Aarav believed that the medley fruit was still in his hand, half-eaten and dripping juice onto his skin. He took a bite while the excess fluid was being absorbed by his skin. God, it was delicious. He could eat this every single day and never get bored of it. Eat bite was subtly different, did each fruit taste different as well? While each bite varied, the spectrum of flavours it could combine in this fruit seemed limited. Perhaps other fruits had varying ranges of flavours that would be interesting to test out. If he could afford another or if they had stock, both seemed unlikely after he had squandered a fortune on a fruit.

“What are all the fruits and vegetables that vendor man had?” Aarav asked curiously. They seemed hybrids of the foods he was used to, ricelons, limecados, bettergourds? He hadn’t thought about it in the mad dash, but it was an alluring prospect. If anyone knows more about splicing species of plants together, it would be Haemish. He could give some insight into the possibilities. He might even have a small garden at the hut in the forest where he experimented with different varieties. Something to talk about another time, definitely interesting.

“Huh? What do you mean? They are the fruits and vegetables that grow in the country, the main exports and imports from other lands.” Boren said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. I might have been to him, but a ricemelon? Come on!

“I understand that, but they are like various plants and things hybrids. Right?” Aarav asked, furrowing his brow a little.

Boren, not used to the Slime’s human-like expressions, also furrowed his in return and said. “I am not sure what you are asking of me, but these are the foods that have always been available here. Nothing out of the ordinary that I can tell.” Aarav sighed at the response. What was he expecting from someone who snuck out of the castle for the first time in their lives?

“How did you get out of the castle or palace?” Aarav was interested to know how this seemingly knowing youth had pulled off a feat like that.

“I’m not going to tell you! You will just stop me next time when you get the chance. Or worse, tell someone.” Boren pouted and replied, that was fair. Aarav would probably have ratted the boy out, and he did not need any more trouble with the royals. Also, with the laxity of the Oath not stopping him from getting out of the palace, Aarav was keen to keep this level of freedom. He hadn’t had any urge to head straight back to the castle so far, apart from getting the prince back, but that was just self-preservation…wasn’t it?

Aarav would drive himself crazy if he kept questioning every decision he made. For now, he was out in the town with no intention of heading back to the forest. Aarav felt a pang at the thought. Huh? What was that about just now? Whatever was going on with him, he had a city to explore and was burning daylight before people came searching for a young child.

“Fine, fine, have your secrets. But don’t expect me to give away any of mine either.” Aarav gave him a mysterious look, hopefully. The curious look on Boren’s face meant he had planted a seed there that would grow in the futile ground of a young child’s mind. “Off we go. Let’s head to the market first. If there are any more things like this medley fruit, I want to know about it. Remember what I told you. Stay close to me.”

The boy nodded and Aarav, having gotten over his shock of seeing the Prince, saw that his garb matched the people milling around on the main road. At least he had a decent camouflage, and hopefully, Aarav wouldn’t stand out so much. On second thought, with a brief pause, touching Boren’s attire, he changed his clothes to match his more closely. Haemish’s clothes were nice but too delicate for street walking. It was all Cloth, so Aarav didn’t have to get rid of any of his Textures to make the adjustment. Good stuff! “Now we can go. Market first!”

Boren led the way. For someone that hadn’t been out of the city much, he was very good with the directions. Of course, the boy must have something like Mental Map too. Everyone would, considering how easy it was for me to get. If Boren had already explored the whole city, he would have its map. Considering his status, it seemed prudent he not get lost in his own city. Even if he never came out to it.

“Boren, how do you know the way so well? I thought you said you had not been out in the city before?” Aarav asked, trying to get answers to his musings.

“Huh? I didn’t say I haven’t been out in the city. I said I haven’t been out in the city by myself.” Aarav nodded though the boy in front of him couldn’t see it.

“Oh, right, yes, you did say that. What I meant was, do you have a skill that helps you navigate? Helps you remember where you have been before and such?” The Slime asked.

“Umm, I suppose, but it is considered rude to ask such questions. Fenwin says that etiquette and decency is the basis of any civilized society. So it is important to conform to those social cues.” That sounded like regurgitated political babble. It also reminded Aarav how little he understood this country's society and probably the world. Perhaps another country would share that information freely.

Aarav sighed at his social ineptitude; the last thing he wanted was to be accused of taking advantage of a child. “Oh, okay. I did not know that, and I will have to keep that in mind for the future. Thank you for the advice, young one!” Boren laughed at that. “Something funny in what I said?” Aarav tried and failed to keep a little of the irritation he felt from being the butt of the joke.

“Oh, sorry, no, not at all, just that you talk like an adult. I am used to getting that treatment from being in the palace but not from someone my own age or less! You know you don’t need to behave like the adult here. I am older.” Boren could hide the smugness with which he said those words. Children always want to be seen as older than they are. The “young one” statement just slipped out. But as far as this world is concerned, I am just about half a year old, maybe a little less. They don’t know how long I have been here exactly, but there must be a way for them to tell. In his mind, Aarav was an adult between this life and the last. Oh well.

“How do you know I am younger than you? I have only been here for a week or so, and we have met only a handful of times.” Boren stopped at these words and turned to him, smirking.

“You are joking, aren’t you!?” Genuine surprise blossomed on the young boy’s face when Aarav shook his head. “Wait, how do you know how old I am then?”

Aarav shrugged before replying. “I suppose how you look and talk and your little size.” Boren gaped. “What? Isn’t that how all people can tell?”

“No! Not at all. This is something everyone knows. I don’t remember when, but I have always known it. I suppose you can tell that with humans with your method. But what about other races and people, and what if someone is huge because of their physical stats or if someone only has mental stats so is really small? Or if…” The list went on and on. Finally, after about three or four minutes of this, Aarav held up his hand.

“I understand your point; get on with the explanation, please. Let’s not forget I grew up in a forest and have not benefited from a royal education…or the academy.” Aarav finished.

“Right!” For some reason, Boren blushed at his sentence and schooled his features until he seemed as controlled as he was in the palace. Aarav wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t like the child's almost robotic control over his emotions in this state. It was like he flicked a switch and changed. “We can tell age from a person’s presence and signature. It only works properly with sentience beings as their auras or ambience is different from monsters or creatures. But from that, we can get a rough indication of age and a sense of whether they are more physically inclined or magical and other similar feelings. Sometimes with illusion magic, it can be hard to trust one’s eyes alone.” The information was delivered with a lecturing monotone.

Very creepy from the mouth of a nine-year-old.