Gunpowder Plate Armor and the Magic Revolution

Noze barely opened his eyes, propped himself up to sit up, rubbed his throbbing forehead, and although he was very annoyed, he still patiently asked.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"It's...it's a notification from the duty station."

The junior handed over a notice stamped with the duty office's seal. "Tonight's night shift is assigned to senior student Noze Stella, from midnight to 3 a.m. at the main gate post... Please be at the main gate on time for roll call."

Noze's sleepiness vanished instantly. He took the notice, looked at his name on it, and almost thought he was seeing things.

"Seriously? Are you kidding me?"

Lucas jumped out of bed, strode over to his junior, and frowned deeply. "We're taking the boat back to Storms at eight tomorrow morning, and you've scheduled him for night duty tonight? Have the people in your duty office lost their minds?"

The junior student trembled at his shout, his face turning pale. He quickly waved his hands, "No... it wasn't my arrangement, senior! The instructor at the duty station said that many of this year's graduates are leaving tonight, and among the remaining ones, graduates will be given priority for night shifts, because... experienced seniors are needed to strengthen vigilance..."

Nuoze clutched the notice, cursing the people at the duty station eight hundred times in his mind.

He's so tired he can barely stand. After standing guard for three hours, it's questionable whether he'll even be able to get up tomorrow morning, let alone sit on a warship all day.

But rules are rules. Even though he's leaving school tomorrow, he's still a cadet today. Once the military order is given, there's no reason to shirk it.

"Okay, I understand."

Noze folded the notification and stuffed it into his pocket. He waved to the junior who was almost crying from being scared by Lucas, "I'll be there on time. You can go back now."

The junior felt like he had been granted a pardon. He saluted again, turned around and ran away in a flash, afraid that if he was a step too slow, Lucas would scold him again.

"No, you really want to go?"

Lucas looked at him incredulously. "Just say you have a fever and can't get out of bed. I'll go talk to the duty station for you. They can't just drag you out of bed, can they? We're leaving tomorrow anyway. They can't just chase after you to Storm and punish you, can they?"

"never mind."

Noze shook his head, got up, picked up the clothes draped over the back of the chair, and started putting them on. "Don't cause trouble for the freshmen. Besides, it's only three hours. It'll pass quickly if you stand for a bit. You can't go home with a disciplinary record before graduation."

He buttoned up his top button, straightened his collar, turned around and smiled at Lucas, "You go to sleep first, I'll be back after my shift. Don't oversleep tomorrow morning and miss the ship."

"Bullshit, how could I oversleep?"

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Be smart. If you can sleep in the duty room, go and sleep there for a while."

"OK."

Noze turned around, opened the door, and went out.

The noise in the corridor had mostly subsided, and most of the dormitories had turned off their lights, with only a few rooms still lit.

As soon as he reached the lobby on the first floor, Norze saw the figure standing at the door.

With light blonde hair and impeccably tailored casual clothes, it was Andrew Hart.

He was taken aback when he saw Norze come down, then nodded slightly, a hint of surprise in his eyes. "Norze? You've been assigned to the night shift too?"

"There's nothing I can do, damn duty station."

Noze walked over, shaking the notice in his hand helplessly. "I don't know what got into these people, they put me, who's leaving tomorrow, on the list. What about you? Aren't you leaving the day after tomorrow?"

"Um."

Andrew nodded. "The duty station said that most of the graduates had left and they were short-handed, so they pulled all of us up here. My patrol post is from midnight to 3 a.m. on the west wall."

"What a coincidence, it's the same time for me too. Let's go to the main gate for roll call together, it'll be good to keep each other company."

Andrew gave a soft "hmm" and followed him toward the main entrance.

The military academy was much quieter at night than during the day. Only the streetlights cast dim yellow spots of light on the road, and a few lights were lit in the distant dormitory buildings. The wind rustled through the ash trees.

The two walked side by side without speaking, the only sound being the soft thud of their military boots on the stone pavement, which was particularly clear in the quiet night.

The guard post at the main gate was brightly lit, and the instructor on duty was sitting at a table flipping through the roster. Four first-year students stood next to him, their palms sweating with nervousness. When they saw Norze and Andrew enter, they immediately saluted in unison.

"Noser Stella, Andrew Hart, reporting for duty."

Nozer placed the notification on the table and gave a standard military salute.

The instructor glanced at them, picked up a pen, and made a couple of marks on the roster. "Stella, main gate guard post, responsible for registering people entering and leaving. Hart, patrolling the west gate. You're all graduates now, you should know the rules, right?"

"clear!"

The two responded in unison.

"Alright, go ahead, be careful, don't mess things up."

The instructor waved his hand and went back to his work.

Stepping out of the guard post, a cool night breeze, carrying a hint of seaside chill, blew in. Noze pulled his uniform tighter around himself, glanced at Andrew beside him, and raised an eyebrow: "Hey, Andrew, wanna take a stroll?"

Andrew paused, not quite understanding: "Go shopping? Aren't we supposed to be on guard duty?"

"What are you standing guard for?"

Nozer raised his chin, gesturing to the restless freshmen in the guard post. "Three hours? Are you really going to stand there until dawn? We're leaving tomorrow and the day after; are you really going to stand here like a bunch of freshmen?"

"I'll go and tell them to keep an eye on the guard post at the main gate."

Andrew's eyes widened slightly, a hint of hesitation on his face. "This...isn't that a bad idea?"

"What's wrong with that? When we first entered the school, we were forced to stand guard for six hours. I'm already being lenient by coming here."

Nozer patted his chest. "Besides, it's the middle of the night, the instructors are all sleeping in the duty room, who's going to come out and check on them?"

Seeing that Andrew was still somewhat hesitant, he added, "I'm afraid that once we all go back to our respective provinces, we won't have the chance to see Herbert City again."

In the end, it was these words that struck a chord with Andrew, and he nodded slightly, "Okay, I'll listen to you."

It is common for new recruits to take over guard duty for veterans in the military. This is not only the case in schools, but also frequently occurs in border troops or the standing armies of various member states.

Although bullies may find one reason or another to beautify their behavior, such as "we all went through this before", "young people should be able to endure hardship" and so on.

But bullying is bullying. As long as there is bullying, there will be victims, and the victims can only find the next victim to vent their emotions on.