After taking a bath and finishing dinner, Fina's body swayed, and her eyes began to close.
Today she participated in an event that she was not used to, and she spent all day dismantling, so maybe she was physically and mentally tired.
After taking a bath and eating, she might have relaxed and became sleepy.
"Fina, go to sleep now. You must be tired from working hard today." (Tirumina)
Tirumina-san seemed to sense it as well and spoke to her gently.
"Yeah" (Fina)
Fina obediently obeyed Tirumina-san's words and got up from her chair. Then, Shuri, who was sitting next to her, stood up as well.
"I'll sleep with sister too." (Shuri)
Shuri followed Fina as she walked sleepily.
They were really close sisters.
"Thanks to Yuna-chan, I was able to see Fina working hard, and I was also able to remember things with Roy." (Tirumina)
Tirumina-san said with a nostalgic tone.
"I also learned once again how amazing Fina’s dismantling skills are." (Yuna)
Seeing Fina working hard made me feel like I had to work hard too. Others who attended the event might have felt the same way.
"That's all it takes for that kid to have a hard time." (Yuna)
I said it pensively.
After that, Tirumina-san and I talked about Fina and Shuri until late at night while eating potato chips.
The next morning, when I went down from the second floor where my bedroom was to the first floor, Fina was preparing breakfast.
"Good morning, Yuna-onee-chan." (Fina)
When she noticed me, she greeted me with a smile. It was strange because when I saw this smile, I could smile too.
"Good morning. You're early." (Yuna)
"I went to bed early last night, so I just woke up." (Fina)
Is that why you are preparing breakfast?
It seemed like the fatigue had gone away, so that was good.
"Mom and Shuri are sleeping, but Yuna-chan is early." (Fina)
"Kumayuru and Kumakyu woke me up." (Yuna)
I turned my attention to Kumayuru and Kumakyu, who had turned into cubs and were walking behind me.
It was a bear alarm clock.
Today there would be a dismantling event for people over 20 years old. I was going to see it, so I asked Kumayuru and Kumakyu to wake me up.
"Hehe, that's right." (Fina)
Fina laughed and patted Kumayuru and Kumakyu on the head.
I'm glad you're doing well.
Yesterday, she looked a little sad, perhaps because she was remembering her late father.
She was a really strong girl.
While Fina and I were talking, Tirumina-san and Shuri woke up.
Tirumina-san and Shuri looked a little sleepy.
It might be because Tirumina-san was chatting until late last night. Was Shuri because she was still a child? They said that children who sleep would grow.
Once we were all here, we ate breakfast prepared by Fina.
The day started with breakfast.
"If I remember correctly, Ellelaura-sama will be coming to pick us up today too, right?" (Tirumina)
"It should be." (Yuna)
Yesterday, she said she would come pick us up.
For me, the bear costume stood out, so it would be helpful if a horse-drawn carriage came to pick me up. But Tirumina-san seemed different.
"I know that Ellelaura-sama is a good person, but I get nervous when I'm with her." (Tirumina)
"Is it because she's a noble?" (Yuna)
"That's one thing, but sometimes I feel like someone can see into my heart." (Yuna)
I kind of understood that. Sometimes I thought Ellelaura-san could read people's minds.
While we were having such a relaxing conversation, Ellelaura-san and Shia came to pick us up in a horse-drawn carriage to the bear house, just like yesterday.
I thought about it yesterday too, but the picture of the aristocratic carriage stopping in front of the Bear House was extremely surreal. Furthermore, there was a bear girl riding in the carriage.
"Thank you, Ellelaura-sama, for the carriage for Fina." (Tirumina)
Tirumina-san nervously thanked her. It seemed like she still had not gotten used to Ellelaura-san.
Well, since my partner was a noble, maybe it would be difficult no matter how many times she meets her.
"Hehe, don't worry about it. Our daughters are friends, so let's get along with the parents too." (Ellelaura)
"……Yes" (Tirumina)
For Tirumina-san, the words "No" was not an option. It seemed like the only options was "Yes" and "Okay".
There was no hole in Tirumina-san's stomach, right?
"But is your job okay? You always work at the castle." (Yuna)
And it had been two days in a row.
"Oh, no. This is also work. It's called an inspection." (Ellelaura)
Ellelaura-san smiled with an evil look on her face.
It sounded like something some slacker would say.
But I wondered if it was okay. After all, Ellelaura-san did a lot of different jobs. I wondered if there were people who would be in trouble if Ellelaura-san didn't work.
Well, I was not the one who was in trouble, so I wouldn't worry about it.
And, thanked to the power of Ellelaura-san, I was able to easily enter the venue with a face pass, and furthermore, with the power of the Adventurer's Guild's guildmaster, I came to the same special seat as yesterday.
"There are a lot of people." (Tirumina)
When I looked towards the general seats after hearing Tirumina-san's words, there were already a lot of people there. Currently, there were about the same number of people as there were yesterday. Maybe the number of visitors would increase from now on, so I was sure there would be more visitors than yesterday.
"Welcome." (Sanya)
As we were looking at the venue, Sanya-san came over.
"Sanya-san, thank you for the seats today." (Tirumina)
"Thank you very much." (Fina)
"Thank you." (Shuri)
Tirumina-san and Fina thanked them for preparing the seats, and Shuri imitated them and thanked them as well.
Sanya laughed and replied, "It's a promise with Fina-chan, so don't worry about it."
"There are a lot of people." (Yuna)
"As expected, this one will be the main one. But even with this, the number is decreasing." (Sanya)
"I see" (Yuna)
"The reason is that the number of participants gradually decreases every year." (Sanya)
"Is that so?" (Yuna)
"Yuna-chan, did you feel anything when you saw the participants in yesterday's dismantling?" (Sanya)
"Yesterday's participants? I thought it was amazing that they were able to dismantle it." (Yuna)
I couldn't think of any other words because I couldn't do it.
"That was the wrong way to ask. What did you think of their ability?" (Sanya)
"...?" (Yuna)
I didn't understand what Sanya-san was trying to say.
For me, I couldn't say that they were all amazing.
"Umm, didn’t you think there was a big difference in ability?" (Yuna)
"Oh, sure." (Sanya)
I thought that was the case until she mentioned it.
"Other than Dedd and Gard, their dismantling techniques would have been inferior." (Yuna)
It would be no exaggeration to say that yesterday was a battle between the two. Eliza-san did a good job dismantling the spider.
"It's good to try to participate, but more people will stop participating next time because they don't have the skills. That's why I want Fina-chan to participate, and instead of giving up, I want to see girls like Fina-chan trying their best. When they see it, they realize that they can do it themselves, and I hope they will improve their skills for next year and participate again next time." (Sanya)
"Do they think they shouldn’t participate because they don’t want their child to see they lose?" (Yuna)
"If you have the personality to make excuses like that, there's no point in saying anything. These are the excuses of someone who has no intention of putting in the effort in the first place." (Sanya)
Indeed.
There were often people who didn't do something and made excuses for it.
For example, I went to school and was told to make friends, but I made excuses and didn't make any effort to make friends.
It might be pointless to tell someone who was not motivated from the beginning. That was what I understand best.
"Also, when people who participated in the under-19 event turn 20, they no longer participate in the over-20 demolition event." (Sanya)
"But is it Dedd-kun? I'm sure he'll participate." (Yuna)
"What do you think about the other people who didn’t make it to the top?" (Sanya)
"Ah, I see. If you can't rank high in the under-19 category, I think there's no point in participating in the over-20 category." (Yuna)
Furthermore, there were people who are capable of dismantling. Maybe there was no point in participating in such an event.
"That's right. The number of young participants over the age of 20 is decreasing rapidly. Many of them are in the mid-level class. Sometimes they have pride in not wanting to show their weaknesses to young people, and it's all sorts of troublesome. If we train young people both physically and mentally, the number of participants over the age of 20 will gradually increase." (Sanya)
It was a huge project.
The number of talented participants would not suddenly increase.
Maybe we just had to keep growing.
"Furthermore, some veterans are retiring, so I want young people to do their best." (Sanya)
If dismantling techniques could not be inherited, high-quality products would no longer be available.
Even in Japan, maybe there were many technologies that had become obsolete due to lack of successors.
"It’s tough." (Yuna)
"Do you understand how hard I'm going through this? If we keep going like this, there won't be any participants left. But yesterday, I'm sure many of the participants saw Fina-chan being dismantled and decided to do their best." (Sanya)
Like any job, it was hard.
After all, perhaps the easiest thing to do was to live a reclusive life.
Or, left the tedious work to someone else.
I glanced at Tirumina.
"Is there something?" (Tirumina)
Tirumina-san noticed my gaze and asked me.
"I just thought it was a good thing that Tirumina-san was here." (Yuna)
"Does that mean you have someone to do the tedious work for you?" (Tirumina)
She looked a little angry.
It seemed like she had read what I was thinking in my mind.
"Well, I'm grateful to Tirumina-san." (Yuna)
"Hehe, I'm just kidding. It's hard sometimes, but I'm having fun doing it. Above all, I'm happy to be able to move and work, so I'm grateful to Yuna-chan." (Tirumina)
There were many people in this world who want to work but cannot.
When I thought about those people, I felt like the worst person ever to have lived a reclusive life.
But since I came to this world, I had been doing my job properly.
Even in my original world, I earned my living expenses...
I didn't have to tell anyone, but I made excuses.
Sanya-san then invited Fina to the special seats (a.k.a. commentary seats) at the bottom of the venue, but Fina politely declined.
Yesterday, the moderator suddenly asked her to talk, which made it difficult for her, so meybe she turned him down.
Sanya-san looked disappointed and returned to the commentary table by herself.
We waited until the event began.
I was also looking forward to seeing what kind of monsters would appear.
Author's Note
Thank you very much for your feedback last week.
I had a hard time writing it according to the plot, but I think I was able to put it together somehow.