Chapter 67: Football Is a Good Thing!

By now, the soldiers had long been accustomed to such emergency assemblies.

Even if the gathering was called in the middle of the night, they could assemble in an extremely short amount of time.

At this moment, they stood in perfect formation, their feet firmly planted on the ground, waiting for Bruno's orders.

Almost every soldier present had seen this Earl before Bruno Stuart, the lord of Idar.

This was because Bruno often visited the military camp, though not to train with the soldiers, but simply to make his presence known.

In Bruno's view, if the soldiers of Idar did not even recognize their lord, how could they bear the responsibility of protecting Idar? How could they know who they were fighting for?

It was precisely because of this that Bruno personally awarded any rewards or benefits given to the soldiers.

"You all train hard every day, so this afternoon, I'm giving you a chance to relax," Bruno said with satisfaction as he looked at the troops before him. "Training is essential, but proper relaxation is also necessary. Today, I have prepared a game for you a game that I invented. I call it... football."

"You need to select twenty two people to participate in this match. Who wants to volunteer?" Bruno asked with a smile.

To Bruno, while rigorous daily training was indispensable, soldiers also needed breaks from time to time. Only by balancing work and rest could their full potential be unleashed.

Previously, Idar had been under constant pressure from the Gran Highlands, forcing Bruno to maintain an intense training regimen without any room for relaxation.

But now, having just experienced a battle, the soldiers needed a period of adjustment and rest.

Life in the military camp was monotonous and exhausting. Although Idar's soldiers were all energetic young men, endlessly repeating the same training routines would eventually wear down even the toughest among them.

Instead of allowing them to grow tired of their drills over time, it was better to introduce a new activity to break the routine something they could talk about and focus on outside of training.

"Sir! I volunteer!"

"Sir! Count me in!"

Soon, twenty two enthusiastic soldiers had gathered.

Bruno divided them into two teams, each consisting of eleven players.

"Now, each team has eleven players. Choose one person to be the goalkeeper, while the remaining ten players must work together to kick the ball into the opponent's goal. But remember one very important rule except for the goalkeeper, who can use their hands within the penalty area, no one else is allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms at any time..."

The rules of football were not overly complex, so it didn't take long for the volunteers to understand them.

The open ground outside the camp was temporarily converted into a football field, and carpenters quickly assembled two makeshift, somewhat crooked goalposts.

As the promoter of football, Bruno naturally became the chief referee of Idar's first ever football match.

For the soldiers, this new game was already exciting just from hearing the rules, let alone the fact that their Earl himself would be acting as the referee.

As Bruno signaled the start of the match, the players on both sides sprang into action.

However, Bruno had miscalculated.

Expecting these first-time players to understand passing and teamwork was unrealistic.

Each soldier, filled with adrenaline, simply charged after the ball, paying no attention to their teammates' positions or the opposing defenders. If they couldn't get past an opponent, they would just barrel straight into them...

Of course, not everyone was blindly charging ahead. Some players, when the ball came their way, panicked and instinctively kicked it wildly out of bounds, making it impossible for Bruno to enjoy the match.

Since this was everyone's first time playing, they weren't familiar with the rules either. By the time the game progressed, Bruno had practically given up on calling fouls because hardly anyone was following the rules in the first place.

If not for Bruno's presence, the soldiers might have even started fighting each other over possession of the ball.

"My lord, these soldiers..." Sam, watching the chaotic game, finally couldn't hold back.

Bruno cut him off without hesitation. "It's fine. The soldiers need a proper recreational activity. You may think this looks chaotic now, but over time, they will naturally start to grasp the essence of the game. More importantly, football teaches them cooperation and teamwork essential skills for soldiers who will fight side by side in the future."

"Besides, look at the soldiers watching from the sidelines. Aren't they excited too?" Bruno pointed to the crowd of soldiers cheering loudly from the side.

"That's true. I've never seen them this enthusiastic during training..." Sam admitted, unconsciously smiling himself.

"Hey! Look at that! Baron just kicked the ball out of bounds again!" one soldier shouted from the sidelines.

"Every time Baron touches the ball, he just boots it randomly. He's got power, but no accuracy it always rolls right out of bounds," another soldier analyzed calmly.

At that moment, a timid voice asked, "Uh... what's a boundary line?"

The surrounding soldiers all turned to him with a look of pure disdain.

"Idiot..."

To let more soldiers experience the joy of football firsthand, Bruno not only continued organizing matches but also ordered the craftsmen to make more footballs. He even shortened the duration of each match to thirty minutes so more soldiers could participate.

The football frenzy lasted the entire afternoon, and nearly every soldier got to play a few minutes. Although the matches were still chaotic, it was clear that football had helped strengthen bonds among the soldiers.

Even during dinner, the topic of football dominated the conversation.

For once, Bruno chose to eat with the soldiers instead of returning to his lord's castle. Accompanied by Sam and Lister, he stood in line to get food.

Because of Bruno's presence, today's dinner was especially lavish not only fish soup and bread, but also a generous portion of vegetables.

The food was served by a middle-aged woman, whose waist was as wide as a barrel. With a flick of her wrist, half of the vegetables that were meant to go into a soldier's bowl ended up falling back into the pot.

This was the natural talent of every cafeteria lady.