"What is your master's name?" The merchant knew that the wealthiest people of Shiganshina had now lost their homes, but many of them had managed to bring their riches with them.
That was why he stopped acting arrogantly and chose instead to understand the business that had come into his hands.
"That's something I can't tell you." Gale, of course, would not make up a random name; that would not work in the long run if these men decided to investigate.
Hearing Gale's firm stance, Armin nearly collapsed to the ground; he was genuinely afraid that Gale might provoke this group.
But it could only be said that Armin did not understand the black market. In this ruthless world, the weaker you appear, the easier it is for you to be killed.
You have to pretend that you have powerful backing, play with the minds of these men who are extremely cautious even about the smallest details.
When Gale first went to the black market, he was escorted by soldiers from Reiss territory sent by Bob for some shady dealings; at that time, no one dared to mess with him.
Later, he went there in disguise and subtly hinted at his connection with the soldiers, after which everyone treated him with great caution.
The people who work in the black market fear the military, since they are their biggest bosses, so they do not dare to provoke soldiers.
The merchant thought for a moment, then reached out and picked up the pouch that Gale had left on the counter.
He opened the pouch and took out the grains of gunpowder inside, which shone brightly under the firelight. Then he tossed another grain into the torch, which crackled loudly.
"Refined powder…" the merchant murmured knowingly. "These are just samples, right? How much does that gentleman have?"
"At the moment, my master can have a little more than forty pounds of this material. It's not much, but my master says he's only looking to make some extra profit for now," Gale replied without hesitation.
The merchant returned the pouch to Gale and said, "We can offer two silver coins per pound, so thirty pounds would be six gold coins. If you accept that price, we'll do business."
"Alright." Gale thought it was a good price.
In the previous black market, the price of gunpowder had been one and a half silver coins per pound. This purchase price was even higher than the outside price, and the merchant, clearly deceived, was trying to gain the trust of his supposed master.
"Then where is the merchandise?" the merchant asked, quite intrigued.
"It will be delivered in a few days."
"Very well." The merchant handed Gale an iron token. "If I'm not here that day, give this token to the shopkeeper, and he'll buy the gunpowder at the price I mentioned."
Gale nodded, glanced at his followers, and gestured for Eren, Armin, and Mikasa to follow him.
He did not leave the black market immediately.
Instead, he pulled up the hood of his cloak, took another round, and bought five pounds of sulfur and fifteen pounds of saltpeter, which he had the three men carry for him. It cost him two gold coins.
Although he had agreed with the merchant to sell thirty pounds, in reality he only had ten pounds of finished product. The remaining twenty pounds would have to be produced in the following days.
After buying what he needed, Gale and the three left the city and returned to the border.
After getting away from the crowd, the three took off their cloaks.
"Amazing, Gale!" Eren exclaimed excitedly. "That's six gold coins! Did you hear that, Mikasa?"
"Yes…" Mikasa felt relieved to see Eren a bit more recovered and said, "Impressive."
"It's incredible." Armin rubbed his hands together to warm them a little. "To be honest, I could barely breathe. That businessman's face was full of scars; it was terrifying. If I had been standing there, I wouldn't have been able to say a single word. Gale, are you really the same age as us? You don't seem like a kid our age at all."
Armin cleared his throat, imitating Gale's tone, and said, "No comment."
Eren pointed at Armin and laughed. "What are you doing? You're acting like an idiot, hahaha."
"More or less…" Gale said with a shrug. "I plan to do business with them in the long term. Next time, it'll be your turn."
"No problem! Leave it to me!" Eren wrapped an arm around Gale and said, "Those guys aren't that big a deal, right?"
Gale smiled and said, "I hope so."
He had achieved his objective for the trip. In fact, he was not short on money; he had sixty gold coins. His main purpose in bringing the trio along was to earn their trust, or in other words, to become friends with them.
Eren, Armin, and Mikasa: one is the successor of the Attack Titan, another is the strategist of the Legion in the original story, and the third possesses the combat talent of the Ackerman family.
All of them are talented and will be of great help to Gale in the future.
More importantly, Gale valued them greatly in his past life. Although their friendship changed a little in the end, that did not prevent him from cherishing them now that they had not yet been affected by war.
Besides, inevitably, all of them would be involved sooner or later, so it was better to act as early as possible.
Gale had great ambitions; he wanted to change the world, and to do that, he had to build his own armed force.
Gunpowder workshops, firearms workshops, iron smelting workshops… He wanted to control the border, build countless factories there, and then invite Erwin Smith to join his plan, one in which humanity would come out ahead.
If the people of the capital knew of his existence, they would surely accuse him of treason and execute him immediately.
But that was not a problem; his methods would make enemies from the outside no threat to them.
If that was called a revolution, Gale would do whatever it took to obtain enough manpower and win.
…
After returning to the refugee camp, Gale taught Eren and the other two how to make gunpowder.
They burned charcoal, mixed the ingredients according to the specified proportions, and followed the procedures to produce approximately thirty pounds of gunpowder.
Adding this to what Gale already had, the total came to a little over forty pounds.
He kept two pounds of gunpowder for his own use and sold the rest on the black market.
That night, Gale did not accompany them. Instead, he investigated the situation and contacted several carpenters in the refugee camp.
He met with them and tested their carpentry skills by asking them to make beds and furniture.
The next morning, Eren and his two companions appeared before Gale with smiles on their faces, showing him the six gold coins they held in their hands.
"Look, Gale! Our first gold rush!"
"To be honest, I was quite worried that something bad might have happened to you," Gale lied. He knew that nothing would happen to these people because they were protected by fate. "But now that I see you, there was no need to worry. You did very well."
"I've already contacted the carpenter, and we can finally start building the water wheel!"
…
Soon, a month would pass, and in two more days he would be able to learn the blueprints of the water wheel from John.
"We must hurry. Spring is already halfway through, and we need to get the waterwheels out before the planting season ends."
Thanks to the water wheel, he would be able to get in touch with Hannes, with the goal of securing an excellent harvest this autumn and then establishing his own gunpowder and iron factories by the end of the year.
It all started thanks to the sale of gunpowder!
After that, he began repairing his house, working with Armin, Mikasa, and Eren to fill the holes in the roof and repair the walls with mud and stones.
The new furniture and beds were finished, and although they were simple, they no longer had to sleep on the ground.
The settlement gradually became more organized and turned into a village. The refugees repaired their houses, cleared nearby weeds, and obtained hoes to cultivate the land.
The government provided oxen and seeds as support, but land reclamation was still far from ideal. Due to the lack of rain and irrigation, the seeds had difficulty germinating.
Gale saw all this and ordered Eren and his two companions to make gunpowder in the house and store it. They hired some homeless children to help them and formed a small team.
Then, finally, the day arrived, and Gale saw John in his dream.