The Fire Hunter

In a world where open flame has become a mortal threat, humanity survives by avoiding natural fire—after countless wars altered people so severely that approaching it can trigger spontaneous combustion. Civilization endures thanks to an alternative power source: a stone-like substance that produces light and steam, harvested from the bodies of monsters lurking in forested regions. The dangerous work of retrieving it falls to specialists known as fire hunters.

Touko, a girl from a rural village, is rescued from a forest beast by a fire hunter who dies in the act. Once his dog, Kanata, recovers, Touko’s family sends her to the capital to return Kanata and the hunter’s fire sickle to his relatives. Meanwhile, the hunter’s son, Koushi, and his sister are taken in by a wealthy household, where Koushi uncovers unsettling truths tied to the royal family and begins secret research into a rare fire stone left by his father—setting off a tense struggle between those in power and those fighting to prevent humanity’s collapse.