Beihan City.
A vast city built amid bitter winds, ice, and snow.
It stood against the Northern Border's bitter cold and the Cold Tide beast tides that occasionally erupted within it.
Two figures stood in a room at the very top of the city.
The heating in the room had been switched off, and the high window stood open. Howling northwesterly winds swept through the room, scouring away its warmth.
Yet the two figures seemed to feel no cold.
They stood by the window, chatting intermittently-or rather, making awkward conversation.
"The breeders recommended and selected by the various provinces should all be arriving soon, shouldn't they?"
Master Leng, whose silver hair framed the face of a young man seemingly in his early twenties, spoke to the person beside him.
This was his complete opposite: a black-haired old man.
The old man's lips always held a smile. At first glance, he seemed like a wealthy elderly gentleman with a rosy complexion who took excellent care of himself. In reality, however, those who truly knew him understood that no Undead-type breeder-especially an Undead-type Master Breeder-was normal.
The man before him was clearly no exception.
"Who knows? If you ask me, this was unnecessary from the start. What pet beasts worth mentioning could this provincial trash possibly cultivate for the Special Beast Tamer Corps, especially the Heavenly Tomb unit?"
The old man still wore that smiling expression as he spoke, but his gaze was icy as he watched the pedestrians on the road below the building, as though they were the lowliest, most insignificant ants.
He regarded life with complete indifference.
That indifference extended not only to humans, but to all living beings, perhaps even himself.
Master Leng's expression did not change at the old man's utterly merciless words. Clearly, he agreed with