How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony

"You, de-de...vil..."

There was no strength in his voice.

"Go...go away..."

There was no conviction in his eyes.

He trembled all over as he gazed up at the being before him.

The truth was reflected in his two eyes.

A man stands there.

No, a man? Can one assign a human gender to him? Can one attach a human name to him?

He is not a person.

He must be either a devil or...

...or...

Asuero, unable to contain the truth in his mind, trembled all over. Fear and anguish that gripped his soul emerged amid the throbbing pain of his body.

Only then did the thoughts he had been putting off float up.

How on earth.

How on earth did he know?

How did 'he' discover Asuero's past, and how could he reveal things Asuero had hidden?

...No.

This too is a foolish question.

The truly important question is this:

What is this mysterious being standing before Asuero?

One who revives from death.

And one who sees through human sins.

Sin.

...My sin.

"..."

Asuero is silent.

Asuero is silent, unable to do anything. There was nothing more he could do.

The 'native emperor' before his eyes must be either a devil or an angel.

And whether a devil or an angel, the result was the same.

He came to me.

He knows my sins.

He has pierced my soul.

I was his.

Asuero thought this and wept.

"Y-you...are..."

While weeping, he murmured without even realizing it.

"...a de-devil?"

And there Asuero's thoughts stopped.

This was a question yet not a question.

This was self-deception.

Asuero already knew what kind of being the other was. The other could not possibly be a devil.

But he wanted to ask just once more, for the last time.

"What... are you...to..."

To dig up my sins.

To speak of my punishment.

To this, he answers.

"Nemo."

The one who is nothing before infinite and brilliant glory.

The one who stands at the feet of the throne, beside the Lord of all creation.

And thus, the one who lives wrapped in that radiance.

He is...

"N-no. No. No. No. No way."

He is a devil.

"Y-you, you, you're a devil. A devil...! You, you're a de-"

He serves the Lord, and he is a devil.

He must certainly be a holy being. But he is a devil.

He cannot possibly be a devil. Therefore, he is a devil.

Thoughts that could never possibly connect become linked, and shocks that could never possibly be endured strike his soul.

His reason gradually melts away.

"Must...flee...from...the de...vil..."

Yes. Because he's a devil.

I must escape before the devil who serves the Lord inflicts divine punishment on an evil person.

Me? An evil person? That can't be. But devils inflict divine punishment on evil people, and I am an evil person, so I must flee.

Tormenting slaves is a serious crime. But all I did was torment slaves! I have sinned, so I mustn't be punished! Because I am an evil person! The Lord loves evil people, and the devil loves righteous people, and the devil created all things, and the Bible was written by the devil...

The sea surges upward and the sky plummets downward. Stars swim like fish, and fish shine like stars.

Thus, he staggers to his feet in this tangled world.

As he crawls out of the living room on all fours, the sound of someone following with footsteps, thump, thump, comes from behind. No. It's the devil's footsteps. I must flee. Strangely, even though running on all fours should surely be twice as fast as walking on two legs, I cannot escape from him.

Ah, that's right. That guy was a devil. He must certainly be flying with the angel wings on his back.

Then I too must rise. Because, uh, did humans originally walk on two legs?

Having risen like that, Asuero hurriedly rushes to pound on the front door. But the steel door doesn't budge an inch. After pressing various buttons and turning levers, luckily the door opens with a "click" sound.

Asuero swims through the darkness, moving staggeringly through the gap in the door.

I'm not sure... if I'm walking properly. The ground seems to be turning to mush.

You, Asuero Javier, repent. If you repent, hell will move away from you.

Looking up at the sky, clouds were baring their teeth and rushing to devour him. Filled with fear, he bends his waist and quickens his pace again.

You, sinful Asuero Javier. You should be afraid. Be afraid of hell. Be afraid of your sins that summon hell.

Looking back, the angel's figure is nowhere to be seen, and numerous dark-skinned Moors are running towards him. They are all his former slaves.

They wail. Torture that man. Torture him as he tortured us.

If not. If you fear becoming righteous. You, Asuero Javier, will suffer eternally.

Other people run after him. They are natives. They chant. Tear him apart, mock him, humiliate him. Let us return to him as he tore, mocked, and humiliated our souls.

All those wails and chants and laments and sighs and tears and thundering voices pierce Asuero's ears.

Every dirt floor he steps on turns into black charcoal. From that charcoal, terribly hot flames sprout like grass and pierce his feet.

All mountains look like towers of piled skulls, and all forests look like seas of surging lava.

The power of death hangs over your head, and if you do not repent, you will fear the punishment that comes after death until the day your breath ends.

The voice of the angel, no the devil, no the angel chasing after him, strikes like lightning in Asuero's heart.

Wings sprout on the shoulders of the native emperor, no, the angel. The trident in the angel's hand transforms into a grotesque shape and pierces Asuero's entire body.

Is this... a hallucination? No, that can't be.

It's too painful.

"Ugh...aah...aaaahh..."

The world blurs with tears. It blurs with gray and rainbow colors. He cannot properly distinguish the world. He gets hurt in the bushes, his feet catch on stones, and his body crashes into tree trunks.

Still, he walks.

Because behind him, the devil, no, the angel, the an...devil, the angel is chasing.

Because he must flee.

Because he must flee forever.

He walked.

He walked, firmly gripping his half-crazed head amidst a world that appeared only faintly.

The angel's voice continues to ring in his head.

His judgment approaches you.

Be afraid.

BE AFRAID!

His shouting overturns the entire mountains and valleys, and his mad laughter makes the sea boil.

Asuero Javier must flee. He must flee forever. He must walk and walk and walk forever.

But he will never be able to escape from the clutches of that devil who is an angel.

Everywhere... was noisy.

The whole world was in turmoil.

==

"..."

"..."

"..."

It is quiet here. But it is filled with tension.

Eleanor and the other soldiers waiting at the entrance to the farm stare in bewilderment at the scene before them.

That terrible murderer, that shameless deceiver who pretended to be a righteous person, was staggering towards the gate.

And behind him, He was just watching him from a distance.

Asuero was like a ghost rather than a person. His pupils shook in all directions as if chasing an invisible vision, and he shook his entire body as if swimming in darkness.