As he boarded the carriage, Rayat gave the order, and the convoy of more than nine hundred people set off westward.
Less than three kilometers later, they joined the Cadro-Qixing Highway.
Many merchant caravans traveled along the main road. A group of nearly a thousand people was not unusual compared with the large caravans that used this highway.
At noon the next day, a light rain fell as the Ridge Territory convoy reached the border of Ruensha County.
Inside a medium-sized border outpost, a Mid-rank Silver Knight watched the slowly approaching convoy in the distance. There were nearly a thousand people, most of them clad in iron armor.
By regulation, a group like this was not permitted to enter Qixing Territory.
However, the flag fluttering in the drizzle prompted him to order the special passage opened, allowing the group flying the Ridge Territory Viscount's Noble Banner to pass.
Upon receiving the order, a Mid-rank Bronze warrior took a rain cape, draped it over himself, and led the nine soldiers of his squad to open the gate.
With a teeth-grinding screech, the heavy iron gate slowly opened.
To ensure the security of Qixing Territory's eastern border, ten years earlier, under Belder's direction, a border wall stretching 375 kilometers had been built along the Ruensha border.
The border wall stood twelve meters high and three meters wide. With the help of 117 teachers and students from the Earth Element Mage Academy branch, it had taken three years to complete.
Originally defended and patrolled by the Eastern Border Outpost Troops, after military reforms, the 137 kilometers directly facing east were assigned to more than five hundred soldiers of the Eighth Brigade of the border outpost troops. The remaining two hundred-plus kilometers were guarded and patrolled with assistance from the Ruensha County City Defense