"I never expected Captain Aiki to have a superior," Rentaro said noncommittally.
"That's perfectly normal. Above a captain is a regiment commander, and above a regiment commander are higher-ranking commanders. Our Holy Light Office is part of the Holy Church to begin with. Rentaro, have you forgotten why we first came to Tokyo? We didn't come here to open an office."
Looking at Aiki's faint smile, Rentaro finally remembered that Aiki and the others had originally come to Tokyo to establish a church. Tokyo's laws had forbidden it, so they had set up an office instead. At that thought, Rentaro couldn't help casting a wary glance at the languid Aiki.
In this day and age, anything connected to churches and religious faith was rarely good news. Most belonged to extremist organizations.
"Aiki, could you take us to meet your regiment commander?" Rentaro asked after a pause.
"Of course. Follow me, everyone!" With that, Aiki led Rentaro toward the small two-story building at the very center of the city.
"Captain Aiki." The Holy Light Clerics guarding the entrance stood at attention and saluted.
"Hello, comrades!" Aiki returned their salute. "I need to see Regiment Commander Uzumaki. Important visitors have arrived from Tokyo."
"Yes, sir! Please go in." Seeing that it was important, the Holy Light Clerics let them through without further questions.
Aiki nodded and led Rentaro and the others into the recently built, makeshift command center.
As soon as Rentaro and the others entered, they looked around curiously. The more they saw, the more alarmed they became. Although the interior was sparsely furnished, it had everything they could possibly need: satellite video feeds, signal relay stations, radar scanners, and even instruments none of them recognized.
"Where on earth did they get all this equipment? Some of it is more advanced