Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 145 Competition
Looking back, Vig drafted a set of rules for a football match, trying to make it as simple and easy to understand as possible.

That afternoon, he had a craftsman sew a simple soccer ball and selected twenty-two shield guards to play a soccer match.

At first, no one was interested in chasing a leather ball; they were only after the two pence reward promised by the Duke. As the game progressed to the halfway point, the competitive spirit of both sides was ignited, and they began to discuss their teamwork and positioning.

In the final ten minutes, the defenders completely forgot about the insignificant silver pence and chased the ball obsessively, which eventually escalated into a physical altercation.

"That's enough, stop fighting! Both sides will receive a reward!"

Looking at the crowd of people pushing and shoving in the arena, Vig felt a headache coming on; the sport seemed to be attracting an excessive amount of attention.

For a period of time afterward, he devoted himself to promoting football within the country, and incidentally had the Raven Whisperers' temple system help promote the sport by associating it with the Aesir gods.

In just a few months, football swept through the entire North, even the Pickett farmers who had always outwardly complied but inwardly resisted.

During the off-season, ignoring the advice of conservative forces, they spontaneously gather on the flat grassland, chasing after a ball with a World Tree pattern on it. Occasionally, formal matches are held between the two villages, and the Picket farmers even invite Viking shamans to act as referees.

In August, Hergi led four Kirk ships laden with furs, grease, and walrus ivory to the docks of Tyne, where he saw many young men playing football in a square open space, surrounded by a circle of cheering spectators.

After waiting a while and finding that no one was paying attention to him, Helgi had no choice but to take the initiative to recruit porters, "Hey, come and move these things. These are high-end goods for the Duke, and you won't be shortchanged on your wages!"

The workers' inattentiveness severely slowed down the moving process. Afterwards, as usual, he treated the workers to a round of beer and asked them why they were so engrossed.

"Hiccup, that was the match between the dock team and the textile district team. If the boys win this match, they'll advance to the semifinals!"

Dock team? Match? Semi-finals?

Herji's thoughts came to a standstill. Only half a year had passed since he set sail, but it felt as if the world had abandoned him for a full ten years!

"It must be another weird idea from Vig."

He pulled out a wad of silver pennies to pay the bill and strode toward Tyneburg, where he overheard the shield guards discussing the football match.

"The last ten minutes were really exciting, they managed to score two goals."

"It's all the goalkeeper's fault for being so stupid. He should have been hung upside down with a rope and given a good beating."

Upon entering the main hall, Helgi saw Vig hunched over a table, writing furiously on the finest parchment.

"Are you issuing a law?"

Vig glanced at his brother-in-law, then lowered his head to write again. "Uh, it's similar in nature. This is the new version of the rules for the football league, or version 2.0. I plan to hold a unified league for the five counties next year, with the winners from each county competing in the finals in Tyne. I hope this league will promote exchanges between different groups and, incidentally, expand the influence of the Tyneburg Order."

After finishing the last stroke, he asked a maid to bring him a wooden basket filled with the World Tree pattern, all of which were uniformly printed on it.

"To promote this sport, I had a leatherworker sew two thousand soccer balls to distribute for free. This is the latest batch. Should I bring a few to the residents of Iceland? I heard they are bored on the island and often argue over trivial matters."

Hergier picked up a soccer ball, found nothing unusual, and decided to get down to business: "The battle went well. We defeated the tribe, seized the surrounding coastline, built houses out of stones, and dug a shallow trench. Unfortunately, there is a lack of timber in the area, so we cannot build wooden fortifications."

Regarding the harvest, a total of 12,000 pelts of various types and 500 barrels of grease were brought back this time.
The goods were worth seven hundred pounds. The crew split the profits 50/50, and the remaining half went into the fur company's account to first repay the three hundred and twenty pounds owed to you.

Vig was startled. "The profit margin is that high? You can break even in just one year?"

Hergier straightened his back and replied, "Yes, we're all family, of course I wouldn't deliberately cheat you out of your money. This year's profits will be used to pay off the debts, and assuming the company can still earn 350 pounds next year, dividends will be distributed according to the shareholding ratio. In this way, you will earn a net profit of 100 pounds every year."

In Helgi’s view, this is just the beginning. The company will expand its scale and try to establish trade relations with surrounding tribes. It will not be a problem to multiply the profits several times over.

In the end, Bjorn's ambition—"to be richer than the king"—was not just a fantasy.

Having learned of the company's promising future, Vig began to consider other aspects:

"The profits are substantial, which will inevitably attract the covetous eyes of outsiders. After conquering Northumbria, Bjorn will not be able to be knighted, and Ragnar will always feel indebted to him, so he won't have the audacity to snatch this business. As for the Kingdom of Norway in the east, Eric's strength is negligible. If the old man is dishonest, I will personally deal with him."

Furthermore, some nobles may apply to participate in this business. Go back and discuss it with Bjorn; you can refuse them or let them join, provided they pay the hunting permit tax to the company. As for those scattered raiders, you'll have to rely on yourselves to eliminate them. Greenland is vast, and it's estimated that it will be difficult to eradicate poaching.

For the next twenty days, the four ocean-going hullboats underwent maintenance in the shipyard's dry dock, where workers filled the gaps in the hull plates with new waterproofing material and used shovels to remove barnacles attached to the hulls.

During this break, Helgi made the most of his time with his family, taking Britta and Lef to watch a football match. He gradually transformed from an indifferent fan to an irritable and easily angered one.

"Useless! What are you doing running up to the front half? Get back and defend!"

"Get back to defense quickly!"

"Return to defense!"

When the final whistle blew, Helgi cursed, "A bunch of useless trash! The master himself would have been better!"

After several post-match brawls, his reputation spread, and almost every town resident knew that the Duke of Tynburg had a one-eyed brother-in-law who loved football.

"This sport is really fun and perfect for young men to pass the time."

From that moment on, Helgi completely fell in love with the sport.

In late August, the fleet was about to set sail. In addition to food, beer, arms, clothing, and timber, it also specially loaded more than 200 tons of honeycomb briquettes for heating and cooking.

Carefully folding a parchment containing the rules of football, Helgi lamented, "The lack of forests is Greenland's biggest flaw; locals can only eat raw meat. Compared to beer and iron tools, I think honeycomb briquettes sell better."

After saying this, he embraced and bid farewell to Vig, Britta, and Leif, and led the fleet on another long journey.

　Thank you to reader Rogotalivos for the donation.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)