How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony-Chapter 222: Missionary (4)

"Thank you. Please just give me the information about that missionary."

"...Here it is. Richard Peterson. Scottish, 26 years old, male."

Hewett bowed his head, feeling the weight of responsibility at the other’s calm attitude.

"Hmm, good. This should be enough to know. Then I’ll be going. ...Don’t blame yourself too much. It’s my responsibility too."

Taking the materials Hewett handed over, he slowly boarded the ship.

With a benevolent smile, he patted Hewett’s shoulder. This seemed to somewhat calm Hewett’s churning anguish.

Hewett quietly watched the ship move and offered a prayer.

Even the information he just gave contains news with a time lag of one to one and a half months.

More might have happened in the meantime. And the more that happened, the more serious the situation might have become.

"Sigh..."

Perhaps the Virginia community would become explicitly hostile to another tribe for the first time. Perhaps there would be war.

Whatever happened, it needed to be resolved by any means. But he was also afraid that He might overexert Himself.

"A person who ran for days on end to save people from a storm..."

As Hewett raised his head, murmuring thus.

"..."

His face at the bow had hardened.

Like a rock.

==

Whoosh!

As a basket filled with tobacco leaves is burned, everyone at the gathering becomes immersed in a feeling of awakening.

As the elder recites something and offers thanks to the spirits, people listen to him reverently.

In the midst of this sacred event...

"Praise the glory of the Lord!"

Some people shout from afar, interrupting the elder’s speech.

"For there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all! (Ephesians 4:5)"

"...We again to the one who rules the earth..."

"You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth! You shall not bow down to them nor serve them! (Exodus 20:4-5)"

"Th-those must be driven away..."

As the elder rises, saying this, he sees his daughter beyond the fence. His daughter was muttering something like a madwoman, sometimes shouting.

"For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God! (Exodus 20:5)"

And as the elder steps forward with a dejected expression, others rush in, throwing stones at him to prevent him from approaching, and take away his 17-year-old daughter.

The elder shouts.

"They’re kidnapping my daughter! Those things are kidnapping my daughter whom I haven’t seen for days!"

At those words, other people rise to quickly chase after them, but all they hear is shouting in a clumsy foreigner’s accent.

"Your daughter came to us of her own will! Come, Onwari! Tell them!"

"F-father...? The pastor... said that for our family not to all go to hell, at least I should come... I want you all to follow later! Please! Because I don’t want my loved ones to s-suffer eternally!"

"This is, damn it! Don’t listen to that damned person’s words and come here right now!"

"N-no! G-going to hell..."

And they quickly flee into the bushes and disappear. People could only watch them, afraid of hurting the elder’s daughter even as they tried to chase after them with weapons.

And the elder’s daughter, Onwari, returns to their own village, crying heavily, following the words of Richard and others.

To the village of the ’saved ones.’

As Richard, who has returned after disrupting their devil worship ceremony and rescuing another convert, looks around and checks attendance...

"There are a couple missing? What should we do?"

Again, people had escaped.

At the villager’s report, Richard clicks his tongue and shakes his head. In the end, unbelievers with weak will cannot be trusted. How can one seek the momentary and lose eternal life?

Thinking this, Richard orders his followers to return to their respective homes and seeks sleep in his hut. After waking up a few hours later...

"Father Richard?"

"...Why are you here?"

"Your expression has become quite... fierce."

At those words, Richard looks at his face reflected in the water. His eyes have become somewhat fierce, and his cheeks have hollowed. Soot is stuck on various parts of his unwashed face.

But what would they know? As he clicks his tongue again and glares, the merchants shrink back and say:

"...We have sent a letter to the homeland. Soon, someone will come to judge your wickedness. Perhaps Nemo himself might come. It’s that kind of matter!"

"Wicked...ness?"

"Goodness, are you asking because you don’t know? How many of their sanctuaries have you defiled? How many of their people have you kidnapped..."

"Apart from everything else, what are you trying to do to the relationship between our community and this tribal confederation? You, have you gone mad..."

Click.

"...Did you just point a gun at us?"

"Get out."

"..." frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

"Didn’t I just say get out? And I’ve never kidnapped anyone. They all came on their own feet. I just told them to cut off all previous ties. Is that a problem? Becoming a true Christian?"

"He’s mad... completely mad..."

"Get out."

"..."

"..."

The frightened merchants leave his hut. Coming out, they seem to be preparing to leave this place altogether, packing their belongings, and leaving the village among themselves.

"..."

Rather, it’s a relief. He hadn’t liked their talk about the homeland and the community’s rules from the beginning.

They are people who prioritize laws made by humans over the Lord’s law. Richard shakes his head and just chews over one of their words.

"Perhaps Nemo himself might come. It’s that kind of matter!"

"..."

The emotion Richard felt was not tension.

Neither fear, nor regret, nor reverence.

Surprisingly, Richard feels hope and joy rising in his heart.

He... might come?

As he steps outside, he sees several Mohawk people offering prayers at the cross erected in the center of the village for morning prayer time. He smiled contentedly at the sight.

And as he approaches among them, everyone flinches and looks up at Richard. Richard was their chief, their ruler. They believed in Richard as they believed in God.