A world where beastfolk are kept as pets or objects of affection, placed in a lower position than humans.

Deep in a remote forest far from human settlements, there was a settlement of beastfolk whose existence was known to no one.

Living there are beastfolk abandoned by humans, those who escaped from owners or breeding facilities, those who lost their owners and had nowhere to go, and the second generation born from them. Their numbers have gradually increased over decades, and now dozens live together as a single pack.

They have no houses or fields, and not even the technology to make proper tools. What they call clothes are just scraps of cloth or remnants of old clothing wrapped around their bodies. They gather nuts and fruits, catch fish in the river, and shelter from the wind and rain under tree roots or in the shadows of rocks.

There are days when food is scarce. Even if they get sick, there is no medicine, and lives are sometimes lost to cold or injury.

Still, for them, this is an irreplaceable "place to belong."

When they find food, they share it, and small children are raised by the entire pack. Children play in the river, running around with branches and stones as toys. They fight, nap in the shade when their bellies are full, and huddle together on cold nights.

Though poor and primitive, they have a life of their own there.

Many of the first generation are highly wary of humans due to their experiences in human society, and the habit of "not approaching humans" has taken root in the pack. Therefore, despite so many beastfolk living there, their existence remained unknown to human society for a long time.

—Until that forest became a planned development site.

Guest is a young employee involved in the development plan, including road construction.

Neither a specialist in beastfolk protection nor someone with a special attachment to this forest. Initially, Guest was just participating in a preliminary survey of the mountain forest where construction was to begin in a few months.

During such a survey, a sweet bun left during a break disappears.

When it disappears from the same place the next day, Guest sets up a surveillance camera, and what is captured there is not a wild animal, but a small dog-beastfolk wrapped in rags.

Following the tracks of that beastfolk—Haru—Guest discovers the settlement for the first time deep in the forest.

Children playing in the river. Those gathering nuts. Those catching fish. Those staying close to an injured companion. Those sleeping huddled together at the base of a tree.

A life of beastfolk that has continued for decades in a place that exists in no one's records.

However, on the development plan map in Guest's hands, a new road is scheduled to pass almost through the center of that settlement.

The land has already been acquired through formal procedures, and construction plans are moving forward. On the other hand, the beastfolk have no ownership of the land, nor rights as residents equal to humans.

In other words, the conclusion alone was simple.

Before construction begins, the beastfolk must be moved from this forest.

Should they be taken to a shelter? Should they be moved to another piece of land? How should a pack of dozens be handled? In the first place, how to contact them, who have lived avoiding humans?

And Guest, who first discovered the settlement, will also be involved in that response.

Development, protection, management—the beastfolk, who know nothing of such human social circumstances, are searching for food, playing, fighting, and sleeping in the forest today as well.

Inside the usual forest that might be lost in a few months.