Episode 142
Chapter 48. Nameless (1)
September 4, 1796.
Jin sat inside the carriage bound for Samil. It had already been three days since leaving Tikan, and the southern region of the Kon Principality, where Samil lay, was fully embraced by autumn’s cool breath.
A gentle breeze, carrying the crispness of the season, lightly tousled Jin’s hair as he leaned against the window.
Despite heading toward what was known as the sanctuary of assassins, the atmosphere was surprisingly peaceful. Yet, Jin found his thoughts drifting to Gili’s troubled face.
“Your birthday’s coming up soon, and if you leave now, you won’t be able to celebrate it properly. It’s such a shame, my lord. You’ve been racking up incredible achievements as a trainee rider lately, but sometimes you should just take time to enjoy yourself.”
Those were Gili’s words just before Jin left for Samil.
Lately, seeing Luna and Taimun had made Jin think more about Gili as well.
‘I should treat Gili better. Come to think of it, I don’t really know much about him…’
It was different from Luna and Taimun’s cases. Taimun hadn’t been curious about the past, so Jin hadn’t felt the need to share it. But Gili was the opposite.
From their previous life to now, whenever Jin asked about his past, Gili would either dodge the question or pretend not to know.
‘I’ve only heard rumors that he was the greatest prodigy in the history of the Maekloran family, but I don’t even know why he became my nanny.’
The Maekloran family.
One of the loyal houses of Runkandel, and among the most renowned martial clans in the Hupester Federation. Gili was the youngest daughter of that family.
Why someone like him? That question had lingered since their previous life.
Sometimes Jin even considered sending someone to investigate, but he knew that wouldn’t be respectful to Gili.
‘He’ll tell me when the time is right. We just never had the chance before. Maybe when I return, we can all go on a trip together.’
Clack, clack, clack—
Jin gathered his thoughts and glanced past the inner window at the driver’s back.
‘Too young for a coachman, and those leg muscles are way too developed.’
Usually, no matter how much money was offered, anyone would avoid the route to Samil. Before choosing this driver, Jin had been rejected more than five times.
That’s why he suspected the driver was a nameless trainee assassin.
“Hey.”
“Yes, sir!”
“How much longer?”
“About two more hours.”
“Are we on the right path?”
“Yes, absolutely. Don’t worry and get some rest. Samil is a place where people live, so even a coachman like me often goes up to the city gates.”
Jin nodded with certainty.
‘A trainee, then. If he were a real nameless assassin, he wouldn’t use such sloppy tactics.’
Even if every resident of the city was an assassin or a trainee, not all were elite killers that came to mind when people thought of “Nameless.” Naturally, among trainees, there were far more stones than gems.
‘The real dangerous ones only show up after entering Samil. And the coachman never attacks before reaching the city. Probably.’
As expected, nothing happened during the two-hour journey.
Jin arrived at Samil’s gates around two in the afternoon.
‘From the outside, it looks like any ordinary city.’
At least the entrance did. A moderately wide road led in, with two gatekeepers standing by a low wall and gate.
The only difference from other cities Jin had passed through was that the gatekeepers wore light, milky-white cloth and carried no weapons.
There was no need to put on an intimidating front. No one dared enter or leave Samil recklessly.
Milky white was the symbol of the Nameless. Everyone inside the city—from trainees to the top assassins—wore milky white clothes. Except for visitors.
“Stop the carriage.”
One gatekeeper spoke softly, and the driver pulled the reins.
Jin stepped down and immediately showed his Nameless badge from inside his coat. The gatekeepers exchanged glances for a moment.
“State your purpose for coming to Samil.”
They didn’t ask who he was or where he came from. Nor was the question threatening.
“Just here for the experience.”
“An interesting experience it will be. Enter. You can return the badge when you leave.”
“Before I step inside, I have one question.”
“What is it?”
“When does the Nameless code apply to visitors? From the moment you receive the badge, or only after entering the city?”
“Well—”
Ssssh!
Before the gatekeeper could answer, a dagger flew from behind Jin. Alert as ever, Jin swiftly spun around.
No surprise—it was the driver.
Using the momentum of his spin, Jin threw himself backward and kicked the driver’s thigh, who was just about to draw another dagger.
Crack! Something snapped in the driver’s thigh under Jin’s heel. Then Jin swung his elbow, striking the driver’s jaw.
The driver collapsed, and Jin shook his head.
“So it was the former. You’re going to attack me?”
The gatekeepers shook their heads, hiding their widened eyes.
“No, we’re here to learn assassination, not martial arts. The moment you made the first move, we already lost. Enter peacefully.”
“Thank you. And this friend of yours will probably be expelled, right? Attempting assassination without wearing the milky white of the Nameless and failing.”
“You know our rules well.”
“It’s no great secret. Tell him not to be too discouraged. Judging by how clumsy he was from the start, it might be better for him to find another path. Maybe become a real coachman.”
Ping.
Jin flicked a gold coin from his coat toward the unconscious driver. When he woke up, the driver would likely be frustrated, but Jin thought he had saved his life.
Because if such clumsy people stayed in Samil, the only end they’d meet was a miserable death.
“Tell him this is his fare.”
Jin strode past the gate and into the city, while the gatekeepers stole glances at his back.
A strange and merciful boy has come, they thought.
And Jin himself couldn’t help but be impressed as he stepped inside.
“Oh…”
Before leaving, Chilsaekjo had given him some information about Samil. Contrary to popular belief, it was a city of serene beauty.
The streets were spotless, without a single speck of dirt, and the buildings, laid out in neat blocks, looked freshly built and pristine.
People wearing the Nameless garb moved quietly through the streets like ascetics, never carelessly staring at new visitors.
All of it shimmered softly in the afternoon sunlight, glowing milky white.
‘Even more beautiful than I imagined.’
A chill ran down Jin’s neck.
This beauty hid bloodshed. The reason the Nameless wore white was their confidence that, even in white, they never left a trace of blood.
Only the trainees who quietly achieved assassination results over long periods, unnoticed by anyone in this immaculate, silent city—
Only they could become the assassins of the towering “Nameless Hall” far ahead.
“Visitors are just special training subjects. These people kill each other every day.”
Among the trainees on the street were middle-aged men who looked over forty, young men, boys Jin’s age, and even children who looked a few years younger.
There was a clear skill gap between them, but the strong rarely showed mercy to the weak.
Regardless of age, experience, or background, the better trainee killed the weaker to advance toward the Nameless Hall.
‘In some ways, it’s even more terrifying than Runkandel.’
Watching the young trainees wandering this brutal city, Jin couldn’t help but think of his sister, Yona Runkandel, whose memory was already faint.
‘Yona was sent here around the age of twelve…’
Siron, who had recognized Yona’s talent early on, had agonized over whether to send her to the Secret Palace or to Samil.
Both places were beyond the control of the great powers for similar reasons, and both were coveted lands.
Of course, the Secret Palace was more desirable, but Siron ultimately sent his youngest daughter to Samil for one reason.
The Secret Palace already had Siris, the legitimate heir, while Samil had yet to produce a standout figure—even now, at twenty-three.
Because of that, Jin had only seen Yona in person a handful of times, even counting their previous life.
‘In our past life, Yona returned to the main family and became an assassin solely for the clan.’
A life far from the “honorable rider” of Runkandel.
Officially, she was the family’s secret assassin, hidden from the outside world.
At least within the Garden of Swords, she was guaranteed freedom.
But Yona usually kept to herself, erasing her presence. Why, Jin didn’t know. Whether it was her nature or because she thought her situation was unfortunate.
Watching Yona, Jin had once felt a strange kinship. Yona probably never knew.
‘Because I, too, always hid in the shadows, holding my breath. Though our treatment was very different.’
If there was anything he wanted to say to her, or hear from her, he could do it in person. Along with a somewhat bold request for Mandokju.
Jin smiled bitterly and moved on. First, he needed to find a place to stay.
Samil was a small to mid-sized city. Because it had few visitors, there were fewer inns than other similar cities, but not none at all.
However, Jin had no intention of staying at an inn this time.
“Inns expose you way too much to assassination threats. You’d have to be constantly on edge—not just about the innkeeper and staff, but every single guest. No one could keep that up for more than a few days.”
He’d already experienced how miserable that was back at the Cosmos arena. Even then, when he was attacked by pirates with no assassination training, he barely managed to hold out.
“It’s better to just pick one of the cadets at an appropriate level and rent a room from them.”
That way, low-level nuisances like the coachman wouldn’t dare set up camp, fearing the homeowner. Of course, Jin would always be at the mercy of the cadet who owned the place.
“I have to choose carefully. They might think they can kill me anytime, but in reality, they’re way out of their league.”
Meanwhile, at the central dock of the Kon Principality.
Veradin and Dante had been tracking Jin nonstop since the banquet ended.
“Hey, you there. Yeah, you. Can you help me for a moment? Have you seen anyone who looks like this?”
“Ahem, have you seen someone who looks like this? If you have, I’ll make it worth your while. Very worth your while.”
Using Hailanga’s influence, they sifted through all recent travel records at Bimant and the principality’s border gates, finding the name “Jin Gray” listed forty-five times. They’d already encountered more than ten people named Jin Gray.
They could have mobilized all personnel from Hailan and Ziphl to make tracking easier, but that would defeat the purpose of a secret journey—and might even cause the three of them to lose their chance to reunite forever.
That was their conclusion.
“We’re sure one of these Jin Grays came this way… but what if the Jin Gray in the Kon Principality isn’t the one we’re after?”
“Well, then we move on to the next place! One of the forty-five has to be him, no doubt. If not, we start over from scratch!”
This wasn’t the kind of obsession their targets would have.