Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Fina’s Point of View

When I was first asked to participate in the dismantling event, it wasn’t a good idea for me to do so.

Besides, I was afraid to show Yuna Onee-chan how pathetic I looked after losing so quickly.

But if I did my best, I might be recognized and stay by Yuna Onee-chan’s side forever.

I participated with that feeling.

The Wolf in the first round was a monster I had dismantled many times. My body remembers how to dismantle wolves, so I can do it even with my eyes closed.

I mean that I had dismantled so many wolves that I could do it with my eyes closed.

You cut here, take this out, and move your hands before your mind can think.

In the first round of wolf dismantling, I was number 13 out of over 100 participants.

I did not expect such a high ranking.

I was a little embarrassed when the master of ceremony and Sanya-san talked about me while I was dismantling the wolf. But Sanya-san, how did he know so much about me?

When I finished the first round, I was supposed to return to my mother’s place with Sanya-san, so I went to Sanya-san’s place.

“Congratulations, Fina-chan. That was awesome.” (Sanya)

Sanya-san compliments me.

“Thank you. Was I doing it okay?” (Fina)

“It was fine. Everyone was impressed with Fina-chan.” (Sanya)

Ugh, how embarrassing.

“Those of you who are ranked lower than Fina-chan, I hope you will be motivated and learn more dismantling techniques than you are doing now. For those of you watching from the audience, who were thinking you can do the dismantling, I want you to try as well. In actuality, it’s difficult to do. But the beginning is the key, and I hope Fina-chan will give those people the push they need.” (Sanya)

“I…” (Fina

I couldn’t be any of those people.

“Hmmm, you could just do your normal dismantling. Look, Yuna-chan and the others are waiting for you.” (Sanya)

As I walked around talking with Sanya-san, I returned to Yuna Onee-chan and the others.

Yuna Onee-chan greeted me happily.

Both mother and Shuri looked happy.

When everyone looked happy, I was delighted as well.

The number of times my dismantling job has made me smile has increased since I met Yuna Onee-Chan.

In the beginning, I hated dismantling.

Now, I can dismantle and process carcasses normally. However, the first time I dismantled a wolf, I felt so bad I threw up.

But no other job would give money to a kid like me. So, I persevered and did my best to dismantle the wolf.

If the old me could see me now, she might be surprised.

My sister Shuri might be amazing.

At first, she said it was weird, but she worked hard to dismantle it. She simply did it because, in her words, “Father and big sister are always doing it, so I will try it as well”.

She might become better at it than me if she keeps at it. But both mother and Yuna Onee-Chan said they wanted Shuri to keep her eyes wide open and see if she liked to do anything else other than dismantling.

I agree with them. After meeting Yuna Onee-chan, I have come to believe that it was possible for me to do what I wanted to do.

Previously, I had never thought about that until I met Yuna Onee-chan.

Sometimes Yuna Onee-chan would come to watch me dismantle things, and she would have an indescribable expression.

I may have looked like that in the past, as well.

But Yuna Onee-chan was an adventurer, but why couldn’t she dismantle things?

Oh, but if Yuna Onee-chan could dismantle things, I would become a child she wouldn’t want.

So, if Yuna Onee-chan wanted to learn how to dismantle, I would refuse to teach her.

Because dismantling was the connection between me and Yuna Onee-chan.

Then, the second round started.

The second round was Horned Rabbit.

I have dismantled quite a few Horned Rabbits, though not as many as I have dismantled Wolves.

The dismantling process was not so different from a wolf, but the skeleton of the body was different, so I could not put a knife into it in the same way.

I couldn’t dismantle it as fast as a wolf, so I thought I might not make it past the second round. However, the surrounding others were not so fast either, and I could make it through to the second round, although I lost some places from the first round.

In the royal capital, were there so few Horned Rabbit?

Or maybe there were too many other monsters to be dismantled?

When I returned to Yuna Onee-chan’s place, she greeted me as happily as in the first round.

Mother, Shuri, Shia-sama, Ellelaura-sama, and Sanya-san. They all look happy.

It made me happy, too.

So, I continued to do my best in the next round.

Then, the third round begins.

This time, the monster to be dismantled was covered with a cloth and brought in on a cart.

Could it be that it was hidden because it was a rare monster?

Please make it a monster that I have dismantled before.

I looked at the cart as if praying.

When the cloth was taken away, a large green creature came out. It was a gator.

I had dismantled a gator with Uncle Gentz, who was not yet my father at the time.

He disapproved of me working on it, but since I was in financial trouble, he agreed to let me try.

The first time I dismantled a gator, it was tough. They were so different from a Wolf, Horned Rabbit, etc., that my previous experience in dismantling them didn’t help.

I had to learn to dismantle them from scratch.

But Uncle Gentz kindly taught me how to do it.

When I somehow managed to finish dismantling the gator, Uncle Gentz praised me, saying, “You did a great job”.

When I got home that day, I wrote down the disassembly steps on a piece of paper so that I would remember how to disassemble gator carcasses.

Then, I went back to the paper and studied it repeatedly so that the next time I had to dismantle a gator, I would be able to do it.

If I ever had to dismantle a gator again, I would be able to do it.

The second time, I was able to dismantle the gator, albeit slowly, without Uncle Gentz’s help, and I was happy when Uncle Gentz complimented me, saying, “That’s great, I only had to teach you once”.

But after that, I had never worked on a gator again.

I later learned that Uncle Gentz was handed a warning for making me work on a gator.

I felt sorry for Uncle Gentz.

Such a gator was put on the table.

It was a long time ago since I dismantled it.

Remember, I wrote it down on paper, looked at it many times, and studied it. I could clearly recall the procedure of dismantling the gator in my head.

Yeah, it’s okay. I remember how to dismantle it.

I didn’t want Yuna Onee-chan to think I couldn’t do it.

Then, the master of ceremony said, “Then, let’s begin!” and the sound of the drum goes off simultaneously.

Everyone started disassembling at once.

I took a deep breath to calm myself before dismantling the gator.

First, I cut off the belly, flush it with water, and take out this part. Next, I open this part further to secure the magic stone.

Let’s see, next is the skin…

I dismantled them slowly but carefully, remembering the order of dismantling.

My father has often told me that things I dismantle will be sold. So, I have to dismantle them so that the buyers will be happy.

The seller would rather sell something clean than something messy. The commercial guilds would appreciate it.

And if the dismantled items are messy, they would not buy the merchandise.

So we have to do a clean dismantling. That’s what I learned from father.

Besides, if the dismantling was messy, Yuna Onee-chan might not let me dismantle anything anymore, so I must be careful.

I wouldn’t want Yuna Onee-chan to say, “Fina’s dismantling is messy, so you don’t have to do it anymore”.

Dismantling was the bond that held Yuna Onee-chan and I together.

Therefore, I would not want people to think in front of Yuna Onee-chan that I lost in the third round because I was messy.

Even if I don’t make it through to the third round, I am confident that despite losing, I was still able to dismantle it cleanly and neatly.

Besides, Yuna Onee-chan would praise me for my beautiful dismantling even if I lost.

I dismantled it carefully but as fast as I could.

Here, as I recall, I cut here first, then here, and then I take this out.

I worry about my surroundings, but I try not to glance at the others because if I looked at them, I would want to hurry up the dismantling process.

But even though I didn’t want to, I could hear the master of ceremony’s words ringing in my ears.

I heard that Deed-san and Garde-san were dismantling at a tremendous speed.

I wish they would stop making the announcement.

Furthermore, I got curious, sped up the dismantling, and almost broke my pace.

If I tried dismantling a gator faster than I was used to, it would become messy.

I have to concentrate and dismantle carefully.

Then, when about 70% of the dismantling process was done, the master of ceremony voiced his opinion.

“Ooh, Deed-kun has raised his hand here. As expected, it is Deed-kun who finished first. Mr. Deed is an adventurer, right?”

Oh, he was done already?

That was fast.

His dismantling of the Wolf in the first round and the Horned Rabbit in the second round was fast, but the dismantling of the Gator was also fast.

And then he was followed by Garde, who also finished.

I still had more to do.

The man who was dismantling next to me started to increase his speed.

No, everyone around me started to speed up, too.

I was tempted to speed up too, but that would make the dismantling process messy.

I have no skills to dismantle a gator quickly and neatly.

If I worry about my surroundings, I might have been tempted to dismantle the gator in a hurry.

I proceed to dismantle the gator, keeping my pace so as not to be bothered by those around me. But every time the master of ceremony called out the order and names of those who had finished, I got impatient.

I would like to cover my ears with my hands.

But if I did that, I would not be able to dismantle it.

If I keep my hands still, the dismantling will not be finished.

“Number 15 is Eliza-chan!” (Master of Ceremony)

Even the women were able to finish so fast.

It was impossible not to care, but I had to do what I could. No matter how hectic it was, no matter how I felt rushed, I still completed the dismantling carefully.

Of course, it would be frustrating if I lost, but it was better than rushing and getting a messy result.

I concentrated and worked on the rest of the dismantling process.

Now, all that was left to do was to flush this place down with water, clean it up, and I was done.

Done!

I raised my hand.

“Ohh, four people raise their hands at the same time.” (Master of Ceremony)

I looked around.

There were three other people who raised their hands.

And we were all 20th at the same time.

There were 20 people who could make it through to the third round. Of these four, three would fall. Depending on the scoring of the dismantling, the ranking may go up or down.

I should be fine. I dismantled it carefully and neatly.

A little further away from me, the person scoring the work said, “This is terrible”. If I heard such a comment, I would have been shocked.

As I felt this uneasiness, an attendant came over and graded the gator I had dismantled.

“Oh, great. It was disassembled properly. There were no mistakes in the disassembly procedure.” (Judge)

He praises my dismantling.

I was happy.

And the judging was over.

Please, please, please.

As I looked around praying, the people judging gathered around to talk about something, as if there were some problems.

“Guy-kun, Pat-kun, can I have a word with you?” (Judge)

The person judging called them over.

“Regarding this dismantling process, points are deducted, this part is not cut properly. This dismantling process is wrong.” (Judge)

They are saying what the problem is with their dismantling.

Then they come to the others and to me.

“In contrast, him and her have done it well. So I have graded them in this way, what do you think?” (Judge)

They both shook their heads in agreement.

Then, they slumped their shoulders and returned to their seats.

Maybe, just, maybe.

Then, after everyone had been graded, the rankings were announced. First and second place were the two who were tremendously fast. I really would have liked to see them dismantle, not as participants, but up close.

In 13th place was a woman, Eliza-san.

It was amazing that a woman could dismantle things so fast.

When I saw Eliza-san, she noticed me and lightly waved her hand.

She seems like a kind lady.

I hope I can talk to her about dismantling next time.

While thinking about that, the names and rankings were being called out one after another.

“The 18th place goes to Fina-chan!” (Master of Ceremony)

What, me?

Not 20th, but 18th? I couldn’t believe it.

I was praised for my careful dismantling.

The two who were called were faster than me, finishing the dismantling, but their dismantling could have been better, and they lost their positions, coming in 22nd and 23rd place and not making it through to the third round.

Incredibly, I was able to make it to the fourth round.

…

Editor’s note: Folks. Learn about your friends. Be comfortable with them, for whoever they are. Here’s a glass, toast to your friends. Living and dead. Cheers. And folks (who are feeling like Fina), be confident. Sometimes friends want to be friends because you’re you. Not because you got this or that skill.