How to Survive in the Roanoke Colony

"This time, we'll change the model arrangement to a diagonal pattern and increase the amount of water poured to 20 liters. Is that acceptable?"

"...I've noted it all down. Proceed."

"Understood."

What we're doing now is an experiment.

In a wide tank with a slope, water is poured from one side, while on the opposite side, dozens of palm-sized small tetrapods have been dumped.

We're conducting experiments to see how well the breakwater holds up depending on its arrangement and the direction and intensity of the waves.

As Harriot nodded, strong men standing by on one side simultaneously removed a partition from the water-filled tank.

Whoooosh!

And so... the breakwater...

"Indeed... receiving the impact diagonally makes it much stronger in resistance. However, the load on the front section is too great."

It remained intact.

The reason we're all gathered here is quite simple.

Because I'm not a civil engineering major.

I don't have detailed future knowledge about breakwaters. But we can't cause a disaster by building a breakwater once and then saying, "Oh, we built this wrong? Let's demolish it and rebuild."

Moreover, the sea environment has too many variables to account for theoretically. The ocean is a living, breathing entity of immense complexity. Blockages in one area might cause ruptures elsewhere, creating unexpected pressure points. Sudden changes in seawater flow could develop, altering currents that have remained stable for centuries. Even established shipping routes might be forced to change, disrupting trade networks that the colonial economy depends upon. The interconnectedness of marine systems demands careful consideration.

So if you look over there, we're conducting experiments on a model that reasonably recreates the terrain features near Pamlico Sound.

Anyway, playing with models and messing up is much cheaper than ruining a few seas and islands later.

In any case, Harriot mumbled today as well, his brow furrowed in concentration, calculating where and with what density tetrapods should be stacked in each terrain. His fingers moved rapidly across his notes, jotting down figures and sketching arrangements with remarkable precision. Indeed, having one science person makes things so much easier. His mathematical mind bridges the gap between my vague future knowledge and practical implementation in ways I never could alone.

After conducting experiments for a couple of hours, we finished with the breakwater issue and moved on to the ship model phase.

We placed mini sailing ships and mini steamboats (of course, since there was no way to miniaturize steam engines, we substituted with clockwork toys) on the water tank and tested under what conditions they would break or slow down.

And, the test results...

"...The efficiency seems worse than expected."

Harriot looks at me with a dark expression.

What, what's this? Why such a serious face suddenly?

"What do you mean, Mr. Harriot?"

"Exactly as I said. This 'steamboat' differs completely from existing ships in both the load it must bear and the problems it must solve."

"..."

"For example, look at that sailing ship model with the broken mast in strong winds. That sailing ship receives the burden of force on its sails and mast, from which the entire hull gains propulsion to move."

"I, I see."

"But the steamboat... that is, the 'paddle wheeler' is completely different! Did you see how it immediately slowed down when high waves hit? The paddle wheel is submerged too much in water, preventing proper efficiency! This means the design of the hull itself..."

"Uh..."

Vaguely scientific talk, vaguely incomprehensible talk, something complex continued.

And from there, I could extract one conclusion.

"...Does that mean we need to completely rethink the steamboat design?"

"Correct."

"..."

"..."

"Do you have an idea of how it should be redesigned?"

"...For now, it seems we need to conduct more varied experiments."

That means he doesn't know.

Ugh.

I take back what I said about progressing quickly with future knowledge alone. I may know the answer, but knowing the answer doesn't always help.

There was a reason Edison experimented thousands of times to find light bulb filament materials.

In the end, technological development is about grinding and guessing. From now on, we'll use the Edison method.

We'll keep trying until it works.

...Of course, I can't do it myself.

I needed people who could do it for me.

Fortunately, finding such people wasn't too difficult.

'Knight School' and 'Mechanic School'.

Three years after joining the Covenant, the schools created to meet the demand for knights and mechanics while the alliance expanded have finally started producing something.

Hundreds of people who have received some form of education.

People who can read, have studied the basic operation of machines, and the fundamental mechanics I remember.

We selected those who had been educated at each school over the past three years but hadn't decided on their post-graduation paths, particularly those with excellent grades.

Basically, those with nimble minds that are still malleable.

We gathered them and suddenly instructed them to design a steamboat.

They were all understandably bewildered, but... well, thinking about it, there are no better candidates. In this Virginia, no, in this world, they are the only ones who know the structure of steam engines and can work with them.

Anyway, while conducting experiments with them and outlining the structure and overall design of the steamboat, it happened.

"Sir Nemo?"

"Ah, Raleigh. You've come at just the right time. The students were just demonstrating their steamboat models one by one."

"Rather... something more important seems to have come up."

"What do you mean?"

Raleigh said:

"English exiles have arrived. And the exchange students have returned."

Ah.

Finally.

==

Compiling information from various sources, if I were to summarize the situation in Britain most objectively and accurately, it would be this:

It's a mess.

After Elizabeth I passed away, England essentially became a power vacuum, and even James couldn't properly handle the chaos.

Anti-James sentiment is boiling, with influential figures gathered in Liverpool forming their own parliament to oppose James. James can't even touch them.

London is still held by rebels but is isolated and dying.

Anyway... to explain in detail would just be complicated and chaotic. Suffice it to say that exiles who lost their safety guarantees after the Queen's death have flocked from various places.

"Sir Nemo! It's been so long!"

There were welcome faces like Shakespeare, and other figures I had seen in textbooks, which momentarily widened my eyes, but...

Actually, they weren't who I was truly happy to see.

The aforementioned "exchange students."

It's literal. People sent to study in England.