NOVPUBNumerous "rebels" who had come up from the south, crowds that had gathered from all over Florida, became a great wave advancing on San Agustin.
A single "martyr" whose name became known directed the march of slaves who had been moving indiscriminately toward a single place.
Left them with just one goal.
Toward a city protected by well-armed fortresses.
To a place guarded by hundreds of armed soldiers.
And within San Agustin, whispers gradually grew louder.
"I clearly... saw it. Father Alonso never incited them to rebel! He was only trying to stop the excesses of the vigilante members!"
Since the incident occurred in San Agustin, witnesses couldn’t be silenced. Moreover, Alonso was a priest with a good reputation.
Other priests and missionaries dispatched to the area continued their protests against the governor until several were detained, then quieted down.
On the surface.
"Good heavens... vigilante members can stab someone to death in the middle of the street, and we can do nothing? Where are the Ten Commandments? Where is justice?"
"None of the vigilante members were punished. Justice... is not to be found with the governor."
They muttered in shock. Just then, a massive wave of slave rebellion was approaching San Agustin. They quietly whispered and made their plans.
Some left the city to join the slave rebel forces.
Some joined hands with slaves in the city to try to open the fortress gates but were caught and executed.
Some held protests in the name of God and were beaten and dragged away by slave owners.
Nevertheless, their anger became increasingly clear.
That anger could not be suppressed.
"Don’t you understand? Even without me... the rebellion was inevitable. How could people not rise up when injustice flows like water and justice has dried up like a river?"
"Unjust... You could say that."
Bishop Sebastian spoke, his eyes shining sharply.
==
"But not everyone can live enjoying freedom equally. Some rule and some are ruled. You pledge loyalty to His Majesty the King, and His Majesty rules over you from above your head, doesn’t he?"
"..."
"Your words are sophistry. Not everyone can be free."
"Yes, that might be right."
Alonso clenched his fist and rose from the bed. Then, striking the desk where Sebastian sat with his chin propped up, he said:
"Then, slave owners cannot be free either. They should not be given the power to abuse slaves as they please and use them as they wish!"
"That’s why I told you to educate and persuade the slave owners..."
"Education? Persuasion? This isn’t a matter for education and persuasion!"
Anger was evident in each of Alonso’s words. He refuted Bishop Sebastian more firmly than ever.
"The freedom to hurt and abuse others without reason is something humans cannot possess! Those who calmly claim such a thing... I cannot tolerate them."
==
Today too, he worked out routes to extract slaves by land, and through various Spanish collaborators, gathered people and sent them to Virginia through those routes.
They would be able to live enjoying freedom in Virginia, celebrating abundance.
It was a life slaves had never thought of before. The "priest" rejoiced at the thought of them living happily for the rest of their lives.
"I heard there’s a tremendous battle happening near San Agustin."
"..."
"I need to go there."
These were the words heard by a member of what Kin Issei had established and simply called an underground organization, a "priest."
Before him were people of various ages, from energetic young men to middle-aged adults.
He asked them honestly:
"Are you in your right mind?"
"..."
"..."
"If you just follow that path, you can live a happy life from now on. So..."
"So what? Are you telling us to leave dying people behind? That Spanish priest didn’t do that."
"..."
"...And are you telling us to endure this anger? This anger we want to return to those who have insulted and abused us all this time?"
At those words, the "priest" couldn’t give any answer.
Many people reversed course from the route and rushed to San Agustin. To where their help was needed.
And numerous "priests" and "deacons" also rushed in.
Over there are the leaders of the oppressors.
Over there we can gain our freedom.
It was a great paradox.
Many people rushed there to spill their blood.
And.
The gates of the fortresses surrounding San Agustin opened.
==
"..."
"..."
The two looked at each other in silence. Finally, Alonso said to Sebastian:
"Thanks to your words... I no longer regret."
"..."
"Thanks to your words, I know that what I did was indeed the right thing.
Even if I could go back to that time, I would still try to stop those vigilante members."
"..."
"Even at the cost of bloodshed, I would tell people to seek freedom."
Sebastian silently looks at Alonso after those words.
Then he adds one thing: 𝘯𝑜𝘷𝘱𝘶𝑏.𝘤𝘰𝑚
"Then... let me ask you one thing."
"Yes."
"When did I die?"
"What? Well, three years ago..."
"..."
"..."
He was a good and upright person. He was also someone who had told Alonso, who opposed slavery, to wake up to reality. He was Alonso’s superior and teacher.
A mistaken teacher.
"Where are you now? Where did you last lose consciousness?"
"In San... Agustin... while escaping on someone’s back..."
The surrounding scenery distorts.
Alonso blinks again.
It was an unfamiliar room.
Many people were looking down at him.
There were people he had seen before, and people he didn’t know. There were slaves, clergy, and underground organization members who had helped him free slaves.
He briefly pulled back the curtain covering the window.
Then many crowds looked up at him.
Alonso could tell where this was.
This was the place that was once the Governor’s Residence of Florida.
==
"To be honest, I didn’t think this was possible."
Raleigh quietly shook his head and handed me the report.
"San Agustin was surrounded by six fortresses, had 500 troops stationed, and was a city Spain had built with care. That it could fall like this..."
"It happened."
"..."
"I, too, couldn’t imagine it would come to this when organizing the underground..."
I erased "Spanish Florida" from "Spanish Florida" on the map in my hand.
And slowly, I estimated the distance between Mexico City and San Agustin by eye.
2,140 kilometers.
I bit my lip for a moment, thinking about how fast ships of this era were, and how quickly military forces could be mobilized in this era.
"Walter."
"Yes."
"How much can the enemies mobilize?"
Even without saying what and how much would be mobilized, Raleigh seemed to understand without hindrance.
After maintaining silence for a moment, Raleigh told me:
"I don’t... know. I really can’t tell."
It cannot be known.
"..."
"..."
They lost a colony where thousands of subjects lived in an instant.
Then how many troops, how many ships will the Spanish Empire mobilize?
How will they strike down Florida?
The tree of liberty has just taken root.
And a storm would rush in to uproot that tree.
The next day, the assembly was convened again.
