"Aelirenn?"
From the perspective of the Elven race, there is no doubt that the Lady of the White Rose is a fighter for Elven liberation and a symbol of freedom.
Francesca Findabair's question seemed to be testing whether Asa stood from the Elven perspective or the human one, using this to gauge his attitude toward the Elves.
"Objectively speaking, the existence of Aelirenn serves as a totem for the spirit of Elven resistance."
As Asa spoke, Francesca Findabair nodded; indeed, it seemed this Wizard possessed some emotional intelligence.
But Asa changed the subject:
"In reality, Aelirenn also caused immense destruction to the Elven race! Or, to put it another way, she is partly responsible for the decline of the Elves."
The eyes of everyone on the balcony immediately focused on Asa.
Tissaia was curious about Asa profound theory; if ordinary Elves heard these words, they would likely be at odds with him until death.
Sure enough, some Elves were already glaring at him—they were the Elven guards brought by Francesca Findabair.
Upon hearing Asa presumptuous remarks about Aelirenn, Cairis immediately cast an angry gaze his way. Insulting her idol, and by a human no less—if the Lady were not present, she would likely have thrown down her glove for a duel on the spot.
Francesca Findabair also frowned slightly. The Sorceress had met the White Rose once when she was still a minor; she had been petite but beautiful, with a smile that seemed to warm one's entire being.
Aelirenn is a fighter and hero of the Elven race; this is the ingrained belief of the current pointy-ears, and Francesca Findabair held the same view.
Asa continued calmly:
"Before Aelirenn's uprising, the Elven population was 700,000. After the uprising, the war was lost, and the population dwindled to only 300,000. Furthermore, the Elven court was destroyed, their territories were occupied by humans, their culture suffered a direct break, and there is little backbone or dignity left among the current Elven race. Is this not because of Aelirenn?"
"Before the war, humans had not declared war on the Elves. Aelirenn felt the oppression was too deep and resisted. But this so-called resistance was merely a battle of attrition against humans. How could the sparsely populated Elves possibly defeat the humans? The result was inevitable."
"It was because human oppression was too severe that the Elves rose up to resist,"
Francesca Findabair retorted unconvinced.
"Resistance—but why did it have to involve slaughtering each other with humans?"
Asa shook his head.
"The Elven race's reputation in the human world is not very good, as you know. At first, it was just mutual disdain, but once blades were drawn, the nature of things changed completely."
"In this world, you are not the only Elves, and humans are not all of one mind. Why must you always treat all of humanity as your enemy?"
"Nobles, Wizards, merchants, workers, farmers—is everyone in a country really your enemy?"
"Gnomes, dryads, dwarves—with so many sentient creatures, do humans hate only the Elves?"
In a feudal society, coupled with low fertility rates, the Elves' living space was indeed precarious. But just like playing a game, winning breathing room for one's people wasn't limited to just military means; there were scientific victories, cultural victories, religious victories, economic victories—there was always another path.
At the end of the day, war is a path dependency; when facing humans, it is difficult for Elves to be rational.
When two sentient races clash, it always feels like a contest that must decide both superiority and life or death.
Asa point was that the Elves did not need to deal with or oppose the entire human world. By dividing it horizontally, the target of hatred at each level would be different. They needed to realize that the true enemy was not the outside world, but those who oppressed them.
Furthermore, by classifying by race, the Elves had many natural allies, such as dwarves, dryads, and so on, who could also be united around the Elven race.
Unite the majority, minimize enemies, and maximize friends.
This was roughly what Asa meant.
Asa spoke only halfway, acting like a riddle-maker. Ripples gradually formed in Francesca Findabair's heart; she felt there was more to Asa words, but the Wizard refused to say any more.
Yes, the Elder Blood travels across realms; the Wizard must have visited other worlds and witnessed how various races could live together in harmony and unity, which is why he could speak such words.
Francesca Findabair suddenly realized, and her gaze toward Asa became even more fervent—she must seek wisdom from this Wizard.
[Congratulations on establishing a bond with Francesca Findabair, "Partner (Favorability)"; you may claim your reward.]
The system's notification sound came, and Asa smiled slightly; it seemed his words had touched the soul of the Elven Sorceress.
"Claim."
Asa thought to himself.
"Congratulations on obtaining the extraordinary item, dragon medallion."
The favorability level reward was actually the gift Francesca Findabair had just offered; good, very good—Asa had refused it in reality, and the system had compensated him with it.
He did not look at the detailed description of the dragon medallion for the moment. After the conversation, Francesca Findabair stayed on the balcony for a while longer, chatting, before rising to take her leave.
Upon parting, the Elven Sorceress asked about Asa current whereabouts.
Tissaia coughed lightly and stepped forward to help explain. The Elven Sorceress immediately wore a look of lamentation, saying pitifully:
"Lady Tissaia, please believe me, I truly have no ill intent."
She said with a sincere tone and earnest words:
"We are all colleagues; why use such excuses to deceive me?"
Looking into Francesca Findabair's eyes, Tissaia finally sighed and said:
"Asa, it is up to you."
A young eagle must eventually leave the mother eagle's embrace and fly alone; she should not let the image of Asa hiding in Yennefer's arms like a baby be her only impression of him.
"Alright, my address is..."
Things had reached this point, and even though Francesca Findabair had practically written "I have a conspiracy" on her face, Asa still told her the truth.
Upon receiving Asa information, the Elven Sorceress was extremely excited, a beautiful smile rising on her face, and then she bid farewell:
"Goodbye, Wizard, I look forward to our next meeting."
After saying this, the teleportation array suddenly lit up, and the Elven Sorceress walked in first.
Then, when Cairis, who was behind the Elven Sorceress, passed Asa, she glared at him fiercely.
"It's over."
Watching the two Elves leave, Asa crossed his arms and pondered.
Being able to make the Elves value him so much, Asa was very curious: what exactly had caught their attention?
Non-human charm? Or perhaps a body from another world? Biochemical viruses in his blood?
It was nothing more than these three possibilities.
The greatest possibility was that these Elves mistakenly believed that he possessed the Elder Blood, but where did they get this information?
Over the years, apart from his magical talent as a Wizard, his "golden cudgel" that subdued Yennefer and Sabrina, and an appearance that naturally inspired affection, Asa was no different from a normal person in other respects. Placed in a crowd, he wouldn't have "I can travel through worlds" written on his face.
How did these Elves discover it?
Could it be… the gods?
Problems he couldn't figure out didn't need to be thought about for the moment; Asa collected his thoughts.
"Teacher, I should go back now."
Tissaia nodded.