Bear School Astartes

"A Squirrel Faction member."

Lann’s fingers casually pointed at the One-Eyed Elf across the campfire.

"A commander of a guerrilla organization that engages in indiscriminate attacks and intimidation through violence and torture."

"You say you want to truly save your species?"

"If it were a legitimate Squirrel Faction," Iophis showed no surprise or awkwardness in response to Lann’s questioning.

"As I mentioned before, the ’young bloods, the reckless youths,’ they indeed are not worthy of discussing these issues."

"But I believe I have already proven through self-reflection that I am not that kind of person."

The Demon Hunter nodded noncommittally.

"Yet you still, earlier today," Sachia interjected beside him, pointing her less-injured right hand towards the moonlit sky, "just during the daytime."

"You were still plotting to use the power of the Terror Tyrannosaurus to massacre all human settlements in the Ponta River Valley."

"I can’t deny, and I’ve never intended to deny my past actions."

Iophis was very candid about Sachia’s accusation.

"But I must emphasize that my prior actions of this nature were driven by desperation due to a hopeless path ahead."

"But now, I see hope."

Hope.

Hope can enable a person on the brink to burst forth with power, allowing someone on the verge of death to hold on for a few more minutes, or even hours! Days!

It can, of course, also make a radical racial revanchist less extreme.

Even make a one-eighty degree turnaround.

But all of this presumes... if what he says is true.

"Let this Female Warlock read my mind."

The One-Eyed Elf suddenly said.

"I have no charms on me, nor are there any Warlocks assisting me. Let this Female Warlock read my mind at will. Let me prove myself."

The Warlock’s telepathic ability is almost instinctive.

But it’s not invulnerable. Otherwise, kings would find it too easy to discern who is loyal and who is treacherous, and politicking would be much simpler than the current intrigue.

Magical protection is the most direct kind.

It can even send distorted thoughts back to the Warlock initiating the telepathy, causing misinformation.

People with specialized training can also use shallow thoughts as a surface facade, blocking their true thoughts with ’noise.’

Such people are usually high-level scouts or spies.

Thus, after being misled by false information several times, word spread that while a Warlock’s mind-reading ability is still crucial, true decision-makers no longer regard it as conclusive evidence.

Although Iophis leads a Squirrel Faction as a commander, he might not know these matters often confined to upper echelons.

The Roaring Bear Head Pendant on Lann’s neck remained motionless, but Margaret discreetly inquired if he wanted to proceed with the mind-reading.

Though the Demon Hunter’s necklace is a magical item, deceiving it isn’t difficult for truly skilled Warlocks.

Lann confirmed with Margaret through mental communication.

As the dean of Airetusa, her casting ability was, of course, beyond doubt.

Without any signs or phenomena, the casting began.

"Although our contact has been brief, what has happened during this short time is enough to reveal a person’s true nature."

The One-Eyed Elf continued to speak calmly.

He wasn’t sure if the Female Warlock holding the wine glass with a stunningly lazy smile had started casting; after all, he was just a warrior among Elves, not a Mage with a natural magic talent.

But he still tried hard to express his thoughts at this place and time.

As he said himself, his interaction with Lann and Sachia only lasted the short period undercover in Seward’s caravan.

But understanding others doesn’t necessarily require a long period of contact.

In those life-and-death matters, tense to the point one might forget to breathe the next moment, people undoubtedly reveal the true form of the worldview and values shaping their personality.

Under high-pressure, urgent conditions, the ’disguises’ people have long worn, to the point they’re unaware, will shatter like eggshells under pressure, exposing the ’true self’ within.

From Iophis’s perspective, during the mountain path attack, he saw Sachia, when facing the Squirrel Faction assault, showing tendencies and character through small choices.

As night fell, the pervasive silent mist poured down from the mountain tops, forming the silent, terrifying domain of the Terror Tyrannosaurus.

And that’s when Lann’s battle with it began.

The Demon Hunter’s choices and decisions in battle clearly demonstrated what kind of person he was.

To a truly observant person, what someone exhibits in a moment of crisis outweighs decades of interaction.

"I was originally surprised that I could meet two people like you."

Iophis’s single eye still revealed astonishment even now.

He looked at the Demon Hunter, elbows resting on his knees and fingers holding an inverted wine glass, and on the other side of the campfire, a Female Warrior with half her shoulder exposed and a large expanse of white skin on her chest.

"You two actually can... view humans and non-human races equally."

"Without any other considerations, do you truly believe that humans, elves, dwarves, half-elves... lives are inherently equal?!"

Iophis’s astonishment stemmed from the extremely poor social environment non-human races were in, and such conditions had persisted for too long.

It’s not that no one ever thought of ’racial equality’, but those who did often didn’t genuinely believe in racial equality.

Some are like the current situation with the Squirrel Faction, hoping that with support, non-human races would create some favorable commotion to disrupt the peace, and thus extend a helping hand to them.

And then what? After these people succeed or fail, who will really care about ’non-human races’ as just another excuse?

Tossing out non-human races as a tool to quell public anger, isn’t it convenient to let urban proletarians and gangster thugs vent a bit?

Non-human races can stir up trouble because there are those among those who truly hold power and strength that want them to cause trouble.

Previously, it was various nobles, now it is Niflgaard.

And others might not hope to incite non-human races to cause trouble, they merely out of their own overwhelming sympathy and condescending sense of morality extend a helping hand to the non-human races mired in mud.

In their eyes, they are the saviors of these poor souls.

When these non-human races are weak, naturally they should depend on them. But once the non-human races have the thought to stand firm, be independent and strong, these people’s condescending sense of morality cannot take it anymore.

Because they are infatuated with their condescending ’redeemer’ identity, and once the ’redeemed’ who should have been dying and begging seems to really stand up, where’s the psychological pleasure of saving others?

They don’t truly want to save people, but enjoy role-playing as the savior.

So often, the further it goes, the more indifferent these people become to the plight of non-human races, ultimately even turning into loathing.

And these people often have good social reputations beforehand, so when they loathe the non-human races, this reputation only makes the non-human races’ situation more difficult.

People will say, ’Look, even the benevolent gentleman who helped the non-human races can’t stand them anymore! It turns out that this group is inherently evil scum!’ and such.

Iophis had seen this many times, which is why he felt despair for the future and prospects of his own race.

Without enough young elves to birth a new generation, this race has essentially lost the condition to be ’self-reliant’, and the external environment is getting worse.

But now, he actually saw two genuine individuals for whom ’life equality’ seemed entirely natural.

The two might be few, but they represent the possibility of an ideology.

This ideology can unite humans, elves, dwarves, half-elves, even treants, and Nymphs!

An ideology that can grow and spread!

Moreover, these two people, one is a Demon Hunter not recognized by humans yet has a human past, the other is simply a True Dragon in human form!

No one represents this ideology better than they do.

This is the ’hope’ Iophis sees!

The hope of the elves, and the shared hope of other non-human races!

"So what?" Sachia, indifferent, revealed a large beautiful area near her left shoulder and also raised her wine glass, as if to drink it all at once for some relief.

"Phew~ I admit, my foster father taught me that life is always equal, freedom always priceless. But ever since I left him and ventured into the human world myself..."

The Female Warrior first fell silent, then shook her head again.

"No, I still believe in this ideology. There’s no doubt it’s right! But the reality is extremely complex, this is not a fairy tale where problems can be solved just by shouting a few slogans."

"Lann, and you. You both showed me the complexity of matters, anyone who ignores this premise and still wants to achieve something is either a fool or a malicious scoundrel."

"Couldn’t agree more!"

And Sachia’s words received Iophis’s undisguised strong approval.

"Indeed! It should be this way! Acknowledging the complexity of reality, and still recognizing the right path, then figuring out how to execute it!"

On the face of this One-Eyed Elf, with features so hard they hardly seemed elven, there was such intensity and determination that even the campfire seemed eclipsed before it!

"We have the correct goal, but the reality is: the Four Northern Countries were founded from the start by stepping on the corpses of non-human races! Their foundation is bloody!"

"So..." At this point, Lann also raised his eyebrows, seeming to finally see the core ideology behind this One-Eyed Elf, and took note of it.

"Are you thinking of starting anew?"