Owner of the Treasure

I was finally released from the unpleasant experience of being sandwiched between two beautiful women. It wasn’t even that long, but it seemed like forever.

After rushing through the sky, we landed in an alley in the town of Relcul. And since I was using Presence Block, it was likely that no one had seen us.

“Phew… I think we did it without being seen…”

“It should be fine. Now, let us get out at once.”

Daniela said and Levee nodded. From what I could detect, there wasn’t anyone in the area. And yet I felt as if we were being watched. That was weird.

“I think someone is watching. Let’s hurry.”

I said as I rushed ahead of them. When we finally got out of the alley, we came into a street filled with Adventurers. It wasn’t exactly lively. More like violent. People were shouting and fighting everywhere.

Though, that seemed to be the norm here. Arguments, fist fights, even drawn swords… It was so barbaric. Not a good place for the average Adventurer.

Still, we ignored this and headed towards the guild. We wanted to update our status cards. Levee apparently had her own business to attend to there. And so we would go our separate ways when we arrived.

Unfortunately, there was a sea of people that we had to wade through. It wasn’t exactly like a concert venue, but things were tough when armor and swords were involved.

“Hey, Daniela…wait…Levee…”

“Hurry up, Asagi.”

“Master Asagi. This way.”

While Daniela was cold, but Levee offered me her hand.

But when I reached out towards it, someone grabbed my arm from the side.

“Huh? What?”

It didn’t make any sense. I couldn’t process it for a second. This was because the hand that had grabbed me was invisible. Was such a thing possible?

“What. Woah?!”

I tried to think of something that would explain this. But I was being jerked away with tremendous strength.

“Asagi!?”

“Master Asagi!”

I tried to answer them, but I was being pulled into the crowd. It was all I could do to not trip and fall. The only thing that came out of my mouth was ‘Ouch!’ and ‘Ah!’

And like that, I was dragged into an alley that was on the opposite side of the one we had come out of.

Once there was no one around us, I thought that I would finally get to see who it was. But the culprit was still invisible. And had also not stopped pulling my arm.

“Hey, who the hell- stop!”

This was getting creepy. Did it not understand me? Still, I tried talking to it.

Judging by the position of the arm, the person was likely the same height as me. The hand was on the small side. Was it a woman? Regardless, it were very strong.

“Enough already! Stop!”

The anger started to show in my voice, but it did stop after that. So I was understood then. The hand let go of me. I was free.

Immediately, I kicked the air where I thought the head should be. This was while activating Legs of the God Wolf. I didn’t really see the need to hold back. It wouldn’t kill them, but it seemed like a proportionate response to being threatened.

However, my kick was not as effective as I had hoped. It wasn’t so much blocked, as parried. And I was thrown to the ground.

“Shit!”

“Stop. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“What?!”

It was a woman’s voice. Still sitting on the ground, I looked up to see a woman standing there.

“That vajra you took. Give it to me. It is ours. The ogre treasure.”

Her skin was a light red and she wore a loose bronze kimon. And on her forehead were two horns.

“Ogre…?”

“Aye. I am an ogre.”

“I thought you were all dead…”

“No, we are not. We are alive.”

We? So there were others.

“More importantly, give it back. Now.”

“Ah, uh…alright…just wait a minute.”

“I will not wait.”

“I want to talk with my partner. You know, we picked it up together. So it’s shared property.”

“That won’t be necessary. It’s our treasure. The right is ours.”

That may be, but it wasn’t exactly something you could hand over without some explanation. What if these ogres were enemies of humankind? I had to tread cautiously.

“You say that, but how do I know you aren’t going to use this to hurt humans…”

“It is not humans that we must defeat. It is the usurper of our friends, the elves.”

“Usurper…?”

I asked dumbly. The ogre in front of me gritted her teeth. I had to take a step back.

“The Nova… The Nova must be killed no matter what…!!”

“…Nova? The Nova!?”

“So you know it? Don’t tell me…”

“No! We-we’re also trying to take it down!”

“…I see. So that’s why you were able to come out of the ruins alive.”

I was relieved to get that out of the way. We both were. And from the looks of it, she knew about the Karma.

“Look, I’d really like to hear more, but you kind of pulled me away from my friends. They’ll be worried. Do you think we could talk again tonight?”

“Indeed… Perhaps I was too forceful. I am sorry. If they are your friends, then I will allow it. Very well, we will meet again tonight.”

After saying this, she vanished as if melting away. As I stood there in surprise, I heard her chuckling.

“This too is one of our treasures. Until tonight then.”

“Uh, yeah…”

This time she was really gone. I couldn’t sense anything.

It all happened so suddenly, that I was still processing it. However, Daniela and Levee quickly bounded into the alley I was in.

“Asagi. Are you alright!?”

“Master Asagi!”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just got caught by some weirdo.”

“I see… This is a dangerous town. We must be careful.”

She said as she patted me on the shoulder. While I could tell she saw some humor in it, I was glad that she had been worried.

“Sorry, sorry. Let’s go to the guild then.”

“Aye.”

“Oh, you really had us there. Still, it stimulates my motherly instincts.”

The horror.

Daniela was more than enough for me…