This time Fina's dismantling event ended in 17th place.
Number of participants: 100 or more. If we thought about it that way, it's amazing.
However, when Fina's name was called saying she was in 17th place, she lowered her head as if depressed.
"Is sister crying?" (Shuri)
From here, I couldn't see Fina's face.
"Ellelaura-sama, can I go to Fina?" (Tirumina)
Tirumina-san stood up and tried to run to Fina, but Ellelaura-san stopped her.
"Tirumina-san, wait a moment." (Ellelaura)
Ellelaura-san told me to look at Fina who was at the venue.
Eliza-san was calling out to Fina, who is hanging her head and looking depressed.
Just like Eliza-san, the participants around her began to gather around Fina.
"Sister is surrounded." (Shuri)
For a moment, I thought it was something, but then I realized that they were trying to comfort her.
I couldn't hear voices in the distance, but I could hear laughter. The participants talked to Fina with smiles on their faces, and when they talked to her, Fina smiled as well.
"Sister is smiling." (Shuri)
"Tirumina-san, it seems like it's not our turn. When Fina-chan returns, we'll make sure to greet her with a smile." (Ellelaura)
"Yes, That's right" (Tirumina)
Everyone nodded at Elerora's words.
If we looked sad, it put a burden on Fina.
Then, Fina is called out by the participants and returned with Sanya.
"Sister!" (Shuri)
"Shuri!?" (Fina)
Shuri ran out and hugged Fina. Fina accepted this gently and patted Shuri on the head.
Tirumina called out to Fina.
"Fina, you did your best." (Tirumina)
"Yeah. But I lost." (Fina)
Although she lost, there was no sad expression on her face.
The people who participated in the demolition must had made Fina smile.
"Fina-chan, I don't know what to say, but it was amazing. I'm glad you came to see it." (Shia)
"Shia-sama…" (Fina)
"Hehe, it was worth recommending Fina-chan." (Ellelaura)
Ellelaura-san looked happy.
And finally, I spoke out.
"Fina, thank you for your hard work." (Yuna)
"Yuna-onee-chan…" (Fina)
When I thought that Fina's eyes were flickering, she looked down.
"I'm sorry" (Fina)
"Why are you apologizing?" (Yuna)
Fina had nothing to apologize for.
"Because, Yuna-onee-chan once subjugated and dismantled Scorpion..." (Fina)
Was she worried about that?
"It's not like you couldn't dismantle it. Fina would have dismantled it properly to the end." (Yuna)
"But..." (Fina)
Fina seemed sorry that she lost because of the monster I brought.
"Fina, you did you best. What you lacked wasn't skill or knowledge of demolition. I guess what was missing was height?" (Yuna)
I smiled and place the bear puppet on top of Fina's head.
She's small.
"Wow, I'm going to grow from now on." (Fina)
Fina puffed out her cheeks.
"That's right. Fina just needs to grow up and get bigger and get stronger." ()
Fina was growing up.
At the age of 11, she made it to the fourth round along with other participants. She should be very proud.
The larger the body, the easier she would be to dismantle.
I didn't know if Fina continued to dismantle things now that she's grown up, but Fina was still a child. The future held all sorts of possibilities.
From now on, she would continue to grow.
No one knew what kind of future awaits us.
Even if a former hikikomori said something cool, that's it.
"The finals are about to start, so what will Yuna-chan and the others do?" (Ellelaura)
Ellelaura-san asked.
Fina's dismantling event had ended, but the finals would be held among the remaining 10 people.
Our purpose was to support Fina. However, I was curious about what kind of monster would appear in the finals and who would be the winner.
Well, maybe there was no doubt that the winner would be one of those two.
"What are you going to do, Fina? Are you going to watch it until the end? Or if you're tired, do you want to go home and rest?" (Yuna)
She must be physically tired from dismantling, and mentally tired from participating in an unfamiliar event. But Fina shook her head.
"Well, I promised Eliza-san that I would watch her until the end." (Fina)
Following Fina's wishes, we decided to stay behind. Besides, I'm also curious about who would win, and I was also curious about where Eliza would rank.
"Well, the finals are about to start, so I'll go. Fina-chan, if you're going to stay, would you like to come with me? We can watch it up close." (Sanya)
Sanya-san invited Fina.
Fina looked at me and Tirumina-san with a worried expression.
"Take care." (TIrumina)
"Go on." (Yuna)
Tirumina and I had the same idea.
It's also good for Fina.
"Yeah, I'll go." (Fina)
Fina was taken by Sanya-san and went down to the venue.
"I wonder what the final will be about. Have you seen it before, Ellelaura-san?" (Yuna)
"I've never seen anyone under the age of 19. I've only occasionally come to see monsters that appear over the age of 20." (Ellelaura)
"What about Shia?" (Yuna)
"I never came to see it either because I wasn’t interested." (Shia)
Well, unless one of my relatives was participating, I wouldn't go to see a monster dismantling event.
Even in the real world, even if I had the opportunity to watch pigs and cows being butchered, I doubt I would have taken the initiative to go see it.
These aren't Shia's words, but I was not interested either.
Fina was participating, so we were coming to watch.
Looking at the venue, preparations for the finals were completed and the 10 finalists were lined up.
As a fellow woman, I wanted Eliza-san, the woman who made it to the finals, to do her best, but I didn't think she would be able to win based on her ranking from the first round.
I would like to see at least one rank raised.
"Thank you for waiting. Now, the finals will begin with the remaining 10 people." (Moderator)
When the moderator took the microphone and made his announcement, the venue became excited.
It's a little disappointing that Fina wasn't there.
"Now, let's hear from the 10 finalists." (Moderator)
The moderator held a microphone and spoke to Dedd-kun.
"Congratulations, Dedd-kun. You won first place in every round and advanced to the finals." (Moderator)
"Thank you very much." (Dedd)
"It looks like you can win the second consecutive victory like this." (Moderator)
"That's right. I would like to give a good report to my seniors." (Dedd)
Dedd-kun gave a safe answer.
"Dedd, do your best!"
"If you lose, I'll train you from scratch!"
A voice rang out from the audience seats.
He looked like an adventurer. He might be his party member.
Next, the moderator approached Gard, who was in second place.
"I'm disappointed, Gard, but you're in second place in all of them. Of course, this is also a great result." (Moderator)
"I'll win in the final. That's all." (Gard)
He said this while looking at No. 1 Dedd-kun.
"Do your best, leader!"
"Gard, don't lose!"
Just like Dedd-kun, a voice rose from the audience seats.
"I have high hopes for you, so please do your best."
The moderator then spoke to the remaining people.
"I can't show you anything embarrassing." ()
"I'm just going to show you what I'm capable of." ()
"I want to watch dismantle and learn from it." ()
"Those two aren’t the only ones who are amazing." ()
For some reason, I felt like he's looking at Sanya-san and Fina, who is sitting in the commentary table, and saying that.
Finally, the microphone was directed at Eliza-san, who made it through in 10th place.
"Now then, let's talk to Eliza-chan, who is the only woman to make it to the finals. First of all, congratulations on making it to the finals." (Moderator)
"Thank you very much." (Eliza)
"How are you feeling?" (Moderator)
"Everyone is very good at it, so I don’t know how far I can go, but I want to show them that I’m not embarrassed to be seen." (Eliza)
As expected, Eliza-san's gaze also seemed to be directed towards Sanya-san and Fina.
At first, I thought it was an appeal to Sanya, the guild master, but Eliza-san's words made me feel like she was talking to Fina.
"Then, let's hear from Sanya, the guild master of the adventurer's guild." (Moderator)
At the words of the moderator, Sanya also picked up the microphone.
"The next generation of young people who have stayed so far, the people who work in the guild, the adventurers and monster slayers. I have no words to express my gratitude to all the people who have participated. Guild staff need to improve their skills every day, and being an adventurer is a dangerous job. Don't push yourself too hard and grow step by step. I'm sure there are many people who want to see your dismantling skills again next year. I hope everyone will participate next year as well." (Sanya)
In other words, she didn't want to reduce the number of participants, so "Please come again next year". Was that what she meant?
The person who made such negative assumptions might have a dirty heart.
"Being an adventurer is a dangerous job, and some of those who participated today may not be able to participate next year." (Ellelaura)
Ellelaura-san spoke to me.
That's right. I was safe because I had the bear equipment I received from God, but other adventurers weren't as safe.
They might be injured. At worst, they might be dead.
It seemed that my heart was unclean.
"Then, let's have some final words from Fina-chan." (Moderator)
"Eh, me?" (Fina)
Fina panicked when she was suddenly dumped by the moderator.
Sanya-san gently handed the microphone to Fina.
"Everyone is very good at dismantling, so I want to take a closer look and learn from them." (Fina)
"That's the word. Everyone, you can't show you anything embarrassing. By the way, who will Fina-chan support?" (Moderator)
"Um, well, I want Eliza-san to do her best." (Fina)
"As expected, you're right. I also want Eliza-san to do her best." (Moderator)
Fina answered shyly.
Author's Note
I am late.
It will be the final.
* Thank you to everyone who reports typos.
Please note that some kanji have been revised to match the book, so some may not have been revised.