Five minutes into the match, Frederick was already as caught up in it as the rest of the spectators.
The players had only been introduced to the game half a month ago, so they had little skill to speak of. Remembering not to touch the ball with their hands was already a victory.
But that was exactly why they played so wildly. Every inch of grass was fiercely contested.
The intense clashes instantly ignited the crowd's enthusiasm. Sailors, farmers, porters, shop clerks, accountants, and scribes alike cheered and shouted as one, with no distinctions between them. Their voices carried for a full kilometer.
During a throw-in, Philip suddenly calmed down. He looked around at the frenzied crowd and shuddered.
If this kind of fervor appeared somewhere else...
Philip didn't dare continue the thought.
The first goal came in the fifteenth minute, giving Fish Hook Team the lead.
On the bench, Richard Nahl smiled.
A game this physical held no challenge for someone with his extraordinary strength. His sheer physique gave him an overwhelming advantage. What he preferred was using his brain to devise tactics and lead his team to victory.
He had listened to everything Frederick said and had even taken the ideas further, coming up with plenty of his own.
The players on Fish Hook Team were merchants and clerks—in other words, white-collar workers. They couldn't match the blacksmiths' stamina, but they had one advantage: they were quick-witted. Their work required them to cooperate with others, so they were used to working as a team.
Iron Hammer Team was different. When they worked, they mostly handled their own tasks, and one person could often take care of everything. As a result, they rarely passed the ball while playing.
So Coach Richard Nahl came up with a strategy for the team: avoid physical clashes, pass the ball more, especially over long distances. That would draw their opponents around the field and wear them down.
The strategy worked well. Fish Hook Team's long passes soon sent the Iron Hammer players rushing back and forth. Some grew impatient and swarmed the ball, leaving a huge gap in their defense. Fish Hook Team seized the chance for a one-on-one showdown with the goalkeeper.
Fish Hook Team's supporters immediately started gloating.
But Iron Hammer Team soon turned the tables. Around the twenty-fifth minute, they won a corner. Their striker used his strength to shove aside a defender and get to the ball first, heading it into the goal.
Fish Hook Team, however, used the same trick as before. Before halftime, they opened up the opposing defense with long passes and scored twice in quick succession.
Frederick merely smiled, then called the players over to rest in the large tent outside the field.
These players weren't much to look at yet. If they were in Football Manager, their technical stats probably wouldn't be higher than 3. He couldn't just make them all 20 overnight.
Still, the blacksmiths had their strengths. There was still a chance to turn things around in the second half.
The second half began soon after. Maria held half a cup of juice and asked Philip, "Father, is Frederick going to lose?"
Philip had picked up on a few things. He shook his head. "I don't know. I think he'll have a plan."
A few minutes into the match, Archbishop Viktor remarked, "Iron Hammer Team isn't playing the same way as they did in the first half."
Philip nodded. "No, they're not."
Richard Nahl had noticed the change too, but he didn't think much of it.
Frederick's lips curved slightly. The blacksmiths had one advantage: they listened and followed instructions.
A smithy was a dangerous place. Blacksmiths who didn't follow the rules would end up burned or suffer some other injury.
So during the break, Frederick had gone over the rules again, telling everyone to focus on their assigned zones. At last, the men had learned their lesson.
Now everyone stayed in their own zone. Whenever an opponent carrying the ball entered, they closed in to challenge him, while the others kept an eye on opponents in their own areas.
This worked well when two weak teams played against each other. The opposing team already made plenty of mistakes when passing, and now that someone rushed at them, they got nervous and passed even worse.
Iron Hammer Team took advantage of their opponents' mistakes to launch counterattacks, and the match quickly became a back-and-forth contest.
The blacksmiths' physical power was more than the merchants and clerks, already tiring, could withstand. Fish Hook Team's defense was soon swept aside.
Fans loved this kind of back-and-forth match. Amid wave after wave of cheers, Iron Hammer Team equalized in the sixtieth minute.
That changed the Fish Hook players' mindset. Like gamblers who had just lost money, the merchants got carried away and spurred the whole team into a desperate fight. Whenever they lost the ball, they immediately pressed to win it back.
The blacksmiths could see victory within reach and got carried away too.
The match grew more and more intense, and each side scored once.
Psyche blew her whistle from time to time, sending the Light Church clerics on the sidelines onto the field to treat injured players.
The fans' excitement rose with the action. When their voices grew hoarse, they bought a cup of beer, gulped it down, and kept shouting.
In the final fifteen minutes, Fish Hook Team began to tire and used all five of its substitutions. The fresh players not only held back Iron Hammer Team's attacks but also put their team two goals ahead.
Earlier, Frederick had brought on the two midfielders with the most stamina and put one of them in front of the penalty area as a dedicated defensive midfielder, focused on disrupting the opponents' attacks. This had checked the fresh players' advance.
Now Frederick used his remaining three substitutions all at once, sending on two wingers and Bryant as the striker. At the same time, he ordered the team to use the tactic they had discussed earlier.
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
Fish Hook Team's iron goal frame was taking the most brutal pounding it had seen since the match began.
Richard Nahl wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. How many years had it been since he'd felt this anxious?
Frederick was a little helpless. The long-ball, two-wing attack worked well with Bryant, the tallest player on the field, whose headers no one could beat. But his aim was off. Many shots struck the frame, wasting chances to attack.
A player happened to pass by, and Frederick told him, "Tell Bryant to aim his headers at the goalkeeper's face."
Five minutes later, Iron Hammer Team equalized.
The final five minutes were extraordinarily heated. One side could see a win that now seemed out of reach, while the other was on the verge of victory. Both teams got carried away, and a 0-0-10 formation even appeared. Three red cards were shown as well.
In the final moments, Iron Hammer Team seized the chance when Fish Hook Team gambled on its 0-0-10 formation and launched one last counterattack. The goalkeeper blocked the first shot, but a winger who had followed up scored on the rebound. Just then, Psyche blew the final whistle.
The field instantly became a sea of cheering fans.
"Frederick won!"
Maria jumped up in delight.
On the carriage ride back to Weissen City, the little girl, exhausted from shouting, relaxed and fell asleep.
Archbishop Viktor, who had hitched a ride, asked Philip, "What did you think of today's match?"
Philip had completely calmed down by then.
He had never been on a battlefield, but he had served as the Grand Duke of Mainz's diplomat during last year's war, negotiating with the various sides. The experience had given him a firsthand understanding of war.
"Morale and unity," he said simply, naming what any politically astute person could see. "If Baron Weissen can get everyone in his territory to be like that, he won't lose."
"Indeed," Archbishop Viktor agreed. "Baron Weissen has a bright future ahead of him... He could go far."
Then he mentioned something that seemed unrelated. "I've heard a rumor that someone on the city council of Nuremberg is preparing a motion of no confidence in the current mayor."
Philip's eyes narrowed slightly, and he replied calmly, "Thank you for telling me, Your Excellency."
Before you continue