California (4)

I'm thrilled.

This is the first building.

"It's not big, but it's a pretty church."

"We've built the inside, so let's go in."

He took Father Raoul, a young priest he had brought with him, into the church.

The two-story church consisted of pastoral space, community space, and clergy housing.

"Your Highness, thank you for building such a beautiful church. Because of Your Highness's grace, there is now a place where people who have come to this land can listen to God's word. Thank you."

Father Raoul expressed his gratitude for the church.

"I know it's going to be hard, but I hope you'll bring the word of the Lord to the pioneers."

At this time, the church also served as a community center. Because of that, almost all residents would come to church on weekends.

The church could accommodate 150 people at a time, so it might require three pastors every weekend.

"At first, I wanted to build it bigger, but since it was our first construction, it seemed impossible to build too big, so I decided to scale it down. This took me 10 weeks."

It took a long time because it was the first building. Since it was not very large, only about 30 workers were assigned at a time.

"In the meantime, with the exception of the gold miners, the rest of the crew has been collecting and processing timber to gather materials. The carpenters now have a full understanding of light timber construction, so they can build multiple buildings in parallel."

The construction of the first building was almost a one-man show. I explained the balloon frame structure in detail to 30 carpenters, but I doubted they could construct it just by listening.

Inevitably, I had to demonstrate, and the carpenters would often watch from the sidelines. Once they grasped it, progress picked up.

"Andres Carpenter. You're confident, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm confident."

Of the 30 carpenters, 10, including Andres Carpenter, worked on government offices and military quarters.

Five were assigned to build two warehouses, while the remaining carpenters were divided into pairs of three to construct five houses.

I was in charge of supervising all the construction sites.

Apart from 30 carpenters, 100 miners were also employed in construction.

"A government office, military quarters, two warehouses, and five houses—nine buildings in total. These are not much different from the church, so they should take about eight to ten weeks."

Gold mining was also progressing well.

Starting with placer gold from the American River, they began extracting gold at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, which had sparked the gold rush in history. Soon, they would begin mining at the open-pit mines of Angles Camp.

Jório Cervantes thought the time had come.

"Oh my, it's flashy."

The 2nd Company was guarding the frontier and the warehouses, and Jório Cervantes watched the refined gold coming in.

"Uh-huh, they gave the cat the fish shop. Thank you, Prince."

Tsu-eup.

Furio swallowed hard and counted the gold.

"Each gold bar weighs about 3 pounds (1.36 kg). For the past six months, 13 gold bars have come in every month... 234 lbs (106.14 kg)! That's enough."

Dividing it among all the settlers would yield little, but Furio had no intention of sharing it honestly.

"I'll give a little to the soldiers. Colonists without guns or decent weapons can be used as porters—and disposed of. The next shipment of gold is coming soon, so we act then."

Furio adjusted the on-call duty schedule.

For two hours, he replaced all five night guards at Warehouse 1 with his own men.

It had to be perfect timing.

"This damn backwater is over. I'm going to the city!"

The settlement had grown, with every household having a house, well-structured buildings, and planned roads, but it was still a backwater.

Furio was already dreaming of a city life, and everything in the colony seemed insignificant.

While Furio dreamed of a bright future, Roman, one of the villagers he recruited, was anxious.

He had been seduced by Furio's silver tongue but worried about whether the plan would succeed—or if Furio would betray him afterward.

Criminals recognize criminals. Furio smelled like a traitor.

"If you don't want to get double-crossed, you need more allies."

Furio had insisted on secrecy, but Roman decided to be cautious.

One evening, he visited Victor, a neighboring farmer and close friend.

Victor welcomed Roman, but the conversation took an unexpected turn.

Victor was loyal to the newly enthroned imperial family.

"Steal gold? Are you insane? That's a crime!"

"We won't get caught! It's a foolproof plan!"

Victor threatened to report Roman.

"Holy hell, a loyalist? Should I just kill him?"

Roman hesitated. It was dark, and their homes were far apart. If he killed Victor and his family now, there would be no witnesses.

His fingers itched around the knife hidden in his sleeve.

"Father! Just turn a blind eye this once!"

Victor's son, Diego, suddenly intervened.

"What? Diego! Are you betraying His Highness?"

Diego winked discreetly.

"Father! I want an education in the city too! Stealing a little gold won't matter."

Victor hesitated.

"Mmm... I see."

Roman smirked.

"Heh, Victor turned out to be weaker than I thought. Time to reel him in."

Thinking he'd succeeded, Roman left in high spirits.

As soon as Roman was gone, Diego turned to his father.

"That man was hiding a knife."

"What? Then we must report this at once!"

"If we report it now, they might deny everything. We don't even know all the accomplices."

"Hmm... You're right."

"Pretend to cooperate and gather information. Then report to His Highness."

Victor pretended to join Furio's plan.

Furio was annoyed that Roman had recruited more people, but Victor's eager cooperation reassured him.

Roman kept Victor's earlier threat to himself.

At dawn on the day of the heist, Furio and his men gathered.

Just as they stepped out of the warehouse with the stolen gold—

Chuck—

Dozens of muskets greeted them in the dark.

"What?!"

Furio's mind went blank.

He turned to Victor.

Victor's expression was relieved, not fearful.

"That bastard! It was you!"

Furio aimed his pistol at Roman.

"I didn't betray you! It was Victor!"

Bang! Bang!

Dozens of soldiers fired, cutting Furio down.

By morning, the villagers cursed Furio and his followers.

"Idiots. We work hard and live well, yet they tried this."

Jório Cervantes, five soldiers, and 20 settlers had participated. Furio and Roman were dead, while five members of Victor's family had infiltrated the group.

The survivors—14 settlers and 5 soldiers—were given lenient terms. Their property was confiscated, and they were sentenced to four years of unpaid labor as miners.

"Next time, we must be even more vigilant."

After resolving the matter, preparations began for a return to Mexico City.

Eight months had passed since the expedition to Sacramento.