed the Atlantic right away.

Hundreds and thousands of able-bodied men flocked to the Virginia Trading Company he left behind, applying for immigration rights.

However, almost none of them were actually promised immigration.

Only technicians with families were accepted; all others were disqualified.

That was also a condition Raleigh had promised to White.

...And it was also what White had been ordered by Nemo.

Raleigh never thought that he was being moved by that 'noble local collaborator.'