The market was in typical fashion, a bustling place filled with not only people but noise, as there were plenty of employees who seemed to be shouting at the top of their lungs, urging potential customers to visit their store, or street vendors selling various kinds of goods like fruits, vegetables, and meats shouting to try to attract customers.
It was a cacophony of noise, smell, and loud sales pitches. Those used to it walked through it with ease, barely flinching at the shouting as they have learned to tune it out.
The couple navigated through the crowds as they tried to locate a store that would be selling the things they needed.
"Should we start with the tea bags or go for more important things?"
Arthur asked, his hand still holding Esme's as he walked.
"There's barely any silverware, so let us start with that, we can buy tea bags after"
She suggested, while looking at the list they compiled, when they had been making the, or rather when she was making it, it became clear that Arthur lacked a lot of things, he only had two eating plates and barely a handful of spoons, there were only two pots but no kettle.
While one can use a pot to boil water it was just better to get a kettle, at least that is what Esme believed.
"Which store sells those?"
He asked while trying to look at the signs on the stores but couldn't really find one that had an obvious sign that it sold silverware and cutlery.
"Haven't you been here before? I should be asking you that question"
"I didn't buy the plates, pots, and spoons we used yesterday, they were there when I bought the house"
Esms could only look af him in a bit of disbelief as she heard him say such words. She couldn't believe that he had been in this kingdom for long enough to be eligible to buy a house and still never bothered to buy some silverware.
"We'll have to buy new cutlery and we'll be throwing the ones at home out"
"Why? They're still usable"
"Because, not only are they old, three years is a long time but they also belonged to other people, we'll attract their misfortune, if we keep eating out of things they discarded."
Esme explained and Arthur could only let out a hum, while assuming the part about attracting bad luck was probably this kingdom's superstition. He also felt a small twist in his stomach as he was once again reminded of the lie he told her about how long he's been in this kingdom.
"Alright, let's find the cutlery shop then."
He did not argue, it's not like he cared about cutlery to begin with so he was not going to make any excuses.
They continued to walk through the marketplace, asking the few people they saw as approachable and asking about the nearest store that sold cutlery.
In their small journey, they saw various kinds of stores, Arthur spotted a jewelry store he planned to come to at a later date and Esme saw a slave shop, which quickly reminded her of their situation regarding the guards.
"What about slaves?"
"What?!"
The question came as if it were an assault to his ears and he turned to look at her with a bit of a stern face.
"Since we can't get guards, you can buy some slaves to be our guards. Plus having them will be a lot cheaper than hiring guards."
Arthur was familiar with the fact that most people in this world were completely fine with the idea of slaves, it did not sit right with him personally however at the same time he felt he couldn't force his own earthly ideas on this world, as long as he didn't contribute to it then he could easily ignore it.
He was also aware that slavery was very different from kingdom to kingdom.
"What kind of slaves exist here?"
"It's normally just debt slaves"
She had turned her head to look at him as she answered that question and she saw the change in his face, his face changed from relaxed to stern when the topic of slavery came up.
She couldn't help but feel the need to shrink down on herself.
"Can you explain debt slaves to me"
He could get the gist of what a debt slave was, however as stated it could be very different from kingdom to kingdom
"For the most part, it's just someone with a massive debt and can't pay it so they instead sell themselves into slavery"
"Do they ever become free?"
That question told her a lot about how he felt about slavery in general. She's never really thought about the topic before, at least not in any meaningful way and slavery was just something that existed to her.
"Yes, from what I've read, people can only be debt slaves for up to five years, if they haven't paid off their debt through labor by then, they are freed anyway and can choose to become a slave again"
Arthur hummed, mulling what she had just told him. From what he is hearing, it doesn't seem any is forced into being a slave and if that's the case then he can certainly understand the idea and tolerate it.
"I see, then I guess we can consider it"
"Do you not like the idea of slavery? If so, you can completely disregard it and I won't bring it up again."
She suggested, feeling a little ashamed that she brought up the topic.
"I don't like it, but the way you explained it makes it clear that at least in this kingdom, slavery is a little more ethical."
He explained and Esme felt the urge to ask about whether he's seen slavery in other kingdoms however she decided against that, feeling that the topic did not need to continue but Arthur continued it anyway.
"It's far more brutal in the northern Empire"
He started with grimness in his voice, as he recalled the last time he was there, and since then he's been avoiding setting foot in that place. It was a shame to know that its current Emperor is an Explorer.
"I see, anyway, we'll never find what we're looking for, if we don't ask someone"
She said, choosing to quickly derail the subject, although she was curious about him having been in the Empire. As an Explorer she figured, he must have been to a lot of places that she probably could never set foot in.
"Oh right"
With that, the topic regarding slavery was set aside and Esme began asking strangers for directions to any store that might sell some cutlery and thankfully, they managed to get the help they needed.
Having asked for directions, they now understood that they were on the main street of the market and that they needed to go to the next street over to find things like cutlery stores and such.
"Regardless, I'm sure we can find some men out of work, so it's not like we're out of options"
Arthur suggested as the two made a turn in an open alley, in order to make it to the other side of the street and get to where the directions led to however just as they did so something happened.
"Ah–"
Esme couldn't get a word in as in the split second, someone crashed into Arthur full speed jostling him back, and caused Arthur to let go of Esme's hand.
As he was forced, Arthur stepped back, turned his body to the side, and let the man just drop to the floor almost as if dead.
"Oh! Great Sol"
Esme quickly rushed in and crouched next to the fallen man and turned him over to look at him.
"Don't bother, He's fine just knocked out"
He told her, and she gave him a look of confusion at his words.
"He's a thief, tried to take my wallet by pretending to bump into me"
He explained, it was something that happened so fast that no one noticed it had even happened. The thief bumped into Arthur and immediately tried to stuff his hands into one of Arthur's pockets, however, Arthur swiftly punched him on the jaw and knocked him out instantly.
"Oh! Still, we can't just leave him here, let's wake him up at least."
"He's a thief, I'm sure he'll be fine"
He said with a hand wave, almost as if saying it doesn't matter.
"People are only thieves because they don't have money, I can't just walk over him like he's nothing"
She countered, and Arthur couldn't help but notice that while they were dealing with the knocked body, everyone else barely spared them even a single glance, they went on about their day and did not care.
"Can we wake him up at least"
She looked at him with pleading eyes and he gave her an appraising look, he definitely did not think she was the type to be so helpful.
Of course, he did not think she was a heartless person rather he figured she wouldn't be this naive. Although he wouldn't say that he hated that kind of quality in people.
"Alright, I know a way"
He relented to her plea, despite not being opposed to her kindness he couldn't help but sigh.
Crouching beside her, he looked around for any onlookers and surprisingly nobody seemed to care about what they were doing, which gave Arthur the perfect opportunity to work.
"Do you have a way to wake him up?"
Esme asked curiously, while she tried her best to wake up the thief by gently tapping the side of his face with her palm.
"Yes, he just needs a little shock"
He answered before Esme could hear the crackling of electricity, she glanced down at his hands and saw blue streaks of electricity arc around his fingers.
"That's–"
Arthur silently told her to keep quiet, forcing her to hold her breath while her eyes bulged open in surprise. The crackle of electricity died down and became faint as Arthur willed it to its lowest output.
A quick and not gentle slap to the thief's face forced his eyes open and jolted him awake, he stood upright immediately, almost as if he was a prey animal that heard a predator's roar nearby.
"What happened?"