Do you mean...
Yes... it's very painful to see this country, which has lasted for 500 years, fall from grace. Especially for Viscount Gerhardt, the founder of the first king's brother.
　If Ryoma's question just now was a risqué statement on the verge of treason, then Viscount Gerhardt's current answer could be said to be a statement that completely stepped over the line.
　However, there is neither sorrow nor hesitation on Viscount Gerhardt's face.
　Considering the meaning of the words that were released, it should be called extraordinary.
　It's a sign that he accepts the facts as facts.
　Then, Viscount Gerhardt tilts the glass in his hand and sips the water, then quietly returns it to the table and continues his words.
''It goes without saying now, but His Majesty Lupis Roselian's reign is already in its final stages. It seems that the queen's aide, Mertina Lecter, is desperately trying to mend the breach, but there's only so much she can do now. It's a good thing that you're not the only one who has been beating the asses of the bureaucrats who work at the castle, but honestly, it's not even a band-aid...
　As he said that, Viscount Gerhardt turned his smile to Ryoma.
''And moreover, you have made an enemy of the man known as the [Devil of Iraklion].......Don't tell me that Mikoshiba-dono could not have understood His Majesty Lupis' intentions of deliberately avoiding interfering in the war with the Countess Salzberg, right?
　It's not an emotion of malice or ridicule.
　If anything, it's probably a smile filled with anticipation of how to get through the difficulties.
　Either way, it seems that Viscount Gerhardt has a better grasp of the current situation in this country than Ryoma had thought.
(For a man who was reduced in rank from duke to viscount and transferred from his home base of Iraklion, a key location in the southern part of the kingdom, to a remote rural village, he is quite knowledgeable about the situation within the royal palace. ........)
　It was said that the power of the aristocracy faction had shrunk considerably at one time, but it seems that the story of its recent rise is true.
　It seems that even if they restricted their property and fiefdoms, they couldn't completely cut off the connections they had cultivated over the years.
　The proof is that Viscount Gerhardt, who was supposed to have retreated to his own fiefdom, is able to see through the intentions of Lupis, who sits deep inside the royal castle.
　And at the same time, Viscount Gerhardt is convinced of this.
The man called 【Demon of Heraklion】 wouldn't be sitting there waiting to die.

But because of your notoriety, I suffered a defeat in the last battle. The reason why you have been absent from your estate during the unsettled period when you defeated the Count of Salzberg and seized the lands of the Ten Northern Families, is because that notoriety has kept the rebelliousness of the people at bay. Of course, it's not just because of the whip, it's because you give them candy with your wealth. But in any case, you are acting with even the notoriety you have in mind...is that right?
　Ryoma smiled bitterly at Viscount Gerhardt's question.
　It was because he himself understood well that this was an undeniable fact.
　The fact that the existence of the devil is an eternal villain that is opposed to the absolute justice of God is no different in this earth world.
　It is also an abhorred entity that is believed to bring natural disasters such as plagues and earthquakes to people.
　This is not a bad sounding word.
　Katsuie Shibata Katsuie, a follower of Oda Nobunaga, the so-called champion of the warring states, and one of his vassals who supported his supremacy, was known as Oni Shibata, or Oni Shimazu.
　It is true that there is a difference between an ogre and a demon.
　However, to the Japanese, the name "Demon of Irakurion" may sound like a compliment to demonic strength and strategy.
　Moreover, except for professional athletes and other limited industries, in modern Japan it is rare to receive a nickname from a stranger, so it can be said to be a valuable experience.
　In that sense, I suppose I can take some pride in it.
　Well, before being summoned to this earth world, Ryoma was just an ordinary high school student, and if I had to say, I would probably feel more embarrassed than proud.
　However, that was just Ryoma's personal opinion, being Japanese.
　In the land world, where science and technology have not developed, the story is much different.
　In this world where the mysteries of the gods still exist, the existence of demons and witches is not something to be taken lightly.
　A book's cover appeared in Ryoma's mind.
　It was clear that books were quite expensive in this land world where printing technology was underdeveloped.
　But it was worth it.
　It was one of the large number of books that Simone Christophe had brought to the city of Seirios under the orders of Ryojin.
　In it, he wrote the history of the aftermath of the cataclysmic upheaval that occurred with Nersios and the other so-called sub-racial beings as a result of the delusional belief that humans were the rulers of this world created by God, as a result of the indigenous religions that had been narrowly worshipped in the countryside of the western continent suddenly transformed into the largest religious group on the continent.
(Demon Hunt........)
　Nearly four hundred years ago in the western continent, whenever there was a famine or natural disaster, people looked to the devil for the cause.
　Humans who had succeeded in eliminating the sub-humans were the new enemy they sought.
　And in the name of purification and salvation, people who were regarded as demons were condemned.
(It seems that even if the world is different, it is still the same thing to think of God as good and demons as evil and eliminate them. It's like Europe in the Middle Ages, when witch hunts were rampant.
　Of course, as far as Ryoma has read the books, there is no clear evidence that demons existed.
　All there is is a history of putting people who were considered to be demons on trial and executing them.
　That's also true of the other books I purchased with him.
　Also, considering that most of the people who were declared demons by the demon hunters were the lowest class of the commoners, such as those who were critical of the Shintoism cult and those who were peasants or landless peasants used by exiles and landlords, it is hard to believe that they were actually demons. There is none.
(First of all, if the demonic powers in that book are true, there's no way they're going to put you on trial and execute you.)
　In the first place, would a being with enough power to manipulate the weather and cause a plague be captured by humans?
　If they were caught, there's no reason to believe that they would be mature enough to accept the sentence and be executed.
　They would desperately lash out, and even if execution was inevitable at worst, it is natural that they would use their supernatural power to try to dislodge everyone around them.
　After all, in the Light God Sect's doctrine, these demons are absolute enemies who spew death and destruction and seek to make humans suffer.
　In short, they were probably an excuse to get rid of an eyesore, or a sacrifice to suppress the grief and resentment of people who had lost their families to natural disasters and the like.
　And it was very similar to the witch hunts that flourished in medieval Europe.
　However, this is a story of the past in this western continent.
　Fortunately, the current western continent is a relic of the past, where demon hunting has not been practiced for a long time.
(I don't know if it's the self-purification of the Light God Order itself, or if it's due to the ideology brought in by the summoned humans of Earth... but...)
　The problem is that the horrible memories of that time have been passed on to the inhabitants of the continent, their descendants, who still live there today.
　It is clear that there is still an unsettled feeling among the people towards the words demon and witch.
　After the expedition to the Kingdom of Zaruda, because of his achievements in thwarting the Oltmere Empire's invasion with a small force, he began to be called a "hero of the country" by the people of Roselia, but it seems that it is still like an analogy of bad money destroying good money.
　Unlike Elena's [White War God of Roselia] and Rionne's alias [Red Lion], it would be close to a derogatory term that is both feared and abhorred at the same time.
(Well, even though it was a choice that was out of necessity, I killed that many people. ) It was something I was prepared for to a certain extent.　
　It is an undeniable fact that during the last civil war, when they built a camp for the crossing of the river Thebes on the banks of the river, they drowned most of the soldiers led by the attacking Cale Irunia through trickery, and slaughtered the surviving soldiers without taking them prisoner, ignoring the customary practice.
　Moreover, it was Ryōshin's own plan to spread that fact to the villages around Iraklion in order to obstruct the recruitment of territorial residents and invite internal divisions among the aristocracy, and he also ordered the mercenaries who were ordered to spread the rumor to exaggerate the story.
　Considering such a history, the nickname [Devil of Heraklion] that was given to Ryojin was extremely appropriate and could only be said to be self-inflicted.
(Besides, Viscount Gerhardt's words are correct.)
　People are afraid of people who have a bad name.
　And fear is a deterrent.
　It's true that Ryoma didn't know the meaning of the existence of a demon in this western continent, but it's probably true that he uses the bad name he's been given well.
　And Viscount Gerhardt has seen through that.
(If you eat poison, you're up to your plate........)
　To be honest, it would be a big gamble to join forces with Julio Gerhardt.
　He is planning to join forces with forces that were hostile to him until now.
　In some cases, there is a possibility that they might turn the Count Bergston and others, who they had just made their allies, against them.
　However, since it's not realistic for the current Ryojin to conquer the Roselia Kingdom by force, it's also true that he should use what he can use.
　That's why Ryoma spoke his final question to Viscount Gerhardt.