After reading it a second time, Biscuit handed the phone to Shizuku and let her read it for herself.
But Shizuku refused. "I'll pass on reading it a second time. I think I've already memorized it."
"'I think I've already memorized it'?" Biscuit glanced at Shizuku skeptically, then said, "Oh, well. Your memory comes and goes, but if you're that confident, you must have remembered it."
She turned to Gelman again, considered her words for a moment, then asked, "Do you know about the 'Dangerous Creatures Comprehensive Evaluation and Classification Table'?"
Gelman nodded.
"I do. I've seen it on the Hunter exclusive website."
"It gives dangerous creatures an overall evaluation based on four factors: 'quantity,' 'cruelty toward humans,' 'reproductive ability and breeding speed,' and 'destructive power.'"
"There are five grades, from highest to lowest: 'A,' 'B,' 'C,' 'D,' and 'E.'"
"That's the one." Biscuit planted both hands on the tea table and abruptly stood up. "The Five Great Disasters I know of are all rated between A and B in terms of danger."
"I have two questions. First, why didn't you bring back any 'disasters'? Second, can you rate the creatures you encountered?"
Almost every human expedition to the Dark Continent had ended in failure. Those wiped out had nothing to say, while surviving teams usually had no choice but to bring back a "disaster."
And "disasters" usually came paired with "hopes."
These "hopes" could often make enormous contributions to the human world. That was why so many people had ventured there, one after another.
Unfortunately, no "hope" had ever been brought back. Instead, at least five "disasters"—the very embodiment of "despair"—had made it home.
The "Five Great Disasters and Hopes" were—
The "Human-Raising Beast Papu" and the "Manless Stone."
The "Plant Weapon Gold Silver Ingot" and the "All-Curing Herb."