Chapter 58

"Soultaker?"

Hearing this, Jack looked down at the knife in Freya's hand. The next moment, his expression froze slightly.

It was a short blade emanating an ancient chill, with a family crest on the handle symbolizing the supreme authority of the Kogara clan.

With just one glance, Jack recognized its identity.

The next moment, a playful smile curved at the corner of Jack's mouth.

He looked up at Freya and saw the unwillingness in her eyes.

Jack didn't reach out to take it. Instead, he leaned back leisurely against the headboard, his gaze piercing through Freya's cold face as if trying to see through her complicated feelings at this moment. "What, Nolan gave me this knife, and you're not happy about it?"

Freya's fingers gripping the handle turned slightly pale from excessive force, her eyes filled with extreme unwillingness.

However, she still said through gritted teeth, "No."

Jack chuckled softly, then took the short blade from her hand and played with it casually.

Legend had it that this knife could cut through steel as if it were paper and slice a strand of hair just by blowing on it. It had always been regarded as a token of the Kogara clan's leadership.

Now it didn't seem that special.

"Besides the knife, what else did Nolan say?" After playing with it for a while, Jack looked at Freya and asked.

Jack knew Nolan wouldn't give him the Kogara clan's treasure for no reason.

Freya looked at Jack. Proud as she was, she didn't want the Kogara clan's sacred treasure to fall into the hands of someone from Marigoldia, but Nolan's orders were like an iron law. And the powerful aura emanating from this man before her instinctively made her feel a deep sense of helplessness.

After a long while, she took a deep breath, knelt on one knee, lowered her proud head, and said in a hoarse but firm voice, "Father also said that from now on, I'm at your command."

"At my command?"

Jack looked back at Freya.

"Yes."

Freya nodded lightly and said reluctantly, "My father said you are now the leader of the Kogara clan, and I should obey your orders."

"Obey my orders?"

Jack chuckled softly, reached out to lift Freya's chin, and looked down at her.

His gaze traveled past her neck, glancing toward her chest, his eyes full of mockery. "So that means I can do whatever I want to you, right?"

Freya's eyelashes trembled violently. The finger lifting her chin seemed to carry a scorching heat that made her whole body tense. She was forced to tilt her head back, her vulnerable throat completely exposed under Jack's aggressive gaze, like a young beast caught in a trap with no way to escape.

Humiliation surged through her like a tide, burning her ears red. She clutched the hem of her clothes at her side, her knuckles turning deathly pale from excessive force.

Silence stretched between them for several long seconds.

Finally, she closed her eyes, forcibly suppressing the shame and unwillingness churning in her heart, and squeezed out a broken but clear syllable from deep in her throat, "...Yes."

Hearing this submissive answer, the smile on Jack's lips deepened with a hint of wicked amusement. He didn't immediately let go, but gently rubbed his thumb along her delicate jawline, as if he were playing with a newly acquired toy.

"Very good."

Jack's low voice was particularly clear in the quiet room. Then he finally withdrew his hand, and the suffocating pressure eased slightly.

Jack then casually tossed the cold Soultaker blade onto the low table beside the bed with a crisp "clang."

"Alright, you can go now."

Jack leaned back against the headboard, half-closing his eyes as he looked at Freya, giving orders carelessly, "Close the door behind you, don't disturb my sleep."

Freya's body, which had been tensely waiting for judgment with closed eyes, suddenly stiffened. She looked up in shock, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief.

"...What?" She reflexively asked, her voice carrying confusion.

"Can't you understand me?" Jack impatiently picked at his ear, casually pulled the blanket over himself, too lazy to even give her another glance. "I said, get out."

Freya was completely stunned.

She had imagined countless possibilities. Maybe she would be humiliated, maybe forced. She had even mentally prepared herself to endure the disgrace.

After all, in the ninja world, subordinates must obey their superiors. Whatever Jack did to her, she could only endure, even if... it cost her life!

But this man, after taking full advantage with his words and watching her show her most humiliated expression, actually... just let her go?

Simply because he wanted to sleep?

Looking at the back of the man on the bed who had already turned away and seemed about to fall asleep any second, the taut string in Freya's heart suddenly loosened, replaced by an indescribable complex emotion. Was it relief? Absurdity? Or was it an even greater sense of defeat because he didn't take her seriously at all?

"What are you still standing there for? Do I need to escort you out?" Jack's muffled voice came from under the blanket.

Freya bit her lip, took a deep breath, and somewhat stiffly stood up from the floor.

She looked deeply at the man on the bed, and finally said nothing, turning to walk quickly toward the door.

She opened the door, and the cool night breeze rushed in.

Freya's hand paused at the threshold. She looked back at the Soultaker blade casually thrown on the low table, her eyes flickering uncertainly, then gently closed the door.

With a soft sound, the room returned to silence.

Jack glanced sideways at the blade emitting a faint cold glow by the bedside.

Honestly, Jack hadn't expected Nolan to give him this thing.

Jack understood what this knife represented.

He had no intention of taking over the Kogara clan.

However.

Jack's current identity meant he couldn't openly do certain things.

Freya's appearance had done him a favor.

He needed a proxy.

A shadow.

To help him handle things he couldn't conveniently appear for.

"Old fox."

Jack suddenly cursed softly.

Jack was well aware that as the world entered the technological age, ninjas were about to be abandoned by the times.

Their extinction was only a matter of time.

Nolan was probably using the excuse of giving him the knife and sending Freya to quietly shift the entire Kogara clan onto his shoulders, like a sinking ship being tied to him.

From now on, the entire Kogara clan and Jack were in the same boat. They would prosper together or fall together.

"Trying to use my influence to extend the Kogara clan's life..." Jack smiled coldly in the darkness.

Since the other party had pushed all the chips onto the table, he'd be a fool not to take this game.

After all, this meant no loss for Jack.

He could even get a beautiful woman and a ninja family with hundreds of years of heritage for free.