Chapter 151
Episode 50: Two Long Nights, One Short Night (3)
A faint glow emanated from Jin’s clenched hands. The object, curved like a sickle, measured about two and a half hand-spans, its tip sharp as a needle.
Even when gently wrapped in a fist, it couldn’t be fully grasped. It radiated a strange chill and felt heavy.
“The Silver Dragon’s Claw…! So he actually had it all along! How on earth did he get it!?”
Owl swallowed dryly without realizing it. His eyes, filled with both confusion and anger, locked onto Yona, who was interrogating him.
“Don’t act like it’s not true! How else could Jin have gotten such a precious thing? There’s no way our main family would’ve handed it to the youngest trainee! And it’s not like it’s in the Runcandel warehouse either!”
If the Silver Dragon’s Claw had been in Runcandel, it would’ve been used long ago in dealings with the Nameless.
Owl shook his head as if admitting defeat.
“I swear, it wasn’t me. As you know, there are only two Silver Dragon’s Claws in our secret vault—and both are broken, unlike this one.”
Dragon claws are a blacksmith’s and artifact maker’s dream. Equipment forged from a dragon’s remains carries a faint trace of the divine power of the dragon’s patron deity.
Every part of a dragon’s body—scales, teeth, bones, organs—was treasured without exception.
They’re nearly impossible to obtain, and aside from a few high-tier dragon corpses, their value far outweighs their practical use, making them little more than luxury items.
Still, demand for gear made from dragon parts never fades.
But to the Nameless, the Silver Dragon’s Claw was more than just a rare material. Even among the greats who handle dragon remains, few knew this secret.
“So how did the youngest get it…?”
“That’s something we’ll have to find out gradually. For now, I suppose I’ve won the bet. Since your youngest showed that, this assassination attempt has failed.”
“Ugh.”
“It’s frustrating, but you lost. Surely you don’t think your rage is more precious than the Silver Dragon’s Claw? I trust even you can understand that much…”
“…I know that much! But it’s not over yet. The youngest might not hand it over to us.”
“If that were the case, he wouldn’t have shown it. Let’s go see for ourselves.”
Jin stepped toward the window and raised the Silver Dragon’s Claw higher so it caught the light better.
‘I didn’t drive Dante and Veradin out of the city, but I spared them in the end. So, Nameless King, I’ve won the bet.’
After about thirty seconds, Jin turned around to find Yona and Owl silently standing behind him. Had he not anticipated their arrival, his heart would have dropped.
‘Every time I experience this, it gives me chills. How do they manage to kill their presence so completely?’
Still, it wasn’t entirely different from when he first came looking for Samil.
He had ‘felt’ the brief moment when the two descended from the rooftop across the street. Without his sharpened vision, he wouldn’t have known.
Putting on a calm expression, Jin greeted them.
“Nice to meet you, 85th Nameless King. And it’s been a while, Sister Yona.”
Feigning ignorance, Yona hid behind Owl and cleared her throat awkwardly, avoiding eye contact with Jin, looking hesitant.
“Where did you get the Silver Dragon’s Claw?”
Owl asked bluntly, and Jin instinctively glanced at Veradin and Dante.
‘They’ve already paralyzed them. Trying to prevent eavesdropping like last time.’
A chill ran down his spine, but there was no reason to be ashamed now.
“That’s something I can’t disclose. Just understand that as a trainee, I happened to receive it as a gift from the Silver Dragon during my travels.”
Though his answer might have sounded a bit arrogant, Owl didn’t scold him. Instead, his eyes gleamed with interest.
“So you didn’t just receive it—you also learned how to use it.”
“That’s right. I was told that showing this once guarantees survival against the Nameless assassins, no matter the situation…”
—The Nameless assassins have always regarded our clan’s claws as more than just a sacred relic.
—Why?
—Because if used properly, they can assassinate targets previously thought impossible. They have a unique crafting method that can freeze the target’s time for a blink of an eye.
—For assassins at their peak, that’s enough. With that, there’s no one they can’t kill. Is interfering with another’s time really that simple?
—Originally, even the deity Olta could only do it in very limited ways. Their crafting method requires a significant sacrifice.
In other words, the Silver Dragon’s Claw grants the Nameless assassins a fleeting moment—a precious instant.
‘For assassins like Sister Yona or the Nameless King, that moment must be absolute. Not just for assassination, but in combat as well.’
Even Luna or Thalaris couldn’t defeat a Nameless King wielding four or five of these claws.
Especially if they didn’t know the Nameless used the Silver Dragon’s Claw. And if the method was assassination rather than open combat, it was even more hopeless.
Of course, creating an ‘assassination opportunity’ while holding the claw is another matter entirely.
“That’s right. If you hand it over to me, your death will be as if it never happened.”
“Wouldn’t it be more efficient to kill me, take it, and then wipe me out? I heard from the Silver Dragon that it’s one of the Nameless’s greatest secrets.”
“If you weren’t from Runcandel, and if those two were ordinary people, I might have considered that.”
“I’ve always resented the background I was born with, but today is the first time I feel grateful for it.”
Jin extended the Silver Dragon’s Claw of the Silver Dragon, Quikantel, toward Owl.
“Before I offer this to the Nameless King, I have one question.”
“Speak.”
“I’m curious why the real assassins, not the trainees, targeted me so intensely. Was Sister Yona trying to keep me in check as Runcandel, or was the Nameless King testing me? Please tell me.”
Owl smiled as he looked down at Jin. The reason for asking something they both already knew was obvious.
‘This reckless kid has beaten us twice in three days. Are they making sure I admit there was a bet between Yona and me?’
It was a subtle threat.
If Jin didn’t give a proper answer now, Owl would tell Yona that he had come looking for them. And not to forget that he had agreed to grant one favor.
“Yona and I made a bet about you. I bet you’d survive; she bet the opposite. Thanks to you, I won—and got the Silver Dragon’s Claw as a prize.”
“Thank you.”
“Then I’ll take my leave. You two siblings probably have much to talk about after so long. When you’re done, come find me at the Nameless Hall.”
“So does this mean I no longer have to fear assassination threats from the Nameless assassins?”
“No Nameless assassin, including Yona and me, will harm you. This will last for ten years after you leave the city, and unless you or your family invade us, this decision won’t be reversed.”
Jin’s pupils dilated.
‘Ten years…!’
He hadn’t expected to avoid being placed on the Nameless’s hit list for such a long time.
‘I hit the jackpot. When my family goes to war with my brothers later, I won’t have to worry about the Nameless.’
Using external assassins to check other trainees is laughable.
But Jin thought Joshua, Mew, or Anne might well hire the Nameless someday. By then, they’d want to kill him by any means.
After Owl left the inn room, Yona began to fidget.
She twisted a strand of hair with her index finger, smiled, then quickly shifted to a gloomy expression, repeating this.
“Heh… youngest.”
“Yes, sister.”
Jin’s voice was cold.
Yona’s heart raced.
“I—I didn’t mean to keep you in check. Really. I wanted to help you grow.”
“So that’s why you sent dozens of real assassins? Watching me every day?”
“I swear…”
“I have little reason to interpret your actions any other way.”
“By the way, who are those two?”
Yona glanced at the paralyzed Dante and Veradin with curiosity. She still didn’t know their identities.
“Veradin Ziphl and Dante Hiran.”
“Oh, I see.”
“You failed to kill me yourself. The Nameless King guaranteed my safety, so you can’t kill me now. So I’ll just tell the family I’m associating with them.”
“Uh, why would you think I’d let you do that? You’d be risking death or serious injury.”
“You dislike me. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have sent assassins so systematically. Meeting me as a trainee isn’t against protocol, so why did you do it?”
There was genuine anger mixed in.
Jin didn’t know much about Yona.
But since coming to Samil, he’d been under assassination threats far beyond the norm. He couldn’t just let it slide—even if it meant extracting a deadly poison from her.
“I just wanted to play with you. That’s why I wrote the note like that…”
“So you treated me like a toy.”
“No! Absolutely not!”
Yona suddenly shouted.
‘I still don’t get it. What is it? Did she really think I wanted to play with her?’
As tears welled up in Yona’s eyes, Jin couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of injustice.
“No, you’re the one who tried to kill her. So why is she the one crying?”
“I don’t know. What can I do if tears just come out?”
“Aren’t you the deadliest assassin in Mumyung? How do you control your emotions…?”
“I never learned that. They said I was so good at killing people, I didn’t need to.” Yona’s voice faltered. “When Mother first introduced me to Owl-nim.”
Jin’s eyes darkened sharply at that.
‘What…?’
At that time, Yona was only twelve years old.
Even in Runkandel, she was far too young to be treated like a killing machine. Especially to their mother…
Jin had no way of knowing this, but Yona’s first kill was when she was just eight—one of the cousins who came to Storm Castle.
Yona had never been assigned a nanny, and even during the two years she spent at the main house after leaving Storm Castle, she never once acted as a cadet.
Not even while living at Storm Castle did she ever share a meal with her siblings.
It was by Siron’s strict order. The power struggle for rank was important, but before even leaving Storm Castle, they had to prevent all the children who grew up with Yona from dying.
Sniffle, sniffle, hic.
Watching her sister break down and then force a smile, Jin felt not just a chill run down his spine, but a heavy, crushing weight pressing down on his chest.