How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony

Before his eyes were a white beach, vegetation beyond it, exotic trees, and fruits scattered here and there.

"Luis, do you know where this place is?"

"I don't know yet, but some people are searching the nearby coast to confirm, so we'll have an answer soon. Isn't saving our lives more important than anything else?"

"Well... I suppose so."

The man tidied his official attire and followed the other sailors off the ship. Looking back, the vessel they had come on had a broken mast and was twisted in many places, already beyond sailing without repairs.

Seeing that condition, the joy of survival faded from Luis Sotelo and the man's minds, and practical concerns began to emerge.

Where on earth was this place? An island? A continent?

Various parts of America were already dominated by Spain, so if this was a land touched by the light of civilization, they would soon be rescued and could return to their original destination.

But what if this was a deserted island? Or worse, what if it was a place inhabited by the cannibals they had only heard about? Or even if not, what if it was a land full of hostile barbarians?

In that case, far from escape, they would have to worry about survival here. As these thoughts reached them, the man and Sotelo felt chills down their spines.

They prayed.

That this would be a land ruled by Christians.

And.

"Look, the reconnaissance team is returning..."

"R-r-r-run away! Everyone run away!"

Their wish was granted in a direction they did not want.

"There, a steel carriage... a monster..."

The faces of those who heard these words froze.

They knew exactly what it meant. Especially since most of the people here were Spanish, they couldn't help but know.

This was Florida.

It was indeed a land ruled by Christians.

Soon soldiers swarmed in and surrounded them.

"T-this is a land ruled by a barbarian monarch, where the teachings of wicked apostates and heretics prevail!"

"According to rumors I've heard, the slaves here worship some angel? It's terrible."

"They say they control fearsome machines that instantly destroyed our soldiers."

"I-I, I saw that machine!"

"Good heavens, we're all dead men now!"

While the Spaniards, who had landed in enemy territory, trembled in fear, he too helplessly watched the soldiers pointing guns at them.

He had heard the rumors.

That to the northeast of Nueva España spread an empire of heretics, and its emperor cooperated with other heretics of the European continent to threaten faithful nations including Spain.

That a strange and terrifying heresy among heresies ruled this land.

That they should be careful of them.

Looking far away, he could see something like an outpost. They seemed to have been discovered from there and come running.

"Tiresome Spanish devils, have you invaded again!"

"Drop your weapons or we'll kill you! Everyone drop your weapons!"

When soldiers from the outpost shouted loudly, people quickly lost the will to resist and dropped their weapons.

Especially those who claimed to have seen some iron carriage or whatever it was dropped their weapons first. They had already completely lost their fighting spirit.

The rest also gave up resistance one by one, seeing dozens of well-armed enemy soldiers rushing in from nearby.

It was an astonishingly quick response. As dawn broke and the ship was spotted, soldiers who had been standing by in the vicinity rushed in to surround them.

Columns of smoke rising from all around seemed to be some kind of signal fire.

'Could it be that they've placed such outposts all along the coast to monitor the sea?'

The composition of the soldiers surrounding them was also unusual.

There was a diverse mix of people from Africans and Indians to Europeans.

And they were all glaring at them while carrying guns slightly different from what had been seen in Europe.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

And, a heavy mechanical sound.

At the eerie sound of metals brushing and interlocking, people involuntarily turned their gaze. He couldn't help but gape.

A beast made of iron.

It was big enough to crush a person instantly.

While he was dumbfounded seeing the size of the tractor, others were just trembling, saying the devil's chariot had come. They feared they would soon be executed by firing squad.

Florida's coastal guard immediately disarmed the Spaniards, then lined them up one by one and dragged them somewhere.

As he was being dragged away, he looked around again.

All those soldiers were wearing unified clothing and marching with identical armament. He had never seen such an army.

Everything was bizarre.

==

Only the main entity had changed from the Virginia Community to the Continental Covenant, and England had withdrawn from the front line.

The war between the Covenant and Spain was still ongoing.

Especially the Florida Diocese was most seriously concerned about Spanish reinvasion, and as a result, they destroyed various Spanish military strongholds in the vicinity and extremely strengthened coastal security.

They placed dozens of surveillance outposts and fortresses, and formed a coast guard in conjunction with the knights.

They established an abbreviated military school benchmarking Virginia's knight school and mechanical engineering school, and trained soldiers.

As a result, unlike Virginia's military system centered around tractors and knights, Florida maintained thousands of standing troops and focused on monitoring the surroundings.

The Continental Congress did not interfere with such coastal security, judging that such ironclad vigilance would help prevent dangerous rumors about Nemo from leaking outside.

To maintain such a large standing army, Florida rapidly increased its numbers.

They made liberated slaves and remaining Spaniards scattered everywhere into registered population, and quickly embraced and mediated with American tribes, incorporating them into the system.

Thus, ethnically diverse soldiers defended Florida's coast, and incidentally blocked the possibility of spies and smugglers.

Of course, it was nearly impossible for just a few thousand people to block the entire Florida coast, which was now approaching 2,000 kilometers.

In the end, they had no choice but to establish outposts at regular intervals, arm local residents, and improve the information delivery system by installing signal fires for quick response.

Most of the Florida government's capabilities were invested in this work.

"Bishop, the Spaniards discovered on the southern coast appear to be castaways for now."

"Then, after detaining them, we must convert them one by one..."

"However, there is one peculiarity."

When the aide handed the document to the Bishop of Florida, the bishop's face hardened.

"There is someone claiming to be a diplomatic envoy from a distant country."

"I don't know how to read this name. What is his identity?"

"You can read it as Hasekura. And his identity is..."

"..."

"..."

"...Let's report this to the Continental Congress."

==

"I-I am an envoy from Japan who came to meet His Holiness the Pope under my lord's orders! You cannot treat me like this!"

"Your name is..."

"Hasekura Tsunenaga!"

The man, detained in the same room as missionary Sotelo, shouted.

That was the first encounter between the Continental Covenant and the East Asian world to be recorded in history.