Kiyu had not assumed that they would find the two thieves in the marketplace, but she just had to consider all possibilities.

Thanks to the manageability of the square, they gained a quick overview despite its size, but without finding the old man or the boy as expected.

She had for a moment considered asking the guards who were in the marketplace for help, but while they were walking around and looking out, she had seen how the so-called guards of this town treated their residents.

But the guards were not the only people she would prefer not to meet at night. Some residents were anything but friendly as well.

"Come on, you lazy lot," came from a small palanquin carried by two burly men. "Don't you slow down."

Laki and Kiyu stopped for a moment to take a quick look at this event. The men carrying the palanquin were of sturdy build, but they looked anything but rested.

'It's like they've been working at peak performance for hours' Kiyu thought to herself, her gaze falling on the man in front. His body trembled more and more, and in the end he went down on his knees.

The strain was just too much, she guessed, when she saw him panting. But what followed, she would never have expected.

"You useless piece of shit!" shouted a small, fat man, who got out of the palanquin.

Unlike other merchants here, he dressed himself in the finest robes and looked like a merchant, only successful, unlike others.

After him, another man exited, who was taller and stronger than the merchant. In contrast to the fine clothes, he wore a sword and the leather armor of a fighter.

"How dare you break down here! You worthless shit!" he shouted and spat in the man's face, who was already on his knees.

But no matter how badly he treated the man, no one interfered. Kiyu looked at the faces of the others. The city guards did not show any reaction, among the travelers they saw restraint and fear.

"Take care of him! And then get me another one!" the merchant cursed to his protector.

'A new one?' wondered Kiyu, not quite knowing what the merchant meant.

After all, he was talking about a healthy person. How did one `get` a new human, please? And why a new one at all? Without a doubt the man on the ground just needed a rest, then he would continue?

But before she could pile on her questions, the protector with the sword had cut off the head of the man kneeling on the ground in one blow.

"Ahh!" both Laki and Kiyu shrieked out as they saw the man in front of them executed just like that, before covering their mouths.

Blood dripped down from the severed head, and the shocked eyes stared at her. Next to the head lay the motionless body, kicked with anger by the stranger who gave the order.

All around them, people started whispering. Some whispered about the poor man being killed just like that. Others talked about the fact that Laki and she must be new to the city, considering their reaction.

Still, the two covered their mouths and could not turn their eyes away from the gruesome fate.

The merchant looked in their direction. "What a beauty we have here!"

His eyes fell on Laki. The fiery red long hair, the deep brown eyes and her slender body. These were things Kiyu loved about Laki, but of all things, these attributes of her body now attracted the man's attention.

"This pretty little thing wouldn't be for sale, would it?" he turned to Kiyu, who towered over him by several heads because of his below-average height.

"I could use another pretty slave like that in my collection," he added.

'Slave? Collection? Use?'

A thousand thoughts flashed through Kiyu's mind. She didn't even understand what the man wanted from her, but one thing was clear to her.

"Nobody gets Laki!" she retorted, upset.

All at once, the entire marketplace fell silent. Whether it was whispering, the jingling of coins, or loud exclamations advertising goods, everything had fallen silent.

The merchant in front of her trembled, at first somewhat and then more and more. With a face so tense, he looked up at Kiyu.

"You dare to address me straight in that tone, and also refuse my kind offer?" he shouted at her in a tone of exasperation.

'What's his problem?' Granted, Kiyu didn't know what was going on. But she hadn't committed a crime either, that much was clear to her.

interjected Cheryu, who had been watching the whole situation.

"I.. I'm sorry, my lord. But I don't quite understand what you mean?" brought out Kiyu, trying with all her might to suppress her disgust for this man.

Cheryu may have been an idealist with his thoughts, but so far his advice had done her no harm. She would not take her eyes off him, however, no matter what.

"You are new here? I see," the man said, putting on a smile that Kiyu didn't like at all.

"Money determines everything in Jarifa, including the value of a life," he explained.

"Whoever has money has power. The power to buy other people and treat them the way you want." His contemptuous gaze fell on the decapitated man's corpse.

"And to throw them away when they become useless. That's a slave. Someone bought for money. People sell themselves for some base reason, or slave traders pick them up. Homeless kids with no hope sell themselves to traders."

'Kids like us' Kiyu thought to herself and had to work hard not to smack him.

Laki and she were orphans and homeless, and thus in the sights of such slave traders. At least, if someone were to find out their fate.

"I assumed one of you might sell the other, for a pretty coin," he continued, pulling out a sack of rattling coins.

"So," he resumed, but again with a bad-tempered expression. "How much for the little one?"

Kiyu had understood the words the man was uttering, but it just wouldn't enter her head. How could anyone be so cruel?

"She's not for sale. And we are not homeless children." she condemned, and, without another word, turned and took Laki by the hand.

"You ungrateful.... Rainer. Bring me the girl and dispose of the other!" he roared across the square to his personal guard. Without hesitation Rainer came running to him and drew his sword beside his master.

But before he could run toward the two girls, one of the city guards interfered.

"Forgive me for interfering, but these two seem to have no intention of trading their lives for money, nor do they fall under the slave laws of Jarifa," he interjected, but with respect. "You know the rules, lord Tānlán." He concluded.

"Of course." the small, yet powerful merchant wrinkled his nose.

"Seems like today is your lucky day, little girl." he whispered towards Laki. "But just you wait for me to get you. It will happen!" He no longer paid any attention to Kiyu.

Without further ado, he let go of the two and headed back to the palanquin while his bodyguard disappeared into one of the large side streets. They should not have wasted time, but Kiyu had to see it with her own eyes....

Sure enough, after a few minutes, the bodyguard came to the palanquin with an unknown man beside him. He was weaker than the one whose place he took. lord Tānlán disappeared with his small entourage, and the market blossomed full of life again.

'Just scum!' thought Kiyu, who did not need to hold back her disgust any longer now.

"Come, let's go on." she whispered to Laki, and they walked on hand in hand. After the event, Kiyu would only let go of her foster sister's hand if it was necessary.

The hours passed, and they crossed what felt like the entire city. But no chance. They had not discovered a single trace of the two they hoped to find.

They came to a park on the eastern edge of the city. A river led from there under the wall into the city, but one had ensured with a gate that nothing else but water would flow through there.

"I'm afraid we won't be able to find those two," Kiyu sighed. Without money, they could buy nothing in the city and couldn't afford a place to stay.

"Then we'll sleep here in the park," Laki smiled. "It's much nicer here than in the city, anyway."

Astonished, Kiyu looked at her. She was beaming with joy. No matter what someone else did to her, she let nothing get in her way and found something good in every conceivable situation. That was one thing Kiyu admired about her. It seemed like there was nothing in this world that could disturb Laki's serenity. Something that Kiyu never mastered.

"Looks like camping is our new hobby, huh?" laughed Kiyu as well.

They looked for a spot a little further away from the main road leading to the park and lay down together on the grass at the edge of the river.

'Tomorrow is a new day and who knows, maybe we'll have better luck then.' Kiyu thought, stroking Laki through her long hair.