The fairy tale follows a young man named Gusukō in the Tōhoku forests of northeastern Japan in the 1920s. After an onslaught of droughts and natural disasters, Gusukō is forced to leave his home and search for a better life elsewhere. Gusukō joins a group of scientists at the Ihatov Volcano Department, which deals with the same natural disasters that drove Gusukō from his home..