The drums sounded along with the voice of the moderator, and the second round began.
Fina used a knife and dismantling tools to dismantle the one-horned rabbit.
I wondered if the difference between a wolf and a one-horned rabbit was the horn.
I'd heard from Fina before that it's difficult to dismantle the horns of one-horned rabbits. That might be why the dismantle of the one-horned rabbit was chosen as the next step after wolf.
"The participants are dismantling the one-horned rabbit all at once, who will finish first! It’s me, Dedd-kun and Gard-kun, who are dismantling it at a tremendous speed!" (Moderator)
Only two people were faster than the other participants.
The levels were too different. To begin with, Fina was defeated in everything, including her physique and strength. Fina's power might be less than half of their power. Fina was also short, so she used a step stool.
Compared to those two championship candidates, she paled in every way, but Fina was still doing her best in her small size.
"Now, let's take a look at the other participants. George-kun (ジョーズ), who was third in wolf, is behind. Are they lacking in experience of the one-horned rabbit? Similarly, those who were in the top ranks in wolf are also behind. Have you become good at it? No matter how high your ranking in the first round is, if your ranking in the second round is low, you won't be able to go to the third round!" (Moderator)
The same went for Fina, who wasn't as fast as when she dismantled Wolf.
"Next, let's take a look at the women. I guess it's this girl. Fina-chan, the youngest. She moves the knife without hesitation. She has mastered such demolition skills at the age of 11. How much effort did you put into it?" (Moderator)
My Fina had been working hard.
Other participants might have done it, but I was not aware of that.
"People move forward step by step. Their steps may be faster or slower depending on the person. But if you don't have the will to move forward, you won't move forward. Fina-chan has worked many times harder than most people." (Moderator)
When the moderator pretended to cry a little, the audience cheered, saying things like "Do your best!" Next to me, Shuri was also cheering loudly.
She lifted Fina up, but this might also be to stimulate the people around her, as Sanya said.
After seeing Fina's dismantling, I might reevaluate my life.
If we took one step at a time, the path would open up.
Of course, sometimes that path was blocked.
Some might try their best to pass through the blocked path, some might take a long detour, and some might be at a loss.
But if we could go through it, we would grow.
If we didn't move forward, we wouldn't even notice that the path was blocked. If it was the case, we could move forward, but if we stood still, we wouldn't grow.
When I was in my original world, I stood still, not moving forward.
But meybe I took a step forward by meeting Fina and the inhabitants of this world.
That's why I wanted Fina to be rewarded for her hard work in order to live.
"Let's take a look at the other women as well. Eliza-chan, who works as a demolition worker while working as a receptionist at the adventurer's guild, is progressing smoothly with the dismantling work. Is the adventurer Claire-san falling behind a bit?" (Moderator)
But there were also women in the Adventurer's Guild who do dismantling work. Maybe if I requested to accept it, it would be sent to dismantle?
Occasionally, I heard people said that when they joined the company, they ended up in a different department than the one they wanted.
When I thought about it, being a hikikomori where I could do whatever I wanted, might be the best option.
However, that's only if you had enough money to live on. Most people worked hard at jobs they didn't like in order to survive. I didn't think Fina could have done it the first time she did dismantling either. There was no one who could dismantle monsters from the beginning.
Maybe she just had to do it over and over again and get used to it.
If you thought about it that way, I was a bad person.
"Actually, in the Adventurer's Guild, the one-horned rabbits are often dismantled by women." (Sanya)
Sanya-san, who was at the commentary table, spoke about the inner workings of the Adventurer's Guild, as if responding to the words of the moderator.
"Is that so?" (Moderator)
The moderator waved to Sanya.
"Yes, men tend to take care creepy monsters, and women tend to take care monsters that aren't too creepy, like those with fur. You see, men don't want young girls to hate them either. Also, do you want to dress up and say, 'Leave this monster to me, and you should take care the one-horned rabbit'?" (Sanya)
Ah, I could kind of imagine it.
It's a kind man's appeal.
They dismantle the disgusting monster themself, and have the woman dismantle the one-horned rabbit.
To me, all dismantling was the same. If I had to choose between a spider and a one-horned rabbit, I would choose the one-horned rabbit.
"You can clearly see the men's ulterior motives. They're working hard to increase the women's favorability. But now I understand. I understand why the men working in the guild are slow to dismantle the one-horned rabbits." (Moderator)
The men who heard the story booed from the audience.
"Shut up! There's no way I'd let the woman I love dismantle a disgusting monster!" (George)
"Oops, George-kun yells. Apparently, there's a woman in the same workplace that he's interested in. It's nice that she's young. I think so, too. Sanya, the guildmaster, also think so." (Moderator)
The moderator casually turned the conversation over to Sanya, who was sitting at the commentary table.
"Oh, I'm young too." (Sanya)
"I-I'm sorry. The guild master is also young. So, I guess she understand how you feel, George-kun." (Moderator)
"Yeah, I'm young too, so I understand." (Sanya)
I saw something like a black miasma coming from Sanya-san, but that's just my imagination.
She wouldn't turn into a dark elf.
First of all, the definition of a dark elf varied depending on the work, so it didn't necessarily mean it's evil. It looked like the current Sanya would become an evil dark elf.
In human senses, Sanya's age was that of an old woman. But maybe it's young in an elf's sense.
Sanya was actually young and beautiful. She's an elf and she's really cunning.
"Yuna-neechan, I can see black on Sanya-neechan's body." (Shuri)
Shuri asked while rubbing her eyes.
"Don't look, okay?" (Yuna)
I gently put Shuri's face between the bear puppets and made her looked at Fina.
I never expected that Shuri could see something black too.
Regardless of Sanya's black miasma incident, the dismantling of the one-horned rabbit continued.
"We're already halfway through the demolition, but Dedd-kun and Gard-kun seem to be a step or two ahead of their surroundings! The youngest, Fina-chan, with wolf in the first round came in 13th place, but the one-horned rabbit, she's a little behind! At first glance, it looks like she's somewhere in the middle!" (Moderator)
Maybe she'd a lack of experience. I had never asked a one-horned rabbit to be butchered as much as wolf.
The more experience you have with dismantling, the more confident you would be and the more you would be able to do it without hesitation. If it was wolf now, Fina might be able to do it with her eyes closed. But that's not the case with the one-horned rabbit.
As with anything, experience was an asset for a person and was an advantage above all else.
It's natural that you would get better at using swords and magic if you used it many times, rather than using it for the first time.
When it came to bread, bread that had been made many times before was more delicious than bread that had been made for the first time.
Unless you were a genius, experience would make a difference.
I started thinking that I should have killed more one-horned rabbits and asked Fina to dismantle them.
But if she was in the middle of 60 players, she was probably number 30. She was among the 40 people who would make it through the second round. If we keep going like this, we could make it through to the second round.
She didn't have to force herself to aim for the top. Right now, it's important to take it one step at a time.
I was not Tyrmina-san, but I got more nervous than fighting monsters myself.
Ignoring my concerns, Fina's hands dismantled the one-horned rabbit.
Fina, do your best.
The moderator then led the event while observing the venue.
"The dismantling is nearing its end. For some people, the end is in sight." (Moderator)
I could see it even if I look at it. These were the two candidates for the championship.
"Oops, Dedd-kun raised his hand! Fast, fast! Following the first round, the second round is also the best. You can feel the feeling of not handing over the victory to anyone! And then, a little later, Gard-kun raised his hand too. Depending on the score of the demolition, the ranking may change!" (Moderator)
Then, as the two men finished dismantling the one-horned rabbits, more and more people raised their hands as they finished dissecting the one-horned rabbits one after another.
Fina was still dismantling it.
"…sister" (Shuri)
Shuri looked worried.
"Oh, it looks like Eliza-chan has finished too! She's about number 15! She's the best among the women!" (Moderator)
It looked like the woman who was working as a receptionist while dismantling things had also finished.
As Fina was nearing its end, more and more participants were raising their hands as they finish dismantling.
But Fina also had an end in sight.
"Sister, she raised her hand!" (Shuri)
"Oh, the youngest here, Fina-chan, also raised her hand." (Moderator)
The moderator noticed this at the same time as Shuri.
Maybe he was watching.
"Umm, I guess it's around number 30. It's a good enough ranking to aim to get past the second round. However, as I've said many times, points will be deducted for dirty dismantling, so it's not a fixed ranking." (Moderator)
Number 30. It seemed that the ranking had not changed since the middle stage.
I was relieved that her ranking hadn't dropped.
With this ranking, she could aim to get through to the second round just as the moderator said.
Fina's dismantling was careful. It shouldn't be dirty, so the ranking shouldn't drop from now.
And the examination began from those who had completed the dismantling. Fina was also being graded and was nervous.
While Fina was being graded, other people finished disassembling one after another.
After everyone had finished dismantling and had been judged, the rankings were announced by the moderator.
"The top 40 players will be able to go to the third round! Did you do your best to avoid any regrets?" (Moderator)
He really was a lively moderator.
"Then we'll announce the first place first. The first place is Ded-kun, and the second place is Gard-kun. The rankings here remain the same!" (Moderator)
Cheers and cries of laughter leaked from the surroundings.
As expected, these two were in a class of their own.
"Unlike Wolf, the rankings after 3rd place fluctuated a lot!" (Moderator)
The moderator called out the rank, number, and name.
"16th place... number, Eliza-chan" (Moderator)
A cheer went up from the venue.
Eliza waved her hand toward the audience seats, which caused even more cheers.
Women who could work well and had a pretty face might be popular.
Above all, she ranked highest among women.
Then, they called up to 20th place, but Fina's name wasn't there.
"Is sister okay?" (Shuri)
Shuri looked anxious.
"It's okay." (Yuna)
Fina finished around number 30, so it couldn't be helped that her name hadn't been called yet.
The moderator called out the rank, number, and name one after another.
"26th place...... 27th place...... 28th place, number 51, Fina-chan! " (Moderator)
Cheers wemt up from those around me.
There were cheers when the receptionist's name was mentioned, but when Fina's name was called, there was an equal amount of cheers.
"Yay!" (Shuri)
"Fina-chan, you’re amazing!" (Shia)
Shuri and Shia shout out in joy.
"Whew." (Tirumina)
Tirumina-san exhaled as if tired.
"Fina-chan, you're really amazing." (Ellelaura)
Ellelaura-san was impressed.
Although she dropped in rank from the first round, she made it through the second round without any problems.
This time, I felt like there was a difference in the number of experiences.
But she made it through the second round.
By the way, Claire, the adventurer who spoke out in the first round, came in 38th place, and several other women had made it past the second round.
When you thought about it, Fina's 28th place was quite impressive.
Even so, I got tired just looking at it.
This might be the first time I had ever supported someone from the bottom of my heart.
Author's Note
Unlike wolf, she lost her place, but she made it through to the second round.