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PROLOGUE
On a sandy road, inside a small black hatchback,
sat a handsome young man in the back seat.
Seventeen years old, dressed sharply in his black school uniform,
his skin was pale but striking — a kind of beauty that drew attention,
made stranger by the way his hazel eyes flicked
left and right across the city's daily paper.
> "The Grey Fly — an insect-like creature, silver in appearance,
its wings five times the length of a normal fly's,
almost metallic if seen from a distance.
Discovered by Greek scientist Philemon Vasiliki in 1748,
it is believed the creature grants blessings
to those who witness its presence..."
Kuro stopped reading halfway through and let the newspaper slump onto his lap.
He stared at the page, then shook his head in disbelief.
"People here actually believe this? You've got to be kidding me."
The driver, a man whose face had been half-baked by the sun,
wished the sound of the wheels on sandy grass would grow louder —
anything to drown out the arrogant muttering from the brat behind him.
But instead of annoyance, a small smirk crept across his face.
"Heh. You smartasses from the Forge Republic are all the same,"
he said, adjusting the rearview mirror just enough to catch Kuro's face.
"You spend your whole life behind those pretty gates of yours,
thinking the world ends at your school walls.
You don't know what's really out here."
Kuro didn't even look up. His eyes had already moved on to a book
he pulled from the seat beside him. The driver watched,
hoping to see a flicker of fear — or at least curiosity.
But there was nothing. Just a bored boy turning pages.
The driver sighed, shook his head, then grinned to himself.
"Damn runt."
He adjusted the mirror again, this time leaving the boy to his pages.
His thoughts drifted as the city came into view, its haze rising from concrete and smoke.
> "They're all the same...
Soon, you'll see what life's really like.
Welcome to Greyman City, Kuro Paddington".