How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony-Chapter 29: Prophecy (1)

"Huff, huff..."

His breath quickens. Sir Walter Raleigh calms his breathing with difficulty while unbuttoning his upper garment due to the stifling feeling.

He feels an overwhelming presence. A tension he has never felt before, not even when he first saw Her Majesty the Queen, flows along his spine.

"Ah... aaaah...!"

He recalls the imagination he had drawn until just now.

He kneels to show respect to the noble yet ignorant barbarian chief. The chief utters a few words in broken English and shows curiosity about Raleigh's clothing.

Smiling, he politely brushes off the chief's touch and then offers him the Bible. And he says, 'This is the fountain of eternal life.'

Then the chief questions, 'Fountain?' and examines the Bible, turning it this way and that. Not knowing what a book is, he ponders how to handle this strange object.

He teaches the chief step by step how to open the Bible and reads from the first verse.

'In the beginning... let there be light...'

Yes. Like that.

Character by character, character by character.

He teaches the blessed verses of the Gospel to one who doesn't know the Gospel.

Remembering how foolish that imagination was, his face turns red. He gasps for breath and opens his mouth.

"W-w-what are you? What on earth...!"

"Did I not tell you? I am one who sees the Lord's light up close."

Again.

With each word, each phrase, he feels a heavy pressure. It feels as if he's hearing his voice directly with his heart rather than his eardrums.

"Compared to the Lord, I am nothing."

Every syllable he articulates clearly is translated into the many languages familiar to him and nailed like stakes into his ears. This is no longer just 'speech.'

"I am Nemo."

This is the descent of the Holy Spirit.

Suddenly there came a sound from heaven like the rushing of a mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. (Acts 2:2)

And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them, (Acts 2:3)

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:4)

This is exactly what was described in the Acts of the Apostles.

Trembling with fear, lifting eyes half-filled with tears, Walter Raleigh speaks.

"Could you be... the Lord?"

"Foolish words. How could you confuse the potter with the pot?"

"Then."

"Did I not tell you? I am one who hears the Lord's words up close, sees the Lord's light up close, and touches the Lord's garment up close.

I am Nemo."

"Ne...mo."

"Yes. That is what people on earth call me."

"..."

Only then does Raleigh feel as if something is being pieced together in his mind.

Why John White showed such reverence with a cautious attitude.

Why he hesitated, hiding 'His' identity little by little.

Tremble, tremble.

The trembling starts from his fingertips. His whole body trembles with awe and shame.

I tried to gift him the Bible.

"I-if you are not Satan or the Antichrist, you must surely be an angel...!"

Good heavens, to such a being he wanted to gift a Bible! Baptize him! Make him swear to be a subject of England!

"Are you worried that I might be a devil? Indeed, I suppose that could be possible.

The second beast of destruction performs great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in front of people, imitating the power of the Lord (Rev 13:12-13)."

"No, no, no. I..."

"Speak honestly."

"..."

Walter Raleigh, barely enduring the fear that envelops his body, speaks.

"If you were Satan... you would vanish in the name of the Lord. If that's not the case, I d-dare to request proof here..."

"..."

"Yes! I may be as foolish as St. Thomas who put his finger in the Lord's side, or like Gideon who believed in the Lord only after seeing the dry fleece, but suspecting and guarding against evil is also a virtue that His sheep should have..."

"Your words are right."

'Nemo' nodded to him and smiled.

"Well done. Although you may have broken the seventh commandment, you truly strive to serve the Lord."

The seventh commandment... if it's the seventh commandment in Exodus...

'You shall not commit adultery.'

Ah.

Aaaah...

Raleigh's face turns red again. He bowed his head deeply, almost touching the floor with his face.

"I, I, I, with our virgin Queen, Her Majesty, a relationship too shameful to..."

"Hmm? That's not what I meant."

"Um... pardon?"

"Your lover, Bess."

"What? How do you know about her...?"

"You wish to marry her, yet you share a bed with the Queen. This is shameful."

How.

The being before him makes the word 'how' embarrassing.

...Nevertheless, Raleigh, with a thread of doubt, with fear toward hell, asks.

"Isn't that... ultimately a thing of the past? Even the devil could know such things..."

"Return."

"...Pardon?"

"Return and see. Watch as the current Pope dies and Ippolito Aldobrandini of San Pancrazio becomes the new Pope.

He will choose mercy (Clemens) as his new name."

"..."

A clear prophecy.

Whether it is true or not, no one can know, but he spoke decisively nonetheless. That decisiveness silenced Raleigh.

The death of the Pope and the accession of a new Pope.

Ippolito Aldobrandini of San Pancrazio, muttering that name, Walter Raleigh managed to rise while still kneeling.

Then the 'angel' said to him.

"Fear not."

How could this sinful man not fear the servant of the Lord?

"I did not come to punish you. The Lord has not prepared curses for you, but glory and bliss."

"...!"

"The Lord will use you greatly."

At that moment, Walter Raleigh's hands begin to tremble. The angel's voice, now familiar, wraps around his ears.

"Therefore... serve the only One with devotion."

Glory.

He has lived his life pursuing wealth and glory.

Not the kind that flies away in an instant with the whims of wind and waves like a picture drawn on sand, but wealth and glory that endure forever, as if engraved on a great marble temple.

He was just promised that.

From an angel.

...From the Lord.

"A-amen..."

That was all Raleigh could utter.

==

"This... needle of life... pierce it into your body!"

John White exclaims, stammering in the Algonquin language he has awkwardly learned.

"Haven't all of you lost many tribe members recently? Haven't people been suddenly dropping dead?"

Murmur, murmur.

Oitotan and everyone else nod gravely.

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This must have been a problem experienced by all the chiefs present.

Death would have come with sudden rashes on the body. No one would have known the reason for the deaths. They would have thought it was due to the anger of something not human.

A few clever people would have realized that those who had contact with people from across the sea died first, but still, there was nothing they could do.

"The Great Chief says if you pierce this needle into your body, you will only be sick for a few days and then live; death will retreat! Hallelujah!"

More chiefs flock to White's impassioned speech, and one by one they offer their arms.

Drip. Drip. Drip.

Drops of blood bloom, and a slight grimace appears on the warriors' faces. They were familiar with tattoos, so having needles applied to their bodies wasn't that strange to them.

Watching from a distance, I said to Walter Raleigh.

"Do you see?"

"I see, I see. I cannot understand why the pus of cows is being injected into the arms of those barbar... no, natives, but..."

"In this land, countless bloodshed and injustice will flow like rivers in the future. Millions will be slaughtered in the name of the Lord, and they will die crying out the Lord's name in hatred."

"...!"

Millions of blood, tears, hatred, and deprived lives.

Surprised by the weight of those words, Walter Raleigh's shoulders tremble slightly.

This was a clear truth.