The commotion caused by the Zelandia delegation's cart accident when they arrived at Water-Drawing City's northern gate was truly no small matter, and the figures who crawled out of that massive alchemical vehicle were each more terrifying than the last!
An Elven Mage!
A Dragonborn warrior snoring away over the Elf Mage's shoulder!
A shield-and-sword warrior clad head to toe in armor!
A mountain barbarian berserker carrying a giant axe!
A properly organized Mage corps numbering over ten people!
And that silver Gnoll nearly two men tall!
No matter how one looked at them, they didn't seem to be visiting Water-Drawing City as tourists—they looked like they were here to stir up trouble!
It could be said that if Garvin had not brought Vina along today—and if Vina had not been a somewhat renowned Archmage throughout Water-Drawing City, personally vouching for this "commercial inspection group"—they would probably have alarmed the griffin patrol knights circling overhead by now.
Li Wei naturally knew that this was not yet the time for them to act "high and mighty," so in the interest of settling matters peacefully, he not only seriously cooperated with the city guards in inspecting the "dazzlingly varied, countless kinds" of goods in the vehicle, but also paid a considerable entry tax according to the type and quantity of the goods and received a "tax payment certificate." On top of that, he slipped a hefty money pouch into each of several city guards' pockets. At once, the guards who had been rather depressed over the filthied city gate beamed with delight and never again mentioned the muck all over the ground.
Actually, if Li Wei had had the Mages store all this cargo in spatial rings, he could have avoided paying the entry tax entirely.
But if he did that, then