How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony-Chapter 137: Sacred Circle (2)

He showed no sign of being flustered or surprised. Raleigh quietly kneeled on one knee before Him to show respect.

The clothes He usually wore were folded and placed beside Him, and loose, light clothes that would be comfortable for a patient had been changed onto Him.

Although it would be difficult to find firewood with everything soaked, dry wood was piled high beside Him, and the bonfire also seemed to have been neatly tended until just now.

A couple of native youths seemed to have been providing something like nursing care, carefully observing His condition.

It was evident in the way the people here treated Him.

"...You succeeded after all."

Mr. Nemo had saved the people here.

He simply smiled in response.

"Walter, I'm glad to see you survived safely through the storm. Are the others alright?"

"I haven't been able to check yet."

"I see."

And after emptying some of the warm porridge-like food handed by the natives, He slightly tilted His head after looking at Raleigh's face.

"Hmm... then, did you come here as soon as the situation ended? Why didn't you rejoin the other colleagues?"

"..."

"Walter? You don't look well. What's wrong?"

"..."

"Are you perhaps injured somewhere? Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you alone. Can you show me the wound...?"

"I'm not injured. I was in the safe zone Mr. Nemo designated, so my body is fine."

Raleigh shook his head and waved his hand to Nemo. And with a somewhat bitter expression, he asked:

"Just, I know it's funny... I know it makes no sense for a mere human made of dirt to worry about a spiritual being... but are you alright?"

"Pardon?"

"I was just reminded of when you first saved me."

It was still vivid in Raleigh's eyes.

When assassins rushed at him, He stretched out His arm to save him, and instead received countless slashing blades while standing His ground—he could still picture that scene.

The people at that place knelt before Him, and covered in blood and wearing tattered clothes, He quietly moved forward to save yet another life.

Every moment of that sacred scene was embedded in his mind and unforgettable. It would be more accurate to say that he couldn't forget it.

But Raleigh could remember not just the sacred aspect of the scene, but something else as well.

Others might not have seen it because they were too far away.

Those who stabbed Him with knives might not have seen it because they were too excited.

But he saw it.

How His fingertips trembled each time He was stabbed with a knife.

How His brow furrowed and then relaxed again.

"When I think about it, it makes sense. Even an angel... when clothed in human flesh, naturally feels pain, doesn't it?"

Yes. He feels pain.

When He was stabbed with a knife and threw Himself into burning flames, He felt the pain each time.

Because He is an angel clothed in flesh.

"Is the pain somehow lessened when transmitted to an angel?"

He quietly smiled... then dismissed the natives who were nursing Him and opened His mouth.

"...What meaning would remain in the Savior's Passion as He carried the cross, if you removed the pain? Many valuable things are obtained through pain."

In other words, His answer was 'no.'

He feels the full pain.

He feels the pain of flesh tearing, bones breaking, muscles twisting, and entrails being ravaged.

He feels the pain of limbs burning, the body becoming dizzy, fingertips and toes going numb, and strength draining from the entire body.

"And yet... did you go?"

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That long distance, with your bare body?

This time He just smiled. So Raleigh raised his voice further:

"How did you do that while enduring all that pain? What... does it leave you with?"

"Who would expect to gain something while doing a good deed?"

"Humans do."

Yes.

Humans do.

The desire for wealth and fame, the hunger for power drives them.

Therefore, a human would want their good deeds to be widely known, and a human would expect their name to be exalted through their good deeds.

That's what humans are.

No one endures beyond a certain limit of pain to go that far.

"...Isn't it painful? Why, why do you go this far?"

It appeared before Raleigh's eyes. The breaking Porter, His body writhing in pain, the image of Him running with a body that had gone without sleep for days—all of it appeared.

That's not something a person, no, even an angel should bear.

No one should bear such a thing.

Especially not the great being before him.

Especially not 'Him' who had changed his life and taught him so much.

He had already suffered enough, so why should He endure such great pain further?

"Is it because of your angelic duty? If it's because you're an angel, because you were created to serve humans and you're following that nature, then an angel's life is how terribly and painfully filled with..."

"Walter."

And.

As Raleigh raised his head, He smiled.

Unlike usual, His smile was full of playfulness.

"What a foolish question. Angelic duty, nature... it's not about such things. Why do you find it so difficult to answer a question that any human could answer?"

"...Pardon?"

"It was an amusing joke, if it was a joke. You run a trading company and have an excellent mathematician like Harriot as a friend, surely you wouldn't fail to solve such a simple arithmetic problem. Did I say I suffer?"

He extended one finger in front of Raleigh.

"Yes. I, one person, suffer 'briefly.'"

"..."

"And..."

Again, He extended all ten fingers in front of Raleigh.

"With the suffering of just one, hundreds of lives can be saved. It's a great profit."

"..."

"It's a hundredfold, no, a thousandfold profit. Shouldn't one be happy to have made such a great profit? As a merchant yourself, Walter, you would understand how happy I must be."

"I, I..."

Raleigh couldn't dare to answer.

Then He smiled.

"In this world, there are those who search all day for one lost sheep and rejoice when they find it. So, what's so extraordinary about making a small effort to save hundreds of people?"

One.

And hundreds.

Simple arithmetic.

"..."

That arithmetic left Raleigh speechless.

"This isn't about an angel's nature or anything like that. This is about doing something because one can do it. This is... just, the natural thing to do."

Again.

That naturalness blinded Raleigh's eyes with light.