"Just showing the El family's coat of arms is enough to bypass these tedious processes."
"You were recently knighted by Lord Raymond, so you're not very familiar with noble privileges."
Dalton urged his horse forward, rode alongside Karl, and turned his head to explain.
Hearing this, Karl was startled and began to turn his head to observe the queue.
Soon, he noticed that everyone in the line was crowded to the right side of the bridge.
On the left side of the bridge, there was still a relatively spacious road, which was clearly intentionally set aside.
"Lord Karl, follow me. Leave the rest to me."
The two and the carriage approached the city gates, and the commoners on the right looked in their direction.
Most of them had eyes full of reverence and envy, and naturally, there were also some jealous individuals.
They watched as Karl and his party passed by the queue and gradually moved away.
Seeing this, the soldiers standing at the city gates took the initiative to step forward and bowed slightly.
"Your Excellency, how may I assist you?"
"My name is Dalton, and behind me is Sir Karl. We belong to the El family, and we are now entering the city."
As he spoke, Dalton took a round badge from his pocket and handed it to the other party.
The soldier respectfully took the badge with both hands and quickly glanced at the gold-thread patterns embroidered above and the family's heraldic symbols.
Then he quickly looked at Karl's attire and the horse he was riding.
The horse's coat was bright and shiny, appearing very sleek at first glance.
The warhorse was tall and strong, with clearly defined muscle contours, definitely a fine steed.
From this moment, he roughly confirmed the identities of Dalton and the others, quickly returned the badge, and bowed again to everyone.
The soldier forced a smile and said in a deep voice, "Sir Karl, it's an honor to meet you. Welcome to Vizima."
"Let them pass!" He immediately turned his head, nodded to his companion behind him, and shouted loudly.
In just over ten seconds, Karl and his group were cleared and allowed to enter the city.
After all, he guarded the city gates year-round; how could he do his job without a discerning eye?
He could basically recognize the identities and heraldic signs of the city's nobles, including the royal family.
Even if nobles from remote areas with fiefdoms came, it was fine.
It didn't matter if they didn't notice; the main thing was not to offend others with their attitude.
As for verifying the authenticity of noble identities, that wasn't their task.
Moreover, they didn't believe any commoner would dare to impersonate a noble or even forge a noble family's coat of arms; impersonating a noble was a crime for a commoner.
Once the false identity was discovered, not only would the person pretending to be a noble be sentenced to death, but their family would also not be spared.
After Karl and the others left, the guards began to whisper among themselves.
"Hey, are these the first nobles to arrive recently?"
"If I'm not mistaken, he's the seventh, and many more nobles will arrive in the next few days."
"Yes, the tournament will be held in a few days. Nobles from all over Temeria who plan to participate will come, and it's expected that more than twenty knights will take part."
......
They all entered the commercial district inside Vizima through the city gates, and the sight of the commercial district was refreshing for Karl.
Clean cobblestones paved the ground, brick buildings lined both sides of the narrow street, and flowers were placed in the windows of the houses.
Richly dressed merchants passed by on the road from time to time, highlighting the wealth of the local residents.
"Tsk... This can barely be called a city; most of the suburbs can only be considered villages." Karl whispered to himself.
"Lord Karl, should I go to the inn first and arrange the itinerary and matters for this trip?" Dalton asked quietly.
"Dalton, you can handle the arrangements; you don't need to ask me about everything."
"Alright, Lord Karl."
The group set off again towards the center of the commercial district, and after a short advance, they finally saw an inn nearby.
As they walked towards the inn, a father and daughter passed by, talking.
"Father, we met that red-haired woman in the market earlier. She was so beautiful. Can you buy me a doll that looks like her?" The little girl said shyly.
And the young man, simply dressed with a small beard, vaguely showed one or two patches on his clothes—clearly, his financial situation wasn't very good.
The man's face twitched, and he scratched his head in embarrassment, looking a bit flustered.
He looked left and right and didn't see anyone except the carriage and team nearby.
He crouched down facing the little girl and said quietly in a tone that was neither light nor heavy, "Tamara, my little one, the dolls in the market are expensive and ugly. Let's go back, and father will buy you a prettier one later."
"Alright, father, you need to tell me." Tamara bit her fingertip and hesitated for a moment before agreeing to the man's request.
Seeing his daughter agree, the man's expression became a little helpless, and he sighed softly without a trace.
He thought, "Alas, your father is a failure. I don't even have money for a doll for the kids. Maybe I should try a higher-paying job?"
"Anna also said she wants to change into some nice clothes and doesn't want to wear patched clothes all day."
Having received her father's promise, the little girl smiled carefree again, took the man's hand, and hopped forward.
The conversation between father and daughter was naturally overheard by Karl in the group.
Suddenly hearing a familiar name, Karl fell into thought. He stopped guiding his horse and looked at the backs of the father and daughter.
"Wait, that beautiful red-haired woman in the market? Tamara..."
"Vizima... Triss Merigold? Then this is Phillip the Bloody Baron and his daughter?!"
Karl racked his brains, trying to recall nearly forgotten details, and finally found information about the father and daughter.
"Lord Karl, what's wrong? Is there a problem with that father and daughter?"
When Dalton saw Karl stop, he turned his horse sideways, frowned, and looked suspiciously at Phillip and his daughter.
"It's nothing. You wait for me at the inn door first, then I'll leave something for you to handle."
Immediately, Karl leaned slightly on his horse, and Dalton immediately brought his ear close.
"Dalton, go and tell ..."
"Hmm... Huh? I understand, Lord Karl." Dalton's eyes widened, and he looked in surprise at the backs of Phillip and his daughter.
He couldn't understand why a pair of commoners had suddenly attracted Lord Karl's attention and even gained his favor.
However, since Lord Karl had given the order, he did as instructed and didn't speculate too much about the reason.
Therefore, after nodding to Karl, he hastily urged his horse to chase after Phillip and his daughter.
Meanwhile, Karl continued towards the inn, a contemptuous smile on his lips as he thought to himself.
"Anna! If you don't match, it's fine; if you're unlucky, then you're just unlucky! A bitch like you only deserves to be burned at the stake or put in an iron maiden!"