...
The "Spring Breeze" stronghold, central monitoring room.
"This is a kind of curse..." Nagano Souta tapped the tabletop with his metal fingers, one knuckle at a time. "I've seen it once before..."
"When?" Candle Dragon asked.
"Seven years... no, it should be eight years ago." Nagano Souta recalled. "I remember that squad very clearly. They had a total of four Mysterious Creature Hunters and thirteen seasoned mercenaries. One of the Hunters had only broken away from Dubhe Tower's control and become a Free Hunter less than three months before. And before that, that Hunter's rank on the Hunter leaderboard could squeeze into the top three hundred."
Nagano Souta drove the wheelchair under him over to a cabinet, opened it, and took out a small flask of sake.
"Boss... with the state your body is in now, you can't drink..." The man in the suit who had introduced himself as the accountant immediately tried to dissuade him.
