From Temeria to Cintra, the remainder of the journey was surprisingly smooth, with no obstructions along the way.
A few days later, Saskia and her human companion arrived in the city of Cintra on horseback.
Cintra, the capital of the Kingdom of Cintra, was a city built upon the ruins of the elves; the reliefs and palaces all spoke of the former glory of the elves.
Compared to the city of Wizima, Cintra felt like a proper medieval city.
It was built in the middle of a vast wilderness, with almost no dangerous terrain in the surroundings; even from several kilometers away, the high towers of the Castle could be seen.
Whether compared to the Northern Kingdoms or the southern Nilfgaardian Empire, the people of Cintra always possessed a rugged quality.
Having carefully selected this place, Asa naturally had his own considerations.
Aside from the objective factor of the Elder Blood, Cintra was separated from the southern Nilfgaardian Empire by only the Kingdom of Nazair.
Asa had long been curious about the Nilfgaardian Empire, this top-tier empire that loomed over the southern continent.
There were not many descriptions of the empire in the games and lore, though their emperor, Emhyr, certainly had plenty of screen time.
However, the Nilfgaardian Emperor at this moment was not yet Emhyr; it was still too early.
In other aspects, whether it was climatic conditions, elven ruins, or the inheritance of magic, the southern Nilfgaardian Empire was far superior to the Northern Kingdoms, which was also the reason why they gained the advantage in the three southern invasions of the north.
Especially in a duchy within its borders called Toussaint, where the legend of the Lady of the Lake circulated.
In the Wizarding World, Asa had almost reached the end of the path of magic; what remained was merely experimenting with various forbidden spells and innovating in spellcasting, and converting temporary talents into permanent ones was already a certainty.
But gods, he had never encountered them.
Asa was very curious about what the world would look like from the perspective of a god.
Furthermore, Asa did not covet worldly power, but in the future invasion by the Nilfgaardian Empire, if he could protect Ciri's mother and Ciri's grandmother, it would certainly not be a bad thing.
Upon entering the town, Asa also felt the difference in personality between the people of Cintra and those of the Northern Kingdoms.
The people here spoke with exceptionally loud voices; women would argue on the street without any inhibition, and children at play would mimic their parents' style, speaking loudly as if they were afraid the other party was deaf and couldn't hear them.
Here, Asa also witnessed the reputation of the Lioness of Cintra, Calanthe.
This seventeen-year-old maiden was deeply loved by the populace because, in the recent conflict with the Kingdom of Nazair, Calanthe had personally led the army to defeat them, upholding the dignity of the Kingdom of Cintra, and was thus called the "Lioness".
How could the people not love a queen who could lead armies into battle when on horseback and govern the country when off it?
How did the Elder Blood circulate within the Cintra royal family?
Asa did not know its origin.
But Calanthe was indeed Ciri's grandmother, and she was 17 years old this year.
According to the history in the game, in two years' time, Ciri's mother, Princess Pavetta, would be born, and 16 years after that, Ciri would be born.
The time was about right, just around 20 years or so.
At this moment, Calanthe had not yet firmly secured her throne.
She was 17 years old this year and was already the de facto ruler of Cintra.
Because according to Cintra's laws, royal power could not be held by a woman, and under the pressure of the nobility and tradition, Calanthe had to find a noble male to marry in order to continue controlling the royal power and keep the country in her hands.
Otherwise, she would face the risk of being driven from power at any moment.
However, the beautiful Calanthe encountered difficulties in finding a husband.
Even far away in Temeria, citizens had heard various rumors about this queen: promiscuity, orgies, incest, and some even said she had an affair with a distant cousin, which caused many princes from other countries to politely decline marriage proposals.
In the end, it was Roegner from Ebbing who, upon learning who his marriage partner would be, agreed without hesitation.
Legend had it that Calanthe had originally intended to ruin this marriage, but after seeing the Duke's handsome face, she immediately changed her mind.
Thus, the two came together and decided to marry formally in a dozen days.
Roegner became the King of Cintra, and Calanthe became the Queen of Cintra.
She was a sucker for good looks.
Listening to the romantic anecdotes about Calanthe, Asa inwardly complained.
However, the stigma of promiscuity and the like was clearly something Calanthe had spread about herself; she intentionally wanted other princes to look down on her so that she could legitimately and firmly secure her position.
Rumors abounded in the streets at this time.
However, Asa had not come here to listen to the residents tell stories.
He and Saskia found an inn to stay at, and the next day, Asa headed to the palace in the center of the city.
However, to Asa surprise, even though he presented his proof as a Wizard from Thanedd Island and the letter of recommendation from Tissaia, he did not even get to see Queen Calanthe in the end.
The court attendant responsible for receiving Wizards said that after the Queen had led soldiers to fight bravely against the enemies of the Kingdom of Nazair, she was exhausted, and having to worry about the wedding with Duke Roegner of Ebbing afterwards, she had retired to rest early.
Do not disturb her for the next few days.
If the Queen has any need in the future, she will summon Asa for an audience.
The attendant's words were very polite, but Asa heard the underlying meaning; it seemed this Lioness of Cintra did not welcome the mages from the Brotherhood of Sorcerers.
One could even say that, perhaps because the local folk customs were tough and favored martial power, they were indifferent to all sorts of messy sorcery.
If they were not interested, then so be it; the employment proof had already been issued by the court attendant, as long as the salary was paid on time, that was fine.
Thinking of this, Asa felt it was strange; how was it that wherever he went, he would inexplicably end up with a job where he could slack off at will?
Is it a talent?
It was like that at Umbrella Corporation, and at Xinghai Pharmaceutical; it had been a bit busier on Thanedd Island, but serving as a court Wizard of Cintra meant he could continue to slack off!
Sure enough, humans could refuse anything, but no one could refuse slacking off.
Furthermore, being a court Wizard even came with housing allocation, and just like that, Asa received a free luxury mansion in the city of Cintra.
Sitting and waiting for it to appreciate in value in twenty years...
Uh, in twenty years the city will be destroyed and its people dead, I'm afraid it won't be worth much.
The following few days, as Asa had expected, it was unclear whether the court attendant had presented Asa appointment letter or not, but in any case, he never received a summons from Calanthe.
Not bad.
He went around Cintra eating and shopping with Saskia, set up teleportation waypoints, and secretly met with the Sorceresses at night.
Yennefer and Margarita expressed concern about his life in Cintra and said that when they had time later, they would go to Cintra to visit him.
Asa welcomed the idea, and recalling the time he got drunk on elven wine, he suddenly felt a bit nostalgic.
Even though less than a month had passed.
After spending a few days of intimacy with the Sorceresses like this, having stayed in the Wizarding World for over 10 years, Asa suddenly became homesick.
He missed the milk Ada poured by hand and the buns Jill made.
A few days before the King of Cintra was welcomed into the household, Asa returned to the resident evil world.