[Third update. Old Moon still owed three chapters! Please vote with recommendation tickets—if you have any, don't waste them; give them all to Old Moon! Thanks to "Winter's White Daydream" for the reward!]
Raven Fortress of the Black Moon Kingdom was an enormous military stronghold. It was usually sparsely populated, but recently, it had become lively, with countless people coming and going.
These people had all fled from the Bright Kingdom. Some were refugees, some merchants, and some minor nobles. They formed a noisy, chaotic mass, all wanting to enter Raven Fortress.
Because if they wanted to enter the Black Moon Kingdom, Raven Fortress was the only entrance. Otherwise, they would have to cross the Barren Mountains, which stretched for thousands of miles.
The Barren Mountains were fraught with danger. Almost no one chose to cross them to enter the Black Moon Kingdom, and thus the mountain range became a natural barrier between the Black Moon Kingdom and the Bright Kingdom.
However, entering the Black Moon Kingdom through Raven Fortress was no easy matter. Everyone had to pay enough gold coins before they were allowed through. Those ragged refugees, lacking sufficient gold, were all stopped outside and forbidden from entering.
The fate awaiting those refugees was either to return to the Bright Kingdom, wait here forever in the hope that Raven Fortress might one day allow free entry, or simply die before Raven Fortress.
"Hey, look! There's a caravan, with knights guarding it, and so many carriages. Tsk, tsk, there are even Heavy Armored Knights... Looks like a wealthy noble. We'll have to fleece them hard later!"
Some of Raven Fortress's guards had long noticed the huge caravan in the distance. Its armor gleamed brightly, and it had numerous vehicles. Based on their experience over this period, this caravan was