Inside the mid-size transport vehicle headed toward an unknown destination—
Sakuradamae held her breath and silenced her presence completely. Though the vehicle carried a dozen or so sharp-aura mixed-blood personnel, none of them realized she was standing silently in the corner.
She blended perfectly into the shadows, her form as black as the night itself—like droplets of ink scattered across a canvas of darkness. Without a large spotlight, no one would even sense something was wrong.
Codename 69, Kotodama: Meishou (Shadow Reflection).
This kotodama allowed her to vanish into flickering light, dissolving into shadow within her domain. Even a focused observer could only barely perceive a faint smoky shimmer. And at night, unless one had specialized countermeasures, she could practically waltz into a fortress undetected.
"…Why the hell is it pitch black the whole way? The Chen family's driver doesn't even need headlights?"
She grumbled inwardly. This darkness was a pain—it meant she couldn't map the route on the fly. Not that it mattered much; the micro-tracker would do its job.
Bored out of her mind in the truck's storage compartment, Sakuradamae—team infiltrator of the Devil Trio's "medic crew"—was without a doubt the best at infiltration and espionage. Naturally, she was the one chosen to secretly contact Nuonuo.
Of course, Nuonuo didn't know any details. To her, the contact was just some mysterious "Ninja Master," with no clue what organization they represented.
Ever since their collaboration with Emiya Shirou and the Zhou family began, Sakuradamae had been in charge of covert operations involving the Chen clan. That included infiltrating the manor, mapping out security and staff movements, and—eventually—getting close to the rebellious daughter to assess her viability as a double agent.
She occasionally glanced down at the unconscious girl bagged and bound on the truck floor.
Her boss had told her: "This one—Chen Motou, aka Nuonuo—is the perfect target. Just pitch yourself as the number one enemy of the Chen family, and she'll switch sides without hesitation."
And damn… he was right.
Watching this girl, all rage and drama about "fatherly betrayal," yet obedient as a kitten to her "mysterious enemy," Sakuradamae nodded in approval.
She had to admit, her boss—elusive and unpredictable, fond of riddles and nonsense missions—had some serious quirks. But when it came to intel? Unmatched.
This case was no exception.
Not long ago, he had muttered something cryptic as usual:
"It's time to stir the winds of blood and storm. Let the cruel truths stand naked upon the world's stage. Force the blind to see."
Standard riddle-mode activated. After that, he gave Sakuradamae her actual task: get Nuonuo to fake a "retrospective vision."
Retrospective profiling usually involved deducing a subject's psychological state through behavior, personality, life context, and so on—a trope straight out of detective fiction.
But Nuonuo's ability was something else entirely.
Sakuradamae had done her homework. Nuonuo's "profiling" didn't require contact. Not with people, objects, or even environments. Sometimes, she just knew what had happened in a space.
It was less profiling and more like… spiritual vision.
Hence her nickname: "Little Miko."
But what exactly did the vision she gave Chen Father mean?
Sakuradamae couldn't help but wonder. She recalled keywords: ancient era… black… white… Could it be about the Black King and the White King?
But wasn't the Chen family of the Divine Continent's mixed-blood lineage? Why would Black King bloodlines be entangled with the White King?
And Little Miko can "see" that much?!
Left to stew in the pitch-black truck, Sakuradamae's curiosity only deepened.
Eventually, they arrived at a high-tech industrial park on the outskirts of town.
It was late. The foliage was thick, the occasional insect chirp cutting through the silence. But otherwise, the place was dark. Lamps were spread out like the designers were trying to conserve electricity—barely one dim LED every hundred meters.
Really? Are you villains or penny-pinchers? she grumbled internally.
The armed mixed-bloods didn't seem bothered. They moved like clockwork, escorting the unconscious Nuonuo into a white-painted facility dimly lit by flickering lamplight. A testing and diagnostics center.
Sakuradamae scanned the area. Other buildings included research institutes, public labs, and a data center. It was a fully equipped science campus.
She had no doubt some of it was just a front—smoke and mirrors for government oversight.
Inside, the lights grew brighter. The corridors were lined with bright overheads, which made her pull back—better not push her luck.
She didn't need to stay glued to Nuonuo anyway. Her job was to gather evidence on the Chen family's experiments. And as the family's own daughter, Nuonuo probably wouldn't be in too much danger…
Though, judging by how they were treating her like lab stock, maybe something unexpected would come of this.
Nuonuo was dreaming.
She was trapped—bound in place by cold, unfeeling metal. Her limbs were restrained. Her throat and nose stung with the taste of blood and the wet pressure of suffocation. She gasped, desperate to breathe, but the crushing weight of water made it impossible. She truly thought she might die.
Suddenly, the metal clamps yanked her upward. A mechanical voice—hollow, robotic—boomed:
"Execution Trial #17 complete. 45 seconds of suffocation. Frigg Unit-03, state your report."
She gasped in air, battered and bleeding. Her eyes lowered toward the reflective surface of the water… and saw herself: pale, bloodstained, dressed in a once-white ceremonial gown…
Frigg Unit-03?
Was that her?
She tried to think, but pain exploded through her skull like needles burrowing into her brain.
"Ahh—ahh—!"
Through the agony, a glimmer of thought emerged:
Frigg. A goddess in Norse myth. Queen of the Aesir. Odin's wife. Ruler of love, family, fertility, destiny… Usually depicted in a white robe…
But this was clearly a codename. If she was Unit-03, then did that mean there was a Unit-02? A Unit-01? A prototype?
Just what the hell… was she?
(End of Chapter)
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