Gunpowder Plate Armor and the Magic Revolution

Looking at the young lieutenant colonel who was adopting the air of a seasoned elder, Norzer countered with a question, "Lieutenant Colonel Graham, you speak with great confidence... So, do you have a girl you fancy?"

Upon hearing this, Graham was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting him to suddenly turn the conversation back on him.

"Ahem... I've been busy investigating cases and handling military affairs with the general, so I haven't had time to attend those banquets."

He said it with absolute certainty.

"Oh, I see. I was wrong."

Nozer glanced at Dorothy with a grin, then at Graham, and understood.

Seeing that he didn't press the matter, Graham quickly steered the conversation back on track. "Mrs. Dorothy, quickly calculate the cost and approximate time. The clothes are settled then."

Dorothy picked up the completed pattern sheet on the table and calculated the cost. She quickly tallied the total: "All the clothes together cost 40 large silver shields. The deposit is..."

"No need for a deposit, money is not a problem. I'll have someone deliver the full amount to you tomorrow, and I'll give you a little extra money. Put aside all other orders in the store and focus on this one first."

Dorothy nodded, teasing Graham, "The Lieutenant Colonel must be quite wealthy to be able to send such a large sum of money over. Most people would have delivered it to their door in person… Aren't you afraid I'll run off with the money someday?"

It seems Dorothy is already used to Graham's unrestrained extravagance.

However, Norzee gleaned some inspiration for solving the case from these seemingly meaningless words.

Such a large sum of money... other people would definitely come to deliver it to our door in person...

A large sum of money... coming to my door in person...

What if we turned the clothes into more valuable gunpowder, and the customers into assassins...?

With this thought, Noze's mind cleared up as if the clouds had parted to reveal the dawn.

"The black market! The key is the black market boss who sells them gunpowder."

Nozer looked at Graham and said excitedly, "The prices on the black market are definitely not low. It would be inconvenient to use locals to buy things for us. Most likely, they will go themselves, or at the very least, they will be trusted locals."

"If we can find the person who sold them the gunpowder, we might be able to identify the assassins and find out who planned this attack."

Graham was taken aback when he heard what Knozer said, and then quickly went through the logic in his mind to see if it made sense.

Soon, he clapped his hands together, making a loud, crisp sound.

He was so focused on the white gloves of the custom-made clothes that he forgot about this most crucial part.

Clothing and other insignificant items can certainly be easily outsourced to others, but gunpowder is a different story.

These are all prohibited items strictly controlled by Orentia. Black market transactions are inherently extremely risky. Let alone trading with a homeless person whose employer you don't even know, even regular customers who frequent the black market for years need multiple guarantees to get these goods. If you're not careful, you could be arrested and thrown into jail, or even be double-crossed by people in the black market, and you might not even be able to save your life.

There's no way these assassins would entrust such a deadly task to a stranger who might run off with the money or even sell them out at any moment.

Those who can come forward to trade on the black market are either their own people or trusted local confidants who are deeply rooted in Monsoon Harbor.

"You're going to do something really great."

Graham patted Nozer on the shoulder excitedly, his eyes full of approval. "That's right. As long as we can find the dealer who sold them the gunpowder, we'll most likely be able to follow the trail and find out what's going on with this group."

"Dorothy, are you familiar with the black market downtown?"

"It's alright. The black market is a lawless place. I only know that the most famous gunpowder dealer there is 'The Miser' Old Buck. As for what he looks like, when he appears, and how he speaks their slang, I don't know much. You'll need to dress up and sneak into the black market to see for yourselves."

"Old Buck..."

Graham murmured the name to himself.

Noze gave Dorothy a polite bow. "Thank you for the information, Mrs. Dorothy."

"Don't be so polite, it's all just a transaction."

Dorothy waved her hand and said to Graham and Nozer, "If you have to go to the lower city, remember to be careful, bring more people with you, and don't expose your identities. The lower city is not peaceful these days. There are constant internal conflicts between guilds at the docks, and there are fights every day. Be careful not to get caught up in them."

At this point, Graham's demeanor underwent a significant change. His usual carefree attitude vanished, leaving only the composure and calmness befitting a general's deputy.

He wasn't really just a rich "playboy." How many idiots could be serving as an adjutant under Admiral Leopold?

"Nozer, do you have any good ideas?"

Graham looked at Nozer; this was both a discussion and a test of his abilities.

"If we venture deep into enemy territory alone now, we will most likely gain nothing and may even encounter danger. We can first send people to secretly set up surveillance around the lower city and then make other plans. This way, even if the operation does not go smoothly, we will have a backup plan."

"Besides, we don't have any physical evidence. Even if we manage to find Old Buck, we won't get any useful information just by asking him... It would be even better if we had a sketch of the assassin as evidence."

Nozer clearly broke down the vague and general direction of capturing Buck into specific events and provided general solutions.

"Hmm...very good, very good, you've taken all aspects into account."

Graham nodded, commenting on Nozer, "To remain calm and composed even when faced with great honor, and to analyze the situation with meticulous thought, demonstrates a character that makes him more than qualified to be a captain in the army."

"Warrant Lieutenant Norzhe's analysis is correct. There's no need to be too hasty. Old Buck has been at Monsoon Harbor for over twenty years. He can't just run away. As long as you are well-prepared, you don't need to worry about him not giving a word."

Dorothy offered the same words of comfort.

Having set their sights on something, the two didn't linger. After saying goodbye to Dorothy and Cora, they quickly left the tailor shop.

The doorman was already waiting by the roadside with two horses. When Chestnut saw Norze come out, it immediately shook its ears obediently and gently rubbed its head against his palm.

Graham mounted his black horse, flicked his whip, and spoke to Nozer.

"Let's go back to the Army Headquarters first, report the clues we just gathered to General Leopold, apply for an investigation order according to regulations, and then we need to deploy some of our people to monitor the outskirts of the black market, just in case."

"After that, as you said, we need to find a few reliable artists to draw portraits of those assassins in the Navy morgue."

Norze mounted Chestnut, gently gripped the reins, and nodded. "Yes, Lieutenant Colonel, I will follow your orders."

Graham watched as Knozer quickly adjusted his movements, nodded in satisfaction, and gently spurred the black horse's flanks. The horse immediately began to trot along the stone path towards the Ministry of War.