This was a pitch-black room.
There were no lights in the room, yet a beam of light shone down from an unpierced section of the ceiling, creating a circular patch of brightness on the floor.
Within that patch, a middle-aged man dressed as a priest was kneeling on one knee, holding a cross in his hand with his eyes closed, as though in prayer, filling the surroundings with silence.
On closer inspection, there were others in the room besides the middle-aged man.
Each of them wore a monk's robe. Like the middle-aged man, they knelt on one knee with crosses in hand, praying around the illuminated area centered on him.
Beneath the feet of these believers, an extremely intricate Magic Circle had been engraved into the floor, resting there in silence.
"Clang!"
At a certain moment, the Magic Circle abruptly lit up, radiating light.
"Hmm?"
The middle-aged priest immediately opened his eyes.
"Whoosh!"
At the same time, the monks around him immediately rose to their feet.
With that single movement, these monks transformed from devout believers into a force that was somewhat chilling.
Only then did the middle-aged man rise unhurriedly and murmur.
"Has someone infiltrated us?"
Orlete Galilei.
That was the middle-aged man's name.
"The barrier has been breached. It can only mean we've been infiltrated."
Though the man named Orlete analyzed the matter thus, his expression twitched slightly.
It was because of anger.
It was because of contempt.
"Anyone capable of breaking through the barrier is certainly no ordinary person. On this Far Eastern island nation, anyone with that sort of ability is either an idiot from some heretical faith or one of those uncivilized Monkeys from Academy City, isn't that right?"
A twisted smile appeared on Orlete's face because of his fury.
"It seems we can regard