Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear

Kuma-san Watching the Awards Ceremony

“Eliza-chan finished the third! It is finished. Ladies and gentlemen, please stop dismantling. We will start grading.” (Master of ceremony)

All three have finished dismantling and signaling the end of the event.

Everyone stopped, and an attendant checked the state of the dismantling and graded their work.

I was a little disappointed that Fina was not standing on the stage with the finalists. But it seemed that she couldn’t dismantle spiders, so she probably wouldn’t have made it to the finals, but somewhere in the back of my mind, I would have liked to see Fina compete in the finals.

“Sorry for the wait. The rankings have now been determined. Many of you may have expected the first place to be Deed-kun, and you are right, the first place is Deed-kun!” (Master of ceremony)

The audience was so excited that it was like they knew it.

By all accounts, he was expected to be the winner. If not, there would be a protest, I believe.

“Congratulations on your victory. You have won the championship for the second year in a row.” (Master of ceremony)

“Thank you. I didn’t have to show my seniors an embarrassing moment.” (Deed)

He waved his hand towards the adventurers in the hall.

They must be his party members.

“I was very lucky.” (Deed)

“Luck?” (Master of ceremony)

“If I had been born a little later, I wouldn’t have won two championships in a row.” (Deed)

“What do you mean by that?” (Master of ceremony)

Deed-kun looked at Fina, who was standing next to Sanya-san.

“When I was that age, I couldn’t have dismantled anything. So I am lucky.”

He might be saying that he might not have been able to beat a grown-up Fina in a dismantling competition.

“I see, so please say one last thing.” (Master of ceremony)

“I would like to challenge the seniors next year, so please continue to support me next year.” (Deed)

Next year, he would be 20 years old, and it looked like he would be competing in the veteran’s category.

It would be interesting to see how good Deed-kun, the winner, would be in the over 20 event.

“Thank you very much. Now for the announcement of second place. As expected, second place is Garde-kun!” (Master of ceremony)

This was also as expected.

“Next year, first place!” (Garde)

“Well done, Garde!” (Random Adventurer)

An adventurer, who I assumed was a member of his party, shouted out encouragements.

“Next year, there will be no Deed-kun, your rival. So, next year, you will be aiming for the championship, right?” (Master of ceremony)

“Up until now, I’ve only been looking up. It’s good to know that next year there will be someone catching up from below.” (Garde)

He glanced over at Fina, who was at the commentary table.

Perhaps everyone was thinking of Fina?

“And I know I fell behind in the spider dismantling, but next year I’m going to win!” (Garde)

He declared, this time looking at Eliza-san.

Maybe he thought that he had lost to Eliza-san in the spider dismantling.

First and second place were announced, and the results were as expected. However, third place was someone that no one had initially expected.

“And the third place went to Eliza-chan, who moved up a notch by dismantling the spider!” (Master of Ceremony)

A big, roaring applause from the audience.

The final push was amazing.

No one would have thought she would finish in third place. And because of her careful dismantling, as she had done from the first to the fourth rounds, there was no point deduction, and she finished in third place as it was.

“Eliza-chan, I was disappointed. If it had been only spiders in the final, Eliza-chan would have won.” (Master of ceremony)

“It is indeed a pity. But, I wouldn’t be happy if it was only by chance that I won because the monster prepared for finals was something I was familiar with. If I won with that, I doubt anyone would recognize me as the winner.” (Eliza)

Indeed, they would just claim that she was lucky.

Eliza-san dismantled well, but she has never won first place in all of her dismantling. By all accounts, Deed-kun and Garde-kun would be seen as the two winners.

In that light, dismantling all the monsters from the first to the fourth rounds is a fair measure of total ability.

However, the dismantling of the spider definitely gave Eliza-san an advantage.

“But it is also a little disheartening. After all, if the spider was presented in the fourth round instead of the finals, I might have a chance to make Deed-kun and Garde-kun to be a little panicked.” (Eliza)

If that had happened, Deed-kun and Garde-kun would not have taken first and second place in all the rounds.

In a sense, the two were saved by the rules.

But if the spider had come out in the fourth round, Fina would not have been able to compete and would have withdrawn; considering Fina, it was a good thing that the spider dismantling was in the finals.

It was better to fight and lose than to lose without a fight, which would have been more satisfying to me.

Of course, I would still be disappointed to have lost in any competition.

“I have a question for Eliza-chan. I am sure everyone in the audience is wondering, how come you are good at dismantling spiders?” (Master of ceremony)

“Yes, I have seen spiders dismantled many times since I was a child.” (Eliza)

Eliza-san laughed.

Her smile was a little scary.

“Umm, since you were a child?” (Master of ceremony)

“A few times a year, a spider would stray from the depths of the forest and appear near the village where I lived.” (Eliza)

“It’s a dangerous village, isn’t it?” (Master of ceremony)

“One or two spiders…” (Eliza)

“I don’t think that makes you any better at dismantling spiders, though.” (Master of Ceremony)

“Well, I’ve been playing with bugs since I was little, so I’m not afraid of them.” (Eliza)

“I don’t think they’re the same size…” (Master of Ceremony)

The master of ceremony looked at the spider that remained not dismantled.

I agree with the master of ceremony. I definitely couldn’t handle a big bug.

“It’s not that disgusting. Besides, I got paid to help dismantle it, so I was helping.” (Eliza)

I think everyone in the audience probably had face cramps.

I surely would not be close friends with Eliza-san.

I wouldn’t blame her for not having the same interests, but if she pushed me to do something I wasn’t good at, I’d run away.

But I think she was about 18 years old, but she was so good at dismantling and had such an iron will.

That could be why when she joined the Adventurers’ Guild, she was allowed to ask them to let her do some dismantling work as well.

I think Eliza-san went through the same hardships as Fina.

I respected her.

And so the competition for the under the age of 19 was over, with awards given to the top 10 places.

“It’s over, isn’t it?” (Yuna)

“Yes.” (Ellelaura)

I thought it was over and was about to get up from my seat when the master of ceremony continued his words.

“Now, I would like to announce the final award for fighting spirit.” (Master of Ceremony)

“Fighting Spirit Award?” (Yuna)

“Oh, I did remember that they have such a thing.” (Ellelaura)

Ellelaura-san mentioned as if only now remembering.

“It’s given to the person who did their best this time.” (Ellelaura)

There was such a thing, wasn’t there?

I wonder who it is. Was it Eliza-san who was the best female?

But the master of ceremony looked at Sanya-san.

“The judges unanimously decided on Fina-chan for the Fighting Spirit Award!” (Master of Ceremony)

“Eh, me?” (Fina)

Sanya-san’s microphone picked up Fina’s voice.

Fina was puzzled when her name was suddenly called out.

“Fina-chan, please come this way.” (Master of ceremony)

The master of ceremony puts his hand out to the side, guiding her to come to his side.

“Um.” (Fina)

“Fina-chan, go ahead.” (Sanya)

Sanya-san, next to her, gently encouraged her, and she stood up from her seat in confusion and walked slowly over to the master of ceremony.

“Fina-chan has made the event so much fun. Above all, it is an accomplishment to make it to the fourth round at such a young age. No one complained.” (Sanya)

“Me? But then, I think Eliza-san, who made it to the finals and came in third, is more impressive.” (Fina)

Fina looked at Eliza-san.

“Thank you, Fina-chan. But I got mine two years ago, so I can’t get it this time.” (Eliza)

“Yes, if you have received it once, unfortunately you will not get it again. The Fighting Spirit Award is given to those who have never won a prize and have not received a Fighting Spirit Award in the past. The reason for this is that they will be given this as a gift.” (Master of ceremony)

The master of ceremony then took a piece of cloth that was placed on the table beside him.

I wonder what the prize trophy looked like.

I couldn’t see much from here.

“What is this?” (Fina)

“This is a set of dismantling tools made by a veteran craftsman. It is given with the hope that the participants will use it and continue to devote themselves to their work.” (Master of Ceremony)

It was a prize typical of a dismantling event.

Fina looked confused.

“Fina-chan, take it. Do you doubt the eyes of all the judges?” (Sanya)

Sanya-san said, looking at the line of judges.

“Yes. We all chose unanimously. No one disagreed with it. So please accept it.” (Judge)

One of the judges said, and the other judges around him said, “Yes, take it.” “You doubt our eyes?”

“Fina-chan, I don’t have any objections, and neither do the other judges. So please accept it.” (Eliza)

Eliza-san asked the others to confirm. I hear nodding from the surrounding participants.

Fina looked around again and saw us, and I and Tirumina-san nodded.

Fina seemed to have made up her mind and looked at the master of ceremony.

“Um, thank you very much. I will take good care of it.” (Fina)

Fina received the dismantling tools and was applauded by everyone around her. We applauded, too.

But because of my Bear Puppets, it didn’t sound like applause.

“Well, that concludes today’s event. Tomorrow, the dismantling event will take place for those over 20 years old, so please join us again tomorrow.” (Master of ceremony)

This time, it was over.

Each of us started to move.

Fina was surrounded by those who participated in the dismantling event again. It was like she was being congratulated. To which Fina responds with a big smile.

It was like Fina was growing up all at once, and I somehow felt lonely.

It was like Fina was leaving me.

“I thought she was just a kid, but she’s growing up so fast. I feel a little lonely.” (Tirumina)

Next to me, Tirumina-san said out loud what I had been holding in.

Perhaps it was parental love?

“Tirumina-san, children are like that. My Shia is learning and growing in many ways that I don’t know.” (Ellelaura)

Ellelaura-san patted Shia’s head. Shia looked embarrassed by her mother’s behavior.

“Noa, too, grows up while I don’t see her for a little while. I wonder if …she won’t change much?” (Ellelaura)

That was pitiful.

Noa is still growing every day, as well. Right?

All I could remember was Noa yelling, “Bear!”

I found it funny.