Chapter 654
Bear-san Felt the Family Bond
After a while, Fina, whom the other partic.i.p.ants had surrounded, was released and returned to us with Sanya-san.
“Fina, welcome back.” (Yuna)
“Welcome back, Sanya-san.” (Tirumina)
Tirumina-san and I called out to them. They both looked a little tired.
“Finally, it’s over. But thanks to Fina-chan, it was a lot of fun. Thank you so much, Fina-chan.” (Sanya)
“No, no, I didn’t do much.” (Fina)
“Humility is great, but too much of it will hurt your own self-esteem and make you weak, and Fina-chan did a great job, so you should be proud of yourself. Well, a pompous Fina-chan will not be like the Fina-chan I know.” (Sanya)
I agreed with Sanya-san on that.
I didn’t want Fina to become someone who likes to brag about being able to dismantle monsters, and I would like her to stay the way she was.
“But it’s also true that Fina-chan made the compet.i.tion a lot of fun to watch. I saw a different look in the eyes of those who attended and those who were in the audience. They were so motivated. I think everyone was inspired by Fina-chan.” (Sanya)
Fina looked embarra.s.sed when Sanya-san praised her.
“Fina-chan, if you can, will you join us again next year?” (Sanya)
“Well, I’m not sure about next year yet…” (Fina)
“Fufu, there’s still time, so take your time and think about it. Please.” (Sanya)
“…yes.” (Fina)
Sanya-san did not force her, and Fina gave a quiet reply.
I could only look forward to next year’s dismantling compet.i.tion.
However, Fina might be interested in something different by then. I wouldn’t restrict her to dismantling only. Her mother, Tirumina-san, who was previously ill, is now healthy enough to resume working again, and she now also has a new father, Gentz-san, so Fina no longer needs to force herself to work dismantling monsters.
The future was free for her to decide.
“But it’s not every day you find a girl as young as Fina-chan who is so determined. This is something I’ll have to write to Cliff and educate Noa about.” (Ellelaura)
Ellelaura-san might have awakened to the idea of educating her child.
Noa, I am sorry for your loss.
Well, that aside, we parted ways with Sanya-san, who still had some work to do, and headed back to the bear house in the carriage Ellelaura-san provided for us.
“Well then, let’s have a goodbye party later, shall we?” (Ellelaura)
Ellelaura-san said to us as we got out of the carriage.
Ellelaura-san offered to celebrate Fina’s success in reaching the fourth round, but Fina declined, saying she didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.
To be fair, everyone else wanted to celebrate. However, we understood Fina’s feelings, so we decided to have a “farewell party” at a later date.
As we parted ways with Ellelaura-san and Shia, as they dropped us off in front of my house in their carriage, we went inside the bear house.
“I’m home.” (Fina)
“I’m home.” (Shuri)
Fina and Shuri said so as they entered the bear house, and I responded with, “Welcome home.”
Tirumina-san, who was standing behind me, smiled at me and also followed with, “Yuna-chan, welcome home, as well.”
“…I’m home.” (Yuna)
I replied, a little embarra.s.sed.
Shuri came into the living room and dived onto the sofa. Then, as if remembering something, she looked at Fina.
“Yes. Big Sister, show me the dismantling tools you got!” (Shuri)
Shuri, too, was interested in the dismantling tools and asked Fina to show them to her. I guess she was at that curious age.
“Yes, sure.” (Fina)
Fina pulled out a wooden box containing the dismantling tools she received for her fighting spirit award from her item bag and placed it on the table.
It looked a little heavy.
“Come on, show it, show it.” (Shuri)
“Hold on, I’ll open it.” (Fina)
Tirumina-san and I both joined them at the table.
Fina opened the lid of the wooden box.
“I think I’ve seen something similar to this before.” (Tirumina)
Tirumina-san looked at the dismantling tools and tilted her head.
I had no idea.
I thought all dismantling tools looked the same.
Of course, there would be a difference in quality among those tools.
Shuri exclaimed, “Ah, it’s just like the dismantling tools my Big Sister uses!”
I didn’t get a chance to look at Fina’s dismantling tools in detail, so I didn’t remember it. But if Shuri, who worked with Fina and used her dismantling tools, said so, then it was most likely the case.
Fina slowly picked up one of the dismantling tools.
“It really is the same.” (Fina)
“Really?” (Shuri)
“Yeah, probably the same type.” (Fina)
Fina pulled her own dismantling tools out of her item bag and compared them.
They looked older and more used than the other, but they were the same.
“Oh, by the way, the dismantling tools Fina uses are…” (Yuna)
“Yeah… it was the set of tools that my late father used.” (Fina)
Didn’t Ghazal ask her the other day that he would perform maintenance on her dismantling tools for her?
“Tirumina-san, why is this so? How did she end up getting the same set of tools?” (Yuna)
Could it be that the same ones were available for purchase?
“I knew that Fina used Roy’s dismantling tools, but…” (Tirumina)
Tirumina-san thought for a moment and then answered, “Oh, I remember now. When we came to work in the royal capital, he once proudly showed me his dismantling tools.”
“Perhaps Fina’s father also attended this event when he was younger? And did he get a fighting spirit award like Fina?” (Yuna)
“My dad is…” (Fina)
“Tirumina-san, don’t you remember?” (Yuna)
“Well, at that time, Roy and Gentz were in charge of dismantling because I couldn’t do it.” (Tirumina)
Perhaps Tirumina-san was a charming woman when she was young?
For a moment, I pictured her treating her late husband and Gentz-san in a good way.
“Come to think of it, I remember being invited to something similar at that time… Now that I recall it, it was the dismantling of monsters. But I wasn’t interested in dismantling monsters, and I have a faint memory of shopping alone.” (Tirumina)
“Tirumina-san…” (Yuna)
“It can’t be helped. I wasn’t interested in dismantling.” (Tirumina)
Well, if someone asked me out on a date to a monster dismantling event, I’d probably walk away. Even if he asked me to come and watch because he was going to attend, it might still be difficult to convince me.
In my previous world, if I was asked to come watch a pig dismantling event, I would refuse.
Well, to be fair, I wouldn’t have anyone to invite me in the first place.
“Father attended the same event as me, and got the same items.” (Fina)
Fina looked at the dismantling tools with a blank look.
Maybe she had mixed feelings about the tools. Probably because she was thinking that if her father was still alive, he might have been the one partic.i.p.ating in the dismantling event instead of her.
“But Gentz-san, I don’t think he said anything about it.” (Yuna)
“Hmmm. Being the man that he is, maybe he forgot? Or maybe he simply didn’t say anything.” (Tirumina)
I mentally thought it was more of him forgetting to mention it.
“Big sister. Having two sets of dismantling tools is nice.” (Shuri)
Shuri looked enviously at the two sets of dismantling tools. She had a basic knife for dismantling, but she didn’t have any special dismantling tools.
Fina looked at the two sets of dismantling tools laid out on the table and then decided to do something.
“Well then, I’ll give this one to Shuri.”
Fina said so as she moved the set of dismantling tools she had worked so hard to acquire today in front of Shuri.
“Eh, is it okay?!” (Shuri)
Shuri looked happy and tried to reach for it but retracted her hand soon after.
“But …this set of dismantling tools is the reward you got for doing your best…” (Shuri)
Shuri would like to have it, but she knew, even at a young age, that it was something her big sister worked hard to gain.
“I have father’s dismantling tools. So I want Shuri to use mine.” (Fina)
“Fina, are you sure about this? You worked so hard to get it.” (Tirumina)
It was also a trophy. It was something that was not easy to obtain.
“I’m not a good girl. I don’t think I can give Shuri the dismantling tools that father was using, and I think Shuri had no recollections of him.” (Fina)
“…Fina” (Tirumina)
I doubted even Fina remembered much of her father. Maybe she remembered the warmth of his arms around her, but Shuri couldn’t be old enough to even remember that.
“So Shuri, I’m sorry.” (Fina)
Fina made an apologetic look.
“Big Sister. Why are you apologizing?” (Shuri)
“Because I’m a selfish big sister.” (Fina)
“Big Sister is not selfish. You’re kind. Whenever I was hungry, you always shared your portion of food with me.” (Shuri)
“…Shuri” (Fina)
That’s indescribable sisterly love.
Tirumina-san also looked at Fina and Shuri with an uncomfortable expression.
If no one else was there, she might have cried.
“Thank you Shuri, I want you to use these dismantling tools, can you take care of them for me?” (Fina)
Shuri looked at Fina’s face and then at Tirumina-san’s and my face as if checking us out.
Tirumina-san and I nodded in agreement.
We could not deny Fina’s feelings.
“Shuri, take good care of it.” (Tirumina)
“Yes! I’ll take good care of it!” (Shuri)
The dismantling tools of a late father were given to her daughter.
Now, a sister’s dismantling tools went to her sister.
Gentz-san, who had been involved in teaching Fina, also joined her family, which was the reason why Fina was involved in dismantling.
An invisible thread connected this family’s ties.
Come to think of it, though, Ghazal-san was surprised to see Fina’s dismantling tools. Perhaps he knew that it was a prize trophy from a previous event many years ago.
He should have told us.
I wondered if he was being thoughtful.
Then, while Tirumina-san was cooking, Fina went to take a bath with Shuri ahead of us in order to relax and recover from her fatigue.
“Kids grow up in places I don’t even know. I almost cried watching their exchange.” (Tirumina)
I knew she was about to cry.
“I wish Roy could have seen Fina and Shuri grow up.” (Tirumina)
“If he was still alive, the two might have been more childlike, you know.” (Yuna)
Fina had worked hard to support her family, so she was a little more mature.
If her father had lived, she would have been a spoiled child.
“If he had, maybe me and Fina would have never met.” (Yuna)
The connection made between me and Fina was also due to dismantling. Without that encounter, I doubted we would have the relationship we had today.
“Yes, I agree. You know, sometimes the connections between people are made through small events or links, and if those small events or links didn’t happen, the connection might not have been made.” (Tirumina)
It truly was a strange link that connected us.
Depending on which path one follows, one’s life could change drastically. But no one could know which path was a good one or a bad one until they went on it.
“I never thought I would end up helping out at the orphanage or the store, and I never thought I would get to know the Lord. And most of all, I never thought in the past that I would get to know such a lovely Bear-san.” (Tirumina)
Tirumina-san looked at me and smiled.
I doubt anyone would have thought to make an acquaintance with someone in a bear suit.
“Yuna-chan, thank you so much. Hmm, it’s embarra.s.sing to say it again.” (Tirumina)
“It’s embarra.s.sing for me to be told as such as well.” (Yuna)
Both of us might be blushing.
“The bath felt so good.” (Fina)
“Mom, Yuna Nee-chan, what’s wrong?” (Shuri)
Fina and Shuri came out of the bath and came over to us.
“It’s nothing.” (Tirumina)
“Yes, it’s nothing.” (Yuna)
Tirumina-san and I laughed to cover up our reaction.
I could say that I ended up on a good path meeting Fina and the others.
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