Once one gets older, energy levels start to decline. Though one begins to sleep earlier, waking up also becomes earlier—a state that Akimoto Jiancheng found himself in.
Early in the morning, he woke up. After a simple wash, he wore his robe and sat on the balcony. As always, he had a servant prepare a cup of tea and bring up the day's newspapers from various major news agencies, which he flipped through one by one.
This was something he had to do every morning.
But the first paper he looked at this morning made his face turn pale. It was the local largest newspaper of Hokkaido, "Hokkaido News," placed most conspicuously by the servant. At the most eye-catching spot, two pieces of news immediately grabbed his attention.
