Chapter 134: Since There Are So Many Festivals, Let's Combine Them (3) Bang! Ba-bang!
Firework magic conjured by Charlotte exploded over the soccer grounds, welcoming the players entering the field.
Today, when the long journey of the soccer league that had run for months came to an end, the stands steadily filled up with spectators streaming in from all directions.
One of the two teams facing off in the final was Dwarf Team 1, which had been considered a strong championship favorite even before the league began.
The team opposing them was Raven FC of the Raven Mercenary Group, who overcame their poor early performance and fought their way up to the final.
On the evening of the first day of the autumn festival, the eyes of both teams' players—staring each other down over the championship trophy—were brimming with the resolve to never lose.
"The Half-and-Half MuMani and pizza set is closing soon! Please note that once the complimentary cola runs out, it will be switched to cider!"
When watching sports—especially soccer—food was a must.
Jason and Aston worked hard frying chicken and baking pizza in the oven, and spectators holding plastic bags filled with side-dish sets lined up as they entered the soccer grounds.
However, it was decided that sales would only run before kickoff and during halftime, and would stop while the match was in progress.
Because the food truck's crew also wanted to watch the match in peace, like the other spectators.
"Once the match starts, all menu items except beer and drinks will stop being sold! Buy now!"
"I'll say it again! Bunsik sales will stop when the match starts! If you don't buy now, you'll have to wait until halftime!"
The bunsik wagons doing brisk business around the stadium, as well as the beer wagon, also decided to stop sales during the match.
They all wanted to watch, too. The bunsik wagon cooks, in particular, had gotten into soccer late, and they had even formed a soccer team called Bunsik FC and were scheduled to join starting next season.
"Wow…"
Sitting in the special seats, Charles couldn't close his mouth at the scorching heat he felt from the packed stands.
"I didn't know this many people would gather. Soccer really is popular."
"The people gathered outside the stadium will be at least twice this number."
With the usual number of league viewers combined with the festival crowd, the existing stands were absolutely incapable of accommodating everyone who wanted to watch the final.
In the end, Jinseo parked the food truck outside near the stadium and decided to show the match on a large TV using Owl's CCTV function.
Owl perched on the left shoulder of the announcer broadcasting the match, and thanks to that, the announcer's and commentator's voices could be transmitted together with the footage.
"We will now have the opening kick by Oswald Hamilton, Lord of Falstead Castle."
The announcer's voice boomed through the food truck's large speaker, and the big TV screen filled with Oswald Hamilton taking the opening kick with an awkward kick.
Next, the ChampXions League theme song flowed from the large speaker, and the spectators inside the stadium focused their eyes on the center mark where the ball sat.
Fweeeet!
With the referee Craid's whistle, the final began with Raven FC's kickoff.
"Alright! Thank you for waiting so long! The final between Dwarf Team 1 and Raven FC has just begun!"
As the match started with the announcer's words, the Raven mercenaries who couldn't get into the stands gripped their beer mugs and couldn't take their eyes off the large TV.
Their love of soccer was especially intense—so much so that they had refused all outside requests for the past fifteen days just to be able to cheer today.
Of course, those assigned to security posts all across Falstead Castle and Dwarf Town throughout the festival sadly couldn't leave their stations even at this very moment as the final was being played, and could only swallow their tears.
They lamented their bad luck from the lot drawing that selected who would stand guard on the festival's first day.
"Elios! Run! Run!"
"That's it! Nice!"
The mercenaries chanted the name of Elios, one of the three centaur boy messengers, who was participating in the match as a mercenary for Raven FC.
After the centaurs crossed over to the Francia Continent, the first to approach them were none other than the coaches of the various soccer teams.
They focused on the centaurs' overwhelming speed, powerful leg strength, and tremendous jumping ability.
On the other hand, when it came to handling the ball freely, their body structure posed many difficulties, making it impractical in many ways to form a soccer team composed only of centaurs.
Instead, they were optimal to recruit as mercenaries for existing teams, so a new rule was established allowing up to two centaur mercenaries per team.
The centaurs who joined teams mostly took winger roles, and because their leg strength itself was so powerful, some also became dedicated free-kick takers.
Thwack!
Elios, who had been carrying the ball, stopped abruptly near Dwarf Team 1's corner area, then whipped in a strong cross with his hind leg.
The ball, arcing toward the goal, was met by Kane, who broke through the defenders and dived to connect with a precise header.
"Goal! It's a goal! Raven FC! Shattering everyone's expectations, they strike first!"
The announcer's excited words reached those outside the stadium through the speakers.
"Waaaaah! He scored! He scored!"
"As expected of Kane! I believed in you!"
"Man—Elios's crosses are always incredible!"
The moment Raven FC's striker Kane scored the opening goal, the mercenaries who had come to cheer for their comrades erupted and rose to their feet all at once.
Then they linked arms and began singing their chant.
Julien, a bard, had listened to various team chants from the soccer videos Jinseo played before the league began, adapted them appropriately, and distributed them to each team.
Raven FC's chant was one that had been popular when the World Cup was held in Korea.
Hearing it brings back old memories, seriously…
Jinseo experienced once again, on the Francia Continent in another world, the intense heat of the 2002 World Cup he had felt as a child.
"It's amazing! Just watching makes me get so excited!"
Charles, who didn't personally play soccer, was unknowingly gripping the bag of fries in his hand tightly.
"If only baseball could be played in a big stadium like this, in front of so many people…"
Even though he was enjoying the soccer match, Charles's favorite sport was baseball.
Right now, it was only a trend among nobles and wasn't popular with the public, so compared to soccer, it was bound to have a narrower foothold.
"When you return to the capital, how about forming a baseball team? I'll prepare the necessary baseball equipment and send it to you."
"Then, like soccer, we should make a team logo too. Since the animal that symbolizes the royal family is an eagle…"
"Your Highness."
Jinseo cut him off mid-sentence in a way unlike himself, his expression serious.
"An eagle is absolutely not allowed."
"Huh? Not allowed? Is there a special reason? A curse?"
Charles couldn't help being frightened by Jinseo's eyes, which carried a kind of grim determination.
"It's not just a curse. If you use an eagle as the logo, you'll be cursed to never win the championship. A logo symbolizing giants also must never be adopted for the same reason."
"T-then we have to exclude those two no matter what."
"Absolutely, no matter what, you must."
Jinseo had a clear basis for his harsh evaluation of eagle logos.
Both of Jinseo's parents liked baseball, and each supported a different team.
Even though they supported different teams, watching both fail to win every year did not bring out any kindness in his parents.
And both teams were continuing this year as well the curse of not winning for decades.
Damn eagle…
Crunch!
"Hic!"
Seeing Jinseo lightly crush the can of cola in his right hand, Charles started hiccuping.
"Ah, I'm sorry. My emotions suddenly ran high. I'm not usually like this, but whenever I think of eagles, I end up like this. I'm really sorry."
Jinseo flustered and broke into a sweat trying to calm Charles down, and in the meantime, the first half ended.
Once the second half began, the match turned into a chaotic melee.
Comebacks and equalizers, another comeback and another equalizer repeated, and the crowd was swept into a frenzy.
After a tight battle where it wouldn't have been strange no matter who won, the final ended with a 4–3 score, Dwarf Team 1 taking the victory.
"Haa… still not enough."
Kane, Raven FC's captain and striker who scored two goals, sat down on the field and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
"It was a good match."
Geshtain, who recorded a hat trick and became MVP, placed a hand on Kane's shoulder.
At the moment the championship was decided, he was soaked head to toe by GeX-ray sprayed by his teammates, but joy was spread across his face.
"Since I won, you didn't forget you're buying the after-party, right?"
"Tch, can't be helped. But next league will be different."
Kane acknowledged the loss without complaint, promising the next time.
However, there were even more players who couldn't overcome the pain of defeat and suffered.
"If I'd done better… if only that last cross had succeeded…"
Elios, the youngest player among those who participated, began to tear up from the sorrow of defeat.
Angelica Crudian approached him and patted his back, and the other Raven FC players gathered to comfort him.
"Don't cry."
Kane placed his left hand on Elios's messy hair and spoke quietly.
"You did your best."
Even with Kane's comfort, Elios couldn't lift his bowed head.
"We didn't become the inaugural champions of the soccer league. But…"
Malcolm, the mercenary captain and Raven FC's coach, placed a small silver trophy into Elios's hands.
"We became the team that produced the first-ever Rookie of the Year winner. You, Elios."
"Huh? Me?"
"Didn't you hear them call your name on the stage earlier?"
Strictly speaking, all the players who participated in this league were basically rookies.
But considering when they learned soccer, only some were classified as rookies.
And the one who claimed the once-in-a-lifetime Rookie award was Elios, who recorded three assists in the final.
"In the soccer videos Jinseo played, I saw them do something called a toss for the player who performed best. Come on—what are you all doing?"
"Huh? Huh?"
At Kane's order, every Raven FC player gathered around Elios.
"Though we didn't win, for our future that's even more valuable than victory!"
"To the future!"
"To the future!"
The players lifted Elios—still wearing a stunned expression—and tossed him high into the air.
Even though they were divided into winners and losers, the spectators gave the players who ran on the field generous applause.
"To the future!"
"T-that's enough!"
"To the future!"
"I-I'm dizzy!"
Geshtain and Malcolm watched with pleased expressions as Elios kept getting tossed.
"Heh heh… that centaur boy is really good. If he hadn't been a rookie—if he'd built more experience and then faced us—we might've lost."
"Haha, you flatter us. Of course, it's true our Elios is a good player."
"He's an enemy, but he's a player I really want. So, about that—can we trade?"
"What? What are you talking about!"
At Geshtain's sudden trade proposal, Malcolm raised his voice in fierce protest.
"Don't you need adamantium armor? If it's not enough, I'm willing to make an adamantium shield too…"
"Don't be ridiculous!"
Bang! Ba-bang!
Once again, Charlotte's firework magic blossomed in the sky, flamboyantly decorating the end of the final.
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