In the world of Alcia, where rank is determined by "counts", a young girl named Hina scours the land for the fabled Ace—the legendary hero of the Waste War. With only the last words of her missing mother to guide her search, she wanders from town to town until she meets Licht: a clownish masked vagrant with a count of -999. Girl-crazy and unpredictable, he's the exact opposite of a hero...or at least, that's how he appears...