Published at 28th of December 2023 9:10 am

Chapter 649

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Kuma-san Cheers for Fina, Fourth Round Ends

━Fina PoV━

It was heavy.

My dad helped me before, but I didn’t realize how hard it would be to remove the shell by myself.

Even though it was a monster that Yuna Onee-chan let me dismantle, I was lagging behind.

“Quick, Deed-kun, finished removing the shell.” (Master of Ceremony)

I heard the master of ceremony’s voice.

Have they already taken it all off?

I was not even half done.

I have no strength.

And also, I was looking at Eliza-san, another female participant, who was struggling just as much as I was, but she was doing her best. Looking around me, I saw that everyone was sweating while dismantling.

I was not the only one who was having a hard time.

“Onee-chan, keep up the good work!” (Shuri)

“Fina-chan, hang in there!” (Shia)

I could hear Shuri and Shia-sama’s voices.

I looked at Shuri and Shia and saw mother looking anxiously at them and Yuna Onee-chan staring at me.

I exhaled, calmed down, and resumed dismantling.

I have no choice but to do what I could do. Even if it was slowly. I carefully, neatly, and surely dismantled it.

Remove the shell, cut here, be careful of the stinger in the tail, insert the knife here, and use this tool for this part.

I dismantled the body step by step, moving forward slowly.

Time was moving forward, and it was definitely coming to an end.

But it was not over yet.

At that moment, a cheer went up, and the man in charge of facilitating the event shouted out.

“Ohh, Deed-kun, who is aiming for a second consecutive victory, has finished dismantling Scorpion first!” (Master of Ceremony)

I looked up and looked around to see one of the men raising his hand to signal that he had finished dismantling.

Already done?

Fast.

“And a little behind, continuing in second place is Garde-kun…Garde-kun, you look frustrated, but your ability is very close. Considering that he is one year younger, that’s good enough to be considered. On the other hand, Deed-kun may not want to lose to Garde-kun, who is younger, albeit by only one year.” (Master of Ceremony)

Those two were exceptional. I couldn’t compete with them.

But the others were not finished yet.

I moved my hand to finish the dismantling.

After that, one after another, people around me finished dismantling the Scorpion.

They have already called names up to number 10.

But I was not yet finished.

“Eliza-chan, number 12, finished!” (Master of Ceremony)

I looked up and saw Eliza-san. She looked so beautiful like she did her best.

Maybe she was satisfied because she had given it her all.

My eyes meet Eliza-san’s.

Her mouth moves. I couldn’t hear her voice, but her mouth seemed to say, “Good luck”.

“Do your best, Onee-chan!” (Shuri)

Shuri’s loud voice reached me.

I was not done yet.

My arms were heavy but still moving.

By the time I finished, everyone’s name was called, and I was the last one to finish the dismantling, later than anyone else.

–Yuna Point of View–

“Fina-chan, the youngest competitor, just finished 17th. This achievement is great, despite her small size disadvantage.”

There was applause from all around.

Since three people had already given up, there were only 17 participants in the Scorpion dismantling, which means she was at the bottom of the list.

So far, all the remaining members were good at dismantling.

The woman who finished at the same time as Fina in the third round was number 16. Eliza-san, an employee of the Adventurers’ Guild, fought hard and finished 12th.

Eliza-san was the only woman who could make it to the finals.

“Is Onee-chan okay?” (Shuri)

Shuri said worriedly.

To put it bluntly, I didn’t think so.

No matter how good she was at dismantling, I wonder if she would be able to stay among the top 10.

So neither Tirumina-san, Ellelaura-san, nor Shia could reply to Shuri’s words.

I doubt that even Sanya-san would put the 17th lowest ranked person within the top 10.

Then, the scoring was done, and the ranking list was handed to the master of ceremony.

“There are 17 of you left here. Of these, only 10 will make it to the finals. Who can go to the finals?” (Master of Ceremony)

I knew it was impossible, but I wondered if maybe she could do it.

“First place, Deed-kun! First round, second round, third round, and now this fourth round is also first place. Never once conceded first place to anyone, and you are in the finals!” (Master of Ceremony)

The audience gets excited.

Depending on the type of dismantling, they would have to be good at it or not. It would be great to take first place in all of them.

It would be like winning first place in a fight with all those weapons: swords, knives, axes, bows, magic, throwing, and so on.

In any study, it would not be surprising if one was better at it than others. It would be really great to be good at math, good at English, good at everything evenly.

“And second place is also Garde-kun, who was second in everything from the first round to the fourth round.” (Master of Ceremony)

This was also an outstanding achievement. He never once dropped to third place.

Then, starting with third place, the names were called out in order.

“In tenth place, Eliza-chan!” (Master of Ceremony)

“Eleventh and twelfth place, Batte-kun and Geggat-kun, you were in a hurry to get to the finals. Their final dismantling process was messy, and they seemed to be in too much of a hurry to handle their precious dismantling tools. In exchange, it is written that Eliza-chan carefully dismantled the piece until the very end.” (Master of Ceremony)

The audience applauded.

It was amazing. The only woman to make it to the finals. At the same time, Fina’s place in the finals was no longer available.

“Did Onee-chan lose?” (Shuri)

Neither Tirumina-san nor Ellelaura-san could respond to Shuri’s words.

Neither could I, for that matter.

Fina didn’t make it into the top 10; Shuri was right, she lost.

The fourth round also announced the ranking of the remaining players.

Fina’s ranking was 17th, just like the order in which she finished.

“…Onee-chan, lost.” (Shuri)

With the rankings finalized, Fina’s elimination from the fourth round was decided.

But that was not the point.

“Shuri, no. Even if she doesn’t make it out of the ten, she’s number seventeen out of over a hundred. It’s a great achievement in a big group of people.” (Yuna)

In the fourth round, she may have been at the bottom of the list.

But based on the number of participants, she would still belong in the top tier.

She didn’t lose, and she survived to get this far.

“So when she comes back, we should greet her with a smile; if Shuri is sad, Fina will be sad too.” (Yuna)

“Yes, Fina-chan’s dismantling skills were excellent. We’ll praise her when she comes back.” (Ellelaura)

“Yes, Fina-chan is the best in my opinion.” (Shia)

Ellelaura-san and Shia also said cheerfully as if to change Shuri’s mind.

“Hmmm, I guess I am not that great of a mother. Thank you, Yuna-chan, for teaching us.” (Tirumina)

Everyone was ready to greet Fina.

All we have to do now is to greet Fina with a smile.

–Fina PoV–

Done.

17th place. I was in last place.

It was frustrating.

At first, I thought losing to someone bigger than me was OK. But when I lost, I was so frustrated.

Everyone might be disappointed with me, even though they cheered for me. I was afraid to look at everyone’s face.

“What, why are you looking down?” (???)

Someone called out to me as I looked down. I looked up and saw a woman.

“Um, Eliza-san?” (Fina)

“You know my name. I’m so glad you do. Fina-chan.” (Eliza)

“Yes, because we are the both female participants after all, and a great one at that.” (Fina)

“Hmm, thank you. But it’s too early for Fina-chan to call herself a woman.” (Eliza)

“I’m sorry.” (Fina)

“I’m just kidding.” (Eliza)

Eliza-san laughs.

“Look, don’t be so sad. You can puff out your chest with pride.” (Eliza)

“…Eliza-san.” (Fina)

“Those of us who stayed here worked hard because we didn’t want to embarrass ourselves against Fina-chan. An 11-year-old girl like this was working so hard to dismantle, so we couldn’t let ourselves, who are bigger and more experienced in life, be outdone.” (Eliza)

People were gathering around me.

And they nodded at Eliza-san’s words.

“Fina-chan, you should have come back to the waiting room when the dismantling was over, we were waiting for you.” (Eliza)

I would not be going to the waiting room like the others later and was waiting for Sanya-san who would be accompanying me returning to Yuna Onee-chan during the break.

“I’m sorry.” (Fina)

“As I said, you don’t have to apologize.” (Eliza)

“We all respect Fina-chan. Everyone who has done dismantling knows how hard it is. At first, I thought there was no way a little girl like her could dismantle.” (Eliza)

Everyone nodded in agreement with Eliza-san’s words.

“But Fina-chan managed to do it, and when I saw Fina-chan dismantle it, I thought it was amazing. But at the same time, everyone was thinking that we couldn’t lose. Of course, I was one of them.” (Eliza)

“Yes….” (Fina)

“Don’t look so sad. The first time I participated, I lost in the first round.” (Eliza)

I was able to reach the fourth round.

And even almost made it to the finals.

“You did well making it to the finals, as well, Eliza.” (Deed)

Even Deed-san and Garde-san came over.

“I didn’t ask you two to come over.” (Eliza)

Laughter broke out.

“Anyway, Fina-chan should be proud that you made it to the fourth round. Anyone who has participated understands how hard it is to get this far.” (Deed)

“But I also understand the frustration of losing. That feeling is important. You can use that feeling the next time and to improve on it.” (Garde)

I could see that everyone was comforting me.

They were all older than me. It couldn’t be helped if I lost to them.

“Thank you very much. I’m okay now.” (Fina)

I was disappointed, but I wasn’t sad anymore.

I did my best. But the people here worked even harder than I did. They spent more time and went through more dismantling than I did.

I was 11 years old and not ready to be in the same league as those people. It would be disrespectful if I didn’t do as well as them, and I still feel sad when I lose.

“Fufufu, you’ll have to cheer for me in the finals.” (Eliza)

“Yes, good luck, Eliza-san.” (Fina)

“But I’m in tenth place, so I don’t know how far I can go.” (Eliza)

Eliza-san’s smile makes me smile too.

I was glad to have participated this time, even though I lost. action

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