When Li Wei saw the eldest daughter of the Xia Lan Chamber of Commerce again on the terrace of Pride House, he noticed in surprise that her eyelids were red and pink, as if she had been crying.
At the thought of an enormous dragon sniffling and weeping, he was instantly struck by an indescribably awkward feeling and hurriedly banished the absurd image from his mind.
Probably didn't sleep well, huh? Mm, dragons with morning grumpiness are not to be provoked. Not to be provoked. Li Wei thought.
Remembering the awkward failure of their last exchange of pleasantries, he decided to cut straight to the point this time. "Miss Xia Lan, I want to obtain intelligence on every gray faction in all of Water-Drawing City, as the basis for the next stage of expansion for our Water-Drawing Commercial Alliance. Why don't you name your price?"
The moment she heard the words "name your price," Xia Lan Veloss instinctively equated them with the word "compensation," and prices for at least a dozen properties, along with the losses from promissory notes, sprang into her little head.
All of those had been indirect losses caused by her panic in the dragon's lair earlier.
Perhaps even Li Wei did not fully understand that on the Coriel Continent, for many arrangements resembling agreements or contracts—
Nobles and merchants with even a little means would generally spend a negligible "donation" to invoke a deity's name as witness for agreements of considerable value and long duration, such as loans.
A Restoration spell might restore the damaged paper itself, but it could not restore the Divine Power imprint upon it.
Property deeds were not so bad. They were already hers, after all; at worst, it would make future resale and leasing inconvenient. But if those slippery nobles saw