How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony

Clang! Clang-clang!

"Huff, huff, are, are you alright?"

"I'm... still fine, for now. How about you, Walter?"

I wasn't particularly short even in Japan, but since coming here, I've noticed something.

"I, I, I'm... finding it a bit difficult."

I've become something of a giant.

This is the 16th century. It's an era where the nutritional status and growth environment of people worldwide are much worse compared to 21st century developed countries.

Whether Walter Raleigh or Vicente González, despite being sturdy white adult men of this era, they were about 10 centimeters shorter than me. The differences in physique and strength were naturally significant as well.

"Would you like to take a break?"

"No... We don't have much time before departure, so let's leave it to Vicente. Hey! Vicente, come and spar with Nemo in our place...!"

"Me, me? Isn't there someone else..."

"Thomas Hewett is a lawyer, and John White is a painter. Who else is there besides us?"

That's why it wasn't surprising that the two men who were supposed to teach me swordsmanship and other miscellaneous martial arts before the battle quickly collapsed.

Originally, they were going to teach me physical training methods and other things as well. But naturally, no matter how systematic they might be, 16th-century physical training methods wouldn't surpass the various exercise methods of the 21st century.

After skipping various processes like that and moving straight to swordsmanship, this was the result.

"Huff... hah..."

All three collapsed.

People often say that 21st-century people who just sit at desks are much weaker than people from the past. That doesn't apply to me.

You bastards, am I not a 21st-century person? Office workers always think they're the only ones who exist in the world.

"So, when holding a sword, balance of the body is most crucial, and defending against an enemy's attack is... um..."

"..."

"..."

"Come to think of it, do I need to defend?"

"...Vicente, I still feel pain."

"Aha."

What do you mean 'aha'? Don't act like you just realized something. I still wake up sometimes because of the memory of being stabbed.

...Come to think of it, my first stabbing in life was because of you.

"Anyway... huff, hah... You said you'd teach me swordsmanship, but it's unfamiliar to me and just tiring."

"Is that so? But if hand-to-hand combat were to break out..."

"Then I'll use my own methods, Walter."

"..."

"..."

The two men whispered to each other about me and soon nodded, saying to me:

"Understood. Well, Nemo, you're superior in both physique and strength, so it should be fine."

"Normally, for a 'person' going into their first battle, we'd just hope they don't get hurt, but... surely, you won't get hurt, will you?"

Wow, they don't worry at all. I'm a person too. A person...

Oh, right. I'm not a person to them.

Looking back, I should probably first consider whether someone who survives a sword to the heart is a person, but well, that's not important.

A few days later, I boarded the Voyager after preparing appropriate means of self-defense.

And so, raising the banner of slave liberation, we began our magnificent voyage.

...

...

...

End of voyage.

Arrival at Ndakaaru, West Africa (modern-day Dakar, the capital of Senegal).

It's a port not far from Ribeira Grande, where the Spanish are likely stationed. It's also a gateway for slaves and various luxuries like gold, ivory, and more.

"Walter, do you hear any news about the Spanish?"

"Since Spanish and Portuguese frequently visit the area, when looking for information, it's not immediately clear if it's about the fleet we're seeking. Results should come soon.

And according to the data Drake brought, there are still about 3-4 weeks before they depart, right?"

"Then..."

"Yes. We have enough time to release the liberated slaves."

"Let's move slowly along the coast, then."

So we left Ndakaaru and moved southwest. Soon we could reach the coast near the homeland of most Africans we had brought.

We set the liberated ones ashore, and they slowly looked around, breathing in the air of their now-unfamiliar homeland.

In truth, it might be ambiguous to call it a homeland.

It's not like if a Martian kidnapped a Japanese, a Swede, a Lebanese, and a Vietnamese, and then roughly released them in New York, they would have been returned to their 'homeland.'

It's also amusing that people who lived in different tribes, speaking different languages, are grouped together and roughly dropped here solely because they were all captured as slaves by Spain.

But this was our best option. We couldn't find and return each of them to their individual homelands. Most people's hometowns had disappeared entirely.

Still, most of them now knew how to speak Spanish and English, albeit clumsily, and had built bonds through shared experiences.

I could only hope they could live together in this land.

"Look! New settlers!"

"Baron Raleigh is here too! Move the new supplies first!"

In this new settlement.

Liberia.

A Latin word meaning 'land of freedom.' I couldn't find a more appropriate name.

In original history, it was also the name of the country established when American abolitionists returned freed slaves to Africa.

Hundreds of freed slaves, whom we had previously dropped off and who had arrived in Liberia earlier, welcomed the latecomers in Spanish.

In response, they hesitantly but steadily walked into the village surrounded by a palisade. Ah, right. There was something I hadn't done for them yet.

"Wait! Please wait!"

When I shouted, everyone who was moving forward turned around, startled. At my gesture, sailors laid muskets, ammunition, and various necessities at their feet.

"In this area, there are tribes armed not only with bows and arrows but also with firearms received from Europeans. Use these to protect yourselves and the lives of others."

"..."

"More settlers will come in the future. Walter Raleigh and Vicente González here will steadily bring people who have gone through the same situation as you, so please welcome them.

And one thing, do not enslave or sell other people.

Please don't do to others what Europeans and other kings and chiefs have done to you.

That's all I ask. Because you are free now."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Naturally, there couldn't be anyone who 'didn't understand' my words. They stared blankly at my face, then one by one picked up firearms and various necessities.