Ch.177Joust (3)

The jousting tournament, professionally known as a “Joust,” is the most popular sport and combat training in the Frankish Kingdom.

Two knights in full armor face each other on horseback, charging with long lances with the goal of unseating their opponent—a sport full of power and intensity.

Originally, it naturally began as training for heavy cavalry lance charging, but the format itself was so impressive and stylish that it attracted quite a crowd of spectators.

Seeing this, some merchants made formal agreements with nearby domains to organize structured competitions, which evolved into what is now a national sport enjoyed by people of all ages and genders throughout the Frankish Kingdom.

Ah, of course, could such a “military” sport have really started with the sole intention of being watched and enjoyed?

Naturally, jousting, like the 3S policy or bread and circus, serves as a means of pacifying the masses, while simultaneously harboring several darker, more conspiratorial purposes beneath the surface.

The most representative purpose, and one that can be openly proclaimed, is military training.

No matter what a knight’s primary weapon might be, that’s only relevant in close combat situations.

For knights, the lance is both their symbol and their most lethal strike. “Mounting a horse and wielding a lance” was once the exclusive privilege of knights, and the reality is that this has only been permitted to common infantry for less than 200 years.

Therefore, jousting is fundamentally a venue for practicing the lance—a weapon rarely used as a primary armament—while also serving as military training through the duels that follow the lance charge.

…Of course, would they really hold such expensive jousts for such simple reasons alone?

The most representative reason for holding jousts is as a mock battle.

No matter how light the weight of territorial wars might be, war is still war—from mobilization to manpower consumption, each aspect places an almost overwhelming burden on resources.

For this reason, jousts sometimes serve to release tension about war and reduce casualties, and such jousts, while formally competitions, are conducted with the fierce intensity of actual mock battles.

Another purpose, sometimes linked to the above, is to demonstrate military might while gathering intelligence about combat capabilities.

No matter how renowned an opponent might be, the accuracy of such information is often quite lacking, so these confrontations serve to measure each other’s combat strength or subtly showcase the military power of one’s knights—and sometimes the lord himself.

Again, in an era with limited population movement where information struggles to travel beyond its origin, rumors and hearsay are constant.

When a lord from a neighboring domain hunts a drake, by the time the story reaches another domain, it becomes a tale of slaying a dragon—such occurrences are all too common.

Therefore, in an age where everyone craves reliable information, competitions where knights test their strength against each other and establish rankings become a crucial means of intelligence gathering.

Of course, hearing this far, one might wonder:

How exactly could hosting a joust (mounted lance tournament) allow me to deal with the knights who have been showing up sporadically in one fell swoop?

One might think that hosting a popular sport would only excite knights and cause them to gather in greater numbers, potentially escalating the situation.

But this is knowing one thing while missing two others. Hosting a joust is certainly burdensome and might initially attract more crowds, but my reason for wanting to host one comes after that.

In short, my purpose is to use the joust as a pretext to establish grounds for politely declining guest invitations.

The custom of hospitality is simply about treating received guests with courtesy and respect. It certainly doesn’t mean recklessly accepting guests when you lack the capacity to host them properly.

However, simply refusing guests implies a lack of resources—damaging one’s “face” and lowering one’s reputation… hosting a joust can prevent this.

The justification that I’ve held a grand festival and thus lack resources. The justification that the domain’s funds are depleted.

Though these may seem trivial, each of these elements serves to reduce political vulnerabilities, so I was faithfully following the teachings of my father and the librarian by concealing or hiding personal weaknesses as much as possible.

…Though in truth, another reason is that I couldn’t think of anything else to bring up besides a joust.

Anyway, once I’ve thought of it, shouldn’t I put it into practice?

“Charlotte, I actually have this idea… what do you think?”

“Ah, Corin. There’s something I want to ask. It’s about…”

“Lord Falten! There’s something I’d like to request!”

“…Father. I need your help.”

I continue my preparations by discussing my plan with trusted confidants and adults I can rely on, sometimes initiating conversations and sometimes requesting help from my father.

The Camille Cup Joust (mounted lance tournament). While it would be nice if this were the momentous beginning of a glorious legend, preparations were gradually taking shape regardless.

※ ※ ※

Jousting, as the name suggests, is a sport where two knights charge toward each other on a field, attempting to strike with fragile lances as they pass.

While rules vary depending on the host, typically the one who falls from their horse loses, with matches conducted in a best-of-three format, and the various matches organized in a tournament style culminating in a best-of-five final.

However, if both sides endure or both fall during a match, it results in a draw—and naturally, in jousting, a draw doesn’t invalidate the match.

A draw is a draw. Because of this, it’s possible for all matches to end in draws, or for the score to be tied, making it impossible to determine a winner through lance charges alone…

In such cases, both sides typically take up their preferred weapons and settle the matter through infantry combat.

Anyway, hearing about the flow of such competitions, it might seem that jousting doesn’t require any grand facilities, and indeed, the need to build arenas and such can be minimized, making the preparation itself not particularly difficult.

However, the difficulty of preparing properly enough to maintain my dignity is another matter entirely.

Basically, even for the smallest proper joust, one needs to invite at least 16 knights, and even if three positions are filled (myself, Corin, and Droop), we still need to recruit more than 13 additional knights.

Add to this the squires and attendants these 13 will bring, and we’re looking at a minimum of about 150 people.

Such an event will also attract wealthy spectators, and in a situation where travel is difficult, they’ll naturally stay for at least several days to weeks.

Moreover, the current season is the bitter cold of winter—in summer, we might have made do with tents, but in winter, we obviously need to build at least cabins to accommodate everyone.

In other words, even at a minimum, we need living facilities and various consumables for about 500 people for several weeks, plus various necessities matching the standards of the spectators…

To be frank, there’s simply no way to provide such things in this pioneering village of 300 people.

How could we prepare gourmet food when we’re struggling just to secure enough to eat? How could we provide high-quality accommodations for 500 people when all our resources are invested in building the walls?

While we could charge substantial admission fees from joust spectators, honestly, that revenue would come in after the fact.

Moreover, the host of a joust must pay substantial prize money to the winner and all participants, and when you add in additional expenses…

No matter how optimistically I try to look at it, the conclusion is a deficit that falls just short of breaking even. By normal calculations, we’re looking at a loss of several dozen gold coins.

…And even this latter estimate only applies if the joust is successful; normally, the losses could be even greater.

Furthermore, since there are limits to the support my father can provide, the current situation is truly like an endless series of mountains to climb.

Thus, jousting is a professional field with no shortage of preparations required.

In a normal situation, I might have just done a “Fire Festival Season 2” and called it a day.

But very fortunately, in this situation, I encountered someone who could be a more reliable pillar of support than anyone else…

“Hmm, I understand. If that’s the case, I, Alberto, will gladly lend my strength.”

That person was one of the knights who had come looking to challenge me—a stylish knight from the Southern Kingdom named Alberto.