How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony

In Europe, before the flames of war erupted, ominous haze and the scent of burning were already rising.

Everyone expected war to break out somewhere, but honestly, no one gave much thought to the scale or brutality of that war.

They merely salivated over the spoils they would claim after victory.

The glory of victory.

Glory to be etched in history.

Glory that would continue even after their death.

While pursuing such things.

And.

Throughout the Continental Covenant, efforts to maintain wealth and glory beyond one's lifetime were emerging.

It's been 30 years since the Virginia community was established.

Many apostles who once boasted of their youth have now entered middle or old age, and even John White has passed away.

Now, when the babies of the Roanoke colony would have become thirty-year-old adults.

Now, when those thirty-year-olds would have turned sixty and become surrounded by grandchildren.

For some, it was time to think beyond the end of their lives.

As the wealthy who had just awakened to their desires tried to manage wealth that would pass to their children and bloodlines...

"Do you have any pound notes?"

"...No. Gold coins are what we can't find these days."

When it came down to it, they had no way to accumulate that wealth.

The most intuitive means to accumulate wealth is, of course, currency.

Especially as England fell into chaos recently, exiles and immigrants who fled brought their assets to the Continental Covenant's territory.

Most of their assets were gold items, particularly gold coins.

Due to the advantage of being relatively small and light compared to their value, precious metals were always the first assets that migrants secured.

Add to that the small gold and silver coins that previous immigrants had brought in bundles.

Such foreign currencies were the first assets targeted by wealthy people looking to accumulate wealth.

But their quantities were limited.

It was natural since there weren't many channels for pound notes or livre notes to enter the union aside from what immigrants brought in bundles.

So the value of foreign currencies skyrocketed. The various coins, already few in number, soon moved beyond the options available to factory owners and abbots.

After all, one needs to be able to obtain something before even thinking about it, right?

And.

The next thing that caught people's attention was something that was not limited in quantity, lasted a long time, and like gold coins, allowed wealth to be preserved in a compact form.

"Hey."

"What is it?"

"That... how many Othello pieces do you have?"

Othello currency.

To Kin Issei, they were merely game pieces, neither coins nor anything else, but currency is something that runs on credit.

And since they were originally created to be exchanged for high-value livre gold coins, the value of Othello currency was easily guaranteed by that alone.

Plus the symbolism of coming from the angel's mansion.

Everyone collecting Othello pieces had expectations. The belief that the value of Othello currency would be preserved by celestial authority, and that these Othello pieces couldn't even be duplicated.

In fact, these weren't just beliefs but certain facts. Since Othello pieces came from Kin Issei exchanging livre to French merchants, their value was certain.

Also, the fact that they were made with 21st-century technology, making counterfeiting impossible, caught everyone's attention.

But that alone wasn't enough.

There probably wouldn't be anxiety about the value of Othello decreasing just by holding onto them. Such anxiety didn't exist.

However, it also seemed unlikely that the value of Othello would increase just by holding onto them. As much as there was no anxiety, there was also no visible hope.

Virginia's wealthy needed something that would maintain its value, or rather increase in value, even after their lifetime.

They needed items that could be passed from themselves to their children, and then from their children to their grandchildren, gradually increasing in value.

"This whiskey has been distilled in the Wild Chicken area near Pamlico Bay for about 10 years."

So they considered various options.

"When we cut down nearby oak trees to make barrels for aging whiskey, surprisingly, it produces a sweet yet spicy aroma..."

"Hmm."

Meanwhile, they consistently enjoyed the luxuries they had been enjoying. Eating, drinking, wearing, and displaying.

"...Also, isn't this whiskey something the angel has been seeking lately, and others are looking for as well? Moreover, with the name Bourbon attached to it, it's being handled not only in Virginia but also in France, Florida, and various other countries."

"Oh ho."

Then one day, they turned their eyes away from the distance and looked around their homes.

They turned their attention to the things they ate, drank, wore, and displayed.

"First, I must express my sincere gratitude for visiting our liquor store. I must also say it's extremely fortunate. Currently, many people are ordering our Bourbon whiskey. What's in this bottle is the last..."

"How much is it?"

"Well..."

"I can pay any amount within the limit of my Othello chips deposited at the Chesapeake Central Market."

It seemed quite good.

So, they began to turn their eyes to collectibles.

==

At first, it was whiskey.

It was a field that people hadn't extensively explored yet, and it was also rapidly growing as trade with France opened up.

Of course, it was a trend that emerged as Henry IV, bitten by Oitotan, reluctantly sold Bourbon as a royal drink, but thanks to the strange and interesting flavor of "Virginian whiskey," that trend continued to spread without dying down for years.

'This way... wouldn't the value of that whiskey be reasonably maintained even after I die?'

It didn't take long for people's thoughts to reach this point.

Soon, whiskey at liquor stores everywhere sold out, and then people began to raid distilleries, buying up entire barrels of whiskey still in the aging process.

This news gradually reached Tarren, a Welsh Virginian who had been a carpenter, then a shop owner, and now a factory owner.

"Among whiskeys, the king of France is buying up lots of those with a sweet taste! So if I buy a few barrels of similar tasting whiskey and age them for a while, won't I profit just by sitting around!"

"Ohhh!"

And Tarren was easily influenced.

When he scraped together all the money he had and didn't have, it amounted to quite a sum.

With the appearance of a big spender, the Scottish employees at the distillery treated him like a king, though he had been just an ordinary carpenter until a few years ago, which made him splurge even more.

He immediately joined several clubs and frequented several bars, starting to accumulate information about whiskey.

Here, accumulating information about whiskey meant:

"To success!"

"To success!"

Drinking.

...Of course, that wasn't all.

Tarren saw various bars springing up around the Scottish settlement of Glen Angel, which had been an empty field just a few months ago.

He also saw whiskey enthusiasts wandering around the area, and the Scots of Glen Angel building inns next to the distillery.

They soon widely opened the distillery for visitors to tour, and bought small steamships to make it easier for guests to come and go in the area.

Benefiting from all these processes, Tarren happily drank whiskey, went on distillery tours, and observed the process of making the whiskey he collected.

What Tarren experienced was just part of the innovation process in the whiskey industry where money suddenly flowed in.

As time passed and much money gathered, people finally began to focus on the work of pricing whiskey.

"...There's a very strong scent of pepper, mild vanilla, and cherry."

"Mild vanilla scent? It's inferior."

"Ugh, there's a fishy sea smell here..."

"Discard it immediately!"

Collectors soon began to distinguish which whiskeys were delicious and rare, and which were tasteless and ordinary.

At first, it was simply a matter of highly valuing scents that people generally liked, and avoiding scents that people generally disliked.

But now that a single bottle of whiskey had become a valuable investment, that wasn't enough.

Tiny differences frequently resulted in price differences of one Othello chip.

And enthusiasts gladly paid that money for these tiny differences, enjoying both the flavor of the liquor and the price differential.

People emerged who professionally appraised the taste of dozens of whiskeys and set their value. They too grasped a considerable share of money.

"Thank you for inviting me. Do you drink whiskey here too?"

"Haha, yes. I hope the ambassador enjoys it too..."

"Yuck, it's poor quality with too strong a pungent scent."

"..."

"..."

"Drink this instead. It has a very deep apple aroma."

In this way, the strict and delicate taste standards formed in Virginia were immediately re-exported and spread to the European continent through Oitotan.

In Scotland, Ireland, England, and France and its neighboring countries, they consumed Virginia's whiskey.

More and more people enjoyed whiskey over time.

And Tarren's expectations rose accordingly.

Ah, I wonder how much the price of the whiskey in the barrels I bought has jumped? Surely, since they cost about 3 Othello when I bought them, when I sell them, they should be at least 11 Othello...

"2.4 Othello. I can't value it higher than that."

"...What did you say?"

"The ones aged the following year have much more intense flavor and distinctive aroma, so the price of this year's whiskey has generally dropped quite a bit..."

"Nonsense! Don't talk nonsense!"

"..."

"Arrrrghhh!"

...Anyway.

Not everyone can profit from investments.

As bubbles inflated, burst, and revived repeatedly, the whiskey industry grew larger and larger.

Besides this, numerous people spent lavishly on various collectibles.

Some invested in paintings and various artworks.

This was the choice of those who keenly spotted that people gradually needed decorative items as they expanded their first homes.

Some collected camping equipment and related crafts.

These were people who noticed that many people were enjoying camping leisurely, following the taste of the nameless one who enjoyed camping.

Some set their sights on the somewhat traditional field of jewelry and precious metals.

Mainly English exiles poured funds into this area, having realized that the residents here, many of gentlemanly origin, aspired to more "aristocratic" and "splendid" fields.

Thus, in each field, changes similar to those in the whiskey industry began to occur.

Related gatherings and organizations emerged, producers engaged in more active investment and business expansion, and stricter and more detailed evaluation criteria and standards developed for those products.

As gorgeous luxury arose everywhere, the mansions of the wealthy became increasingly splendid and bustling.

Mansions that weren't too large because they couldn't increase the number of employees much (since no one particularly wanted to serve others personally).

But splendid mansions.

In the display cabinets of those mansions were numerous paintings, crafts, whiskeys, and wines.

The value of each of these items fluctuated but continued to rise.

These items would likely maintain their value even after their owners died.

These seemingly modest yet bold desires gathered.

Ambitions for wealth and power that would continue even after their death gathered.

Hopes grew for wealth that would increase rather than diminish with the passage of time.

"Nemo, is it alright for such luxury to be widely spread?"

"Pardon?"

"Many monasteries are loosening their ascetic disciplines, and drinking and merrymaking are prevalent everywhere..."

"It's fine."

And Kin Issei said about this:

"I like it when people are joyful and happy."

==

Although I wasn't well-versed in history, after living in this era for about 30 years, I roughly knew what had happened in Europe over the past few centuries.

For example, decades ago, the city of Zurich, ruled by Calvin, was governed by ascetic and pious, yet very strict and boring regulations.

Whenever some people, especially pious Puritans like Hewett, asked if luxury should be regulated, I often imagined Zurich of that era.

...No matter how much I thought about it, it didn't suit me, who had lived in a secular modern society.

I had no intention of creating such a society.

To be precise, I don't have the capacity to do so either.

Ah, I'm not saying I'm not an important person in this community. It's not that I don't have the power, nor that I don't have the capacity.

Rather, it's because this society operates in a way that seems somewhat peculiar to my eyes.

To explain in more detail... this society operates completely differently from the East Asian society I'm familiar with.

Everyone views other worlds and societies based on the world around them and the society they belong to.

The same goes for Japanese people.

Not just Japaneses, but East Asians consider societies where the state defines everything as familiar. So when looking at other societies, they often distort them to fit their familiar framework.

For example, when viewing the fact that in pre-modern Europe, the church took on some functions of the state.

Japanese tend to conveniently think, 'Ah, the church belonged to the state and took on part of its duties!' but the reality is completely different.

The church does not belong to the state.

The church exists separately from the state.

The state merely outsourced certain tasks to the church.

The same applies when looking at educational institutions.

Institutions like the Shoheizaka Academy in Edo Japan and the Imperial Academy in Ming China were state organs that trained talents for those states. When Edo Japan and Ming China perished, the Shoheizaka Academy and the Imperial Academy disappeared.

However, Oxford University and Cambridge University are not under the English kingdom.

They exist independently from the English kingdom.

Like mitochondria, which wriggle inside cells but live with their own independent DNA.

In that sense, our society might be seen as resembling European rather than East Asian societies.

The Agricultural Knight Brigade.

The Nameless Church.

The Virginia Trading Company, recently renamed the Federal Trading Company, and the navy that shares ships with it.

And so on.

The various groups and associations that make up our society were formed among themselves. These weren't created with me formally establishing some system.

Rather than organs within a single state, they should be seen more as different organisms in a symbiotic relationship.

The Agricultural Knight Brigade, responsible for producing and distributing agricultural products in our society, may look like an organization under the Virginia government, but in fact, they operate on their own. They are merely cooperating with the Virginia government.

And the Federal Trading Company, which exclusively trades those agricultural products and various goods with Britain and distributes the profits, is also only loosely allied with the government.

Just as Demodex mites living on human skin eat sebum and distribute acidic substances to block bacteria, but aren't part of the human body.

Just, like that.

Our community is not a single organism. It's not a structure where the government commands each organ as the brain commands each body part.

When the Knight Brigade produces agricultural products, the trading company sells and distributes them, and the government eliminates potential conflicts related to distribution.

When the trading company lays groundwork by spreading multi-level marketing to tribes in all directions, the church expands nearby, and similarly, the Knight Brigade ultimately settles and cultivates the surrounding area.

When the government wages war, it sends requests to each association. Then the trading company donates ships to the navy, and the Agricultural Knight Brigade modifies tractors for warfare to protect the community.

...Rather than a single organism, it might be closer to an ecosystem.

Naturally, an ecosystem doesn't have a single brain. It doesn't have a single ruler.

I am not the head of this society.

I am merely someone who weeds and prunes this garden.

The appearance of this garden won't be the same forever. Just as the forest's seasons change, leaves fall, and different wildflowers grow.

The Agricultural Knight Brigade will someday look different from now. How long will the free distribution of 25 hectares of land continue?

Perhaps the day will come when the Virginia government first imposes taxes on its members.

No one knows how long the spiritual and social enthusiasm of members will last. Who knows if the Industrial Monastery will always maintain its current form?

Like all societies, this one will change.

Over decades, centuries.

During that time, I will watch and help.

Today too, people evaluate premium wines and whiskeys and gather artworks.

I watch them. I haven't particularly intervened.

Because it looked good.