Published at 10th of December 2023 8:52 am

Chapter 644

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Kuma-san Cheered for Fina, Third Round Ending

As Sanya-san said, unlike in the first and second rounds, there was a difference between those who could dismantle and those who could not.

There were those who dismantled as fast as the two candidates, those who dismantled as slowly as Fina, and those who could not dismantle at all.

This was the beginning of the third round, where differences in experience, knowledge, and many other things came into play.

“Oooh, some of them are taking out their dismantling notepads. By the way, there is nothing wrong in bringing in dismantling notes. The reason for this is that even if they do it while looking at the paper, the dismantling will be slower than for those who have memorized the procedure in their heads.”

Well, between doing it with the knowledge in one’s head and doing it while looking at something on paper, the former would be much faster.

Just as in cooking, if you cook with a recipe in your head, and you cook while looking at a recipe on paper, the one with the recipe in mind would be faster.

Fina’s hands often stopped to think a bit, but she continued dismantling the gator, albeit slowly, as if she had the gator dismantling instructions in her head.

“Claire’s hands are stuck, you know, one of the few female participants. She’s looking around as she tries to dismantle it, but she’s having trouble understanding the procedure. Maybe this means she’s never dismantled a gator before. What do you think about that? Guildmaster.”

The master of ceremony asked Sanya-san, who was sitting at the commentary table.

“Maybe it’s because this request to take down a gator is too difficult for new adventurers to accept.”

“I guess so.”

“Gators are ferocious monsters that live near rivers, ponds, and swamps. Once it bites you, it won’t let go. It could be drawn into the water. Furthermore, if they escape into the water, it will be difficult to defeat them. That’s why it’s difficult for new adventurers to defeat them.”

“I see, so if they can’t defeat them, it’s no wonder others won’t have experience in dismantling them.”

“But if they gain some ability and know how to defeat it, it won’t be a monster that’s hard to defeat.”

The same could be said in games.

There would always be a pattern of behavior from the enemy. What kind of attack methods they have, what parts of the body are their weak points, when to attack, there would be a world of difference between knowing a strategy to defeat an enemy and not knowing how to do it.

“What’s the trick to beating a gator?”

“The gator’s mouth is its strongest attack, but also its weakness. When it opens its mouth, you just have to stick your sword deep into it. Or you can simply unleash your magic on it.”

“Sounds easy enough.”

“What are you talking about? That’s the hard part. When a gator opens its mouth in front of them, most of them try to run away from the fear of being bitten. But you can defeat that fear by overcoming it, stepping in, and attacking.”

“Sure, it sounds easy to listen to, but if I had that gator’s mouth in front of me, I’d certainly be running away.”

“It’s very difficult to face your fears.”

Sounds easy, but not so easy.

I couldn’t have done it without my bear gear. Because I have bear equipment that protects me, I could fight against monsters.

If I had the ability to attack, but my personal safety wasn’t guaranteed, I might have been too scared to fight.

“Maybe that is the one step that can get a new adventurer through.”

It was hard to take that step, however.

One step in defeating a Wolf, another in defeating a Horned Rabbit, another in defeating a Gator. When you think about it, an adventurer’s path also seems tough.

“We also train new adventurers so that they can take that first step. Veteran adventurers and guild staff accompany them and teach them how to defeat monsters and dismantle them. Of course, they have to work with or without pay during the training, but it’s a good way to learn.

So this was how they manage adventurers in the Adventurers’ Guild.

Are they doing that in Crimonia?

When I was a new adventurer, I never heard anything like that.

As I was thinking about this, I thought I heard Helen-san’s voice coming out of nowhere, saying, “New adventurers don’t kill wolf packs or tiger wolves”.

As in any profession, if those who join the ranks did not grow, they would simply fade away. If all of them could no longer fight monsters, people might be wiped out.

In that light, new adventurers have to grow.

“Thank you, Guildmaster, for your valuable words. Now let us return our attention to the venue.”

At the master of ceremony’s words, I turned my attention from Sanya-san to the venue.

“Unlike the adventurers, the guild officials are experienced in dismantling. Among them, you’ll see Eliza-chan, the receptionist.”

“If they were brought to the Adventurers’ Guild, they would dismantle them, so that makes a difference.”

“I guess it’s still a difference in experience from the ones that have never done dismantling before.”

Fina was great, but that Adventurer’s Guild employee woman was also great. She was around 17 or 18 years old, but she must have been doing dismantling since she was much younger to have honed her current dismantling skills to such a degree at that age.

“Eliza had some debts from her parents, and to earn money for them, when she joined the guild as an employee, she asked me to let her do some dismantling work as well. So she is a hardworking and serious girl, just like Fina-chan.”

“I see. I like to support girls who work hard.”

“And because she’s family oriented and kind, she’s popular with the male staff.”

“Guild Master!”

Eliza-san exclaims.

“Why are you talking about that! I asked you not to mention anything about me.”

“Well, it just kind of went with the flow?”

Sanya-san held her hands together and apologized.

No, you shouldn’t tell people’s secrets if they’ve asked you to.

It was certainly the right thing to do to make her have a contract with me about my secret. It would have been terrible if she had told anyone about my secret in the course of a conversation.

But that woman Eliza-san was also struggling, wasn’t she? People in this world must really work hard to make a living.

I wish my parents could take some of their hard work.

I might not want them to say that about me because I lived a shut-in life.

But I was able to make a living on my own, so I would like to think that I was better than my parents.

Then Sanya-san started exposing others to escape from Eliza-san.

“And then there’s Garner-kun, he’s working hard to save money for his wedding. Even though he doesn’t even have a partner.”

“Guild Master!”

Now, the guy exclaims in shock.

No, saving money from a young age was a great thing. Even if he did not have a partner, he would need it someday when he found one. It was better to have money than not to have it at all.

But that didn’t mean it was okay to reveal it.

To begin with, the last word was unnecessary.

“I wish both men and women the best of luck, but no matter how hard they try, only 20 will make it through the third round. It may be ruthless, but those are the rules. I especially want Fina-chan, Eliza-chan, Claire, and the other women to do their best. Call me a patronizing person, but I will support these ladies!”

Was I the only one who thought that was a no-no for a host?

But as a woman myself, I want to support the women.

Regardless of my feelings, however, the two male candidates for the championship were still dismantling at a great speed, as if they were competing with each other.

Then, the dismantling progressed to the second half.

Some of the participants gave up. They informed the staff and dropped out of the competition.

Fina was dismantling slowly but surely.

I couldn’t tell the ranking from this point of view.

Fina, keep up the good work.

I was cheering for her in my heart.

The proceedings went on amusingly, with the master of ceremony and Sanya-san providing the commentary.

Then, the end came in sight.

“As I thought, the two who are in the battle for first and second place are these two. Deed-kun Mr. and Garde-kun. The end is already in sight!”

Even to my amateur dismantling eyes, they were a step or two ahead of the rest.

“Oooh, Deed-kun raised his hand now. As expected, it was Deed who finished first. Deed-kun, you are an adventurer, right?”

The master of ceremony asked Sanya-san.

“Yes, he belongs to a party of veteran adventurers. I’m sure they’re firmly trained him in dismantling techniques.”

A veteran group should be able to take down a gator. That’s why he was so good at that dismantling.

“And a little later, Garde-kun will finish dismantling too! How is Garde-kun doing in that aspect?”

“He’s in a party with people his own age. It’s a growing party with a good leader.”

Given this, it may be inevitable that there would be a difference between Deed-kun, who had veterans in his party, and Garde-kun, who did not.

But then again, Garde-kun, who came in second by a narrow margin, might be superior.

And after a while, after the two had finished, the other participants finished dismantling one after another.

“Ohh, it was Eliza-chan who finished at number 15. The first woman to finish!”

The receptionist finished.

Fina, by the way, was still dismantling. But the end is in sight.

In the meantime, the 16th, 17th, 18th hands were being raised.

The order in which they finished dismantling would not be the same as the order in which the results would be placed, but the earlier they finished dismantling, the higher their rating.

That’s why I want Fina to be in the top 20.

19th was also raised.

One more.

Tirumina-san, Shuri, Ellelaura-san, and Shia all looked at Fina anxiously.

I think it was enough that she made it to the third round.

But I also want her to win because she did her best.

Fina, keep up the good work.

Then Fina and a few others raised their hands almost simultaneously.

“Ohh, four hands raised at the same time! One of them is Fina-chan’s hand. What do we make of this? For now, it’s up to how the dismantling is scored to determine the ranking!”

“Hey! What’s Fina-chan’s number?”

Shia asks excitedly.

“I think it’s between 20 and 23, since there were 4 hands raised after 19 along with Fina-chan.”

“…number 20, Fina-chan, it’s okay, right?”

If tied for 20th position, the rest would depend on the cleanliness of a truly dismantled gator.

Three out of four would fall.

From here, it was hard to tell the difference between the four dismantlers.

Maybe Sanya-san’s authority might get her through the third round, though.

Regardless of my concerns, the other participants also finished dismantling the gators one after another.

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