"That young man named Thoma, since those procedure documents have been checked, can this Director leave this small island now?"
"Director Hu Tao, we only verified the island entry permit just now. If you want to stay on Ritou, you still need to go to the Outlander Affairs Agency. As for leaving Ritou, you also need an approval document from the Outlander Affairs Agency."
Thoma led the way while explaining the various procedures to the group. Hearing Thoma list a huge number of steps, Paimon scratched her head. Her not-so-smart little head was about to turn into mush.
"Ugh... so complicated and strict..."
"After all, in Inazuma, foreigners are called Outlanders. It is not hard to see from the literal meaning that in an Inazuma enforcing the Sakoku Decree, foreigners are not exactly welcome, even on Ritou, which has a designated Outlander Settlement."
Thoma gave a helpless, bitter smile. In the past, he could still buy specialty goods from his hometown of Mondstadt from some Mondstadt merchants. Now, let alone specialty goods, he had not seen a Mondstadt merchant ship capable of breaking through Inazuma's outer thunderstorms in a long time.
"I remember that before I left Inazuma, Ritou did not seem to have this many rules. It has only been a little over two years, and Ritou has turned into this."
"There is no helping it. You know how the Kanjou Commission is, Su Bai. The Hiiragi Clan, which manages the Kanjou Commission, will come up with any rule just to collect wealth more efficiently. However, with you here today, we are in for a good show."
In Inazuma, almost all of the high-ranking officials could see how much Yae Miko doted on Su Bai. This resulted in absolutely no one daring to provoke him. It was said that many years ago, a certain family colluded with the Fatui to assassinate Su Bai, only for a Fatui Harbinger to wipe out that entire family. This only made Su Bai seem even more mysterious.
"Letting a single family manage a nation's finances without any oversight... this Electro Archon has thought of everything far too ideally. The temptation of Mora for ordinary people is absolutely not something an average person can resist."
As the god who creates Mora, no one understood its appeal to ordinary people better than Zhongli. Perhaps that Electro Archon was simply too young. He hoped she would see through all of this as soon as possible.
"Have you all completed the island entry procedures? If you want to process the prolonged stay procedures, sign here and pay the Mora."
At the procedure office, a woman was holding a light novel, reading it carefully. Sensing that someone had arrived, she spoke without even looking up, then continued reading the light novel in her hands.
This light novel, The Kamisato Young Master Falls in Love with Me, completely captivated her. Every sentence in the novel seemed written directly to her heart, and the content depicted in the book perfectly satisfied all her fantasies about Kamisato Ayato.
"Lumine, why does this person look even more arrogant than you? It is really making me mad."
Paimon whispered in Lumine's ear. Lumine nodded in agreement. She was just someone collecting money, what was there to be so arrogant about? She was the Honorary Knight of Mondstadt, after all.
"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you. The processing fee is one million Mora per person."
"What!! One million per person?? Are you robbing us???"
Lumine was startled by this number. She thought the three hundred thousand Mora she had saved up recently would be enough for her to live comfortably in Inazuma. Now they were telling her that just processing the paperwork required one million Mora. Were they treating her like a total sucker?
"It is only one million Mora. If you do not have it, you can have your friends advance it for you. Those few well-dressed young masters over there do not look like people who are short on Mora."
The woman in charge of the procedures, Yurika, silently put her book aside. When she was an ordinary inspector on Ritou before, she had trained a sharp eye. With just one glance, she could analyze from a person's clothing and demeanor whether they were wealthy. It was precisely because of this skill that she had been transferred to this lucrative position.
With one glance, she immediately judged that the wealthiest among the group must be the handsome man with golden eyes and black hair who looked very refined. Next was the little girl wearing clothes made of top-tier silk and an animal horn hairpin on her head. These two looked at first glance like young masters and ladies from other nations.
"Are you not just bullying honest people? Where does processing a procedure cost one million Mora? In all my life, this Director has paid fines for so many years and has never paid one million Mora."
Seeing that she would have to pay again if this went on, Hu Tao could no longer sit still. She had not brought much Mora on this trip. If she really spent it all here, would she not end up sleeping on the streets?
It would be nothing if she slept on the streets herself, but the key issue was that she could not accept little Zhongtuo sleeping on the streets. If even her own little employee had to suffer along with her, that would be a dereliction of duty for her as the Director.
Seeing Hu Tao directly pull out the Staff of Homa, Yurika did not show any sign of surprise. She simply clapped her hands lightly, and a squad of the Hiiragi Clan's private soldiers immediately surrounded Hu Tao and the others.
Looking at the Hiiragi Clan's private soldiers around her who were smirking wickedly and whose eyes were filled with all sorts of desires, Hu Tao's face turned dark. In all her life, no one had ever dared to look at her like that. This group of people was simply looking for death. Meanwhile, Zhongli, Azhdaha, and Su Bai, standing to the side, showed no change in their expressions, but the way they looked at this group of Hiiragi private soldiers was as if they were looking at corpses. Especially Zhongli; Azhdaha could even feel the surging Geo element within him.
"Ahem, Miss Yurika, this is just a misunderstanding. How about, for the sake of the Clan Head, you let my friends go?"
"Oh my, Mr. Thoma, how did I not see you here? Since these are Mr. Thoma's friends, it seems this was just a misunderstanding after all."
"I did not expect Miss Yurika to be so understanding. I will definitely tell the Clan Head about this."
Seeing that her goal was achieved, Yurika walked up to Hu Tao with a smile. Taking advantage of her height, she looked down at Hu Tao.
"Little girl, are you very good at fighting?"
"What is the use of knowing how to fight? When you are out and about, you need power and backing. What kind of backing do you have here in Inazuma?"
"Backing? I have a good friend named Su Bai."
"Heh, so you are just a little brat... Wait, why does the name Su Bai sound so familiar? Could it be... could it be that fox immortal?"
Yurika's originally contemptuous tone instantly became tense, and her stuttering words carried a hint of terror. She had heard far too many rumors about Su Bai. Regardless of whether those rumors were true or false, it was obvious that this fox immortal named Su Bai was not someone she could afford to provoke.
"Ma'am, can you tell me what you were trying to say just now?"
A cold voice rang out from behind Thoma. Thoma smiled and stepped aside, revealing four snow-white tails that leaped into Yurika's line of sight. Looking into the angry eyes of the person before her, Yurika's legs gave out, and she fainted on the spot. She knew she had tried to extort the wrong person this time.