Volume 6 22

Volume 6 Chapter 22

“Collapse, huh?”

“Yes… Although it was part of the nature of time, it is still painful to see this country, which has continued to exist for more than five hundred years, to die. Especially since the first generation head of Gerhardt household was the first King younger brother…”

If Ryouma question previously was a dangerous one, then Viscount Gerhardt answer had already crossed the line completely.

However, Viscount Gerhardt had neither sorrow nor hesitation on his face.

Despite if one think normally, such an answer would be very abnormal as a citizen of the said country.

However, that was proof that both men had accepted the fact as a fact.

And then, after Viscount Gerhardt drinks from his glass and put the glass back on the table, he continued.

“It goes without saying, that the reign of Lupis Rozerianus has already ended. The Queen’s aide, Meltina Lecter, is desperately trying to sugarcoat it, but there are only a few things she can do. It seems she had strengthened the bureaucrats who work on the castle, but to be honest, it was nothing more than a stop-gap measure…”

Saying that Viscount Gerhardt smiled at Ryouma.

“For a man called ‘the devil of Irachion,’ there’s no way you didn’t realize Her Majesty Lupis intention when she deliberately avoids intervening when you had a war with Earl Salzberg.”

There was no malice or ridicule from his words.

If anything, he smiles filled with the expectation of how Ryouma could survive this difficulty.

Either way, it seems Viscount Gerhardt had more grasp on the current state of the country compared to Ryouma.

(His rank was dropped from a Duke to a Viscount, his territory also changed from a center of the economy to that of a rural territory… I guess that is proof of a man that was the leader of a faction…)

It was said that the power of the aristocrats had shrunk considerably for a short time, but recently it seems they had gained back their lost power.

It seems it was hard to completely cut off the personal network that was cultivated for a long time.

To understand Lupis intention despite her being deep inside her castle might be a testament of Viscount Gerhardt’s power.

And it was also part of Viscount Gerhardt’s conviction.

That a man called ‘the devil of Irachion’ was not going to wait for his death.

” The Devil of Irachion was it? Although it was consequences for my action, still that was an over exaggerated bad reputation…”

“I tested defeat because of that bad reputation though? And in spite of the unstable period after conquering the ten households, you manage to suppress any rebellions thought of the citizen thanks to that reputation, no? Of course, there was also the part of using bribes. But in any case, you also put into account even your notorious nickname, yes?”

In response to Gerhardt’s words, Ryouma showed a bitter smile.

That was because Ryouma understood that it was a fact.

The existence of a Demon or Devil as the enemy of absolute justice of God didn’t change no matter what world.

It was an abomination that people linked to natural disaster to epidemics.

Of course, his nickname was not as bad as it sounds.

Just like Oda Nobunaga subordinate Shibata Katsuie who was then known as the ‘Shibata the Ogre,’ or Yoshihiro Shimazu who played the feat of breaking through the enemy lines after the defeat in the Battle of Sekigahara, he was then known as ‘Shimazu the Ogre.’

True enough Ogre(Oni), and Devil(Akuma) were different things.

However, from the sense of Japanese people, the name of the Devil of Irachion didn’t have to be heard as praise, such as having the strength of the Demon and the ingenuity of the Devil.

Nevertheless, in modern Japan, other than limited industries or professional athlete, it was rare to get a nickname from other people.

From that point of view, being given the nickname of the Devil of Irachion might be something one should be proud of.

Though for Ryouma who was summoned from another world and he was just a high school student in his previous world, something like a nickname might be a bit embarrassing for him.

However, that was only Ryouma personal impression as a Japanese.

In a world where science and technology had not yet developed, the story would be different.

In this world, where the mystery of the gods still existed, the meaning of the Demon or Devil and the witches were not easy to understand, since the unknown power such as Mana was still active.

A particular book crossed Ryouma’s mind.

In this world where printing technology was undeveloped, books were expensive goods.

However, it was something worth it to have.

That was why Ryouma had asked Simone Christoph to bring a large number of books to the city of Sirius.

From a particular book that record history, after a great conflict between human and demi-human, an indigenous religion who was from the detail believed to origin from remote countryside of the western continent, suddenly turned into the largest religious organization, they believed in blind acceptance that the true ruler of the world was the God who created human.

(Demon hunting was it…)

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In the history of the western continent 400 years ago, when famine and natural disaster occur, it was said the cause was the presence of a demon.

And the human succeeded in ostracized the demi-human as the enemy they were looking.

And under the guise of purification and salvation, people who were deemed as Demon were condemned by the others.

(God is good, and Demon or Devil is evil that need to be eradicated, it seems no matter which world, that thought stay the same. Those Demon hunting, it was just like how medieval Europe, witch hunting…)

Of course, as far as Ryouma had read the history books, there was no clear evidence that the Demon had existed.

There was only record about human believed to be a demon being executed.

Some other books also had a similar record in it.

In addition, most of those people who were demonized by the demon hunting were people who critical toward the church or people who didn’t have land and used by the landowner as some sort of scapegoat. Most of them were people close to the bottom of social status, which was why it was hard to believe that there were actually Demon exist…

(First of all, if those power written as demonic power were really real, those people won’t just stay and wait for their execution…)

In the first place, those humans being demonized were said to have the power to manipulate the weather and cause plagues.

If those people were caught, they won’t just silently accept their judgment.

They would desperately resist violently, even if the worst judgment of execution cannot be avoided, they at least would use their power to make chaos before they died.

After all, based on the doctrine of Light God church, Demon or Devil was an absolute enemy seeking to scatter death and destruction, to cause suffer toward humanity.

The point of that was an excuse, to eliminate an unsightly existence, or was a kind of sacrifice to suppress the grief of the masses who lost their family after a natural disaster.

The reason might have been different, but in the end, the result was almost the same as the witch hunt, which was popular during the middle ages.

Anyway, all of that was the story of the past, demon hunting was known as a thing of the past.

Fortunately, on the western continent now, demon hunting was not being done for a long time…

(I was not sure about the race cleansing that was done by the Light God cult was done by themselves, or they got the idea from the human summoned from my world…)

In the end, the problem was the miserable memories of that time had been handed down to the people who were still living in this continent, the descendants of that time.

Still, people now had a calm sense toward words such as Demon or Devil…

When Ryouma returned from the Kingdom of Zalda, he began to be called as ‘The Hero of Salvation’ who saved the country from the invading Ortomea Empire, but his bad reputation still outranks his good reputation.

Unlike Elena’s ‘Rozeria’s white Goddess of War’ or Lione ‘Red Lion’ nicknames, Ryouma’s nickname was created by people out of people fear and hatred…

(I guess, though I did it by choice, I did kill that many people after all… I also had prepared for the consequence to some extent…)

At the time of the civil war, Ryouma had massacred the enemy soldiers by making them drown using the Thaves River…

Moreover, Ryouma was the one who ordered the merchants to spread the story toward villages, to avoid people willingly being conscripted by the nobles in Irachion.

If one sees it from that perspective, Ryouma nickname of the Devil of Irachion was extremely appropriate, and it can be said that he reaps what he sows.

(And Viscount Gerhardt deduction was correct…)

People were afraid of the notorious one.

And fear was a good deterrent.

Ryouma certainly didn’t know the true meaning of Demon or Devil in this western continent, but it was a fact that he had made good use of his given infamy.

And Viscount Gerhardt had seen through that…

(It’s like a poisonous dish huh?)

To be honest, it would be a great gamble to partner up with Julio Gerhardt.

It can be said that the powers that were hostile toward each other up until now were trying to join hands.

In some case, it might turn Earl Bergstone, who was once a great ally into an enemy.

However, it was also true that it was not realistic for Ryouma to seize the Rozeria Kingdom by force, and an alternative usable method should be used…

With that in mind, Ryouma asked the last question toward Viscount Gerhardt.