Kuma-san, Second Round in Support of Fina
The drums sounded with the master of ceremony’s voice, and the second round began.
Fina dismantled a Horned Rabbit using her knife and dismantling toolkit.
The main difference between a Wolf and a Horned Rabbit would be the horn.
I had heard from Fina before that dismantling a horned Rabbit was difficult. That may be why dismantling Horned Rabbit was chosen as the next stage after the Wolf.
“All the participants are now processing Horned Rabbits at once, who will be the first to finish! Would it be Deed-kun and Garde-kun, who are dismantling it at a tremendous speed!” (Master of Ceremony)
Compared to the other participants, the two of them were dismantling their Horned Rabbits very swiftly…
It was apparent that the skill level differences between the two and the other participants were as wide as a gulf. To begin with, Fina was no match for them neither in terms of physical size, strength, or everything else; Fina’s strength might be less than half of what they were capable of. She was also shorter, so Fina was using a stepping stool.
Compared to those two championship contenders, she was far inferior in all aspects, but still, Fina did her best with her small body.
“Now let’s look at the other participants. The third place during the Wolf round was Jaws-kun, and right now he’s way behind the rest. Does he not have enough experience in dismantling Horned Rabbits?! Similarly, those who were in the top ranks during the wolf dismantling were all lagging behind. Is their lack of experience showing? No matter how high they rank in the first round, if they rank low in the second round, they will not be able to proceed to the third round!” (Master of Ceremony)
It was the same for Fina, whose speed was slower than she had been when she dismantled Wolf.
“Let’s look at the ladies next. As I thought, we would start with her, right? Fina-chan, the youngest, handles her knife without hesitation; at the age of 11, I wonder how much effort she had to put in to hone her dismantling skills to such a degree?” (Master of Ceremony)
Our Fina did put in a lot of effort.
Other participants might have done the same, but I didn’t care about them.
“People will proceed step by step. That step may be fast or slow, depending on the person. But if you don’t have the will to go on, you won’t progress, and Fina-chan must have worked many times harder than others.” (Master of Ceremony)
When the master of ceremony mimed crying a little, the audience cheered, “Go for it!” and Shuri, who was next to me, was cheering loudly.
He focused on pointing out Fina, perhaps to inspire the people around her, as Sanya-san had mentioned.
They may look at Fina’s dismantling and rethink their approach to life.
Step by step, a path would open up.
Of course, sometimes that path might get blocked.
Some may pass through that blocked path with effort, some may go through it in a big circle, and some may stand still.
But if one could pass through, one would grow.
They would not even realize the road was blocked if they did not press on forward. Indeed, one would not grow if one stood still, even if one could advance.
In my original world, I stood still, stagnant, not moving forward.
But by meeting Fina and the inhabitants of this world, I think I stepped forward.
So I hope Fina will be rewarded for her efforts to live.
“Let’s take a look at the other women in the group. Eliza-chan, who works as a receptionist at the Adventurer’s Guild and dismantling work, is making good progress. Claire, the adventurer, is a little behind?” (Master of Ceremony)
But I see that some women in the Adventurers’ Guild also participate in the dismantling competition. Maybe they wanted to be a receptionist but got sent to dismantle?
Sometimes, I have heard stories that when people join a company, they end up in a different department from what they wanted to work in.
Being a shut-in might be best for me, as I could do what I like.
But that would only be possible if I had enough money. Most people work hard at jobs they detest to survive, and even Fina couldn’t do dismantling the first time she tried it. No one could dismantle a monster from the beginning.
The only way to get used to it would be to do it over and over again.
Thinking about it that way, I would look like a useless person.
“Actually, in the Adventurers’ Guild, Horned Rabbit is handled by women most of the time.” (Sanya)
Sanya-san, who was at the commentary table, replied to the master of ceremony’s words and told us about the inner workings of the Adventurers’ Guild.
“Is that so?” (Master of Ceremony)
The master of ceremony waved to Sanya-san.
“Yes, the men tend to do the creepy monsters, and the women tend to do the relatively less creepy ones that have fur. You see, the men don’t want the young girls to hate them. And then they fancy themselves up and say, ‘I’ll take care of the monsters over here, can you take care of the Horned Rabbit?’”
Oh, I could sort of imagine that.
The appeal of a kind man.
He would dismantle the disgusting monster himself and let the woman dismantle the Horned Rabbit.
From my point of view, all dismantling would be the same. But if I had to choose between a spider and a Horned Rabbit to dismantle, I would choose the Horned Rabbit.
“I can see the ulterior motives of the men. They are trying so hard to make the women like them. But this is convincing. I now understand why the men working in the guild are slow to dismantle Horned Rabbits.” (Master of Ceremony)
The audience booed the men when they heard the story.
“Shut up! There’s no way I’m going to let the woman I love dismantle a disgusting monster!” (Jaws-kun)
“Oh, Jaws-kun reacted. Apparently, there’s a woman in the same office that he’s interested in. It’s nice to be young. Don’t you think so? Guild Master Sanya-san.” (Master of Ceremony)
The master of ceremony casually turned to Sanya-san, who was at the commentary table.
“Oh, I’m young as well.” (Sanya)
“I’m sorry. The guild master is a young woman, indeed. So does that mean you can understand how Jaws-kun feels?” (Master of Ceremony)
“Of course, as a young person, I can understand.” (Sanya)