Very interesting premise, here we have another author who puts some actual thought into his writing, to portray and implement the theme of "drug abuse" within a fantasy novel. One that is permanently controversial and concerns people from all strata of society. We also get a twisted MC who had everything, but lost all of it and hit rock bottom, drowning in a mire of crime and violence due to some reasonable circumstances. And yes, he's an absolute cold-blooded asshole, but that's okay, because Shouji is not pretending to be a saint or sugarcoating his actions like the typical hypocrite characters. Biggest plus, it's dark (er)fantasy (!), the literal dope of the fantasy genre, far away from all those happy-go-lucky stories, lacking in every aspect. Kudos to Japanese authors with some actual writing talent.