章節 50: Jousting

Jousting is a martial game or a hastilude between two horsemen wielding lances with blunted tips, often as part of a tournament. The primary aim was to replicate a clash of heavy cavalry, with each participant trying hard to strike the opponent while riding towards him at high speed, if possible breaking the lance on the opponent's shield or jousting armor, or unhorsing him. Joust became the iconic character of the knight in Romantic medievalism. The participants experience close to three and a quarter times their body weight in G-forces when the lances collide with their armor.

Yuuki had watched 'Walkure Romanze' on his previous life so he had a general idea of jousting. He was surprised there was an arena for jousting in his town. He looked at the arena in front of him, and it was very big. He knew that the owner of this arena must be very rich.

The arena looked like a castle from medieval times. The building was being built by stone and it was covered by grassland.

"We're here," Ayano looked excited to show him.

"Hmm, it's interesting," Yuuki nodded.

"I'll show you around!" Ayano pulled his hand and guided him.

It was a day off, so there weren't many people in the arena. Ayano brought him to the ranch where they kept the horse. Horses were very important for this sport. That was why the ranch was one of the largest places within this arena.

"Hmm, the horse is very kind," Yuuki caressed the head of one of the horses.

"Yeah, a horse is a very kind animal," Ayano also caressed it.

They continued to walk around the arena, they saw a lot of things such as warehouses to keep spear and armor.

They walked into the arena until they heard someone arguing with each other.

---

"Hah! Your team is weak! You're just a waste of space! Let our team use this place!" Yuuki heard a man's voice.

"No way! This is the time for our 'Walkure' team to practice in the arena!" The girl fought the guy.

"No! You're just a waste of this arena! Our team is going to be the one who uses it!" The man was stubborn.

"You! I said that this is our time to practice!!" The girl didn't want to lose.

The man snorted, "Then, how about a duel?"

"Duel?" The girl was confused.

"That's right! The one who wins this duel will use this arena for their group!" The man crossed his arms.

The girl became stunned and looked at the man with an angry gaze. She knew that she couldn't win against the man in front of him.

"What? Don't tell me you're afraid?" The man looked smug.

"You!!" The girls couldn't hold her emotions.

"If you don't dare, why don't you ask someone to do it for you? You're gonna lose anyway!" The man snorted.

The girl couldn't say anything until she heard a young man voice.

"That's good, I can substitute her to duel with you in this jousting match?" Both man and girl turned their head and saw Yuuki who was smiling.

"Who are you?" The man didn't care Yuuki in front of him.

"My name is Yuuki, I want to ask if I can substitute her to have a duel with you," Yuuki said.

The man observed him and snorted, "You? I've never seen you here, are you from another team?" There were many teams in Japan. He wanted to know where was Yuuki come from.

Yuuki shook his head, "No, I'm a beginner."

The man and the girl were dumbfounded, but the man was laughing hard, "Hahahahaha, YOU? BEGINNER WANTED TO FIGHT AGAINST ME? ARE YOU DREAMING BOY?" The man mocked him.

Yuuki snorted and looked at him in disdain, "Hmph, are you afraid to fight a beginner like me?" He crossed his arms and looked at the man with disdain.

"YOU!!!" The man was angry looking at his expression, "Good! Let's play a duel between you and me! I'll make you regret fighting against me! Hmph!" He snorted and left.

Yuuki snorted and wanted to beat the man, but he needed to fight against him in jousting. He massaged his temple when the man had already gone. He didn't have any experience in jousting, but he needed to win against him no matter what.

"Yuuki!! Why are you asking him to fight? He is the runner-up of the jousting competition in Japan," Ayako was worried and scared that Yuuki would get hurt.

"Don't worry about it, I want to know how strong Mr. Runner-up is up," Yuuki mocked.

Ayako sighed, "You don't know anything about jousting don't you?" she asked.

Yuuki nodded, "Yeah, tell me more about it."

When both of them were going to talk about jousting the girl beside him screamed.

"WHAT? YOU DON'T KNOW JOUSTING AND YOU'RE ASKING HIM TO HAVE A DUEL WITH YOU?" Her scream was loud and made both Yuuki and Akane turn their heads at her.

"Who are you?" Yuuki asked.

The girl wanted to say more but she noticed Ayako, who was by his side, "Ayako-san!" She was startled to see her here.

"Oh, Akane-chan !" Ayako nodded.

"Who is he?" the girl asked.

"Let's not worry about that! Give me some explanations to fight in jousting! I need to fight Mr. Runner up after this." Yuuki cut their conversation.

They nodded and started to explain to him about the jousting match.

Yuuki actually didn't want to interfere with their matter after it was just some matter about who was going to use the arena for their practice but suddenly a quest appeared on his head.

[Quest: Save the team 'Walkure' from another team].

[Reward: System lottery 3x]

[System tips - The team 'Romanze' is very weak right now. They need time to improve themselves with practice in the arena. You need to defeat another team who is trying to seize the arena for their own selfishness. Show them your spirit].

Yuuki twitched his lips when he saw the quest. He had no experience with jousting, and the system wanted to beat Mr. Runner up. He took a deep breath, and he needed to win this duel even with only his spirit.