Gunpowder Plate Armor and the Magic Revolution

"Knock knock knock".

Graham knocked on the door of Admiral Leopold's office.

"Come in."

Admiral Leopold's voice came from inside the door.

Graham pushed open the door, and Norze followed him inside, gently closing the door behind him.

Leopold's desk was covered with drawings and dense experimental data, with papers piled up from the top of the desk to the corner.

He sat behind the table, wearing glasses on his nose, his eyes filled with exhaustion.

Seeing that it was Graham and Nozer who entered, he took off his glasses, rubbed his throbbing temples with his fingers, sighed, and said with obvious impatience, "Sigh... what happened now?"

You really can't blame him for his bad attitude.

Early this morning, people from Edric's Foreign Ministry blocked the entrance to the Emerald Palace, arguing with him endlessly about the attack on Dr. William, forcing Orentia to give an explanation.

To put it bluntly, they wanted compensation, a reduction in tariffs and shipping costs, and it took them a whole morning to resolve.

This group of people has no sincerity whatsoever; they are simply trying to make exorbitant demands and take advantage of Orentia, the host.

Even the absurd claim that the monetary value revolution was deliberately orchestrated by Orentia to reap Edric's wealth was uttered with such blatant audacity by those diplomats.

It's as if the gold and silver shields of Orentia didn't lose their value after a large influx of gold and silver.

After finally getting rid of those people, and just as I returned to the War Department, Dr. William arrived with a complete set of experimental data and spare parts requirements for the armed airship.

They'd ask for money, people, space, factories, engineers... they'd take anything and everything.

His civil servants dared not make decisions on their own when faced with such confidential documents, and ultimately the decision-making power fell to Leopold.

Now Graham has brought Knozer to his office, and you can tell from his expression that he's in trouble.

With all these things piling up, even someone with an iron body would find it hard to hold on.

Graham paused, glancing first at Dr. William and Sophie standing at the table, then at Leopold. He swallowed his words, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

Leopold saw through his concerns at a glance and waved his hand. "Don't worry, just say what you have to say. Dr. William has officially submitted an asylum application to Orentia, and I think he's even more eager than we are to find out who's behind the assassination."

Graham nodded and began to report, "General, we have discovered some new and crucial clues while investigating the assassination at the docks."

He explained the whole story clearly: "We know that the assassins lived in the Protestant area of ​​downtown. They hired a lot of local vagrants and dockworkers as cover men, made many cloaks to cover their bodies in batches, and bought contraband such as gunpowder through the black market. They were very good at counter-surveillance."

"The trail went cold here..."

Graham looked at Nozer beside him with approval in his eyes. "But Warrant Officer Nozer has grasped the key point, which is the black market. Clothes are not a big deal, and someone can be hired to buy them. But gunpowder is a contraband that is strictly controlled by the War Department. The black market is very risky. This group of people would not entrust such a dangerous matter to unrelated strangers."

"Hmm...that makes sense logically. Do you have any more specific information?"

"have."

Graham nodded. "The gunpowder trade in the downtown black market is basically controlled by an old man nicknamed 'The Miser,' Barker. If we can find him, get information on the people who recently bought gunpowder from him, and compare it with the assassin's portrait, we might be able to thoroughly investigate the matter and perhaps even take down the hidden spy hideout."

"We're here to request a special investigation order. We also need to deploy a squad of army troops to secretly monitor the outskirts of the city to prevent any accidents during the operation. In addition, we need a professional artist to go to the Admiralty morgue and draw some overall portraits of the assassin's body so we can verify the information with Old Buck."

Leopold did not answer immediately, tapping his fingers on the solid wood tabletop as he pondered the necessity and specifics of an operation of this scale.

"Yeah, the lower city really needs to be cleaned up. Those bastards will sell anything... If we don't teach them a lesson, they'll really go too far."

Admiral Leopold made his decision very quickly.

"I'll sign the joint investigation order for you right now. As for the personnel to be deployed, using the army would make us too conspicuous. I'll contact the police department and have them deploy around the city. But I must remind you, try not to cause any more trouble... It will be difficult for Emerald Palace to handle the questioning from the House of Commons."

"As for the painters... most of the civilian officials in the military are good at drawing, but when it comes to painting portraits, I really don't know who would be suitable."

As soon as he finished speaking, Dr. William, who had been sitting quietly to the side, spoke softly, "General, if you don't mind, I think Sophie should be able to do the job."

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone in the office looked at the girl wearing the silver mask.

Sophie stood up straight, her expression calm and composed.

Dr. William looked gently at his daughter and then explained.

"Sophie has studied painting since she was a child, including portraiture and landscape painting. Over the years, she has been drawing mechanical blueprints with me, so she has a particularly keen eye for detail. She is very suitable for drawing portraits that require attention to detail."

A hint of surprise flashed across Leopold's face, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that the suggestion was indeed quite good.

However, it doesn't matter if you think it's good or not; the key is whether Sophie agrees.

Without further hesitation, he looked at Sophie and asked gently, "Miss Sophie, do you have any objections?"

"I have no objection. It is my honor to be able to help the officers of Orentia, and my father and I also hope to find out the truth about this matter as soon as possible."

"it is good."

Leopold nodded. "It's rare to see someone with such courage and responsibility. I'll leave the portrait to you."

"Graham, and Norze, you two take Sophie to the Admiralty morgue later. I'll feel more at ease with you two with her."

"Yes."

Graham agreed.

Leopold quickly signed his name on the document, affixed the War Department General's wax seal, and handed the investigation order to Graham.

"Thank you, General. I have one more request. I would like someone familiar with the city to act as our guide, so that our operation will be more convenient."

"Since you've said that, you probably already have someone in mind, right?"

"Yes, I want Monet von Schönfeld. He spends his days in the black market of the lower town, and he is proficient in magic and has good swordsmanship. He is the kind of person I need."

"Monet?"

Leopold pondered for a moment, finally making contact with the name in his memory. He sighed with regret, "Ah, I remember him, the magician Monet. He was a good lad, but unfortunately, he was afflicted with a chronic illness because of that damned 'Battle of the Golden Knife'... How did he end up in the lower city's black market?"