Fina's perspective
It's heavy.
My dad helped me before, but I never thought it would be so difficult to remove the shell by myself.
Even though the monster Yuna onee-chan helped me dismantle appeared, I was late.
"It's quick. Dedd-kun, he has finished removing the shell." (Moderator)
The voice of the moderator could be heard.
Did he already removed everything yet?
I was not even halfway done.
Because I had no strength.
When I looked at my fellow woman, Eliza-san, I saw that she was struggling just like me, but she was doing her best. Looking around her, everyone was sweating as they dismantled it.
It's not just me who's having a hard time.
"Sister, do your best!" (Shuri)
"Fina-chan, do your best!" (Shia)
I can hear Shuri and Shia-sama's voices.
When I looked at Shuri and the others, I saw mom looking anxious and Yuna-onee-san staring at them.
I took a breath, calmed myself down, and resumed the demolition.
I had no choice but to do what I can. It's okay to take it slow. Dismantle carefully, cleanly, and reliably.
Remove the shell, cut here, be careful because there is a needle in this tail, insert the knife here, and use this tool on this part.
I dismantled it slowly, step by step.
Time was moving forward, and it was definitely coming to an end.
But it's not over yet.
At that moment, cheers went up and the moderator raised his voice.
"Oops, Dedd-kun, who is aiming for his second consecutive victory, was the first to finish dismantling Scorpion!" (Moderator)
When I looked up and looked around, I saw a man raising his hand to signal that his dismantling had finished.
Was it over yet?
It's fast.
"Then, a moment later, Gard-kun is still in second place. Garud-kun may be disappointed, but the difference in ability is close. It's enough to think that he's one year younger. On the other hand, Dedd-kun doesn’t want to lose to Garud-kun who is younger than him, even though only by one year." (Moderator)
Those two were in a class of their own. I was no match for them.
But others weren't done yet.
I moved my hands to finish the dismantling.
After that, the people around me finished dismantling Scorpion one after another.
Names up to number 10 had already been called.
But I was not finished.
"Eliza-chan, number 12, has been finished!" (Moderator)
I looked up and looked at Eliza-san. She had a beautiful, accomplished look.
Maybe she was satisfied because she had given her all to the best of her ability.
I met Eliza-san's eyes.
Her mouth moved. I couldn't hear her voice, but her mouth seemed to be moving, saying, "Do your best."
"Sister, do your best!" (Shuri)
Shuri's loud voice reached me.
It's not over yet.
My arms were heavy, but I could still move.
By the time I finished, everyone's name was called, and I was the last to finish dismantling, slower than anyone else.
Yuna's perspective
"Fina-chan is the youngest participant. She has finished in 17th place. She is at a disadvantage due to her small size, but this is amazing." (Moderator)
There was applause from all around.
Number 17. Three people had requested abstention, so the number of participants in the dismantling of Scorpion was 17. In other words, she was at the bottom.
Up until this point, all the remaining members had been good at dismantling things.
The woman who was at the same time as Fina in the third round was number 16. Eliza, an employee of the adventurer's guild, fought well and finished in 12th place.
Eliza was the only woman who had a chance of making it to the finals.
"Sister, is she okay?" (Shuri)
Shuri said worriedly.
Frankly speaking, I didn't think it's possible.
No matter how good she was at dismantling things, I didn't think she would be able to remain among the top 10.
That's why Tirumina-san, Ellelaura-san, and Shia couldn't respond to Shuri's words.
As expected, I didn't think even Sanya-san would put the lowest 17th place in the top 10.
After the scoring was completed, the ranking list was handed over to the moderator.
"There are 17 people left here. Only 10 of them can go to the finals. Who can go to the finals?" (Moderator)
I know it's impossible, but I thought it's possible.
"First place, Dedd-kun! First round, second round, third round, and this fourth round as well. First place. Without giving up first place to anyone, we will advance to the finals!" (Moderator)
The venue got excited.
There were probably pros and cons depending on the type of dismantling. I thought it would be amazing to win all of them.
It's like taking first place in a battle by using all weapons such as swords, knives, axes, bows, magic, and throwing.
It's not strange to have strengths and weaknesses in any study. Maybe it's really amazing that people were good at math, people were good at English, and people were equally good at everything.
"And second place is Gard-kun, who has finished second in all rounds from the first round to the fourth round." (Moderator)
This was also amazing. He had never fallen to third place.
Their names were then called in order, starting with third place.
"10th place, Eliza-chan! You passed two people and entered 10th place." (Moderator)
"Beth-kun (ベート) and Gegat-kun (ゲガット), who came in 11th and 12th place, were anxious to advance to the finals.The final disassembly process was sloppy, and the handling of important demolition tools seemed to have become sloppy due to their haste. In exchange, it says that Eliza-chan was carefully disassembled until the very end." (Moderator)
There was applause from the venue.
That's amazing. She was the only woman to advance to the finals. At the same time, Fina's chance to advance to the finals disappeared.
"Sister, did she lose?" (Shuri)
Neither Tirumina-san nor Ellelaura-san could respond to Shuri's words.
That's me too.
Fina didn't make it into the top 10. As Shuri said, she lost.
Then, the rankings of those who remained in the fourth round were also announced.
Fina's ranking was 17th according to the order in which she finished.
"...Sister. she lost." (Shuri)
With the ranking decided, it was decided that Fina would be eliminated in the fourth round.
But no.
"Shuri, that's not true. Even if she didn't make it among the 10, She would still be number 17 out of over 100. That's an amazing thing among big people." (Yuna)
She might be in last place in the fourth round.
However, considering the number of participants, she ranked among the top.
She didn't lose, she made it this far.
"So, when she come back, greet her with a smile. If Shuri is sad, Fina will be sad too." (Yuna)
"That's right. Fina-chan's dismantling skills were amazing. I'll praise her when she comes back." (Ellelaura)
"Yeah, Fina-chan is the best for me." (Shia)
Ellelaura-san and Shia also cheerfully said that they should change their minds.
"Hehe, I've failed as a mother. Fina tried her best to feel sorry for losing. Yuna-chan, thank you for teaching me." (Tirumina)
Everyone was ready to welcome Fina.
All that's left to do was greet Fina with a smile.
Fina's perspective
It's over.
17th place. I was in last place.
It's frustrating.
At first, I thought there was no point in losing to someone bigger than me. But when I lost, it's very frustrating.
Everyone might be feeling disappointed even though they had been supporting me. I was scared to see everyone's faces.
"Why are you looking down?" (Eliza)
As I looked down, someone called out to me. When I looked up, I saw a woman.
"Um, Eliza-san?" (Fina)
"I see you know my name. I'm glad. Fina-chan." (Eliza)
"Yes, it’s the same woman, and she’s amazing." (Fina)
"Hehe, thank you. But I think it's still too early for Fina-chan to call myself a woman." (Eliza)
"Sorry" (Fina)
"Hehe, just kidding." (Eliza)
Eliza laughed.
"Look, don't look sad. You can hold your chest out." (Eliza)
"...Eliza-san" (Fina)
"The people who stayed here did their best because they didn't want Fina-chan to see anything embarrassing. Even though an 11-year-old girl like this is working hard to dismantle, we have a superior physique and life experience. We can't afford to lose." (Eliza)
People were gathering around me.
And they were nodding at Eliza-san's words.
"Fina-chan probably didn’t come back to the waiting room once the dismantling was finished." (Eliza)
During the break, I went back to Yuna-onee-san's place with Sanya-san, so I didn't go to the waiting room like Eliza-san and the others.
"I'm sorry." (Fina)
"That's why you don't apologize."
"Everyone respects Fina-chan. Anyone who has done dismantling work knows that dismantling work is difficult. At first, there was no way such a small girl could do it. I thought there wasn't."
Everyone nodded at Eliza-san's words.
"But Fina-chan was able to dismantle it. When I saw Fina-chan's dismantling, I thought it was amazing. But at the same time, we all thought we couldn't lose. Of course, I was one of them."
"That's right."
"Don't look so sad. Praise yourself. The first time I participated, I lost in the first round."
"I was in the second round."
"I made it to the finals."
"I also made it to the finals."
Even Dedd-san and Gard-san come.
"I didn't ask you two."
There's laughter.
"Anyway, Fina-chan, you should be proud of the fact that you made it to the fourth round. Anyone who has participated will understand how difficult it is to get this far."
"However, I also understand the frustration of losing. That feeling is important. You can use that feeling as fuel for your next match."
I know everyone was comforting me.
Everyone was older than me. There was no point in losing to such people.
"Thank you. I'm fine now." (Fina)
It's frustrating, but I was not sad anymore.
I did my best. But the people here worked harder than me. Maybe they learned it by spending more time on dismantling it than I did.
At 11 years old, it's still too early for me to join those people. It would be rude to everyone if I did the same amount of work and still didn't feel sad when I lost.
"Hehe, please support me in the finals." (Eliza)
"Yes, please do your best. Eliza-san." (Fina)
"However, I'm in 10th place, so I don't know how far I can go." (Eliza)
Eliza's smile made me smiled too.
Although I lost, I was glad I participated this time.
Author's Note
Fina did her best, but unfortunately she was eliminated in the fourth round.
Fina was frustrated and sad, but the participants comforted her.