Chapter 264: 264

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?