Gunpowder Plate Armor and the Magic Revolution

Graham leaned slightly forward and lowered his voice to Bilkin.

"Major General, I won't dwell on what happened earlier. Drawing your sword against friendly forces in front of so many people—if things really escalated, even if you were in the right, you would be in the wrong. The establishment of the joint investigation team and the subsequent statement taking process are all General Leopold's orders. You have to cooperate, no matter how unwilling you are."

Bilkin's face fell instantly. He was about to open his mouth to retort when Graham stopped him with a look.

"The general also said that your successful escape from Herbert City with the officers was a great achievement, so don't let this small matter ruin your reputation."

Graham added another sentence, his tone carrying a reminder.

Bilkin opened his mouth, but ultimately just snorted and swallowed back the complaint that was on the tip of his tongue.

Who would dare disobey the orders of their superior?

"Okay, okay, it's just a statement, right? I haven't done anything wrong, why should I be afraid of them asking?"

"That's right."

Graham smiled, patted his arm, and before Bill King could say anything more, he turned and walked toward Dr. William and Miss Sophie.

He walked up to the two men, bowed slightly again, and performed a standard Edric nobleman's bow, his movements elegant and proper, and his tone extremely gentle.

"Dr. William, Miss Sophie, I'm sorry to have frightened you both. General Leopold felt very guilty after learning about the attack on the docks and specially sent me to pick you up. The General has prepared tea and refreshments at the War Department and is waiting there in person to apologize to you both."

Upon hearing this, Dr. William nodded slightly to Graham. "I am grateful to Lieutenant Colonel Graham for making this special trip. Please also thank General Leopold on my behalf. If it weren't for the young officers of your country risking their lives to save me, I'm afraid I wouldn't be standing here alive."

As he spoke, he turned to look at the three of them, his eyes filled with gratitude.

"Dr. William, rest assured, the War Department will record the merits of these three warrant officers truthfully and reward them handsomely."

Graham smiled and agreed, then stepped aside to make way, gesturing for them to proceed. "The car is ready outside the dock, and the escort is all arranged to ensure your safety on the journey. Please follow me?"

Miss Sophie, who had been closely guarding Dr. William's side, curtsied slightly to Graham and said softly, "Thank you for your trouble, Lieutenant Colonel."

Graham smiled and returned the greeting, then led the two men toward the dock.

As Graham passed by the three of them, he paused slightly, gave them an approving look, nodded slightly, and then continued walking.

"How did he manage to resolve everything so easily?"

As Lucas watched Graham disappear into the distance, he whispered to Nozer beside him, "Was he the so-called magician who could cast hypnotic spells?"

"First of all, that's not hypnosis, that's suggestion."

"Secondly," Nozer said helplessly, "I think he used intelligence."

"Intelligence magic? When did you magicians acquire a new type of magic?"

"..."

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Orentia Army Headquarters, Reception Room.

The dark brown walnut wood paneling gleamed, sunlight streamed through the stained-glass windows, casting dappled, colorful light on the floor, and the air was filled with the faint aroma of black tea and the sweet scent of buttered pastries.

This place was temporarily used as an interrogation room, and they were able to receive this treatment thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Graham's strong insistence that "we cannot let our people bleed and weep!"

Nozer sat on a single sofa, with two interrogators sitting opposite him.

The older interrogator had graying temples and wore silver-rimmed glasses. His tone was calm as he asked questions, making it seem less like he was interrogating a criminal and more like he was listening to Norze tell a story.

It doesn't seem strange, since they really aren't criminals.

The younger one was in charge of taking notes, and the scratching sound of the pen tip across the paper was the only sound in the meeting room besides the conversation.

From the explosion in Herber City, the entire voyage across the Emerald Sea, to the battle on the Red Wolf, and the attack on the docks, Nozer recounted everything clearly and logically, without any concealment.

The transcript was over a dozen pages long, until the older interrogator turned to the last page, his fingertip pointing to the line "Assassins communicated in the southern border dialect of Edric during the firefight," and he looked up at Nozer.

"Warrant Lieutenant Nozer, I'm confirming with you one last time."

He pushed up his glasses, his gaze sharpening. "Are you sure you heard the assassins speaking Edric's native dialect during the firefight at the docks?"

"I'm sure, there's no way I wouldn't hear it at that close range."

He paused, then added, "Warrant Lieutenant Lucas and Warrant Lieutenant Andrew, who were with me on the front lines of the firefight, most likely also heard their conversation. If you need corroboration, you can ask them to check their statements; I think the details will match up."

Upon hearing Nozer's certain answer, the older interrogator frowned, exchanged a glance with the younger interrogator beside him, and then whispered to each other for a long time. Nozer could only catch a few fragmented words such as "Edric," "assassination," "dialect," and "diplomatic relations."

After a while, the two of them sat up straight again.

The older interrogator closed the transcript and gave Noze a gentle but somewhat apologetic smile. "Warrant Lieutenant Noze, you need to wait here for a moment. You can't leave immediately. The contents of this transcript are of great importance, and we need to report it to them right away."

He pointed to the brass bell on the table and added, "If there isn't enough tea or pastries, just ring the bell and the orderly will bring them over."

"Okay, I'll wait for you here."

Noze nodded slightly and didn't ask any further questions.

The two interrogators stood up, carrying thick notebooks, and hurried out of the meeting room, the solid wood door closing gently behind them.

Nozer leaned back on the sofa, sensing that the matter was far more complicated than he had initially imagined.

Dr. William was a high-ranking doctor in the Republic of Edric, yet he unusually did not visit through normal diplomatic channels and instead came by ship, which is a major point of suspicion.

The fact that the assassin who killed him spoke fluent Edric dialect strongly suggests that Dr. William had defected from the Republic of Edric for some reason and was being hunted down by the assassin.

But this whole thing seems very strange. If Edric's men really wanted to kill Dr. William, why would they go to all the trouble of going to the capital port of Orentia to do it? Wouldn't it have been better to do it in Edric's place?

Furthermore, there's no need to deliberately communicate in your local dialect during firefights, as if you're afraid others won't be able to trace your origins.

But if it was the Empire that did it... to go to such lengths and use so many people just to assassinate a weapons expert, isn't that making a mountain out of a molehill?

My status is not high, and I face too many unknowns and too few knowns. I have so many things to sort out and don't know where to begin.

"Since things have come to this, let's have some free pastries first."

Noze decided to stop wasting his brain cells and picked up a piece of pastry, throwing it into his mouth.