Chapter 1237: The Second Saint, Kuraki Shiroha
"We have successfully brought back the target, Kuraki-sama."
On the hill beside Kamunami Lake stood a historic shrine.
After climbing the long staircase, Kusakabe Sayaka and Himeragi Yukina arrived at this shrine located halfway up the mountain and met the person in charge of this mission.
Sayaka gently laid the sleeping Agnola on the ground and respectfully greeted the other party.
She was a girl about their age, possibly even younger—at most around fifteen years old.
She had pure white hair as snowy as her name suggested, and her cuteness was in no way inferior to the two girls. She wore red and white shrine maiden attire.
"You've worked hard on your long journey, little girls. Did the mission go smoothly?"
The white-haired girl sat there casually, allowing her fair thighs to show beneath her shrine maiden outfit. She held a ceramic bottle filled with sake, drinking directly from it in a rather unrefined manner.
"Yes, there were no complications. We successfully brought this girl out."
Though the girl's posture was quite improper, Sayaka showed no disrespect whatsoever.
"What about you, Yukina? How was your first mission?"
The white-haired girl nodded with satisfaction and turned her gaze toward Himeragi Yukina.
This girl was about two years younger than Sayaka, with black hair reaching her shoulders. Her face and figure were as youthful as a middle school student's, yet her adorable features were remarkably endearing.
"Yes, Kuraki-sama. The result was very smooth, but I was extremely nervous during the process. I almost injured the target's family member. From this perspective, I'm still very immature and need to reflect on it carefully afterward."
The girl thought for a moment before answering formally.
"Such a model student response. But it's fine as long as you're safe. If anything had happened to you, En-dou Yukari would have torn this old woman apart."
The white-haired girl swayed her sake bottle while laughing with an oddly aged tone.
"Kuraki-sama, if I may ask, who exactly is this girl?"
Kusakabe Sayaka looked apologetically at the golden-haired girl on the ground, her face full of confusion.
As a government agent, she was accustomed to taking on missions that couldn't be openly discussed, but kidnapping a vulnerable young girl was something she had never done before, leaving her genuinely remorseful.
"She is the Twelfth Kaleid Blood."
Kuraki-sama chuckled leisurely.
She knew she needed to clarify things for the two girls; otherwise, they might start questioning whether the Lion King Organization's stance had shifted from being a shield protecting the nation to a blade harming its people.
"Kaleid Blood?!"
Both Sayaka and Yukina jumped in surprise.
This name was anything but unfamiliar to them!
While studying at Takamagahara Shrine, the educational institution under the Lion King Organization, they had long been aware of the special significance of this name—it was the hidden, unknown title of the Fourth True Ancestor in history!
"However, that's all in the past now. This girl has lost her Beast Vassals and is now merely an artificial vampire."
"Please wait, Kuraki-sama! If the Twelfth Kaleid Blood was living in Kojou Akatsuki's house, doesn't that mean Kojou Akatsuki is the Fourth True Ancestor?"
Sayaka suddenly became excited, her eyes clearing as if clouds had parted to reveal blue sky.
So that unremarkable guy was the Fourth True Ancestor!
We were completely fooled by him!
"No, Kojou Akatsuki isn't the Fourth True Ancestor. This was confirmed long ago—he was merely caught up in the Banquet of the Blazing Glory. The real Fourth True Ancestor is someone else, though their true identity remains unknown for now."
Kurahashishira immediately refuted Sayaka's speculation.
"If he really were the Fourth True Ancestor, you wouldn't have been able to take Aogura from him either."
"Y-yes, that's true."
Sayaka slumped her shoulders in deep disappointment.
She had thought her two-month-long mission was finally coming to an end, only to have her hopes dashed.
"But what use is there in having us bring this girl out?"
Yukina Himeragi remained thoroughly perplexed.
If she no longer had any Beast Vassals, why did they need to abduct her?
"At the bottom of the nearby Kannawa Lake, our Lion King Organization has discovered a brand-new Seisen relic."
Kurahashishira pointed toward the massive artificial lake several hundred meters to the east.
"It's a multifaceted regular box-like structure, which I refer to as the 'Black Shell.' My subordinates tried numerous methods but couldn't open it. Left with no other choice, we brought this girl here."
"It seems a special key is required to open that Black Shell, and this Twelfth Kaleid Blood can serve as that key."
Kurahashishira hoisted herself up from the ground with a grunt and spoke lazily.
"Alright, the rest is my task. You two go and rest. Since Yoha Yuiri and Ochibana Shio have also arrived, why don't you catch up with them!"
"Yes, Kurahashishira-sama."
The two girls replied in unison before taking their leave.
Despite being in a remote, scarcely visited area, the shrine halfway up the mountain was surprisingly spacious, as if someone of great importance resided there.
"The owner here is an elderly woman with the surname Akatsuki. She's said to be a highly respected senior in Japan's shrine maiden community. Even the branch director of our Lion King Organization pays her visits during holidays," Sayaka explained to Yukina, who only partially understood.
Yukina blinked in surprise.
"Akatsuki? The same surname as that boy I knocked out earlier? Could they be family or something?"
After all, the surname Akatsuki was indeed quite rare in Japan.
"It can't possibly be that much of a coincidence!"
Sayaka waved her hand dismissively and giggled softly.
"I'm also classmates with Kojou Akatsuki, and I never found him particularly noticeable at school. It's surprising he managed to get into Eiji's circle!"
Thinking about it, Eiji's inner circle was exceptionally high-caliber.
He himself lived with the Gap Witch, Natsuki Minamiya; Asagi Aiba was the daughter of a council member on Itogami Island; and the Keiki Yase family held the position of chief director at the Artificial Island Management Corporation. They were essentially a group of super second-generation elites, with Itogami Island's future resting in their hands.
What exactly did Kojou Akatsuki possess that allowed him to blend in so seamlessly with these three as close friends? It was truly baffling.
"You just said Kojou Akatsuki got into whose circle?"
At that moment, an elderly woman with stark white hair, dressed in shrine maiden attire, passed by the two. Hearing this, her expression suddenly sharpened, her eyes turning cold and her face clouded with faint anger.
"Huh?"
Sayaka was caught off guard by the question. She cautiously glanced at the flushed elderly woman.
"May I ask who you are?"
"Kojou Akasaka Kurenai, Kojou Akatsuki's grandmother."
"Seriously?"
Sayaka's lips twitched uncontrollably.
This Kojou Akasaka Kurenai was none other than the owner of this shrine and a highly respected senior within the Lion King Organization, rumored to have many disciples serving in the organization!
So Kojou really did have an impressive family background?
"Well, he's friends with Eiji, Aiba Asagi, and Yaze Motoiki... The 'circle' remark was just my impolite way of putting it..."
Sayaka's attitude became exceptionally meek.
"Tch, of all people, he had to be friends with that Narcissus! KAN, AN, KAKU—and they call themselves the Three Saints! Not one of them bothered to tell me!"
Kojou Kurenai's expression darkened considerably as she strode purposefully toward the direction from which the two had come.
She was clearly heading to confront the Second Saint of the Lion King Three Saints—An Shirona!