The Iron Mercy

In the progressive Tokai Republic, the state prides itself on impeccable child welfare and criminal justice. When a young death-row inmate—once a foster child failed by the system—dies mysteriously hours before his execution, journalist Miyuki Asakura uncovers a labyrinth of clandestine human experiments. The trail leads from a maximum-security prison to the boardrooms of a pharmaceutical giant and the chambers of a celebrated family-court judge. As Asakura peels back layers of bureaucratic perfection, she realizes that society’s progress has not eliminated crime; it has merely taught it to wear a kinder mask.