A while after I finished the pestle, I watched over Nagini’s afternoon training session. As I thought she got sent flying and I had to pick her up and lay her on the bench again to rest.

  「Fugii….again and again, I’m sorry…that I’m not strong enough ssu…」


  Nagini lazed on the bench and muttered while drinking some water.

  「Don’t worry about it, I said I’d look after you, this much is nothing.」


  「Thank you ssu….Fuguu……If I don’t get stronger then I won’t be able to beat that…if I don’t work harder…..」


  When I heard Nagini speak of 「that」 I couldn’t help but recall something and want to ask…


  「Now that I think of it Nagini….you spoke of a monster that cursed your sister…and you have to get stronger to defeat it? What kind of thing is that creature?」


  I hadn’t asked about the main goal of her training since she had begun. I thought I should inquire…


  「Um……well ssu….」


  Nagini hesitated a bit.

  「Hmm? Is it some kind of hard to describe enemy?」


  Maybe it had a nondescript form or it was mostly invisible or something like that. I wondered if that was the case, but Nagini shook her head.

  「Ah…..no. Umm I was jut wondering how to say it, I don’t mind talking about it at all……in fact I’d like you to hear it….I just didn’t know where to start ssu…」


  「Hmm…well I’d like you to start from the beginning. Just tell me what I need to know.」


  That would help me learn the circumstances surrounding this.

  I had been thanked by Hesty in the past, but I didn’t have much that I needed to store away. (TL: This line is confusing)

  She looked at me with surprise.

  「Master……is really good at looking after people.」


  「Really? In my opinion most of the people around me are way better at looking after others.」


  It goes without saying that I was talking about people like Sakura and Hesty who I always get help from. Even Dianeia and the rest had been entrusted to watch over Nagini’s training.

  「No, just by saying those kinds of things…it’s something really gratifying ssu.」


  Nagini smiled before letting out a sigh and preparing to speak once more.

  「——and so I’ll take advantage of that virtue and be spoiled for a bit….I’ll tell you about it ssu.」


  Nagini slowly set her cup of water on the table and turned to look at Daichi before opening her mouth to speak.

  「In truth the enemy I must defeat is no ordinary monster….it would be more accurate to say that it isn’t even a monster….in the Dragon Country there is a specter called the 『Founding Dragon Ancestral Spirit』 ssu.」


  「Ancestral Spirit? If you mean that literally then it’s the spirit of your ancestors?」


  「Indeed ssu. Long ago in the past the Dragon Country was created by the 『Founding Dragon』. That Dragon left behind a mausoleum within the country that contains its enormous power and will…when you put it together with a soul that is what we call it.」


  「So what does this have to do with the curse?」


  It was hard to connect the defending spirit of their ancestors with a curse. I couldn’t help but continue to question her.

  「Most Kings of the Dragon Country inherit the grand will and power of the Founding Dragon ssu. It is done to obtain the drive and power to continue protecting the country. However, Dora-ane and I were born at the same time as twin Dragon Kings of the country, we had to split the power amongst ourselves.」


  「Split…wait is that really okay? Splitting the King into two people…is that really okay for a country?」


  I couldn’t help but retort.

  It was something she had wondered herself.

  「Well…yes. It’s possible as long as the entities are recognized as a single group by the ancestral spirit or that’s what it told us. Plus even though it’s called a country it’s mostly just acting as a landlord…there’s no real issues that we deal with ssu. When we were set to become the next king there weren’t really any records or history books left behind to help us and though we knew of the predecessor there wasn’t much info….the two of us decided to take on the task….you could call it a challenge I suppose ssu.」


  「A challenge….huh? So what you’re saying….is you undertook something that had low chances of success and still went through with it.」


  ‘As expected of Master he went right to the heart of the matter’ Nagini thought.

  「In order to succeed we underwent intense training…there was a certain level of competency we had to achieve to receive the ancestral spirit’s power. If we messed up the inheritance badly then we could have possibly died ssu.」


  Nagini couldn’t help but recall the trials they underwent before continuing her tale.

  「…….well if I were to speak of the conclusion…I was weaker than my sister and my body couldn’t handle as much power as her. However, once the trials began we had to complete them all the way to the end to split up the powers. Once we reached the end, the part that I was unable to absorb was….taken into Dora-ane ssu.」


  Her sister had always covered for her. That’s why at that point her sister had said 『leave it to me』 and tried to cover for her but….

  「That power was too intense. It was something even my sister, who is much more incredible than me, couldn’t take. That’s why at the end after she forcefully accepted the leftover power….she collapsed. She is still in the mausoleum and still unconscious even now ssu.」


  「This ancestral spirit’s power is something that originally one person would accept right? Then how did you fall into such a situation when splitting it between two?」


  「This was how the Founding Dragon-sama explained it. In the end we were just too weak.」


  No matter how pressed for time they were, they should have spent more time training to increase their chances of success.

  「Even if it was a result of your weakness, wasn’t there anyone around who tried to stop you? Like your parents or the Dragons in your country?」


  「By the time we were self aware our parents were no longer in this world. As for the country, it is a country in name only, there’s barely a Dragon living there nowadays ssu. Since we were born it was only my sister and I…we would sometimes go receive advice from Founding Dragon-sama. That’s how we lived daily. In a certain sense you could say that Founding Dragon raised us….that’s why when Founding Dragon-sama said 『it’s nearly time』 we jumped on it without waiting.」


  They did it unknowingly and recklessly. The price for that was being paid now.

  A small silver lining was that that her sister was being sustained by the Founding Dragon’s divine protection.

  Under the power of the Divine Protection she wouldn’t starve for a few months, wouldn’t die, and the spirit said he could maintain her health.

  However, the spirit could not awaken her.

  「I’ve always been protected by my sister…….protected all the time…even up til now.」


  She believed it was all her own weakness. That’s why…


  「—this time I need to take my sister’s burden, I will accept as much as I can. That’s why I need to train.」


  This was the absolute decision she had reached before coming here.

  Daichi looked downwards and lightly nodded…


  「I see……sorry for making you think of such hard times.」


  I felt apologetic.

  ‘….Even though I was the one who intruded on him…he’s thinking of how I feel properly. He’s a nice person ssu.’


  Nagini thought before shaking her head.

  「No no it’s completely fine ssu. This is simply something I need to bear and face…I need to face my past mistakes ssu. If anything I’d like to thank you for helping reaffirm my objective ssu.」


  ‘Thanks to that I can focus more fully on my training.’


  「I’ll work harder on the training you’ve given me ssu! In order to save Nee-san…..in order to get stronger….I’ll be counting on you to train me ssu!!」


  「Yeah I got it. We can consult Hesty and I’ll do my best as well.」


  「Yes! Thank you very much Master ssu!」