Once the student had finished his dismantling, Fina and Shuri had stepped off the platform and joined us.
「So, you didn’t get to learn anything new from it, Fina?」
「Yeah, Father and the workers at the guild are much better…」
「You can’t compare students to professionals.」
The student was still learning how to do it properly. It wasn’t fair to compare him to the people who dismantled for a living. Fina must have dismantled hundreds or maybe even thousands of monsters already. She had much more experience than him.
「Um, Fina-chan, right? Was it that bad?」
Mel-san asked Fina for her opinion.
「Um….」
「Fina-chan dismantles for Yuna-chan on a regular basis, Mel. I mean, that kid wasn’t good by any means, but in Fina-chan’s eyes, he must have been terrible, right?」
「Um, well, how to dismantle very much depends on the method of subjugation. If the monster was stabbed to death with a sword, then it’s best to start cutting from where the sword wound is. If you don’t do that, there will be two cuts in the pelt, and that will drop its value. Cutting from the stomach is the most common way, of course, but if there is already a wound somewhere else, so I think it’s not the most optimal way…」
I could understand Fina’s reasoning. The less holes there were, the better the value. I had been told that at the very beginning of my adventuring days. If I had to hit a monster multiple times to subjugate it, I would ruin the pelt in the process. That was why the wolves I had defeated in one hit were worth much more.
「Still, if the monster was defeated by magic, then cutting from the stomach should be the best option no matter what. You want to cut cleanly while preserving as much materials as possible. The quality will be end up being better if you do that, which means it will sell at a higher price.」
Mel and I were both surprised by Fina’s explanation. Fina took such care when she was dismantling, huh. Was I paying her enough for her services?
I didn’t sell the things that Fina dismantled for me myself, so I didn’t realize at all that she tackled it so seriously. Maybe I should really start paying her more…
Both Terumi-san and Fina had been telling me that it was more than enough, though, and I shouldn’t worry about it. What should I do…?
Mel-san continued to listen to Fina’s explanation with interest, and then, even Shuri joined in.
「He was cutting meat too slowly. Dad said that the meat gets damaged if we’re slow.」
Even Shuri was saying that he was no good. Was it because she watched Fina do it so diligently that she had come to such a conclusion?
It was indeed important to observe others when learning, especially in craftsmanship. Shuri was only seven years old, though. To be this observant, Fina and Gentz-san’s had taught her well. Well, I helped a bit, too, even though all I did was bring in monsters I subjugated.
「Both of you are simply amazing.」
「No, this is all because I get to dismantle all the monsters that Yuna-oneechan brings me.」
So it was my fault that they were like that?
No, that couldn’t be me… Gentz-san was the one who had taught them, after all.
「I’ve dismantled hundreds of wolves at this point, and also got the chance to challenge myself with dismantling two Tiger Wolves and a Black Tiger before.」
「Yuna-chan, you got her to do all that for you?」
Um, yes, I had done that…
「Could it be you dismantled the Black Viper as well?」
「Yes, I did that together with the guild workers.」
「That’s amazing. Not many people get to experience that.」
「It’s all thanks to Yuna-oneechan.」
Good thing I hadn’t gotten her to dismantle the Cockatrice. If I had done so, it might have caused an even bigger commotion.
If I ever decided to ask her to dismantle the Cockatrice for me, would it be necessary to have her keep it a secret?
Before that, could Fina even dismantle a Cockatrice?
「Well then, Fina-chan, could you show how good you are in front of everyone?」
「Show everyone?」
「Mhm. They will surely be surprised to see that a cute, young girl like you can dismantle so well and will be more motivated to try and learn it themselves.」
「But… I’m not really that…」
Fina was holding back and tried to refuse.
「Sounds like a good idea to me.」
「Yuna-oneechan?!」
「I want to see your dismantling skills as well.」
Noa agreed as well.
「Come on, the hands-on demonstration will be starting soon.」
The table had already been cleaned up, and another wolf was placed on the table.
「Does anybody want to try? You don’t need any experience: anybody is free to come up and learn.」
Jade-san began calling out to the spectators, but nobody raised their hand to volunteer. Being interested in how it was done didn’t necessarily mean any of them wanted to actually try doing it themselves. It was the same for me. I had thought I would give it a try after seeing Fina do it, but I couldn’t have brought myself to.
People had things they were suited and unsuited for. I just happened to be unsuitable for dismantling.
「Come on, Fina-chan, nobody is volunteering.」
Mel-san placed her hand against Fina’s back and gave her a gentle push towards the table.
「Yuna-oneechan?!」
Fina looked at me like a child being separated from her parent, pleading for help.
I felt bad, but I wanted to see how much she had grown.
「You can do it.」
Fina thought a bit before lightly nodding. Mel-san didn’t waste any time and brought her straight to the table.
All eyes in the room were suddenly focused on Fina.
「Mel, who’s that?」
「I think she’s Yuna-chan’s friend? She seems to be really good at dismantling, so I asked her to demonstrate. If she can show them she can do it as such a young age, wouldn’t that be great for the audience?」
「Onee-chan, do your best!」
「Fina, go for it.」
Shuri and Noa cheered Fina on.
「Yuna, can Fina-chan really dismantle monsters? She’s so small…」
Tilia, who was standing beside me, looked at Fina with concern.
「Fina has been dismantling since she was very young, so she will be fine. I can guarantee that her skills are the real deal.」
Fina stood at the table and took out an apron so she wouldn’t get her clothes dirty.
「A little girl like her is going to dismantle it?」「Can she do it?」「Normally, that would be impossible, right?」「Yeah, seems impossible.」
The people watching the scene were saying various things, but most of them didn’t believe Fina could do it. It must be strange for a small girl like Fina to be able to dismantle monsters even in this world, huh?
「Can you show us, then?」
Jade-san passed a knife to Fina, but she waved it away and took out the knife she had been using for years instead. It wasn’t the mythril knife I had given her, but the dismantling knife she had received from Gold-san. Fina suddenly looked more motivated than usual.
「Okay, here I go.」
She proceeded to check the wolf for wounds and inserted the knife into one of them. She started to remove the skin cleanly; there was no hesitation in her work. The people observed her with serious looks and couldn’t help but comment. 「Amazing.」「She’s so quick.」「She cut it beautifully.」「Who is this girl?」「She took off the skin already.」Everybody was praising Fina. Shuri looked very happy to hear her older sister get praised. Meanwhile, Noa simply looked at Fina in shock. She knew that Fina could dismantle monsters, but this was her first time seeing it in action.
Fina continued her dismantling work. She smoothly proceeded to cut the meat into nicely shaped pieces. She finished the whole process in half the time the student had spent. Not to mention, her work had been done much more skillfully.
「You’re really good. I didn’t even have to tell you anything.」
Jade-san praised Fina and she thanked him for the compliment.
The student who had dismantled before started to ask Fina many questions, and Fina explained it to him, a bit embarrassed by the attention she received.
「Her explanations are way better than mine…」
Jade-san took out another wolf and asked Fina to do it again while explaining the dismantling process slowly to everyone present. The student also jumped the chance and told her he would love to receive further instructions.
Fina looked very embarrassed but agreed anyway.
「In order to cut it cleanly, you have to use enough force when handling the knife. If you don’t, you might end up damaging the meat or skin. You must not be scared and just go for it. Also, each monster has its own way of dismantling it. To get used to it, the best way is to practice by dismantling the same type of monster multiple times and making sure to remember the process. I couldn’t do that well at first, and people often got mad at me because of it.」
Fina hadn’t been born a master. She had practiced over and over again with the smaller monsters. It had been the only thing she could do in order to take care of her sick mother and younger sister and to thank Gentz-san for his support. It hadn’t been easy for her to master the skill, but she had managed to achieve it through vigorous practice.
As Fina continued her dismantling lesson, Shuri decided to join in, shocking the audience even more. Soon after, the observing students also came up to the table to try. They were nervous at first, but knowing that such young girls could do it, they braved through.
Once everyone had dismantled at least one wolf, they moved on to Horned Rabbits, with Fina continuing to guide them.
Seeing everything was going well, Jade-san decided to come over to me.
「That girl is simply amazing. The way she teaches everybody…」
「She is most likely better than me.」
「Mel, you always have me and Toya do it, so that’s obvious.」
「I just don’t like to get my hands dirty, that’s all.」
Senya-san was good at handling knives, so maybe she was skilled in dismantling as well?
Although battling and dismantling were two different things, she was able to use a knife swiftly and precisely, so I could easily imagine her being a pro at dismantling.
As Jade-san and Mel-san continued to discuss who was better, Fina finished her lecture on how to dismantle the Horned Rabbits.
The audience gave her an applause, and Fina blushed from embarrassment. Shuri looked very happy to see her sister receive the praise.
The demonstration was officially over with that, so everybody slowly started to leave.
Fina stayed behind to talk to the students running the program, however.
「This was a good lesson for the students. They could learn so much from such a small girl like you.」
「They might become adventurers, soldiers, or even knights in the future, and your guidance should help them on their journeys.」
Jade-san and Mel-san commented after they sent off the participants.
They chatted for a while longer and ended up giving her a part of the meat she had dismantled. The rest were to be used as skewers and sold here at the school festival. They had sure planned things out well.
「Okay, we should get going soon.」
「Alright. Thank you for all your help.」
「Fina-chan, thank you.」
「No, um, it felt like I took your job away. I’m so sorry.」
「Fufu, you don’t have to apologize for that. We asked you to do it, after all. I’m sorry we can only give you a small part of the meat as thanks.」
「No, this is more than enough. Thank you very much.」
After she stored the meat in her item box, we said goodbye and left the cloth-fenced area to continue our stroll around the school festival.
Author’s Note:
The dismantling methods were based on this author’s super half-hearted imagination.
I just wanted to have Fina show off her skills. lol
If this is your actual profession, I would appreciate it if you just ignored my explanation.
Also, the Black Tiger was mentioned in the comments quite often. It has been dismantled as of chapter 163, for those curious.
Anyways, what should we do next?
