It was a common belief in this world that warfare had caused the cultural civilization to recede.
If the global climate was changing in the same way in my previous world and in this one, the root cause of civilization’s retreat was not warfare. Warfare was just one of the results; it was not the primary cause that produced the results.
It would be the cold climate, which continued for several hundred years after the decline of the empire.
Studies of the past had shown that the climate became colder during the decline of the Roman Empire and at least the first half of the Middle Ages in Europe.
Cold weather damaged crops and people starved. People living in the north (Germanic tribes) abandoned their lands and moved south, fighting for food and farmland, leading to a period of warfare.
The empire was destroyed because there was no room left to continue, let alone develop civilization. The ancient times came to an end and the “dark” Middle Ages began.
The same thing probably happened in this world as well.
Of course, climate change was probably not the only cause, but it must have been a major factor.
According to an old theory of previous generations, the reason why cultural civilization did not develop very well in the Middle Ages was because Christianity was strictly suppressing people.
However, it seems that Christianity was not originally so strict.
There was a mystery set in 7th century Ireland in which a nun played the role of a great detective, which I rather liked, but she was an independent woman who was also a lawyer and could get married. The author was a scholar of Celtic studies, so I guess it was actually possible in those days.
But even in that work, there were depictions of Christianity becoming stricter. Furthermore, after that, Christianity became more and more strict, with clergy not allowed to have contact with the opposite sex, the Inquisition, witch hunts, and a refusal to accept anything that did not conform to what the Bible said.
I think the cold weather was a factor, and people became less comfortable with their lives, and so they turned to religion, which is how Christianity became so powerful. This, too, was the result, not the cause.
So, unlike in my previous life, although monotheism was not mainstream in this world, the major historical trends were not so different from those in my previous life. There was even something equivalent to an inquisition or witch hunt, which was strictly enforced around the city-state of Astra.
Humanoid demons, vampires, and werewolves were regarded as evil beings, and people who were involved with them were considered depraved sinners.
Love with demons was truly evil and depraved. Just the mere mention of having been in love with a demon was enough to get you imprisoned and tortured, and if you confessed, you would be burned.
I finally found out why Nona, who was the Old Hag’s attendant in the imperial mansion, once made a fuss about Mina, saying that she was unclean.
Yurimagna, who was close to Old Hag, was devoted to researching the ancient Astra empire and had ties to the city-state of Astra. Forli-san told me that if they are not given the gift of Imperial marriage, they will sometimes take wives from prominent Astra families.
In today’s Astra, people would not be burned for being involved with demons, but they would be subjected to discrimination. Yurimagna, therefore, would not employ people who have demon blood.
Nona was probably inspired by this thinking and said such a thing to Mina, who was of demon blood.
I was often called naive, I guess because I didn’t know about things like this, things that could not be said openly but were common sense because I was confined during my childhood. I didn’t know anything about it.
And I would never be influenced by such ideas in the future! (clenched fist)
