Surrounding a small chest carved of silver and mahogany and inlaid with one bright jade stone were…four people?
What the…?
How had he not sensed their presence?! Jae's mind raced. His skills in recognizing when others were nearby weren't perfect, but they were well-honed and sharp. How skilled did these people have to be for him to have not even realized they were still here?! His mind raced, taking in all the visual information he possibly could at once: four people, all shocked, two tall, two short, one maybe a child, all with a strange air around them…
"Who the hell are you?" A deep, feminine voice snapped at him.
Jae panicked.
He reached into his satchel for a smoke bomb, simultaneously yelping, "Jugjil!" In a blink, Jugjil's red orb appeared and lit the bomb. Without waiting for the wick to go down, Jae threw it at the four people. Of course, smoke didn't immediately start rising—the wick needed to be burnt down first. One of the people picked up the bomb. Jae didn't have time to marvel at their stupidity. He rushed forward, pushed past them, and grabbed the chest, not pausing to wonder why none of them were stopping him. Then he ran out of the room, nearly hitting the doorframe, and sprinted down the hall, not once looking back. A few words followed him from the room, but they didn't make sense, and he didn't care to make sense of them.
As he scrambled out the window and onto the rooftop, nearly tripping on the clay shingles, Jugjil took human form beside him, floating along with his arms held behind his back.
"Soooo…something went wrong?"
"Shut up! I don't—that's never–! Fuck, I couldn't even sense them!"
Jugjil raised an eyebrow, rubbing his chin as he flew along in step with Jae's frantic pace. "Couldn't sense them? Hmmm…must have been witches. Strong ones."
"Other witches? I…I don't know, I couldn't see their faces…I just…fuck…I messed up, I freaked out…Is anyone chasing us?"
"Hmmm, don't see anything. Though, if they're strong witches, they could have turned invisible…"
"Be serious! Don't bullshit me!"
Jugjil sighed. "You're no funnnn. No, I don't sense anyone. But I didn't sense them either back there—they must have had a demon with them. The only way to hide from a demon is to use a demon. Hmm, I wonder if I know them…"
"I'm so glad you're focused on making friends!" Jae snapped, sliding down a roof at the edge of the merchant circle and dropping down to the ground silently. They clutched the chest to their heart as they sprinted into a dark alleyway they sensed no one in. They had to do a once-over just to be sure—if four people's presence had been undetectable, maybe it was a problem with their own senses. Alone for a brief moment, Jae leaned against a wall, panting. He looked down at the chest in his arms for the first time.
It was intricate, yes—that was for sure. Mahogany wood carved into swirls and crests all around. There were letters carved on the top of the chest that Jae couldn't understand. It wasn't in Vallnean or Geuman, or anything else he'd seen before. Silver snaked up the sides of the chest in swirling patterns, heavily tarnished. It seemed this artifact was quite old. Jae rubbed the jade stone inlaid atop it with his glove. It shone in the moonlight. He sighed.
"Bet I could make a fortune just off this stone. What d'you think's making them pay so much for this thing?"
Jugjil peeked over Jae's shoulder. "Probably what's inside. You're a mortal. There's something…ancient in there." Jugjil rubbed his chin, resting his elbow on Jae's shoulder lazily until Jae glared and shrugged him off. Jugjil went on: "Maybe even older than me. It feels…dangerous. And…human?" Jugjil leaned over Jae and poked the chest. "I've never sensed such hatred in a human spirit before. Could that really be what it is? It doesn't feel like a demon…"
Jae held the box to his ear. No sound. Spirits weren't known to make sounds, but he thought he might sense something, being a witch. "Can you tell anything else about it?"
"Hmmm…" Jugjil rubbed his chin, floating in a circle around Jae and the chest. His state of being deep in thought seemed genuine, but it was comical to watch such an ancient, red-eyed being acting so thoughtful. "Protection seals, to keep it in. I can't tell much else." He knocked on the box, eyebrows raised. "They've really got it sealed in there. Can't even tell what they looked like."
Jae nodded, turning the chest over. It was small, for an object fetching such a high price—one hundred-thousand coins. "Well," He sighed. "Not for me to figure out. Let's get outside the city."
As Jae turned to leave the alleyway, the back of his neck prickled. He froze. Jugjil did, too, red eyes narrowing.
"Who's there?"