Chapter 0 : Prologue

Alright. Listening to your story is making my head spin—everything’s just a mess right now. Let’s just start over from the beginning. Pretend

we forgot everything, even if it’s a bit of a hassle. Got it? What’s your name?”

“Seriously? You want to go all the way back to names? Sure, you’re a cop getting paid to waste time repeating the same stuff, but I’ve got

things to do…  fine. No need to pull out the handcuffs. Put that nasty thing away. My name’s  Leilia.”

“What’s your occupation?”

“Priest of the Kyro Order.”

“Then why, when we contacted the Kyro Order under your name, did they say there’s no such priest?”

“Because I was excommunicated.”

“Then why are you still calling yourself a Kyro priest?”

“Oh, give me a break. Who do they think they are, deciding who gets kicked out? If it bothers you that much, go ask my direct superior for an

official excommunication notice.”

“And who exactly is your direct superior?”

“God.”

“Right… That explains a lot about why you were excommunicated. Now, do you understand why you’ve been arrested?”

“Oh please, because the fine officers of Haven City PD have absolutely nothing better to do, as usual.”

“This is a warning. If you talk about the HCPD like that again, I’ll throw you in a cell immediately. Understand?”

“Nope.”

“Excuse me?”

“I said I don’t understand why I was arrested.”

“I just explained everything to you earlier.”

“Officer, let’s be real here. Do you honestly think I did something so bad I deserve to be thrown in jail? Let’s look at the facts. Do you have

any idea how much garbage this city throws out every year? And how much of that is actually still usable when it’s discarded? You get what

I’m saying, right? Haven City might be the biggest megacity on Earth, with over 200 million people, but the amount of waste we’re generating

is insane.

Ever been to the landfill in Sector 13? No, right? People can’t even go there without gas masks. It’s so bad they only use robots to manage it

now. And guess what—it’s the first time in human history a robot workforce has completely replaced humans.

But I went there myself. Saw it with my own eyes. I felt the threat—like humanity might seriously get buried alive in garbage one day. So I

made a choice. I decided to recycle everything I could, cut down waste in everyday life, and help save the world.

I guess it’s the priest in me. My conscience just kicked in. Look, I know regular folks might not get it. But just because they don’t understand

doesn’t make what I did a crime. Right? So that’s why I think our dear officer here should let me go. Sound good?”

The HCPD officer, who had been silently listening to Leilia’s rambling nonsense, finally spoke, completely dumbfounded.

“So you’re saying everything you did was just to reduce waste and promote recycling?”

“Exactly! Finally, you’re getting it!”

“You’re calling that recycling—when you cut up 27 dead gang members who shot each other in the slums, and ripped out their cyber implants

and artificial organs?”

Leilia, who had been cheerfully explaining herself just moments ago, immediately clammed up.

“There’s even testimony saying you transplanted those parts into other people without a medical license. That’s not just desecrating corpses—

that’s serious, high-level criminal stuff…”

“Lawyer.”

“…What?”

Leilia slammed both hands on the desk and shouted,

“Contact the Kyro Order and bring me a lawyer! If not, I’m not saying another word!”

“You’ve been excommunicated.”

“Lawyer.”

“You’re no longer part of the Order—how are we supposed to get you a church lawyer?”

“Lawyer.”

“Can we just be reasonable for—”

Leilia lifted her head high like she didn’t want to hear a thing anymore and stared up at the perfectly square ceiling of the station. Then, in a

quieter, almost whispering voice, she muttered:

“…Lawyer.”

The officer, who had been trying to reason with her, finally gave up and pulled the handcuffs out of the drawer.